OPINIONS “Lack of school dance participation diminishes high school
FOCUS
FEATURES
Inside the heart of
#SQUADGOALS”
“ City of Angels:
Los Angeles” pg.
“San Gabriel pg. 12
THE MATADOR experience” pg. 4
6-7
SAN GABRIEL HIGH/MARCH 16, 2017/ VOLUME 62 / ISSUE 7
WWW.THEMATADORSGHS.US/801 S. RAMONA ST., SAN GABRIEL, CA 91776
Math department offers weekly SBAC tutoring
Los Renombrados award judging process explained
Photo by Tom Cheah
Students practice SBAC sample math problems on computers. Tom Cheah In an effort to better prepare students for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing, the math department has begun to offer tutoring sessions throughout the month of March. Since last year, California has adopted a new academic assessment system, known as the California Assessment of Students Performance and Progress (CAASPP), which administers tests that align with the Common Core State Standards. The largest part of the CAASPP is the Smarter Balanced Assessments, which are computer-based tests that are created by SBAC. Upon hearing feedback from students last year, the math department formed a team consisting of Amanda Blackwood, Abel Bourbois, Kadriye Kanik, Sheree Mar, Nicolas Nguyen, Kevin Nong, and Leah Ulloa to help expose students to SBAC testing material and prepare them for the test. Tutoring sessions began on the first week of March and occur twice week after school; each session is an hour long. “The main goal is to get students more exposed to the new testing environment and types of testing material,” Nguyen, who chairs the math department, said. “The second goal is to emphasize certain types of questions that aren’t traditional math test questions, such as the ‘select all that apply’ and ‘justify your answer’ questions.” Nguyen stated that “students often struggle with the navigation of the software itself” and with the vocabulary of test questions. “Unfamiliarity with the testing environment could distract [students] from the content itself,” Nguyen said. “We want to let our students see what they’re walking into and know what to expect, so it’s a fair game for them. We feel that it’s only fair for them to know what they’re going to get tested on.” The tutoring sessions are not mandatory, but “a lot of students still come.” For next year, Nguyen hopes to make the sessions more accommodating to students’ schedules so that more students can attend. For Mar, a typical tutoring session consists of students working on sample test problems on packets or computers. After students attempt the problems, she goes over the answers with the entire class. “I think students are getting better because they are understanding the different types of problems,” Mar said. Mar stated that students from other sessions have been struggling with trigonometry and geometry and that she will be changing her lesson plans to meet the students’ needs. “When we get there, I will probably go over general trigonometry lessons and a few main geometric concepts,” Mar said. Junior Valerie Montelon attends Bourbois’s tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays and said that “the tutoring has been helpful.” “It’s really helpful to review and see how the computer reacts to the answer,” Montelon said. “I’m feeling a little bit more confident because now I know how [the test] looks like and what to expect. I’m glad they are offering the review.” SBAC tutoring will continue to March 24, and juniors will be taking the SBAC test in April.
Photo by Sunny Chen
2016 Los Renombrados winner Quoc Ho receives his award on the football field. Shirley Dinh and Vivian Wong Los Renombrados (LR), a tradition unique to San Gabriel High School, is an honor society that recognizes seniors who are academically and actively involved in the school community. To be eligible to receive the award, seniors are required to have a grade-point average of at least 3.0, have been a student at San Gabriel for at least five semesters, have no behavior contracts, and have no suspensions. The school generates a list of seniors with these qualifications, and every teacher on campus may vote for 15 seniors from the list. After every teacher votes for the students, a total of 50 semi-finalists are selected based on the number of votes they receive. These nominees are then invited to fill out and submit a formal application online.
The formal application includes three short answer responses. Once the applications are submitted, each finalist’s name is changed to a special identification number to create a blind voting process instead. The LR committee votes for 15 to 25 finalists based on their application. Traditionally, the LR voting committee consists of teachers and staff from each department who serve on the committee for two years before rotating out. However, some teachers have served on the committee for more than two consecutive years. Assistant Principal of Business and Activities Matthew Dultz said that “some [judges] have done this several times and that the [two-years term] are renewed, mainly because of the investment they have in the kids.” “I’m told that there used to be a two-year term limit rule,” chemistry teacher Ryan Wong said. ”I don’t know if that is enforced anymore because I noticed that there are teachers that have been on the committee for much longer than two years. I’m pretty sure that the spirit of the term limit was to invite fresh perspectives to the decisionmaking.” Although the LR tradition started in 1958, there are currently no official documents containing LR rules or by-laws since changes and updates have been made to the process as new administrators come aboard and time has passed. After the committee reads the applications, the top 4 percent of the graduating senior class are picked to receive the LR award. “After that, we tell the 50 semi-finalists whether they made it or not,” Dultz said. Because the judging process involves teachers advocating for certain types of students, bias among teachers has been alleged, despite the blind application process. “As for bias, I know the committee members are to be impartial, and they certainly try their best in doing so,” Wong said. “I think bias can be avoided by looking solely on the merits on each application without knowing who each person is.” Controversy also exists among students who believe the judging process is unfair to those who demonstrate academic excellence. “I think it is slightly unfair simply because they are trying to diversify LR,” a senior said. “In some ways, it is affirmative action. However, I do understand why they do it. It is to encourage others. I really wouldn’t fault the LR committee on doing this, but at the same time, I feel for those people who are well qualified, but don’t make it.”
AUSD votes in new Superintendent Thomas Wang Current Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Denise Jaramillo will become the new superintendent of the Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD). The AUSD Board voted for Jaramillo, 5-0, at the March 14 school board meeting. In light of Superintendent Laura Tellez-Gagliano’s retirement this year, Jaramillo will become superintendent starting on July 1. Along with TellezGagliano’s retirement, Assistant Superintendent
of Human Resources Marsha Gilbert will also retire after the school year. Replacements for Gilbert and Jaramillo’s positions as assistant superintendent of human resources and assistant superintendent of business services, respectively, are currently unknown. “I think there was a sigh of relief for the teachers [when Jaramillo became superintendent],” Larry Kanow, who recently retired as a science teacher and volleyball coach from San Gabriel last year, said. “[Jaramillo] has a good reputation of being fair, and I know she is very bright,”