The Raven Report Issue 3 (2017-2018)

Raven Report Sequoia High School

Volume XI, Issue 3

1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062

November 17, 2017

Running the path to su(ccs)ess

Photo Courtesy of Glenn Bugos

Photo by Beatrice Bugos

Girls’ cross country (left) beat the all time team record by a total of 2 min and 39 sec this season; boys’ cross country got one second off the best team time in Sequoia’s history for Crystal Springs Cross Country Course at the PAL finals Nov. 4. Both varsity teams raced at the Toro Park Central Coast Section race Nov. 11 (above). The teams attribute this to fantastic coaching and amazing team spirit. (Sophomore Thomas Burt pictured right)

Percussionists band together in Ravens’ scores soar well formation of Sequoia drumline above SBAC test average of the line. Students were required to know how to read music, have good knowledge of music theory, memorize After roughly eight years, cadence—a sequence of mupercussionists at Sequoia sic notes—and be able to came together to form a keep time.

“It’s a good way to bond drumline and made their first appearance at the home- with your classmates,” junior and leader of Sequoia’s coming rally.

The drumline is a student drumline Matt Sato said. “I led organization directed by wanted to do drumline beBand teacher Jane Wood- cause it’s junior year [and] man and allows members I might as well try and put to improve both their their myself out there.”

Unlike leadership Jazz Band, and organizational “I wanted to do drumline a club of skills. because it’s junior year [and] I high level “ T h e r e might as well try and put my- musicians that play was a sub- self out there.” stantial —Matt Sato, challenging music and amount of junior perform at student inconcerts, terest this the drumyear, more so than in years past; not line will be less formal and just interest, but also experi- perform gigs of their choosing. ence,” Woodman said.

“They’re looking at perLater, auditions were held to determine the members haps doing some stuff at

By SARAH FAZIO and YSABELLE PUNZAL Staff Reporters

rallies, stuff at other school events [and] having a presence at some games,” Woodman said.

Oct. 20, the drumline paraded down the halls to begin the pep rally. Many students quickly pulled out their phones to capture the moment and murmured in excitement over their loud presence. The drumline was followed by a huge group of students as they led the crowd to the rally.

“I loved the drumline,” junior Alonso De La Concha said. “I think it’s very underrated and would love to see more of it in the future.”

Both Woodman and Sato believe it will increase school spirit and excitement on campus, with everyone bopping their heads to the beat.

“I think people get excited about drums [and] excited about loud things,” Woodman said. “If the beat drops in the songs, everyone gets into it.”

Spread:

Sometimes, it’s OK to not be OK. The Raven Report takes a look at vulnerability.

Page 4-5

By BEATRICE BUGOS News Editor Last spring, 11.5 percent more students than last year met or exceeded in the English portion of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests, according to test results released Sept. 26. Not only at Sequoia, but across the San Mateo County, students did 11 percent better in English and 15 percent better in math compared to the California average.

“I think part of it is the common assessments, new curriculum, teachers collaborating and learning the new standards,” Instructional Vice Principal, Kristin Stout said.

“So now we are seeing students who have at least three, four or even five years of Common Core instruction. [So] I think part of it was just time.”

These new tests replaced the old standardized test—the STAR test—in 2014. It is now aligned with the Common

Core standards and is taken on computers to examine how a student learns instead of what material they have memorized in class.

“Part of the reason we switched was we saw it was getting at more of the things we value that students should know and be able to do. Talking about your answers, making inferences with evidence, making statements, rather than just coming up with a single answer that is more memorization,” said Director of Research and Evaluation Brandon Lee. In April, Juniors will take the seven-and-a-half hour test over a week to work on the English and math portions of the test. For every question the student gets right, the test becomes increasingly more challenging; however, if the answer is wrong the next question will be of same difficulty until the answer is correct.

“The more practice the better. You still have to know how to write, you still need to

See SBAC, Page 7

SPECIAL FEATURE: Glamour and gunshots: behind the scenes of “Chicago,” the musical.

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Feature

November 17, 2017

California overdue for disaster: a matter of when, not if

By JONATHAN GUZMAN Staff Reporter

As the after shock continues to loom in Mexico City, Californians have reason to fear a 7.0 or greater magnitude earthquake. In fact, one is set to shake California within 30 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The statistical phenomenon has been named the “Big One.” The San Andreas fault stretches 750 miles through California—right through San Francisco. Although California’s infrastructure is significantly better at withstanding earthquakes than that of Mexico, USGS also found that the “Big One” has over a 99 percent chance of hitting California. This 7.0 magnitude earthquake has the potential to claim thousands of lives.

In order to counteract the destruction caused by the “Big One” or any other natural disaster, California Ed Code implements mandatory safety procedures to ensure students safety, like the drop and cover drill.

Sequoia has also gone as far as re-

Around 80 percent of all earthquakes occur along the shore of the Pacific ocean, in Asia and in the Americas. California is notorious for this risk. modeling their buildings, such as the M-Wing, which is taking on a new look.

“Administration is making sure that the structure of the M-Wing is earthquake safe and everything is up to code,” Assistant Intructional Vice Principal Lisa Picchi said. “The safety of students and staff is administration’s priority during a natural disaster.”

During Sequoia’s annual earthquake

drill, students of the Health Careers Academy (HCA) took part in organizing and accounting for students. This is the first year students of the HCA have been involved. The students prepared for the drill through a course to earn a certification in triage, the ranking of the severity of a patient’s condition to prioritize of patients based on the severity of his or her condition, through the Redwood City Fire Department.

