BHS Jacket 2022/23 Issue 11 - Black History Month

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Q&A WITH BUSD SUPERINTENDENT ENIKIA FORD MORTHEL ON PAGE 3

STUDENT SUBMISSIONS ON PAGE 8

Q&A WITH BHS BLACK STUDENT UNION LEADERS ON PAGE 10

AFRO-FUTURISM BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS ON PAGE 13

‘Uplifting, representing’: Local theaters attempt to diversify

BY AVHA MEISELS staff writer

“The why of it is really important, just as a baseline,” said Liz Lisle, managing director at Shotgun Players, a Berkeley community theater. “Acknowledging that there’s a legacy that we really have to undo, in order to support people of color around here and make the theater feel like

a place where many people of color can feel like they belong.”

Berkeley community theaters like Shotgun Players and Berkeley Repertory Theatre have made recent efforts to uplift actors and stories of color in their performances. However, much of their audience lacks the same level of diversity.

Shotgun Players has a committee called Equity,

What do UC Berkeley students think of BHS?

Diversity, Inclusivity, and Belonging, which is made up of different members of the theater. The committee meets once a month to “further their commitment to antiracism and the rejection of white supremacy,” according to their website.

“The main philosophy is to recognize that theater has not historically been a safe or supportive place for people of color, and we are trying

to change that,” Lisle said. “It’s not a project that we’re going to finish. It’s more an evolution of our work culture in our spaces.”

Similarly, Berkeley Repertory Theatre has also worked to diversify their theater community. According to the Berkeley Rep Antiracism Commitment, they have experienced “successes and failures this year” as they have PAGE 12

Behavior, learning affected post-distance learning

RICHARD NAVIES

MAMA NAOMI WASHINGTON

PAPA ZAKARIYA DIOUF

IRMA PARKER

Founder of the BHS Parent Resource Center

Founder and former head of the BHS AfroHaitian Dance Department

Founder and former chair of the BHS African American Studies Department

Former drummer and teacher in the BHS Afro-Haitian Dance Department

ILLUSTRATION BY J HORSLEY & GABRIELLA BUSANSKY illustration editors

EDEN MIDDLESWART

School Board: New member welcomed, chronic absenteeism data

BY ELOISE THOMAS staff writer

On Feb. 1, 2023, the Berkeley Unified School District Board Meeting was held in person for the first time since 2020. The directors gathered on the dais in front of the podium, and the meeting began with the usual roll call.

In addition to the directors

of previous meetings, Tiairra Brown, a student at Berkeley Technology Academy, joined the board. Ian Segall, a fellow student director of the board, welcomed her.

“I am very happy to no longer be the only student on the board,” Segall said. “I can’t wait to collaborate with you and share the student perspective.”

Near the beginning of

the meeting, there was a performance by Young Gifted and Black in honor of Black History Month.

“As they learn of Black History through spoken word, song and speech, they educate the greater community and demonstrate what it means to be black and proud,” said School Board President Laura Babbitt.

During the public comment

section, Berkeley High School senior Yair Naftalin-Kelman described his concerns about graduation, which is planned to take place during the Jewish day of rest, Shabbat.

“I might not be able to attend my own high school graduation,” Naftalin-Kelman said. “I’m an observant Jew, and Berkeley High graduation is held on a Saturday. The Jewish Sabbath, Shabbat falls every week from sundown on Friday to nightfall on Saturday. On Shabbat, we do not drive, we don’t use electricity, we don’t cook or light fires, and we don’t use technology… I hope that you will change the day of graduation and recognize my commitment to the school community.”

Later in the public comment portion of the meeting, five English Language Development (ELD) teachers took the podium for a chance to speak about the

shortcomings of the current ELD system.

“The state of California mandates we give instruction five days a week, 30 minutes per day for all multilingual students,” said Amy Cottle, the ELD site coordinator for Malcolm X Elementary.

“This is an impossible task, given the majority of the ELD coordinators are only 0.4 FTE (full-time equivalent) at each site. Therefore, we are out of compliance with providing ELD services to our students. We are asked to do a job that requires a full time position, but only given a part time percentage.”

Chronic absenteeism, which is classified as missing more than 10 percent of the days in a school year, was listed as an issue on the meeting agenda. The presenters explained that they use the data from student attendance to identify specific groups or

students that are approaching chronic absenteeism and develop methods to help them.

During that presentation, chronic absenteeism was shown to have decreased in every listed student group, which included homeless, African American, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.

BUSD used a new program, called EduClimber, to collect data for the report.

“For the first time, we actually have real time access to important information including daily attendance... which will allow our schools to pull up individual students, or groups of students.” said Jill Hoogendyk, the associate superintendent. “We can actually ask the program to identify students that are close to being chronically absent… so we have real time access to that data to be able to intervene earlier.”

Black Scholars Center expands, gains growth in attendance

BY FINOLA JACKSON staff writer

The Black Scholars Center at Berkeley High School hosts students on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, during seventh period in M-110, to offer academic support in a community based environment. Students come to the Black Scholars Center to do their coursework, discuss college applications with staff, and build relationships with their and peers.

from the Black Student Union, a handful of years back, when they hosted walkouts and protests.”

Since its creation, the Black Scholars Center has experienced a significant growth in attendance. According to data collected by the Black Scholars Center,

Development Coordinator Meikko Lee, the Black Scholars Center is currently working on a goal of expanding the center’s outreach to service more students. The Black Scholars Center conducts outreach through teachers encouraging attendance and reaching out directly to families. To further expand outreach,

The Black Scholars Center plans to go into classes and post flyers around school.

Tatyana Martinez, BHS senior and Head Tutor of the Black Scholars Center

Spencer Pritchard and Dawn Williams, who are BHS teachers and the co-chairs of the African American Studies Department, began the Black Scholars Center during the 2021-2022 school year.

“We had already imagined something ... for students to come, targeting students of African descent, to feel ownership and community on campus, ” Pritchard said. “(A Black Student Center) was actually one of the demands

about 200 contacts have come to the Black Scholars Center this year. About 65 students have come more than five times, and 10-12 students are present nearly every single day. This year, the Black Scholars Center became part of the Attendance Intervention Program. This program allows attendees to clear their unexcused absences.

According to English teacher and Professional

The Black Scholars Center utilizes peer tutors, along with teachers, to support students if they need help.

Lee, for example, offers extra support on essays, makeup work, and extended lessons if necessary.

Tatyana Martinez is a BHS senior and the head tutor at the Black Scholars Center. For Martinez, being a part of the Black Scholars Center has been an impactful experience.

“I made a lot of new friends here,” Martinez said. “I felt like it helped me with my speaking skills and communicating to other students.”

Beyond regular coursework

support, the Black Scholars Center also hosts events. Last year, the center partnered with the Haas Undergraduate Black Business Association (HUBBA), a group of Black UC Berkeley students majoring in business. The HUBBA group hosted a networking, career building and career skills workshop. In the future, the Black Scholars Center hopes to collaborate with the Black Student Union of UC Berkeley, as well as members of the community who can share internships and opportunities. One current potential partner is Hidden Genius, a community based organization that supports

young Black males.

These events are part of a more holistic support system, where students can get help with college applications and plans, and build relationships and community at the Black Scholars Center.

“We are very big on relationships,” said Williams, who is known by many of her students as “Doc Dub”. “To have a connection to the teacher or the students, that just helps you to improve academically, to feel connected. The Black Scholars Center creates that space to create relationships in an academic setting.”

Lee also emphasized

the importance of feeling comfortable and connected in a learning environment.

According to Pritchard, the Black Scholars Center will work on expanding outreach and maximizing impact on the community. To him, the Black Scholars Center is only a piece of systemic change that has come to the BHS community.

“Once we ramp up to our full strength, we will still be able to just make a dent and it’s going to take a deeper systemic change in order to really transform achievement across all demographics of students,” Pritchard said. “We are just one piece of the way bigger puzzle.”

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editors: Kaiya Jordan & Kira Rao-Poolla

Chuck Smith, Aidong Ni and Arrol Gellner, Laurel Leichter, Steve Jackson, Elliot Shrag, Julian Currier, Pearl Gauthier, Ahmet Gyger, Kathrine Chynoweth, Kate and Scott McGlashan, Natasha Reichle, Robert Stepsis, Claudia Polsky

IRIS LE LIBOUX

MALINA MEISSNER

Students work on homework in the BHS Black Scholars Center.

“I made a lot of new friends here... I felt like it helped me with my speaking skills and communicating to other students,”

After the 90 day plan: Q&A with BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel

BY JOSEPHINE MORASKY staff writer

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity

WHAT WAS THE GOAL OF YOUR 90 DAY PLAN?

The goal of the plan was for me to come in and just listen to different folks in Berkeley — students, families, and staff members — and to visit different programs, community members, and city officials, and just kind of get myself submersed in understanding Berkeley culture, who Berkeley is,

how Berkeley is, how Berkeley moves. A key part of my role as a superintendent is to help make the vision and the mission statement relevant to Berkeley, and to help the district move towards its goals or to go to the next level of its goals. That’s an honor and that’s humbling. So to come into any place and assume you

can do that without engaging the people who are actually impacted by the work or doing the work, I think it’s disrespectful. So I always come in and I just want to learn. So that was the purpose, was just to hear from folks and get a diverse perspective, of who and what Berkeley Unified (School District) is.

