December 2021 Issue

Tesla’s Carbon Credits

Inside this Issue Disposable Cameras

The Metaverse

A&E

FOCUS

OPINION

The Roar

Vol. XXII No. 2 Friday, December 10, 2021

SCroar.net

Class of 2022 reflects on their college application experience

Santa Clara High School 3000 Benton St. Santa Clara, CA 95051

‘It is about equity, equality and compassion’: Teachers work towards inclusive classroom environments

Amelia Howell/Roar Staff

Through sending forms and asking directly, teachers are making efforts to include all students by addressing them with the correct name and pronouns.

Amelia Tai/Roar Staff

Due to their junior year being virtual, seniors faced unique obstacles while applying to college.

By Emily Harvie

In the midst of college application season, some SCHS seniors have reflected on applying after experiencing part of their high school career online. For many high school students, the conversation about college initiates during their junior year.

One of the challenges senior Riya Mehta faced was not thinking enough about college during her junior year due to distance learning.

“It had really snuck up on me because we were online our junior year,” Mehta said.

Like Mehta, senior Maia Kumar did not begin thinking about college until the end of junior year.

“I didn’t think about college at all during junior year actually. I was so focused, and I really enjoyed being at home. I felt like I was more productive,” Kumar said. “Towards the end of junior year, I knew I would be applying to UCs, but I wasn’t sure about private schools.”

According to Mehta, the transition from distance learning to adjusting back on campus in conjunction with applying to colleges

left her feeling unprepared for the process. Furthermore, due to many of the COVID-19 restrictions during the 2020-2021 school year, she found it challenging to decide which colleges to apply to.

“I haven’t been able to see a lot of the schools because they have been virtual visits, or I just haven’t been able to visit at all because of COVID restrictions,” Mehta said. “I am blindsided a little bit by the process because I don’t know what school is a best fit for me, so I am applying to a lot of them. I’m applying to a lot because I just don’t know and it is unpredictable.”

For senior Thomas Mathew, not being able to visit college campuses was not an issue. Mathew utilized the extra time during his junior year online to research colleges and plan ahead. Instead of visiting campuses first, he was able to attend virtual tours.

“Even if there wasn’t the whole COVID thing, I probably still wouldn’t have visited the colleges, especially on the East Coast,” Mathew said. “I would’ve applied to them and just did a virtual thing, which was really more available because of

COVID. There were a lot of virtual informational sessions, and I attended those.”

Unlike Mathew, Mehta ideally wanted to visit more colleges and universities ahead of time to determine which schools she knew were fit for her.

“Before COVID, I visited New York, and we visited Georgetown, NYU and UPENN. Because I was able to visit them, I was able to determine that I really liked NYU and I really liked UPENN, but I didn’t really like Georgetown,” Mehta said. “If I hadn’t visited, I probably would have still applied to Georgetown, but I know now after visiting the campus that I wouldn’t have wanted to go there anyway.”

Alongside determining which colleges to apply to, another challenge many seniors faced pertained to imposter syndrome and comparing oneself to their peers.

This was the case for Kumar, especially with applying to CSU schools, where the application only required a high school transcript.

See College Apps, Page 2

By KennedyRose Stiver

On the first day of school, a teacher stands at the front of the classroom, addressing their class. After introducing themselves, each student stands up and introduces themselves along with their pronouns and a fun fact about them.

Starting the year with a supportive intent, many SCHS teachers and students have brought awareness to the importance of pronouns. With the advantage of a fresh start and new school year, many teachers have incorporated the use of pronouns through a system of both virtual and in-person resources.

Science teacher Lizzy Ho introduced pronouns in the form of a survey on the first day of school.

“I ask students at the start of the year using a ‘Get to know you’ Google form,” Ho said.

“From there, I read student responses and made note of student’s pronouns on my seating chart to ensure when I call on students or reference them, I am using their preferred pronouns.”

Along with Ho, social studies teacher Chima Ikeme encouraged his students to share their pronouns on the first day of school to prevent any confusion later in the school year.

“We might give someone the wrong pronoun or misuse their pronoun, so asking reinforces using the correct pronoun,” Ikeme said.

Similarly, English teacher Arantxa Figueroa has been including her own pronoun system in her classes for multiple years and acknowledged the challenges with student responses in the past.

“When I first started (asking for pronouns), kids would laugh, and they would go, ‘Obviously I’m a he, look at me,’” Figueroa said. “So it’s been really interesting to have to detangle physiognomy – physical appearance to gender.”

With efforts to create a safe environment in his own classroom, Ikeme recognized the struggles of transgender students on campus.

“The more of those students that don’t have their preferred pronouns aligned with the gender that was assigned to them at birth tend to be marginalized,” Ikeme said. “Normalizing it and acknowledging it will hopefully lessen their marginalization and be more inclusive to the classroom for them.”

See Pronouns, Page 3

CAMPUS

2

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Bruins speak on the wide array of late work policies and their impact

Jizelle Mercado/Roar Staff

Many feel lenient late work policies are helpful to their mental health.

By Matteo Carlini

Many teachers at SCHS have different late work policies, ranging from teachers not accepting any late work, accepting late work a certain amount of time past its due date, to accepting late work until the end of the semester.

Spanish teacher Jennifier Herrera shared how her late policy works and what she expects from students if they are to turn in missing assignments.

“Generally, my late work policy is if a student is absent, then I give

THE ROAR 2021-2022 editors-in-chief Emily Harvie • Amelia Howell campus | Amelia Howell sports | Sarah Olson • Emily Harvie focus | Soo Jin Spencer opinion | Elias Panou a&e | KennedyRose Stiver spotlight | Emily Harvie visuals | Sarah Olson online | Khadeejah Khan staff writers Amelia Tai • Amos Press Andrew Littlefield • Emma Wasel Isa Miyauchi-Garde James Kepner • Jizelle Mercado Joshua Cedro • Matteo Carlini Mylinh Duong • Nathaniel Hekster Nishi Vijayvargiya Rebecca LaBarge • Rowan Garcia Tanvi Kenkre • Theodore Nguyen advisor Bob Ansaldo Mission Statement The Roar works to inform students, showcase their accomplishments, and explore issues relevant to them as individuals and as a generation.

We value journalistic ethics and professional behavior toward both our sources and our readers. We will investigate and inform students about happenings on- and off-campus, and provide information comprehensibly.

As a student-run newspaper, The Roar strives to establish itself as a reliable news source for Santa Clara High School.

Letters and Opinion columns submitted to The Roar must be signed, although names can be withheld.

Submissions should be limited to 200 words and may be edited for content, libel, or grammar. Opinion submissions can be emailed to Mr. Ansaldo at ransaldo@scusd.net or submitted to the form on our website: scroar.net.

DISCLAIMER The opinions on pages 8 and 9 reflect the views of the individual writer, not those of Santa Clara High School.

The Roar Newspaper Santa Clara High School

them until the following Friday, so that’s between a week to 10 days to get stuff turned in,” Herrera said.

Due to COVID-19, many teachers, including Herrera, adjusted their late work policies in order to allow students who missed a few days to make up work.

“It’s been a little bit more difficult this fall semester because with COVID protocols, they (students) are gone more than one day, and I don’t see them everyday,” Herrera said.

English teacher Elizabeth Kelly

College Apps Continued from Page 1 “I just felt like because I didn’t have a high enough GPA, my stats weren’t good enough. I hadn’t really challenged myself, and I was constantly comparing myself to others, ultimately feeling like I wasn’t good enough because of my GPA,” Kumar said. “You are so much more than a grade, and it is sad that the CSUs focus on that one aspect.”

For many other college applications, however, college essays and personal statements are a prominent aspect of the application. In attempts to help other students with their college application essays, Mehta started the College Essay Club, where their goal is to help students edit and revise their college essays.

“What we do is we put our essays in a pile without names, and then we grab someone’s essay and start editing it,” Mehta said. “Then again, when it comes to getting feedback, if you ask too many people, then there might be too much going on, and then one person says they like something, then another person says they hate it.

It can feel like you don’t know what to do, so it is important to go with your gut.”

Despite getting ahead on college applications, Mathew reported second guessing himself with his personal statements weeks before the deadline.

“Obviously, people can feel like what they are writing isn’t

explained that her late work policy includes no repercussions for turning in assignments after their due dates.

“There’s no penalty for late work in my class. The reason for that is because it started with the whole COVID thing and us being online, and we wanted to give people more leeway,” Kelly said.

Kelly explained that her late policy prior to the pandemic and distance learning was not as lenient as her current system. She felt that after a year and a half of distance learning, the new block schedule and new COVID-19 policies regarding absences and quarantine, late work policies needed adjusting to be more accommodating.

“Before COVID, I used to have a policy that you had two days to turn in late work for half credit, and that was it,” Kelly said. “Especially with all the people being out for 10 days to quarantine, it just doesn’t make sense to arbitrarily have a turn in date.”

Senior Jason Visitacion shared his insights about his teacher’s typical late work policies and how they align with his work ethic.

“It really depends on if it’s a project or anything. Usually, I’m that type of person that turns it in on time, but if I don’t have time or if I have a lot on my plate, they’re really flexible so they would give me another one or

two days,” Visitacion said.

Herrera explained that she has adapted her late work policy in order to allow students who have to quarantine enough time to make up work.

“In theory, now they have more opportunities to turn in work late because, before, I just didn’t take it, but I’m trying to figure out how to give more opportunities to turn in work with the COVID protocols,” Herrera said.

Visitacion explained most of his teachers do not have penalties for late work.

“Surprisingly no, like my economics teacher Ms. Schmale doesn’t have a late work policy. She’s always flexible with all that, so it doesn’t affect our grades,” Visitacion said.

Visitacion believes, in essence, the flexibility in his teachers’ late work policies is beneficial to him for the sake of his well-being and preventing burnout.

