Raven Report
Sequoia High School
Volume XI, Issue 6
1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062
March 19, 2018
Students stage show of solidarity for school shooting victims By SAM BROOK and SHANNON COAN Staff Reporter and Feature Editor Enough. Nunca más violencia. Never Again. We call BS. Nosotros somos el cambio. These are the words and posters that filled the air as students and staff walked out to protest gun laws and honor the victims of school shootings March 14. This national walkout was planned in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) shooting in Parkland, Florida Feb. 14, where 17 students and staff were killed. Across the country more than 3,000 walkouts occured. “We found out about this national protest, and we said, ‘We need to do something. We can’t be silent. We can’t just sit here while this issue continues to happen,’” junior organizer Adam Griffin said. The student organizers came up with the idea while on Sojourn to the Past, a week long trip where students learn about the Civil Rights Movement. Once home, they partnered with the Social Justice League and Unity Club to organize speakers and discuss involving the whole school. ASB also assisted by placing post-its with positive messages on lockers and leading a ceremonious moment where students released balloons
Photos By Sam Brook and Aviva Futornick
Hundreds of students gathered on Mar. 14 to protest gun violence in school shootings. The walkout featured students’ speeches, such as senior Shasta Sholes (bottom left), president of the Social Justice League. as others read the names of the 17 victims from MSD and schools who have recently had a school shooting. “We hope to raise awareness about not only what’s happening, but what you can do to make a change and stand up for this,” senior organizer Alex Strehlow
said. Furthermore, the walkout’s goal was to demand change and show that Sequoia stands in solidarity with all schools that have experienced gun violence. “This is an issue that affects schools across the country,” junior organizer
Diego De Nault said. “When it’s something that’s threatening students and the learning environment across the country, I think joining that movement and trying to be a part of that statement is
See WALKOUT, page 5
WASC evaluates Sequoia’s self-improvement measures By BRIGHID BUGOS Sports Editor Students aren’t the only people getting graded at Sequoia this year. From Feb. 11 to Feb. 14, a team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visited Sequoia’s campus for a three day study of the quality of education and environment. This is part of a sixyear cycle of self-improvement to help WASC reach its goals of providing a quality education for all students. To prepare for their visit, the team gets a selfstudy report prepared by the Sequoia leadership that outlines the strengths of the school and their goals to improve the education of all Sequoia students. WASC works in coalition with the California Depart-
ment of Education (CDE), and through the joint WASC/CDE process high schools are accredited. This means that high schools do a sufficient job with teaching all their students, and that colleges and employers can trust student’s diplomas from those schools. “I believe that it is an important self improvement measure for a school and it really signifies that you are a trustworthy educational organization for your community, for your students and your entire learning community,” said Shiela Folan, one of the seven volunteer educators from around California as well as Honolulu, who worked on the self-study. The process started 18 months ago when ELA English teacher, Alissa Talesnick, began
working with school administration, parents, students and Associated Student Body to form a report that reflects Sequoia. The “WASC Single Plan for Student Achievement” included areas such as data on demographics and the school numeracy and literacy tests as well as information from surveys that were given to students, parents and staff members. “It’s basically just a report about what we’re doing, how we’re meeting these criteria that WASC sets forth and how we’re going to continue the work that we need to do get to where we need to be,” Talesnick said. The WASC team started its visit Feb. 11 in a meeting with community members. They continued their three-day stay with visits to classrooms, hold-
Mini-Spread:
Unholstering the school shooting conversation nationwide
Page 5
ing roundtables with students and concluded it with a meeting where they shared their findings Feb. 14. “The main way of preparing is to get as much input as we can from the community in order to reflect,” Principal Sean Priest said. “I think it’s really good for schools to reflect about goals, and how those goals serve students.” At the report-out meeting the WASC visiting team gave an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the school, organized as the five chapters of their eventual report. WASC reported that the main thing Sequoia should focus on is continuing to collect more data and using it for analysis. In his closing remarks, Priest made the point that they used
the words “should continue”, meaning Sequoia is going down the right path. The report of the visiting team as well as the school’s self study will be sent to the WASC commission for an overview and Sequoia will receive the official report near the end of this school year. For now, Priest and the Sequoia leadership team expect to get a passing grade. “Affirmation should come when we read about things in the newspaper and come to understand the text of the injustices that exist in society and institutionally,” Priest said in closing remarks of the meeting. “Remember that the work we’re doing here is the most powerful work that can be done to undo some of those injustices and make the world a better place.”
Opinion:
Don’t be a FUUL, put away your JUUL
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