Issue 5

Raven Report Sequoia High School

Volume Viii, Issue 5

1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062

February 4, 2015

Elaborate coming of age celebration marks entrance into womanhood

Upcoming WASC visit to ensure quality of instruction

By SAMANTHA CASWELL Staff Reporter

By CAMRYN HABECKER Staff Reporter

Sequoia will receive a visit from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Feb. 11. The WASC determines if a school meets their requirements in order to earn accreditation. Sequoia was visited three years ago, and now WASC is coming back to check on the school’s progress since then.

“In order for your high school diploma to mean anything, our school needs to be accredited,” said English teacher Alissa Talesnick, who serves as this year’s WASC coordinator. “If we don’t get accreditation, diplomas would be worthless pieces of paper.”

Since being accredited is the goal, faculty and staff met to look at the report that WASC gave the school last visit.

New tests were created along with improved lesson plans.

If Sequoia doesn’t receive accreditation, it doesn’t mean the school will shut down. Instead, WASC would come to check more often, set goals, and create action plans for the school.

In the last report, Sequoia’s critical areas for improvement were closing the achievement gap, differentiating instruction, and improving math skills.

The WASC team of two people will stay for a day to talk with the leadership team, visit classrooms, talk to students and parents, and write the progress report. “[Failing this check] is not going to happen,” Talesnick said. “We had a glowing report last time, so it will be just as positive.”

For a young Latin American girl, a quinceañera can be the highlight of her fifteenth year or even her whole childhood.

These parties take six months to a whole lifetime of planning.

Others choose a trip to Europe or a new car in place of the party—because all cost approximately the same.

“It’s becoming of age, stepping up around the house more,” senior Alby Calles said.

“It means to become more responsible.”

Calles celebrated her quinceañera in 2012 with 250 friends and family members.

Her party was Mardi Grasthemed, and she had five chambelanes, or escorts, who assisted her all day.

Quinceañeras are not just about partying; they are also about maintaining traditions, one of them being the fatherdaughter dance.

Freshman Janelly Hernandez performed this dance with her father whom she was not particularly close with. This dance brought the two together.

“We didn’t talk at all, we just cried, but it was enough to show how much we missed each other,” Hernandez said.

Quinceañeras can resemble weddings in size of attendees, cost and months of planning.

Other customs include the changing of the shoes which represents her maturing, as well as receiving a ring or necklace from a godparent.

For some however, it isn’t the

gifts that mean the most, it is the people who they choose to celebrate their special day with.

Hernandez had a large quinceñera of about 300 relatives, family friends, her close friends

ICAP classes move towards standardized future

By ZACK ROSENBLATT Staff Reporter Recent years have offered fewer and fewer freshmen ICAP classes, causing some students worry they won’t have the chance to learn the advanced curriculum, or that the classes are completely going away, but this is not the case. The ICAP curriculum is still present, just taught with different course names or taught different years.

The first ICAP class to go was World Studies for freshmen, discontinued in the 2011-2012 school year. Out of the three ICAP classes that have been discontinued since 2012, World Studies has the only course that has had its ICAP class completely removed districtwide. This allows students to join ICAP based on work ethic and skillset demonstrated in freshman year

Feature:

Airsoft captures time of senior friends

Photo courtesy of Diana Mendoza

and seven chambelanes.

While the party is a main focus of the day, it is not the only event. In the cases where the girl has already completed her first communion, she has a mass or church service held in her honor.

Formal photos can last for multiple hours before the party starts, as with a wedding.

Calles took her quinceañera photos around San Francisco and had her chambelanes carry her large skirt and help her in and out of a limousine.

“It was really hard to not get my dress caught or dirty,” Calles said. “I had to have people help me all the time.”

Formal dances are choreographed for multiple months and are performed by the birthday girl and her chambelanes. “[The dance] was probably my favorite part of everything,” said junior Diana Mendoza, who wore a bright blue dress in place of the traditional white dress. Mendoza, who originally wanted a car, chose to preserve tradition and honor the money her family has saved for so long for the party.

“My mom said I can get a car when I grow up,” Mendoza said. “But I can't have another quinceañera because I’m only fifteen once.”

Page 6

Special:

School stress, examined

Page 4-5

Graphic by Zack Rosenblatt

rather than 7th and 8th grade test scores.

“This helps with families coming [into Redwood City who are unfamiliar] with the ICAP program and don’t know to access it,” IB coordinator Lisa McCahon said. “It takes away those barriers so everyone starts on an equal playing field and students have to demonstrate in 9th grade that they are

ready for ICAP classes.”

Spanish’s ICAP courses also saw change, with the original Spanish I/II ICAP class transitioning to a sophomore Spanish II/III ICAP class after the 2012-2013 school year.

Before then, freshmen interested in ICAP Spanish would need to take Spanish I/II

see ICAP, page 8

By the numbers

40 hours

Amount some seniors report working per week at their jobs

2

News

February 4, 2015

Small team of counselors Pursuit of full IB diploma over supports entire student body passions forces hard choices Theory of Knowledge (TOK) which they take the second semester of their junior year and the first semester of TOK. CAS. EE. Certificate. Di- their senior year. Students must also ploma. The rigorous International complete 150 Creativity, Action, SerBaccalaureate program has been an vice (CAS) hours and write an Eximportant part of Sequoia since 2002, tended Essay (EE). but it can be difficult to figure out Despite these requirements, some which classes to take, how many and students feel that the extensive work why. There are significant differences is worth the outcome. between the diploma and the certifi“I definitely think it is worth it. cate, and the choice Band is something between these can “Just do it for yourself and fol- that I can find in depend on the stu- low what you really want to many other things. I do.” dent. can still do Jazz band Many juniors will —Rayna Schlossberg, senior at lunch, and I’m in soon have to decide an orchestra outside between dropping of school. Although I an activity and taking the full diplo- do miss the class, I think it’s definitema program, or taking the certificate ly worth it to take the diploma,” said path instead. junior Abby Hartzell, who decided to “I like the way I am doing it a lot pursue the IB diploma and IB Art inbecause I have the challenging classes, stead of taking band. but I also have the fun, relaxing classes Students who take the certificate that really take a load off,” said senior do not have to take TOK, do CAS Rayna Schlossberg, who decided to hours or write an EE and can elect to pursue the certificates instead of the take anywhere from 1–4 IB classes. diploma because it would mean sac“You should do the diploma if you rificing both band and computer sci- want to learn the skills. . . but if you ence, the two things that she was truly think it is the only way you will get in passionate about. to a good college, don’t do it for that,” To receive the full IB diploma, a Schlossberg said. “Don’t do it for your student must take 3-4 IB classes in parents. Just do it for yourself and foltheir junior and senior years, as well as low what you really want to do.”

