Volume 59, Issue 9
May/June y// 2011
Arcadia High School 180 Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA
A Fresh Start for The Apache Pow Wow
In this issue: 1 1 0 2 10-
20 Photo courtesy of CELEBRATING200.GOV
2011
-2012
NEWS pg.3 Tornadoes Strike the South: A record-breaking series of tornadoes wreak havoc in the South.
Photos by ELLIOTT LEE and Graphics courtesy of LEARNINGSTYLESTUTORING.COM, PHARMRX.YOLASITE.COM, 123RF.COM and MSCHAN42.WORDPRESS,.COM
PASSING ON THE TORCH (left to right) Seniors Christine Xu, Melissa Ma, and Kristie Tom have passed their roles as leaders of The Apache Pow Wow to juniors Rhiannon Yee, Nancy Xiao, and Kaitlyn Jeong. are the ones we make on a Nancy described the process as “a large responsibilBy ASHLEY CHI Student Life Editor Graphic courtesy of PSDGRAPHICS.COM
OPINION pg.6 The Wonder of Being Human: What’s great about simply being human often goes unnoticed.
Photo courtesy of OURSTAGE.COM
STUDENT LIFE pg.24 Almost Hero Rocks Out: Our resident boy band gives some insight on their budding career. Have a question, comment, or concern about the Pow Wow? E-mail the Editors-in-Chief at editorsinchief@apachepowwow.com or find us online at apachepowwow.com.
The clickity-clack of speedy fingers sprinting over keyboards and the ticks of computer mice skimming over pixels and brushing over graphics may put most students to sleep, but to the staff of The Apache Pow Wow, these are familiar and comforting sounds. Sound like a nerdonly zone? Look again, as the staff is comprised of the most diverse students at AHS, with one common goal: to uphold Pow Wow’s reputation of being one of AHS’ most reputable sources of general news and entertainment. To continue Pow Wow’s legacy through the 2011-2012 school year, current juniors Kaitlyn Jeong and Rhiannon Yee were chosen as next year’s Editors-inChief, while Nancy Xiao was chosen as Managing Editor. Though many students associate Pow Wow solely with writing and editing, more than half of the monthly production process is comprised of layout formation and page editing. Page editors, the Managing Editor, and the Editors-in-Chief toil behind-the-scenes to design, create, and piece together the final product. While staff writers write and edit their articles, page editors take the articles and use them as ingredients to form layouts that are both eye-friendly and unique. Towards the end of each month, the Editors-inChief edit each section’s pages, checking for a student-geared fusion of quality and creativity.
ity, but a welcome one.” While the Editors-in-Chiefs’ responsibilities revolve predominantly around the technicalities of Pow Wow, the Managing Editor handles Pow Wow’s funding, working closely with the Advertising and Fundraising staffs. The Photography, Web, and Copy editing staffs also contribute largely to the publication process by pitching in with their respective areas of talent. The key to Pow Wow’s success lies in its cultivation of “standards—making and transcending them. There is so much freedom to do what you believe is more efficient, more productive, more extraordinary,” said former Editor-In-Chief senior Christine Xu. However, Pow Wow isn’t solely comprised of writing and editing. In striving together to produce something that combines every single staff member’s full efforts, a heartwarming sense of camaraderie seems to emanate from the group. Christine fondly remembered that “on our go-to-press days, when we’re racing to export all of our pages to our publisher, we commiserate in reading over each page. Working together has made for a lot of great friends.” Adding on to Christine’s words, former Managing Editor senior Melissa Ma stated that “the staff members create this environment that I call home. I love how I can go into the lab and find someone I can chat with, because Pow Wow is one of those organizations that combines all sorts of different people into one staff. I can honestly say that it is the company that I will miss the most.” Former Editor-in-Chief senior Kristie Tom affirmed that her “favorite Pow Wow memories
daily basis—and that’s what everything’s really all about. It’s not about the extravagant banquet or the car washes in the insanely humid weather, it’s about making connections on a day-to-day basis.” Experiences on Pow Wow often lead to lifelong memories, as Christine credited the shaping of her “interests, passions, leadership, and high school career” to Pow Wow, as “it holds an entire chapter on its own with the lessons [she’s] learned and the friends [she’s] made. And though I think I am terrible at recalling memories, I’ve made too many with Pow Wow to ever forget.” Although the Pow Wow’s 2010-2011 publication year has endured its trials and celebrated its triumphs, “we all anticipate that Pow Wow will have nowhere to go but up from here after this year,” Rhiannon affirmed. Likewise, Kaitlyn added in a word about her excitement for working with next year’s staff, stating that she’s “especially excited because the staff for next year is going to be extremely strong.” Though this newspaper is about the sweat, blood, and tears that go into its production, Nancy summarized the heart of Pow Wow when she said, “All of us joined the staff for different reasons, but I want all of us to stay for the same reason: because we genuinely love Pow Wow. Appreciation of the people that make up a program plays a huge role in our love for the program, so I am going to make sure that everyone has a chance to feel like they belong, and a chance to want to belong.” achi@apachepowwow.com