AFTER VISITING SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS AROUND BUSD,

WHAT DID YOU LEARN AND DISCOVER ABOUT THE BERKELEY COMMUNITY?

We have a really committed group of folks here. Berkeley is really rich in traditions and advocacy, and voice. I learned that there are some ways that we can do, and be, better. Because we are smaller and have so much tradition, we’re not as consistent with our processes and our protocols, and our ways of doing stuff. So working on really honoring the ways in which we’re traditional and small, but also making sure that there’s some level of

consistency because that’s what helps us with the equity work.

There are very different experiences in Berkeley. So even though there’s a lot of Berkeley pride, when you talk to different folks, particularly as you break it down in terms of race or language, there are drastically different experiences and perceptions of how good or how inclusive or how welcoming (BUSD) is.

We need to focus on what I’m calling

organizational clarity. We need to get better at our infrastructure, so our processes and procedures. Every school (in BUSD) has its own culture, which is great, but there are great things happening in one place that are not happening in another place because there are not as many opportunities to share greatness and to learn from each other. We want people to feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.

AFTER YOUR RESEARCH, HOW WELL WOULD YOU SAY BUSD IS MEETING ITS COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE, EQUITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND ENRICHMENT? WHAT IS YOUR PLAN TO MAKE SURE IT’S KIND OF A REALITY FOR EACH STUDENT?

What the data will say is that there are some groups for whom we are doing a really good job of offering excellent, engaging, enriching educational experiences and equity. The data will also say that we have some patterns of student groups who we may not be doing as well by. So the data will say that our Spanish-speaking English learners, for example, are a group where we’re not necessarily meeting their needs the way that we want to. That is both what the achievement data says and the attendance data, but also speaking to

those families and those students. Our African American students are another group where we could do better. There are also our students who have IEPs (Individualized Education Programs).

So I would say that for us being a district of about 9,000 students and when you look at our data compared to other districts, we are making some strong strides towards making those four E’s real. But we have these persistent and very stubborn pockets where we need to be super intentional and strategic to do better.

And for questions in terms of how do you make sure that happens? We have to be honest about it. We gotta just name it like this is. We are great and amazing and fantastic and that can be true while also it being true that we can do better and differently by certain students or student populations. I think we can also do a better job of really engaging the community and getting feedback from the folks who are being impacted or having to implement these things.

A LARGE PART OF YOUR MISSION IS EQUITY. HOW DO YOU PLAN ON MOVING FORWARD TO EITHER ADJUST OR INTRODUCE COMPLETELY NEW SYSTEMS?

Now that I’ve taken the time to kind of learn the systems that exist, I think we’re trying to improve those systems first.

I wouldn’t say there’s any system in

Berkeley that’s inherently racist, or really bad for kids. It’s more about whether the systems are implemented all the way.

It’s really first trying to figure out

what we already have in place and what the intent of that thing was, and then how do we build on it and improve it before we start adding a whole bunch of new things.

IN THE PROCESS OF EXECUTING THIS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FORESEE?

The challenge is, Berkeley has a lot of pride, in that it was the first district to desegregate without a court order, or that it’s at the forefront of anti-hate and all this. And so sometimes it’s hard for you to also accept that you are also in many ways replicating those very things that you’re fighting against. So sometimes in those types of places, folks feel that we are so woke and we are so whatever, that they struggle when challenged with data that says

differently.

It’s almost harder to be in a community like that than it is to be in a community that feels like they know nothing and they want to learn.

The intentions are there. Everybody’s excited. And sometimes folks ask,

“Why are we gonna change it? It’s working.” No, it’s not working. And

it’s not working in very predictable patterns.

It’s not unique to Berkeley though,

that it’s not working. It’s also not unique to Berkeley which groups it’s not working for. We’re just in a place that has committed itself for decades, centuries, to being at the forefront of change and the forefront of equity and the forefront of social justice.

So sometimes that same community has a really hard time accepting that you are still perpetuating the very thing that you claim to be fighting.

As prospective college students, many of us worry about college costs. While acceptance rates for many colleges decrease, college costs seem to be on a steady incline for the past few decades. The price for higher education inflated 180 percent over the past four decades (Forbes). Average cost to attend a public university in many states is ~$30,000 per year as of 2022 (The Daily). And when everyone surges to find scholarships, loans, grants, and other financial aids to afford these prices, it begs the question: why are college costs so high?

It comes down to each college and how much tuition they choose to charge. These college costs are broken down into categories like faculty, services, and amenities. Prospective college students often prefer colleges with smaller student to teacher ratios in favor of a better learning experience. Professors at colleges are also well qualified and highly educated individuals who get an above average salary. This counts into the faculty costs. For example, over time, as the importance of better mental health facilities in education centers has increased, colleges have had to hire more staff to operate such facilities. Colleges spend sizable amounts on amenities such as dorms, campus attractions, dining hall food, educational facilities, and more. That’s because all these things can determine how many applicants the college attracts. Furthermore, after the 2008 recession, many states cut back on subsidies for public universities causing tuition rates to rise. California spends 12 percent of its general funds in education accounting to about 12.1 billion distributed amongst the UCs, CSUs, and community colleges (PPIC).

It is notable that while the funding for UCs and CSUs has been on a decline for the past few decades, community colleges have been receiving more and more funding from the government.

With increased costs, average debt per student across the U.S. is at $30,000. So, how worried should we, as rising college freshmen, be about paying off these costs?

You have many options available that will help you minimize these costs as much as possible. Community colleges can be a source of higher education at lower costs. Colleges nationwide also offer financial aid through endowment grants, allocations from tax money, etc. Surprisingly, while the tuition prices seem to have increased over time, cost after financial aid has been stagnant. So, if you receive financial aid, you, as a rising freshman, might be paying a relatively similar amount as a graduating senior who received financial aid at that college several years before.

Admittedly, Gen Z remains disproportionately impacted by higher costs. More Gen Z between the ages of 20 to 25 have student debt than millennials did at the same age. Tuition for Gen Z is comparatively more expensive, and expected to continue rising. Living expenses for students have also risen. Inflation, higher housing prices, and overall higher costs of living seem rather concerning for our generation. Inevitably, concerns about living expenses lead to the recent political debates on topics such as UC strikes, higher minimum wage, inflation, and more.

COURTESY OF ENIKIA FORD MORTHEL

Elementary schoolers face in-person learning, behavior setbacks

Health in 2015 reported that kindergarten-aged children with better emotional skills are more likely to hold a full-time job 20 years later.

BY AARON STEVENS staff writer

As a result of over a year of distance learning, younger students have been hit hard by learning setbacks. The Brookings Institute reported that across the United States, math test scores dropped more when compared with students who had experienced other significant disruptions in learning, such as those evacuated following Hurricane Katrina.

Many Berkeley teachers report ongoing struggles with the impact of distance learning as it has changed students both academically and behaviorally.

“Kids who were behind

in reading in the lower grades, kindergarten, first, second -grade, they did not get the support they needed. They were trying to do distance learning without knowing how to read,” said Leila Clark-Riddell, a third grade teacher at Washington Elementary School.

Reading scores in elementary schoolers have dropped significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels, with the highest drops in reading since the year 1990 occurring in 9-year-olds, as reported by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

“I’m not someone who thinks we should be stressing this notion of ‘learning loss’ that is largely driven by the for-profit testing industry,

WEBER-STOVER

but it’s clear that much was lost in the year we were not able to come together on school campuses,” said CAS History teacher Stephanie Schaudel. “For me, the loss of concern is what I’ve already spoken about: that loss of connection, potential for new friendships, and trust-building that happens in classrooms and learning communities.”

A primary outcome of elementary education is not just the development of academic skills but also learning how to socialize. Developing good socialization skills in elementary school leads to higher academic performance in later years.

A study published in the American Journal of Public

Arts on the Run middle school field trips highlight BHS arts

BY MAYA DANG staff writer

On Wednesday, January 5, the Advanced Dance, African Diaspora, Electronic Music, Guitar, and Drama classes at Berkeley High School visited all three Berkeley Unified School District middle schools to promote the performing arts classes at BHS. However, this year, BHS’s band and orchestra teachers decided to let middle school students visit BHS to learn more about the music programs at BHS.

“In anticipation of the eighth graders selecting their electives courses for next year, we bring performers from many of the drama, dance, and music classes to present their performances and talk about the classes to give eighth graders a feel for all of the performing arts at BHS,” said Linda Carr, the teacher of the Modern/Jazz dance class and lead teacher for the Visual and Performing Arts department.

Sadie Fitzhugh, an eighth grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School,

who plays for their school orchestra, said that the field trip was incredible and it really felt like an accepting and learning-oriented environment.

Carr agreed with this sentiment: “The Arts on the Run field trip positively impacts students when they choose courses. I had an eighth grade student who ran to me at the Longfellow bus stop and said ‘I want to take the dance class.’”

Fitzhugh agreed, stating that even though it does positively impact their decisions next year, it’s hard to make a choice just yet, since they haven’t received all their class options.

They mentioned how on the way back, their class spent time on figuring how they can structure their schedules if they do end up taking the class next year.

