Issue 4

Raven Report Sequoia High School

Volume Viii, Issue 4

Classes invited to Facebook for global town hall

1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Alcatraz field trip wows with Weiwei art activism exhibit

“There was one piece where he made a lot of little porcelain flowers and filled the bathtub and the sinks with them and it was meant to talk about the expression of freedom,” senior Sean Decker said. “I thought that was one of the most One hundred and sixty five seniors in IB English and IB personal pieces of his work, [because it] was directly about Art visited Alcatraz Island Dec. 2 for @Large, an art exhibit his life.”

by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

The first piece of the exhibit was a Chinese dragon made Weiwei, a social activist and a prisoner of conscience, out of kites with each panel representing a different country spent 81 days in captivity in 2011 for speaking out against that holds these prisonthe Chinese government’s ers; this was followed by stance on democracy and “Trace,” a collection of human rights through his 176 Lego portraits of art. He is currently forbidpeople from around the den from leaving China world who have been and has only been able to imprisoned or exiled see what his exhibit looks because of their beliefs like through photographs or affiliations. and communication with “Weiwei was inthe FOR-SITE foundaspired by his son, seeing tion. him play with Legos “Alcatraz was kind of a and [seeing how] they creepy place to be so that are so easily taken apart added to this oppression and built up again, kind that is just being conveyed of like the lives of these everywhere you look... prisoners, and that’s you’re in a small space something that sticks looking at something that with you when you see is symbolizing [someone] something in such a being held down,” senior scary place,” Addis said.

Julia Addis said. “[What I Additionally, stufound most powerful was] dents were able to write the idea of taking a stand letters to prisoners of and being the voice to so conscience all over the many people that either world at the end of the haven’t had the courage to Photo by Dalia Jude or just haven’t been able to Ai Weiwei spent 81 days in captivity in 2011 for speaking out tour.

“I wasn’t expecting stand up for themselves.” against the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and to be super wowed by The field trip idea came human rights through his art. [the pieces] because I up a few months ago when knew what they were going to be, but then when I got there IB English teacher Justine Rutigliano realized that Weiwei’s it’s Alcatraz and the setting totally contributes to how you work paralleled a lot of the themes being discussed in class feel about the pieces,” senior Ella Groff said. “Being there resuch as oppressive governments and different forms of text ally made it a lot more interesting and a lot more fun.” that address those issues.

By DALIA JUDE and MADALENE SCHORR Editor-in-Chief and Staff Reporter

By ABIGAIL WANG Feature Editor Three Sequoia classes, Java, IB Spanish, and Human Biology, had the opportunity to visit the Facebook campus to participate in a Facebook Q&A with Mark Zuckerberg, last Thursday, Dec. 11. The Q&A session, formally called a townhall meeting, was the second held with the public in an effort to connect Facebook with its users directly. Attendees included visitors from Hong Kong and Chicago, most of whom were entrepreneurs themselves.

The Q&A included a wide range of topics from Zuckerberg’s favorite type of pizza topping (“fried chicken,” he answered) and New Year’s resolutions to the importance of technology, and how the company addresses negative perspectives on its growing usership, and ethical issues. Zuckerberg also gave personal advice and maintained good humor.

Sequoia students were the only students invited.

“My favorite part was seeing how so many people came from around the world and the U.S., and there [we were] from Redwood City. It was impressive how they came just to talk to Mark Zuckerberg, it was a great experience,” junior Deisy Lara said.

Zuckerberg recently spoke at Sequoia to announce the development of a mobile app class.

Many schedules set to change starting second semester

By DALIA JUDE Editor-in-Chief At the semester break, at least 100 students will have new schedules with a senior IB English class moving to a different period, 50 juniors entering IB TOK and 40 seniors completing it.

Current sophomore English and Health Careers Academy teacher Nichole Vaughan will start teaching a senior IB English class next semester, but due to schedule complications, the sixth period class will have to move.

“I’m pretty familiar with the texts

News:

History teacher takes on Jeopardy!

Page 2

that they’re going to be working with next semester but I feel like the hardest part is going to be creating trust between the classes and me,” said Vaughan, who has taught English II ICAP at Sequoia for one and a half years. “They’ve had a pretty turbulent semester and coming into that as a new teacher and wanting to be able to support and prepare them for the exam is going to be the biggest challenge.”

Parents received an email from Instructional Vice Principal Stephen Ready Nov. 25 announcing that Vaughan will take over two IB classes and that amidst

opinion:

Club David breakdown

Page 7

the upcoming changes, administration and guidance will try their best to keep students with their first semester teachers. The class is currently taught by a long-term substitute Ryan Lindgreen with help from the other senior IB English teacher Justine Rutigliano.

“It’s a little bit tougher now that we have to be more independent and we don't have as strict of a curriculum so we have to put in what we want to get out of it,” senior Maddy McKee said.

The administration has full confidence in Vaughan’s experience and ability to teach the senior-level IB class,

Principal Sean Priest said.

Though next semester Vaughan will take on the role of preparing the seniors for May’s IB exams, seniors repeatedly emphasized their thanks for Rutigliano’s invaluable support so far.

“We definitely appreciate all the stuff that Rutigliano has been doing,” senior Paul Kiraly said. “She has her own English classes and she’s doing two TOK classes so the fact that she’s taking time out of her free periods to come in and talk to us about the essays and even grade our stuff it’s just something that all of us are really grateful for.”

By the numbers

11.9 lbs

Average weight of a sophomore’s backpack

2

News

December 17, 2014

College applications Substitutes step in stack up for seniors to help mid-semester

easy for her, even though she applied to 12 schools.

“By applying to so many schools, Staying up until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., they are in different areas so you can getting three hours of sleep, and miss- narrow it down, then pick and choose,” ing out on Thanksgiving was how senior Villegas said.