By LAUREN CRESTA Staff Reporter

Photo by Madalene Schorr

Counselor Shari Schussel meets with students daily to ensure that they are on track to graduate and to prepare them for their futures.

By MADALENE SCHORR Staff Reporter With five counselors and 2,115 students with both academic and emotional needs, it’s a wonder counselors aren’t always overwhelmed. Neighboring schools such as Woodside have 1,764 students to five counselors and Carlmont with 2,114 students to seven counselors. Most counselors at Sequoia manage around 430 to 450 students.

“I wish there was more time to spend individually meeting with all of our students,”counselor Joni Gordon said.

Counselors do their jobs because

they’re passionate about working with youth and sharing in student successes, but there are time constraints.

“When I meet with students, were not encouraged to keep students longer than 15 minutes really in our office, and there are so many situations that arise where you can’t push a student out after 15 minutes because they’re breaking down in front of you, talking about this and that, and I just wanted to talk about grades, but you can’t ignore this,” counselor Shari Schussel said.

Counselors are currently registering students for next year while they continue to support students’ personal needs.

Electronic Arts Academy offers technology-focused electives, smaller class sizes

By ERIK HUISMAN Staff Reporter The Electronic Arts (EA) Academy is a technology– focused program that provides students with small class sizes, technology skills and college preparation.

The EA Academy is made up of 150 10th-12th graders, and they are currently recruiting for next year.

Academy class sizes average 25 students, compared to 34 in other classes.

“The teachers get to

know you better, so they can help you with your strengths and weaknesses,” senior Arnel Baarde said.

Students have access to a myriad of technology, such as the school’s only Mac lab and video cameras, as well as editing software like Final Cut Pro. The academy receives a state grant that is matched by the school district and industry partners. The money is used to purchase equipment and keep the classes small, and industry partners help

fund mentors and events.

“We’re working on this proj“We don’t teach a differ- ect where you have to film anient curriculum, we just have mals. I’m doing a squirrel chasa greater emphasis on tech- ing my classmates. Now, I’m n o l o g y,” working on Academy editing it,” teacher Ja- Average EA Academy senior Crisson Drogin tal Guizar class size said. Acadesaid. my students Students have a techin the acadeAverage nonnology– my also have based elec- academy class size access to a tive such as mentor proweb design or animation. In gram. Mentors work in techsome classes, students create nology in the Bay Area. Each videos and commercials. student is paired with a mentor

25 34

who helps the student prepare and train for a job and mentors continue to support students even after they graduate.

“In the future, you can use them as a reference to get a job,” Baarde said.

The academy focuses on teaching technology skills but also teaches valuable life skills. The academy offers Physics, Biology, English, history, Web Design, Animation and Study Skills.

“The most important thing I’ve learned in the academy is how to work with others and how to use various programs to make a small idea look like something big that you could look back on and feel proud about,” senior Saul Luna said.

Current events inspire local connections

Washington, D.C. In the State of the Union Jan. 20 President Barack Obama called for free community college.

The program, which would have to be approved by Congress, would likely make the college dream a reality for more students at Sequoia. “I think there are a lot of families that use community colleges, and I think [this program] is a great idea,” said Terri Ignaitis, College and Career counselor.

Lebanon, Ohio 17-year-old transgender teen Leelah Alcorn, born Josh Alcorn, committed suicide Dec. 28. Her religious parents sent her to ‘conversion’ therapists, tried to convince her that she was meant to be a boy and refused to let her undergo gender reassignment. Her tragic death has inspired a petition for ‘Leelah’s Law’ that would make conversion therapy illegal and has received 105,770 signatures so far.

The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is inviting other clubs to their anti-bullying campaign.

“Our school is very good at keeping away from discrimination based on perceived gender… but we are in California, and we’re so privileged, and we’re in a bubble,” said junior GSA Board Member Elijah Punzal. “When we leave Sequoia, the bubble’s gone; things are happening in this world, and no one should have to suffer from being unknown or mistreated.”

Paris, France A group of Islamist extremists broke into the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine known for its provocative cartoons, including depictions of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, Jan. 7. They killed 12 people in the initial attack, and in the ensuing manhunt three attackers and five hostages were killed.

Many view this as an attack on the freedom of the press, and millions across the world have shown support by delcaring ‘Je suis Charlie,’ or ‘I am Charlie.’

The TOK and French classes discussed this incident, and French students made posters.

“When [you] learn a language [you] don’t just learn the language; you should learn the culture, and Charlie shook the whole world,” French teacher Laëtitia Kuttan said. “That was not only an attack to a newspaper—it was an attack on us, [and] it was an attack on freedom of speech.”

— Compiled by CARMEN VESCIA,

additional staff reporting by CLAIRE BUGOS

3 Weathers adds long commute to work, opts out of “climate best” Feature

February 4, 2015

By PHILIP TYSON

Median home values in the Bay Area Source: Zillow

$1,157,800

$1,357,000

Staff Reporter

Science teacher Mitch Weathers knows that the current Redwood City renovations have had a huge financial impact on the community, and as a result he has chosen to take another route.

“There’s people living in two-bedroom apartments with ten, twenty people just because [housing] costs so much,” Weathers said. “Let’s say you have your own bedroom and I don’t, but we both get the same homework assignment.

You’re more likely to get it done than I am because I have no place to do my homework.”

Redwood City has recently become very appealing to big tech companies, sitting right at the midpoint of the Peninsula, but for Sequoia students and staff who live here, it means an increase in rent prices. Weathers himself faced the problem of high housing prices when he initially came to Sequoia in 2002. He decided to settle in San Francisco and deal with the everyday commute rather

$1,064,200

than spend a lot of money to live near the school.

