RAVEN REPORT SEQUOIA HIGH SCHOOL NEWSMAGAZINE VOLUME XIII, NO. 2 // MARCH 2020
HEALTH & WELLNESS, 3-11
TABLE of CONTENTS
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Due to recent news relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, health stories have overtaken the news. See our health and wellness cover package to catch up on all things Coronavirus at Sequoia (pgs 3-11)
We can’t cover it all. Check out the IB art exhibition in person:
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Our very own Mister Rogers Coming to the United States Girls Basketball Team MVP Sequoia’s unsung heroes: janitors Student dance choreography Piano elective Chick-fil-a takes Redwood City Censo 2020 Award shows Theft on campus Banned clubs Music in the classroom
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The hidden horrors of homework
St. Patrick’s Day recipes
Knives Out movie review
Letter from the Editors Our health is our most undervalued necessity. It’s crucial to keep both our mental and physical health a priority, especially during these four years of high school when we may have a tendency to eat poorly and not get enough sleep. Juggling classes, extracurriculars, college prep work, homework and exams can create circumstances where we aren’t as mindful about our health as we should be. Stress, poor diets and lack of sleep likely contribute to the frequency that we students get sick, run down, feel completely mentally drained and create scenarios that are not healthy nor sustainable for us. As we’ve all seen throughout the past few weeks, there are a number of health-related issues inundating the media right now. COVID-19, the flu, vaccinations, and the Center for Disease Control announcements, to name just a few. Every day we see new headlines about how more and more people are being harmed by different physical and health-related issues. On top of this, mental health and mental illnesses are at an all time high for high school students and young adults right now. High school has historically been considered a trying time for students as we leave behind childhood and enter into the complexities of the adult world. With today’s sometimes toxic cycle of school work, pressures for college and career choices, diminishing physical
health, it’s not surprising that mental health is declining right alongside our physical health. We’ve all heard our parents and teachers tell us that we need to cover our coughs, wash our hands, get enough sleep each night and eat well. At this point, these suggestions sound like a broken record, but there really is truth in these words. You get one future. Make your health a priority. Whatever your goals may be, keeping healthy, both mentally and physically, should be your number one priority. In the rare chance that this means anything more to you reading this coming from a fellow teenager rather than your parents, our advice to you is keep things in perspective, take some extra time for yourself, let that assignment go, use your resources, stay in touch with your body, do something each day that makes you happy and surround yourself with good people. Oh, and yeah, do listen to your parents and those teachers when they say cover your cough, sneeze in a tissue, wash your hands, eat well and get a good night’s sleep. It’s important.
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ABOUT
The Raven Report is a Sequoia High School student publication produced in the journalism class through the efforts and decisions of the staff and the publication’s editors and adviser. The Raven Report is a public forum for students, staff, parents and community members. The Raven Report strives to provide Sequoia High School with informative, engaging and relevant news. The staff will exercise integrity and adaptability while promoting justice and transparency through professional reporting about the school, the community and the world.
CONTACT
The Raven Report staff welcomes signed letters to the editor so that readers might share in the opportunities of the scholastic free press in open forum. The written views of students, parents or community members must be responsible, in good taste and free from libel, slander or obscenity. Letters may be edited for grammar or content if necessary; furthermore, editors will not guarantee that letters will be published. 1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062 www.ravenreport.org ravenreport17@gmail.com
Raven Report // 19-20 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Jay Tipirneni Taylor Gayner MANAGING EDITOR Madeline Carpinelli FEATURE EDITOR David Ramirez
OPINION EDITOR Ray Evans MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Zoe Dufner STAFF REPORTERS Bella Burns Hope Callaghan
Alexander Chang Alexander Cottrell Madeline Cowgill Caitlin Dulsky Ignacio Dominguez Chloe Johnson Gus Kirkpatrick Nicholas Lawrence Carlos Luna
Eli Mihaly-Baker Oscar Nolf Greta Reich Tess Restaino Carla Roberts ADVISER Betsy Snow
RAVEN REPORT | MARCH 2020
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ALL ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS Virus impacts the Bay Area
By DAVID RAMIREZ, HOPE CALLAGHAN, MADDIE COWGILL Feature Editor and Staff Reporters COVID-19 (The coronavirus) has seeped its way into the Bay Area around Jan. 24. It is a highly infectious virus that has impacted our hospitals, our society and our economic stability. It originated in Wuhan, a city in China from wet markets, which are places that sell a variety of animals, both alive and dead. The virus has a mortality rate of 3.4 percent as of March 3, according to the website Worldometer. Many people are attempting to maintain safety to prevent it from becoming even more worldwide, which is not working all too well. Italy and more countries in Europe are being locked down and events that hold a mass gathering of people are being postponed or cancelled. School may be on the same path as well. “I think my students know how to use Canvas. I’ve been using something called a jump rope. For students who are used to using Jump Rope, they’re going to have to learn to work Canvas if they haven’t already. It might slow down class and possibly stall learning progression,“ English teacher Greg Stein said. Many may think that the majority
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of people who have coronavirus are Asian. Still, many people travel to China for business and vacation every day. Nonetheless, Chinese people are not the only ones with the virus. This false assumption can create many dangers for everyone as this virus is airborne and contractible without interacting with people directly from China, as it is here in the United States. “It’s the first time where airline travel is easy, [it’s] common [so] if something does happen, we can’t stop the spreading because of travel,” history teacher Pablo Aguilera said. The situation has impacted our society, it has become a racial divide because many people associate the coronavirus with Asians. This assumption is incorrect as the disease spreads from person to person, and that means that anyone who has been to China, Italy, South Korea, the United States and other exposed countries could have it. Not only Asian people visit China, but non-Chinese people also visit the country. TikTok, YouTube, and countless other online platforms have poked fun at the virus by making memes; some people may
laugh while others may not. “The week before the February break, I got a cold and [I thought] Oh, you know, hope I don’t have the coronavirus. You know [there are] students that joke about that like [it’s] become the butt of the joke,” said Aguilera. “I think that’s kind of like a coping mechanism. Students are projecting that they’re scared of [this], and don’t know much about it.” Over the weekend stores like Walgreens, Trader Joes and Safeway ran out of basic necessities like toilet paper, canned food, bread and any products that contain alcohol. This has ignited panic and caused irrational activities to be ensued by people. This type of stockpiling can cause problems, because it makes many essential items unavailable. Many investors are panicking as well. U.S. stock markets have been on a downward spiral since the coronavirus came into the United States. Interest rates were cut by the government to compensate for the loss of overall points in the stock market, unfortunately this did not have the effect the government might have hoped. As of March 9, the Dow dropped nearly 7 percent. Stocks are
still down with little chance of recovery until the coronavirus is managed. According to the World Health Organization, the most effective way to prevent the coronavirus is to treat it like the common cold; this includes washing your hands frequently, coughing and sneezing in elbows, and avoiding physical contact with people with flu-like symptoms. Most people hospitalized do not die and are only in danger if they are elderly or have a weak immune system. Only 20 percent of coronavirus cases are severe, meaning more likely than not that if you get coronavirus it will be like the flu. In fact, 87 percent of all people who have contracted the coronavirus are between ages 30 and 79, so unless you have a compromised immune system chances are you will not get sick. The coronavirus has swept the modern world off its feet. It has infected many and disrupted stock markets. This virus does not appear to be stopping anytime soon and each day there are many updates on how this virus continues to impact us. It is important to stay safe and keep this virus from spreading.