“It’s more flexible for our time to rejuvenate because sometimes we need space for ourselves and we just need a break for our mindset, where I feel like constantly we work and work, and it turns out we get stressed,” Visitacion said. “I feel like with teachers being flexible and all that benefits us to take time for ourselves and just focus on our mental health.”

what the schools are looking for, and there were times where my personal statements just didn’t feel right,” Mathew said. “We were getting closer and closer to the deadline, and I was changing it. It was very stressful for the first few applications before hitting the submit button.”

As students turned in applications, Mathew reminded himself and other students that although it is common to want to go to more prestigious universities, what is more important is how people utilize their time there.

same thing regardless of wherever you go, so it matters how you take advantage of whatever resources the college offers.

That’s more important than w h e r e exactly you go,”

“You are so much more than that one college acceptance, or that rejection,” Kumar said.

“You want to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself to accept rejection but not see it as a failure but rather as redirection that there will be opportunities down the line.”

- Maia Kumar, senior “For undergraduates, they’re really going to be teaching you the

Mathew said. “I think there is a lot of emphasis on prestige, but I don’t think it matters in the long term.”

With college applications coming to a close, Kumar encouraged her peers to prepare themselves for the results of their college applications.

“You are so much more than that one college acceptance, or that rejection,” Kumar said.

“You want to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself to accept rejection but not see it as a failure but rather as redirection that there will be opportunities down the line.”

Visual by Amelia Tai

Behavioral issues increase due to past lack of normalcy

By Nathaniel Hekster

As the tired physical education students walk the track, the warning bell rings to indicate that it is time for students to head to the locker rooms. When a student walks through the heavy metal doors to the boys’ locker room, they are met with loud screaming, clapping and yelling.

This behavior not only affects the locker rooms, it also changes classroom dynamics.

“Some students would just not do their work,” math Teacher Lauren Hasty said.

Hasty teaches Algebra 1, which consists mostly of freshmen, who spent a majority of seventh and eighth grade in lockdown, meaning that they have not been exposed to a regular classroom environment for nearly two years.

According to Hasty, some students in his class distract everyone, making it difficult to stay on track.

“If I’m asking them to sit down, they use that opportunity to talk more and say why they can’t sit down,” Hasty said. “They just made it kind of disruptive to the class for me to get through materials sometimes.”

Hasty expressed that he believes the resolution to negative behavior can be found in establishing a strong and genuine relationship between the teacher and the student.

“My main solution is to make sure I have some kind of bond with the student because if there’s a student that I don’t have a bond with, then I can’t probably get them to do stuff,” Hasty said. “So usually I’m pretty flexible most of the time. I try to be friendly and flexible with students, and I try to have a kind of bond where they feel trusting.”

As COVID continuse to change students’ behavior, it also makes discipline a lot more difficult for campus administrators.

“This has been the most stressful year to be an educator,” Principal Gregory Shelby said. “There has been a regression to a place we’re not satisfied with, so we are working very hard to fix that.”

According to Shelby, students are acting younger than they actually are, and this is not native to the SCHS campus. Proportionally, in middle schools, he claimed, that sixth graders are acting like fourth graders. Being at home for almost two years, students have experienced a lack of support, structure and overall normalcy.

“I feel a lot of sympathy for students who have relied on the school to be their support network and had to go for quite a while without that support network,” Shelby said.

Some students, like senior Nurayah Alvarado, feel frustrated at their fellow students for their immature demeanor.

“It makes me feel mostly annoyed and somewhat disappointed,” Alvarado said. “I feel like they should know better.”

Alvarado feels that the behavioral issues are unnecessary and have drastically increased since the pandemic, and that students’ bad behavior negatively impacts those around them.

“I feel like the people who are exhibiting the problems should be punished or talked to about their conduct,” Alvarado said. “I don’t want to have to worry about having my Chromebook out at lunch because I’m afraid something is going to get thrown at the table where I’m working.”

3

CAMPUS

DECEMBER 10, 2021

49ers SLI program prepares its members to become proficient and experienced leaders

By Mylinh Duong

The 49ers STEM Leadership Institute is a six-year program offered for students to enhance their knowledge in STEM subjects and prepare them for the future. After completing the application process and being accepted, students begin the program in seventh grade at Cabrillo Middle School and work up through 12th grade at Santa Clara High School.

“The purpose of SLI is to graduate students that have a high level of comfort and proficiency in STEM fields and also have comfort being leaders,” project specialist Lauren Hayes said. “What we mean by that is having comfort with soft skills, collaboration, communication and those areas.”

To build comfort and expose students to several different fields, the SCHS FabLab is a designated resource equipped with technology for students to work on STEM projects with access to equipment, including 3-D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters and Shopbots.

SLI program and technology manager Laurie Toyama works with students to prepare them for the real-world industry through hands-on learning.

“We make them prototype first out of cardboard, and then they can use the actual material,” Toyama said. “It’s about learning, and I want to see mistakes because nothing is ever perfect, even in the real-world.

That’s the importance of doing prototypes and making your mistakes there so that the mistake doesn’t come out in the actual product.”

Sarah Olson/Roar Staff

The 49ers STEM Leadership Institute offers many rigorous hands-on activities pertaining to STEM industries.

For freshman Samuel Geevarghese, the FabLab has inspired him to work on projects with the use of advanced technology.

“My favorite thing is getting to use so many industry-level equipment and machinery to build so many different things you would think you couldn’t do,” Geevarghese said. “STEM clearly proved us wrong towards the thought of thinking you can’t do it.”

Alongside involvement in the program, students are encouraged to reflect deeply on their growth. The SLI program has allowed Geevarghese

to develop his character through a plethora of experience in team projects.

“It’s really helped shape better teamwork, or collaboration skills, even if the project that we work on doesn’t work out,” Geevarghese said. “My awareness and choice making in deciding how to go about certain things has improved compared to the beginning of STEM and being able to make decisions for not only myself, but that impacted me and my team in the best way possible.”

Similarly, senior Rhea Nair said the program has benefited her with a sense of direction and motivation to keep up with her classmates in addition in addition to discoveringdiscovering appealing careers earlier compared to her peers. Nair believes access to guest speakers, lectures and field trips helped her find her future passion, studying oncology.

“They give you a lot of opportunities to explore careers you’re interested in, and they expose you to information that you might not have

Pronouns ‘Never be too proud to come back’: Continued from Page 1 Teachers who are SCHS alumni reminisce over their past years at SCHS

Rowan Garcia/Roar Staff

A plethora of SCHS alumni returned to become faculty members.

By Khadeejah Khan

Returning to SCHS as an alumni, physical education teacher Cory Morbo recalls the unbreakable Bruin spirit that has grown since her time as a student.

“When I first got hired at Santa Clara, I was super impressed by how spirited and courageous students were,” Morbo said. “They would go in front of each other and sing songs and dance, and I was like, ‘Wow, I would never have the courage to do this when I was fifteen.’”

Morbo participated in a variety of activities when she was a student, including powder puff and softball.

She encourages all students to participate in the activities they are passionate about.

“I try to tell my students to get involved as much as possible because time is short and high school goes by quickly, so it is something that you don’t get back,” Morbo said. “Always get involved. If you are think-

ing about trying out or doing something, just do it so you can have fun.”

College and Career Resource Technician Anthony Butler was in Leadership when he was an SCHS student. He noted the changes made to Leadership currently and appreciates the time he spent in it.

“Leadership was not a class back then, so we’d have meetings once a week during lunch. The elections were more cutthroat, so people had posters and buttons for campaigns,” Butler said.

“I loved it because I liked being able to work with my friends in Leadership.”

When he was in high school, science teacher Daniel Lehnert was in the band for three of the four years he went to SCHS. Like other activities, the band has undergone an array of changes.

“It was a very different band than it is now, but some of the same things go on,” Lehnert said. “There seems to be a bigger commitment to a sense of community now and an enjoyment of performance now.”

The sense of familiarity fostered by teaching at a school he previously attended is one of the key reasons why Lehnert chose to teach at SCHS. “I think it’s powerful to be able to say that I am from Santa Clara and be able to connect by knowing the area,” Lehnert said. “ I am able to say, ‘Here is where I hung out when I was your age,’ or ‘Here’s where you can get good donuts.’”

Butler, too, believes the sense of familiarity helps him connect with his students on a greater level.

“My friend’s kids who are here who know me know that I was involved with everything at school, and to see me here makes them happy because they know I care about the school so they know I will also care about their kids as much,” Butler said. “It’s true because everyone I see here I call my kids, and I just give them back at four o’clock, so they’re all family.”

Butler urges all students to maximize the time they spend in highschool and hopes to see more alumni return to SCHS to inspire and foster community among future students.

“Take advantage of opportunities and always come back,” Butler said. “When you come back, it encourages these kids now because they get to see that there is life after highschool and success after highschool, so never be too proud to come back.”

Along with teachers, students also felt the normalization of pronoun use in classrooms is beneficial. Freshman Garret Davis Barnes explained the significance and how it has had an impact on the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Teachers definitely make it a small deal, but it’s a big deal,” Barnes said. “We’re moving in a modern day and age. We’re no longer in a time where it’s as shameful to be queer.”

Along with Barnes, junior Mars Caldwell expressed his opinion of the use of pronouns in classrooms.

“I think they (teachers checking in with pronouns) are a hugely important step in the right direction,” Caldwell said.

“They make the classroom feel a lot more comfortable for trans students, at least in my experience, and I’ve always felt safer in classrooms with these checkins.”

Caldwell also described their experience with the reaction from students around them.

“I think the students at Santa Clara are very accepting of trans students and extremely understanding,” Caldwell said.

“While I have had experiences with students being not as understanding and (being) disrespectful, the majority of students have been and continue

found without STEM,” Nair said.

Some students feel that fulfilling the requirements of the program, however, can be challenging to students’ mental health. SLI students are expected to meet certain requirements for academics, extracurriculars and community service as well as making a commitment to at least 300 additional hours of learning outside of typical school hours.

“In STEM, you’re pressured and expected to make a certain requirement in which you feel if you’re not living up to, you don’t really belong,” Nair said.

According to Hayes, while a cohort of high-achieving students can drive and inspire each other, the competitive side of the program can be demoralizing for some.