The participation of the HCA has placed higher responsibilities on students, giving administration the opportunity to expand their roles in the effort of ensuring student’s safety. Senior Sophia Cipriani, an HCA student, took the role of first aid during the drill.

“Instead of Administration going to each teacher on the field, they assigned those roles to the Health Academy students,” Cipriani said.

Although most students have never experienced a major earthquake, teachers and faculty still have deep-rooted memories of the infamous 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which hit the coast of California, producing a magnitude 6.9, claiming 67 lives and over $5 billion in damages. “My experience was horrific,” Picchi said. “I was driving under an overpass when it collapsed. It was chaos.

Everyone for themselves.”

Picchi cautioned students to be helpful rather than unsympathetic to those in need.

“There are more students than staff, so we rely on the students to be able to step up and help,” Picchi said. “I’d love to see more students get involved.”

Murder and mayhem mix in ‘Chicago’ Businesses bring new

By LAUREN STEVENS Staff Reporter

“‘Chicago’ is far superior to anything that Sequoia has done before,” said junior Nicky Dovydaitis, who plays fast-talking lawyer Billy Flynn in this year’s fall musical, “Chicago,” which plays Nov. 17-19.

With a reputation that proceeds the show from its previous lives as a Broadway show Photo by Aviva Futornick and a movie, the cast and crew have been rehearsing for 17 The show includes hits such as “All That Jazz,” “Razzle Dazweeks. zle,” “Mr. Cellophane” and a favorite “Cell Block Tango.”

The show is set, as the name suggests, in Chicago and fea- of the rehearsal time is split show without having to sing tures, among other atractions, between singing and danc- and dance on stage,” senior and a group of murderesses who ing rehearsals, depending pianist Violeta Evans said. crave fame and do ridiculous on the day. Once the actors The final step in the process things to get it. have learned the majority of was tech week: long nights, full In 17 weeks, the show has theshow, they transition into costume run throughs with the gone from a script to a satiri- blocking out the actor’s move- entire orchestra and, on the cal, vaudeville-esque murder ments, and from there to full night before the show, a final, comedy. run throughs or indvidual acts official dress rehearsal.

It all started with auditions of the show.

“There’s a saying in theater during the second week of It was in this period that that tech week is actually hell, school. First, a day of singing the pit orchestra, the musi- because we rehearse so late,” auditions, followed by a day of cians who sit in a small jail junior and actor Tyler Madsen dancing auditions, then some cell on the back of the stage said. were givand play all One thing that sets “Chien a “call “In this show if you’re not perof the show’s cago” apart from many other back’—an forming, you’re sitting at a table songs, were shows is that the cast is visible extra au- or filling the jail cell,” introduced. for almost the entire show, actdition for —Hannah Marcus, They rehearse ing almost as an audience for when the senior on their own the action that is occurring on director during the the main stage. wants to weekends so “There aren’t a lot of people see how an actor will do with as not to interrupt the block- offstage,” said senior and one of a specific part. Often there are ing of the rest of the show. the Merry Murderesses Hanmore actors than parts, and the “Pit orchestra is a lot of nah Marcus. “Instead of actors, director must make difficult de- work and a lot of dedica- after they perform, not being cisions between actors. tion, but it’s also a lot of fun on stage, in this show if you’re Once the cast list is released, because you get to meet new not performing, you’re sitting rehearsals begin. The majority people and contribute to the at a table or filling the jail cell.”

careers, drive up rent

By JAY TIPIRNENI Staff Reporter

With the emergence of startups and other larger companies in Redwood City, the area is changing drastically. There are more than 700 companies now in Redwood City, many part of the technology industry, like Oracle and Box; many of the companies are changing the Bay Area in the eyes of many.

But with the influx of these companies, residents are starting to worry about how it will affect them. The current median price for Redwood City homes lies at $1.4 million while in 2012 it was about $700,000, according to Zillow. This jump in housing prices has resulted in many being forced to move to areas where the housing market is not as expensive.

Many Bay Area inhabitants attribute this spike in housing prices to companies moving into the area, especially because these companies result in rising wages, which then inflates the housing market.

“Tech companies pay their employees so much, bringing rent prices up for everyone.” San Mateo resident and English teacher

Hillary Martinez said.

With lowered corporate taxes here, many companies are drawn to the Bay Area.

“There’s a problem with the way that the state and local areas incentivize businesses to come in, like how San Francisco gave a huge tax break to Twitter,” San Francisco resident and Spanish teacher Edith Salvatore said.

But these companies also benefit many Bay Area residents. In 2015, Google employed about 60,000 full-time workers. The year after that, they added another 10,000 employees to their workforce. The majority of Google employees live in San Francisco or Santa Clara, two cities in close proximity to Google headquarters.

“It used to be that no one wanted to live in San Jose; crime rates were going up, and no one wanted to live there, but now because of all of these companies people actually want to be there,” said San Mateo resident and math teacher Steven Wong.

In general, many residents who live here are dissatisfied by the sharp rise in housing prices and are especially dissatisfied by the companies they believe are causing it.

Policing bathroom passes puts pressure on students with periods

By HANNAH KLONINGER-STEVER Staff Reporter Everyone with a period has had that “oh no” moment in class, realizing it’s that time of the month, and having to choose whether to sneak a pad or tampon up a sleeve or in a “discreet” pencil case, or wait it out and risk bleeding through pants.

Periods can affect many aspects of school, be it absences due to cramp pain or needing to leave class more frequently.

“I’ve been [un]able to go to school a lot of times, especially in the past year,” sophomore Sophie Cattalini said. “My period has left me in such great pain that I can’t even walk.”