Age Range of contracted virus Children Under 9
Serious vs Non-serious cases
Teenagers
20%
20 year olds People ages 30 to 69 People above the age of 64 0
20
40
60
80
Cases per counrty China Italy South Korea
80%
The United States Iran France 0
25,00 0
50,00 0
75,00 0
100,00 0
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OUR VERY OWN MISTER ROGERS BY GRETA REICH Staff Reporter Mr. Rogers is a name everyone knows. Our generation never actually watched his show, but we know of his show. He had a puppet and a song, and walked around a neighborhood, but that’s about the extent of our Mr. Rogers knowledge. The new movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” completely changes that. Directed by 40-year old Marielle Heller, the movie stars Tom Hanks, already known for his kindness, as Fred Rogers, and Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel. It beautifully illustrates the story of the hard-edged investigative journalist - Lloyd Vogel - who believes everything in life has an ugly side. He is forced to write a profile on Fred Rogers, and throughout the course of his interviews and time spent with Rogers, Vogel opens up about his difficult childhood and sees the beauty of the simple things. Mr. Rogers helps show Vogel the happier parts of the world, and gives him hope that not everything has to be corrupt or dark-sided. It was based on the true story of Tom Junod’s article “Can You Say… Hero?”, published in Esquire Magazine in 1998. Junod’s name was changed to Lloyd Vogel, and there are slight differences, but overall, the movie was meant to capture his experience as he writes about, and eventually becomes friends
with Fred Rogers. They remained friends until Rogers died in 2003. Junod is still alive at 61 years old, and still writes for Esquire Magazine. His work has become slightly less jaded and dark since he met Mr. Rogers. Though the movie has received excellent reviews and stars a very famous actor, the main group of people who watch this movie is the adults who grew up watching him, and their children. The majority of teenagers have no interest in it. This can be expected considering they don’t know much about Mr. Rogers, but there should be less of an age gap between the audience members. Our generation would appreciate and benefit from learning more about the man who taught a different generation about empathy and kindness. There are not too many people in the world who can teach a lesson every week in a way everyone can understand and grasp. One way Sequoia students might think about Ms. Rogers is by comparing him to our very own Mr. Gary Gooch. “He’s working really hard so that the school is a safe place for everybody and everybody feels happy here, so I feel like that’s very Mr.-Rogers-like,” sophomore Anja Linkwitz says. Anja has never seen the movie, and
knows very little about Mr. Rogers, but she does know the good he has done in the world, and after learning about the movie, said she would like to see it now. Mr. Gooch was inspired by “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” similar to many other children who watched the show. From it, he learned about kindness, patience, forgiveness, and strength in being who you are. Now, Mr. Gooch teaches these same lessons to Sequoia students, carrying on the Mr. Rogers legacy. “I grew up watching Mr. Rogers,” says Mr. Gooch. “He was one of my earliest childhood role models.” There are not an abundance of people today who try to uphold the teachings of Mr. Rogers, or even remember all of his lessons. But with teachers who watched him and movies that document his life, the new generations have the chance to understand his wise words of courage and kindness he taught our parents. During this time of stress in both the political world and our personal worlds, ease your mind for a couple hours and watch “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” with your parents or family, and either learn or remember the wonderful lessons we get from Mr. Rogers.
Left: the original Mister Rogers on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Right: Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” Middle: Administrative Vice Principal Gary Gooch posing as Mister Rogers, complete with tie and sweater.
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Vaping Away Our Lives By Alex Cottrell, Staff Reporter
28% of High School Students Vape 11% of Middle School Students Vape
About 67% of JUUL users age 15-24 don’t know that JUUL contains nicotine.
Vaping has infiltrated every high school in America, whether it’s after school, in the bathrooms, or anywhere else, students use e-cigarettes. Sequoia has recognized this, and is taking a different approach than other schools on the issue. Principal Sean Priest made it the subject of the “Principal’s message” section of the Sequoia Sentinel. “Having worked with teenagers for 20 years now, I’m confident the police-and-punish approach would be limited changing behavior. Vaping is a health topic. Would you suspend someone for bulimia?” Mr. Priest asked. “Teenagers are developmentally geared to seek independence and choice. Thus, the number one way to ensure they make an unhealthy choice is to try to make the healthy choice for them.” This year’s health conference will be centered on teen vaping, being led by the Black Student Union. Vaping is a very widespread problem among teens, and studies show that teens often don’t know what is in their e-cigarette and they are unaware of the effects of vaping. A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that 66 percent of teens think that “Just flavoring” is in their e-cigarettes. However, a single JUUL pod, the most popular e-cigarette brand, contains as much nicotine as 20 regular cigarettes. The simple lack of knowledge about vaping is getting students addicted, and harming their health. On March 2, two Black Student Union leaders, Aniya Majors and Paris Carr gave a presentation about the dangers of teen vaping. They started a project to get teens to stop vaping, called Vape Stops Here. The BSU leads this project, and some members speak at public events to encour-
age people to stop vaping. They emphasize the health effects of vaping. They spread the word that vaping harms adolescent brain development, in addition to causing cancer. They gave the example of a student that started vaping, and several days later, he had to go to the hospital for organ failure. After that, he fell into a coma. But the BSU knows that they have to address the issue in other ways too. Other members of the BSU attend city council meetings. They are campaigning to stop the targeting of youth in the vape industry. Companies have flavors such as cotton candy and mango that directly appeal to youth. “I’ve been to East Palo Alto and Menlo Park city council meetings to try and ban flavored tobacco at retail stores,” said Majors. E-cigarette companies also have advertisements that target teens, or show youth vaping in their ads. Data shows that 74 percent of youth obtain e-cigarettes at retail locations, such as 7-Eleven or gas stations. Because of this, Vape Stops Here wants to ban the sale of flavored tobacco in physical retail locations. The movement has partnered with the Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council (BACHAC) and the Tobacco Education Coalition but, they need more students. When asked who was part of Vape Stops Here, Majors said “Right now it’s pretty much just us.” Even though the efforts of BSU are still smallscale, it is still representative of the large movement growing throughout America. In the past, smoking was mainstream, but it slowly phased out due to activism. The same thing can happen here. And it is. Right now.
Survery of 12-17 year olds. Information from the CDC and JAMA.
