NEWS

news 05 Block schedule finalized School prepares to alter daily routine after 29 years

Within the past two years, new policies and regulations have taken place in order to better the students. From creating a safer environment to altering course requirements, GV will soon be one of the many schools in the district to participate in a block schedule by school year 2020-21. Many opinions and feelings have risen from this significant change that will take place.

Block schedule consists of manipulating the everyday routines that By Alexis Ladd ,,

For Language Arts, a longer class period really works for us.

compose what makes up the school day. From attending six classes a day now, students will go to two, three, or four while on block- depending on the student. The change will also affect teachers’ lesson plans, students’ time management and most imporAngelique Callicoat , ,

tantly credits that can be earned. For some, block schedule could become a hassle and possibly useless, while for others, it will be extremely beneficial to them and the key to graduation. Many individuals on campus have strong opinions about the topic.

“With AP classes, and deadlines of having to take the test, it significantly decreases the days students would usually have in class, about 30 days less. I feel like as a school, this will really drop the score rates. Adjusting to this change and having to cram in material in a shorter amount of time will definitely be overwhelming for those next year,” senior Sydney Ballard said.

For certain courses this may be the case, but for others such as English teacher Angelique Callicoat who instructs AP Language and Composition, this will be a beneficial change. She thinks more time in a period allow different methods of teaching, impacting more of her students positively.

“For Language Arts, a longer class period really works for us. We have four sets of common core standards that we go through, speaking, reading, writing and listening, which are hard to hit in a 50 minute time period. In 80 minutes this will allow English teachers to cover each area to better the learning of students,” Callicoat said.

Block schedule has been observed as a way for the schools to improve Liliana Burke

graduation rates and test scores. The majority of high schools in CCSD already participate in block schedule.

“We have seen other schools do well following this schedule. I think this could raise our graduation rate as we are allowing students the opportunity to earn 32 credits,” vice principal Raymond Ortiz said.

Going to an 81 minute period from a 52 minute period every other day, could allow more time for actual learning as activities could become more comprehensive. Teachers are left to decide how they will utilize their time with their students, now that they will only be seeing them two or three times a week. Opinions from students and teachers range from opposing it to being excited to see what the new schedule has to offer.

“The biggest thing I think the schedule will affect is my time. I am

Stay sharp - Senior Ilai Macaggi poses with his new trombone with principal Kent Roberts and his band teacher Cara Froelich on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Ever since senior Ilai Macaggi was young he loved music. Before picking up the trombone, he played the euphonium, a brass instrument that looks similar to a tuba, but is smaller. Macaggi picked up the trombone during his middle school years in eighth grade, wanting to explore the genre of jazz music.

“I picked up the trombone because I wanted to learn jazz. You can’t really do jazz on a euphonium. That was the main reason, but now it’s the most effective way for me to express my emotions through music. I can do it better than with any other instrument,” Macaggi said.

Recently, Macaggi was presented with a custom trombone as a gift from a local donor. The event occurred during the Student of the Month breakfast in the faculty lounge.

To craft the custom trombone, Cara Froelich, the band teacher, took Macaggi to Jazz Education Network, By Halle Scoles going to have to cut things out of my class that I previously deemed as important. I will have to prioritize information I present in class by level of importance, even though all information is relevant,” social studies teacher Bud Beam said.

Because GV has never participated in block schedule before, the first year of doing so is unpredictable. This could possibly hurt or benefit the students and staff.

“While this may benefit one group at the school, whether it is teachers or students, I do not think it will benefit the student body as a whole. AP classes will be greatly affected more than any other classes,” Beam said.

Adjusting may take some time for students and staff, but the end goal is to give students more options and a better chance at graduating by utilizing the new schedule.

courtesy of Ilai Maccagi

February 2020 a jazz convention where he tried several differing trombones under the belief that they would be donated to Green Valley for future students to use. Froelich asked Macaggi what he liked and disliked about each instrument and took careful notes of his preferences in order to be able to craft the perfect trombone for him.

When their visit was over, Froelich took all of the components that Macaggi liked about each trombone and combined them to make his custom trombone. The trombone came from a company in Kansas City, Mo. They can combine different metals to change the sound that the instrument produces when played, as the material a brass instrument is made from can have a heavy impact on the sound it makes. This instrument will allow Macaggi to play more effectively.

The presentation left many in the room in tears.