“I think a lot of students see it as you’re either succeeding – you’re either winning – or you’re failing,” Hayes said. “A lot of times, failure is actually a great learning process, a great place to work on skills, a great place to identify where you want to grow.”

While the commitment can be stressful, Nair is thankful for the experience in aiding her to figure out a future plan.

“STEM kids in general feel a lot of pressure to keep up with each other, and there’s a lot of competition that pushes us to do better in every academic class or endeavor that we pursue,” Nair said. “But looking back, I think the opportunities and the exposure I’ve had has shaped who I want to be and what I want to pursue a lot earlier, so I don’t have to deal with that pressure later on.” to be very helpful.”

With a concern for privacy and respect, many teachers also use a system to refer to students in front of parents and guardians.

Science teacher Sara Carvalho acknowledged the importance of confidentiality and her role as a teacher supporting her students.

“The last thing I want to do is put that student in a position where, maybe, they’re not out to their parents, or they use a different name with their parents,” Carvalho said. “It’s not my place to bring that up to their parents, so I have a conversation with the students first and I’ll use whatever the student prefers.”

“Normalizing it (asking for pronouns) and acknowledging it will hopefully lessen their marginalization and be more inclusive to the classroom for them.”

- Chima Ikeme, social studies teacher As the school year progresses, many teachers hope to continue to spread positivity and support on campus and in their classrooms.

“I just think we preach our mission statement. It is about equity, equality and compassion, and I think if we’re going to show those attributes, we need to start with each other in the classroom,” Figueroa said.

SPORTS

4

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Blue Hole strives to bring Bruin spirit to all sports

By Emily Harvie

After being on a hiatus for the 2020-2021 school year, Blue Hole, a club originally created to increase Bruin spirit at football games, is hoping to expand their initiatives and presence to more sports.

Senior Blue Hole member Jason Visitacion described how he noticed the lack of Blue Hole participation in previous years.

“Compared to previous years, I felt like there wasn’t as much participation,” Visitacion said.

“Sometimes it got made fun of, and then sophomore and junior year, Blue Hole didn’t really exist, part of that was COVID though.”

For his senior year, Visitacion wanted to bring the club back and revamp it. Their first goal was to get more students involved and hyped at football games.

“Our biggest priority though was posting stuff to social media, we also got people from other schools to come to our football games to support their friends, so that was really cool,” Visitacion said. “Those kids from other schools would also post our flyers on their social media, which was great.”

In order to promote sports games, members of Blue Hole took to social media, especially Instagram. Flyers were made to hype up events, such as football and volleyball games, which many believed helped to spread awareness of and increase en-

Courtesy of Jason Visitacion

Colorful powder was thrown at the 2021 Homecoming to enhance student energy and hype during the Varsity football game, just one of the activities Blue Hole plans on doing to bring spirit to sports. gagement for games and senior nights.

As they began to increase their use of social media, Visitacion started posting sports edits of football players prior to their senior night.

“I make edits. It started out for fun and something I do in my free time. I made edits initially for my friends who were on the football team,” Visitacion said.

“They had sent me action shots and photos. I have Pinterest, and I saw some sports edits. I thought they were so cool and I wanted to try it out, so I took their football action photos, added some stuff

here and there. They turned out pretty cool.”

Alongside creating sports edits for athletes, senior Adam Perez made efforts to bring energy to the student section at home football games. According to Perez, he feels his job is to prove to students that school spirit is fun.

“With the help from JJ posting it all over social media so the word can get out about events, themes and games, it allows students to participate and come out to support the athletes of SCHS,” Perez said. “Me on the other hand, I’m the hype man. I try to get more and more students

hyped about the games and get them more involved so they come back to the next game and so on.”

Perez also arranged for the student section to throw party powder in the bleachers for the Homecoming football game.

“We saw all the private schools do it, and we also wanted to give the kids something to remember since it was the seniors’ last football games and the sophomore’s and freshman’s first Homecoming football game due to COVID,” Perez said.

Although satisfied with what they have accomplished so far for the fall sports season, Blue Hole

members are eager to bring Bruin spirit to other SCHS sports teams.

“We obviously support football, which is how it has always been. We also hyped up girl’s volleyball for their senior night,” Visitacion said. “We are planning on doing stuff for boy’s basketball, girl’s basketball, and hopefully soccer and baseball.”

Despite using social media as their main method of publicizing information, Blue Hole wants to encourage students to support athletes through using other platforms.

“We want to advertise for the different games, so that is our next goal. We make social media our biggest way to promote since that is where a lot of the community gets their information,” Visitacion said. “I think our next step is to do flyers and even announcements so we can get the word out about upcoming games.

Visitacion hopes expanding Blue Hole’s advertisements across more platforms and in innovative ways will help to increase student engagement at other sporting events.

“For the past many years, there are sports that people don’t support the same as football, and we really want to change that,” Visitacion said.

“We want to make as many athletes at our school feel appreciated and supported, especially for seniors this year.”

The hidden injury with lingering effects: Concussions affect more than just athlete’s ability to play sports

Sarah Olson/Roar Staff

Beyond physical impacts, students who received concussions note the academic and social effects.

By Sarah Olson

Tossing color guard flags is a skill that SCHS senior Rebecca Doane has put years of practice into. In every sport, however, there is always a chance that something can go wrong.

While practicing a flag toss known as a parallel, Doane was blinded by the sun, causing her to miss her catch. The flag hit her in the head instead, immediately causing her to feel dizzy and her head to pound. After visiting the doctor, Doane was diagnosed with a concussion.

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that often results from a big impact or jolt to the head or body. It can result in numerous potentially debilitating symptoms, including headaches, dizziness and confusion. Concussions can affect many aspects of a student’s life beyond their athletic careers, including their academic performance and their capacity to socialize.

Due to her concussion, Doane was required to abstain from practicing color guard for two weeks. But it was not just their athletics that were

affected by their injury.

“It was hard to watch people need things from me and me not being able to give them that, whether it be my coaches in colorguard needing me to lead, or teachers needing me to turn in assignments. I just couldn’t do it,” Doane said.

Students’ academic performance can be restricted by their concussion symptoms. Doane’s headaches prevented them from being able to do schoolwork to their full ability.

“When I really had to focus, my head would start pounding re-

ally bad, and I always had to take breaks,” Doane said. “I had to go to the nurse sometimes. I just couldn’t keep up with the level of work that was coming at me.”

Senior Carsten Etling, who received a concussion when he got whiplash from an amusement park ride, also experienced difficulty completing schoolwork while his concussion symptoms lingered.

“Trying to work on summer homework was basically impossible,” Etling said. “It hurt to think and do pretty much anything.”

Sophomore Aliana Ferreira was concussed for her third time while playing for her club soccer team when she knocked heads with an opponent while trying to get the ball. Ferreira has been on a break from contact sports since she received her concussion two months ago.

One of Ferreira’s lingering symptoms is a difficulty looking at screens. This sometimes interferes with her schoolwork.

“The computer really bugs me when I look at the screen because of the light. Small words like reading a book make me super dizzy trying to concentrate,” Ferreira said. “I still do all my work on a screen, and when I start to feel dizzy, I have to get off and rest my eyes for a second.”

A doctor may recommend a concussed person avoid looking at digital screens to aid their rest and recovery. This restriction can alienate someone with a concussion, as in Doane’s case.

“I wasn’t able to talk to friends as easily because I couldn’t just go on my phone,” Doane said. “If I wanted to talk to someone, I had to phone them because I couldn’t even facetime.”

Other symptoms of a concussion include forgetfulness and confusion. Some people with concussions perceived finding themselves losing their train of thought to be anxiety inducing.

“As someone with a normally pretty good memory, it was weird,” Etling said in regards to forgetting his line of thought. “It’s (my memory has) all gone back to normal, so I’m not worried about that as much now.”

If someone knows their friend is concussed, Doane recommends being patient, supportive and understanding of a person’s limitations.

“If they are having specific symptoms like being dizzy, help them walk somewhere if they need to and be careful of their head,” Doane said.

“Be cautious.”

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Cut or no-cut? Students discuss the differences between cut and no-cut sports

Sarah Olson/Roar Staff

Basketball is one of many cut sports on campus requiring students to undergo a tryout process.

By Joshua Cedro

For high school athletics, some sports are cut sports while others are no-cut. Although some SCHS students believe that nocut sports allow more opportunities for students, they also acknowledge the differences in the environment between cut and nocut sports.

For some sports, the no-cut rule was implemented to increase the number of participants on the team. Senior Kathleen Nguyen has played water polo for three years, and she believes water polo is a no cut sport due to its lack of popularity.

“Not a lot of people have

heard of the sport. Not a lot of people want to play the sport,” Nguyen said. “So it’s really hard to get people to play. It’s really hard to find people and get them to stay.”

Senior Dino Beslagic believes it does not matter if people automatically make the team as long as they put in the effort. Beslagic was the kicker for the Bruins football team, which is a no-cut sport.

“You’re on the team, but you still have to earn your starting spot,” Beslagic said. “As long as they give it 100%, they deserve to be there.”

On the other hand, Beslagic also plays soccer during winter, which is a cut sport. Beslagic said

he gets a different feeling when he makes a cut team compared to a no-cut team.

“You feel relieved. You worked hard, made the team, and then you also feel nervous at the same time because now you gotta work your way to a starting spot,” Beslagic said.

Sophomore Kelly Winter, who played field hockey and is currently playing soccer, believes there is an apparent difference between cut and no-cut sports, specifically during practices.

“In practices with field hockey, people were just there to hang out, which is fine because it’s a no-cut sport,” Winter said. “It’s not like soccer where you work

hard to practice and get better.”

Winter also believes there is a difference in terms of being prepared when it’s time for the team’s next game.

“Our practices are a little more lax for field hockey, so when we get into the games, we are not as prepared as we probably will be for soccer when those games come,” Winter said.

Beslagic thinks a no-cut system benefits the team and its players and creates the motivation and drive to do better.