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Teen mental health challenges on the rise Another cause is the fear of school diagnosed with anxiety or depression has inshootings. There has been a very clear increased from 5.4% in 2003 to 8.4% in 20112012. TRC Prevention/Mindfulness Coordi- crease in school shootings in the past years nator Shari Schussel confirms these changes, and intruder drills are much more common. explaining how in the last 5 years, TRC usage In 2011, there were 16 school shootings and in has increased greatly and teachers have noticed 2018, there were 116, according to data from more problems with mental illness. This clear the Center for Homeland Defense and Sedevelopment in mental illnesses is explained curity. The constant fear of another incident only adds to the everyday by new causes of anxstress students already iety and depression have from school and that weren’t relevant home life. Also, many before. One cause [Anxiety] makes it really difficult more students are aware of current events due to is more pressure to to do things such as present or social media, leading to succeed in school. them taking on the stress According to an arti- simply answer in class. of world issues that used cle in Psych Central, —Anonymous student to only concern adults. when parents are An additional “overly-invested in performance,” stress is escalated, which leads cause is the effect social media has on teens to procrastination and dishonesty. This in- brains. Social media encourages constant comcreased need for perfection has created a lot parison between people and their lives, bodies, relationships and more. The problem is that more anxiety for students. people are comparing themselves to unrealistic versions of other people. This leads to lowDoes pressure to succeed in school increase, decrease, ered self esteem and other mental illnesses that can be very harmful. It is also an easy distracor not change your everyday stress? tion from important things like schoolwork. *According to a survey of 54 Sequoia students For one Sequoia student, who will be referred to as Alex, anxiety affects every part of their life, from school to home. As well as presenting issues between family members, it’s also challenging to make new friends and so14.8%-Not cialize. “It makes it really difficult to do change things such as present or just simply answer in class,” Alex said. Overall, these new and overwhelming factors for anxiety have aided in the increase of mental illness effects on students around the world. Thankfully, new coping mechanisms and other solutions have been presented over time as well. People are now more comfortable to talk about problems and share tips and information that can ease the ef85.2%-Increase fects of mental illness. One tip that can help ease the effects of mental illness is exercise. Exercise has been proven to release hormones that make people in a better mood. Exercise frequently and you’ll generally feel happier. For more information, there is another Raven Report article you can refer to. Reaching out for help can be in-
BY MADELINE CARPINELLI Managing Editor Teens are increasingly struggling with mental illnesses due to new causes and factors that are leaving researchers and parents stumped. Approximately 17.1 million children in the U.S. under the age of 18 have or have had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder, estimated by the Child Mind Institute. Unfortunately, these illnesses don’t often get treated. It’s also estimated that 60 percent of youth with depression and 80 percent with anxiety do not get treatment. After surveying 54 Sequoia students, 6 said that they were diagnosed with anxiety, but when asked if they believe they show symptoms of anxiety, 23 marked yes. The lack of help and diagnosis makes anxiety and depression that much more difficult to cope with. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, the number of children aged 6-17 that have been
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credibly beneficial as well. Mental illness is often very difficult to cope with, and it is much harder when you have to do it alone. Sequoia especially has an incredible amount of resources for students, including the Teen Resource Center, Teen Wellness Center, and more. There are many free and available options on campus for therapy, counseling and more. Simply talking to a family member, friend, or other trusted adult instead of professional help can be just as helpful. Another Sequoia student, who will be referred to as Avery, says talking to a therapist is very helpful. “It’s better to talk to someone… getting it off your chest helps,” Avery said. If you’re not exactly comfortable talking about your problems one-on-one with someone, other programs such as meditation in the TRC can be beneficial as well. Many more teachers are adopting meditation practices and implementing them into their everyday classroom routine to give students a chance to breathe and relieve stress. Coping mechanisms from hotlines to aromatherapy can help students deal with mental illnesses. Everyone has different experiences and will therefore have different coping mechanisms. With an immense amount of options, mental illness can be dealt with and treated. And although more different causes and obstacles will present themselves in the future, the only thing we can do is learn and cope.
Sequoia’s Mental Health:
75.9%
of students rated their everyday stress levels as a 5 or higher out of 10
85.2%
of students rated their drive to succeed in school as a 5 or higher out of 10
57.4%
of students believe they should symptoms of several mental illnesses, whether they’re diagnosed or not *According to a survey of 54 Sequoia students, taken by the Raven Report
Coming to
America
BY CARLOS LUNA Staff Reporter Many people that range from families to just one person who come to the USA. Many of the people who come don’t know anything about the culture and don’t know English. Not knowing anything about the US and then coming here is very difficult especially for the older youth and adults. It is tough on children but since they usually start learning the basics of English right when they arrive, it is easier because they pick up on it faster. Adults and older youth have a harder time learning a new language so it affects them . Some examples are from my personal life, I arrived in America at a young age but the time while I was learning English was tough because I felt very scared, nervous and left out of everything because I couldn’t talk to anyone. Some of the kids at school did speak spanish but they seemed scared of speaking it because they didn’t want their friends to laugh at them because they thought speaking another language was weird, so for about half a year I went without talking to anyone until I was able to sort of speak English. After years of struggling with English I was finally able to speak it fluently but there are still challenges I face and seeing my younger brother go through the school system and not having the same struggles as I did makes me know that because of the way I grew up I will always have to do more to push through struggles I will face. For many coming here to America is a huge chance for better opportunities, yes there are many opportunities but people have to work really hard especially when being undocumented, the youth that come here without knowing English push themselves even more to do better because they know they can have a better future for themselves but also for their families. The struggle of having to learn a new language and getting situated in America can take many years because learning a new language is more difficult for someone because the prunautiation is tough to learn. Some of the people that come to America have family here which makes it a little bit easier be-
cause the family can help them get a start in school or to get a job but there is still something that they have to get through. The effects of moving somewhere new is always different for many people but still very tough because having to leave family behind and not knowing when someone will get the opportunity to see them again is very tough and could change someone either in a good way or in a bad way whether that be emotionally, physiclay, or with their actions , some may think that leaving family behind does not affect younger people and that it affects the older people who actually remember but in reality it affects the younger people, because even though they don’t have many memories of where they came from, the few they do have stay with them forever and those memories are what make them really miss their family and friends. Having those few memories are what push the youth to do better so that someday they can see their family and friends. The youth that come to America are brought here by their parents because their parents want them to have better opportunities, so that they have a better future. For some of the youth having known what their parents risked for their children so that they could come to America, gives them a push to work harder and take advantage of the opportunities that they have or have been given to them so that they better their futures and also help their parents who are with them or family they felt behind when they moved.
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Depression and Sports By Hope Callaghan Staff Reporter Depression is a plague that everyone experiences in their life, but that teenagers face the most and there might be a simple solution. Doctors and psychiatrists have come a long way to help with the bleak and helpless void of depression. Therapy, medicine, and even electric shocks have proved very helpful for millions of people around the world but there is one more thing that is rarely considered to be a valid option: physical activities. Although it takes more than a few walks in the park to make you feel better, staying active can help clear your head of sad or intrusive thoughts. For teenagers, this may mean participating in after-school sports or walking home every day. For students who experience stress from mountains of homework, it may be helpful to take a calm bike ride around the neighborhood to de-stress. Sports and outdoor activities can fight away symptoms of depression and anxiety because it releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. These chemicals are endorphins and serotonin and they work in your brain to regulate your mood and living without these chemicals can drive you into sadness. “Yes it develops the themselves as a human physically and [their] cognitive sense but it also teaches in all the lessons of teamwork you know kids on soccer teams or kids on [other teams] understand the concept that you have to work together you have to cooperate [and] you have to get along even if you don’t necessarily like that person on your team,” PE teacher and athlete Jennifer DeRego said. Ms. DeRego recognizes the importance of physical activities and sports for children and teens for more than just exercise. She also agrees that exercise can change your mood and outlook on life in many ways. Grace Moffit is a freshman and she plays two seasons of sports each year and she describes how it affects her mood during those two seasons. “[Sports] gives you something to get your mind off of things. In a season, I feel like I have more motivation to do things and I just feel good,” Grace said. “I feel that when I stick to a regular workout or exercise routine that I’m happier [and] I’m feeling better about myself, I’m feeling more positive,” Adrian Dilley said, “I feel
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more rested because if I work out regularly then that should translate into better sleep. And then it will [all] add to my positive well being”. Mr. Dilley is another respected PE teacher here at Sequoia and he thanks physical activities for his happiness. Though he believes in exercise and teambuilding for children, Mr. Dilley recognizes that not all kids enjoy the competition. Sports are an acquired taste and bonding over an intense climate of competition isn’t everyones’ idea of a good time but it has its benefits. Whether you’ve been down for a while or you’re going through a rough patch, going on a jog or signing up for a few lessons could significantly change your view.
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Concocting choreography; a uniquely stu (Headline)
By Ray Evans Opinion Editor A bit of sweat. A bit of teamwork. Some creativity and vision. This is what it takes to choreograph a dance performance for a rally. Each performance is choreographed by students in both advanced and intermediate dance. Each choreographer will block a certain section of the performance independently. The separate sections are usually set to entirely different music, which allows for very different dance numbers. It also allows for more students to independently contribute to t h e
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choreography. “You need to make your choreography fit the music, and you also have to consider how many people are going to be involved,” Junior and advanced Dance student Georgia Power said “A few people can travel more than a whole class section can.” This blocking takes place with minimal adult oversight, and drawing inspiration from everywhere, which makes this a uniquely student created p er-
formance. “Ms. White is always available to step in if needed, but usually she just lets us do our thing,” sophomore and intermediate dance student Joshua Farris said. Although White directly helps with the Homecoming rally in the Fall, the ‘Lip
student run art Sync Rally’ in the Winter is entirely choreographed by students. The practice of student choreography at Sequoia began in 2006, when White’s pregnancy forced her to delegate some of the choreography to an advanced dance student. In the following years, the practice was continued on and off. Student choreographers were added in intermediate dance four years ago. The practice has become an increasingly important part of Sequoia’s dance program. “Dance Students in studios outside of school don’t usually get to choreograph,” P.E. Dance teacher Taylor White said. “This is What’s important about Sequoia’s dance program- from beginning dance on, students begin to take on more responsibility.”