Sawyer M.B. Erch, a BHS freshman who currently takes drama, said, “It was great to be able to use everything I’ve learned in beginning drama to show

“I know we heard from classroom teachers that there was an academic disparity,” said Mariah Castle, drama teacher at Malcolm X Elementary School. “I was seeing that behaviorally, too. There were some kids that were really ready to be back in a classroom setting and working with a group, and then there were other kids that were really out of practice with that, and it was a lot harder to hold the social awareness of what it was like to be in a small community of 20 to 25 kids.”

A 2022 Harvard study showed that on average during distance learning, younger students had worsened behavior than during inperson classes.

screens, and at older ages, students have some deeper capacity to understand what is happening. For five and six-year-olds, it’s a whole other level of difficulty. It required an adult sitting alongside him each day, at least until he was more used to the way school was happening. I, of course, had to keep teaching, now from home.”

According to a presentation by the Berkeley Unified School District’s school board in October 2022, BUSD elementary students have appeared to bounce back in regard to test scores, as post-pandemic proficiency in both math and reading remained close

actually increased by two percentage points from 65 percent to 67 percent as reported by the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress website’s dashboard. While testing may provide some information, students show learning in other ways.

“Last year, my fifth-graders and I wrote a play from scratch, and a lot of them contributed a lot of writing to that. I noticed that their writing was surprisingly strong. I thought it would sort of backslide more, but I was kind of impressed,” Castle said.

“You know how hard it was for older children and teenagers to learn effectively and engage over computer screens... For five and six-year-olds, it’s a whole other level of difficulty.”

Stephanie Schaudel, CAS History Teacher

middle schoolers how great it is.”

They performed the ending act from A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen at all three of the middle schools.

Pedro Cintra, a freshman who currently takes guitar at BHS, shared that the visit was a positive experience being able to see the middle schoolers explore what they wanted to do at a new school and discover what they are interested in.

Carr agreed with this thought, stating that it inspires eighth graders and gives a little window into all of the cool things that the

“(My son) did his first year of elementary school over Zoom,” Schaudel said. “You know how hard it was for older children and teenagers to learn effectively and engage over computer

to pre-pandemic levels.

Comparing the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years, elementary-level math proficiency rates remained at 62 percent, while English Language Arts proficiency

However, for some Berkeley elementary school students, their proficiency in these subjects have remained similar to previous years, but nationally, elementary students are still facing significant learning setbacks.

“This year feels closer to normal,” Castle said. “But, I don’t know that it’s ever going to feel like it was. It’s just sort of different now.”

community at BHS does.

“It felt really special, and definitely got me thinking about doing Orchestra next year,” said Fitzhugh.

“The program seems wellconstructed and well-led,

and I’m very excited to learn more about it or experience it myself!”

Bia Zerbini, a BHS freshman who also takes guitar, said that she had a lot of fun and that it’s always good to share art with kids and inspire them.

Jordan Winer, a drama teacher at BHS, added that Arts on the Run was a blast and a fun event to do. He mentioned that it was great to see the eighth graders excited and do something to get the word out to eighth graders, which is valuable.

However, he adds, “As a drama teacher struggling to fill two sections of

beginning drama, the problem is a much deeper one and it takes real vision and leadership to solve it, way beyond this field trip.”

According to Carr, a problem with recruiting students for other performing classes is that Band and Orchestra already have classes at the middle schools. A tunnel to Band and Orchestra at BHS remains more prominent than dance classes.

Winer also said that in education, people working backwards. “We focus on academics and have a culture not just of academic emphasis but a student culture here that values taking 4 (Advanced Placement) classes above all else. As the adults in the room, we have to turn this

around. I’ve been here 25 years and have seen this as fewer and fewer kids find time for the arts in their lives.”

A solution to this problem, according to Winer, would be an arts and humanities focus on education since those topics go to the core of what links us all as humans, as well as for practical reasons.

“People with strong arts/ humanities backgrounds actually, in the long run, have greater success in careers, financially as well,” said Winer. “Even in (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers, because they are better at working with people, at employing different modes of thinking, and empathy and understanding.”

GWEN

“It felt really special, and definitely got me thinking about doing Orchestra next year.”

Sadie Fitzhugh, eighth grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School

Hanna Gohlke, Shai Eastman, and Vivian Bell practice guitar in the A building lobby.

Electives are crucial for student growth

BY JULIA BRIMMER staff writer

Cambridge Dictionary defines the word “elective” as “a subject that someone chooses to study, in addition to the subjects that they have to study (as part of a course).” Berkeley High School has offered elective courses for years, and as long as schools continue to give students the freedom to select certain classes, students will continue on their path to self-discovery, while possibly loving school in the process.

Experts view the high school years as major steps in teenagers getting to know themselves. So, in order for teenagers to discover their true interests, it is crucial to expose them to a wide variety of subjects, and school is a great way to do that.

When someone shows up to a class they selected, they are instantly surrounded by other students that likely chose to be in that class as well. This creates common ground between everyone in a class, which can help

give students a sense of belonging and community that a required course might not provide.

Additionally, when a student is actually interested in the curriculum they’re studying, which they typically are when they choose an elective, they are more likely to do well in that course.

BHS helps students by offering a wide range of electives to choose from, but goes even further with its Small Learning Communities (SLCs) within BHS that allow students to explore their own niche interests. While one may argue many of these SLCs limit students by requiring them to participate in specific courses, the act of letting students join a community in a field they’re passionate about does enough to provide students with the freedom they crave.

Avi Neta, a freshman at BHS who recently selected Communications Arts and Sciences (CAS) as their first choice SLC, thinks it’s cool that they have a chance to pick.

“I mostly looked for

classes I was interested in,” Neta said, showing how influential having engaging classes for all kinds of students can be.

BHS is trying to give students the freedom to explore their interests through elective courses, but there are requirements that simply must be met in order to both graduate high school and qualify for college in California. BHS is successfully enforcing these requirements by aligning them with the school’s requirements for graduation. These requirements can be seen as limitations being placed on students, but in actuality, they benefit highschoolers more than they restrict them.

California State Universities and Universities of California require at least 2 years of a language course that is not English. According to Auburn University, the study of foreign languages has many benefits, from increasing creativity to improving one’s problem solving skills and communication later in life. Another requirement, a year-long course in the arts, has been shown to increase people’s confidence and concentration skills, as the Art of Education states.

In California, all teenagers are required to go to school, and while their brains are being molded by electives and choice, students might actually enjoy the process.

WHAT AM I?

YANCY MICEL ALEGRE-PACHECO

I used to live on International Boulevard in Oakland, on the more impoverished side of town. The sounds of guns waking us up at 3 in the morning was like an alarm clock for an early riser, sending panic through my mother whilst my dad slept, unaware of my brother and I hiding under the table. I know my mom never wanted us to have this life; no one on our block wanted to have this life.

ROBERT GELLNER

Grappling with irreversible climate change

BY KALI PROUD staff writer

Climate change could become irreversible as soon as 2030. The United Nations (UN) estimates that drought alone could displace 700 million people by then. In order to avoid permanent climate effects, countries will have to decrease global emissions by 43 percent before 2030.

But few countries have

taken significant enough steps towards reaching this goal, despite pledges for action. Even if more countries delivered their pledges in full, it still wouldn’t be enough to bring global warming down anywhere near the UN’s goal. Without any realistic solutions to avoid extreme climate distress, it’s time to have the long avoided discussion: how can we cope in a world where the effects of climate change are

permanent?

After climate change becomes irreversible, it will be too late to protest. People will need to find other ways to carry on. An important thing to remember is that humans are always adapting. Our need to survive will help us find permanent solutions to things like extreme temperature changes, flooding, and air quality.

In the United States, and all over the world, it’s reasonable to expect to see populations in certain cities shift as people move to wherever they think climate change will have the least effects. For example, to avoid rising sea levels, many may choose to move inland. It’s important to have faith in our ability to move forward.

Some may argue that it’s too soon to lose hope in the fight against climate change, and that activism should still be the top priority. What this argument ignores is how dire the situation already is.

If we were to stop all greenhouse gas emissions at this very moment, global temperatures would flatten out, but they wouldn’t go down. It would still take decades to reverse climate

change induced by human activities, and that’s only in the best case scenario. In reality, changes would need to be made on a much larger scale: changes that can only be made by corporations and governments. The disturbing reality is that we are not on track to reach a point where we will be able to considerably reverse climate change within our lifetime.

Despite how negative all of that may feel, it is critical to stay positive and hopeful.

It’s natural to feel anxious or dejected about climate change, but it makes more sense to focus on having hope. Considering this, having space to understand and cope with those feelings is extremely necessary moving forward.

Just like with any other mental health conditions, being able to talk about and process it is hugely important.

Berkeley High School offers counselors and countless other tools to help students with similar issues, so there is no reason why these resources shouldn’t extend to helping students with climate anxiety.

Supporting one another is key in this process.

The roads were bumpy, potholes deep enough to inhabit a small ecosystem: frogs, grasshoppers, grass, and all. Seeing the roads around the lake being freshly paved, I felt as though we were the crumbs at the bottom of an unsatisfying bag of dry pretzels. The neglected corner we lived on was always busy; in the span of me living at that house there were at least 15 big scandals of the neighborhood that happened in front of our gates, two of them even hitting our gate. The least I can say is that my environment added to my character.