“It brings more variety, more competition. You have to work even harder now because in football, there are at least 55 people on the team. So you gotta work harder to be better than others,” Belsagic said.

Winter, on the other hand, said she believes playing a no-cut sport will not have any benefits, especially if the coach wants everyone involved.

“If the coach has the idea that everyone is going to get playing time, you’re not going to do as good as you might have otherwise because there’s disparity in skill level,” Winter said.

Winter, however, does think no-cut sports are a great opportunity for students who want to try out new things.

“I think there being no cut is helpful for getting people out there because now they’re not going to be scared to come try a new sport they’ve never played before because they could get cut, and that’s a bad feeling,” Winter said.

“It helps get people on the field.”

Students struggle to balance athletics and academics sure that she can complete her homework and spend the hours she wants playing basketball in the gym.

“I look forward to playing in basketball practices and games, and I always want to spend time in the gym for my sports,” Aochi said. “That is definitely a motivating factor for getting my homework done.”

By James Kepner

Some athletes will never want to give up the feeling of slipping on a jersey with “Bruins” embroidered on the front, but others believe participating in all three sports seasons can become overwhelming. A few have decided to let go of that thrill in order to shift their focus toward academics.

Junior Cydney Leigh Ventura was previously a three-season athlete, but she cut down on her sports participation to only volleyball because she wants to prioritize college.

“With sports, running clubs, doing city council, and also with AP and STEM, I think that would look good on the transcript and make me stand out to colleges,” Ventura said.

During her long game days, Ventura had less time to complete her homework, causing her to stay on campus and go to bed later than she preferred.

“Because of basketball, I would be stuck at school for over 12 hours,” Ventura said.

Ventura’s tiring schedule forced her to go to bed at two or three in the morning.

“Right now, I’m taking four APs,” Ventura said. “Juggling APs with sports, it’s like we have work on top of work.”

Ventura often found herself

“It is definitely difficult.

It requires a lot of time management.”

Amelia Tai/Roar Staff

While participating in three sports seasons, some athletes view sports as a method of stress relief, while others feel overwhelmed. exhausted from the workload and sought naps as a time to re-fuel.

“Even during school or before practice, it (a nap) helps re-energize your body so that you’re not tired,” Ventura said.

Senior Logan Morris is a current three-season athlete who is feeling the stress from balancing college applications, homework and sports.

“It is definitely difficult. It requires a lot of time management,” Morris said. “I will find myself feeling like I have to

5

SPORTS

plan out my day.”

Morris chooses to play sports during all three seasons because she enjoys them all and they are unique in their own way, but sees her future in soccer.

“Soccer is something that I have played for a while, and I want to continue playing in college, hopefully,” Morris said.

Senior Alison Aochi is another three-season athlete who finds balancing school and sports difficult. She also utilizes specific time management skills to make

-Logan Morris, senior When school gets stressful for Aochi, basketball is an outlet for her. Shooting around allows her to relax and distress.

“I love basketball and just even going to the park for an hour.

That’s kind of calming to me in my own way,” Aochi said.

Ventura, Morris and Aochi all consider their sports as the best way to relieve stress.

“When I am at practice, I can just focus on playing,” Morris said. “It’s a good environment. I get to just relax and not have to deal with anything else in my life.”

Principal Shelby answers questions about sports funding Reporting by Andrew Littlefield

Sports funding seems like a rigged system to many. A system that biases one sport while another is left in the dust. After many complaints about funding, one staffer asked Principal Gregory Shelby about what really goes on in the world of sports funding.

Is there a budget for sports funding?

There’s actually four separate budgets for sports funding. There are items that are taken care of directly by the district that are just set amounts. Those include paying for coaches and large scale equipment that is necessary. Then we have a site discretionary budget that is overseen by the athletic directors. They use that for whatever is necessary for the sport to happen. There’s a third account and that is the fundraising account used for consumables. It used to be a club account for every individual sport. Now, we do it as one big account to try to keep track of who’s been fundraising so those students can largely get what they’ve fundraised for. We have to monitor it to make sure it’s fair and roughly equitable between the genders. The fourth account is the athletic events account. That’s money from tickets that goes into paying for refs, scorekeepers, and other personnel. Basically, when someone is paying for tickets, they’re paying for the necessary personnel to run those events. Some sports have those costs and don’t bring in any money, and others, particularly football, bring in more money than they cost.

There’s one more source of income when groups rent our facilities for whatever reason. Part of the profit goes to the district and part of the profit goes to us. We tend to use that for larger purchases that we could not normally do out of the normal budget.

For example, we needed to do all new netting around the baseball and softball areas. It came out of there.

To read more, scan the QR code below

FOCUS

6

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Facebook's Reboot

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Under Meta, Facebook removes facial recognition feature due to privacy complaints from users

INSERT VISUAL HEREEE Jizelle Mercado/Roar Staff

Facebook announced it was going to shut down the facial recognition feature in early November.

Sarah Olson/Roar Staff

Whistle blower Francis Haugen reveals Facebook purposefully promotes problematic content for profit

By Ameilia Tai

Facebook, owner of the most popular social media platforms in the world, has recently changed its name to Meta.

In April, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, exposed confidential company documents, showing the many Facebook operations people view as problematic, specifically, its algorithms, which appeared to spread toxic content for profit.

SCHS senior Jessica Nelleigh is active

teenage girls. The results showed significant changes in their behavior after using Instagram. Seventeen percent of teen girl participants said their eating disorders had worsened, while 32 percent felt it decreased their self-esteem and contentment with their body image.

When it comes to her online experiences,

the dangerous content.

Overall, Meta’s goal is to increase its usage and gather more views on its social media platforms. The revelation by Haugen has sparked anger in many, including those in the SCHS community. Practical arts teacher Brian Van Dyck shared his suspicion of Meta’s true intentions and corrupt methodology.

- Brian Van Dyck, computer technology teacher on Instagram, Meta’s most popular platform among teens. Despite most of her targeted content consisting of positive posts, Nelleigh often sees demeaning comments about people’s physical appearance, specifically weight.

“I feel Instagram and body image have a negative relationship,” Nelleigh said. “Especially with Instagram models and the stigma of needing to have a picture-perfect profile.”

Though she tries to avoid hateful content, Nelleigh still encounters it due to Meta’s algorithms.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Haugen revealed, through internal company documents, Facebook was spreading hate posts more than passive ones to gain screen time since hate posts are more intriguing. Peoples Dispatch reported that increased screen time benefited Facebook and its connections with advertising companies, strengthening its ability to “sell” users’ information for targeted advertising.

Additionally, Meta is aware of the negative effects of viewing hateful posts on Instagram. According to an article by National Public Radio, Meta conducted a study on

time this is about mining data.”

According to Van Dyck, Haugen’s exposé was the cause of Facebook’s name change to Meta.

“I believe that they feel they have reached a saturation and popularity that they no longer have to hide their hidden, or dare I say,

-Om Kulkarmi, freshman

Nelleigh does her best to be aware of the hidden aspects of Instagram.

“Sometimes the false news/expectations about weight bother me a little bit as I used to struggle with my body image more, but I try my best to ignore it and remember that it is just an online post,” Nelleigh said. “Pictures can be altered, or information can be false.”

Meta has also exploited the opinions of the more patriotic. The Washington Post reported Facebook did not take enough action to prevent the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Regardless of full knowledge on how to restrict the spread of “political polarization, conspiracy theories, and incitements to violence,” executives of Facebook did not take enough action.

Meta displayed similar behavior during the military of Myanmar’s coup and genocide. A New York Times article explains that despite Facebook’s ban of posts that praised the military’s actions, ethnic and religious cleansing, its algorithms continued to spread

“I think it’s (social media) the most harmful thing to Western civilization,” Van Dyck said. “I believe they packaged everything with good intentions, packaged to give us a perception that the use of these tools is going to open us up to information and that it’s going to better our lives.

It’s going to streamline our lives and build connections when in fact, I believe the entire

“Sometimes the false news/expectations about weight bother me a little bit as I used to struggle with my body image more, but I try my best to ignore it and remember that it is just an online pots, pictures can be altered or information can be false.”

- Jessica Nelleigh, senior

By Amos Press

Privacy is considered one of the most important aspects of everyday life and Facebook claims to be working on remedies for privacy intrusions. Many SCHS

evil agenda,” Van Dyck said. “Now they’re just calling it what it is. ‘We’re a meta data miner. That’s what we do.’”

Freshman Om Kulkarni has a different approach. He believes that Meta is hoping for positive recognition, a new, clean slate to make a good impression.

“They want to get rid of all that bad rep put against the name Facebook,” Kulkarni said. “They want to rebrand themselves, which is why they put it as Meta.”

Meta claims to have changed their name to better portray their contribution to future technology. They interpret this as the metaverse, a conceptual virtual reality platform for entertainment, connection and more. Unfortunately for them, many have not entertained this declaration.

“The main reason why it’s not taking off – the metaverse concept – is because people are satisfied with their 2-D perspectives, like phones,” Kulkarni said.

No matter the reason for Meta’s name change, some students and staff agree the situation is not what Meta claims it to be.

Its attempts at remarketing have fallen short, with its secrets of spreading toxicity exposed.

“I believe, again, they’re trying to sell something with the intention of good or improvement when in fact, it’s about universal control,” Van Dyck said. “Power corrupts absolutely.”

Visual by Amelia Tai

students, however, who spend hours a day on Facebook and its affiliate platforms, do not consider its importance.

In efforts to create a safer platform for users, Facebook has removed their facial recognition feature entirely and will de-

lete the facial templates of around 1 billion people. Jerome Pesenti, the vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook said in a blog post, “(We are removing it because of) many concerns about the place of facial recognition in society.”

Although, no longer a feature in Facebook, many are wary of facial recognition. For sophomore Stanley Fincher, that is not the case. He believes that biometric technology is a useful tool at times. ¨I was flying to Texas during the summer, and there’s this company – I forgot their name – but what they had done was they allowed for face and fingerprints to be able to identify you,” Fincher said. “So you didn’t have to go through the registry section of an airport, which would have long lines.¨ Fincher noted that Facebook is trying to advance their securitization. He believes, however, that it will be long before Facebook becomes fully transparent. ¨Maybe, if they have pressure from the government, people and other companies, but on their own, they’re probably not going to do much,¨ Fincher said.

