March 2019

THE AZTEC VOLUME LXXXI NUMBER VII

march 21, 2019

VIEWPOINT PG. 3

theaztecnews.com

sports pg. 7-8

FOCUS PG. 4-5

Assessing the true cost of higher education

Tennis brings home win against Schurr

Acknowledging the hard work of Keppel’s staff

NEWS IN BRIEF ASB Officer and class council elections Students will be able to vote for their 2019-2020 ASB officers and class council on March 20 to 21. The voting link will be posted on mkhs.org, and requires student email login.

Cap and gown purchase deadline The deadline for seniors to purchase their cap and gown online is Friday, March 22. Those who do not purchase a cap and gown by the deadline will be automatically placed on the rental list.

Mandarin Airband Mandarin Airband, hosted by the Chinese Entertainment Club, will be held on Friday, March 22, from 3 to 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $6 presale and $10 at the door.

All Male performs their “Motocross” routine in the Small All Male category, in which they won the national championship.

Dance Company dominates WCE TIMOTHY CHUMAN Editor-in-Chief / Chief Photographer After All Male, also known as MKAM, made their mark on the dance world by becoming the first high school team ever to perform on NBC’s World of Dance and advance past the qualifiers, Dance Company continued their recent success with three national championships at the West Coast Elite Nationals competition this past Saturday at the Long Beach Convention Center.

All Male won the national championship for both the Large All Male and Small All Male categories and received the top overall score, while Dance Team won the national championship for medium female hip hop.

The teams also placed in the top five of their respective categories for kick, medium contemporary and large All Male. “[Both teams] had their best performances in the routines that won this past weekend. They did what I’ve been pushing them to do all season long and they all seemed to

COURTESY OF COLLIN LAC

peak on the same day,” says Dance Company director Activate Arroyo.

The teams have won national championships in the past, but these victories were particularly meaningful for the members.

Their execution and hard work gave them every reason to be proud, and taking over the competition in such dominant fashion made it even more special.

[See World of Dance, page 2]

Keppel earns California Distinguished School title WESLEY ZENG Sports Editor/ Business Manager

THE AZTEC/ VINCENT BAGABALDO Mark Keppel High School is the only AUSD school receiving the California Distinguished School title.

Mark Keppel High School is now recognized as a California Distinguished School after receiving the title earlier this year. The award is given to schools based on their performance and progress as marked on the state indicators. For the 2019 year, 163 middle and high schools have earned this recognition, with Mark Keppel as the only school in the Alhambra Unified School District receiving this title.

The recognition is earned through an application school administrators will receive if nominated by the state of California. Schools may only apply every other year and must have met all listed requirements. Some requirements include low suspen-

sion rates, high performance in English Language Arts and Math, and closing the achievement gap from previous years. Mark Keppel’s administrators applied under category one, in which “you present a program or something that’s unique to your school that makes you stand out,” explains Ms. Perez, Assistant Principal of Business and Activities.

Mark Keppel’s focus in their application was the integration of freshmen into high school. “We realized, taking a look at the last three years, what program has just truly developed, and we went with what we do for our freshman transition,” says Ms. Castro, Assistant Principal of Instruction. By integrating the both Link Crew and Get Focused Stay Focused into the school’s curriculum and lives of the students,

it allows freshmen to excel in high school and build connections between upperclassmen. Along with the program offered, Mark Keppel has also shown an improvement in other core subjects when looking at SBAC scores and lowered their suspension rate within the last three years.

School administrators were contacted on January 28, receiving news that Mark Keppel was eligible for the award. After initial discussion on what the focus would be, administrators spent the remaining days writing the document as the deadline for submission was on February 11. Castro says, “It took a lot because it’s not just us writing about ourselves. It’s about providing data.”

[See Keppel Recognized, page 2]

THE AZTEC MARCH 21, 2019 All Male advances to duels in NBC’s World of Dance 2 NEWS

[From Dance Company, page 1]

“This was one of my favorite competitions personally because we did so great.

What we put out on the floor were some of our best run-throughs that we’ve ever done, so I’m proud and confident that we put in our best work, and it paid off in the results,” says junior Keith Ngo. With approximately 700 acts in total, the talent level of the competition was top-notch, and to place so highly establishes Dance Company as a powerhouse not only in the area, but more impressively, in the nation. “[The championships] certainly get Dance [Company] out in general, not just All Male, but also Dance Team because everyone is going to look at all of our accomplishments. Arroyo really wants to put us out there, and competing and getting wins continues to make a name for us,” says co-captain Olivia Cheung.

Being on a nationally televised show certainly helps as well, as All Male com-

peted on World of Dance last Sunday and advanced to the duels with an overall score of 89.7. As the opening act of the final night of qualifiers, All Male put on an electrifying performance with their seamless transitions and sharp choreography, completed with their “When we got the 92 from Derek [Hough] and the first 87 from Neyo, we not only qualified, but we got the third top score in the junior team division, so that made me really happy,” says captain Paul Im. “It was nice to finally get recognition for all the hard work we put in, especially staying for a bunch of hours after school, showing that all of our work in the little studio of our own and on the blacktop basketball courts paid off by finally making it to the biggest stage for dance.”

Im, the team’s captain, came down with a bad case of food poisoning the night before the taping of the qualifiers, leaving his team worried about possibly having to perform without their leader. He was not able to join his team until 15 minutes be-

Keppel gets recognized by state of California [From California Distinguished, page 1]

Mark Keppel received word of earning the award on February 26. A banquet will be held on April 5 for all the schools who earned the recognition.