By starting the application process Amayrani Villegas spent the past few weeks trying to finish her college appli- early, senior Sam Singh accomplished applying to 20 colleges —10 out of state cations.

Her original plan was to apply to six and 10 in California, all public.

He started applying to out of state colleges, but after speaking to counselors and teachers, she ended up applying to schools to have many options for himself.

12.

Singh started his In order to man- “Having Ms. Ignaitis come on a Saturage school, work day and stay 30 minutes after the time college applications which and college applica- she said she was actually going to stay was mid-July, helped clear up tions, Villegas cre- really helpful.” ated a schedule for —Amayrani Villegas, senior his schedule so he could focus on his herself and worked senior year. with College and “I knew senior year would be tough Career Counselor Terri Ignaitis over so I just wanted to get everything done Thanksgiving break.

“Having Ms. Ignaitis come on a Sat- as soon as I could,” Singh said.

“My advice for juniors is to get an urday and stay 30 minutes after the time she said she was actually going to stay idea now of where you want to go, do research the year before on the school, try was really helpful,” Villegas said.

When the time comes to make a de- to visit as many schools as you can and cision about what college she wants to start the process early because it clears up attend, Villegas says the process will be your senior year,” Singh said.

By IRIDIAN VILLANUEVA Staff Reporter

By ERIK HUISMAN Staff Reporter If permanent teachers are sick for long periods of time, go on maternity leave, or have family problems, a teacher will spend time away from school. That is when long-term substitutes come in. While most substitutes only teach for a day or two at a time, long-term substitutes can teach for a few months to a year.

Long-term substitute Lesleigh Golson is filling in for English teacher Natalie Baldaccini who is out on maternity leave.

Golson moved to the Bay Area from Shanghai in May, but she could not get her California teaching credentials in time to interview for the upcoming school year.

“I received my credentials in September and I looked for a long-term position where I could be teaching in a classroom for more than just a day,” Golson said.

It may seem like the substitutes would have a hard time adapting, but according to their students, they have transitioned smoothly into their jobs.

“I kind of stopped thinking of [Mrs. Golson] as a substitute. Now I just think of her as a normal teacher,” freshman Jake Henige said.

Long-term substitutes collaborate with other teachers in their subjects.

“The other teachers were very welcoming and we worked together on planning the lessons,” Golson said.

Another long-term substitute is Ryan Lindgreen, for IB English teacher Katie Karlin.

“Before Mr. Lindgreen, we were stalling on lots of assignments and to get anything done, we had to be really independent,” senior Isabella Schreiber-Ryffel said.

“When Mr. Lindgreen came, we worked on larger assignments like essays and got more work done.”

History teacher showcases trivia smarts on Jeopardy!

1:

By ERIK WEST Staff Reporter History teacher Lydia Cuffman is set to compete on Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament in the first week of February 2015, which will air on ABC Channel 7 at 7 p.m., though the exact date has not been released yet.

Cuffman is one of the quarter of a million people to try out for Jeopardy! this year alone.

Cuffman says that she has always been into trivia, and she first applied to be on the show when she was 15.

“I read a bunch, so I had that base knowledge to start with,” she said. “I did Scholar’s Bowl when I was in high school, which is like our Quiz Kids or trivia team.”

Take an online test

2:

Pass the in-person audition, written test and personality interview

3: Cuffman took an online test, attended an in-person audition, passed a 50-question written test, participated in a mock round of the show, and took part in a personality interview.

Her husband and her parents will be at the taping to cheer her on, and the whole history department will all be watching the show together.

Wait for a call selecting you to be on the show

Fellow history teacher Kathleen Banister believes Cuffman is very qualified for the show.

“She is very knowledgeable,” Banister said. “All of the history teachers eat lunch together, and we play crossword puzzles, and Ms. Cuffman always knows an answer. I think she will be a great competitor.”

Junior Emma Cromwell in

the group that was filmed waving for the show.

“She is really smart and she has wanted to be on the show,” Cromwell said. “She has also been studying a lot, which will definitely be beneficial.”

Banister also said that she wasn’t surprised when she found out Cuffman got the call to be on the show.

“I was really happy for her because it is a great opportunity,” Banister said.

No matter what, she will be winning some money. If she gets third place in the quarterfinal of the teachers tournament, she will still take home $1,000.

Second place receives $2,000.

First place prize money depends on the number of questions correctly answered.

“I was ridiculously nervous when I first found out [I was going to be on the show], but I’ve spent the last month studying a lot, and it’s made me feel better,” Cuffman said.

“I know that even if I get up there and can’t answer anything, I know that I put a lot of effort into it, and I didn’t waste the opportunity.”

Families adopted by generous community for holidays

By REBEKAH WESTERLIND Staff Reporter Each year, over a hundred gifts pour into the Parent Center as part of the Adopt-A-Family program. This program mobilizes the generous Sequoia community to provide holiday gifts for families in need.

This year the program, run by the Parent Center Coordinator Mayela Ramirez and PTSA member Kristine Westerlind, is helping 38 families receive gifts ranging from tennis shoes and Safeway gift cards to Lego blocks.

“This kind of support to our com-

munity is important, very important,” gifts after school. They then wrap and label the gifts and deliver them.

Ramirez said.

Ramirez delivers gifts the last week of Teacher Jane Woodman and her band classes have adopted a family every year school.

“Almost every for the past several year I am very years.

“I am impressed they don’t care about stressed out in “As a teacher, it is what they spend, they care about the perthe last few days nice to provide opson’s happiness.” because if I don’t portunities that go —Martha Ortega, collect every sinbeyond standard curSequoia parent gle gift I’m nerriculum, to do somevous,” Ramirez thing in the grander said. “But always we cover every single scheme of humanity,” Woodman said.

Woodman collects donations during member.”

Martha Ortega, a Sequoia mother, the first week of December and then takes volunteers from her class to go buy has received gifts for her family from the

program for the past 11 years.