Many who use Facebook’s platforms believe they can be harmful. According to a poll conducted by Pew Research center, 64 percent of Americans believe social media has a negative effect on America.

In this digital age, however, technology and internet communication is

unavoidable, considering apps such as Gmail and School Loop are school requirements. Even if some staff members and students have been able to resist the digital transition, it has become commonplace. ¨Here’s a situation where people like me who are pretty conscious about their privacy have just adopted or accepted the convenience over the safety risks,¨ math teacher Julie Chen said.

Those who use sites that collect personal information can protect themselves by using VPNs, or virtual private networks. VPNs protect a user’s location, web activity, devices, and browsing information. Cutting out social media entirely is also a viable option.

Jaron Lanier, the author of Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, claims this could save personal data.

Facebook has started to become more transparent in their usage of user’s data, but full transparency will take time.

“I don’t ever see myself going back to Facebook as a service.

There are other ways to connect with others.” Chen said.

The credibility of fact-checkers are being questioned as posts are flagged, tagged, and distrusted

By Soojin Spencer

“The main reason why it’s not taking off – the metaverse concept – is because people are satisfied with their 2-D perspectives, like phones.”

“I believe, again, they’re trying to sell something with the intention of good or improvement when in fact, it’s about universal control, power corrupts absolutely.”

7

FOCUS

Millions of people scroll the pages of Instagram and Facebook daily. With every post, they fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, wrestling with the influence of Facebook and its daughter companies. Oftentimes, Facebook’s influence works to contort people’s beliefs, allowing them to fall victim to misinformation. This social dilemma is one that has proven difficult to solve.

Under the new overarching brand Meta, Facebook has chosen to continue its usage of third-party fact-checkers.

According to the official Meta website, the non-partisan International FactChecking Network certifies fact-checkers. The process of reviewing a post for misinformation begins with a factchecker’s own reporting. After various interviews with primary sources and discussions with consultants, Facebook will place warning labels on misinformation and limit a post’s persistence in the algorithm.

As posts are flagged, tagged and distrusted, many have begun to question the authenticity of fact-checkers. Devotees have sought to expose the ineffective nature of fact-checkers and their underlying political biases. One such is sophomore Diya Desai, who has noticed a rise in vaccine misinformation.

“COVID-19 misinformation is spreading faster than COVID-19 itself, disrupting public health efforts and distorting scientific guidance,” Desai said. “It’s just super important that they (Facebook) take action to prevent any sort of conspiracy theories.”

Desai cited a specific instance where Jessica Maltey Rivera, an epidemiologist, discussed a post of the New York Magazine’s cover story. Within, Nicholson Baker ex-

plored the COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis.

The post was broadcasted 47 weeks ago.

Even today, Desai claims the injustice of allowing this post to circulate continues.

very ineffective in what they do,” sophomore Nikhil Ramirkshnan said. “Sometimes I can see why they’d be a good idea to implement, but if they (Facebook and Instagram) want

The promulgation of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook and its affiliate platforms is far from rare. According to a peer-reviewed study conducted by Harvard Kennedy School, 46.6 percent of posts on Facebook that mentioned vaccine misinformation worked counteractively to spread misinformation. The other 47.4 percent were fact-checked posts. Out of these, 18.9 percent of posts refuted the original false claim and did not reinstate it as true though 28.5 percent did.

“I feel like they’ve (fact-checkers) been

to implement them, it’d be efficient with both sides of the story taken into account with fact-checking.”

During the 2020 election season, Ramrikshnan’s Instagram feed was flooded with posts catering to the Republican party. He believes this is a byproduct of politically biased fact-checkers.

2020 was also a year of political turmoil, with a multitude of election fraud claims overhauling Facebook. At the announcement of mail-in ballots, incumbent Donald Trump tweeted such ballots were fraudulent.

Twitter hastily marked the tweet, placing a “Get facts about mail-in ballots” label directly underneath.

According to The BBC, Trump signed an executive order “removing some legal protections given to social media platforms” shortly afterward.

“That is a hot debate, whether or not freedom of speech should be, like, quote unquote, taken away… for the greater good,” junior Austin Wu said.

Additional effects of Facebook’s influence were revealed in an interview conducted by PBS. Within, PBS reporters asserted that hypotheses surrounding election fraud fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Facebook reportedly retracted its responsibility in the event.

Yael Eisentatt, the interviewee and former head of election integrity for political ads at Facebook, strongly emphasized that Facebook was fully accountable for facilitating the riot by connecting rioters to “hate groups.”

As the reliability of fact-checkers is continuously questioned and the controversy seems unrelenting, many hope for reform and better protection against misinformation.

“I think it (backlash from factcheckers) shows how divided we are as a society,” Desai said. “The rise in social media, I feel as though people are making stuff like a vaccine a very partisan issue, and that can be very detrimental to society and people’s health.”

Amelia Howell/Roar Staff

OPINION

8

Editorial

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Students need to be exempt from unnecessary newspaper subscriptions, advertisements and other marketing tactics that force students into spending money on products After sitting down in the school library, a student opens their laptop and types “The New York Times” into the browser to begin a research project. After reading one article, the student moves their mouse and clicks on another article only to find a subscription paywall blocking their view.

With the development of digital journalism, news has become more accessible. Social media has played a critical role for virtual news by gaining readers and profit. With the increase in followers and popularity, a newspaper is ultimately benefiting, but the complication lies within students and educators paying for unnecessary subscriptions.

In 2021, The New York Times reported in the April-toJune quarter – with the addition of 142,000 new digital subscribers – it had a total of 7,900,000

Amelia Howell/Roar Staff

Many students are faced with the pressure of subscribing. subscribers and 7,100,000 digital subscriptions. With 142,000 new readers paying for the newspaper’s digital product, the increase for student and educator subscriptions is needless.

Along with the rise in read-

ers, the output from virtual and printed ads has made substantial progress for the New York Times. According to Go Banking Rates, The New York Times stated their 2016 reports said that 89 percent of their ad-

Nuclear energy is a safe, reliable and trustworthy source of energy that has evolved past the previous mistakes in the history of its use

Jizelle Mercado/Roar Staff

Nuclear energy should have a better media portrayal.

By Amos Press

Climate change has been a plague for many decades now, and as a result, the use of renewable or alternative energy are at an all time high. Nuclear power, which is made by creating atomic reactions that can produce electricity, is one of these energy sources. Many people’s perception of nuclear power is overshadowed by its failures, such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, but due to technological advances, scientists can now use nuclear power for the greater good.

Uranium is fairly common and other than being a renewable source of electricity, nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide, which is the harmful gas causing the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is when CO2 enters the atmosphere under an atmospheric layer called the ozone layer and allows heat from the sun to be trapped and

heat the earth. With this in mind, nuclear energy could be used to bring electricity to those who do not have it because it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect like single-use energy sources do.

Thus, nuclear energy not only benefits larger countries but could also help everyone.

The main purpose of nuclear reactions are to use materials like thorium or uranium, which are mined by a large number of countries, including the U.S. The U.S. government could then make sources of energy for people, and poorer, diminished countries could benefit from it.

Thus, nuclear energy not only benefits larger countries but could also help everyone.

As society phases out hydrocarbonic fuels, many turn to solar, wind and water power.

But in places where there is less sun, wind or water, nuclear power should be used frequently, or at least as a side-by-side with other renewable energies the world needs to integrate to help reverse climate change.

Something scientists, who want to pioneer nuclear technology, have to take into consideration is the necessary consolation of the public. Ensuring safety can be done by setting up a counsel, or group of experienced scientists, that will secure the safety of plants and manufacturers of nuclear energy. In America, there is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but they do not facilitate this ideal because many are scared and hesitant to input nuclear power as an alternative energy.

Other than apprehensions surrounding the cost or the return of nuclear energy, many have concerns about whether actions to make nuclear power an energy source during a transition to green solutions like solar or hydro will cause a second Cold War. Despite concerns, research debunks that idea because the sole purpose of nuclear power that pro-nuclear power supporters stress is simple: it will be used only for energy and electricity.

With a high number of people still firmly against nuclear power, it will be a while until it’s full implementation, but this will one day change.

People must know and realize that nuclear power is an energy that can be used for the greater good, but the mistakes made by previous leaders need to be patched up in order to keep the world healthy and continuously going toward a better future.

vertisement revenue was from digital and printed displayed ads in versions of the newspaper, 5 percent of these newspaper’s ads were explicable for classified ads. The last 6 percent came from delivering newspapers with customized products and free-standing inserts. More than half of the newspaper’s rates were due to the advertisement revenue of the virtual news source.

With the guarantee of virtual advertisement, there is no demand for more subscriptions.

News sources must acknowledge the fact that advertisement revenues do not restrict students or educators from a useful news source. Advertisement revenues instead promote news issues and grant access to more readers.

Thus, high advertisement revenue will offset the subscription costs for students and educators

Newspapers provide vast amounts of information, and news informs communities.

Newspapers provide vast amounts of information, and news informs school communities. Limiting this important tool to people is fundamentally wrong. Those who are teaching younger minds about the world and the students who are learning about the future must have access to news sources. Rather than subjecting students and educational staff to pay for subscriptions, newspapers like The New York Times should use ads to increase their profit rather than administering more subscriptions. The future must have the privilege to learn freely.

An eco-travesty? Tesla cars are not as environmently friendly as they may appear

By Nishi Vijayvargiya

When Tesla released the Model 3 in 2017, it shook the world. After an unveiling filled with pomp and circumstance, the Model 3 was introduced to the public as the car of everyone’s dreams. This award-winning car seemed to accomplish the impossible by being classy, futuristic and somehow releasing zero carbon emissions. After being placed into the spotlight, the Model 3 was snatched up by the media and quickly became an easily recognizable status symbol with a huge fan base.