Many Sequoia teachers have unfair policies that limit restroom use, which don’t account for people who are menstruating. Similarly, some teachers reward unused passes with extra credit, promoting the idea of grading students on how many times they leave class, rather than the content of their work.

“If you tell a teacher that you’re on your period they should let you go without having to take a bathroom pass,” junior Jordan Beeder said. “I didn’t know I was being graded for my bathroom habits.”

These policies are implemented for teachers to police abusing the bathroom pass. Spanish

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opinion

November 17, 2017

Body shape dictates sports performance Hormones are fluctuating and steadily increasing with time. Muscles are stretched and worked to new levels. All We all these changes will happen sudr e m e m - denly and quickly, but are esber the sential for your body.

Athletes know these physiawkward years of cal changes have an impact on m i d d l e their performance. They get s c h o o l . taller and stronger but fear getR a g i n g ting slower and heavier. These emotions, growth pains, weird changes seem inescapable, but smells, sweaty palms and an they can be managed in a senoverall feeling of confusion sible way.

The public does not help and anxiety. We are told that support our young athletes enthis happens to everyone, just during puberty, though. The at different times and in differmedia constantly commends ent ways. It can even happen during the worst of times and professional athletes on their in the worst way, like during bodies, yet disregards the time it took for them to reach this the first game of the season.

Puberty is a significant state. Young athletes aspire stage in athletic careers. From to look this way because they freshman to senior year, bod- connect it with being successies grow faster than any other ful and the fame that comes with it. time in an They resort a t h l e t e ’ s The short-term positives do not to extreme life, accord- outweigh the life-long negatives. measures Puberty does not last forever, but ing to Teens H e a l t h , it is vital that time is taken to let to try and slow down a website your body mature. or speed run by the up changes nonprofit Nemours Center for Chil- that occur during puberty.

Coaches promote repetitive dren’s Health Media. It’s a sign weight lifting, high impact of your body developing and hitting and other exercises fomaturing, but when it is comcused around gaining muscle bated with working muscles, strict diets, growth supple- that have the potential to seriments and many other prac- ously damage athletes’ growing tices performed by athletes, bodies. The muscles have not the outcomes are more than matured enough to be constantly worked. Cartilage and temporary.

As an adolescent, bones are growth tissues will weaken and still being made and shifted See Page 7, SPORTS into place.

By SOANA AFU Staff Reporter

Photo by Trevor Crowell

For menstruating students, having to strategically plan out limited bathroom pass usage can be very stressful. teacher Evelyn Nadeau rewards extra credit to students who don’t use their three bathroom passes each semester.

“Some students who have used up their passes and have to go write their name on the board, and however long it takes them to go they stay after class,” Nadeau said. “But if they let me know it’s an emergency, I just tell them to take the pass. It is difficult [to have a good policy,] because it is so individualized.”

Not all teachers are as strict, but Sequoia lacks a place for teachers to discuss a set of minimum and maximum requirements for these policies—without a correlation with grades.

I believe my grade should reflect the effort I put into the curriculum, not how many times I left class. It is ridiculous that students who are able to vote in the presidential election still need permission from a teacher to go to the bathroom.

“When I [have] my period, it

[is] annoying because I’d either have to tough it out or sacrifice my extra credit,” Cattalini said. “[My] friends have bled through pants and been [un]able to go out of the class.”

Teachers should always allow menstruating students to use the bathroom—period. This can be an uncomfortable topic for many people, and no one should feel obligated to share personal information just to leave class.

An alternative would be to go to the health office.

“I hope they know they don’t have to say it, because health is always private,” school nurse Michelle Murray said. “ They [shouldn’t] have to give the reason in front of the whole class.”

Teachers need to reassess these unfair policies.

Why should students’ bathroom needs be indicative of th eir academic success? We need to address the stigma around periods, because this discrimination needs to stop.

Standardized tests deviate students from progressive path

By NICK ABRAHAM Opinion Editor As early as middle school, students are told how important standardized test scores are for their futures. Whether it be the SAT or ACT, these scores are an immense factor in the admissions process. Despite the weight these tests carry, they are inaccurate in representing students’ intelligence.

These tests are a flawed concept. Creating an objective benchmark to evaluate students takes their individuality out of focus and ignores students’ varying ways of learning and forms of intelligence.

The tests’ time constraint perpetuates this negative culture, making highpressure situations where students cannot spend enough time on answers. This weeds out extremely intelligent students who may not be quick thinkers, demonstrating that we live in a “dog-eat-dog”

world that quantifies individuals rather expensive, giving a disadvantage to stuthan evaluating them by their under- dents from low-income families who do standing of the world around them. not have the same resources that higher Additionally, the test puts the larg- income, more privileged students have. est disadvantage on non-native English While there are companies such as speakers. The SAT and ACT rely on stu- Khan Academy with free preparation dents’ English fluency, not their actual programs online, using these services also knowledge. Our country, and especially requires having access to a computer and Sequoia, is comprised of very diverse stu- internet, and is also not as personalized dents, many of whom will have the same as the tutoring sessions that others take. knowledge as their classmates who speak In any case, students shouldn’t feel English as a first language, but may re- the need to spend so much time preparceive drastically different standardized ing for tests. We should be able to spend test scores. our time pursuing our Regardless of their “There are schools that really like passions and makoriginal purpose, stan- high [SAT} scores, and there are ing many positive dardized tests have be- some schools that say it’s important, impacts on our comcome increasingly de- but it’s not everything. They look at munities. Instead, we pendent on economic [the scores] in the context of everyspend our time learnstatus as the test prepa- thing else.” ing how to take tests —Teresa Ignaitis, ration industry has bethat do not help anyCollege and Career Counselor one in the long run come more prevalent, with companies like AJ but the unfair system Tutoring receiving many Bay Area stu- they perpetuate. dents in classes or one-on-one tutoring According to Teresa Ignaitis, College sessions to prepare extensively for tests. and Career Counselor, students should These sessions and classes are very not be as worried as they tend to be now

about their test scores.