Superintendent Denise Jaramillo, Assistant Superintendent Janet Perales, Principal Gutierrez, Assistant Principal Castro, Dr. Palacios, and several other teachers will be attending the banquet to receive the physical award. These teachers include Ms. Carmona, Ms. Bhakta, Ms. Mozell, Ms. Martinez, and Mr. Lam, who have been recognized as major contributors to the freshman integration. “It’s a big honor because you’re literally one of 120 schools who got it in the entire state,” says Castro.

Castro talks about her thoughts of earning this award, explaining, “I wrote about a program that existed before my time here so it’s always wonderful to see the work of our teachers and be able to showcase that what teachers do everyday, in the classroom [or] outside of their time is very valuable to our students. It reminds me as an administrator and as an educator why we do what we do.”

All Male prepares to take the stage before duels on this week’s episode of World of Dance.

fore they performed, but he overcame his sickness to help lead his team.

“Paul is really good to know not to run on adrenaline because generally that’s not a good thing in performances, but he was able to channel that [adrenaline] into giv-

COURTESY OF ACTIVATE ARROYO

ing probably one of the best performances of his life, which was impressive to watch as his director,” says Arroyo.

To read the full article, visit theaztecnews.com.

Take a slice out of Pi Day JOYCE LEE Photographer Math Club kicked off Pi Day festivities this year with a bang. Senior William Dang Nguyen, the head of the activities committee, says, “Competition training committee will present five practical methods to approximate pi. Pi Day is for celebrating pi and its mysteries. Activities and publicity committee are creating posters to display during the presentations for other methods of approximating pi.”

The heads of the competition training committee, seniors Emily Zhou and Fuxiang Yang, are also involved in Pi Day. They are responsible for the aforementioned presentations about the methods of approximating pi. Students sat down to presentations about the five different methods of approximating pi in Ms. Bhakta’s room and later got to re-

THE AZTEC/ VINCENT BAGABALDO Sherry Liang (11), Audrey Jung (10), and Jeffrey Szeto (11) present their method to approximate pi.

ceive pies courtesy of Math Club.

Zhou states that they “compiled a list of ways to approximate pi….then I made groups of eight to nine students.

Their assignment was to either create a

video or a short presentation explaining and demonstrating each method.” These events are to increase our appreciation for pi and all of its complexities.

Math teacher Mr. Gualcherani adds, “It’s always nice to have a day dedicated to math. I came across some videos in which people were approximating pi with ‘unusual’ methods, such as measuring the period of oscillation of a pendulum, or attaching weights to a balanced beam. I thought that this was a good way to celebrate a number like pi, so ancient, yet still vastly unknown.” He emphasizes the importance of appreciating math and all of its complexities. He adds, “All in all, it would be nice if, at some point, everyone had the chance to approximate pi.

If someone has not, there is no need to wait for Pi Day next year... grab a pencil and start by drawing a circle... the rest is a piece of ...pi(e).”

Bruggemeyer Library celebrates Women’s History Month KEVIN LIU Copy Editor The Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library will host a documentary viewing of Finding Cleveland directed by Larissa Lam on Sunday March 24th in the Friends Room in celebration of Women’s History Month.

The library scheduled two events in March, each shedding new light on womens’ work in society. The first of the two events is a showing of Finding Cleveland, a documentary speaking about an

otherwise obscure yet integral Chinese population in Cleveland, Ohio. Married couple Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu set off with their family to rediscover Chiu’s ancestry in his father - someone that Chiu had never encountered in living memory.

Despite Lam’s massive success in Finding Cleveland, she was originally a music producer. In a previous interview with Selig Polyscope at the 2016 Asian Film Festival in Dallas, Lam says, “Baldwin and I just felt like we need to let people know this message and hopefully inspire others to tell their stories because

ours is just one.” They were also recently featured on the Alhambra Source’s podcast on February 21, 2019.

The second event on March 31st will focus on Laura Scudder, a food industry pioneer who made and sold potato chips in Monterey Park. She pioneered the tactic of using selling ships in plastic bags to guarantee freshness, a standard practice today. Her life story will be presented by people who have been recognized for local community service.

To read the full article, visit theaztecnews.com.

THE AZTEC 2018-2019 Timothy Chuman

Editor-in-Chief/ Chief Photographer

Sophie Wong

Editor-in-Chief/ News Editor

Selina Martinez

Viewpoint Editor/ Asst.

Editor-in-Chief/ Asst.

News Editor

Maple Duong Viewpoint Editor/ Web Editor/ Asst. Focus Editor

Wesley Zeng

Aurora Zeng

Business Manager

Focus Editor

Vincent Bagabaldo A&E/Features Editor

Sports Editor/ Business Manager

Laura Chen Kevin Liu Copy Editor

Vivian Luk

Copy Editor/ Historian

Izabella Cofressi Photographer

Sdeyni Martinez

Joyce Lee Photographer

Quennie Zeng Staff Writer

Maggie Luu Photographer

Emily Chu Staff Writer

Staff Writer

The Aztec is published monthly by the journalism class of Mark Keppel High School and is printed by News publishers’ press.

Opinions expressed are those of the writers, not of the faculty or administration. Articles without bylines are staff editorials, and reflect the opinion of the staff.

Letters to the editor are welcome and are subject to editing. Letters can be given to Ms. Bradley in room A227 or sent to theaztecstaff@gmail.com. All letters must be signed, but on request, names will be withheld. We do not acknowledge unsigned letters.

All internet graphics on The Aztec newspaper are the properties of their respective owners.

Alhambra, CA 91801

MARCH 21, 2019

THE AZTEC

VIEWPOINT 3 Sashing and Dashing MAPLE DUONG Viewpoint Editor/ Web Editor

COURTESY OF TIFFANY CHOR AND BROOKELYNN KORRAA

The poster reads: Roses are red, Vio-let’s go to prom together and make memories that last forever.