When I moved from my elementary school to my middle school and entered sixth grade, I thought that I’d fled from my reality before. I finally felt privileged. It wasn’t until I heard an offhand comment by a classmate about this new school that I felt graciously saved by that I realized I was in the same situation, just in a different part of Oakland. They said something along the lines of “this school is so trashy and poor” and it stuck with me. In my eyes, the new environment was ten times better than what I was in before, but to find out that I was in a school that wasn’t seen as a great school to others was engrossing. Going from thinking highly of the new school to considering it “the worst of the best” will always make a person feel as though you are separated from the majority — lesser than them.

Along with having a fresh start, it was hard to become friends with people. They always had their own pre-established group of friends and didn’t need any more. Finding people that stick, especially those that have gone through and understand the things you’ve been through, is difficult. And because of the trust issues that I have developed over the years, it was hard to actually find genuine people. The feeling of being an outsider always stuck. Being added to group chats with basically the whole grade and only knowing the person who added me, people making references to things I can't begin to fathom to understand. When we went into lockdown and missed the rest of the year and the whole of our seventh-grade year, it leveled the playing field to an extent. We all didn't know what was happening and were just as confused. Finally, by eighth-grade, I had an established friend group I could rely on. It felt good to be in the loop.

Entering high school in a new district a year later was hard. Leaving the community I had just built was difficult. Once again, I was out of the know.

In response to protests following the death of George Floyd, organizations like General Motors, Salesforce, and Citi pledged to diversify their spaces and support underrepresented employees. Berkeley Unified School District is no different, publishing a resolution in June 2020. The resolution states a commitment “not only to address the symbols of institutional racism and white supremacy, but also to proactively identify and address biases, practices, policies, and institutional barriers that perpetuate injustice and inequality in our schools and our community.”

In order to properly maintain their commitment to antiracism, BUSD and professional organizations nationally must recognize that "professionalism" is rooted in whiteness. Many efforts made by organizations in recent years to diversify their staff have been ineffective. In an article by the Harvard Business Review, Victor Ray wrote, “such organizational policies … fail to address the racial hierarchies

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historically built into American organizations.”

The root of diversity issues in professional spaces is our understanding of what "professionalism" even is. Characteristics of our culture institutionalize whiteness as the standard, and Western ideals as subtly superior to other ethnic, racial, and regional identities.

Organizations often mandate dress and grooming rules rooted in European beauty standards, and explicitly or subtly target dreadlocks or natural hair as "messy."

Additionally, workplaces excessively scrutinize timeliness.

A 2017 survey from Career Builder found that 41 percent of all United States employees are fired due to continual lateness to work. Professionalism in the U.S. is based on a "monochronic" culture: time commitments, accomplishing tasks in a linear fashion, and productivity are valued over people. Many Black and immigrant communities have a "polychronic" culture: tasks are completed, but socialization and familial connections are valued over economic labor.

White superiority is also deeply rooted in U.S. workplaces is through hiring practices. A 2003 study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback, while those with African American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback.

If professionalism is only interpreted in one way, it becomes systematically harder for people of color to succeed professionally, taking a personal toll. People of color must constantly code switch, and censor themselves in order to be

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The fight

BY ARIANA YEROVAM staff writer

Gun violence is an issue that affects all people and generations, including children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly, which does not mean it should be left for only younger generations to deal with. While it's healthy that the youth want to take preventative action and have conversations that encourage the world to be a safer place, they shouldn’t need to.

seen as "professional," leading to severe burnout.

For professional spaces to be institutionally equitable, workplaces must undo the concept of professionalism, truly creating inclusive workspaces. How can this be done?

Historically Black institutions, such as colleges and universities, actively push to uproot ideas of white superiority in professionalism, instead focusing on culture and building personal confidence. Nita Dailey, a regional recruiter for the historically Black men's college Morehouse, has seen students begin to stand up against biased professionalism.

“Since George Floyd … it's not just about going away to a school and hoping to acclimate,” Daily said. “Students want to find a space where, from their hair to ethnic foods … they're comfortable and understood already.”

Locally, many youth development programs are available to Berkeley High School students. Programs that focus on college and career preparation, such as YouthWorks, Berkeley’s Health Justice Internship, and YR Media, work largely with low income or Black and brown youth.

These introductions into the professional workplace, for young people of color, focus on flexibility and inclusion, rather than western standards of professionalism. Developing professional development skills in a flexible and understanding space gives future generations the tools to succeed in workplaces that are inherently not built for them.

We must see professional organizations in the U.S. for what they are: long-standing social structures built and managed to prioritize whiteness.

issue, we are still young and should not have to bear the weight of the world on our shoulders.”

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As communities navigate accepting and dealing with the harm of gun violence, it's time that society considers its developmentally stunting implications. In the article “The Impact of Gun Violence on Children, Families, and Communities" by Julie Collins and Emily Swoveland, the authors state, “With more than 25% of children witnessing an act of violence in their homes, schools, or community over the past year, and more than 5% witnessing a shooting, it becomes not just an issue of gun regulation, but also of addressing the impact on those who have been traumatized by such violence.”

Young people need a safe space and invested adults to properly treat their developing minds, especially with the added variable of gun violence affecting their growth.

Rose Hara, a sophmore at BHS spoke to this sentiment as she stated, “I think our younger generations, especially in light of recent years have had to grow up very quickly, and while some may feel like we do have the responsibility and capacity to grapple with this

It’s true that there has been an escalation in how shootings are affecting students and minors, as well as our society in general. According the Pew Research Center, the 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020 were by far the most on record, representing a 14 percent increase from the year before, a 25 percent increase from five years earlier, and a 43 percent increase from a decade prior. With an intense uprise in shootings and gun violence, whether it be self-inflicted or otherwise, it is time that we take action in educating everyone about the burdens that come alongside it. It’s the older and middle generation’s responsibility to implement that.

It’s also necessary to take into account the fact that while there were 648 mass shootings in 2022 (as recorded by the Gun Violence Archive), there were 303 recorded shooting

incidents in schools (K-12 School Shooting Database). Given this knowledge, you can’t ignore that it is not a child's place to deal with this issue singlehandedly, while they are simultaneously experiencing it.

Hara spoke similarly, “Many people still do not believe gun violence is truly an issue that needs to be eradicated. in order for there to be any sort of fundamental and systematic change, we all need to come to an agreement on where the problem really is and what needs to be done to solve it. Our society, our government, and everyone who lives in the world affected by gun violence no matters the age or other identifying factors.”

Gun violence induces trauma toward anyone combatting it. Given our society’s current lack of preventative action, this pertains to a tremendous amount of people.

It cannot be left to newer generations and swayable young minds to be made accountable for it.

to end gun violence cannot fall on high schoolers

Anti-racism takes restructuring of “professionalism”

HBCUs over Ivies: The value for Black students

BY OHAD AVIRANFINKELSTEIN staff writer

“I gained confidence from HBCUs ... At Berkeley High, I was in the Advanced Math program all the way from freshman year to junior year, and I always felt extremely ostracized,” said Rayna Carter, a BHS alum and current junior at Howard University. “I never felt worthy, and I would often have a lot of breakdowns in that class because I just never felt like I was good enough.”

Every year, around 60 percent of all high school graduates around the country enroll in colleges and universities, and out of that 60 percent, only 12.5 percent are African American. Some Black students that attend Predominantly White Institutions have described feeling isolated and disconnected from their white counterparts and peers. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), strive to provide African Americans a space to be in a community with other Black students. HBCUs provide

something important and hard to come by: confidence and a safe environment, both of which are more important than location or prestige.

Carter said that HBCUs provide Black students with extra support and confidence, something many PWIs can’t provide. Right after her freshman year, she landed an internship at Apple.

“I’m a mechanical engineering major with a mathematics minor, and that is an extremely white male dominated field,” Carter said. “If I hadn’t attended an HBCU, I wouldn’t be as confident in myself in opportunities that I think I deserve, and opportunities that I go forward with.”

Historically, HBCUs were created to undo some of the harm that anti-literacy laws and slavery caused, while also giving Black students a safe place without racism. HBCUs were also created to help bridge the many gaps caused by systemic and institutional racism, such as the wage gap between Black and white people, accessibility of jobs for African Americans, and more. HBCUs are a great

BHS SHIFT program displays the necessity of sex education

BY SHANZA SYED staff writer

Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Part of what contributes to this problem is a lack of sex education. Currently, under the U.S. Federal Law, there are no set standards for sexual health education. In other words, the sexual health education students receive is highly variable. This is why sexual health education needs to be mandated and standardized by the federal government through initiatives like the Sexual Health from Teens program (SHIFT) at Berkeley High School.

One of the best parts about the program is that it allows students to learn about sensitive topics from their peers, which not only makes it less awkward, but also makes it feel more persuasive, as people know that their peers follow the

same rules they do. This is especially true during adolescence, when peers opinions often matter most.

SHIFT also helps students by giving them full access to information about contraceptives and consent during a studentvolunteering basis rather than hiring an outside professional. The program can also provide valuable information on how to handle situations in which one may be the target of sexual harassment by teaching students how to say no and how to report any misconduct. Without the appropriate education, many students won’t be aware of the medical facilities and care available to them. As a result, they will have a harder time taking care of their health.

Empathy is also a key aspect of the initiative because the more students learn about the positive or negative impacts their

option for Black students who want to join a community that shares their culture, interests, and more, all while providing a prestigious education.