Just this past year he moved back to the place he grew up, Sacramento, 112 miles away from Redwood City, and chose to go part-time at Sequoia to make space for his family and outside work.

“It’s been really nice being back [in Sacramento]. Before I would see my family four to six times a year maybe. I see them more than that in a month now,” Weathers said. “I [also] wanted my kids to know their grandparents; that was a big deal for us.”

Still, he has to wake up at 3:30 a.m. and handle an hour-and-a-half commute (when there is no traffic) a couple times per week. Although he gets a lot more time with family, he has a difficult time making certain school events.

“I wish I could either be closer to train or bike or walk to work, and that way I’d be part of the community, [which] I’m not right now,” Weathers said. “I don’t get to go to rallies because they’re on Fridays; I can’t just drive over and go.

That’s a little bit of a sacrifice.”

Because his wife stays home full-time, he’s able to make the commute and still have time for his two young children.

This is the first year he’s trying out a new

$4,728,100 $546,200

$1,086,700

$1,678,600

strategy: he first comes to Sequoia on Monday and stays in town with a friend, leaves Tuesday evening and comes back for one more day on Thursday.

“I love it here; I think it’s a good school,” Weathers said. “I’m committed enough here that [the commute] doesn’t bother me. This year was like testing a hypothesis, and it seems to be working.”

When comparing the prices of housing in Sacramento and Redwood City, the huge difference is obvious. The median home value in Sacramento is $255,700, while in Redwood City it is $1,064,200, over four times the amount. Also, prices in Redwood City have gone up by 13.1 percent this past year and are expected to increase by 4.4 percent within the next year as predicted by Zillow.

Though Weathers is unsure of what lies ahead for the future of Redwood City, he knows that the rise in housing prices will definitely continue to affect teachers and students.

“This is such a beautiful, wonderful place to be, that if you’re born and raised here [there’s] the mindset of staying and there’s [also] a lot of people who want to live here,” Weathers said. “I can imagine some people not going in the direction of education because it just doesn’t seem feasible; there’s going to be some fall-out at some point.”

Weathers brings up a question as to whether teachers will even be able to afford living near the school they work at with the money they make.

“In ten years from now, who can afford to be a teacher? What [will happen] to the Peninsula long-term? To me it’s an interesting story that’s unique to the Peninsula.”

Long commutes and short rides: how students get to school

By IRIDIAN VILLANUEVA

Staff Reporter

Whether you ride the bus, train, a bike, or drive a car, students have to wake up at certain times depending where they live in order to arrive to school on time.

A typical day for senior Emanuel Botello involves waking up at at 5 a.m. and leaving his house at 6:20 a.m. in order to catch the bus to get to school just in time for zero period which starts at 7:30 a.m. The ride from Menlo Park, where Botello lives, to school is about 40-50 minutes and he usually spends that time on the bus listening to music or doing work from a previous class that he didn’t have time to do. He pays $22 in order to get a pass for the entire month so he

San Francisco

28 miles

can ride the bus.

Going home from school, Botello waits for the bus that comes at 5:05 p.m. which is usually crowded with people.

He says it depends on what time the bus arrives to determine whether it’s crowded or not and that the stops the bus has to make makes the ride longer. He finds himself getting home around 6:30 p.m. depending on what bus he takes. “[One time], when I was going home, I fell asleep and I woke up in East Palo Alto. I walked back,” Botello said.

Botello has been taking the bus as his transportation to school for the past years since he was a freshman.

For freshman Julia Nemeroff, living between San Francisco and Redwood City means waking up at different times

San Carlos

2 miles

to try to get to school on time. When Nemeroff goes to San Francisco she has to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready and catch the train. Nemeroff spends $5 on the one way ticket going to school and gets picked up after by her mother.

She arrives at school just in time to make it a few minutes early and usually arrives on campus at around 8:26 a.m.

During the 40 minutes of her ride she usually listens to music or finishes work from the night before that she needs to complete.

Although Nemeroff wakes up early when she lives in San Francisco, when she comes to Redwood City she gets to enjoy her sleep by waking up later around 8 a.m. and only taking a five minute drive to school.

Sequoia

Menlo Park

It only takes senior Clark Hilbert about 6-10 minutes to arrive at school on his bike. His day starts off by getting ready at 7:30 a.m. and leaving his house at 8:10 a.m.

“I’ve had a flat tire in my experiences maybe 3-5 times [on my way home]. I would go to my bike to get ready to go home and I would have a flat tire and I would either have to walk my bike home or call my dad to pick me up, but [I’ve] never [had one] going to school...that would be really bad,” Hilbert said.

Despite the construction by the route he takes and the crowded streets with parents taking their children to school, Hilbert has managed to arrive to school on time and avoid the consequence of arriving late and getting a detention.

East Palo Alto

7.6 miles

4 miles Graphic by Claire Bugos

Special

4

Everyone from students to admissions officers focuses on scores—GPAs, SATs, number of IB classes, hours of community service—yet there seems to be a general unawareness—or avoidance—of the number of student suicides on the rise in our neighboring communities. Although these suicides represent the tragic extreme of the possible effects school-induced pressure can cause, alongside other contributing factors, the issue of student stress is all too common and must be addressed. In acknowledgement of a recent suicide at Gunn High School, the seventh youth suicide in Palo Alto in the past six years, the Raven Report decided to examine the way that students at our academically rigorous school are dealing with stress and what is being asked of them.

C

D E S ES

R T S : N

O I T U A

Dr. Denise Pope is a Senior Lecturer at Stanford University and is the co-founder of “Challenge Success,” an organization that works with schools to find the best strategies that will allow students to thrive and be challenged in a healthy way. Eleven years ago, Pope was writing her dissertation on local schools that seemed to be very successful

S T U O

Q&A:

Dr. Denise Pope

because students were getting good grades and going to college; however, while shadowing students at these schools, she saw how stressed they were because of their workload and the negative effects that came with that. The Raven Report spoke to Pope about the causes and possible ways to reduce student stress, and she shared some short and long-term solutions for teachers and students included in this spread.

How do stress levels affect cheating in high school?