Prom conflicts: a slew of decisions EMILY CHU Staff Writer Prom proposals have become essential to the complete prom experience. Various people prefer their promposals to be simple and private, while others prefer large crowds with posters, flowers, etc.

“The way a person is asked could determine whether they say yes or no. [Different types of people] might feel that a public asking may seem pressuring or intimidating,” senior Tiffany Yeung says.

“Others may not mind it being public.”

Yeung thinks there are a lot of other scenarios in regards to what a person would and would not like, and it all depends on the personality of the person. “Some might

like having a poster and cute flowers that come with it, because it is sweet. Whereas others might think it is unnecessary,” she says.

Junior Richard Wu says he would do his promposal publicly. “It feels like you are trying harder when you’re not afraid to show it in front of others,” he says. “If you’re both on the same terms, and want to go with each other, it doesn’t matter if you ask them publicly or privately.”

Having the perfect dress for prom is another big part of prom experience.

However, at times girls do end up wearing the same dress. Yeung does not care about those details, and says she would acknowledge the similar dresses and most likely forget about it. “I think some girls would feel annoyed, especially since we have a

[Facebook] page to make sure there aren’t any duplicate dresses. But I am sure there are some who feel the same way as I do,” she says.

Wu says he would not be bothered by his date having the same dress as another girl. “I think it would be pretty interesting, but I did hear that there is a Facebook page where girls post pictures of their dresses before they actually buy it, and they kind of claim it.” He thinks that “There are a lot of [chances] for you to buy the same [dress as someone else], because there’s only so many stores you can buy them from.”

Matching prom dresses are not inevitable, but one can always make the best out of the situation.

What is the cost of higher education?

JOYCE LEE Photographer On March 11, the Department of Justice unveiled a list of 50 indictments in a nationwide college admissions scam. 30 parents were accused of bribing admissions officers, coaches, and test-takers to guarantee their children a place at America’s most prestigious universities.

One prominent figure involved in this case is actress Lori Loughlin. She stands accused of wiring USC’s rowing coach $200,000 in exchange for placing her daughter, Olivia Jade, onto the team roster. Through this process, Olivia was admitted into USC as an athletic recruit although she had no intentions of rowing at USC. Junior Karen Tang says, “I feel like it’s unfair how these students with rich parents get athletic scholarships while other more talented athletes have

to work super hard to get scouted.”

Senior Mohamad Elmoussawi adds, “They could get into a decent university and pay for tuition legitimately without having to cheat but I do understand that

COURTESY OF PEOPLE.COM

they want the social recognition of sending their kids to these colleges.”

On the other hand, it can be reasoned that these colleges may have been swayed into accepting bribes as private institutions survive off of donations and

sponsorships. Keppel’s career technical education advisor Ms. An says, “Universities definitely have reason to accept donations. These same donations are used to fund new buildings, labs, equipment, scholarship. This is one of the reasons why private universities can offer more financial aid than a public university.”

It begs the question of whether applying to acclaimed private schools is worth so much time and effort when admissions are easily swayed by wealth.

Ms. An says, “I don’t think it is wise for students to write off schools involved as these are good universities, though it may seem unfair that connections and wealth may offer a boost to admissions. I encourage students to stick to their morals and integrity... There is more to life after college; this is just one small step on the path of finding one’s purpose.”

Mark Keppel students are fully aware of the large commitment that comes with joining a sport. However, there is a growing trend of students sashing and dashing. “[Sashing and dashing] is often associated with seniors who join a sport, wait till the sports rally where they would then receive a sash, and quit the sports afterwards,” explains junior Chrystal Nhan, who has been on the Track & Field team since her freshman year. Seniors who are in a designated sport get recognized at the fall, winter, or spring sports rally, receiving a sash with the sports’ name written on it.

All sports, especially track & field, have experienced players “sashing and dashing.” Not only does it affect the sports player, but it affects the overall team.

“People often have assigned events for each meet, and when certain people suddenly leave, it’s hard to find people to replace them,” says senior Vivian Ngo, who has been on the team since freshman year.

In addition to individual events, track and field has a team event where teams of four participate in a relay. “If the person [who sashed and dashed] was in a relay team, it’s hard for the team to adjust to new members,” reiterates Ngo. It is difficult to control this offsetting trend. There are ways to prevent students from sashing and dashing. When asked whether or not coaches can prevent sashing and dashing, Ngo replied, “It’s a personal choice [people make],” explains Ngo. “There really isn’t a way to prevent it.”

Nhan also agrees. “I personally don’t think so as it is based on the person and their commitment for the team,” she says.

“It’s a choice.”

Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library Tired of spending all you Starbucks budget on expensive Escape Rooms? @ Your library, Ours is free!

Can your group get the best time?

For appointments call or See Darren @ (626) 307-1368

Panel choice or student voice?

LAURA CHEN Business Manager Amidst the formal attires, rhyming slogans, and “vote for me” speeches, club election season has begun. While some clubs elect board members through a panel interview, others require candidates to campaign for leadership positions by securing the votes of fellow members. Some organizations utilize both systems to ensure the best candidates are elected to club board next school year. But which system is the most effective in appointing the most deserving candidate?

In some cases, candidates are interviewed by a panel of current board members or advisors of their respective club.

Junior Ally Tran says, “If you do interviews, you have authority to judge the person’s personality and work ethic by talking to them one on one for more than just a one

minute speech.”