“If someone got perfect SAT scores and didn’t do well in school, those scores are going to get them nowhere except for a few schools,” she said. “It’s just one out of [many] things that [schools] look at.”

It is not surprising that we are so worried about tests. After all, they are emphasized to such an extent so early on in or before our application processes.

Naviance shows a scatterplot of the SAT scores and GPA’s for every Sequoia student that applied to University of California at Berkeley, for example. The majority of students who got into the school had very high SAT scores and GPAs. The question remains: what do we do with it, and where do we go from here?

There is no immediate solution, but the process for changing the way standardized tests are seen starts with us. We, as students, must realize that the contributions we make to our communities are much more important than numbers on a paper. When we shift our focus to this, our schools and society will take notice, and make changes to account for it.

Special

4

It’s OK to not be OK

In light of recent events, we thought it crucial to emphasize the importance of opening up and being vulnerable instead of hiding one’s emotions. By focusing on the process of overcoming and living with one’s struggles rather than the struggle itself, we hope to de-stigmatize mental health issues and foster a more open and welcoming school community. Feeling vulnerable is a very natural part of life, even though it does not always seem like it. Though we are often inclined to avoid our problems, it is vital to learn to share the weight of your burdens.

Note to self: when it comes to academics, nobody is perfect

By TREVOR CROWELL and RIO POPPER Executive Editor and Copy Editor Poet, philosopher and motivational speaker Miley Cyrus once said, “Nobody’s perfect, I gotta work it, again and again, ‘till I get it right.”

Great point, Miley! Seriously, though, she’s right.

In 2006, when this song was released, we believed her. After all, we were in elementary school; those were simpler times. But while Miley has fallen out of favor in the modern musical industry, her profound wisdom should most certainly not be forgotten.

People strive for perfection in many ways: athletic, aesthetic and social, among others.

Here, in Silicon Valley, many of us strive for academic perfection. As much as you might think that there is a person who has never gotten a bad grade on a single test in the history of his or her academic career, there likely isn’t such a person. But let’s say for the sake of argument that such a student did exist. His or her performance shouldn’t cause us to feel bad about ourselves. Our inability to reach the ideals created by peers, parents, colleges and,

chiefly, ourselves shouldn’t make us feel vulnerable, let alone feel like we’re failures, though many of us do feel these things. The reality is, we’ve been there. Most of us have watched as a classmate enthused over an A on a test while we sat quietly, feeling embarrassed and vulnerable.

So... Why does this obsession with academic perfection persist? Why do we continue to allow one slight mishap to make us feel like we aren’t good enough, and, worse still, that we’ll never be good enough? If so many of us have felt this, it stands to reason that we’d have figured out it isn’t a logical feeling to have. Fixing it seems simple enough, too.

Unfortunately, we’re a long way off. But while such a monumental change in mindset is easier said than done, we can move in that direction. It all starts with realizing that ‘no one’s perfect’ is more than just a catchphrase that teachers, armchair psychologists and pop icons like to throw around—it’s actually true.

A brief look at history reinforces this point.

Whether we examine the records of President John F. Kennedy, tech icon Steve Jobs or Nobel Prize Laureate Albert Einstein, we see that all of these unfathomably successful individuals struggled to succeed in academia at some point.

PROFILES:

Andres Alas, Junior

Sitting in the corner by himself, contemplating suicide and whether or not to come to school the next day.

This was the reality for current junior Andres Alas, who has depression and anxiety, as an elementary schooler.

“I was always playing a character or some type of role in a life that I didn’t want to live,” Alas said.

At a very young age, he isolated himself and put on a “mask” to pass as being OK. He was bullied for his sexuality, which caused him to struggle with his identity and what others thought of him. He shifted his focus away from grades and friends, leading him to feel alone in dealing with the negative problems that were going on in his life.

After much time and through changing the way he thinks about life, he has now accepted himself and no longer pays attention to what other people think, but he still goes through periods where he stops caring about life and reverts back to his old mindset. Aspects of his life still continue to add to his depression and anxiety, including the illnesses of his parents and his brother’s current suicidal thoughts, but he has developed coping mechanisms that generally keep him from getting into too negative of a headspace.

“Instead of being focused on [the negative] and being sad and depressed about it, I stay positive,” Alas said. “As much as things

We aren’t suggesting that you drop your books and jump for joy when you fail your math test, but we are suggesting that you don’t let those mistakes allow you to view yourself, or others, negatively.

As obvious as it sounds, sometimes we just need to chill. Almost everyone knows that altogether cringe-y feeling of turning in a test that you know you didn’t do well on, but we suggest that, when this happens, you relax and not let such feelings define you. And if, when you get your results and your gloomy prediction becomes a reality, we suggest you acknowledge that failure today isn’t indicative of continued failure. Some of the greatest in history failed, too. We’re walking in the footsteps of heroes.

So the next time a test or homework assignment doesn’t go your way, take a step back, understand you’re not the only one and move on. It goes without saying, but there will always be another opportunity to succeed. There are always more homework assignments and more tests, after all. It’s crazy how that works.

around you are negative, you can’t focus on that because if you focus on what is negative, eventually you become negative.”

