Students take advantage of ROP programs by
Studio Art
Sports Medicine
Similarly, Senior Maddi Holzworth takes advantage of the ROP courses offered by the district. Holzworth is taking Sports Medicine and drives to Fremont High School every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to attend class. Students must make the commute to a different campus but get let out earlier on days to attend their third period class in time. After her experience in Sports Medicine, Holzworth now aspires to be a trainer or a physical therapist. “After I tore my ACL, I worked with the physical therapist and that was when I knew what I wanted to do; I wanted to help other people,” says Holzworth. Students in Sports Medicine learn about the anatomy of the body, the legal aspects of physical therapy, and what other fields and career possibilities there are in sports medicine. “At first I just kind of took it and I didn’t care what it was. Now I’m happy I got the opportunity to take a class in a subject I am actually interested in pursuing,” says Holzworth.
Engineering Tech
Engineering Technology may not sound like all fun and games, but Senior Jason Huang is having a blast. The actual class has no curriculum or textbook. Students tackle different aspects of engineering in units. In their first unit, Huang and his classmates constructed rockets from soda bottles. A typical day in the class consists of building rockets and, “doing a launch”. “Engineering Tech is pretty neat in that you get to do hands-on work. It’s a nice change from the typical Lynbrook style pencil-on-paper, fingers-on-calculator class. Think of it like this. In bio you get to dissect animals. That’s the hands-on part of bio. Engineering tech requires you to build, which is like the hands on part of math,” Huang explains. Though many students express interest in engineering, Huang acknowledges that there are few opportunities for high school students to experience the field. Huang is keeping an open mind. “I guess honestly I don’t have expectations, I’m open to anything Mr. Mosher has to teach,” he says.
GRAPHIC BY CLAY SONG
AdvancedVisual Communications, also known as Studio Art, is one of the most popular Regional Occupational Program (ROP) classes offered at Lynbrook. The class is taught by Lee Akamichi. Studio Art is not your typical art class. Junior Rachel Yung explains that students have to use their own ways of thinking to create a piece of art. The theme students are currently working with is “cell phones”. Some students have used cell phones to take photos, while others have incorporated cell phones into paintings and other works of art. Yung has taken traditional art classes before, and explains the differences Studio Art exhibits. “Studio Art is not as focused on techniques but more on who you are inside. Mr. Akamichi doesn’t just tell you ‘this is how you draw something’.” Instead, students are given time in class to work on their own ongoing, themed independent projects at their own pace. “[In Studio Art], there is more freedom, more self expression. As a result you are a more unique student. Nowadays, everyone can do art. We have to be creative to stand out,” Yung furthers. In the future, Yung would like to attend art school. Mr. Akamichi also helps aspiring students present their art by working with them to create their portfolios.
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KATHY LI—EPIC
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laurenTAI
School is a great place; chances are given to students everyday to improve their performance and knowledge. However, motivation does not sit around waiting to be found, nor does it come find each person. Instead, it is created from each individual alone. A key to motivation is finding the right set of strategies that work. One strategy Dr. Brittany Stevens, school psychologist, encourages students to try is the “reward and capability” approach in which reaping rewards is not the only benefit, but students are also able to get a sense of realization that they can achieve more than before. Compensation after reaching a goal helps teenagers strive for what they want, bringing out the optimistic side of students. Junior Nina Kamath, FBLA national state officer, exercised the aptitude of reward and capability when preparing for a competitive evaluation exam.
“During the summer, I spent three weeks studying in my room every single hour of the day on this one topic, doing nothing else,” Kamath reflects upon how she got her title with a fulfilling smile, “And after I went there, and I did it, and I got the position, I came back and I was like, ‘whooh’, that’s the reward. The reward is also the end product of what you did after you accomplish it.” Kamath shows the effectiveness of setting a goal and accomplishing it through hard work. “I know I have the capability to a certain level,” she finishes. There was enough interest to explore motivation in students that a new program was created by lead mentor of the FUHSD, Josh Maisel, to enhance teaching methods. Now in its first year, Skillful Teacher is a voluntary program where teachers discuss techniques that motivate students to improve. Maisel sees the purpose as “improving teacher abilities to improve students.” When focusing on students, they have learned that “effective effort, which is commitment that you’re going to try something, putting in
time, focusing just on whatever you’re doing, using different strategies, resourcefulness and going outside yourself to find new strategies, and use of feedback” motivates each student. Teachers at Lynbrook are carrying out the knowledge gained from periodic six-week lessons to the classroom by initiating different ways to stimulate a positive mindset in the learning environments. History teacher Sarah Tiederman, one of the teachers involved in Maisel’s program, takes time to analyze each student and encourage them by giving new effective strategies they can benefit from. Tiederman motivates her students by saying, “It’s not just ‘you’re a good person’ or ‘I believe in you’, but [instead] here’s some concrete strategies you could use to help you to reach the goals that you set. That’s what I try to do today.” “There isn’t one thing that I know of that works for everyone,” guidance counselor Shana Howden says. Motivation varies per person, how people may use motivation is up to each individual.