International business teacher Mr. Heredia believes that the human interaction that occurs during interviews is always a better alternative over elections. “Based on my experience, the panel of interviewers could get a sense of how serious they are about what it is they are being interviewed for and if they have taken the time to educate themselves,” says Heredia.

Junior Ryan Bautista adds, “Past experiences with clubs have taught me that elections, in which student voting takes place, do not always fully consider the capabilities of each candidate and rather rely on the student’s social skills.”

However, there are some advantages to having student voted elections. “One of the pros to student voted elections is that it is easy to do. The [time] constraints are more

POLL: WOULD YOU RATHER BE ELECTED TO A POSITION BY THE STUDENT BODY OR INTERVIEWED BY A BOARD? interview: 65.5% election: 34.5% 119 students were polled.

flexible; [ballots] go in a box and [are] hidden.”

There has always been a stigma surrounding student voted elections because many believe that it is simply a popularity contest. “There are many students who are voting based on who their friends are,” says senior Tiffany Lai. However, freshman Marcelo Yip begs to differ. He believes that the “popularity” one gains is from connecting with people. “If people enjoy what you believe in, they will vote for you. Communicating to the demographic will totally help defeat any ‘popular candidates’ who don’t do that.”

Nonetheless, each club carefully selects the best fitting candidates for each position on board, and it is up to them to decide which system is most beneficial towards their club’s future endeavours.

THE AZ

4 FOCUS

APPRECIATING THE AZTEC/MAPLE DUONG Janitors Andres Rolon and Joe Luna pose after cleaning up the second floor English classrooms.

Lynna Moreno, Sandra Garcia, and Michaeline Schlappie aft

Keeping the campus clean

Food for thought

SELINA MARTINEZ Asst. Editor-in-Chief

EMILY CHU & QUENNIE ZENG Staff Writers

Mark Keppel has a fifteen person crew who work every single day to ensure Mark Keppel is a clean and safe environment for learning. Seven individuals: Robert Guerra, Betty Sandoval, Romero Garcia, Susan Leanos, Enrique Castaneda, Donato Ramirez, Ellie Ruiz work during the school day cleaning restrooms, locker rooms, and picking up trash around campus. Afterschool, custodians Dennis Allen, Rosemarie Holguin, Richard Brown, Oscar Rodriguez, Art Brooks, Joe Luna, Andres Rolon, and Victor Alegria clean up our classrooms to make sure learning can occur on the following day.

Joe Luna, who works daily from 2:30 pm until 11:00 pm says, “I enjoy working here. The students have a lot of respect for us. Alhambra Unified School District is the best district I’ve worked at.”

Luna has worked over 20 years in the Al-

hambra Unified School District, and has previously worked at San Gabriel High School and Alhambra High School. He says, “I appreciate that the [Mark Keppel] students are very well behaved and the staff is really nice to us.”

Andres Rolon also works the night shift. He says, “I’ve been at Keppel for 4 years. I like providing the students here safety and I like the atmosphere of the school.”

Working tirelessly in order to ensure that every corner of the school is clean, Luna, Rolon, and the rest of the custodians play an essential role in ensuring that education can be facilitated every day.

The cafeteria workers of Mark Keppel are always working hard to make sure the students are healthy and well-fed if they do not have the option of eating at home.

Food service worker (FSW) Lena Moreno wakes up at 4:30 AM and stays until 1-1:30 PM. Despite the early wake up call, Moreno and her fellow coworkers thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere at Keppel. Moreno says, “The most rewarding thing [is that] I like to see the students happy and fed a good meal. The most difficult thing is having the food cooked and ready to be served on time.” The hours are long and tiring, but Moreno enjoys her job and the students that attend Keppel.

Paul Sam also works as a FSW. He wakes up at 4:45 AM in the morning, and works from 6-9 AM. “I serve Grab and Go breakfast, [which is] a new breakfast

Discover the path to college IZABELLA COFRESSI Photographer

THE AZTEC/JOYCE LEE College counselors Natalie Ryan and Maritsa Negrete pose in their office located in room 171.

Here at Keppel, college advisors are ready to help students with questions they have regarding future college plans. Advisors have moved offices and are now located in the back of the guidance office in Room 171. They are typically open from 9AM to 4PM, but students are welcome to stop by during lunch, after school, or throughout the day with appointments. “We are here to help students get to college, mostly working with seniors through the college application process and helping them fill out financial aid.” says Ms. Negrete, one of the college advisors. They also help students with deciding which schools they

would like to apply to, what school would be the best fit for them, their educational goals, and any requirements they may need to fulfill before graduation.

One misconception is that college advisors are only focused on helping seniors, but that is not the case. “Anyone can visit us, whether they are a freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior. If you have questions about the application process, or if you have not really thought about college much and you are just curious, we are here to answer ll questions students may have.” says Negrete.

ZTEC

MARCH 21, 2019 5

G MKHS STAFF

THE AZTEC/QUENNIE ZENG ter morning breakfast rush hour.

t

Campus security guard Richard Cardenas patrols the area in front of the old gym.

THE AZTEC/JOYCE LEE

Securing the safety of students AURORA ZENG Focus Editor

program where the kids can just come through and grab a breakfast on their way to class.” Sam loves his job, and enjoys the kids at Keppel, just like Moreno. Every now and then, he has to go back to the cafeteria and restock the favorite foods students like to eat, such as the Wings of Fire, which are buffalo wings.

The hardest part of Sam’s job are dealing with the kids who try to come through and do something with the keypad so the buttons will not work anymore. Surprisingly, they even make several attempts to take food. “You can’t really chase them down or anything,” he says.

Workers like Paul Sam and Lena Moreno make the kids excited to eat at school, and they are important people who help keep the food department up and running every day at Keppel.