Q: What is your ideal vision for students in the future? Q: A: Students will say, ‘You know when you’re totally exhausted, and you’ve just done A: My vision is that every student is healthy, physically and mentally. You can’t learn if you’re exhausted, stressed out, having panic and anxiety attacks and struggling with depression. [After that,] that every student is truly engaged in learning as opposed to [...] doing school and playing the game and doing it to get into college.

Q: What can students do to avoid and cope with stress?

A: One of the things you absolutely want to do is make sure you're getting enough sleep. The other thing would be to find positive coping strategies that work for you—go out for a run, do yoga, look into mindfulness or breathing exercises. Maybe you’re the type that needs to take a nap or take a break, get a snack and switch tasks.

A whole bunch of things can be a positive coping strategy, as opposed to a negative coping strategy like going online to check social media, which will do nothing for you and often times can actually exacerbate the problem.

Q: What is your opinion on “mental health days”?

A: There’s this notion that if you need a mental health day, you should take it. One of the things we do is work to incorporate free periods into the daily schedule [either one to two per week or one every day.] If you have time to get a jump on your homework, to catch up during a free period, that’s sort of like a mental health period but legitimized and you're not missing any school to do it. I'm sort of hesitant to say, ‘Oh I’m all for it’ because I want these to be sanctioned by the school, and so maybe the school says once a quarter everyone gets a mental health day.

three hours of homework, and you have a paper due the next day, and you haven’t even started it, you’re going to compromise your values.’ Some of it is just that they cannot meet the high expectations of their parents or their teachers or they believe [wrongly] they won’t get into college unless they have perfect grades. Stress and sleep deprivation are definitely connected to cheating.

A st

Q: How can students find balance between preparing for college and managing stress?

A: Let me tell you, colleges want that too. College admissions officers don’t want the kids who are totally burnt out and fried from high school. They want kids who are ready to come to college, who want to learn and be there and who are not the hoop jumpers. Everybody uses the college thing as an excuse not to make changes or to overload themselves. Everyone says, ‘Oh when I get in I can have a life.’ That’s a lie that I hear a lot.

Q: How can teachers improve stress levels?

A: Really to understand that yes, students do put a lot on their plates and that’s not the teacher’s fault, but the teacher also has a lot he/she can do to mitigate the stress.

Really coordinating with other teachers, really looking at your students’ schedules and saying you know it’s not going to be perfect, but we’re going to try and avoid some major overlaps. I think they can also be really mindful about the amount of homework they assign on weekends.

H ho ni

Mental health days provide relaxa Inbetween after-school jobs, piles of homework and SAT prep, many students find themselves taking “mental health days,” with some saying they take over five mental health periods each month.

Some students claim that mental health days do much more good than harm, providing the time and calm that they need to catch up on work. Despite missing in-class instruction, these days at home can allow students to recuperate and return to school better rested, ready to process information and participate. At home, these students have time to catch-up on sleep that they’ve been deprived of lately, with the average senior receiving six and a half hours of sleep per night compared with the doctor-recommended eight to nine hours.

“I can’t stay up later, personally. If I have work to do and I don’t have enough time to do it, I have to take a nap and then work,” senior Carolyn Burt said. “If I run on little sleep, I get really jittery and I don’t concentrate as well. I don’t feel good driving to school, I don’t feel confident that I’m going to be able to get through classes and retain the information as well as I would if I took a two hour

nap and skipped one of my classes. Then I would get the information from the other four classes better.”

Taking a mental health period can mean anything from showing up late to school to leaving early to taking an entire day off, which can mean over 300 missed minutes of class time and a significant amount of make up work.

“I like the idea of mental health days, but I want them to be sanctioned by the school so that you’re not having to miss and make up,” Stanford Senior Lecturer Dr. Denise Pope said. “Obviously if you’re feeling so stressed out and exhausted that you shouldn’t even be driving the vehicle that you’re driving to school, you need to sleep. Health is obviously a priority, so if that one day of sleeping in and catching up is going to make you feel better and so much more awake for the following days and assignments and tests, then that’s what you should do, but I would like it to be sanctioned by the school.”

Pope has worked with schools to incorporate free periods into student schedules: essentially mental health periods to provide an opportunity to get ahead on

Feature

S T N E D

U T S

Average hours of sleep tudents get per night:

Hours of omework each ight on average

2.5

(These statistics were gathered from a survey administered to over 300 Sequoia students.)

5 A special feature written by Editor-in-Chief DALIA JUDE and Managing Editor CARMEN VESCIA with graphics by Managing Editor CLAIRE BUGOS

EDITORIAL

Coping should be school-wide effort

It’s common for students to take on unhealthy from you, but rather choose classes that will both loads, whether that be self-motivated, asked by challenge you and allow you to succeed. Think teachers and parents or expected by colleges, but about your extracurriculars and what your life will that doesn’t mean that being sleep-deprived and look like outside of your classes be it college apoverwhelmed should be the norm. plications, a job or new responsibilities at home.

Students: Talk to your parents, teachers and counselors about High school is hard. Preparing for the rest of our what the best action plan is for you individually. lives—while not even being sure if we’re children Teachers: or adults, but being treated like both—can get the First of all, thank you for everything that you best of us sometimes. From household chores to already do to help us manage our sometimes crazy hours of daily homework to needing to financially lives. We know that you’re trying prepare us for support your family, we are left whatever the future may hold with little free time and lots of and that you put an enormous stress. amount of thought and effort A challenging class doesn’t While we have a right and into planning. always have to give an hour reason to be stressed, sometimes That being said, some homeof homework per night, and we find ourselves in tears over a work assignments are valuable when busy-work piles up, confusing 10-point homework and genuinely helpful, but some work quality usually goes assignment as a result of accuaren’t, and as Pope pointed out, down. mulated stress from other areas it’s sometimes easy to forget that in our lives. there’s a difference between rigThe purpose of high school or and load. is to prepare us for our lives after these four years, A challenging class doesn’t always have to give but often that goal is lost in sight of the daily presan hour of homework per night, and when busysure to succeed. In cases of anxiety, it is helpful to work piles up, work quality usually goes down; think about the “big picture.” sometimes students may even feel inclined to cheat Stanford Senior Lecturer Dr. Denise Pope, an or put in no effort if they feel like the work they’re expert on student stress, says that the number one doing is merely being graded for completion rather change to alleviate stress is to get more sleep. If you than quality. get half an hour to an hour more sleep each night, Please know that a night off now and then gives you will start to feel improvements immediately. us the opportunity to refresh and come to next class If your stress stems from a potential failing grade ready to work hard and engage. and you feel like too much damage has been done, And for those assignments that really do matter, talk to your teacher. Teachers want us to succeed, please give us the time and space we need to put in and they want to help us. As stressed or scared as that effort by coordinating with other teachers and you might be to face your teacher after not turning departments. Many of you already do this, but the in any homework all month, it is still the beginning more who do it consistently, the better. If we have of the semester and it is never too late to ask for four big projects and two important tests all due on help—they will be glad that you are stepping up the same day, we won’t be able to do our best work and will work with you to help you. or get the most out of the work we’re doing.

