February 2018

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THE AZTEC VOLUME LXXX NUMBER VI

VIEWPOINT PG 3-4 Should you date your best friend?

News in Brief Learn about part-time jobs and internships The Career Fair will be held at MKHS on Thursday, February 22nd, from 2 to 5 p.m. Career speakers from over 50 companies will attend. The fair will feature free workshops and mock interviews. Visit the College and Career Center for more information. Theatre company presents "The 25th annual putnam county spelling bee" This year's spring musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, will begin showing on March 1st. Theatre Company will be collaborating with the Aztec Orchestra to put on the show.

Senior grad nite to be held at disney California adventure park The senior Grad Nite will be held on Tuesday, June 5th at Disney California Adventure. Tickets are $110. Seniors can purchase their tickets during lunch in Palm Court every Thursday until February 22nd.

Your calendar 2/16- Collaboration Schedule 2/19- Pupil Free Day 2/21- PTSA Meeting 7-9 p.m. in the cafeteria 2/28- Collaboration Schedule; Alliance Meeting 7-9 p.m in cafeteria

February 15, 2018

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A&E PG 10

SPORTS PG 11-12

The future comes in cardboard

Five teams advance towards CIF playoffs

Academic Decathlon places second in LA County JOYCE LEE Staff Writer Keppel’s Academic Decathlon team placed second at the annual LA County Academic Decathlon. The competition took place on January 27th and February 3rd at El Rancho High School. Notable awards include the team placing second in SuperQuiz, senior Jason Luc winning top individual scorer in the Varsity, and coach Mr. Tran being awarded Coach of the Year. Keppel’s junior team also placed second in their own division. The main team’s overall score was 55,071. The Acadec team consists of three members from each of the three sections, Honor, Scholastic, and Varsity, to make a total of nine members. Students are divided into the sections based on their GPA. Traditionally, Keppel chooses the top three scorers from each section to form a team. On this year’s win, Mr. Tran says, “[The] team made a great effort. What’s nice is having the state finals to look forward to, so their reward is six more weeks of studying.” Despite intense studying, this competition is especially memorable as it is the last for the current Acadec seniors. Luc says, ”I feel like I’ve learned to communicate and open up to people. I’ll definitely miss all the people I’ve met through Acadec, both my teammates and [friends] from other competing schools.” Each year, the team focuses on a specific topic, announced by United States Academic Decathlon, for the competition. This year, the theme is Africa. Students have to

THE AZTEC/ KEVIN LIU The Academic Decathlon team poses with their trophies and medals. From left to right: Paul Zhang (9), Stanley Lin (12), Brandon Kishishita (12), Angelica Ruiz (12), Cristina Ruiz (12), Aurora Zeng (11), Elizabeth Lee (11), Jason Luc (12), Keven Som (12), and coach Mr. Tran.

study seven objective subjects in addition to preparing an essay, a speech, and an interview. Senior Brandon Kishishita feels that Music was one of the harder subjects, as he had to spend more time studying it. While the team usually consists of upperclassmen, this year, freshman Paul Zhang was able to compete for Keppel. “It’s unusual, but every year, there’s surprises,” comments Mr. Tran. Zhang himself says, “Being a freshman may have actually [allowed] me to have more time to study for tests.” In fact, his score qualified him as the fourth top

scoring individual in the Scholastic section and made him the highest scoring freshman in the history of Keppel’s Acadec team. To prepare for competition, the team began practicing their speeches much earlier than previous years. Noncompeting students also helped out by tutoring competitors or giving advice on speeches and interviews. These new strategies, according to Mr. Tran, worked out in favor for the team. In regards to the current team, Mr. Tran jokes, “They are more playful [than previous years]! I must’ve done something wrong.”

MK Chinese Restaurant celebrates Lunar New Year JASMINE MA Staff Writer Keppel’s Mandarin class will be hosting a Mandarin Restaurant on Thursday, February 15th during lunch in the auditorium foyer. The restaurant is a celebration for Chinese New Year. Keppel’s staff, teachers, and administrators are invited to attend this event. The entrance fee is $10 and the money earned will be used to cover the costs of food and decorations. The restaurant will serve a different variety of Chinese foods such as chow mein, fried rice, chow fun, traditional steamed vegetables, egg tarts, and almond cookies. Entertainment will include calligraphy performances by past students and traditional Chinese music. A photobooth will be available for guests to take pictures.

Mandarin teacher Mr. Lien, who is in charge of the restaurant, says, “The main purpose of the restaurant is to give students a chance to use what they have learned in class and apply it to real-life scenarios.” All students in Mr. Lien’s fourth period Mandarin class were interviewed for their job assignments to ensure that they [students] were qualified for the job. The manager and assistant managers were interviewed by Mr. Lien and his previous students, while the remaining students were interviewed by the newly selected managers. Possible jobs for the restaurant included manager, assistant manager, kitchen crew, cleanup crew, waiter/waitress, and... continued on page 5

THE AZTEC/ CALLISTA LIU Restuarant managers Jessica Ni (11), April Yeung (11), Queenie Xu (11) pose with teacher Mr. Lien.


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February 2018 by TheAztec Staff - Issuu