When a man jumped over the freeway wall into West Gate after the 2017 Homecoming Rally, Keppel’s campus security pinned him down almost immediately to prevent potential harm to the student body. Another lockdown threatened the football game and security had to take action again to ensure the wellbeing of students. The safety of our campus is protected by the campus security staff, headed by supervisor Craig Proffitt.

Seven security officers start their day at Keppel around 7:00 a.m., where they talk to concerned parents and patrol the halls to make sure students are in class. Proffitt states that because Keppel lacks a visitor parking lot, the security team needs to take more steps to ensure that students are being dropped off correctly.

“We’re here for [the student’s] safety,” Proffitt says. “We don’t make the rules; we just enforce them. We’re here to keep

them safe, keep the school safe, and we’re not here to get them in trouble or harass them.”

Campus supervisor Michael Juarez agrees. “Our reason for being here is to protect so the students have a safe environment to learn,” he states.

Lockdowns, like the major one during 2017 Homecoming, have been a frequent problem. “We treat every drill, whether it’s a lockdown, fire drill, evacuation drill, [seriously],” Profit says. “If it’s a pulled alarm, we treat it as if it’s real. Even if it’s a practice one, we try to treat it as real as possible.”

At the end of the day, Keppel’s campus security staff are only looking out for the students. Profit shares, “Kids who have a tendency to dislike us, come their senior year when they graduate, always come back and tell us, ‘Thank you for pushing me to get to class.’”

Supporting our mental health IZABELLA COFRESSI Photographer

THE AZTEC/JOYCE LEE Psychologist Kathleen Wright poses in her office A249.

Keppel’s two on-campus school psychologists Ms. Jenny Lin and Ms. Kathleen Wright are prepared to help students with difficulties they are facing in or outside of school. Ms. Lin, whose office is located in A249, is on campus five days a week from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Students can visit the psychologists and schedule appointments to talk any time, but parent permission is needed to begin talking frequently.

They provide numerous services to students, including anything from just needing someone to talk to or helping them with academic difficulties. “I provide assessments to determine students needs,

how they learn, and if there’s something impacting them from doing well in school,” Ms. Lin says. Other services provided also include help with social and emotional difficulties. “I do counseling for students, individually, and sometimes hold group counseling sessions with students as well, targeting any issues that they may have such as socializing with other people,” Lin continues. Everyone is welcome to go visit them, whether the issue seems big or small.

“I see students who have a wide range of needs; there isn’t one specific kind of student I work with. Everybody is welcome,” Lin says.

THE AZTEC

6 FEATURES

MARCH 21, 2019

Capitalizing on childhood nostalgia MAGGIE LUU Photographer

Student purchases prom ticket from Ms. Cai in the student bank

THE AZTEC/VINCENT BAGABALDO

Paid by students, for students VINCENT BAGABALDO A&E/ Features Editor Through the hard work and dedication of the student body, a student’s senior year can be filled various school events that inspire enjoyable moments that will last a lifetime. However, many students may not know that the process for initiating events, such as prom, starts with the Sophomore and Junior Class Committees and is a continuous process that goes on every year for the benefit of students.

To produce great events, students in Junior Committee have to earn enough from that year’s prom. For example, all the senior events, such as Senior Luau and the like, that will transpire in the upcoming months are all paid for by the profits earned from last school year’s prom. ASB advisor Ms. Carmona explains, “All the ticket sale profits earned from prom go into the prom account for next school year, not only to be used for the deposit money and for a little bit of a buffer in case we should ever lose money on prom, but all the excess will be used for all senior activities.” The deposit money, a grand total of $5000, is used by Sophomore Committee to make a down

Every play’s dramatic entry VINCENT BAGABALDO A&E/ Features Editor After the success that was the Shrek, the Musical, students wait in anticipation as to what the drama department will have in store for them next school year.

The process behind selecting the theme/story for the plays and musicals is a joint effort between Ms. Phillips, the drama advisor, Mr. Gillette, head of tech theatre and Mr. Lee, the director of instrumental music.

Unbeknownst to most students, this process starts a year prior to the play’s premiere. “For example, we just finished Shrek, the Musical. In a few weeks, Ms. Phillips, Mr. Gillette, and Mr. Lee will discuss about next year’s musical,” says senior Winnye Tu, a cast member of the recent Shrek, the Musical.

Throughout the years, the drama department has been producing quality shows for the enjoyment of the students.

Senior Jessica Bobadilla agrees with this saying, “I loved every choice of plays and musicals that Mark Keppel has made. It adds several things such as comedy, romance, targedy, and even important factors that were either a huge issue back then and even now.”

The abundance of plays and musicals to choose from makes the decision for those who are in charge much more fun to make, as they are able to add their own spin to well-known productions.

payment on the venue for the current juniors’ prom.

Christine Huynh, the Junior Committee Treasurer, has her work cut out for her when handling most of the finances and planning out all the funds for activities such as prom. “It can be very confusing because we have reimbursements. So for prom, we have a lot of us go out and buy different things with our own money and we come back with different receipts and things like that, so it’s kind of hard to keep track of,” Huynh says.

That being said, financial issues are still a possibility and how much Junior Committee makes prior to their senior year limits how extravagant their events will be once they do become seniors. Making more money than what is required, however, begs the question: what are the possibilities?

For Huynh, an immediate response to the question “what are the possibilities?” is one that would resonate with the student body. “Free boba. Obviously free boba is a must for our seniors.”

Life hacks: DIY hackathon VIVIAN LUK Copy Editor 80 Chick-fil-A sandwiches, 100 boba milk teas, 80 student participants, and 30 hours of dedicated work every week over the course of one year. For Mark Keppel senior Tussanee Limthaveemongkol, that was the formula for success in organizing Southern California’s first 24-hour student hackathon.