Tesla has been riding a wave of success after the release of the Model 3 and has been slowly developing its brand as a zero-carbon emissions electric car company.

Although Tesla has repeatedly said their cars have no effect on climate change, their cars and their power source could not run without releasing carbon dioxide. People are letting Tesla get away with manipulating the media and taking away from companies that are transparent about their carbon emissions, creating a problematic issue.

Tesla’s Model 3, supposedly an extremely eco-friendly car, actually is not more clean than a Toyota Corolla until it is driven 13,500 miles, according to Reuters. To compare, an average American drives around 1,200 miles per month. This means that a Model 3 owner would have to drive for around a year until they would actually be driving a car that is helping the environment.

Meanwhile, Tesla has led consumers to believe that they are buying a car that is eco-friendly.

Forbes reported that Tesla,

Sarah Olson/Roar Staff

Tesla’s claims are a facade. according to a recent study, was in the 15 percent of the world’s largest companies that have refused to disclose their carbon-emissions information.

If Tesla is truly making cars with zero-carbon emissions then they have nothing to hide.

Companies such as General Motors and Ford have always provided their carbon-emissions information. GM and Ford also provide the media with dates of when they will be fully free of carbon-emissions.

This data helps keep car companies accountable for when they do not reach their carbonemission goals. Tesla, however, has not provided those targets. Instead, it has provided the media with graphs without numbers.

Even though Tesla trails behind companies like GM and Ford when it comes to being transparent and honest, Tesla is worth more than GM and Ford combined. People are failing to hold Tesla responsible for not showing their carbon-emissions data. This is taking business away from other deserving car producers, and is also paving the way for other companies to do the same manipulation. Instead of believing what car companies are saying about themselves, people need to learn how to read in between the lines.

Red Ribbon Week is a failure of the War on Drugs and needs to leave

By Isa Miyauchi-Garde and Elias Panou

Red Ribbon Week was originally meant to educate teens and the younger generation on drug prevention. Years have passed since the start of this campaign, but it has done nothing but aggrandize the issue of drug abuse. Further, the Red Ribbon campaign does nothing but marginalize those who have been affected by drugs and exhaust trite information. This is all a part of a bigger problem of drug usage: the failed war on drugs that persecuted marginalized communities and led to irreversible damage for countless U.S residents.

Red Ribbon Week’s origins are highly problematic. According to The Student Life, a university-student-run news source, the starting point of Red Ribbon Week reflects a history of “ineffective and oppressive drug policies that continue to hurt Black, brown and disabled communities today.” This all started with the War on Drugs.

In the 1980s, parents were faced with a growing problem, the rise of drug use in teenagers.

Seeking change, First Lady Nancy Reagan was deputized and placed in charge of an organization called the National Family Partnership, which put pressure on President Ronald Reagan for active, militarized force against drug use. This came with the Drug Enforcement Agency, who ran raids against the Central and South American cartels. In one of these raids, Officer Enrique Camarena Salazar was captured by a cartel and executed, and in his honor, the NFP organization coordinated the very first Red Ribbon Week in 1988.

The actions by the NFP helped villainize drug use, and the majority of drug users were

9

OPINION

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Amelia Tai/Roar Staff

Red Ribbon Week looms in the minds of many students. in marginalized communities, only vulnerable because of the decades of previous “red-lining” by the United States Government, a process that willingly created communities of working class individuals who were susceptible to poor conditions. And yet the attitude that allowed the NFP to stigmatize the health of drug-users is still in America’s schools, and it will never go away as long as the DEA and the NFP are closely intertwined.

According to TSL, the “NFP must cut ties with the DEA, which co-sponsors some of its activities.” An organization supported by the militant force against drug use should not have a place in American schools. As long as this is happening, the War on Drugs will still continue to do what it always has been about, waging war on U.S. minorities.

The DEA, other law-enforcement agencies and the deputized of America have been using the War on Drugs as an excuse to incarcerate the working class

for decades and have done so by arresting non-violent drug users and sentencing them to prison for their lowly offenses.

The ACLU notes that the “drug war has provided a new, ever increasing supply of prisoners over the past 15 years.” Graham Bowd, an ACLU worker, found that the U.S. holds 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, most of which are Black men ages 20-29, who were arrested over drug use. And the polarization of these individuals started from a young age with claims spouted by the NFP that were then exacerbated by the presence of them in schools with Red Ribbon Week, and other programs like them.

All in all, the NFP and it’s drug prevention programs are a plague on our schools.

Some would come to argue that Red Ribbon Week and drug-use programs have evolved past this dark period in time, but this isn’t the case.

NPR has proved that the decriminalization of marijuana usage in states such as California and Oregon has alleviated the violence of the War on Drugs. The NFP knows this, and “continues to say no to Marijuana legalization,” which the Red Ribbon Week campaign even notes on their own website. All in all, the NFP and it’s drug prevention programs are a plague on schools, especially on marginalized communities. To fix this, the NFP must seek vast reform on all of their practices and must stop the alienation of drug users.

American individualism is detrimental to progress

Amelia Howell/Roar Staff

Some places in America were less selfish in 2020.

By Khadeejah Khan

With 2021 coming to a close, it is vital to recognize the progress the nation has made while returning to normalcy, yet the countless families and individuals affected by the pandemic cannot be forgotten. During the pandemic, one characteristic was made abundantly clear about the country: its eminent individualism. As this attribute has proven to be a detriment, the nation cannot proceed to 2022 without abandoning its heavily individualistic attitudes which have led to the loss of countless Americans.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, anti-vaccination groups and individuals who refused to wear masks exacerbated the effects of COVID-19 in their individual communities. According to the CDC, vaccinations are a pivotal asset in reducing the spread of COVID-19 due to their ability to protect demographics such as children aged five and younger, who are not yet eligible for the vaccine. Similarly, wearing face coverings benefits the people around the wearer more than the individual, Harvard Medical School reported. Both actions benefit communities more than the individuals who take those ac-

tions, yet individual refusal to adhere to such guidelines was selfish and heavily individualistic.

Some justified their refusal to wear masks or to receive vaccinations as they claimed the mandates violated their personal liberties.

This view, however, demonstrates the fundamental flaws in the way Americans define their personal liberties. According to political scientist Deborah Schildkraut of Tufts University, when faced with events such as a pandemic, individuals must give up an amount of their autonomy to achieve stability as a group.

Americans, however, are more likely to prioritize their individual freedom, sabotaging the health of the group.

This phenomenon was clearly demonstrated throughout the pandemic and its impact is destructive.

As opposed to other countries, individualistic culture is far more prominent in the US, and has proven its harmful effects. According to Frontiers, there is a direct correlation between countries’ COVID-19 statistics and the presence of individualistic culture. Countries with a greater emphasis on collectivism through adherence to COVID-19 guidelines had a lesser mortality rate, whereas countries such as America with deep-rooted individualistic notions suffered a greater mortality rate.

The impacts of the pandemic have been dire and can be attributed to America’s individualistic attitude.

Americans must prioritize the well-being of their nation as a group, not just the individuals who compose it.

America must learn from other countries and their fight against gun violence

By Theodore Nguyen

As the world continues to trudgingly evolve, guns have become a major point of discussion, especially within the United States. The U.S. has been built with the right to bear firearms, and this freedom has stood many tests, though the power of the gun has resulted in an uptick in crimes and violence. Other countries not built with this freedom have successfully implemented gun control, while the U.S. struggles with its own dilemma.

In the States, there have been numerous attempts by legislatures to control guns, resulting in little success. Following the Sandy Hook shooting, The Guardian reported, “The national outrage was intense, and legislators who previously were not interested in gun control measures suddenly were.” With such an event like this, people should get riled up to control firearms. Sadly, that was not the case.

When the bill was proposed to Congress, The Guardian reported that the “National Rifle Association came out in strong opposition and falsely claimed the bill would lead to a national gun registry.” Due to

this, four Democrats defected, not enough Republicans came onboard and the legislation went down. The political world has always garnered some form of opposition, whether it be minor or large, but the NRA, unfortunately, has shored up resistance against gun control, preventing bills that could possibly prevent fewer deaths.

Other countries have been successful at implementing gun bills.

In the U.K., when two mass shootings occurred in 1996, “a national movement called the Snowdrop Petition sprang up, calling for the banning of handguns,” the Independent, a U.K.-based news organization, reported. In this case, people ran a movement around reigning in firearms, and it worked. According to the History News Network, “The Firearms Acts had a substantial impact. Annual gun deaths fell from 246 in 1996 to 146 in 2011.” Similarly, many opinions changed in New Zealand following the Christchurch massacre. Statistics gathered from Gun Control NZ showed that a large number of New Zealanders supported the new gun control reforms implemented by the country’s left-wing Labour

Rowan Garcia/Roar Staff

There should be more support for gun reform in America. party. Public opinion in these two countries has allowed politicians to successfully implement gun control.

Despite this, people must not forget about the deep-rooted culture within many mindsets, which influences their way of choice and lifestyle. The location of one’s upbringing greatly influences their political views. As Pew Research’s

statistics show, “Americans in rural areas typically favor more expansive gun access.” Rural areas tended to show more of a tougher stance because of hunting, farming, and self-defense in miles of land.

Currently, due to rising fear factors, such as COVID-19, riots, and hate crimes being more “present” in today’s society, there has been an increase in gun purchases throughout

the U.S. The Washington Post reported that “fear of violence can, paradoxically, create the conditions for more violence.” With the fear factor, many have been driven to purchase or consider purchasing firearms as a valuable tool for defense. The radicalization and prominence of fear in the United States makes having guns a dangerous combination compared to other countries built on the same 18th-century ideals as the U.S. The circulation of weapons still exists in all hands, and it will remain the same for as long as any weapon exists in America.

Buyback programs ran in motion in several different regions, successfully removing guns, whether illegal or not. Cash from state and federal funding could be used to fund buyback programs, allowing higher incentives for anonymously donated weapons, which could provide better resources elsewhere, such as industry development for more jobs. The power resides within the people, their ideologies and their ability to convince politicians to make the nation safer, one town at a time.

