2008 november

Page 1

Volume 57, Issue 3

Arcadia High School 180 Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA

November 2008

Arcadia: California’s Haven

In this issue:

Photo by JENNIFER KU

PERFORMING ARTS pg.8 AFOB: Arcadia Festival of Bands took place on Saturday, Nov. 22. Graphic by DAVID HERNANDEZ ARCADIA’S BEST: AHS is filled with great teachers as illustrated by Teacher of the Year Sra. Margarita Ortiz, stellar sports programs as exhibited by our Varsity Cross Country Team and strong academics as demonstrated by our 35 National Merit ® Semifinalists.

By CHRISTINE XU Copy Editor

Photo Courtesy of MONICA SHEI

FEATURES pg.10 Five Thanksgiving Myths Busted: Find out what is really cooking on this American holiday.

Photo by YENTL IP

CENTER SPREAD pgs.12-13 Letter of Thanks: Students reflect on their most inspiring teachers.

Parade Band scoring 197 out of 200 at the Mt. Carmel Tournament/Review. Varsity Boys Cross Country placing first at the Stanford Invitational. AHS rising above expectations on the California Standardized Tests (CST) with an Academic Performance Index (API) of 859. These are but just a few of the achievements that can be attributed to Arcadia, where AHS is only one of its merits. According to BusinessWeek, Arcadia has been rated “one of the best places to raise your kids” in America, topping the list for California’s ideal towns to live in. Several factors were weighed when narrowing down the choices, such as school performance, crime rates, family income, and diversity. Strong weight was also given to affordability, which was the controlling principle in organizing this list. This is reflected in the fact that Arcadia’s median home sale price is $753,720, making it the perfect candidate for middle-class citizens to live in. Also, AHS is a silver medal school, meaning that it has a high college readiness index. In addition to its reasonable residential prices, Arcadia is home to the Santa Anita Park and the Los Angeles County Park & Botanical Garden, cultural amenities that appeal to residents because “it’s great to live in a city that is just so rich in history and diversity. [It] really shows the care and respect Arcadia has for its past, [as it] continues to preserve and cherish its

heritage,” said junior Casey Young. Not only is Arcadia a real estate agent’s dream, our very own high school has one of the nation’s most critically acclaimed music programs. AHS Marching Band is known for its prestigious Parade Band and award-winning parade and field shows. This year, Field Band received sweepstakes at the Band Review and Parade Band placed first at the Field Tournament at Mt. Carmel, beating out Rancho Bernardo High School, its rival for several years. They are set to perform at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL, and at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, during winter break. But Band isn’t the only group exemplifying AHS’ “tradition of excellence.” In 2007, Orchestra 3 traveled to San Jose to compete in the Heritage Festival, where they received awards for “Best Orchestra Program” and “Best Performance by an Orchestra.” Aside from AHS’ excellent band and orchestra, our athletics program’s talent is unmatched, namely, Varsity Boys Cross Country’s. Cross Country has participated and has been ranked highly in a myriad of competitions: they won Stanford Invitational and placed fourth at Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational, both of which are national caliber meets; they also placed first at the 2008 Pacific League Finals, third at Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, and are currently the third best team in California. The boys have also made state finals in CIF League this year for the fourth consecutive year, a feat few teams can achieve. But Coach Jim O’Brien isn’t worried: “We’ve built a very positive reputation for turning out top-flight

runners and sending them on to four-year colleges with scholarships. The trademark of our Boys [Cross Country] team is the foundation of the team: hard work inevitably brings success. And these guys are clearly willing to work hard in order to achieve success.” Lastly, AHS’ academic achievements are endless. We have again surpassed the state’s expectations for the CST with flying colors: our score is 59 points above the ideal API score and is fairly high compared to the median of schools with similar demographics, and our English learners and students with disabilities have progressed greatly since last year, tacking on at least 20 more points to our overall score. This year, AHS is represented by 35 National Merit ® Semifinalists who scored at least 217 on the National Preliminary SAT (PSAT), an astounding 16 more students than last year’s number. Our administrators deserve praise, too—over half of the teachers hold Master’s Degrees or have had professional experience in their fields of practice, and our Counseling Department has been recognized by the Los Angeles County Office of Education every year. Sra. Margarita Ortiz was even commended as Arcadia Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year for her dedication to her students as a teacher and a mentor. Through these achievements, it can be seen that “...the accolade is a validation of what we believe to be true about our schools and the city, and all of the hard work that is done by the school district staff,” said Joel Shaw, AUSD Superintendent.


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