The idea for Hack SoCal was inspired by the many hackathons Limthaveemingkol attended in Northern California. While she admits that she does not plan on pursuing computer science, she says, “I realized I liked the business aspect of it--coming up with new ideas,” and so she took her ideas and transformed them into a reality.

From the start, money was the highest hurdle Limthaveemongkol and her team had to overcome, but they came to the harrowing realization that soliciting the necessary sponsorships for the event would not come as easily in SoCal’s relatively smaller tech industry. “There are much larger tech companies in NorCal that are willing to help out their community; while in SoCal, they’re more hesitant to support us,” she explains.

The lack of monetary support pushed the timeline for Hack SoCal back three months from the initially planned date for the event, November 13, 2018, but it allowed Limthaveemongkol to truly highlight the core values of her hackathon. “Putting everything together was really expensive, but

From the upcoming live-action Lion King to the Jonas Brothers’ return, many feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

These remakes and comebacks are the foundation of the entertainment industry.

In recent years, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of remakes and reboots such as the action-adventure movie Tomb Raider and the comedic Ghostbusters. This increase has lead to skepticism about whether the revival will ever live up to the original. Many, like senior Jasmine Lao, “don’t believe that the original storyline is always better than remakes.”

Remakes, like Ghostbusters (2016), received mixed reviews. Though some viewers felt it was refreshing to see a female-led movie, the message of female empowerment fell short on others as the internet reacted with a stream of sexist remarks. In the end, it all comes down to nostalgia. With the desperate reclamation of lost hopes and dreams, big entertainment companies are using remakes and reboots to capitalize on childhood nostalgia whether the audience receives them positively or negatively.

“With their busy schedules and stressedout lives, it is typical for grown adults to

resort back to their childhood, searching for a peace of mind or relaxation,” says Lao. “Many adults, at least once in a while, wish to experience their childhood one last time.”

Despite this theory, people are still showing excessive amounts of anger when news of retellings is dropped.

When Disney’s live-action Kim Possible was released, people took to Twitter to express their unhappiness with the casting and the movie as a whole. With these retellings of old shows or movies, bad feedback is received and horrible reputations are established among older generations. Many factors cause this dissatisfaction in reviews. Some may argue that it is because fans are worried about the new version being unequivocally bad and tarnishing the reputation of the original.

This causes many people to feel that their childhood nostalgia should be left alone.

“I never enjoy [the remakes],” art teacher Ms. Bostwick laughs. “[However], if this is the only way my students know what I’m talking about when I’m referencing, then I’m happy with [the entertainment industry] remaking.”

Despite how people may feel, it is through these retellings that different generations are able to connect with each other.

The Jonas Brothers in their comeback music video Sucker

the one thing we stressed about Hack SoCal was that we wanted it to be a completely free event,” she says.

With an expected turnout of 150 at a price point of about $25 per person, Limthaveemongkol had to hone in on the business aspect of hackathons she had been so drawn to. She attended numerous meetings and learned to finetune her strategies.

“One big thing that I learned as an organizer is how to create a sponsorship perspective that would fit each and every company.

We realized that face-to-face interactions were so important because we were able to really connect with them,” she says.

In the end, Limthaveemongkol was able to procure the necessary financial support from various companies such as Quizlet, CloudSploit, and AppCore Labs. Having overcome her largest obstacle, she finally booked a space at C-4 Creative Studio in Temple City.

Event attendees arrived in the afternoon on February 16, and as promised, they

Hackathon participants engrossed in their activity

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

were greeted by pizza, free of charge. Hack SoCal hosted competitions for coding in which participants were grouped by level of experience. Limthaveemongkol wanted to ensure that everyone was comfortable.

Participants came from numerous schools scattered all over SoCal, which was something that she had hoped for. “Bringing a diverse group of students together to just focus on computer science is so impactful. A lot of the time we stay within our own communities and we don’t get to experience what other students think,” says Limthaveemongkol.

For dinner, Chick-fil-A was served, and at midnight, the space was transformed into an arcade as participants took breaks.

“Having it be 24 hours really brought the teams closer together. Late nights equal late-night talks,” Limthaveemongkol jokes.

In the morning, attendees were treated to baked goods and Limthaveemongkol to the sweet feeling of hosting a successful hackathon.

COURTESY OF TUSSANEE LIMTHAVEEMONGKOL

THE AZTEC

MARCH 21, 2019

SPORTS 7

Boys Volleyball defeated despite initial success LAURA CHEN Business Manager

Senior Joey Siu jumps to hit the ball set by senior Ian Ordonez.

THE AZTEC/ LAURA CHEN

In the beginning of the match, Keppel was able to start off on a good note and maintained a strong lead in the game. With high spirits, the Aztecs were able to reach the 25 point score first, finishing off the set with a 10 point lead in the game. This steady drive to win continued on into the second set, as the Aztecs were able to end with the second win of the game with a score of 25-20.

However, just as the third set began, the Lancers gained momentum and took the Aztecs by surprise, stealing the lead in the third set. “I think that when we went up 2-0 in the sets, I think our guys got relaxed a little bit and lost focus and all of our weaknesses showed,” says Coach Chu. Despite having the upperhand, the Aztecs were unable to bounce back from the losses of the third set and continued to face disadvantages. “[The

Lancers] have one or two strong hitters so when they are in certain rotations, we do have a little difficulty stopping them,” says Chu. Physicality also worked as a challenge against the Aztecs as junior David Lin says, “Their advantage was that they had a way bigger block than ours and they could shut us down when we were running our combos.”