Intermediate dance students practice in the dance studio
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Girls Basketball’s Real By Caitlin Dulsky
Staff Reporter
Many people have been to the boys and girls home basketball games and have heard Christine Picchi singing the national anthem. Christine Picchi, daughter of Sequoia girls varsity basketball coach Steve Picchi, is a wonderful singer and sings the national anthem at many sporting events. She has been a part of the girls basketball program for multiple years and has been singing the national anthem for the last two basketball seasons. She sings for all the home league games; before both the girls and boys varsity games. Christine has autism, limiting her verbal and communication skills; but she has a very special talent of singing, and she uses it to the best of her ability. Christine also comes to almost all of the girls practices and games to show her support for the team and spend time with her dad. She often participates in practices, shooting free throws with the team and giving the team motivational statements when they need to hear it most. During the games, Christine usually sits on the bench with the players, filling her special role of “breaking the team” after a huddle during timeouts and halftime. “She is a multifaceted member of our team. She sings the national anthem. She’s my assistant coach. She’s a special motivator, and she’s also on the team because she makes baskets at practice. She can kinda do a little bit of everything,” Coach Steve Picchi said. With her autism, Christine has trouble processing and forming her own sentences, but she has a great memory and is able to memorize all the lyrics of the anthem, as well as other songs. “I’m not an expert on this, but my understanding is that the speech, language and singing use different parts [of the brain],” Coach Picchi said. With Christine’s ability to sing, and sing well, she has been working on her talent for the last couple years at various events. Not only does she sing at the Sequoia basketball games, but also at other Sequoia sports, and performances outside of Sequoia such as Blues shows. “She [sings at] women’s basketball, boys’ baseball, then opened up blues shows. She’s probably [sung on stage] over
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30 times,” Picchi said. Christine loves singing, and audiences love to hear and see her sing. She is so experienced now that when asked if she gets nervous before singing, she always responds, “I’m not nervous.” One of the most special things about Christine besides her singing is that she participates in practices and games for the girls varsity team. “Christine does a lot of things to participate in the team. For example, she attends our practices and really motivates us when we need that extra push,” senior and varsity basketball player Sharon Sandoval said. Christine is a key member of the team and focuses the team by yelling her famous catchphrases like “come on team stay focused,” “come on team let’s play some sports,” “come on team get after it,” and “come on team get off your feet!” Christine’s inspirational phrases are
really valued by the girls. They love her spirit, and her desire to be with them, and they love to have Christine participating. “Christine is super motivational for all of us during practices and games. If we are ever tired or not doing something right, Christine will yell one of her famous phrases, and we immediately feel more motivated to do even better in the next play,” junior and varsity basketball player Jacqueline Kurl and said. T h e team also greatly appreciates Christine’s happy presence, which has an effect on all of them. “At practice when she gets called up to shoot some shots for us, she gets really happy and that just brightens up the whole mood.
MVP Her smile and happy presence motivates us and pushes us to become better players and team-mates,” Sandoval said. Christine’s presence not only positively impacts the players but impacts the coaches and staff, especially Coach Picchi. “I don’t know that I would be able to justify the time spent [with the team], if Christine wasn’t a part of it. She allows me to be a coach at a serious level where there’s a huge time commitment because she can be with me and she enjoys it,” Picchi said. “Whereas if she hated it or she wasn’t really part of it, then would have trouble justifying it. She keeps things in perspective for me, as crazy as I get and intense as I get at times, I look over to her and realize she needs a happy dad. So I can remember to keep it in perspective.” Christine loves being with the girls and the girls love having her on the team as well; if you ask the team, they will tell you she is a huge part of their success. The team greatly appreciates her, so much so that the girls made t-shirts with Christine’s famous catchphrases on the back. If you want to come support and watch Christine sing the anthem, come to any of the home basketball games next season to see her in action.
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Having Christine sing the anthem and participate in practices and games, motivates us to play better and she strengthens our team bond. Sharon Sandoval, senior
Above: Christine performing in San Jose Left: The team sports shirts with Christine’s motivating phrase on the back Upper left: Christine singing before a big crowd Photos courtesey of Steve Picchi
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The Unsung Heroes of Sequoia By Jay Tipirneni and Taylor Gayner Editors-in-Chief As we walk the halls of Sequoia, we tend to disregard many of those who work and contribute to this school. From the custodians to the facilities managers, their stories can be rich and powerful. One such story is that of Cherry Stephens. Here, she serves as the plant manager which means she is responsible for managing the facilities at the school. Beyond her position at Sequoia, she is a mother and a veteran who has experienced a substantial amount throughout her l i f e .
Many students disregard or are never exposed to much of the faculty that helps sustain our Sequoia environment. As a result, students’ perceptions of the school are limited primarily to that of teachers, administration, and other students. “I was working [in the media center] until 5 when I walked out. There was a custodian there and I just thought about that,” said Senior John Horan. “I don’t normally get to see the school at night because I’m not there, but they are the ones that are there at night. And I think just because of the necessity of how it works, we are going to have a disconnect between us.” As a result of this disconnect between students and custodians, parts of the Sequoia community are isolated from each other. Despite sharing the school, both custodians and students live completely different lives at Sequoia, which prevents us from learning about each other’s experiences. Many within our community believe that in order to alter our perceptions of custodians is to humanize them and create a more relatable image of them. “It’s really difficult to [change perspectives] when you don’t humanize the person,” History teacher Pablo Aguilera said. “So in order to change it, you must show there’s a human element to it.” “We tend to think of them as custodians and we don’t really humanize them because they just work at the school versus teachers where we can actually know them on a personal level. It’s interesting. They too, have interesting stories and experiences” said Horan.
“Boy, it was a shock. It was a lot different. People treat you differently. You’re not, what I call, coddled by your parents.” -Cherry Stevens, Facilities Manager
“So when I graduated, I went into the military. Three days after I graduated from high school. I just wanted to get away and get a little bit of a new experience,” said Plant Manager Cherry Stephens. “Boy, it was a shock. It was a lot different. People treat you differently. You’re not, what I call, coddled by your p a r e n t s .” M o r e o v e r, she travels more than 80 miles each day from Stockton to come to Sequoia and work. “I’ve been doing the commute for, I would say, almost 19 years. So you know, I have gotten used to it. My husband and I commute together every day, ” said Stephens. As a result of this lengthy commute, she does not receive an essential amount of sleep every night, but she perseveres through it. “We don’t get very much sleep, so we will probably get 5 to 6 hours a night, which is pretty tiring. So I really enjoy my vacation days because I can sleep in,” said Stephens.
