Volume LVII, Issue IV
December 11, 2017
15325 East Los Robles Avenue, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
ASB Highlights Student Abilities Through Talent Show By Bianca Flores
O
n a very special Friday night, talented Los Altos students showed off their skills to a crowd in an attempt to win them over. A variety of acts graced the Little Theatre stage for this year’s Talent Show. The event took place on December 1 and the lineup was jam packed with talented students with a myriad of acts including bands, solo vocalists, dancers, a beat boxer, pianist, and a group of dramatic hand clappers. Prior to this year the talent show was held second semester rather than first semester and in the spacious gym. The recent change in atmosphere was adressed by senior Justin Ochoa, who led the Talent Show committee. “The only major difference this year was the location move into the [Little Theater]. This was a drastic change in the setting, but [it] was definitely a cool change because of the intimate feeling.” The Talent Show
Photo by Nicolás Hernández
First place act, XIVE, performs original song, receiving praise from both judges and audience. usually took place second semester, in the Gym. While all performances were received well by judges and audience alike, the judges could only pick the top three acts for the winner to be decided. The judges were band director Jay Laging, dance teacher Kelsey Brennan, chemistry teacher Jason
Ackermann, and Spanish teacher Iris Preciado. After deliberation, the judges announced that their top three would be solo vocalist sophomore Gissel Mora, dancer senior Isabel Estrada, and XIVE, a band consisting of freshmen Isaias Marin, Brian Martinez, Landon De La Vara, and sophomore Darianna Alca-
ntara. After the top three were announced, the audience was given five minutes to vote for their favorite act by filling out an online poll. Then the MCs for the night, juniors Jessica Espinosa and Pedro Aguirre, announced the final results to the sound of audience produced drumrolls.
XIVE was announced the winner, with Mora and Estrada obtaining second and third place respectively. Each got a trophy to take home and first place got two tickets to the Sadies dance each. Marin admits that before their victorious performance in the Talent Show, the band was drifting apart, but the
show gave them a reason to continue working together. “It was a week before we tried out that we came up with the whole idea of making a song that was fresh, new, and relatable to anyone in the audience,” Marin reveals. After hearing that the band won first place, he describes it as a “blur” and it verified that making music was the right way to go. “Win or no win, I was glad enough to be up there on stage and to show people that we have something going. The energy was amazing overall, and I had a good time. It just felt awesome,” Marin describes. After witnessing the success of the night, Ochoa states, “It may sound cliché, but I honestly think it’s important we have a talent show to be able to give each and every student a chance to showcase something special. People showcase their talents as a way of expressing their feelings and their backgrounds… and to see that myself, makes the stress and hard work all worth it.”
HLPUSD Attempts Reconfiguration Amidst Dropping Enrollment By Nicolás Hernández With significantly lower rates of student attendance to school within the the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District over the past 20 years. The district is considering the reconfiguration of their schools’ grade structure. Reconfiguration, as explained by meetings in the Hacienda held on October 30 and November 13 is defined as “the arrangement of schools in a different form, figure, or combinations.” This would involve, for example, changing the current structure of a high school being from ninth grade to twelfth grade into seventh grade to twelfth grade. This was just one of the possibilities that Principal Jeffrey Hess mentioned at the community meeting to solve the issue of decreasing district enrollment. Hess explained his theory for the current trend in enrollment, “I think one of the big things [that cause]
our declining enrollment is that there’s a lot of people that live in this area, that haven’t moved out. My parents are on of them. My parents live up near Los Molinos and they’re not moving out because they bought their house in 1971.” He continues, “So because they don’t move out, then new families can’t move in,
I think that has a lot to do with it.” No matter the reason, the district recognizes this issue, and this meeting which students, parents, and teachers were encouraged to attend was the start of them attempting to fix it. The meeting began with Hess explaining the situation to those in attendance
followed by describing what reconfiguration meant in this context and saying that the district’s idea of optimal enrollment would be having 500 students in elementary school, 700-800 students in middle schools, and 3000 students in high schools. This is in stark contrast to the 1,777 students that are currently enrolled in Los
Altos High School, which currently boasts the highest enrollment in the district. Community members who were at the meeting were then asked to write down changes they would like to see in the district on one side of a large paper, and the configuration that would best suit these suggestions. Even with district
(projected)
(projected)
Graphic by Nicolas Hernandez
claims that change equals opportunities, there were some who felt concerned about these possible modifications. One parent expressed after the meeting her concerns, “My worry is that young students will be in the same school as older students.” She goes on to comment on the different student configurations saying that she only likes the fifth grade to eighth grade configuration adding, “that’s the one that I like the most, I’m still not sure about the other ones.” Senior, Alyssa Armstrong attended the meeting and commented on the district’s intentions, “I think the reconfiguration was a smart choice in brainstorming ideas for our school district.” Currently, HLPUSD is organizing these meetings to get an idea of what parents, students, and teachers would like out of their district and to explore the different possibilities, in terms of class organization, which would best suit those needs.