“It was a very emotional moment. I think half the room was crying,” Macaggi said. “I was crying for sure.”

06 news The InvestiGator t GVHS Gators fill Universal Studios Annual senior field trip lands class in Hollywood By Zachery Schauer Team caps off season with yet another State title courtesy of Scott Otter T his year for the senior trip the gators had the opportunity to go to Universal Studios in California. The trip was on Friday Feb. 7. For many of the seniors this was their Say cheese - Senior class of 2020 poses in front of the Universal Studios Globe on Friday Feb. 7. last trip in high school.

Students going on the trip had to decide which park was best fit for the trip. The choices were Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry It was really fun because I went with six of my friends and it was a good time to hang out with them. Miah Behich , ,

, ,

Farm, and Magic Mountain. The students ended up choosing Universal Studios.

Seniors had to be at school at 4:00 in the morning to get on the bus at 4:30 am in front of the school. The park does not open till 10:00 am and the seniors got there just before the gates open to the park. Students brought their own bags but of course had to be searched before getting on courtesy of Vicki Temple-Hoffman CHAMPS! - Wrestling poses with the NIAA trophy after finishing in first place at the Nevada State Wrestling Championships at Cimarron-Memorial HS on Feb. 15. the bus for safety. They were also allowed to bring pillows, blankets, and things to keep them entertained through the 4 hour ride to the park.

“On the way to the park I mainly just listened to music and talked to my friends on the bus,” senior Clarissa Gonzales said.

Seniors that took the trip had to make a payment to attend. The payment covered the ticket into Universal Studios and the bus fee that got them to the park and back to the school.

“The seniors have so much have going on, they have all these exciting things, opportunities and getting ready for college. This is just one more date in their book,” English teacher Tanya Fergen said.

Once the seniors got to the park they can go and do whatever they want throughout the day. Seniors brought money to buy food and other souvenirs they might want from the park.

“It was really fun because I went with six of my friends and it was a good time. Especially because I haven’t hung out with them in a while,” senior Miah Behich said.

The total number of students that attended was 42 seniors. About 200 students went to the meetings but only 42 of those students payed before the dead line.

“I enjoyed hanging out with my bestie, we have never gone to a theme park together so that was really nice,” senior Michelle Yang said. Dynasty back on top By Hannah Serquina T otal domination. There was no better way to describe wrestling’s run to their seventh state title in the past nine years.

The Gators opened up a day one lead during the 2020 NIAA State Championships at Cimarron-Memorial HS and never looked back. With six wrestlers reaching the finals on Feb. 15, Green Valley finished with 122.5 points as well as two individual State championships. Shadow Ridge finished in second place with 103.5 points.

After running off six straight State titles from 2012-2017, the program and its seniors were ready to stand back on top of the medal stand after consecutive runner-up finishes to Spanish Springs the last two seasons. Senior David Kalayanaprapruit (138 lb.), who captured one of the indvidual State titles along with sophomore Caleb Uhlenhopp (152 lb.), confirmed that losing the last two years pushed the team to find redemption this season.

“I think being a senior heavy team helped us a lot because we had a taste of being State champions our freshmen year, and falling short of our goal the past two years, getting second, really gave us more drive to finish on top this year,” Kalayanaprapruit said.

Head coach Jon Ferry made it clear that the team never hid their purpose from anyone throughout the year.

“Our goal was to send this core of seniors out as champions,” Ferry said. “They won it as a team as freshmen and we felt that we had the horses to send them out on top.” Kalayanaprapruit noted that Ferry pushed the wrestlers to have quality practices that enabled them to constantly improve. He also added that without him, tournaments would not have had the same feel.

“He’s been a great coach this year. He makes sure that practices and competitions run smoothly and productively. He also makes sure that we get the most out of our practices, which definitely helped us win,” Kalayanaprapruit said.

Ferry went on to explain about how much more difficult it has become to win a championship, partly as a result of his own program’s envied success over the past nine years. “We don’t have a lot of friends in the wrestling community,” Ferry said. “When other teams were dominant such as Vegas and Cimarron, it made me want to work and we see it now with other teams using our program as their benchmark.”

The closeness of the team was another contributing factor towards the teams victory.

“We’re really close to each other and we know how hard we’ve all worked for it. It helps knowing that it’s not just for ourselves. It’s for our close friends and teammates as well,” Kalayanaprapruit said.