The United States has 107 HBCUs. A majority of these HBCU schools are in the south and on the southeast coast. Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Virgina, all of which have sizable African American populations, house the majority of HBCUs.

“HBCUs actually have a lot of international students,” Carter said. “There’s a lot of people from the continent of Africa, a lot of people from the Caribbean, even some Afrolatinos, so it’s a lot of different types of Black people and all cultures melding together.” Carter said that the special cultures that HBCUs have developed create a sense of community and safety.

“Culture is at the center of everything that we do (at Howard). It’s the center of our education, whether it be engineering, or history, culture always comes up in the conversation and it’s a big part of our education,” said Carter, on Howard’s culture-centric

attitude.

While only 3 percent of all U.S. colleges are HBCUs, many hold prestigious reputations. Howard University is considered to be the “Harvard of the HBCUs” and is one of the top 100 universities in the country, according to U.S. News. Spelman College, a women’s college located in Atlanta, Georgia, is the 51st best liberal arts college in the US. HBCUs often lack a lot of the funding that many PWIs receive, reflected in the school infrastructure, with some schools still having nonrefurbished heating and cooling units from the 1960s. Despite this, HBCUs provide many more benefits for Black students than Ivy League Schools.

Carter emphasized the value of attending schools that support students personally.

As a final piece of advice, Carter said, “When deciding what school you go to, remember that you can receive a quality education from anywhere, but only certain schools will give you the space, resources and the support you need to feel confident in your abilities; that’s where real success comes from.”

actions can have, the more conscious and careful they are of their actions. Sex education is a way to normalize consent and make people feel more comfortable asking for it. It is also important that society normalizes consent because it makes any violations the exception, rather than the norm. In fact, according to Planned Parenthood, “Sex education reduces the risk of gender-based violence and bullying through teaching about these things to them or their peers.”

Overall, sex education not only explains to students what healthy relationships look and feel like, but also how to develop them and say no to any toxic relationships where they don’t feel safe or comfortable. It ensures that people understand their bodies and their rights while feeling empowered. This is why programs like SHIFT are a necessity at schools across the nation.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SUBMISSIONS

When you ask someone who looks ethnically different, “What are you?”

What am I? Am I the gangster drug lord that you perceive? This is a problem that isn’t new right? Why do we stay silent? What are we not supposed to see? Cops everywhere staring down the barrel of a gun at a Black man, don’t see a human being, they see a caricature, a thug, a N*gger.

America, we have a problem.

The idea of racism and terminology does not sit right with me, when someone asks me what I am, I say I’m a proud Kenyan, but I know they see me as a Black man because that’s how America sees me. Let’s be real for now, kids are getting shot for just being Black. DAUNTE WRIGHT Killed, White officer alive. Andre Hill dead, White officer alive. GEORGE FLOYD DEAD, White officer alive. Keenan Anderson dead, and guess what: White officer alive. When are we going to change?

AMADOU DIALLO was just a Black man who was minding his business on his porch on Feb. 4, 1999, and a car with four officers of the New York Police Department hopped out, guns out.

41 bullets later, AMADOU DIALLO goes down. 19 of those bullets hit AMADOU DIALLO. He was unarmed, he had committed no crime there was no warrant out there for him. He was just a Black man in New York – that is bad enough. When are we going to change? When are we going to have put an end to this hate towards us, for all my fellow Black brothers and sisters let’s not forget that we are all one built in God’s image?

So what does it mean to be Black? I think being Black in the United States, we have a tremendous amount of pain but we also have a tremendous amount of privilege and opportunities. The pain is linked to racism, slavery, and violence, but the privilege is that Black Americans live in much better conditions than millions of people who live around the world. Black, Asian and Caucasian Americans do get opportunities that others don’t have.

Last summer my family and I went to an Oakland Black parade and it was a primarily African American celebration. I think that’s the thing, you know? In America, there are so many things as a Black person that, statistically,

you’re going to be subject to that will cause you pain. Diabetes, miscarriages, gun violence, discrimination at work and school. To experience joy, success, and a good relationship is an opportunity and I am very grateful for that.

So what can Berkeley Unified School District do to make us feel safe at school? Masi Amianda, a parent of a student at Berkeley High School, described how Berkeley elementary and middle schools have done a wonderful job of trying to create an integrated society.

She thinks because parents wind up about colleges, and because of the sheer size of BHS, you lose a lot of that when you go from elementary school to middle school and then to high school.

You have to ask yourself: If a Black student is suddenly struggling, why is that?

I think BUSD needs more oversight to try to understand why the student records are dropping especially for minority students. Why is that? What have we done? Don’t give up on them.

What’s next? For us?

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- Mark Amianda, MLP junior from Kenya

‘A definite boundary’: UC Berkeley and BHS relationship leaves room for growth

BY SAGE FELDMAN staff writer

Berkeley High School and the University of California, Berkeley’s campuses are only two blocks away, each filled with large and changing student populations. This leads to the odds being low that the two would not interact.

“I have seen lots of interaction between the BHS and the Cal campus,” said Dr. Juana María Rodríguez, a professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley who specializes in the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality and whose son is an alumnus of BHS.

The connection is deepest in the rate of informal exchange, driven by the schools’ shared interests in walkout culture. “I vividly remember seeing the campus fill up with BHS students during the Occupy Protests and after Trump got elected because I saw my own son … at those protests,” Rodríguez said. However, with a much larger population from around the world, though, UC Berkeley's manner of approaching social issues often ends up being less cohesive than BHS’s. “(BHS) activism is a full school culture thing, whereas at UC Berkeley, if you’re participating in activism, you’re definitely in a minority,” said Loulou Ziegler, a UC Berkeley freshman who graduated from BHS in 2022.

The confluence between the two schools happens naturally as a result of independent decisions. For most protests, neither side is in contact with the other beforehand. “I would like to see more cooperation or organizing

between the students,” Rodríguez said.

Even if the campuses unite around topics, under normal circumstances, some feel that they are separated more than physically. “Despite the proximity between the two campuses, there’s a definite boundary that is rarely crossed between the two groups of students,” Ziegler said. She described being comfortable eating lunch on the grass at UC Berkeley when she was in high school, but nothing past that. Now, as a college student, she feels that her peers feel similarly.

“College students are the ones in control over whether or not they interact with the ‘lowly’ high schoolers,” she said, and many choose simply not to.

In the official, sanctioned sphere, this boundary persists. UC Berkeley hosts special events that open its campus up to high schoolers, like Campus Shadow Day, where high school students looking to attend the college can follow around students for a day. However, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a student from Berkeley High in a classroom,” Rodríguez said. She has seen many students from other local high schools shadow an undergrad, but none from BHS.

Another program losing its ties to BHS is Cal

Day. The event was an initiative that used to usher groups of BHS students to UC Berkeley’s campus, and was billed by UC Berkeley in 2018 as “the university’s free annual public open house … (with) more than 40,000 people.” Following the COVID-19 pandemic though, celebration slimmed down. In 2022, the campus changed their description; now it is an opportunity for only “registered new students and their families to experience the Berkeley campus.”

UC Berkeley professors with children are likely to see their kids go through the Berkeley Unified School District, making the connection between college and high school more personal, but even with an overlap between professors and BHS students, the college remains seperated from the academic life of BUSD.

“In terms of academics and curriculum, I have not really seen that much (overlap),” Rodriguez said. She has done a workshop on Gender Beyond Binaries for her son’s middle school social studies class, but that was an exception that proves the rule. “It was a terrific day, but it only came about because his teacher asked,” she said. As for UC Berkeley's activism, this too could benefit from closer communication. “I’m sure that there are people that would do it, (but) I think it may require a level of organization that

hasn’t really happened.”

This divide also plays out in college applications, where BHS students consider whether or not they should apply to UC Berkeley. “I had many hesitations and for a long time,” said Ziegler, “I did not think that I would consider going here because I was so sure that I wanted an experience far from home.” However, the new perspective of adulthood brought her just a couple blocks up the street for her college life.

Although UC Berkeley's interaction with BUSD students may be limited, its Berkeley School of Education (BSE) is involved in a number of research partnerships with the district’s teachers. BSE’s team of professors uses BUSD as an on-the-ground sort of laboratory, testing new approaches to learning, according to their website. There is also a funnel between their team and BHS faculty. “The BSE is home to programs that prepare elementary and secondary school teachers, school and system-level leaders, and school psychologists,” says their website. A number of graduates from the program currently teach at BHS.

The relationship between UC Berkeley and BHS might not be fully-formed, but future cooperation between the campuses could be mutually beneficial. “One idea might be a database of Berkeley professors who are willing to talk to classes or student groups … some of us are totally willing,” Rodriguez said. On the students’ side, Ziegler envisions a similar type of ideological exchange. “I think UC Berkeley could honestly learn quite a bit from (the BHS community),” she said.

editors: Lauren Huang & Amelia WIley Moreira

FUTURISTIC CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS JULIUS

BRAUR

Q&A with BSU leaders Winta & Muskana

BY YSABEL CHU staff writer

Last time, we talked about actions for climate change that Berkeley High School students could take on in their daily lives to make a difference. In this column, we will talk about what solutions organizations are pursuing on a larger scale to address things like heaps of plastic in our oceans, rising sea levels, and skyrocketing temperatures. Learning about these potential technologies can help reduce the feeling that we have already, as a planet, reached the point of no return. After reading about these technologies myself, I felt more hopeful that the future offers actual antidotes to our worst problems.