“I didn’t know families cared that much,” Ortega said. “I am impressed they don’t care about what they spend, they care about the person’s happiness.”

The generosity of each contributor is one of the things that impresses the families the most.

“I love the program because you make families happy,” Ramirez said. “To see the faces on the students and the little ones, it’s amazing. It touches my heart.”

A link to sign-up to adopt a family is published in the PTSA newsletter, sent to staff members and the parent email list and the SHSEF monthly email.

3

Feature

December 17, 2014

Prospective art majors call for more than the average college application

By CLAIRE BUGOS and NORA FOSSENIER

Managing Editor and Staff Reporter

Supplemental videos for pre-screening. One chance to prove themselves in the live audition. Not to mention the Common App, SATs, personal statements and all the other components of applying to college. The competition is fierce, but students applying for arts majors know it will be worth it to follow their passion.

Most students hoping to pursue an arts major must first provide the school with an arts supplement to their application, usually in the form of a video showcasing their singing, acting or dancing skills.

Students go through a pre-screening process, where admissions officers deny a group of students based on their supplement. For the ones that make it to “the next round,” students are often asked to perform for a live audition either at the school or near the student’s home.

“After the pre-screenings, everyone is, no doubt very talented. It just comes down to what

Photo courtesy of Andy Paul

Senior Jordan Hurwitz plans on pursuing art in college to develop her music career. the school’s looking for,” said Nicolette Norgaard, a senior who intends to pursue an acting or theater arts major. “Having a very diverse class is important to a lot of schools, and being a white girl and wanting to do theater, which is like the majority of people who want to do theater, it’s even more competitive.”

With the chances of acceptance into music schools so low, students can only hold on to

luck and hope that their talent and hard work are apparent in their auditions.

“The main difference between sending in an application and auditioning is that we can work as hard as we want for four years, but it really comes down to how we perform on that day, in that moment,” said senior Jordan Hurwitz, who wants to pursue music in college. “[I] prepared the song we were singing in that audition

for months on end every single day. But if you’re nervous, and your nerves come in, there you go, you just screwed it up. It’s so intimidating to have to rely on one moment in time for your entire future.”

Hurwitz hopes that her own hard work and talent will allow her to pursue a major in contemporary music at one of the colleges she has applied to.

Once students are admitted to the school, they may either

spend most of their college career studying the art or have the opportunity to continue study of core classes such as English and math.

Senior Edgar Aguirre hopes to pursue a dance major at college, while still receiving an education in these core subjects.

“If I went to a [conservatory] I would only be working with dance and arts related things, but I want a more well-rounded education,” Aguirre said.

Students who pursue art majors in college often face the challenge in high school of balancing school work and requirements with the pursuit of their passion.

“It’s really hard because there are some days where I’m doing six hours of history homework and somewhat compromising my music,” Hurwitz said.

Despite all the challenges they face in pursuit of their passion, most arts students think the dream is worth the work.

“People in the industry have told me, ‘You should not pursue theater unless you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else,’” Norgaard said. “But I honestly cannot imagine myself doing anything else.”

Cartoonist draws out creative side in class

By ISABEL DECASTRO

and MADDIE PEI Staff Reporters

In elementary school, senior Bryan Avalos was the class doodler, who drew instead of daydreamed during class.

However, as a middle schooler, he didn’t draw or paint like he used to in elementary school, spending more of his time with friends instead.

Avalos started art again at Sequoia formally in his sophomore year after a talk with his guidance counselor.

Now that he has started art again, Avalos remembers the joy when he draws and paints, especially the praise for his famous caricatures.

“I feel flattered, thankful. When I was young it was just, ‘Oh, I draw,’ and it wasn’t really like ‘Man, I like your drawing.’ Now at Sequoia, people I might not [be friends with] will be like, ‘I saw your artwork, I think it’s very nice,’ [and that] makes me feel happy,” Avalos said.

Art for Avalos has become an outlet for expression and emotion.

“I see [art] as a way to express myself. I can show different emotions in my painting or drawing; it’s just free. If I’m in a sad mood, I’ll draw something sad, droopy, if I’m happy, I’ll draw things bouncing off the page.”

Revisiting art also gave Avalos a chance to reconnect with the a childlike imagination, not unlike the one he had

Photos by Isabel DeCastro

as an eight-year-old.

“I think I need to hold onto my creative side, and it’s kind of natural at the same time.”

To his art class, Avalos’s specialty is his caricatures.

“They look like the person, but they’re slightly exaggerated. He’ll do a caricature of someone in class, and you can totally recognize that person, but they give a sense of character and humor. When he walked in my class, I recognized him from the self-por-

Cartoonist Bryan Avalos continued pursuing art as a sophomore after discussing electives with his counselor. trait he drew last year in Ms. Sheehan’s class. You couldn’t miss it, it looked just like him,” art teacher Clare Szydlowski said.

Senior Juan Florence sits at the same table as Avalos.

“He’s good at catching people’s true features and personalities in his [draw-

ings],” Florence said. “Bryan introduced me to art with his sketches that he did throughout the year and really inspired me to try new things. I liked photography, but now that I’ve been through art, self-expression in your own form is much greater, more in-depth of your feelings.”

His humor comes is evident in both his personality and his sketches.

“Bryan and are in the Health Career Academy together, and we’ve been in classes for the past three years. He’s a pretty cool guy. Everyone likes him; no matter who you are, you just have to like Bryan. He gets along with everyone.

He’s got a really good sense of humor,”said senior Rachel Alves, who sits at Avalos’ table.

“He’s also well known for his jokes, those are pretty funny,” Florence said.

To Szydlowski, Avalos has a “lighthearted fun-loving personality, but [is] also kind of a really serious artist.”

Szydlowski also knows Bryan as a modest character.

“When everyone started talking about how great his sketches were, he just brushed it off,” she said.