Before he was focused on being a good dancer, he would just dance whenever he felt sad or anxious. While dance does sometimes make him more self critical or causes him to compare himself to others, he still uses it every morning, as a member of Advanced Dance, to help him release all of the stress or pent up emotions that he is feeling.

Music also helps calm him down and stay positive. For him, listening to lyrics and understanding what songs are about has given him a sense of solidarity.

“Listening to ... songs where artists speak about their own experiences helped me because it reminds me that I’m not alone and that other people are going through something similar. It might be a little different, but at least I know I’m not alone,” Alas said.

Despite not believing in the efficacy of counselling when he was younger, he started going to counselling at Sequoia where his counsellor diagnosed him and helped him isolate issues and deal with them. “[The Teen Resource Center] has actually been really helpful for me. I took the opportunity to talk to counsellors because sometimes talking about it just makes you feel better.”

For others going through difficult times, he recommends they focus on self love.

“Once you truly love yourself for every aspect of your life—all your imperfections, all the things that people might talk about or people might not like—once you finally accept it, you feel like a superhero. You feel untouchable.”

Feature

5

Vulnerability: a medium for connection

By MACKENZIE CLARKE Managing Editor Eyes scanning a test, filling with tears threatening to spill over. Crying in the bathroom, not knowing why and not being able to stop. Strapping on a stoic, cold and unfeeling mask as you’re sitting at a funeral.

These are all examples of vulnerability, or rather, how I cover it. I’ve never taken off this mask; in fact, I think I’ve superglued it on. I deal with my problems and emotions by doing just the opposite—not dealing with them.

The Oxford Dictionary defines vulnerability as ‘the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.’ This insinuates vulnerability is a negative and weak attribute. But here’s where I disagree: in our lives, vulnerability is an integral step in courage. I have struggled to accept this throughout my life— that vulnerability is OK. Society favors repressing emotions of vulnerability. Unfortunately, people treat visits to a therapist like a trip to a secret and mysterious monk high in the Himalayas. Therapy shouldn’t be treated like Fight Club; it should be something people feel comfortable talking about openly.

Throughout my entire childhood, my dad was perpetually sick—as a result, the facade I constructed was so strong that I was not only able to convince others that everything was OK, but also myself. When he eventually passed away, I was eight years old and told myself it wasn’t OK to cry, so I didn’t. The amount of emotional suppression I forced myself through would have made the Hoover Dam jealous. From an early age, showing emotion was extremely

hard for me. It wasn’t that I had been told by others that it wasn’t OK to cry.

It wasn’t that my family was some psycho group of Terminator robots who hadn’t been programmed yet to show more than one sentiment or feeling. I grew up in a healthy household conducive to being open about problems and emotions. I had just somehow told myself somewhere along the way that it was better to not feel anything at all than deal with logical emotions like a normal sentient creature.

As I entered high school, I had no idea how harmful this tactic would turn out to be. The first semester of my freshman year (on top of already not dealing with the social transition of high school very well), I failed my first math test and got my first ever B in a class. Looking back on it I cannot believe 15 year old me was so dramatic, but at the time, it was the end of my world. I couldn’t handle it and broke down in the middle of my math classroom surrounded by juniors and seniors who looked on in pity. After that moment, I undertook a new mentality of not only shoving personal struggles as deep under my exterior as possible, but now also my academic stresses as well. Of course, junior and senior years in the IB Program took its toll on me mentally and physically. But what I was failing to realize was that although I was constantly putting on such a thick performance of acting like I was OK and normal that would have snatched any Oscar from Meryl, something had to give.

I love to use humor to veil my vulnerabilities. I can have a small crisis/breakdown and then be cracking dry and selfdeprecating jokes about it five minutes later. As funny as I am (or believe I am),

PROFILES:

Emily DeVoe,

English Teacher As an IB Diploma student in high school, she didn’t realize that her high stress level wasn’t normal. She thrived on operating on little sleep with lots of stress, and it wasn’t until years later that she realized that what she was going through wasn’t typical, and that she had actually just been coping really well. She grew up avoiding dealing with worries and talking about stressful subjects, so English teacher Emily DeVoe never learned how to deal with her anxiety and panic disorder in a healthy way.

“Shoving things to the side, not dealing with unpleasantness and not acknowledging that unpleasantness is unavoidable started some really unhealthy thought processes in my mind where I tried to avoid the unpleasant situations, which you just can’t do in life,” DeVoe said.

Around five years ago, a variety of hardships came up that suddenly made coping a little harder.

Her baseline stress and anxiety were high without her realizing it, and these added stresses caused her to have panic attacks. She became scared of having these panic attacks, which only caused them to become worse, though she didn’t know it at the time.

When she first started acknowledging and dealing with her anxiety, it got worse before it got better, which was a hard thing for her to understand. She started having panic attacks every day because everything that she had been shoving down was being brought up to the surface.

Today, she no longer has active panic attacks, but when her anxiety flares up she still sometimes starts practicing avoidance behaviors.

However, knowing that those behaviors just make things worse has

this was also not helping me with my struggle to accept and share my vulnerabilities.

Though I could go on for pages, I have a conclusion and point to make. I am the glimmering example of what you should not do. To any underclassmen reading this: junior and senior years are going to suck, I’m not going to sugarcoat that.

You’re going to fail sometimes. You’re going to trust someone and have them later hurt you. But what I’ve extrapolated is that everyone is going through something and it’s OK to acknowledge this. I know many of my peers go through the same things I do. I know that it’s unhealthy to never talk about them, and I know that something has to change not only for myself as an individual, but for our entire generation. We have to let out emotions normally, and I can attest to the issues that arise when you don’t. We all live in one of the highest-stress areas of the country. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired, and I’m sure many of you can’t either. Because of this, it is extremely important that we begin to foster an environment in which people feel comfortable talking about their struggles. If you feel like you have emotions that you can’t share, I urge you to take a leap of faith and talk about them. This is vulnerability, and from vulnerability comes courage.