According to climate.gov, by the year 2100, the global average sea level is set to rise by between 1.5 and 2.5 meters, which is about 5 to 9 feet. To give you a better picture, imagine standing on the shore of the Bay today, but the water, instead of sitting below you, is up to your neck, and is that same level all the way inland. Now picture the water being over your head by several feet. The Embarcadero would be underwater, most of our power plants would be under water, and most of our beaches would no longer exist. One potential solution that Manoj Bhargava, of the Billions in Change organization, has come up with, is the idea of desalinating the excess ocean water and reusing it as fresh water for human use, including in places that currently don’t have easy access to clean water at all. The plan would be to use barges off the coasts of every country in the world that would contain thousands of desalinating machines. Getting the desalinated ocean water inland is still a tricky problem, but the answer could still be very effective.

Speaking of the ocean, plastics are being dumped into our seas instead of being recycled (like we’re told they are), creating huge plastic patches. Plastic patches are basically massive floating whirlpools of debris consisting of plastic bags, plastic water bottles and caps, styrofoam cups, and basically anything that is single-use plastic. Most of it is microplastic that has been broken down by both the water and the sun, and it creates a cloudy soup in areas that come together via large vortexes of ocean currents. We now have 150 million tons of plastic in our oceans. One possible futuristic answer to the plastic problem is the use of fungi (mushrooms) that eat plastic and give off edible fruits with no toxic side effects. I think this is a really fascinating solution, because not only is it really resourceful in using a natural remedy, but it also produces food as a benefit. I think fungi will play a big role in the future of plastic disposal. Mushrooms can eat plastic within a couple of months, but creating a system that could break down all the current plastic in the world is still a monumental task that requires far more investment.

Even though these ideas are still in research phases, it’s important to explore what the future looks like for these huge climatic problems that seem insurmountable, because they could evolve into systems that might become a normal part of our everyday lives. Wouldn’t it be cool, for instance, if we all had a mushroom patch at home that we simply fed all our plastic to?

Muskana Cyrus and Winta Tesfaldet, co-leaders of Berkeley High School’s Black Student Union, discussed their experiences in BSU, and their hopes for the club. Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How does Black Student Union work with other groups on campus?

Cyrus: Recently, we've been working with the Habesha Student Union. We’re having a bake sale on February 11, at Fourth Street. We worked together for the Multicultural Week, and also the Club Fair. We’ve been collaborating because they're a new club, and I think collaboration is fun. It’s really important to have communities coming together.

Q: What are Black Student Union’s goals for the future?

Cyrus: Our goal is to create a legacy, and make sure that everybody inside of BSU knows that they are capable of so much, and that they have a community around them of people who want to see them doing great, and people who want to have fun with them.

Q: What’s the importance of Black Student Union at BHS?

Tesfaldet: A lot of people look at BSU as a way to relax, talk, and just feel comfortable. So I feel like it's a safe space for a lot of students, and anybody can join.

Health Center faces inaccessibility issues

BY AMELIA REED staff writer

As the Berkeley High School Health Center manager for the past two years, Jorge Flores oversees and manages its daily operations, including all of the resources brought to students such as first aid, sexual and reproductive health services, and youth development programs.

Despite publicity efforts every year, Flores expressed concern with the program gaining as many students as it could, partly due to students not being entirely aware of all the resources they offer, and partly because of the awkward hours during which it operates.

About 1,300 students end up using the services from the Health Center each month, but Flores doesn’t think enough students are using all the resources to their full potential.

He gave the notion that students who use the Health Center’s resources to its full capacity must first set aside the fear of coming alone.

“I don’t think it’s that

Q: What do you normally do in Black Student Union’s weekly meetings?

Tesfaldet: During the leadership meetings we discuss ... what fundraisers we're going to do or what we're going to talk about at the next general meeting. And then when we have our general meetings, we tell them the plan, see if everybody is cool with it, and see what we can adjust. We always love to get feedback. We definitely want everybody to have a voice, not just leadership. We do a lot of trivia and Kahoot! kind of games. Sometimes if there are really important current events going on, we like to bring a spotlight on that and talk about that.

Q: Is Black Student Union doing any special activities for Black History Month?

Tesfaldet: Each day of the bulletin we're going to be talking about one Black historical figure that we think is important. We're also going to have a spirit week, the last week of the month, where we're going to have different themes for each day. And then we are going to have a little celebration on the campus green, where we're gonna have food and probably a performance. We'll have games, and it’ll be really big during lunch. So if people want to stop by, anybody is welcome to join in.

people don’t know about it, I think it’s more the idea of coming into a clinic by yourself without your parents,” Flores said. He believes that part of the reason students might be afraid to use the Health Center is also because they don’t know that any services they access are confidential.

Although students might dodge using the Health Center because of confidentiality concerns, others frequently employ its services. BHS sophomore Eloise de Valpine visits multiple times every week. She often finds herself going for its crackers, along with other foods. De Valpine added that she tends to go to the Health Center during instructional periods as an excuse to spend time outside of class.

Flores suspects that some students are still not aware of the Health Center after the COVID-19 pandemic and when school was online. “When we returned to school in-person, a lot of students didn’t know about the Health Center,” Flores said. There were two years of students that weren’t able to experience or didn’t

know about the Health Center until school got back in-person again.

“Students (need) to understand that our services are confidential, specifically the reproductive and sexual health (services),” Flores said. This means that parents or guardians won’t be asked for permission if their child is wanting to use the Health Center’s resources, and they won’t be notified if their child does.

Mental health services are most commonly accessed by students at the Health Center, according to Flores. When a student requests mental health services, they are given access to a therapist, which the Health Center follows up on 24 to 48 hours after a request, in order to get students the help they need as soon as possible. Student

crises including self-harm or abuse get immediate attention and services from the Health Center.

Other students have not found themselves in a situation where they need or want to go to the Health Center. “I haven’t ever had a need to use it,” said Eliza Harder, a BHS junior.

Despite some students not requiring the Health Center’s services, BHS sophomore Leo Naville has found himself wanting to use the Health Center but not being able to because of its hours. In general, the times that Naville has wanted to use the Health Center, it has been closed. He does not consider himself afraid of using the Health Center, rather that he has had unlucky timing in pursuit of using its promised resources.

Students can request health services at the front desk. PENELOPE GILLIGAN

MUSKANA CYRUS WINTA TESFALDET JULIAN CURRIER AVA MUSSI

‘I’m all heart’: A day in the life of Dawn ‘Doc Dub’ Williams

BY AVA RAMSDALE staff writer

“I’m at a five minute plank now which I’m really proud of. It’s a little competition with me and Michelle Obama, because I heard she does a three minute plank every morning,” said African Diaspora Dance teacher Dawn Williams, affectionately known to her students and staff as “Doc Dub.”

Most mornings, Williams begins her day at 4 a.m., rising before the sun to begin preparations for a long day of teaching and meetings as she often doesn’t leave Berkeley High School until 8:30 in the evening.

“I cook dinner (in the morning), because we’re gone all day, and I want to make sure that we come home to … a home cooked meal,” Williams said. While she cooks the family’s dinner during the morning, her husband takes care of breakfast for the family.

Her family commutes 40 minutes every morning from Pinole to BHS, and they have

morning prayer together in the car before Williams arrives at school about 30 minutes prior to classes beginning. She sets aside that first half hour to prepare for her day of teaching, whether it be creating new choreography for her students or composing a Spanish lesson for her Spanish 1 students.

Whether it is a Beginning or Advanced Dance class, Williams always begins her class participating in the same daily warm-up along with her

Williams has choreographed for them. After that, she moves on to her Advanced Dance class, in which students learn more technical movements and often have faster choreography.

According to Williams, the Advanced class participates in events within the community, acting as the face of the dance program on multiple occasions.

“We took our advanced class to ‘Arts on the Run’ this past Wednesday. So we made rounds to Willard, to King, and to Longfellow and entertained the eighth graders, in the hope that they would register for classes, kind of like a live commercial.”

a sense of safety, love, respect, (and) family here in the dance studio.” Williams said.

students. “I like to show that I’m learning and trying and for my students to understand that, you know, that’s just a part of it,” Williams said.

She starts her day with Beginning Dance, in which her students learn the basics of African Diaspora as well as different step routines that

During lunch, students often stop by the dance studio to rehearse for upcoming performances or for the general sense of community, according to Williams. As students walk through the door, their friends will offer them a gentle reminder to remove their shoes in the dance space. “I mean, it’s really a beautiful space. And I feel like my colleagues really try to create

Being co-chair of the AfAm studies department with Spencer Pritchard, Williams uses her sixth period for Teacher Leader meetings to organize events such as Black graduation and the after-school Black Scholars program. Her day doesn’t end there. She helps to run the Black Scholars program after school during seventh period several days a week, which is a tutoring space for students.

Beyond that, she stays late into the evening due to her son’s soccer. Williams said that depending on the night she will be at school as late as

8 p.m., and the hard part for her is “trying to keep snacks on hand so that we have food accessible.”

When asked what goes into producing the African Diaspora performances, Williams said, “It’s a team effort. I will tell you that.”