“It’s interesting. They too, have interesting stories and experiences.” -John Horan, Senior
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Cherry Stevens, Plant Manager, reading a utilities book RAVEN REPORT | MARCH 2020
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The Key to A By Alexander Cottrell Staff Reporter
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and. Orchestra. Dance. Drawing and Painting. These are all visual performing arts electives that Sequoia offers. Everybody knows about them. When students think about taking an art class, their minds immediately jump to these. But Sequoia has other visual and performing arts. For example, take piano. “The class is for people who really haven’t ever taken a piano class, or even taken a music class,” said Othello Jefferson, current piano and choir teacher at Sequoia. Piano is an independent class where the goal is to improve
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as much as you can. But ven though it’s more of an independent class, they still work together. “That’s what Mr. Jefferson is for. So if you have questions, he’s there for you,” said Julian Ward, a sophomore in piano. Currently, the elective has 34 students, split between two periods. While the class isn’t that big right now, it has been growing. When Jefferson starting teaching piano, 10 years ago, the class had around 15 to 20 students. “[P]eople have been telling their friends about, you know, and this gets more people to get more people to take the class,
and more people hear about it,” said Jefferson. But in a school of 2040 students, 34 isn’t that much. There are many reasons that students may not take piano, but the biggest reason is probably because Sequoia has so many choices. “There’s a lot of different reasons. It could be that there’s so many offerings that people don’t take it because there’s something else they want to do,” said Jefferson. However, there does seem to be limited awareness about the class. “I didn’t even know that Sequoia of-
Awareness Awareness fered a piano class,” said Freshman Evie Chu. The lack of awareness seems to translate to fewer students taking the class. Everyone knows about the larger performing arts electives like band and dance, and these are the electives that are the most popular. “I think that band and orchestra are advertised more. I see posters for concerts, but I don’t see anything about piano,” said Christopher Kwok, freshman. “I think that they could they could try to create recitals so people can see them play, so people find out that there is actually a piano class.”
Even if the piano class didn’t want to have recitals, they could put up posters or say something on the announcements. Because students can’t just join in the middle of the year, they could do this at the end of the year in hope that more people will join next year. Even kids that know bout the class might not join because they don’t know enough about the class. “I knew about the class, but I don’t know anything about it,” said freshman Michelle Mendez. “I’m not sure what you do in the class, so I’m not sure if I want to take it.” While it’s true that a general sum-
mary of the class is available on the Sequoia website, some students may not know about it. Overall, the piano class just needs to raise more awareness. Not enough is known about the class, so fewer people are taking it. One of the best things that Sequoia has is choices, whether it be classes, clubs, or sports. And if a lack of awareness is limiting these choices, then something needs to be done.
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By Staff Reporter
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new Chick-fil-a location is opening on Whipple Avenue in Redwood City sometime in 2020. It has been a long time coming for Chick-fil-a to move into the Redwood City area as a direct result of the controversy regarding the company’s previous antiLGBTQ views. Chick-fil-a has recently cut ties with anti-LGBTQ groups that they previously worked with because of the backlash they were receiving. After this news broke, Chickfil-a quickly gained more support, and the Redwood City location soon became an accepted idea and gained more supporters in Redwood City. For a number of years, the San Mateo county did not allow Chick-fil-a to open a location anywhere in the area because of their previous ties with openly homophobic groups. However, since that controversy is coming to an end, they officially approved Chick-fil-a to open in Redwood City. Despite the controversy, Chick-fil-a is a booming
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business. So many people love Chick-fil-a and are huge fans of their famous chicken sandwich. Before this new location, the closest Chick-fil-a restaurant to us was in Sunnyvale, which is a very long drive for most Sequoia students and Chick-fil-a fans. “I’m very excited that one is finally opening near us,” sophomore Violet Buruaivalu said. Along with the new brick and mortar location opening on Whipple, a Chickfil-a location was put in in October, at the new Doordash Kitchen in Redwood City. In the Doordash kitchen only doordash orders are made, so it is not a restaurant, but a quicker way for doordashers to pick up their orders. Now Chick-fil-a Doordash orders are able to arrive quicker and at lower prices, but this still isn’t convenient for people who don’t use Doordash or who don’t want to spend money on the extra delivery fee. Thus the new location on Whipple will bring in a lot more people and will make Chick-fil-a fans very happy. Many Sequoia students are big fans of Chick-fil-a and are very excited for
their new opening. Chick-fil-a will be a very popular spot and fast food choice for Sequoia students when they open only six blocks away from Sequoia. “I love Chick-fil-a! I’m so excited for the new opening in Redwood City! I’m going to go all the time,” junior Gracyn Langford said. The new opening is getting many students excited, but some are worried about the location of the new restaurant. The location is pretty small, and it’s off of a busy street. “I’m pretty excited for [the opening], but I think it’s gonna be really hard to get to because I heard it’s in a weird location, with a lot of traffic and parking is probably going to be difficult,” senior Davin Leathers said. Despite the bad location, Chick-fil-a fans are hopeful for the new restaurant. People are excited for the opening and feel that this location will be a popular choice for many Sequoia students. “I think the Redwood City Chickfil-a will do really well here because everyone likes it in this area,” junior Damare Ward said.
Censo 2020 Por Ignacio Dominguez-Coronado
El año 2020 no solo es uno especial por el nuevo siglo en el cual ahora entramos, pero este año en específico los Estados Unidos se enfrenta a un año con gran clima político con las elecciones presidenciales del 2020. Este año también se convierte en una nueva década en la cual el gobierno iniciará el Censo del año 2020 con el fin de contar el total de la población cual habita el país. Similarmente varios otros países tomarán parte al igual que Estados Unidos. Este año se convierte en uno importante para accesos financieros para la comunidad de parte del Censo y uno importante por las elecciones cuales se llevarán a cabo este noviembre. Con un año importante como este es importante recordar. - El Censo es importante - Las elecciones son importantes El Censo es uno de los más importantes eventos que nos afectará para los próximos 10 años, “10 minutos, 10 preguntas y nos afectará para los próximos 10 años”, dijo Sandra M. Becerra la coordinadora de alcance comunitario del condado de San Mateo. Para muchos el censo se puede ver como un cosa cualquiera pero en realidad tiene mucha importancia cómo lo tanto para el país como en la comunidad. El Censo toma lugar cada 10 años en los Estados Unidos es la cuenta de cada persona viviendo en el país
The year 2020 is not only a special for the new century we now enter, but this year the United States specifically faces a year with great political climate with the presidential elections of 2020. This year also becomes a new decade in which the government will start the 2020 Census in order to count the total population that inhabits the country. Similarly, several other countries will take part just like the United States. This year becomes an important chance for financial access for the community from the Census and an important year for the elections that will take place this November. With an important year like this it is important to remember. - It’s Important to take part in the Census. - It’s Important to vote. The Census is one of the most important events that will affect us for the next ten years, “10 minutes, 10 questions and it will affect us for the next 10 years,” said Sandra M. Becerra, the community outreach coordinator for the San Mateo County. For many, the Census can be seen as anything, but in reality, it is very important for the country and as for your community. The census takes place every 10 years in the United States and is the count of each person living in the country which helps to spread economic support to communities depending on the number of inhabitants. “The Census directly affects programs and services in our community because it influences how more than $675 billion is distributed in federal funds per year. That is why it is essential that everyone regardless of age, legal status or criminal record
y ayuda a difundir apoyo económico a comunidades dependiendo el número de habitantes. “El Censo directamente afecta los programas y servicios en nuestra comunidad porque influye en cómo se distribuyen más de $675 mil millones en fondos federales por año. Es por eso que es fundamental que todos--sin importar la edad, estatus legal, o antecedentes penales--sean contados en el Censo.” dijo Becerra. Este conteo nos afectará para los próximos 10 años y distribuye los fondos cual el gobierno recibe dependiendo el número de habitantes en cada ciudad. Es importante tomar parte por esta razón, Becerra esfuerza la importancia y directamente lo que afecta, “Un conteo insuficiente en el próximo Censo 2020 afectaría los programas críticos de la comunidad, tales como: bibliotecas públicas, educación de la primera infancia, programas de almuerzos escolares, servicios de salud y viviendas asequibles. La infraestructura de nuestra comunidad también se vería afectada, ya que el tráfico empeoraría y no tendríamos suficiente transporte público para satisfacer las necesidades del verdadero tamaño de nuestra comunidad,” dijo Becerra. El Censo se abrirá el 1 de abril en donde podrán iniciar a responder al cuestionario. Es importante tomar parte en el Censo para así poder recibir los fondos para nuestras comunidades. El Censo contiene la información básica de cada persona que habita los Estados Unidos y es información cual no implica nada de estatus legal. Muchos mitos rodean la idea del Censo pero Becerra nos desenmascarar esos mitos, “Nuestra información personal no se puede compartir con ninguna persona fuera de la Oficina del Censo. La ley federal prohíbe que nuestra información personal del censo sea utilizada en nuestra contra por las autoridades de inmigración, un tribunal de justicia, agencias de vivienda locales, cualquier agencia de la ley, o cualquier otro funcionario del gobierno, sin importar el motivo que puedan tener.” dijo Becerra durante nuestra conversación ante el Censo.