To anyone and everyone reading this, your struggles are valid, as are your vulnerabilities. Vulnerability is accepting that sometimes you’re not OK, and that it’s totally fine not to be. Vulnerability is reaching out for help or simply voicing your struggles to other people. Vulnerability is using these struggles to get stronger. Vulnerability is human.

helped her develop habits where she acknowledges it and doesn’t shove it to the side.

“I don’t think I have less stress in my life, but I think I manage it in more healthy ways, so that it doesn’t impact me physically so much,” DeVoe said.

To deal with her stress, she uses mindfulness and yoga practices, which help her be aware of all of the thoughts and worrying going on in the back of her head and help her re-center.

She also saw a therapist for about a year where she did cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a form of therapy where a person focuses on changing and becoming aware of their thought processes. Understanding the processes going on in her brain helped give her tools and techniques to manage her anxiety. “[My therapist] helped me understand how the brain works and the brain chemistry of fight or flight, which is what kicks in with panic attacks in particular,” DeVoe said. “Understanding that, as well as practicing mindfulness, helped me not be so afraid of them.”

Acknowledging that she needed Photo By Shannon Coan help has helped her in other aspects of her life, as well. She now feels more confident taking risks and has a more holistic perspective on life.

“I understand now that life is a spectrum, and, that sometimes there are really good things and sometimes there are really bad things,” DeVoe said. “If you want to experience the full spectrum, including the really good, you can’t try to cut off the really bad.”

Profiles by SHANNON COAN

6

opinion

November 17, 2017

From the streets of Medellin, Colom- tant $2.1 billion profit per year. bia, to the citizens of the United States,

Seasons 1 and 2 were Narcos is the story of the infamous widely applauded by critics, and Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria and the Season 3 has been released much sequence of events which knocked him to Netflix viewer’s anticipation. off his throne as one of the biggest drug Season 3 took a transitional perlords of all time. Nominated for best dra- spective; concluding what hapma at the Golden Globes and the Prime- pened after the downfall of Pablo time Emmy Awards, Narcos incapsu- Escobar and which drug cartels lates the incredible sphere of influence in took power in his place. For the which Pablo Escobar insulated himself. contextual reality of the show, diNarcos is a chilling and horrifying rector Chris Brancato filmed most yet riveting Netflix drama, showing of the scenes in Medellin, Columthe intensity in the hunt for Escobar’s bia. They wanted to be as close to head. The peothe heart of the stople of Columry as possible, and it bia endured Escobar had cornered the coshows through the the hardships caine industry by making up 80 show’s great sense of shootings, percent of the cocaine distribuof the culture and bombings, and tion in the world. A kilo in those location at the time. even acts of terThe show is known ror on a planes. days went for $80,000 and was for its symphony of The show shipping up to 13,607 kilos a blood and raucous viofeatures the ex- day into the U.S.’” lence from the real events. ploits of Steve Yet, ironic enough, the real —Javier Pena life events surrounding EsMurphy and Javier Peña, cobar era Columbia were closely following their journey from far more crude and violently uncouth than small time Miami beat cops to the fa- what the show suggests. When retired DEA mous DEA agents responsible for the agent, Javier Peña, was asked about the fifall of Escobar’s behemoth of a drug delity of the real story, Peña said, “The cartel. Calling Escobar’s operation a chronology of the show is accurate, the behemoth is a mild understatement; time frame of the surrender and violence Escobar’s criminal empire raked in ob- is pretty accurate. We met with creators of scene amounts of money, with his net Narcos and they said they were going to add worth reaching the dizzying height a few cinematic features to keep the viewof $30 billion and turning an exorbi- ers interested as any other show would do.

On the subject of the violent accuracy of the show, they did not come close to the reality of the events. The streets of Medellin were bloods baths and the sicarios(Escobar’s hitmen) were ruthless killers and willing to lay their lives down for Escobar. There were car bombings every day, kidnappings, shootings and it wasn’t a pretty situation.”

However, according to Pena and Murphy, the show was historically relevant in other aspects, and they praise the show for

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being so accurate. “The show did a good job on exploiting Escobar’s wealth, after all he was voted the 7th richest person in the world on Forbes magazine. In achieving his wealth, Escobar had cornered the cocaine industry by making up of 80% of the cocaine distribution in the world. A kilo in those days went for 80,000 dollars and was shipping up to 13,607 kilos a day into the U.S, numbers that had been unheard of ” Pena said.

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Trainer treats injuries, exceeds expectations

By SIONE TUIAKI Staff Reporter In the athletic world at Sequoia, many students experience injuries and must rely on the school’s athletic trainer for assistance.

Jeff Wilson, Sequoia’s new athletic trainer, works to offer high-quality treatment to many student-athletes. Some of his treatments include stretching, cupping and athletic taping, among other treatments.

Stretching can help with tight muscles; it can also assist in preventing future injuries because the more flexible one is, the less prone to injury that individual will be.

Cupping and taping are other methods to provide comfort, recovery and injury prevention to athletes.

Wilson also takes the more emotional side of his job seriously.

“I love building a bond with the athletes because I don’t want them to be afraid of coming to my office and asking for help,” he said.

In California, personal trainers do not need to be certified in order to practice, even in schools. Essentially, anyone can market him or herself as a personal trainer under the current federal and state laws, even if they have no qualifications.