A&E

10

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Disposable film has made a comeback with students’ cameras and recent photos “I think the overall experience of bringing your camera to places, having to turn the dial in order to take those pictures, and waiting for the pictures to come out makes it unique.”

- Izzy Borge, senior

Courtesy of Izzy Borge

Senior Izzy Borge photographs a wide shot of San Francisco on a printed piece of film.

By Mylinh Doung

Bright exposure, warm tones, vivid colors and grainy quality.

SCHS students have ditched digital cameras and opted for the vintagefeel of single-use disposable film.

Disposable film cameras were created to make the art of photography convenient and affordable.

Now these cameras have prompted photography to make a comeback among teenagers as a novel way to capture moments in time and experience a sense of nostalgia.

Sophomore Kevin Grespan enjoys sharing his film photos with his friends.

“The imagery and how the photos come out ‘vintage’ fits in with the aesthetic of people now,” Grespan said.

Similarly, senior Deanne Ramos shares an interest in disposable film

photography. She runs an Instagram account dedicated to sharing retro-style shots.

“I made it because some people and friends wanted the pictures, and I got lazy handing it out to them,” Ramos said. “Making an Instagram account is just easier for them to see all the pictures, and it’s also a way to document my life.”

When it comes to taking photos, Ramos prefers her disposable camera for the excitement of the process.

“I like how you don’t remember what pictures you took,” Ramos said. “When you get them developed, it’s so fun to remember it all and see how the pictures turned out.”

Along with Ramos, senior Izzy Borge engages herself in film photography as a hobby.

“When you get them developed, it’s so fun to remember it all and see how the pictures turned out.”

- Deanne Ramos, senior “I think the overall experience of bringing your camera to places, having to turn the dial in order to take those pictures, and waiting for the pictures to come out makes it unique,” Borge said.

With a disadvantage of the camera itself, Borge explains the popularity of the film has made it a costly hobby.

“It’s around $28 for one camera and I believe you can take around 27-28 pictures, so it’s pretty much $1 per picture,” Borge said.

Despite her interest in film, sopho-

more Eudora Woldesilassie agrees with the inconvenience when it comes to capturing photos with a Polaroid camera.

“I don’t believe you can turn off the flash on the camera, so if you’re in the sun, the picture will come out bad,” Woldesilassie said. “Also, you have to wait a few weeks to get those pictures, and you don’t really know what they’ll end up looking like.”

Disposable film does have its flaws compared to a digital phone camera. Ramos, however, believes a film camera holds more sentimental value than material worth.

“It’s just a piece of plastic, and anyone can take it and take pictures.

It holds value, but not so much as a phone,” Ramos said. “It captures the moment.”

While most trends come and go, Borge believes disposable film and cameras will be something to stay.

“Looking through photo albums with my family and seeing different pictures they’ve taken when they were younger,” Borge said. “ I think it’s an ongoing thing that will get passed down.”

Boring walls and plain desks do not provide engaging learning enviroments for students and staff on campus

Joshua Cedro/Roar Staff

Science teacher Carissa Cayanan brings life to her classroom by placing plants by her windowsill.

By Becca LaBarge

After entering their classroom, a teacher glances around at the walls. They look at the student artwork, colorful decorations on the door, and their neatly organized desk. While they wait for their first period class to walk in, they sit down admiringly.

Many students and staff at SCHS believe that classroom decorations foster a positive learning environment. In her first year of having a classroom at SCHS, a new teacher has decorated her classroom with the comfort of students in mind.

Science teacher Carissa Cayanan created a student center

with classroom resources along with a banner to help students remember her name. Cayanan recalls her own high school experience and remembers being more drawn to decorated classrooms.

“When I was in high school, I wanted to be in the classrooms where they were a little bit more decorated instead of going to a classroom that had piles of books and nothing else,” Cayanan said.

Cayanan also believes that her decorations can have academic value for her students.

She recalls using her plants as part of a lesson about photosynthesis.

“When we were talking

about photosynthesis, I referred to the plants at the back of the room to say, ‘What are the inputs of photosynthesis? Think and imagine the plants at the back of the room. What do we need to keep them alive and growing?’” Cayanan said.

Spanish teacher Adrian Solorio has decorated his classroom with gifts from past students. He enjoys the memories these decorations hold.

“There is a small vase from Nicaragua, a small painting of Don Quijote from Spain, and a decorated tile from Mexico,” said Solorio. “These decorations have been given to me by some of my students. It is always nice to see them and remember having them in class.”

Despite the possibility of some students seeing decorations as a dis-

traction, freshman Grace Muresan believes that the decorations hold academic value.

“In my biology classroom, they have a poster on the wall with the equation to photosynthesis,” Muresan said. “That was on a test and she had to take it down for the test, but I’d like to argue that it makes the classroom more fun.”

Muresan also appreciates one of her teacher’s classroom’s decorations and highlights their origins.

“Ms. Svendsen takes pictures everywhere she travels with the Nemo fish stuffed animal,” Muresan said. “It’s really cool that she shows off her travels, especially as a world history teacher.”

Many believe classroom deco-

“It’s really cool she shows off her travels, especially as a world history teacher.”

- Grace Muresan, freshman rations are visually and academically valuable, and they create an environment where both students and staff can work.

“I much enjoy a decorated classroom,” Muresan said. “It really brings personality to the class and helps you know the teacher better.”

Panou’s Paper Panel

DECEMBER 10, 2021

‘Is that serving our students well?’: English teachers reflect on Contemporary vs Classic novels in English Department

By Elias Panou

Perhaps one of the most unheard of great modern day classics is the Russian-born writer Boris Pasternak’s most inspiring epic for the ages, Dr Zhivago.

Dr Zhivago is a living, breathing culmination of the greatness of literature. Published in 1957, the book earned Pasternak the 1958 Nobel Prize in literature, which he unfortunately had to decline for fear of Soviet reprisal. Pasternak considered the beautiful tale of tragedy, time, life, love and chaos under the despotic regime of the Soviets his magnum opus.

Set in Moscow and later Russia’s Ural Mountains, Dr Zhivago is the life story of the doctorturned-poet, Dr. Yuri Zhivago.

Born to a wealthy industrial family of Russia’s 19th century technological boom, Zhivago is orphaned at a very young age and enters the care of his uncle, a respected Moscow scholar.

Yuri grows up and enlists in the Russian medical corps during the first world war and finds himself in the acquaintance of the future general of the Soviet Partisan Force. Disconnecting from this life, Yuri returns and is married to start a family. To escape the war, Zhivago moves his family to Russia’s Urals, where he falls in love with another woman as the civil war erupts and spreads to the rest of Russia.

The book is often noted as a classic novel of Russian literature, but it is unusual in the fact that it does not belong to a specific literary movement since the book is an experimental novel. Pasternak believed that the universe is constantly moving forward, disjoining and disconnected. To him, life must be spontaneous and arbitrary. The seeming chaotic nature of Dr. Zhivago is written to symbolize this, making it unlike any other novel.

Pasternak’s literary theme is highly unusual as well. In his younger years, Pasternak believed that all human reactions to natural elements, such as light and sound, are uniquely individual, resulting from a suprapersonal attribute all humans possess. Perception subjectivity has no set rules because all humans perceive differently.

The seemingly chaotic nature and lack of common narrative is represented in Dr. Zhivago to imprint the knowledge of this truth. Such imprints exist in history too, with events leaving a burning sensation through the lack of historical narrative. The idea that the events of the novel, such as the Russian Civil Wars, the World Wars and the political terror of the Soviets, will always pierce through the seeming chaos of general subjectivity is the theme of Dr. Zhivago.

Highly entertaining, jawdropping and beautiful, Dr. Zhivago is to be enjoyed by many. The book was written for all to look back on the literary themes and to feel the same emotions triggered by general subjectivity, a disruption in the order of nature.

11

A&E

Amelia Howell./Roar Staff

Balence of literature in classes with pieces of both contemporary and classic novels.

By Elias Panou

In recent years, there has been a divergence between the classical and the contemporary era of literature. At a certain point, the oeuvre of the older generations dominated the classrooms. Now, new elements of the contemporary age of literature are filtering into schools.

According to English teach“There is value in understanding

how

English

has

changed over time, so there’s value in studying something like Shakespeare still... However, most of the (literary) canon is old dead white guys.”

- Sara Silerman, English teacher

er Sara Silverman, most of the books taught at SCHS were written by traditional authors years ago.

“There is value in understanding how English has changed over time, so there’s value in studying something like Shakespeare still,” Silverman said.

“However, most of the (literary) canon is old dead white guys.”

Part of the value in classics is due to the lack of books for younger students before the 21st century. SCHS librarian, Seanna Shelby, believes that although Young Adult novels have made their uprisings, the English curriculum is remaining focused on the classics.

“The last twenty year span – there weren’t really books being written for teenagers. YA did not exist until much longer ago than that,” Shelby said. “The books that were a part of the English curriculum were written intend-

ing for an adult audience, and they have been used in classrooms in order to teach skills because English is a skills based subject.”

This lack of diversity in classic novels is troubling for English teacher Kate Rossner, whose experiences show her that students are not being represented by the books that are taught in the curriculum.

“It makes me sad when a senior comes up to me and says, ‘This is the first time that I have ever seen someone like myself in a book that I have read,’” Rossner said. “This breaks my heart, and I don’t think that students should have to wait until senior year to have that experience.”

According to junior Aminah Hedges, teachers need to focus on making sure that the books they teach in the classroom are relevant to all students.

“A lot of the benefits of lan-

guage arts curriculums are that they try to be beyond comprehension and critical thinking skills that are life lessons that are relevant to students,” Hedges said.

“And you are more likely to get those relevant lessons from contemporary (books) because they specifically respond to the modern day.”

There are factors, however, preventing teachers from updating the English curriculum with contemporary books, such as the political climate regarding books covering topics concerning race and sexism.