Though second semester has just started, it is Finally, if there’s no way around handing out a almost time for students to sign up for next year’s heavy load, it never hurts to acknowledge that a classes. As you look ahead at what courses will be lot is being asked of us but that you know we can offered, don’t worry about what colleges will “want” handle it.

ation but prove imperfect solution homework or just take a break in the middle of a rigorous day.

“If teachers could build in more ways to associate school with mental health and relaxation, then students won't need to take whole days off to do that,” science teacher Jessica Magallanes said. “For me, when students do that, if they email me, then we know what's going on, then we’re good. It’s hard when they just don't come in and refuse to even think about school—they can't get caught up when they come back.”

Magallanes tries to build stress management into her class by teaching students positive coping strategies to have an alternative to skipping school when they’re feeling a lot of pressure.

“I just try to be real with them about the stress because a lot of it is external.

You can’t change what your parents expect from you or what colleges expect— but you can change how you feel right in that moment,” Magallanes said.

“What we’re [saying] right now is that if you're stressed at work, just don't go in, and that’s not a healthy habit for people

to get into.”

A decision to take a day off and catch up—with the catch of falling behind yet again—is one that is only a short-term solution for a long-term problem of stress, especially at a school like Sequoia that offers rigorous course loads such as the IB Diploma.

“There’s a lot of stress, but at the same time, it comes with the territory, and it’s nothing that people can’t deal with if as long as they have the help and support of their community that Sequoia does a really good job of having,” Burt said.

TS C N E D TU S T U O SC T D E N S E S D TS TRE S N E : D N TU TS S N UTIO E T A D U C U ST DO E TS T S N U S E O E D TR ED TU S S S : S N T E R U O O TI ST U D : E A N S C O S I TS UT N TRE A E S C D : U N T IO TS OUT S CAUT UDEN

6

Feature

February 4, 2015

Passion for airsoft triggers senior hobbies

By SUNAINA BUTLER and MADDIE PEI Staff Reporters Tiny plastic bullets slice through the air, zipping out into the arena. The pyrotechnics flash bright orange and red, shooting out flares. A dune buggy rides into the arena. The ex-military men and women swiftly run alongside a teenage girl holding a pink gun.

The adrenaline is pumping, but all familiar to seniors Aaron Castillo and Quinton Richter, who routinely experience the insides of an airsoft arena.

Airsoft is a more realistic experience than paintball, played in an indoor arena used for the military and local police.

Airsoft guns are replica firearms that shoot non-lethal bullets. “[The arena] will just throw anything

[its] got at you. You don’t exactly know what to expect. Sometimes they’ll bring out a dune buggy, line out some pyrotechnics, which are flares,” Richter said.

“As a group, we have to adapt to situations, assess our surroundings.”

Richter and Castillo play airsoft with some Sequoia senior classmates Ish Lopez, Liam Dolan and Sean Milburn.

Airsoft is not a team sport, but still allows room for participants to bond with one another. At every game, non-action time creates ‘empty space’ as a breeding ground for conversation and bonding.

“You have moments where you are out in the field where you’re with some random person that you don’t even know,” Castillo said. “You’re sticking together with that person and hanging out and you become friends.”

For this group of airsofters, there is

more than just shooting targets. Pre-military and military use airsoft as practice, since the military simulations mimic actual combat. And for the ex-military, airsoft is therapy.

“You don’t just go out there and shoot each other,” Richter said, “A lot of these [people] need to get over PTSD. It’s a really good transition into normal everyday life.”

Airsoft encompasses a wide variety of players. Participants range from ten to seventy years of age.

Airsoft is not without controversy. In November 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio, a 911 caller reported twelve-year-old Tamir Rice pointing a gun at random people. The gun was later reported to be fake. Officers arrived asking Rice to show his hands. Rice instead reached for his waistband. Police fatally shot him,

stating the orange tip indicating an airsoft gun was removed.

“Airsofters are generally pretty good about safety,” Richter said. “We handle toy guns like real guns. The kids that you see in the news don’t play airsoft.

It’s their buddy’s gun. They don’t follow safety precautions.”

Naturally, since airsoft involves guns, though fake, it carries along stereotypes.

“The biggest stereotype that people give airsofters is that they are going to join the military,” Castillo said.

And not everyone understands that airsoft is game.

“When my grandma found out my mom was letting me play airsoft, she thought my mom was letting me play with real guns,” Richter said, “But I think if they came and played they’d have a lot of fun, it’s so goofy.”

Drill intrudes on learning but prepares campus

By MARS SVEC-BURDICK Staff Reporter Code Red—Intruder on campus. Jan. 17, staff and students took time out of the busy learning schedule to go through the motions of a scary situation.

The student body was forewarned about the drill the previous Tuesday, through video announcements in which Administrative Vice Principal Mike Kuliga instructed them on the gravity of

the situation.

A few important learnings came out of this year’s drill. In Melissa Schmidt’s Algebra 2/Trigonometry class, the supposedly locked door opened when administrators tried the handle.

“I am glad that we drill because I was in a different classroom than I usually teach in, and I realized that there was something funky with the door that I hadn’t been prepared for, so it was a good lesson for me,” Schmidt said.

Student programmers tackle mobile app development

By XAVI BOLUÑA Staff Reporter Apps are the center of modern day life; a grey area between productivity and procrastination. While most know how to use them, only some know how to make them.

Junior Rosie Valencia and three other girls spent their sophomore year creating the app “TagIt!”, a community service app which later placed in the top ten of the Bay Area’s Technovation Challenge.