Census 2020 are counted in the Census. ” Becerra said. This count will affect us for the next 10 years and distributes the funds that the government receives depending on the number of inhabitants in each city. It is important to take part for this reason Becerra strives to communicate the importance and directly what the Census targets. “An insufficient count in the next 2020 Census would affect critical community programs, such as: public libraries, early childhood education, school lunch programs , affordable health and housing services. The infrastructure of our community would also be affected, since the traffic would get worse and we would not have enough public transportation to meet the needs of the true size of our community, ” Becerra said. The Census will open on April 1st where you can start answering the questionnaire. It is important to take part in the Census in order to receive the funds for our communities. The Census asks for the basic information of each person who lives within the United States and is information that does not ask for anything regarding legal status. Many myths surround the idea of the Census, but Becerra unmasks those myths, “Our personal information cannot be shared with anyone outside the Census Bureau. Federal law prohibits our personal census information from being used against us by immigration authorities, a court of law, local housing agencies, any law enforcement agency, or any other government official, regardless of the reason they may to have.” Becerra said during our conversation before the Census.
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The Hidden Horrors Of of Homework i
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By Carla Roberts Staff Reporter
Homework is a ubiquitous topic internationally, as it has been for decades. Whether or not it is a necessary aspect of a good, if not exemplary, high school education is a widely-debated topic. However, its effects on the physical and mental health of students is evident. Countries like Finland and South Korea — despite clocking in little to no homework time— score better on standardized tests than the United States. Math, reading, and overall comprehension scores are incredibly high, even though students in those countries go to school for only 4-6 hours per day and study approximately 10-30 minutes of homework nightly. Japan is yet another high-scoring country with an alternative approach to education. Rather than learning from teachers who are instructing using a set curriculum, Japanese schools educate their children based on how to effectively use the internet and other resources in order to be more self-sufficient and media-literate people. This approach lifts many of the limits set by other curriculums and endows students with the ability to expand their own knowledge (rather than rely on an instructor to teach it to them). Deeksha, a 16-year-old student from India, says that she generally has about 4-5 hours of studying nightly for a total of 10 subjects. However, a parallel cannot be made between education and the subsequent test scores in India. This is due to the fact that India has declined from participating in the Program for International Student Assessment
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(PISA) after Indian states Tamil Nadu and Himachal scored 72nd out of the 74 participating countries. Despite having more homework and more time spent —in class, India seems to be scoring much worse than its top-performing East-Asian neighbors. Results from a recent Stanford University study showed that homework is a primary source of stress for middle and high school students. Additionally, homework has been found to decrease hours spent sleeping, which in turn affects both physical and mental health and increases the stress chemical cortisol. Furthermore, students are limited in extracurriculars and social activities when they are assigned hours of homework after an already-lengthy school day. It also applies more unnecessary overall stress to s t u d e nt s and how they reg a r d school. For example, Sequoia freshman Evelyn H a r rington got a concussion from playing s o c c e r, but felt so much stress about missing school that she insisted upon attending despite her terrible headaches and issues focusing. “I can’t miss school. It’s too difficult to make up all of the homework,” Harrington said. The intense stress that comes from missing school is consequent of the already-excessive workloads assigned, and the effects are impractical and unsafe when health is sacrificed for a few days of school.
I don’t think homework is necessary. However, I don’t feel that I would be doing my students justice or preparing them for college by not assigning them work outside of school.” — Jason Drogin
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Jason Drogin, who has been teaching English I ICAP at Sequoia for the past 14 years, doesn’t believe in the culture of overworking students for the sake of appealing to prestigious colleges. “I don’t think homework is necessary. However, I don’t feel that I would be doing my students justice or preparing them for college by not assigning them work outside of school,” Drogin said. Additionally, Drogin feels as though the curriculum established by the English board can’t be fulfilled in class alone. “Ideally, there would be less homework, but realistically I can’t accomplish everything in 9 months without dipping into students time outside of school,” Drogin said. This response reveals deeper issues with the American education system than can be remedied by a single teacher as they see fit. Even if the instructor doesn’t feel as though they should be assigning homework, they have no choice but to do so in an effort to fulfill their agenda and meet standards. Why homework is purposefully implemented into course syllabuses, despite having no benefits regarding the overall efficacy of a middle or high school education, remains a mystery. It becomes even more questionable as the aggressively negative mental health effects become more and more clear. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for high school students, with rates decreasing in ages below and above this bracket. Suicide rates in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 revealed concerning patterns—suicide rates increased by up to 100% during school months, while suicide rates in June, July, and August were halved. Additionally, psychiatric breakdowns decreased by 118%, not only during summer months but also during weeks where school wasn’t in session. (NEA Today) These results are self-explanatory—many high school students suffer mental breakdowns or even go as far as to take their own lives rather than continue to attempt to cope with the stress of school. This stress is undoubtedly a partial function of homework.
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Organize your space Cook a meal Make Some Crafts Get some sleep Excercise Climb a Tree Spend time with family Call Your Friends RAVEN REPORT | MARCH 2020 2020
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There are thousands of awards given out every year to the best and brightest in the entertainment industry for their “outstanding performances” or “incredible talent.” Celebrities put on their puffiest gowns, most handsome suits and dazzling smiles to attend the Emmys, Tony’s, Oscars, Golden Globes and dozens more award shows in hopes of going home with a shiny, somewhat heavy award. Each year tries to out-do the last, but the ratings aren’t going up. People seem to finally be over the “golden age of television and movies.” Netflix. Hulu. Amazon Prime. Disney+. iTunes. Streaming services like these have been shooting up in popularity in the past decade, but with their rise in the ranks comes the demise of the movie theater business. This year’s Oscars had the lowest viewership ever, with 23.6 million people watching, a 20 percent drop off from last year. People would rather sit on their couch in pajamas eating day-old pizza for breakfast and watch “Sex Education” than go out to the theaters to see a new movie. This new and scary societal norm plays a crucial role in the breakdown of Hollywood award shows. If you don’t see any of the films up for best picture, why would you care which one wins? In a survey of about 120 people asking whether they watch award shows, 54 percent said yes. However, in that same survey, only 30 percent said that the outcomes influence the movies, television shows, or music they listen to. The point of award shows is to shine a light on artists and performers who did exceptionally well in the past year so that people respect them and watch more of them. Less than a third of people surveyed said this is true for them and that the winners do not influence what they choose to see. This begs the argument that award shows are not living up to their purpose, and therefore have no role in our society. If this is true, it would make sense for them to stop being made, which is the mindset of many both in and outside of Hollywood. Another critical facet of the downfall of these glamorous ceremonies is their bias. The popular hashtag “OscarsSoWhite” is still trending this year, five
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years after it began. It was started in 2015 by April Reign to inform social media users about how very white and very male Oscar members and voters are. Since then, it has only grown in popularity, and is unfortunately still true today. Not only race but also gender comes into play when voting time comes around. The most prominent example of this in 2020 is Greta Gerwig’s Best Director snub for her film “Little Women.” Other than the Korean director Bong Joon Ho (who won), the category is entirely white and male. Even when ignoring race, gender, and other common discrimination factors, bias is present. A common belief, whether true or not, is that voters choose movies that are getting the most attention at the time award shows are taking place, not ones that deserve to win. “I hate how shows or movies win based off of popularity, not how good they actually are,” sophomore Ryan Zeh says. This unfairness in the voting system (not unlike the unfairness in our presidential voting system) is decreasing the viewer ratings even more. No one likes to watch undeserving and egotistical people win for what seems to be the hundredth time. (It is not completely fair to say everyone who wins is undeserving, but it tends to feel that way when the person you wanted to win has lost to someone you have no interest in.) Despite the bias, if given the chance to attend an academy award show, 73 percent of the previously mentioned survey said they would go. This is understandable, considering you’d be given the chance to walk the red carpet, meet celebrities, and participate in the biggest night in
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Hollywood. But it completely contradicts the rest of the data. Only 39 percent of those same voters said they’d rather go out to the movies instead of watching Netflix at home. Just one third said they go to the movies more than once or twice a month. The excitement of seeing or talking to celebrities should be based on their talent and skill from their performance, not their social status in Hollywood. Academy awards, as glamorous and prestigious as they look, are dying out. Each year brings more complaints about unfair winners, boring speeches and poor fashion choices. A great many of the speeches at this years’ award shows were roasting Hollywood, not praising it. If you watched Ricky Gervais’ opening monologue at the Golden Globes, you will have an idea of this. The reluctance of the average person to see a new movie leads to a reluctance to watch the award shows, which means you don’t care about which movies win so you won’t see those new movies. It is an ongoing cycle that could likely end with the downfall of movie theaters. It’s up to us to decide whether or not this will happen.