Kalayanaprapruit concluded that finishing on top again allowed the team to have the perfect ending to their senior season.

“It feels great, because we all were really close and falling short of it gave us more motivation. We finished on top and accomplished our goal,” Kalayanaprapruit said.

In addition to the State title, the team also won their tenth straight Region championship, earning their coach a bit of a vacation.

“Every year everyone gets closer and closer to each other in terms of skill,” Ferry said. “So I’m going to take a couple of weeks and really enjoy this one.”

feature 07 Angel to the rescue

Student brings awareness to autism

Starting small, yet planning to create a huge difference, senior Radhika Shah was named one of the top 100 Women of Influence for 2019 by MyVegas magazine for her unique organization, Real Autism Difference (RAD) which creates a positive impact on families and individuals with autism.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 59 children under the age of 18 are affected in the U.S. and have some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently, Southern Nevada struggles on identifying ways to help kids with ASD. Every kid on the spectrum is different, it is hard to pinpoint an exact medication or treatment due to this. With harsh prices for treatment and little amount of resources for the condition, this leaves limited options for families.

Shah came up with RAD because of her younger brother Amar, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of five. Her brother is the main influence of her orginization. She was looking for ways to help make By Malia Deramus I realized there’s a serious lack of resources for kids with autism. I wanted to start an inititave. ,,

Radhika Shah ,, her family’s life easier regarding the circumstances. During her middle school years, Shah volunteered for her brother’s classrooms to help him out with his social anxiety. Shah noticed other families like hers talking about how there was a lack of resources for ASD. During that time, she realized that a change was needed.

“I realized there’s a serious lack of resources for kids with autism. I wanted to start an initiative,” Shah said.

Shah dedicated herself to building Real Autism Difference by reaching out to close friends and family who were willing to become her board of directors. On Shah’s 16th birthday, she launched RAD to help families all around.

RAD is an organization which helps students who carry autism by creating uplifting events with others that kids normally cannot experience on the spectrum.

“The walk we have every January is like the main community event where we try to invite every single person that we know to come walk. We had Krispy Kreme donuts come last year,” Shah said.

This year, RAD held a 5k Walk for Autism event on Jan. 25. The walk included complimentary goodies and snacks. Many sponsors came to the event such as Pinkbox Doughnuts and Anthem Hills Medical Center. Hundreds were running around the trail with their kids spreading positivity and good spirit.

The organization also has Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) mobility training which trains people with ASD to use RTC busses around safely to get from place to place.

“We work with the students at UNLV and their focus group. UNLV has some students on the spectrum and basically we taught them how to use community transportation so that those students know how to use transportation to get to their collegiate school experience,” Shah said.

RAD also includes a directory on their website that lists a variety of autism friendly resources

What is known as the resource autism directory is a list of available resources in Southern Nevada. By going to the RAD website and plugging in certain information about what you are looking for such as dentists, therapy centers, and even daycares, the resource autism directory can pinpoint an exact or a few places available that will be ASD friendly. This idea appeared when Shah realized how hard it is to find resources relating to autism online.

“It wasn’t until I started RAD that I actually started to realize how many resources were already available, but families just didn’t know about them,” Shah said.

Future plans for RAD would be to expand the organization from a small, local environment to a national level stretching across all of America to help more families. Shah also has goals for herself, she desires to join the medical field to conduct studies on autism research.

Ready to go - Kids line up at the RAD walk on Jan. 25 at Cornerstone Park to raise awareness for autism.

“Even when I’m 80 years old, I hope I’m doing stuff for RAD and I actually want to make it a national initiative,” Shah said.

Besides RAD, Shah has been able to speak at autism conferences, and giving a TED talk called “Don’t worry, be happy,” which talks about her story and dives into depth on the inspiration for RAD.

Shah was nominated by a local and that is when MyVegas magazine found her contact information and asked if she would like to be featured in the MyVegas magazine. RAD definitely received more attention after courtesy of Rhadika Shah

the magazine was published.

As Shah looks forward to graduation, she also looks forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of others. Shah explains that her goal is to simply assure those with autism that they are not alone. Shah’s main objective with her program is sto provide resources for those who do not even know where to begin.

“The point of having these programs is so that parents can continue to work and actually have jobs and sustain life and know they have someone reliable watching their child,” Shah said.