Using an interface developed by MIT, the team could easily create applications out of a web browser.

“It was pretty easy to use App Inventor because it’s building blocks.

You’re just connecting things, but you’re using the real syntax of coding,” Valencia said. “Once you get used to this, it’s easier to learn code.”

A new class taught by Cameron Dodge and Victoria Mitchell will use App Inventor to teach students how to create their own apps.

Dodge already teaches two courses on Java and SQL, both of which are coding languages. According to him, coding is a way to tell a computer what to do. Anything on your computer is built using code. While understanding code is important, being able to fix problems is equally, if not more, important. It often takes hours to find mistakes and fix them.

“Think of how you’re writing an English essay,” said freshman Cale Hallamasek, a Java programmer

working on his latest app, “Save the Mangoes.” “It’s not spelling errors [you look for]. It’s the context. In an English essay, the way you’re narrating it might be boring or [incoherent].”

These problems are often hard to find, necessitating problem solving skills and constant testing.

“That process [of bugfixing] is something that [students learn].

‘Something’s not working, why isn’t it working? Oh, there’s the error.’

And then they’ll fix it,” said Dodge.

“So troubleshooting is an important skill and we teach those skills.

‘Write a short section of code, test it.’”

For many programmers, software development isn’t just a hobby but a future career. With high growth and a median pay of more than 93,000 dollars according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, programmers can look forward to a thriving and sustainable job market.

“For students that choose to go into Computer Science, they won’t have any problems getting a job, but you’ve got to be good at it. You have to like it, otherwise you’ll be miserable,” Dodge said.

Students interested in software development have many resources available to them including Codecademy and Stack Overflow.

“There [are] many ways to learn code and [people] should pursue it,” said Valencia. “It’s not that difficult to learn if you’re determined.

Various other classes had teachers or substitutes without clear instructions. “[During the drill] we had a sub. She didn’t really know what to do, but she tried to remain calm,” sophomore Lisa Bussiek said. “We treated it not very seriously, but still with respect.”

Although teachers have more confidence in this second year of the drill, many students were left with questions about an intruder during lunch, or what happens if a door comes unlocked.

“One of the things about doing intruder drills is that it is impossible to prepare for every scenario. The key... is prevention. We offer a variety of services, but even before the services we work really hard to create a positive student culture here at Sequoia. A culture that’s inclusive, a culture where we work hard to prevent bullying and dynamics that make people feel alienated,” Kuliga said.

“The balance is not to create a culture of fear but one of preparedness.”

Small staff creates lifelong volume of memories the actual yearbook in midMarch.

“Procrastination could be Throughout the year, an issue, but once the ball members of the yearbook starts rolling on the deadclub capture events and lines, the momentum really produce something that keeps the production of the the whole school uses to yearbook moving,” math remember their favorite teacher and yearbook advisexperier Eileen ences of “It is a super creative as Bray said. the past Bray has well as rewarding way to school seen many year. De- take total control of making changes in something as well as learning spite their produchard work about such interesting things ing the put into like digital photography and yearbook, the year- graphic design.” moving book, they —Eileen Bray, from fewer often reYearbook Adviser pages and ceive little black and or no recognition for their white to upwards of 200 efforts each year. pages and full color.

“People definitely unIt also changed from an derestimate how much official class to a club and work it is and how hard freelance situation two years you work to make it look ago. really good,” junior Katie “The positive side to havFazio said. ing it be less of a class is now Production begins in anybody in the school who the first months of school wants to design something with a brainstorm of ideas or include something for and taking photos. This their club, group of friends work continues with for- or their sports team is welmatting and laying out come to do so,” Bray said. pages until the final copies Those who remain a part are submitted for print of of the production stay per-

By TREVOR CROWELL Staff Reporter

sistent in making the yearbook better and better.

“Freshman year the book was pretty good, last year it was okay but this year we want to make it even better than before,” Fazio said.

The dedication that goes into making the yearbook ends in a satisfying moment at the very end.

“The best part is having it in your hand and seeing the final yearbook for the first time,” Fazio said.

For Bray, the satisfaction comes from the realization that the work that is put in for Sequoia’s yearbook is something that is fading in many schools.

Yearbooks are becoming less and less common as the internet becomes an ever greater sharing site for photos and memories.

“Some schools have cancelled yearbook, but I do think that it is a really important part of high school life for a lot of reasons,” Bray said. “It is a history of the school, a record of the year and it is a great thing for people to have to keep their memories.”