by Greta Reich Staff Reporter
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Cautioning against crooks mez said.
BY OSCAR NOLF Staff Reporter
Some students are growing worried about leaving their valuables in their bags at Stolen property and vandalism has practices or in class as more and more stories become more common at Sequoia as students emerge of people getting their valuables stolen have lost thousands of dollars worth of propduring class or during a sport practice after erty such as bikes, backpacks, and more. Last school. Most after school sports don’t have year alone there were 31 stolen property rea sport locker to store their things like footports, but that number may be higher as some ball has, so a majority of students leave their students don’t file a report. Theft happens bags and phones out everywhere on our by where they practice, campus: in classrooms, and many people have locker rooms, PE class, had their property stoand sports practices. len. Most stu- Whether it’s theft, harrassment, “I’ve dents lock their bikes bullying, threat or assault and personally never had in the bike cage by the battery, we need to know about it anything stolen, but I baseball field or nearby try to be aware of where to intervene. there, but other stuI leave my things beRoman Gomez, SRO dents lock their bikes cause I’ve heard stories all over campus. Most about people’s stuff beof the thefts on campus ing taken, especially at happen as a result of sport practices,” senior Sarah Fazio said. students leaving their bikes unlocked and unAs you enter the locker room, the attended. But in some instances, the thief goes first thing you see is a sign that reads “do not as far as unscrewing the side of the bike rack leave your valuables and backpacks out of your and sliding the lock off. locker.” As many people have had their person“Some students just don’t want to al property stolen in the locker rooms during waste their time and so they don’t lock their classes. bikes, so most bike thefts we’ve had are un“More often than not, the theft haplocked bikes. Occasionally if they leave it overpens in the locker rooms,” Gomez said. night or over the weekend then they are at risk Most theft in the locker room hapof getting their bike lock cut, but that rarely pens because students don’t lock up their valuhappens,” School resource officer Roman Go-
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ables in their lockers. Some students think that Sequoia could improve the security on campus by adding more cameras, especially where people leave their bikes and spend most of their time. “I want to encourage students, if they are victims of any crime on campus, to report it, whether it’s theft, harassment, bullying, threat or obviously assault and battery, we need to know about it to intervene,” Gomez said.
The Banned Clubs of Sequoia By Nicholas Lawrence Staff Reporter
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lubs are an essential part of our high school experience. Everyone knows that joining and managing clubs are important for those extracurricular activities that everyone says you need to get into college. And this is certainly embodied within Sequoia where clubs encompass many parts of Sequoia life from the Lego club to the Anime club. In fact, there are over fifty clubs within the school. Because of this, the school has tried to control the number of clubs, and regulate them so they fit within the club standards of Sequoia High School. This allows many clubs to pass through and propagate their meaning throughout the school, but there have been some clubs which have been blocked from forming. To pass the club legislation, a set of regulations have to be approved. These things help keep track of the club and uphold it to a strict framework of rules that assist it in maintaining working fashion. However, some clubs fail to comply with this set of regulations, and therefore despite having a good idea, never seem to come into existence. There are many clubs like this, however, just one example of this is the Young Republicans Club, which does not exist today. This previous year, the Young Republicans Club was very popular. There were many members of the club, but many of them were seniors who graduated last year. Coming this year, the club charter was not renewed. Students tried to revive the club, but it was blocked due to its lack of teacher sponsor. According to the club rules, a club must have a teacher sponsor in order to be official, however one failed to be found, and therefore, the club does not exist today. This is just one example where the failure to achieve one of the rules censored its existence. Another major club
that has been blocked is the Political Union club. It was one of the largest clubs within the school during the 2018-2019 school year, but this year, it ceases to be. “I think that some of the club rules need to be modernized, due to the legislation that may block certain clubs from forming. You know, I may want to be part of a certain club, but it might not exist after it was blocked on some technicality.” said Daniel Csuti, a freshman at Sequoia High School. For example, the rules for all clubs under the Club Charter states that all clubs must have an active enrollment of 8 members to exist. Some disagree with this rule however, with the rationale that something’s popularity should not dictate what clubs should form. After all, there are plenty of clubs that contribute to the overall environment of Sequoia with minimal popularity. However, some students do say that the rules actually do provide a sense of “quality assurance” and help bind school rules together. It would be unfortunate if there were hundreds of clubs with only 2 or 3 members each. Administration remains stalwart on the issue, many supporting the club legislation on the issue. Although the club legislation may be somewhat discouraging to many aspiring club makers, the process still has been proven to work. Clubs today hold a reasonable sense of order, with the mandated charters and they are all active and actively contributing to the school, due to the rules about membership and meetings, etc. As such, there is common consensus that the club legislation actually works. There has been no widespread protest against the club legislation, and it has only been something small clubs have dealt with, the majority of the school population being unaware of some of the challenges that aspiring club founders face.
All clubs must be approved annually by the Principal or the Principal’s designee
All clubs must prepare a club charter and submit an annual budget before hosting fundraisers or incurring
expenditures
A club must maintain roster of at least 8 current Sequoia students
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All clubs must be presided over by a certificated faculty adviser who attends club meetings and club events
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How Much Technology In the Classroom Is Beneficial
BY HOPE CALLAGHAN Staff Reporter
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s technology evolves, so does the world of music. It seems like everyone is enjoying the new developments and everywhere you look, someone is plugged in and listening to their phone. At first glance, you might think that all teenagers like the sweet feeling of blasting music through their headphones until their head hurts and tuning out and ignoring the world around them but this isn’t true for all teens. The average number of hours listened to music for teenagers is 2.5 hours per person but between 60-70% of teens listen to music every day. But the long-standing question has always been: does listening to music actually help you focus and work? Every student has run into a teacher that doesn’t like music in class and this is a pretty understandable concept until you meet a student that needs it. This is where the idea of listening to music in class gets tricky because everyone’s experience is different. For example, some students feel more calm and less anxious while listening to music but some feel completely distracted and unable to focus and it can be hard to tell the difference. Bella Prado is a big fan of music and agrees that it helps her focus and be calm. “Yeah, it helps me focus on my class work because everyone in the back kind of distracts me when they’re talking.” Bella says. On the other hand, students like Tony Sieling just can’t multi task like that and feel completely distracted with music playing while he works but he agrees that it’s different for everyone. “I think it really depends on the person really depends on how they focus on stuff. You can’t really say for sure [what] some people are just going to be distracted by. But I would say in total probably more good than harm. A lot of [students] just work and it’s not distracted by it. It’s just something in the background that helps them not get distracted by other things
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while they’re working, but that’s not me.” Tony says. Mr. Aguilera, a beloved teacher here at Sequoia, has his own opinions on students multitasking and listening to music in class. He thinks that there’s a time and place for everything and that music can sometimes do more harm than good because it can pull your attention away from the task. “I think, I think there’s kind of misunderstanding on both sides between teachers and students, I think students think they can multi task, and teachers think that there’s no way they’re multitasking. I think there’s like a there’s like a research that shows something about that only something like two to eight percent of the human population can actually multi task, yet we all think that we’re part of that eight percent.” Although it may feel better to listen to music or you think it might make you look cooler, listening to music in class isn’t for everyone. Everyone is different and listening to music and multitasking doesn’t work for everyone so before you turn on your music at the beginning of class, consider whether or not it will really help you focus or do class work.