“The current climate in the United States makes this a very dicey conversation to have because teachers are literally being attacked all over the country over their book choices,” Silverman said. “In that climate, I can tell you for one, that I don’t really feel like pushing the envelope this year.”

Even if this boundary is overcome, Rossner and others believe that certain books are irreplaceable and only evolve into greater points of relevance.

“I don’t believe that literature is a set-in-stone kind of thing.

There is no law that governs it.

All it is is habit and tradition,” Rossner said. “I believe that it is our responsibility to constantly push back upon that and say, ‘Is that serving our students well?’”

Regardless of the debates surrounding the focus of literary eras in the classroom, most agree that throughout the periods of literary history, there is genius everywhere.

“There are lots of amazing books that were written long ago, but I also think it important for us to recognize that there are lots of amazing books being written right now,” Shelby said.

SCHS Students express their appreciation towards their own cultural fashion

By Rowan Garcia

After admiring themselves in their mirror, a student hands their relative a tube of mascara to apply the final touches before heading to the festival.

Many members of the SCHS community find their culture and ethnicity’s traditional clothing is important to them and the diversity on campus.

Senior Maile Wong explains the significance of the Obon summer festival.

“There are various types of kimonos, hair pieces, makeup, obi and footwear for different occasions,” Wong said. “For the Obon festival, typically women dress in yukata, a

Want to see more?

Follow us:

type of cotton kimono that is lighter for the heat, and the men wear happi coats, kimono-like shirts.”

Wong also reflected on the role these pieces have played in her life.

“These (traditional articles of clothing ) have just kind of been a part of my life forever,” Wong said.

“It’s interesting to remember that not everyone calls sandals ‘zori,’ or has bundles of kimonos in their closets.”

Junior Adreema Ahsan described common Bengali fashion, which includes the saree and the salwar kameez.

“Most commonly in Bengali fashion, the traditional attire is the saree, which is usually made of cotton or silk and is a large piece of

cloth draped over the body in artistic ways,” Ahsan said. “Another clothing that is worn is the salwar kameez for more casual occasions. The dress is long and often embroidered with many different designs.”

For Ahsan, wearing the saree is inspiring and uplifting.

“When I was younger, I would always see my mother and the women around me dress in beautiful colors and patterns,” Ahsan said. “I would be fascinated with the way they wrapped their sarees and how they choose to dress it up with flowers, beautiful gold jewelry and makeup.”

Along with her love for cultural fashion, Ahsan is involved in the Desi

@schstheroar

@SCHSROAR

Student Association club on campus.

Ahsan cherishes her experiences with cultural fashions and is grateful for the emotional impact the clothes have had on her.

“When I wore my first saree, I felt very empowered and connected to my culture,” Ahsan said. “Bengali clothing makes me feel elegant and beautiful.”

Many students at SCHS acknowledged the meaning behind their traditional clothing and even connected the clothing to their past.

“These pieces are important because they provide a physical reminder of my heritage, further than the few Japanese phrases I know, or the Japantown betsuin,” Wong said.

/SC.Roar

Retro Bowl

By James Kepner

“Retro Bowl” had taken students at SCHS by storm, but now the game has turned into an afterthought. “Retro Bowl” is a football mobile game styled in a retro theme that allows players to manage their roster, deal with egos off the field and call the shots on the field.

Senior Dougie Whyte first picked up the game two months ago because of his love for football and the similarities it shares with “Madden NFL.” “What I like about it so much is that you can control your team,” Whyte said.

“You can bring in new players, play the seasons and try to win it all, and then do it all over again.”

Like Whyte, freshman Logan Van Pelt started playing “Retro Bowl” because of his interest in football and has enjoyed the easy controls and mechanics of the game.

“The controls are very easy and easy to pick up, especially when compared to other mobile games,” Van Pelt said.

The “retro” style of the game separates it from other football video games and differentiates it from most of the modern applications that are more common in the 21st century.

“I enjoyed the style of the game because it is a smart concept, but it depends on if you appreciate old arcade games or not,” Van Pelt said.

The simple passing and rushing mechanics allow anybody to play and enjoy the game, according to Whyte, which led to its popularity.

“I think it could be enjoyed by anyone,” Whyte said.

“Anyone who has interest in the sport, I think, will really appreciate all of the aspects.

I don’t think you have to play football to enjoy it.”

Although “Retro Bowl” had a substantial following, a lot of its hype has died down because of its flaws.

“It is a game that does not have proper updates,” Van Pelt said. “It is really not a game that is meant to be played for a while.”

Being unable to play as the defense is Whyte’s least favorite component of the game and believes that players should have the option to play as the offense and defense.

Many students believe “Retro Bowl” is repetitive and quickly becomes boring after a short duration of play.

“I believe that I have played it for a couple of months, and it is time to move on to another game,” Van Pelt said. “It has set its course.”

scroar.net

SPOTLIGHT

12

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Growing with your grade Students reflect on the new English grading system

By Tanvi Kenkre and Jizelle Mercado

A new grading system has been implemented for several of the SCHS English courses, including Multicultural Literature, AP Language and Composition, English 11 and some English 10.

The main concept of the new system is for students to acquire evidence to demonstrate their progress throughout the semester rather than accumulating points through assignments toward a final grade. At the beginning of the school year, students identify the most significant standards and set personalized goals, repurposing the objectives to be their guidelines for tracking their progress.

English teacher Daniel Eaton explained what sets apart this system from the traditional grading is its emphasis on student independence rather than teacher deduction.

“This practice involves the students in an element that isn’t done with the traditional grading system,” Eaton said. “One of the key things of the system is that there’s always the possibility of revision and redoing things to encourage learning and growth.”

Although the purpose of the system is to highlight the growth of the students, there have been some misconceptions about progress in relation to class grades. Eaton described an instance where one of his students felt they

Graphics by Jizelle Mercado

had to continually perform better in order to ace the class, but this was a misunderstanding.

“It’s more about making progress on your goals. It doesn’t have to always be getting better. You just have to demonstrate that you have evidence that you are maintaining yourself well,” Eaton said. “If you’ve already mastered a certain skill, we are not expecting you to continue. It all depends on where you start.”

To succeed, Eaton advises present and future students to be specific and reasonable about the goals they set at the start of the semester.

“Setting clear goals in the beginning and then focusing on the feedback that you get from the assignments from the teacher to improve their scores, that’s the key to doing well,” Eaton said.

English teacher Paige Cruz agrees that the new grading system allows students to have more agency and responsibilities because their grades are heavily dependent on their progress as tracked by their personal goals.

“As the expectations are set ahead of time, students know right off the gate what they need to do to get an A,” Cruz said. “They use that as their guide, so they can set their goal as far as what they would like to gradewise.”

Although students may feel stressed with such independence, according to Cruz, it is important to remember that improvement by autonomy is the main concept of the system.

“The idea is to encourage students to take ownership of their learning through assessing and tracking their own growth,” Cruz said.

The new grading practice seems to call for more student and teacher management individually, but mutual cooperation is also important.

“Obviously, the students are still responsible for the work and the teachers are responsible for submitting and assigning. I just feel that it’s learning that is the community effort,” Cruz said.

Some students have

grown to appreciate the new grading system. This is the case for senior Emily Le, who enjoys how it promotes the idea of growing, allowing her to seek improvement in different aspects of English.

“Since classes are really meant to encourage growth, I think that you’re really able to feel more comfortable in trying out new styles of writing, or really just improving where you feel like you need to improve.” Le said.

For senior Jason Andales, the new grading system relieves stress about individual grades for different assignments.

“I think it is great since students don’t have to worry so much about the grade they’ll get. It also teaches us to be responsible for our growth,” Andales said.

Similarly, senior Derren Driz has grown fond of the new system after not having to worry about the impact a final assessment would have on his grade.

“At first, I was kind of iffy about the grading system because I was just so used to the traditional grading system,” Driz said. “But as the semester went on, I started to enjoy not having the pressure of a test or quiz bringing down my grade.”

With softer deadlines and often writing revisions, junior Prateek Kundu finds this system more ideal as it gives him time to focus on other classes while still learning and gaining new habits in English.

“I would say having the system there allows me to not only keep my grades good for English, but with the laid back style of the system, I can focus on other classes too,” Kundu said. “Students can take their time, especially with other classes to handle, and still get a good score.”

Along with the benefits, hardships are paved along the way as well.

“Right now, I would say because of other classes and finals coming up and having to start studying, I would say that I am slacking off mostly because in my class you’re allowed to turn in late work any time, and you won’t have prejudice against you.”

Kundu said.

For Andales, however, softer deadlines encourage him to complete his work for the class in a more time-

ly manner rather than put it off until the last minute.

“Although due dates are pretty lenient, I started doing my WoW (writing of the week) essay earlier just to take off the stress of having to do it right before it’s due,” Andales said.

In attempts to show growth, English classes also allow students to revise certain pieces of writing. In past years, work was mainly graded off specific criteria and principles according to the assignment. Now, upperclassmen can indulge in writing with different styles and improve as they can go back and reform their writing.

“I feel like I have more time to improve my writing instead of trying to finish assignments, which in the end, led me to earn a better grade,” Driz said.

Le appreciates how she is allowed the opportunity to go back and rework her writing.

“Your grade is not final after your first turnin. You’re able to revise, and that definitely helps with more for learning and understanding how you can grow,” Le said.

Many feel rubrics tend to limit imagination if students feel compelled to complete the assignment strictly as outlined. The new grading system, some say, brings out a writer’s creativity since they are not constricted by a rubric.

“You kind of had to do your best in each assignment in hopes that it did well based off of the rubric with the letter grading system,” Le said.

“But I feel like with the new grading system, I’ve been pushing myself to write more creatively, more descriptively and more vividly.”

The new grading system, theoretically, is tailored for student empowerment, allowing them to seek interest in their assignments and creating a positive, stress-free learning experience. Some, like Le, agree with the practice.

“With this grading system, you have more leeway because I think that growth is really important,” Le said. “I think that’s what classes should be about, how much you’ve grown.”