Volume LVII, Issue V
15325 East Los Robles Avenue, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
March 1, 2018
Senior Class Takes Home Clash of the Classes Trophy By Bianca Flores The most epic spirit event of the year took place on February 9 in the gym. It was up to the participants to compete in games to earn points for their class, and in the end, the class of 2018 came out on top. Like last year, the freshmen were in the blue corner, sophomores in the red corner, juniors in the white corner, and seniors in the black corner. Everybody arrived dressed head-to-toe in their class color and sat in their decorated section, anxiously waiting for the rally to start. The rally began with a blast of energy as the intro video played. The spirit competition started off with a decibel challenge, which leadership advisor Christopher Reeder led. After each class “hype video” was played, that class had to do the Conqueror Chant as loud as they could. The class with the loudest chant, measured by a decibel meter, would start off the rally with ten points. Right off the bat, seniors won the challenge with a 107 decibel Conqueror Chant setting the victorious mood for the night. After, the rally was filled with numerous games and
Class of 2018, back-to-back champions, all reaching to get their hands on their well deserved trophy after defeating the other classes.
challenges like past years, but this year new games were added. For example, games like Rubber Band Cup Stack, Toilet Paper Race, and Bite Me were new additions. However, some anticipated games from previous years were brought back like Human Chair, Battleship, the Ultimate Lip Sync, and Dance Battle. The lip sync was towards the middle of the rally and featured an adorable freshmen High School
Musical duet, a revealing sophomore performance of “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” a junior’s hilarious rendition of “Since You Been Gone,” and an impressive, high-energy rap of “Goosebumps” for the seniors. After the judges’ deliberation, the seniors took first place, freshman second, juniors third, and sophomores last. The lip sync champion of the night, Senior Ruben Franco stated, “I wanted
to do the lip sync because I thought that I would do a good job and win for my class because of my personality.” He definitely represented the seniors well, and he admits that the experience, “… felt like I was in a concert.” The dance battle was also a major hit this year, with the freshman, junior, and senior classes organizing three incredibly entertaining dances. Unfortunately, due to communication issues,
the sophomores did not perform a dance, but the other three classes made up for it. Again, the seniors took first place, with juniors in second and freshman in third. The end of the rally was a nail-biter, with the seniors and juniors neck and neck. However, at the end Reeder announced that the class with the highest attendance (counted by people checking in with their IDs and Hero app) earned an extra 20
Photo By Nicolás Hernández
points. Of course, the seniors clinched first place for the 2018 Clash of the Classes Rally with their remarkable attendance. Seniors rushed to the floor as soon as the scores were posted on the screen. The rally was followed by a short DJ session with the help of junior Christian Castro. Seniors celebrated their second consecutive Clash of the Classes victory by taking photos with the trophy.
Faculty Welcomes Newly Secure Classroom Locks & Keys By Nicolás Hernández In the final stretch of the first semester, an administrative decision was made to change school locks and keys to modernize campus security. In the meantime, faculty had been
unable to unlock their doors while the changes were being made. However, last month the locks were finally replaced, which upgraded the security and brought relief to many. Throughout the months in between the administrative
decision and the enacting of it, staff and faculty had to rely on custodial and administrative staff to open the doors, and teachers were unable to leave their classroom doors closed without being locked out. While this resulted in some
disorientation throughout the first weeks, students and teachers eventually grew accustomed to the situation. Principal Jeffrey Hess was able to explain the reason for the delay, “It takes a long time because there’s like 290 locks on campus so it’s a long
Unites States History and AP Government teacher, Richard Nares, opening a more secure, patented lock. Photo by Nicolás Hernández
time for them to actually make keys for all those, and make the locks different so it keeps the campus safe and secure.” The new locks and keys which were implemented certainly meet these requirements. While at first glance they may appear as regular keys and ordinary locks, the technology which were used to create them are unique. The patent under which the keys are made lasts for twenty years, meaning that it is a proprietary technology which ordinary locksmiths do not have the capacity to replicate for as long as the patent is in place. Custodian Dave Hernandez elaborated on this, “The district bought the machines to be able to get [the keys] cut.” He goes on to say, “No one can get this, we’re the only ones that get this cut for the key.” In addition to higher
security, there is a new sense of convenience for faculty members whose one key can unlock to multiple rooms that they need to access, resulting in a fewer number of keys needed. Teachers could use some convenience after the months they experienced without keys. “Obviously everyone was mad because they can’t get to work and do what they have to do, they had to wait for someone to open the doors for them,” described Hernandez. Hernandez also recounted his time at Wilson High School who had a similar process and described the time over there as a “nightmare” due to less effective organization. While the months without keys may have been a nuisance to some, it is clear that it resulted in a more secure campus.