Feature/ Opinion

February 4, 2015

Student struggles to be recognized by peers, family

7

began to identify as non-bina- was supportive of their identity it down. I should, but I just get are pretty tolerant, or at least ry. Their next challenge was to after taking time to understand really scared. I just can’t. I’m still want to be,” Friedmann said. come out to friends and family, it. trying to deal with it mySequoia has also Derek is constantly called many of whom were incredu“Their sexuality doesn’t mat- self,” Derek said. taken steps to enthe wrong name. Their pro- lous or uninformed. ter: I love them for who they Derek’s close circle sure that transnouns are misused. Their sexu“Some people will be like, are and what they bring,” Anne of friends and her Algender students ality is falsely assumed. They ‘You don’t know what you’re said. “They’ve got a positive at- gebra teacher, Max are not denied are judged, ridiculed and ques- talking about. How do you not titude in spite of the negativity Friedmann, are the basic student of transgender tioned for having the courage to feel [like a boy or a girl]?’ I just that is against them. They still main exceptions to privileges. individuals have accept their own identity. don’t,” Derek said. “Or, [people laugh. They don’t criticize or this trend. After askThese measures tried to commit Derek, a freshman, has will say] ‘That’s weird.’ Yes, I get judge people, and I think that’s ing Friedmann to use include two gensuicide known they didn’t fit that. I think it’s weird too.” what I love best about them.” the name Derek, they der neutral bathinto the traditional Derek has also reAnne is concerned that Der- were surprised that Friedrooms and allowing gender binary ceived anger and ek isn’t receiving the emotional mann agreed and asked what seniors to choose the color of since seventh cruelty from support necessary for them, and pronouns they preferred. Fried- their graduation robes regardless grade, and peers and family she encourages Derek to remain mann has even emailed Derek’s of gender. California law also in now uses the by being open true to their identity no matter other teachers to explain the requires that schools accompronoun their name and pronouns that they modate the needs of transgenpeople identify about their gen- who disapproves. in lieu of he or der as well as “Just be yourself. If would like to go by. der students, including allowas she. their sexuality. In people accept you, Friedmann was ing transgender students to use transgender transgender: “I used to the beginning of fine. If they sure to be as whichever locker room or baththink there was the year, Derek was don’t, walk supportive as room that the student identifies a person who identifies as something wrong with in the girls’ locker room past them. possible af- as, as opposed to the one which being a gender that was not their me,” Derek said. “In seventh changing for PE and discussing At some ter seeing complies with their biological biological sex grade, I used to really want to a female ex with a friend. Derek, point you a panel of sex. non-binary: be girly, sometimes, and other who is pansexual, was overheard don’t have Derek remains adamant that a person with a gender that is neither L G B TQ + times I was like, ‘I can’t even and assumed to be a lesbian by to associate s t u d e n t s more can be done to improve male nor female look at bras.’ Then I learned one of their classmates. with them. who ex- the lives of trans students and pansexual: about [being] transgender in “She was like, ‘Oh, you’re a Until then, pressed the would like to see in-class edua sexuality where attraction eighth grade, and it all started lesbian?’ then she just started you just hang i m p o r t a n c e cation on LGBTQ subjects, a is not based on gender to make sense.” whispering to her other friends on and work of teachers adgender neutral locker room and identity Derek was born as a girl about it. Everyone just assumes through it,” Anne vocating for LG- more gender neutral bathrooms. named Darcy. As they grew up, I’m lesbian. I’m not. When I said.

BTQ+ students and their Derek believes that all of these they began to realize that neither go into the locker room, all the Despite the support, Derek’s identities during his training. changes would make coming their name nor their biological other girls freak out. It’s still re- aunt continues to call them by Friedmann has made a point of out and existing in a school engender matched their identity. ally awkward; I just try to their legal name instead hanging a “Safe Space” poster on vironment easier for them and “I Unsure of what their feelings go in and get out as fast of Derek. The major- his wall and correcting Derek’s other transgender students. meant, but sure that they were as possible,” Derek ity of Derek’s teach- peers when they use the wrong “I’m still coming out. It takes used to not female, Derek struggled to said. ers and friends also name or pronoun. time.

You have to give people think there understand their gender idenWhen they first neglect or don’t “I get a strong sense from time,” Derek said. “If you know was something tity throughout middle school. tried to come out at know to use their colleagues that tolerance and ac- who you are, don’t let anyone wrong with After turning to the internet home, their father bepreferred name. ceptance really is of value [here]. take that from you. At the end me.” and platforms such as Tumblr came angry and yelled, “[My friends] don’t How you actually put that into of the day, it’s just you.” for information, Derek real- causing them to vow to take [using my name and practice is the million dollar Derek and Anne are pseudized that they did not conform never come out to their parents. pronouns] seriously. I can’t really question, but I’m really confi- onyms granted to the interviewees to male or female genders and However, Derek’s aunt, Anne, blame them, because I don’t lay dent that people, by and large, to protect a student’s identity.

By GLENN BILLMAN Online Editor

41%

1 450

breaking

t

h e

binary

Make safe space for transgender students

By ISABEL DECASTRO Staff Reporter Sequoia should be a safe space for people who need somewhere to get away from abuse, especially if it’s about gender identity. Sequoia needs something more than just the GSA, we need more people helping with the safety of transgender students. With help from the school they might feel better about themselves and not end up like the so many transgender people we have lost.

A recent study from 2011 by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found that 41 percent of transgender people have tried to commit suicide as a result of the destructive pervasive discrimination they face.

Transgender youth are at risk of being kicked out of their houses after coming out. After that they have no where to go.

Members of the trans community are

traumatized by conversion therapy and abuse from religious family members.

One tragic example of this was the recent suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old whose family didn’t support her gender identity. She didn’t get called the pronouns and the name she wanted to be known by, which invalidated her identity to a point which she could no longer stand. We don’t want this happening at Sequoia.

I don’t think students notice when they say pronouns incorrectly. Sometimes you don’t know which pronouns to use or what name. Don’t be afraid to ask. It’s okay to accidentally use the wrong pronouns, but words like “it” or “thing” are not okay. It’s okay to ask questions and be curious. “[Using it or thing] makes [transgender people] seem more like an object instead of a person,” sophomore GSA member Kassandra Cervantes said.

We should teach students about the right way to treat people who are transgender. Life skills would be a great place to teach students about LGBTQ+ problems, and how to help students who have to deal with those problems would

be helpful to people who don’t know what to do to help but want to. “[Educating students about transgender problems] would be a good thing to have because then people have a little more knowledge on what to do when they’re around people who are transgender. When the school is teaching LGBTQ+ subjects, you rarely see a transgender section; they’re mostly about gays, lesbians, bisexuals, which is a good thing but doesn’t show all of it,” Cervantes said.

Some more ways to help support transgender students are letting them use the bathroom and locker room of their choice, changing the no homophobia rule to no LGBTQ+ phobia rule and letting students wear clothing that goes with their gender identity at dances.

Making transgender students feel comfortable and like they won’t be bullied would make it so students feel like Sequoia is a safe space for them. If we changed the school, they wouldn’t have to worry about something bad happening to them, and ensure Sequoia doesn’t have to go through the loss of a student.

Sequoia High School

Raven Report 2014-2015

Editor-in-Chief Dalia Jude Managing Editors Claire Bugos Carmen Vescia News Editor Emily Ducker

Feature Editor Abigail Wang

Opinion Editor Sabrina Villanueva Avalos

Sports Editor Lily Friebel

Online Editor Glenn Billman Staff Reporters 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 Adviser Kim Vinh

February 4, 2015

Wrestlers weigh in on sport’s impact

By REBEKAH WESTERLIND Staff Reporter She wakes up, the smell of buttery pancakes wafting into her bedroom. She passes three students with fresh bagels and nine with warm coffee on her way to class. The aroma of cinnamon rolls penetrates through the hallways by brunch, courtesy of the cooking class. And her afternoon? Destined to starve working her shift at the pizzeria. It’s cutting weight.