Avalos does not plan to major in visual art in college, but plans to draw well into old age. “[Art] is something I’ll keep with me because I love drawing and I love painting,” Avalos said.

“It’s never going to leave my side. It’s always going to be there and I’m always going to use it.”

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Feature/Opinion

December 17, 2014

Avoid the Snaptrap of social media addictions

By SABRINA VILLANUEVA AVALOS Opinion Editor

Snap. Seven seconds. Choose a filter. Send! Ten seconds later, refresh and repeat.

This is the story of how Snapchat has taken over our lives. We snap at school, home, work, friends’ houses. We snap pictures of everything from pretty views to English essays.

We use it to cure boredom and avoid daily responsibilities.

While Snapchat is a hilarious way to communicate with friends without giving them permanent pictures to blackmail you with later, perhaps we should consider putting down our selfie cams and actually experiencing the world.

Let me put it this way. Approximately 42 percent of teens who use mobile internet use Snapchat. Over 400 million snapchats are sent daily, and the average number of Snapchats received per day is between 20 and 50.

Do you realize how many selfies that

Infographic by Lily Friebel and Carmen Vescia

is? That means we actually find nearly 50 noteworthy moments in our lives per day. Our snaps of our math homework are boring, let’s be real. Your Snapchat friends probably don’t care about the majority of events you pho-

tograph. I would agree that it is a great procrastination tool, but think about it. How great would it be if you spent more time doing your homework than you did taking pictures of it so you have more time to go take more pic-

How much is too much?

Inside the average high school bag

By LAUREN CRESTA Staff Reporter Students always complain about t h e back-breaking labor that is carrying a school bag. Others say carrying all of their things at once is more convenient: without the constant trips to your locker, it can save time. Also, carrying everything at once makes sure that you don’t forget anything, providing more of a security blanket.

But in a study conducted by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 100 doctors were surveyed, and over half found that the heavy load students were carrying leads to back pain and discomfort.

However, much of this pain can be avoided if you just lighten your load.

I used to think that I had to carry around all of my things with me too, but I soon learned that if I planned ahead and knew what I needed for each class, I wouldn’t forget any-

thing. Also, with a block schedule, I had less classes per day so I didn’t need to bring home binders for classes that I didn’t have that day. Sequoia is blessed with a block schedule, and we have lockers.

Because of this, there is no reason to carry around all of your binders during school, just the ones that you need for class.

One way to lighten your load is to sift through your belongings at the end of each week and take out the items you won’t need the following week.

Do you really need 50 pens, five dollars in change and last quarter’s essays all living in the bottom of your bag?

As long as you are conscious of what you are carrying around and make sure that it isn’t too much, you can easily avoid these problems.

Over-carrying items is a waste of space, and can be detrimental to your health.

There is no reason to carry your geometry binder to your English class when you know that you won’t be using it. As long as you plan ahead and know your assignments, you can know exactly what you need to bring home, and avoid carrying 20 pounds of unnecessary weight.

Average Senior backpack:

9.25 Average junior backpack:

10.6

Average sophomore backpack:

11.9 Average freshman backpack:

11.7

tures of your life?

Another thing we teens are notorious for is Snapchatting people right next to us. It’s bad enough that we’re glued to our phone screens when we’re with other people, but we spend time on the phone talking to people in the same room! Does verbal communication no longer exist?

The best part about Snapchat is the amount of time it actually takes us to take a simple photo. The app started off as a way for people to send pictures to their friends, no matter how embarrassing, and make sure they can never access it again.

Yet it takes us 50 tries to take a selfie that is only going to appear for ten seconds max. It ruins the whole purpose of the app.

Take a quick picture and move on with your life. Don’t spend ten minutes making sure that your face looks flawless in a photo that will soon disappear.

So to all of you Snapchatters that have thousands of points and tons of Snapchat friends, chill out, take a breath, put down your phone, and look up. You’d be surprised how beautiful things are when you aren’t viewing them through a phone screen.

Sequoia High School

Raven Report 2014-2015

Latke Maker Dalia Jude Abominable Snowmen Claire Bugos Carmen Vescia Dreidel Spinner Emily Ducker

Christmas Pudding Abigail Wang

The Grinch Rudolph Sabrina Villanueva Avalos Lily Friebel Naughty List Maker Glenn Billman Elves Emma Blumen-Green, Xavi Boluña, Sunaina Butler, Samantha Caswell, Lauren Cresta, Trevor Crowell, Isabel DeCastro, Nora Fossenier, Dominick Graham, Camryn Habecker, Erik Huisman, Maddie Pei, Jasleen Pelia-Lutzker, Cam Rebosio, Chaz Rosado, Zack Rosenblatt, Madalene Schorr, Mars Svec-Burdick, Philip Tyson, Iridian Villanueva, Erik West, Rebekah Westerlind Mama Claus Kim Vinh

The Raven Report is underwritten by the Sequoia High School Education Foundation

5

Feature

December 17, 2014

Old clothes find new homes through thrifty shopping Savers 875 Main St.

By CAMRYN HABECKER Staff Reporter Oversized sweaters. Flannels. Mom jeans. Scuffed shoes. Polaroid cameras.

Floral couches. With Tumblr and fashion sites blowing up with images of vintage and quirky items, thrift shopping has become both a cheap and fashionable alternative for consumers.

“Thrift shopping is life,” said freshman Taylor Gardner. “I don’t know where else you can find great clothing for so little.”

Almost anyone can unearth something they like while thrift shopping, and conveniently, the prices match any budget. Twenty dollars can buy at least four clothing items. Thrift stores are also cheaper because of constant sales, whether general sales shown by color tags, or seasonal all-store sales.

“I don’t have the kind of money to shop regularly at the mall, so thrift shopping is a cheaper option,” Gardner said.

“The 7-inch platforms I found would have been ninety dollars, but I got them for eight.”