In the past, the industry of Personal Trainer Certification has been largely run by private corporations, which are entirely unregulated by any governmental organization or law.

Wilson, though, goes against the

Photo by Aviva Futornick

In addition to medical expertise, Athletic Trainer Jeff Wilson brings a level of personality and character unseen at most other high schools. often-stated stereotype of trainers being unqualified. He has experience in the field and comes to Sequoia highly qualified and prepared for the challenges of the job. In addition, students have responded well to his treatment protocols and style.

“He is a well-rounded guy who builds a connection with the players while [giving out] critical information for a fast recovery to the students that he is treating,” senior varsity soccer player Chris Leija said.

Wilson is a source of help, advice and guidance for both health issues and personal problems for the student-athletes at Sequoia; he has quickly reported numerous injuries ranging from common

injuries that are quickly taken care of to life-threatening situations that could take months or years to fully recover from.

“A couple of weeks ago, I experienced a minor concussion, which could have been worse if it wasn’t for [Wilson.] He pulled me off the field and out of the game instead of allowing me to continue playing through it,” said junior and varsity football player David Tuakalau.

With concussions, rapidity of treatment is one of the most accurate predictors of recovery. In other words, Wilson’s quick action likely helped Tuakalau recover more quickly and successfully than he otherwise would have been able to.

Serious concerns kick start mental health programs across Sequoia and district

By TAYLOR GAYNER and RIO POPPER Staff Reporter and Copy Editor

Few students are aware of Sequoia’s newer and lesser -known services and initiatives. Meant to help students dealing with mental-health issues, these programs teach lessons that can be brought into day-to-day life, and are part of an ongoing conversation about reoccurring tragedies and continuing struggles regarding mental health.

In the spring of 2016, a task force was created at the district to help kickstart new programs and add support and raise awareness for older ones.

“The task force really

helped get things moving,” district-wide mental-health coordinator Karen Li said.

The district has started two main programs in the past year: Kognito and the Green Folders.

Kognito is a videogame-esque training system where participants are able to interact with pretend individuals who struggle with an array of mentalhealth issues. Students, parents and staff can practice constructive responses.

“Staff have said that [the program] has been really helpful,” Li said. “We’re rolling it out to students in Life Skills classes this year.”

The Green Folders are a series of documents based on the University of Cali-

fornia-founded Red Folders: documents meant to educate readers on mental health and suicide prevention, among other topics.

The Green Folders—the district’s spin-off—are divided into categories’ based on school. They explain the process that one should follow to help different people. “[The Green Folders] are a series of algorithms,” Li said. “They tell you exactly what to do and how to do it, so that encouraging someone to get help is simpler.”

Sequoia itself also has new programs: former guidance counselor Shari Schussel has started a mindfulness group, presented to classes about mindfulness and plans to start other initia-

SEQUOIA HIGH SCHOOL RAVEN REPORT 2017-2018 Executive Editors Trevor Crowell Maddie Pei Zack Rosenblatt Managing Editor Mackenzie Clarke

Sports Editor Brighid Bugos

7

Feature

November 17, 2017

News Editors Beatrice Bugos Benjy Jude

Copy Editor Rio Popper

Social Media Director Madaleine Reynolds

Feature Editor Shannon Coan

Entertainment Editor Dario McCarty

Online Editor Aviva Futornick

Masthead Raven by Darien Daly

Opinion Editor Nicholas Abraham

tives like student-activism panels to increase studentteacher communication and an anti-bullying campaign. “[Principal Sean] Priest and I sat down and decided that mental health was really important, and that I should address the issues that I continually saw as a guidance counselor but was unable to address in that role,” Schussel said.

The aims of the districtwide and Sequoia-centric programs are the same: to provide easily accessible resources and information about mental health. “Our main goals, I would say, are to educate the whole Sequoia [community],” Li said, “parents, students and staff, about mental health.”

Staff Reporters Soana Afu, Edward Aguayo, Sam Brook, Simon Clarke, Sarah Fazio, Taylor Gayner, Jonathan Guzman, Hannah Kloninger-Stever, Christian Pardo Villa, Ysabelle Punzal, Lauren Stevens, Jay Tipirneni, Sione Tuiaki, Krista Weaver Adviser Minu Dave Send letters to the editor at ravenreport17@gmail.com

SBAC

from page 1 know how to read, you still need to know how to solve equations mathematically to be successful,” Lee said.

Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors will be taking a practice SBAC test, or Interim Assessment, over the Nov. 6 to Nov. 17 in their English and math classes.

“It’s helpful and we have several purposes for [it]. One is so students are used to taking the test on a device.

It also gives all the teachers, not just the English and math teacher, some information about where the students are in different skills,” Stout said.

Even though Sequoia is purchasing more Chromebook carts for the classrooms each year, the Interim Assessments will have to be taken over a few weeks so every student has a computer. Except in April, since only Juniors are taking the test, there are enough computers for every students.

The Sequoia Union High School District has also purchased the data platform, School City, to allow teachers to create short five question quizzes to help students get used to the SBAC test style questions. Teachers can also input information from their tests and it analyzes it for them.

“California has not just rolled out new assessments over the past fives years, they are also in the process of rolling out a new [school and district] accountability system,” said Lee. “So what that means is the state has the job of making sure students are learning and therefore they have to monitor schools and student progress.

That’s why we have this testing so they [can] to say our kids are learning.”

This type of test is standardized across the state of California, and other states, so there is one testing system to allow comparison between schools as well as to reflect on new techniques to improve scores.