It’s brutal. Welcome to wrestling season.

In wrestling competition, any edge matters. One common method to gain an edge is by cutting, or losing, weight.

“I was hardcore cutting weight,” senior Alleah Aliakbar said. “I was in plastics in front of my heater doing exercises.

Then I woke up at five, exercising again, losing that extra water weight, and then getting on the scale and it showing the lowest I’ve ever been. I placed at that tournament. It was amazing, just totally worth it.”

In addition, a typical practice includes running, push-ups and sit-ups, drills, practice matches, sprints and tumbling.

“We have to do cartwheels both ways and front handsprings and back handsprings because it’s all about body awareness and flexibility,” Aliakbar said.

This physical training is necessary for the rigor of wrestling matches.To address the many health concerns, there is a Hydration Day during the first or second week of each season where each wrestler’s height, weight, body fat, hydration and muscle mass is measured. If the wrestler passes the hydration test, he or she is allowed to wrestle and is given a plan for the amount of weight they are allowed to

8

Sports

Photo by Rebekah Westerlind

Cutting weight to wrestle requires both physical and mental tenacity. lose in a designated time period.

Many wrestlers tend to cut weight later in the season as the state meet approaches so they can use their experience from wrestling stronger, bigger people early in the season to wrestling in a lighter weight class for the later meets.

“It’s really cool going up against other girls that are equally strong and have worked as hard as you have,” Aliakbar said. “Then you beat them and it’s such a great level of accomplishment and pride.

It keeps you coming back for more.”

The sports requires a certain mental tenacity to continually push one’s limits.

“Wrestling definitely teaches you to surpass what you thought your limits were and actually get to the real breaking point,” Aliakbar said.

Coach John Peavler, a former Sequoia student and wrestler, emphasizes the mental aspect of the game with repeated mantras such as “the mind tires before the body.”

“At that stage, you’re starving and you have to push through it mentally,” Aliakbar said. “It’s a mind game.”

Likely due to how difficult it is both mentally and physically, wrestling changes one’s perception of herself or himself.

“He wants to break your limits and then go more than double that,” junior Itzel Bravo said. “You have no more limits when you join wrestling.”

While many teenagers struggle with self-worth, wrestling gives its athletes opportunities to build their confidence and capability.

“You are pushing your boundaries further and further away from what you thought they initially were, and it makes you so strong,” Aliakbar said. “I would feel invincible during wrestling season.”

While Bravo has only been wrestling for three years, she cannot imagine life without it. “I can’t think about wrestling being over,” Bravo said. “It makes you stronger. It makes you who you are.”

ICAP classes, from page 1 before taking Spanish III in sophomore year. Incoming freshmen would have to cover two years of curriculum, encouraging administration to revise it into the current system.

“What we found out was that this pathway lead to some students not being able to access our IB Spanish because they didn’t [begin] taking ICAP Spanish class, so it actually [limited] their options and if they didn’t do an IB world language they were shut out of the IB diploma,” McCahon said. “We don’t want anyone to be shut out of the diploma because they didn’t know that they had to take that ICAP class.”

Biology’s removal as an ICAP course has been the most recent in this chain of class changes.

Because this course is no longer available, freshmen are able to take college preparatory biology instead of ICAP. Though the course has a different name, the curriculum and all other aspects of the course are almost identical to the once available ICAP Biology course.

“Everyone should have an opportunity to learn and grow and be challenged together rather than separating students based on skill level,” biology teacher Rebecca Rush said. “We are giving everyone a challenging college prep course and... a chance to go on and pursue a high level science class... based on their experience in this one year of biology.”

Bene boys bring brotherhood to basketball court

free throws with under ten seconds left to win the game,” Zach said. “He’s not only a leader on the court; he [leads] by Two particular players on Sequoia’s example, and that’s really helped our varsity basketball have always been conteam.” stant competitors and they’ll argue over Zach still comes off the bench in anything. games, but he’s okay with that for now.

But no one would expect less from a “I think of this year as more of my pair of brothers, senior Chris Bene and development year because we have a lot his freshman brother Zach Bene. of seniors that are guards who have also “As brothers, you argue and don’t helped me learn how to play,” Zach said. agree over a lot of stuff. Sometimes [at The practice Zach gets with varsity practice] I might be too harsh on him,” enables him to grow faster and connect Chris said. “You don’t realize it because with his brother and other teammates. you don’t see him as your friend on the “When he scores I’m always out of court.” my seat cheering or clapping and jumpHowever, when the ball goes up and ing up and down,” Chris said. “It’s fun the game begins, Chris and Zach look and exciting to play with somebody you past their differences and work as a team. see every day.”

Photo courtesy of Chris Bene “On the basketball court you can just Zach even made his first shot off an Zach (left) is on track to follow in his brother’s footsteps and be a four assist from his brother Chris. That molet it go and be teammates instead of riyear varsity player. Chris (right) hopes to play in college next year. vals,” Chris said. “[Zach’s] definitely not ment helped him realize that Chris afraid to step up and our coach has told as well. and I’m proud of him for handling it as wants to see him succeed. him [that] he sees the court better than “I yell at him, I’ll scream at him, I’ll “[Chris has] been a really great leader, well as he has.” a lot of people do at [and] he’s developed Chris’s leadership has led him to be- be up in his face if he does something his age. He’s able to wrong, but he takes into one of the bet- come the captain in his speak up, and he’s “When [Zach] scores I’m alter leaders in the fourth year on the var- Chris scores an average of 15 it well. He definitely extremely smart, so ways out of my seat cheering or Peninsula Athletic sity team and he’s been points per game, where Zach wants to be chalhe gets all the plays clapping and jumping up and lenged,” Chris said.

League,” Zach said. on the line in many scores 14 per game. down.” [quickly].”

“I don’t treat him like “He’s handled preskey moments of the —Chris Bene, senior Having a brother a freshman. I think sure really well be- season. who’s with you on the cause he’s a Division “When we were in Orlando [and] he’s able to take the criticism and turn it court at the same time has its benefits 1 prospect. That’s pretty hard to handle, we were down by one, [Chris] hit two into success on the court.”

By PHILIP TYSON Staff Reporter