Junior Jennan Naja has also been successful in thrift shopping within a small budget. “I’ve found some designer

Savers is huge 2-story store downtown, with a large shoe section. Things that would usually be expensive, they price higher than other thrift shops would. I saw a Forever 21 t-shirt priced for $10, which is expensive compared to the $2.99 shirt next to it.

Even though I love the items at Saver’s, I wouldn’t recommend this store for people on a tight-budget.

St. Vincent De Paul 2406 El Camino Real Thrifting is a good option for affordable fashion, especially if you take steps to imporove old pieces. Shops like Savers (above) are local and cheap. clothes with price tags still on...it said 50 dollars but it was priced down to five,” she said.

Thrift shopping is no speedy task though, and can take two hours or more to dig through everything. It can also be challenging to find the perfect piece, and often requires creativity.

“For Halloween I needed a red maxi

skirt but all I found was an awful brown one so I [bought] some fabric dye and dyed it red,” said Naja.

Although thrift shops are gold mines, it is important to be aware of the fact that the majority of the items at stores have been worn before.

With a laugh, Naja said, “Wash before you wear.”

St. Vincent De Paul is a store that one can easily compare to Savers. It isn’t as close, it’s cheaper it’s smaller, it’s less crowded, and it’s farther. The biggest plus is it has more sales than Savers, I would definitely chose St. Vincent De Paul over Savers when it comes to pricing, but sometimes it’s hard to find something I like because of how small it is.

Do it Yourself

HIGH WAISTED SHORTS Thrift stores usually have jeans that can easily be turned into your new favorite pair of shorts. Once you find a pair that fits you well in the waist and is highwaisted enough for you, cut them three inches longer than your desired length so that you can fold the ends to hide the fraying.

PATCHES

Tips on how to take your thrift store finds to the next level.

OMBRE Ombre is like a gradient, which is one color fading into another. Ombre is also something that can jazz up things from thrift stores like shirts, sweaters, and even shoelaces. There are many tutorials on YouTube and other sites for this, but basically, you get powder dye and mix it with salt and water. Start off with little amounts of powder and dip the item, gradually increasing the amount of powder to get the color darker for the full ombre effect.

For fabric, find a shirt from a thrift store that is in the color you want. Cut the size of the patch you want out of the shirt and either paint it with fabric paint, or embroider it, then sew or pin it onto whatever you wanted the patch on.

Life Skills course causes content controversy

By TREVOR CROWELL and ZACK ROSENBLATT Staff Reporters Mental health versus physical health. Eustress versus distress. Quality of life. Life expectancy. Are these really essential life skills?

Life Skills is taken by all freshmen in their first quarter. The class is taught by their World Studies teachers. Topics range from different and useful study habits to what contributes to lower overall health.

“Having a venue where teenagers can learn about social, mental, physical and emotional health is important to students’ lives and can help them adjust to the types of systems and ways of doing things that are introduced once they reach high school,” Life Skills and World Studies teacher Eric Kobrick said.

Kobrick believes the class provides incoming freshmen with a less stressful first quarter-

15 essential skills that should be taught to high schoolers 1. How to cook basic meals 2. General money management 3. Composing a professional resumé 4. Learning to be punctual/meet deadlines 5. How to set your social media privacy settings 6. How to send a formal letter or email 7. How to tie a tie 8. How to sew a button 9. How to change a car’s tire and oil 10. How to start a fire 11. How to jump start your car 12. How to do your laundry 13. Medical skills/first aid/CPR 14. Personal hygiene 15. Self-defense/street smarts

through a class that is relatively laid back in terms of workload and curriculum.

Still, some students feel that taking an entire quarter is not worth doing.

“Spending the first quarter on history would be more interesting, and it would allow the class to get further along in actual history,” freshman Jonathan Heist said.

Another common argument made by students is that learning about types of health or factors that contribute to stress does not make as much of an impact on the situations outside of school. Instead, students say learning advanced technology, time management or organization would be more effective.

“There is no class on learning things like balancing a checkbook or opening a bank account, but I think that these are things that we could be more benefited by learning in a Life Skills class,” Freshman Mackenzie Clarke said.

There are still reasons why this class can be worth the time by educating the students more on stress, health, etc.

“It is a sacrifice, but it is worth it because we are able to educate incoming ninth graders about the systems of high school and the many complexities that come up with growing up and adapting to the high school environment,” World Studies

teacher Marc Crownover said.

However, sometimes topics that are taught in the classroom can not always be interpreted by students into information that they can use and apply to their life.

“The topics we covered in Life Skills are not useless, but they are also not as substantial as they could be in terms of being more easily applied to real life,” Clarke said.

The ultimate goal of Life Skills is to prepare students with lessons that they need both in high school as well as later on in life.

“School is often very good at producing anxiety,” Kobrick said. “It is very practical for students to not only learn about things that are often critical to their personal lives and things like the fundamentals of being a person, but also to have a class that does not over-produce stress and anxiety, but still yields more efficiency from students.”

6

opinion Staff Editorial

Starting the conversation: it’s time to talk about pressing issues

Recently, the media has blown up with images and articles surrounding the deaths of two unarmed black men, Michael Brown Jr. and Eric Garner, and the nationwide reaction that followed. Masses of people have taken to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, New York, Oakland, Berkeley, Washington D.C. and other metropolitan cities around the world to protest the grand juries’ decisions not to indict the white police officers involved in the incidents. However, many at Sequoia have neglected to discuss the situation in depth, and we are frustrated.

Specifically, we seem to avoid conversations about race altogether. They’re hard. They’re uncomfortable. They’re emotional.

Some classes have alluded to the events; however, there was a lot of confusion in these discussions, in which few knew Garner’s name or understood the context of the situation. When the Giants won the World Series, however, it was celebrated on the school announcements. Garner and Brown’s deaths have not even been given the respect of a school-wide moment of silence.

Students: First of all, if you don’t pay attention to the news, start now.