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RICE KRISPIES
March Baking By Isabella Burns
Prep Time - 5 minutes Cook Time - 5 minutes Additional Time - 1 hour Total Time - 1 hour and 10 minutes INGREDIENTS * 6 Tbsp unsalted butter * 16 oz mini marshmallows, divided - or separated * 1 tsp pure vanilla extract * 6 cups rice krispies cereal * Lucky Charms Marshmallows * Green food dye (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Line an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside. 2. In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt butter. Once melted, turn heat to low and add in all but 1 cup of the mini marshmallows. 3. Stir constantly until marshmallows are completely melted. 4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Add cereal and the remaining mini marshmallows. 5. Pour into a prepared baking dish. Press gently with fingertips until spread. Set one hour. Cut and enjoy!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY JELL-O PARFAIT Prep Time - 10 minutes Cook Time - 3 hours Total Time - 3 hours 10 minutes INGREDIENTS * 1 package (3oz) Lime Jell-o * 1 cup thawed Cool Whip whipped topping
SHAMROCK SHAKE Prep Time - 5 minutes Cook Time - 1 minute Total Time - 6 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Prepare Jell-o according to package directions 2. Set aside the 1/3 cup of jello 3.Spoon remaining jell-o into 4 to 5 dessert or wine glasses. 4.Chill glasses at an angle until jell-o is set (overnight is best) 5.Fold whipped topping into remaining (1/3 cup) jell-o. 6.Refrigerate until ready to use. 7.Spoon topping mixture into glasses of set jell-o. 8.Top with a dollop of Cool Whip (Or ice cream) and meringues then sprinkle sprinkles over top. Chill, and enjoy!
INGREDIENTS * 2 cups vanilla ice cream * 3/4 cup whole milk * 10 green drops food coloring * 1/4 teaspoon mint extract * Whipped cream, sprinkles and cherries for serving * Chocolate syrup (optional) INSTRUCTIONS 1. Place the ice cream, milk, food coloring and mint extract into a blender. 2. Blend until smooth. 3. Pour into two glasses. Top with whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and cherries, then serve.
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“Knives Out” On Point By Zoe Dufner Multimedia Editor
With a budget of $40 million, “Knives Out” won 41 awards and had 83 nominations, grossing around $300 million worldwide. The movie also received one of the widest releases in Lionsgate history, with a total of 632 locations. It is not uncommon that critics will praise the thrilling murder mystery. With a of 97 percent on rotten tomatoes, the movie is admired by many viewers. And having a great cast consisting of Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, and an actress known amongst teens for her performance in “13 Reasons Why,” Kathrine Langford, it’s no question how the movie got a fair amount of attention, but does the film really live up to its expectations? The short answer is yes, the movie is filled with unexpected plot twists and suspenseful scenes that keep your eyes glued to the screen from the opening scene to the credits. In the movie, when famous crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey dies, detective Benoit Blanc is hired by the family to investigate. Though it appears to be a suicide, it is suspected that there is more to the story. After it is revealed to the viewers that the Thrombey’s housekeeper Marta was heavily involved in the death, Benoit asks her to accompany him while solving the crime. This along with Marta’s inability to tell a lie without throwing up, creates quite a bit of comedic tension as you follow her attempt to cover up what happened throughout the story. With many dramatic plot twists, it is hard not to get invested in the story quickly. You become interested in the characters early on, and seeing them in such edge-ofyour-seat situations only makes the movie more entertaining. I also thought it was an intresting
RT E L A R E L I O P S decision to discuss controversial issues like children being contained in border detention centers into the story and having the characters debate about these issues. It gave a lot of insight into who the characters were, especially since we generally hold a lot of bias against people with certain opinions on this issue. I feel it was effective in making the viewers feel more strongly about the characters, successfully drawing them deeper into the story. While this was one small scene, it’s the amount of details like this that
create an alluring story. However, some of Kathrine Langford’s dialogue is slightly awkward to watch, occasionally taking you away from the mostly enthralling story. With a few unnaturally delivered lines, it often makes Langfords’s character, Meg Thrombey, feel like an archetype that was added into the story only for the purpose of creating more appeal to teens, rather than an actual contribution to the story. The way the lines were delivered didn’t make them completely believable, and those lines almost always took me away from the story. Though, it was not hard to get back into it. Towards the end, when detective Benoit reveals that Marta was not at fault for Thrombey’s death, it leaves the viewers in awe, and before you can catch your breath, another attempt at murder takes place when Ransom tries to stab Marta, only for it to be
revealed that it is a fake knife. When explaining how the death went down, Benoit says that he knew of Marta’s involvement from the start because of a drop of blood on her white shoe. Though some critics did not like this addition to the story, thinking it made Benoit’s dectective skills less impressive, it does explain why he would want Marta to help him solve the crime. However, many critics point out that the drop of blood on her shoe could have been a variety of different things from different events, meaning Benoit drastically jumped to conclusions. Also, if he genuinely thought this was related, he could have gotten the shoe tested, making this whole proccess go much faster. But in the end, it was better that it played out this way, considering that Marta was not entirely at fault for the murder. Regardless of this, it did not help the movie by adding that Benoit knew more than we thought all along. Though it was a smaller detail, it seemed to have negatively affected quite a few viewers’s opinions of the movie, meaning it would be better off without it. But overall, his movie builds in suspense until it’s over, making it easy to get extremely invested in the story. And in the end, when Ransom is shown being taken away in a police car, it gives you the closure you’ve been endlessly hoping for since the moment you got caught up in the mystery. The majority of the actors were enteraining, and the witty dialogue complimented that. The storyline was easy to follow and very compelling, and overall, the movie a very fun watch.
RAVEN 1 REPORT | MARCH 2020
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2020 HAS GIVEN US PLENTY
JAN FEB
3rd The US assasinated Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani. This event sharply escalated tensions between the US and Iran. 8th Ukrainian plane crashed in Iran, killing 176. 26th Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna passed away in a tragic helicopter crash, along with 7 other passengers.
2nd The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco
49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
5th The Impeachment of President Donald Trump ended after he was cleared of both impeachment charges. 19th Rapper Pop Smoke died of a gunshot wound. 24th NASA’s Katherine Johnson died of old age at 101. 29th The final day of celebration for Black History Month.
MAR
7th The coronavirus reached its first peak and infected around 100,000 people after emerging from Wuhan, China. 8th The world celebrated the 109th International Women’s Day. 9th Schools of all levels, including universities around the world have shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. 10th Italy goes into full quarantine. 11th the NBA, NHL, MLB and Major League Soccer suspended seasons and the NCAA canceled the March Madness tournament due to predicted spread between players. 11th The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been tanking and is at its worst since 1978.
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