Stout added in an email, “I think the reason students are doing better can also be attributed to the time and commitment of our own Sequoia teachers developing new curriculum to engage and support students.”

SPORTS

from page 3 become susceptible to falls, twists and hits. Surgery is usually required to repair strains, tears and bruising and can take months to recover from. In extreme cases, these injuries are permanent and may never be rehabilitated.

Diets and growth supplements are used to manage weight. Athletes will starve themselves to stay in a weight category, binge eat to become stronger and gain muscle or take artificial supplements to increase physical changes.

Athletes that do this will see fast results. Unfortunately, these are not at all permanent or healthy. You’ll gain muscle and lose weight, but your body knows how to adjust and will start to reject your actions. The damages, however, will be severe. You become more at risk for prolonged or delayed puberty, affecting your body currently and in the future. These short term positives do not outweigh the lifelong negatives.

Puberty does not last forever, but it is vital that time is taken to let your body mature. These changes will happen either way, so fighting them will only damage your body more. Help the process by practicing a healthy diet, getting enough sleep and occasionally putting time aside for your body to recover and relax.

8

Sports

November 17, 2017

Fall Sports Wrap-Up

Seniors Jada Herbert, Corinne Cole and Katie Uthman (left to right)

Girls Varsity Water Polo Photo courtesy of Stacey Giles

David Tuakalau (left) Patrick Lopiparo (right)

Photo courtesy of Megumi Swarthout

Photo by Aviva Futornick

Girls Water Polo

Girls Volleyball

Girls Tennis

Football

“The season went pretty well considering we got moved up a league. Even if we did lose every game, I think we did give it our best.”

“We bonded a lot as a team and we definitely grew a lot, even though we lost the last [game]. We get really hard on ourselves, and I think that it would have been nice if we were able to think more positive and realize that we can move on to the next point.”

“I think the season went fairly well. We got fourth place so it’s not too bad, but we definitely could have gotten better.”

“One of the best moments of the season has to be the South City Game.

First game of league. We didn’t win that game, but in [it] we went into overtime and we fought really hard in overtime. That really showed what kind of team we were.”

Varsity (0-7) JV (4-2-1)

—Maddy Waddell, senior

Varsity (3-11) JV (6-7)

(6-7)

Varsity (4-5) JV (3-3-1)

—Julia Banfield, junior

—Megumi Swarthout, senior

—Brian Madrigal, senior

Boys Water Polo

Girls Golf

Cross Country

“I think [the season] went very well. We went undefeated. We had a lot of great players and a lot of people developed. We are all just brethren united among one sport.”

—Anthony Tanzillo, junior

“We did well, I don’t think we did as well as past years, but it was really fun because it was something that I hadn’t tried before and it was relaxed but also really rewarding when you won.”

—Emma Licko, senior

“The best moment of the season was being able to stick through the last race because a lot of people were having a hard time and it was really hot—over 90 degrees.”

—Noah Vauclair, junior

Varsity (11-0) JV (9-0)

(5-5)

—Compiled by YSABELLE PUNZAL and SARAH FAZIO

Girls Varsity (3/17) Boys Varsity (7/17)

Atypical sports lead Ravens to explore unique opportunities What are the first sports that come to your mind? Was it football, basketball or baseball? Part Martial Arts: “While [Martial Arts is] an individual sport, you are two of this two part installment, highlights a few students and teachers who prove there are sports literally fighting people, so I would say there is defibeyond the ones offered at Sequoia.

Rock Climbing:

—Compiled by BRIGHID BUGOS and KRISTA WEAVER

“In eighth grade, some of my friends got into the rock climbing team at Planet Granite, so every saturday I started going with two or three other people and we would just rock climb for fun,” said sophomore Joanie Schroeder.

Less than two years ago Schroeder began, already she’s a climber who has a couple of wins under her belt.

Although she prefers lead climbing, she seeks climbing as an opportunity to push herself to new heights at the Planet Granite Gym where she practices for both the bouldering and rope competitions.

“A lot of people always say ‘I can’t do it because of my arm strength or my strength in general,’” said Schroeder. “It’s definitely a good community—it’s not that competitive against your friends, [it’s] more competitive against yourself.”

Photo courtesy of Joanie Schroeder

Fencing:

nitely a competitive edge to it,” said junior Kira Coan.

“You are directly being compared every time you are putting on your sparring equipment.”

After five and a half years of training, Coan earned her black belt this last October. You might think she’s just the karate kid, however she is a dedicated martial artist who trains six days a week, adding on pole vaulting in the spring with Sequoia’s track and field team.

“There’s actually a decent amount of sacrifice. It takes a lot of work and I think that sometimes it gets overlooked as a joke,” said Coan. “A lot of hard work, bruises, sweat, [and] dedication [are involved].

Photo courtesy of Robert moaveni

“This is embarrassing, but, one summer, I was lazy, and my mom threw a catalog of summer camps at me and said ‘hey pick one,’ [so] I picked fencing,” math teacher Robert Moaveni said. “I ended up liking it so much that I [did] it two summers in a row and then [took] fencing classes.”

Although Moaveni is not currently involved in either coaching or practicing fencing, the épée preferred fencer has recently received a grant from Step-up to the Plate for Education to start his new SAFE fencing program at Sequoia. When he competed as a high schooler, Moaveni earned three gold medals and two bronze allowing him to qualify for the Junior Olympics in 2005.

“I like [fencing] because it gives you a sense of individualism,” Moaveni said. “It teaches you to learn more about yourself, specifically your physical abilities, and to a larger extent your mental capabilities as well. You very much have to outwit your opponent.”

Photo courtesy of Kira Coan