Each member of the team has a different job that creates the end goal of these performances. The Artistic Director, Tanzia Mucker (Ms. Shorty), has a creative spirit, and comes up with the options for each dance’s theme, matching them to the dancers.

Music Director Madiou Diouf (Brotha MD) helps to edit their tracks as needed and also teaches drummers and other

GEORGIA PAULOS

musicians how to play.

Williams also expressed her gratitude towards the parent volunteers who help out with the show, as well as the alumni students who ensure that any last-minute details are handled smoothly. While she works diligently to obtain grants, handle ticketing, and teach her students, according to Williams, the most important part of her job is the relationships she builds with others.

“I’m all heart and I really want people to feel good about themselves, their bodies, how they move, to not be afraid to build confidence (and) to have a sense of collegiality with the other dancers,” Williams said.

Clubs, classes at BHS show out for annual Multicultural Week

BY MUHAMMAD DELGADO staff writer

On January 26 and 27, Berkeley High School students, dressed in traditional clothing representing their backgrounds, assembled around the campus green to celebrate Multicultural Week. The event featured booths run by BHS’s student culture clubs as well as performances by the African Diaspora Dance and Mandarin classes.

Multicultural Week was organized by BHS Commissioner of Multicultural Affairs Jessica Hipona, with the purpose of bringing BHS’s many communities together in an open celebration of their diversity and unity.

“I just really wanted to see all these different cultures come together,” Hipona said. “Although I really love and I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to be a sort of spokesperson, I think it’s really important that the people from the actual cultures can represent, too.”

The Advanced Placement (AP) Mandarin class performed a choreographed dance routine, followed by a performance by the African Diaspora Dance class, and a yangqin performance by BHS senior Nathan Nguyen. Hipona said that she enjoyed the performances and would like to host more in the future.

Evelyn Chou, a BHS junior, performed with her AP Mandarin class. The show consisted of two movements performed underneath a canopy tent in front of the E Building. “We did a fan dance at first,” Chou said.

“Then we did a more active dance that was choreographed by one of my classmates.” The performances themselves were inspired by practices from Chinese culture. “Fans are used in Chinese dance sometimes, and we were dancing to Chinese music, so (we were) kind of showing that part of our culture,” Chou said.

Students were also able to visit a number of stands hosted by the Asian Culture & Expression Club, Asian Pacific Islander Club, Black Student Union, Habesha Student Union, Latines Unidos, and Native Student Union.

Some clubs, like the Native Student Union, sold art, and others, like the Asian Culture & Expression Club, gave out food.

“The APIC booth had places where people could write down their experiences,” Chou said. “How they connect with their culture, or what being a person of color means at Berkeley High.”

“It felt really nice having everybody have access to our club and just being able to learn about our clubs and then also about the cultures that come with our clubs,” said BHS

senior Muskana Cyrus, copresident of the Black Student Union.

“It was really cool to see each stand being something different,” added BHS senior Winta Tesfaldet, co-president of both the Black Student Union and Habesha Student Union. “It’s really important to highlight the different cultures and heritages of our school.”

Their booths featured posters about their clubs, Ethiopian flags, traditional bread, and stickers of iconic Black celebrities.

“We just wanted to represent (ourselves) through acknowledging certain things that we would do,” said Ivan Cuatlatl Tello, co-president of Latines Unidos. Their club’s stand was ornamented by hanging flags, representing various Latine countries, and

lotería boards. Cuatlatl Tello and the other club leaders said that Multicultural Week gave their classmates a chance to experience their cultures.

“One element of culture that people are experiencing is food,” Cuatlatl Tello said. “Another thing they get to get out of the booths is the history behind whatever they’re selling or showing you.”

Multicultural Week also facilitated awareness for the clubs in attendance as well.

“We did really well with people joining our clubs, and it was just really fun overall,” Tesfaldet said.

Several students agreed that bigger was better for future multicultural week events. “I think a great way to improve it is to find out how to keep people engaged with it, and how we can (get) more

people to come,” Cuatlatl Tello, “We want to see it become more,” Cyrus said. “More collaborations, more activities, more interactivity.”

Hipona looks forward to a more extensive and interactive Multicultural Week next year, but for now she is making plans for events “featuring

specific cultures and bringing awareness to them.”

“I am honored to be a privileged part of the minority,” Hipona said. “Not everybody gets to represent in this way, so I’m really happy that I got to plan (Multicultural Week), and I’m thankful to everybody that participated in it.”

“I really want people to feel good about themselves, their bodies, how they move, to not be afraid to build confidence.”

Dawn ‘Doc Dub’ Williams, African Diaspora Dance teacher

Doc Dub leads the daily warm up for her first period class.

First period Afrian Diaspora dance class performed an Afro-Pop dance.

Nathan Nguyen performed the yangqin, a traditional Chinese instrument.

Clubs sold cultural foods for students to enjoy.

ERASE, EDIT, OR REMAKE?: MOVIES WE’RE MEANT TO LOVE

CHLOE CARUTH

Local theaters strive to diversify audiences

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

worked towards their goals. Despite this, the theater states that they “remain steadfast in their commitment to transforming the theater for the better.”

looks like me on stage, that’s a story that feels valuable or meaningful to me.’ ”

Shotgun Players is also working to dismantle some of the theater practices that can feel hidden to new audience members.

audience demographics.

Jeffrey Dahmer: a convicted serial killer and sex offender. This man is a monster, yet he has been consistently sexualized by the media. The 2017 addition to the Jeffrey Dahmer franchise came in the form of “My Friend Dahmer,” inspired by a graphic novel of the same name.

It was written and illustrated by John “Derf” Backderf, a friend of Dahmer’s in high school. The movie looks into Dahmer’s experience as a teenager in Ohio. True crime is a giant business and is highly popular. But has this interest gone too far?

The term “serial killer” was popularized in the ‘80s, which is also when serial killers really started to make their mark as a public fascination. There were 104 serial killers in the ‘80s, classified as someone who killed three or more people. The highest recorded peak of serial killers was in 1989. True crime media involves movies, TV, books, podcasts, and merchandise about serial killers. The demographic for true crime media has often been young white women. In classic horror movies, they are also often the protagonist. This has brought forth the archetype of the “final girl” — the last girl left alive, often the narrator of the story.

These violent monsters often have their crimes put aside because of their looks. Ted Bundy and Dahmer are notoriously sexualized, which is not helped by the fact that they are often cast as conventionally attractive men in movies and TV. Even celebrities contribute to the lore around serial killers. Camille Rowe, a French-American model, has talked publicly about her love and obsession with Charles Manson. People have even gotten the faces of serial killers as tattoos — Bundy, Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy being the most popular.

I’ve struggled with watching true crime media, and “My Friend Dahmer” was no different. I found it difficult when the red flags in Dahmer’s behavior were passed off as teenage quirkiness and awkwardness, which I found unrealistic in depicting how teenagers would actually react to him.

In the ‘80s, men of color didn’t have a place in the mainstream LGBTQ+ community. They were also often abandoned by their families and left to fend for themselves, leaving them isolated and looking for support. Dahmer used this to his advantage and targeted an especially vulnerable group.

A victim’s family isn’t helped by countless media money grabs where their family member’s stories are glossed over. True crime media desensitizes people from the reality of these horrors, but also normalizes them. It distorts the reality of the occurrence of crimes and the demographics they affect. There are plenty of real monsters in this world; let’s stick to depicting the fictional ones.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has also established a dedicated budget line which goes towards antiracism staff training and development. “We’re really trying to think broadly about making sure that, given the relatively powerful platform that we have for storytelling here in the Bay, that we are uplifting, representing, and supporting a wide variety of voices,” said Johanna Pfaelzer, the artistic director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Local theaters have been taking steps to welcome in a spectrum of audience members. For many theaters like Shotgun Players, this takes shape in focusing on the type of stories they’re telling and the ways that they cast.

“Specifically, we’re looking for plays about, you know, Black joy over Black trauma, right, or stories that have not historically been told on mainstage,” Lisle said. “For audiences it’s like, ‘Wow, there’s someone who

“There’s a lot of unspoken rules that go along with the culture,” Lisle said. “Like, I have to look this way, or I need to be quiet at these times, and I can clap at these other times. And so a lot of what we’re trying to do is throw that out the window a little bit.”

The playhouse is making efforts to combat this dynamic by encouraging interactions with the audience.

“We have audiences that are like, vocally responding throughout the show, supporting the cast,” Lisle said. “There’s just like an energy and electricity in the room that feels really different, I think, than in traditional theater spaces.”

According to Cyndii Johnson, an actress currently working with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the industry has changed dramatically since she first started. Johnson has noticed an increase in diversity, including cast, crew, box office, and production. She has also seen shifts in the

“In the past, theater audiences were always old, rich, white people, a very specific kind of person,” Johnson said. “But now, people are beginning to realize that theater is supposed to be an inclusive place for all people. People are adjusting their ticket pricing, they’re having initiatives, and really being a part of the community.”

At Shotgun Players, this goal to bring in a more diverse audience is through the Make A Difference (MAD) program. People who are 25 or younger can purchase a ten dollar MAD ticket, used for any performance any time.

Shotgun Players also offers the Community Ticket,

which isn’t age based. “(If) you want to come see the theater and prices are the barrier, you can get a $15 ticket for any show,” Lisle said.