It’s as easy as glancing over your parents’ shoulders when they’re watching the news on television, or scanning the front page headlines of a newspaper. If some-

thing sparks your interest, read it. ingful relationship and deeper If it’s all over your Facebook feed, discussions. look it up.

Start off by having your stuConversations about controdents read articles either in our versial current events are hard, outside of class, then allow students to express their opinions in but nothing worth doing was organic class discussions or free ever easy. By talking about issues writes. like race and the impact they have Students often feel that what on us and so many others, we are is constantly drilled into their broadening our own perception brains in class isn’t always relof the world. evant to life outside of school.

If we don’t know anything Now is the time to about Garner address what’s going and Brown, it’s It’s more important now on in the real world. more important than ever to start talking It’s crucial to be able now than ever to our friends, classmates, to digest these topics to start talking parents and teachers about with a group of peoto our friends, classmates, par- race because this fight may ple with unique perspectives, in an acaents and teach- not seem like ours, but it demic environment. ers about race affects all of us.

While it makes because this sense to discuss race fight may not in English or history class, it is seem like ours, but it affects all important to realize that even in of us. The issue is an American math and science classes, probone: racial inequality persists in lems in the outside world are just our country. It’s an conversation as pressing, and taking a break for everyone because we will only from the curriculum makes stuprogress if we come together and dents realize the significance of talk about the elephant in the current events. room.

We are living through histoTeachers: ry right now and what we learn It’s time to start these converin school shouldn’t just be what sations with your students. Get happened in the past. the ball rolling. Bring up conThis is just the beginning of an troversial subjects and connect important conversation that we with them on a personal level. hope you’ll join. Send your thoughts Once your students see you as a on the issue either as a letter to the person in the outside world, not editor to ravenreport09@gmail. just someone who grades their com or comment online at raventests and quizzes, it will provide report.org the foundation for a more mean-

Girl on fire lights up box office: Mockingjay movie review

Hunger Games (Mockingjay Part 1):

Genre: action, adventure, sci-fi Special Effects: 9/10-They used some cool visual effects to create some Gravity level action scenes, and how did they do that to Peeta?

Staying true to the book: 9/10-District 13 is exactly how I imagined it, and the characters are also very true to the story, except for how crazy Katniss becomes.

Acting: 8/10-Thank you to Liam Hemsworth and Sam Claflin for stepping up your acting game and destroying your beautiful accents for the movie.

Fun Fact: J Law’s song “The Hanging Tree” is in the iTunes top 100, and she said she is a bad singer.

Overall Review: If you have read the books you will not be disappointed by the on-screen adaptation of the trilogy, as nothing is changed except for the fact that they turned a trilogy into a tetralogy (four installments). For those potential viewers who have not read the books and have been keeping up with the movies it does not leave any gaps that only book readers would understand, but it is wise to go watch movie two again on Netflix to reacquaint your mind with The Hunger Games. The movie is not super fast paced so viewers can enjoy the little details that make the movies so good. As the third movie it lacks nothing visually and the special effects are remarkable. Overall it is worth the cost of the a movie ticket and is an enjoyable movie.

— SAM CASWELL

December 17, 2014

New Years resolutions fall short

By CHAZ ROSADO Staff Reporter

Hobbies you want to take up.

Grades y o u pledge to improve.

Workouts that are calling your name. You want to make goals and stick by them, but the fact is, New Years resolutions just aren’t effective.

According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology, gathered Jan. 1, only 8 percent of people actually achieve their New Year’s goals. Why is this number so low? People more often than not make resolutions that are far too general to ever be stuck to. A resolution pledging to eat healthier is harder to follow than a resolution that specifically pledges to cut out french fries, soda and ice cream.

The importance of goal setting is creating ones you know you can achieve. Get specific. The more specific your goals become, the easier they are to achieve. Instead of setting a resolution of getting in better shape, set up a specific workout routine that you will do a certain number of times a week. Since this can be hard to do when you’re balancing schoolwork and extracurricular activities, set goals that go alongside your life as a student.

Another reason resolutions fail is because people set too many of them. Can you really vow to eat healthier while starting a new workout routine that you do after your new hobby? No. People aren’t going to think any less of you because you have one or two goals. Having a bunch of goals doesn’t make you the talk of the town. Know your limits. Aim for one or two specific and attainable goals.

Don’t lose your motivation either. Having daily reminders of what you want to achieve can help you follow through with your goals. If you want a hot beach bod, put a picture of a hunk on your refrigerator. Now every time you go to sneak some junk food out of the fridge you’ll have an oiled six-pack telling you otherwise.

Sequoia students listen up: you can achieve your goals. Get your homework done early so you can actually have time for your resolution. If you play a sport, make sure you set aside time between practices and games so you can optimize your time and stay on track to achieving your goal.

Lack of compost causes colossal food waste

By JASLEEN PELIA-LUTZKER and PHILIP TYSON Staff Reporters Throughout San Mateo County people are making an effort to compost; we should create a more eco-friendly environment here at Sequoia, too. Composting is a great way to throw away our food waste in an environmentally-friendly way. Too much food waste at Sequoia is being thrown into landfills, which is only polluting our earth even further.

One way to fix this would be imple-

2012: Americans

generated 251 million tons of trash

33% of edible food in the U.S. is wasted

menting compost bins around campus.

About five years ago the ECOS club tried to get compost bins at school, but unfortunately their attempt was in vain.

Upon contacting the district, the club found out that compost was not a part of the contract with the garbage company. The club also went around the school at lunch time to collect compost for a garden on the other side of the football field. However, this year, the project was not continued.

Nevertheless, the situation has changed; compost now is more widely spread than in the past, so it could be possible to get compost at Sequoia.

San Mateo County introduced its Recology composting program August 2010, which is a service that provides households with compost bins. Through the program, people are able to throw away food scraps, vegetable peelings, flowers and even pizza boxes in a way that is healthy for the environment.