As a result of this, Bell Gardens secured their win with the last three sets.

Nonetheless, the Aztecs expect much out of this league season and they have high hopes for CIF this year. Senior Garrett Chung says, “Coach has been telling us that we definitely have a chance at winning league and I think most of our team feels that way as well. Post-season I feel like we can make it to at least second round of CIF, but we’ll see because we’ve never been that far.”

The team lost much time to practice and prepare for

the season due to conflicting schedules with the Girls Varsity Volleyball team who had advanced in CIF. However, the boys were not hindered by this. “I feel like...we made it up through our hard work and theory. When we started practicing, everyone was really focused and we all knew what to do. We all had the mindset that we needed to make up for the time that we lost,” says junior Steven Li. From preseason to now, the team has been working on the fundamentals of the sport and focusing on overcoming their weaknesses as a team. They were encouraged to spend more time with each other and Lin says, “[Coach Chu] said that as a team you guys have to do things together, so after practices we will take down everything together. If you’re in the gym, your team comes first so you have to respect each other and just get along.”

Swim streamlines to victory WESLEY ZENG Sports Editor/ Business Manager Entering their fifth meet after a tournament at Mount SAC last weekend, Keppel’s swim team was ready to perform their best at their meet against the Charter Oak Chargers.

With year round practices, the team has prepared for the season by enduring long practices in water and on land. Although swim is filled with independent competitvie events, the team has not lost the value of teamwork. “Swim meets can get hectic and with your teammates around you, there’s always someone to get advice from,” says senior Vivian Padilla, one of the captains.

The team finished the meet on Tuesday with a final score of 472.5-170.5. The Aztecs won against the Chargers in the varsity and junior varsity divisions for both girls and boys. The great deficit in points was due to the progression of each swimmer’s skill.

“As Keppel’s fifth meet of the season, I think that after each meet we become even more prepared than we already are,” explains senior Raymond Lee. Throughout the season, many swimmers have seen improvement in technique and stamina. Sophomore Patrick Luong says, “I was able to drop three seconds in an event since the first meet.”

Both Padilla and Lee attribute the team’s win to the strong swimmers in the sprint and relay events. Another contributing factor was the roster the coaches had created.

“The coaches put a lot of time inputting us in events where we can place and get points in,” says Luong.

Through the combined efforts of the team members and coaches, Keppel’s swim team was able to defeat Charter Oak. In the future, the team looks forward to competing against their fellow Almont League swimmers. “After racing Charter Oak, I learned that we need to continue training hard so that we can win those tight races,” says Lee.

Senior Samantha Hernandez makes contact with the ball, allowing her to run to first base during the fifth inning.

THE AZTEC/ MAGGIE LUU

Softball unable to bat home a win against Moors MAGGIE LUU Photographer With spring only just beginning, the Varsity Softball team is already midway through their season. Their most recent game on March 19 was against Alhambra High School whom they lost to. Nonetheless, throughout the game, the team did not lose hope as they played passionately against the Moors, keeping their spirits high throughout all six innings.

As the game began, the Aztecs started off aggressive, taking the lead within the first half hour. “I am an aggressive player which can be a double-edged sword,” says sophomore Chloe Cheung.

“Sometimes being too aggressive can cost a play or a run, but being aggressive can get you those extra bases.”

During the entire game, the ladies cheered each other on when one of their own was up to bat, making sure to keep each other grounded. Phrases like “good eye” kept the players’ morale up. This contributed to some of their successful plays.

The scores maintained stagnant through the first four innings as both teams were tied 2-2. It was not until the fifth inning when things began to take a dive for the Aztecs. It seems that every pitch would land, allowing the Moors to hit the balls just out of the girls’ reach. Although exhausted, the ladies did not seem to falter and tried to stay quick on their toes.

However, the Moors would continuously hit the balls into the outfield, leaving little time for Keppel to adjust to a

defensive formation. This allowed the opponents to run to home base multiple times. By the end of the sixth inning, the Moors ran home six times, giving them the title of winners in this 2-13 game.

This loss, though disappointing, has definitely taught the team to stay focused and ahead of their opponents at all time.

Moving forward, their practices will be filled with more activities to hone in on their weaknesses and improve on them.

“I think we should focus more on what we can do. We should try to shake off our little errors [such as] lifting our gloves before we get the ball, which I feel like we don’t really do.” says senior Natalie Zamora. “We would be like ‘we did bad this time, so we will do bad next time.’

We can try to not do that to improve.”

MARCH 21, 2019 THE AZTEC Boys Tennis swings win against Schurr 8 SPORTS

SOPHIE WONG & VIVIAN LUK Editor-in-Chief & Copy Editor Varsity Boys Tennis dominated over Schurr High School on home courts this past Tuesday, winning 15-3.

It was the team’s experience that gave them the upper hand during the match.

“Most of these players have played varsity before. [There can still be improvements] from the standpoint of not having practiced as hard as we should’ve because of the rain. I think we’re going to practice hard during spring break so we don’t lose any edge,” says Coach Ten. “Their technique and form while hitting shots seem undeveloped,” says sophomore Brandon Eng. “We combatted them by hitting solid shots and outpacing them during matches.”

The team’s brilliant performance on the courts was also bolstered by high morale.

“We supported one another no matter what the circumstances. We said ‘good job’ whenever someone made a good shot,” says senior Benjamin Diep.

However, despite their large margin of victory against Schurr, Diep acknowledges that the team did not play their best in all aspects. “We had a few double faults and lost points by sloppy volleys,” he says. These are slight mistakes that the team is looking to finetune before their next match.