The only school in the Sequoia High School Union District that provides compost bins is Menlo-Atherton.

“The less amount of garbage we could put in landfill, the better,” Jane Slater, Bilingual Resource teacher and ECOS

#1 material taking up landfill space: food

Recycling and composting

86.6

prevented million tons of material from disposal

Club adviser said. “There’s not a lot of space for landfill and compost is very convenient. [This way] it can go back to the land.”

A lot of food is wasted at Sequoia, and it would be great if the wasted food gets put to use instead of just thrown away.

The situation at Sequoia seems more severe when we consider the fact that a lot of people have trouble recycling or even throwing their garbage into the trash. The picnic tables after lunch are always cluttered with garbage even though there is a trash can only a few feet away.

We believe there is a solution.

When we contacted a Waste Zero Specialist for Recology Peninsula Services, she said that if there is enough student interest and staff support to see a composting program through, Recology would be more than happy to set up a meeting to discuss implementation.

Through this potential meeting with Recology we would be able to get compost bins at our school and make our campus more environmentally friendly.

An administrator takes a different view on the topic. He believes that it would not be economical to have compost bins next to every garbage bin, due to the fact that we do not produce nearly the same amount of food scraps as we do trash. Despite his views, we believe that being ecological is a higher priority than being economical.

Implementing compost bins and gaining awareness on how we impact the earth are steps we need to take as we strive to become a more ecologically green school.

Sources: Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Redwood City students changed by Pearl Harbor

By XAVI BOLUÑA and SAMANTHA CASWELL Staff Reporters With finals this week, it’s easy to succumb to stress over a test that could shape your grade. Imagine adding to that the knowledge that you’ll soon be sent to racetrack to spend months, maybe years, living in a horse stall. For JapaneseAmerican teenagers going to Sequoia in the 1940’s, this quickly became a harsh reality.

Urged by the recent attack on Pearl Harbor, a new executive order was created to force more than 110,000 American citizens of Japanese descent into 10 “relocation centers” across the midwest.

Four months later, despite pledges from local Japanese community leaders to the defense of the U.S., the U.S. Government ordered 31 students attending Sequoia High School to “evacuate” from Redwood City. Several had never even visited Japan.

As a final goodbye, the members of the Japanese Student Club held a farewell party, celebrating their last days on campus. In the Sequoia publication “Young Ideas,” Japanese Student Club Member and Sequoia alum Kiyoko Kasai described her feelings her unjust internment.

7

Feature

December 17, 2014

Photo courtesy of the Redwood City Local History Room

Sequoia’s Japanese students were ordered to relocate in 1942.

“I am a Japanese by ances- nese-Americans were held. try and by physical features; In 1988, the U.S. Governbut my heart, mind and spirit ment issued a formal apolare with America,” she wrote. ogy after years of pressur“There is no love of Japan in ing from civil rights groups. me, no spiritual, no mental This awarded all surviving tie. I can feel a oneness with detainees $20,000 in reparaother Americans of foreign tions. Sequoia alumni Shirancestry… in saying that my ley Nakano, class of 1981, blood will remembers never flow re c e i v i n g “No money could take the pain for the the money away from what he had endured land of my owed to over many years in the concentraancestors.” her father tion camp.”

O n nearly 46 March 27, — Shirley Nakano, Class of 1981 years later.

1942, Ka“My fasai, along with several of her ther did not want to take the peers, was forced to leave Se- money, as no money could quoia on the eve of her gradu- take the pain away from ation, sacrificing dreams of what he had endured over college to live in horse stalls many years in the concenalong the Tanforan racetrack. tration camp,” Nakano said.

The racetrack was temporarily “My mother [could only converted to a center where convince] my father to keep about 8,000 Bay Area Japa- the money for my sister and I

as we got older.”

Unfortunately, hostility and fear continued to endure.

Americans of Japanese descent continued to be rounded up and forced into converted centers for internment.

According to the Redwood City Tribune, one resident, Kotoharu Inouye, was jailed without bail or visitation rights from his family. The 57 year old had worked as a chrysanthemum grower and lived in Redwood City resident for 35 years. Inouye’s only crime: being founder and president of the California Chrysanthemum Growers Association and a Japanese-American.

The enduring pillar of the unjust relocation, however, seems to be the interminable spirit of Japanese-Americans and kindness of some hosts, who welcomed the interned Japanese-Americans as equals.

William Enomoto, recalls his father’s story of internment in a transcripted interview in the Redwood City local History room. He remembers the kindness his father encountered in General Carr, the Governor of Utah at the time.

“He said, ‘These are American citizens,’” Enomoto said.

“He welcomed [them] to Colorado [and] people in [there, they] treated us just like normal.”

Exposed: Club David’s true identity

By GLENN BILLMAN Online Editor

Club David: it’s Sequoia’s top secret society, and if you’re not in it, you have no idea what it is. Here are a concerned citizen’s top guesses about what Club David actually is.

1. A business conglomerate whose main product is bro tanks.

2. British Prime Minister David Cameron’s sleeper cell of British citizens ready to re-absorb America as part of the U.K. 3. People who want abs as chiseled as Michelangelo’s David’s.

4. Underdogs fighting the man, aka Goliath.

5. Everyone who thinks that King David of Israel was a total bro.

6. David Henrie fans who were disappointed by Justin Russo’s role in “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.”

7. Prospective customers of David’s Bridal who are campaigning for more affordable options.

8. A safe place for people who accidentally called Dave Franco David Franco. Chins up, fellows.

9. A secret society created by Divad, who wanted to keep his identity secret, so he spelled it backwards.

10. A warning for African safaris: Don’t Aggravate Vicious Elephants.

11. Avid supporters of Dave Matthews Band.

12. A group of amateur detectives trying to make a name for themselves.

13. Sportsball players.

14. People who think that Sportsball players are cuties.

15. People who believe that microwave radiation is slowly killing humanity, and who now exclusively eat cold food.

16. A campaign to make basketball Sequoia’s number one spectator sport.

17. The first high school fraternity.

18. A coalition of citizens who appreciate a man in a beaver hat, such as Davy Crockett.

19. A group of people that like making nouns, such as Dave, into adjectives. What a dave move.

20. The lead campaign for David Beckham to consciously uncouple with Posh Spice.

21. The number one reason to feel superior on campus.

8

Sports

December 17, 2014

Varsity boys basketball team Weight training class dribbles to Florida tournament strengthens students

By LILY FRIEBEL Sports Editor The varsity boys basketball team will be in Orlando, Florida over winter break to play in the KSA Holiday Tournament.

The team goes to different states to compete in tournaments every other year.

The Cherokees hope for a good record in Orlando to kickstart them for this upcoming season.

They are among about 50 teams from across the country in an eight team bracket competing in this tournament.

The Cherokees leave Dec. Photo by Lily Friebel 26 and return Dec. 30. While The varsity boys basketball team will compete against there, they will stay at the Disaround 50 other teams from all over the nation in Orney World Resort and spend some of their downtime at Dis- lando, Florida this winter break. ney World.

To help fundraise for the progress,” senior Tommy Lo- but we have a young team this number of piparo said. year. We’re starting one freshtrips, playThe team man and one sophomore, but ers scorelost six se- they’re gonna step in nicely and “We always have a good time: keep for niors last we’ll still be pretty good,” senior we’ve been to Las Vegas, SacNational year, which Martin Mylod Yee said. ramento, San Diego and AriJunior may impact The team obtained six new zona. We’re all pretty close alBasketthe results players, three freshmen, one ready, but it’ll be fun to go all ball (NJB) of how they sophomore and two juniors. the way across the country.” most weekcompete in Their first home league game is —Martin Mylod-Yee, ends at Sethe upcom- a quad game versus Woodside, senior quoia. ing tourna- Jan. 9.

“I think ment.

Lopiparo said, “We hope evthat we look stronger this year Despite the loss, the team is eryone comes out and supports than we did last year. I think we confident they will do well this because we think we can go a learned how to play with each year as they compete in the PAL long way and the crowds always other pretty quickly. I mean South division. a good advantage for us.” [we’re] still not where we need “I think [the graduated seAdditional reporting by staff to be yet, but were making good niors] were really good leaders, reporter Dominick Graham.

By SUNAINA BUTLER & MARS SVEC-BURDICK Staff Reporters Most students get their physical education workout dancing or playing capture the flag, but for some gym class means pumping iron.

The weight room smells undeniably like rubber and sweat, but the class is no longer phased by it.

On a block day, the class begins with a warm-up of jogging, walking, stretching and core strengthening. Then, they travel to the weight room.

“We walk on the track a little bit, then do burns on the machines,” freshman George Sparling said.

Most time is spent on individual workouts, which students keep track of on spreadsheets in their binders.

“Each kid will pick a category to work towards for the quarter. The workouts are already preset,” P.E. department chair Adrian Dilley said. “While some join the class to bulk up, others just like the exercise.”

The weight room’s racks of weights and huge machines present an initially daunting challenge. The sheer size of some of the disks is impressive—some students can bench press more than 200

pounds. But as the class progresses, it is easy to see that superhuman abilities aren’t necessary. With a lot of hard work, students build strength and reach their goals.

“We see strength gains after about a month,” Dilley said. “After that it is just kind of about maintaining strength levels.”

How much students get out of the class depends on how much they put in.

“It’s kinda how you make it. If you goof off, Mr. Dilley will be on your case, but it’s a good class to work out,” senior Dominic Veimau said.

The machines may be intimidating, but the atmosphere of the class isn’t.

“It’s cool to get some new workout buddies,” Veimau said.

Fewer than 50 students are enrolled. The lucky ones who make it in are a horde of boys and, this year, two girls.

“Weight training is not a huge attraction for girls.

In the past, I’ve heard comments like ‘I don’t want to get any bigger,’ or ‘I don’t want to gain muscle.’ Dance class usually pulls a lot of girls out,” Dilley said. “In the future, I would love to see weight training offered more periods, so that more kids could benefit. I think there are definitely more girls and boys that are interested.”

Winter sports previews Girls soccer “This year, the team as a whole is communicating better, we’re very cohesive and I think we will do very well this season because we’ve come together as a team, more than we have in the past years.”

Girls basketball

Girls wrestling

“This year it’s a younger team, it’s a lot of freshmen and sophomores, a couple juniors and then only three seniors, so it’ll be a lot different leadership wise, [....] there’s going to be a lot of learning.”

“The team is a lot smaller than last year, but everyone’s really close and everyone’s really welcoming, and the environment allows us to function as a team; it’s an individual sport but the team is really supportive.”

— Camille Louie, senior

— Kayla Funk, senior

Must see games of the season: 1/20 Girls soccer

vs Terranova

Boys soccer “For us, we’re all mostly seniors, and we’re all really close friends, so [this] helps us because we communicate better, and we’ve all played for similar teams so we all know how our [teammates] play.”

— Misael Montes, senior

Boys basketball

Girls basketball

Girls wrestling

@ Carlmont

@ Half Moon Bay

1/23 1/23 @ Carlmont

— Hannah Dosen, sophomore

2/5

Boys basketball “It’s sad knowing it’s our last season but at the same time, it’s what we’ve been waiting for since freshmen year, so it’s exciting.”

— Brady Stubblefield, senior

Boys wrestling

Boys soccer

vs Capuchino

vs Carlmont

2/12 2/18 Boys wrestling “We’re very close. That relationship helps us build a strong community and team.Tournaments are all day so you’re stuck with them, and you learn to like each other.”

— Ben Inglis, junior

—Compiled by abigail wang