After a loss against San Gabriel last

THE AZTEC/ VINCENT BAGABALDO

Athlete’s Profile: Ian Ordonez QUENNIE ZENG Staff Writer

Senior Ethan Lin readies to return the ball.

THE AZTEC/ SOPHIE WONG

week, the Aztecs will have to win every match from this point onward in order to recapture the coveted Almont League title. As the defending champions, their next test will be against Alhambra on Thursday, March 21. “The pressure is on us to perform. Today we performed well, but Alhambra is going to be key. We have to get past Alhambra,” says Coach Ten.

While Coach Ten may have some apprehensions regarding the outcome against Alhambra, Diep is confident that the team’s abilities will procure a victory, saying, “We should sweep doubles. Our doubles is solid and we know Alhambra isn’t a threat based on their scores with mutual opponents.”

Baseball edged out by Lancers in extra innings VINCENT BAGABALDO A&E/Features Editor After a loss resulting from eight lively innings between the Mark Keppel Boys Baseball team and Bell Gardens on Tuesday, March 19, the Aztecs’ morale is still strong and they are hopeful for the next few games.

The game started off with Bell Gardens scoring a run in the first inning off of an error. This, however, did not deter the morale of the team despite the heavy support from the opposing school. With pitcher senior Jonathan Morales not giving up a hit, the Aztecs continued to keep Bell Gardens at bay up until the fifth inning.

Both teams stayed relentless, not giving the opponent a chance to score until the sixth inning when freshman Abra-

ham Medina paved the way for a run after senior Joshua Soto, senior Frankie Guzman, and him all scored singles, tying the overall score 1-1. This extended the game to an eighth inning after both teams failed to score a run in the seventh inning.

Although they managed to tie up the game, Bell Gardens’ defense was too much for the Aztecs to handle and their offense was lacking. Soto says, “They really tried to isolate our 3-4-5 hitters. I think we played pretty good defensively.

We only allowed two runs but unfortunately we did happen to lose in the extra inning and on the offensive side we could do better.”

Trying to get ahead amongst the spirited displays of the opposing team’s cheerleaders and the lack of support from the stands for the Aztecs, Medina,

with the whole weight of his team on his shoulders, hit a single and was able to push through to third base off of an error.

Following up, Soto tried to score once more but was thrown out at the second base. The game sadly ended with Morales striking out, leaving the Aztecs with a loss of 2-1 in the eighth inning.

Looking past this loss, the team hopes to counter and make contact with difficult pitches. Additionally, they reason that their opponents are able to shine when they go for the key players on the Mark Keppel team, desperately trying to crack down on the Aztecs’ offensive plays with off-speed pitches and hard to hit balls, barring them from getting on any bases. In hopes of solidifying their offense, Soto suggests that they should “have [their] main guys just practice offspeed pitches.”

Ian Ordonez has played volleyball for over eight years, as he was introduced to the sport when figuring out which sport he enjoyed playing. “I tried every sport and I hated them all and so I played volleyball...after a while, it grew on me and now I guess I can say I love it.” Choosing volleyball was the right choice as Ordonez has been an all-league recipient since his sophomore year.

However, volleyball was not always this easy for Ordonez. “People think that volleyball looks so easy but really it’s not. It’s a lot harder than people think. It takes a lot of technique, a lot of forms, and a lot of repetition.” Ordonez has since grown from these struggles he faced as a young athlete. He mentions how it is more than just personal skill. Factors such as who his teammates are, who he is playing against, and the strengths of the other players play an equal part to the sport.

Using these skills he has gained, Ordonez has some hope for this season of volleyball. “We won first place over at a past tournament this season and that was really cool.” Last year, the team entered CIF and won the wild card match but lost in the first round.

This year, Ordonez hopes to redeem himself by at least winning their first game in CIF. “I want to win league, make a deep CIF run, and we have another tournament coming up… I want to take home some trophy of some kind.”

He hopes that his last year of playing with this program will end with a bang. “I am never going to be able to redo any of this, so I just wanna go out and graduate from here knowing that I left a long-lasting legacy on the program as a whole.”

Sports Calendar Boys tennis

Badminton On 4/3 versus San Gabriel at San Gabriel On 4/5 versus Alhambra at Mark Keppel On 4/8 versus Loyola at Mark Keppel On 4/10 versus South Pasadena at South Pasadena On 4/15 versus San Marino at Mark Keppel

Baseball On 3/22 versus Bell Gardens at Mark Keppel On 4/2 versus Alhambra at Mark Keppel On 4/9 versus Montebello at Montebello On 4/12 versus Montebello at Mark Keppel

On 4/2 versus Montebello at Mark Keppel On 4/4 versus San Gabriel at Mark Keppel On 4/10 versus Maranatha at Maranatha On 4/11 versus Schurr at Schurr

boys volleyball On 4/2 versus Alhambra at Alhambra On 4/3 versus La Sierra at Mark Keppel On 4/9 versus San Gabriel at San Gabriel On 4/11 versus Bell Gardens at Bell Gardens

Softball

On 4/2 versus San Gabriel at Mark Keppel On 4/4 versus Schurr at Schurr On 4/9 versus Bell Gardens at Bell Gardens On 4/11 versus Alhambra at Mark Keppel

SWIM On 3/21 versus Gabrielino at Smith Park On 4/4 versus Montebello at Barnes Park On 4/11 versus San Gabriel at Barnes Park On 4/12 versus Mt SAC competition

TRACK On 3/21 versus Alhambra at Mark Keppel On 3/23 versus Bell Gardens Tournament On 4/4 versus Montebello at Montebello On 4/11 versus San Gabriel at San Gabriel