Continuing to strive for diverse audiences is crucial to Lisle.

“The experience of sitting in the theater next to someone you don’t know, who’s not necessarily like you and has totally different experiences from you is the whole name of the game,” Lisle said. “Why bother to make theater if you’re making it for the same type of people all the time? If the theater audience is homogeneous, then a lot of the possibility of the beautiful transformative power of theater is lost.”

Berkeley icon Faye Carol uses jazz to unify

walks of life, but they’ll all be in a musical setting for one reason alone that they all agree with,” Carol said.

to stay alive and vibrant and vibe with other people’s beautiful cultures as well.”

BY ELTA TRACY staff writer

March 13, in Berkeley, California, is Faye Carol Day. Carol, a jazz musician who was born in Mississippi and moved to Berkeley as an adult, has made an impact through her music, words, and teachings. Beyond Carol’s vocal talent, she excels in bringing people together through her captivating stage presence and enriching blues, R&B, folk, soul, and cabaret performances.

Carol scored her first gig,

the chance to perform with a local band, by winning a talent show in Oakland. She continued her work tirelessly, touring with the Angelairs, a toots band, and working with blues musicians like Johnny Heartsman and soul singers like Eddie Foster. Working with these musicians helped her get into the industry, but for Carol, the feeling that music imbues in her audience is what has kept her performing for decades. “I like the fact that music is unifying. You can see all different kinds of people from all different kinds of

The idea of growth is very important to Carol, and it is what drew her to Berkeley after growing up in Mississippi. “Berkeley seems to be open to culture and open to growth, and I like the feeling of that. I like the feeling of not being stagnant as a community, but forward thinking and open minded. I think that’s what Berkeley is,” she said.

This mindset of openness is what motivated her to stay in Berkeley, as well as to send her daughter to play jazz at and attend Berkeley High School.

To Carol, the underlying messages of music don’t change, even if the sounds, rhythms and beats do from generation to generation. Music is a way of valuing the people who came before us and the new ones that we meet. Carol says she wants her music to foreground this. She said, “I want my culture, that Black culture,

In addition to performing, Carol also teaches at the School of The Getdown, a school designed to share and promote Black music with the Bay Area community through performance. Although she was not keen on teaching at first, she said, “I found out how much you could help people in their musical quest and I always did like the idea of helping people.”

Carol continues to bring people together, create acceptance, and inspire new generations to make music and perform. She continues performing often, with her next shows, titled “Faye Sings the Blues” on February 10 and 11 at the Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club in San Francisco. Her work has helped the community, and she has developed in her artistry and style as the years go on.

“I’ll always have a new dress and a new song, and that to me, is growth,” she said.

COURTESY OF FAYE CAROL

OLIVIA HIBSER

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY J HORSLEY

Afrofuturism in literature: Reccomendations from BHS Library

BY MADELYN PHILHOWER staff writer

“Memory informs, but it’s not where you live,” said Sarah Rosenkrantz, Berkeley High School librarian. This concept is key to Afrofuturism, a genre of literature where the perspectives, experiences, and culture of Black artists and writers are celebrated within the realms of science fiction.

“Afrofuturism is moving away from the singular narrative of Black History Month being located in the past in the history of enslavement and in the history of colonialism,” Rosenkrantz said. “Folks are writing themselves into the future, creating diverse narratives that build on Black thought, Black mythologies, and make future predictions in science fiction.”

Dive into five book recommendations from Rosenkrantz that explore alternate visions of the future rooted in African Diaspora.

In “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin, the world is ending for the final time. A beautiful blend of science fiction and fantasy, “The Fifth Season” follows the experiences of Essun, a mother and survivor, as she braves an apocalyptic world of magic and murder to find her daughter. “This book takes place far in the future on a planet ravaged by environmental abuse and extreme climate chaos,” Rosenkrantz said. “The presence of generational and collective trauma is explored, as well as ways that people band together in extreme circumstances and find ways to navigate oppressive social structures.”

“Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler is a foundational text in Afrofuturism. Writing before the term even existed, Butler was a “barrier breaker who dominated the realm of science fiction,” Rosenkrantz said. “Parable of the Sower” was published in 1993 but takes place in California from 2024 to 2027. The book follows the protagonist, Lauren Olamina, as Los Angeles falls to ruin amidst climate catastrophe and economic collapse. Though it can pose a challenging read, themes of hope and community shine through Butler’s work, making “Parable of the Sower” an important and timely read as we move through the 2020s and beyond.

“The Deep” by Rivers Solomon tells the story of Yetu, the sole holder of her people’s traumatic memories. Yetu is part of an underwater society descended from enslaved African women who were thrown from ships during the transatlantic slave trade. The book was inspired by BHS alumni Daveed Diggs, who wrote a song with the same title. “Memory is a main motif in Afrofuturistic writings,” Rosenkrantz said. “While memory and history roots (writers) in a particular historical experience, they’re using that historical experience to shape a future.” Solomon delves into memory, and how one must reclaim history to shape the future.

“Afrofuturism is not limited to the written word, but can be expressed in a diversity of art forms,” Rosenkrantz said. Similarly to Solomon’s “The Deep”, Janelle Monáe’s short story collection “In the Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer”, is based on the world of her 2018 music album “Dirty Computer”. An Afrofuturistic and cyberpunk collection, Monáe’s short stories explore themes of memory, censorship, race, and sexuality. Science fiction allows readers to teleport to new realities but has historically ignored the diverse cultures and people who make up the world, and Afrofuturism works to combat that.

Jordan Peele’s directing across genres breaks cinematic norms

BY ZACHARY YOO staff writer

In 2019, actor Jordan Peele created controversy by saying he wasn’t interested in making films about white protagonists. The comedian-turnedhorror-auteur has a clear purpose. In each of his three movies, Peele creates complex horror narratives that speak to the struggles of African American people.

“As with comedy, I feel like horror and the thriller genre is a way, one of the few ways, that we can address real-life horrors and social injustices in an entertaining way,” said Peele in a 2016 interview with Forbes. Peele has a talent for preying on the uncomfortable, which

is apparent in almost all of his works, in both comedy and horror. In both, Peele often focuses on a simple dilemma and exploits it for all its work, until it’s stripped down and barely visible for its mockable stupidity or horrifying implications.

Peele has written and directed three original horror films, along with writing and producing a few others. Each has explored different aspects of the contemporary Black experience — from the struggle to obtain recognition for

historic contributions in “Nope,” to the ways in which Black Americans can simultaneously be oppressed and hold privilege in “Us.” His themes creep up on you — it’s nothing new to use monsters to reveal something unsettling about ourselves, but more often than not, Peele’s films don’t hold your hand in unraveling meaning. Each of Peele’s films is also filled with visual symbolism, making them continually rewarding on repeat viewings. Far from his two-to-five-minute segments on his sketch comedy show “Key and Peele,” his horror movies are dense packages of ideas. Allusions to slavery, Michael Jackson, and anything in between are fair game, and symbolism like eyes or

rabbits tie into themes about the necessity to be seen or the purpose of religion.

The focus on Black stories is also groundbreaking. As Peele once pointed out, other than his works, there are very few movies which properly convey the Black experience. Not only this, but there are very few movies even centralized on Black characters and narratives. Even when his

“Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda” is an anthology made up of 18 short stories from authors across the African Diaspora. Each narrative dives into the different lives of the people and places of Wakanda, the home of T’challa (king of the region and superhero known as Black Panther). “Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda” is an incredible and relevant example of “taking about things that are rooted in African cultures and pushing them out technologically speaking into the future… as opposed to using a white cultural narrative to predict into the future,” Rosenkrantz said.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEX MORGAN

plots might not be explicitly about Black identity, like in “Nope,” they are different than the average horror flick. Peele pointed out, “You can’t have Black people in a flying saucer film and just have it be the same experience. It’s not. There’s a different relationship.”

Genre has never been an issue for Peele. When “Get Out” was criticized by for being a fusion of his

own comedy roots with outside horror influences, his sophomore “Us” became fully-fledged horror. With last year’s “Nope,” he swerved into Spielbergian blockbuster cinema. Versatility in both style and genre continues to be his strong suit. Though no one can be sure what his next film will look like, one thing is certain: no one is doing it like Jordan Peele.

Peele pointed out, “You can’t have Black people in a flying saucer film and just have it be the same experience. It’s not. There’s a different relationship.”

J HORSLEY

‘Stories through sound’; New hip-hop class bridges history

BY ADITYA SRIDHARAN staff writer

Nestled in the A Building is Sakima Williams, who teaches Inventing Hip-Hop at Berkeley High School. In a room of six students, the course covers the past and present, music and history, and incites inspiration.

Williams grew up in hip -hop and remembers break dancing in the early ‘80s on pieces of linoleum. His perspective as a teacher intertwines his upbringing with his identities as both a musician and an educator.

“To move it forward, it’s important for us to look back and see what we came from,” he said. His aspiration: is to link past and present in order for students to better understand hip-hop.

“When I used to go

to church, I would stay after just to mess around with the drums,” said BHS freshman Kamren Bell. Bell’s interest in the drums led him to sign up for the class which he now views as a sort of family.

“(Williams) makes you feel comfortable and you feel like you can express yourself towards him,” Bell said.

Music and history are of equal importance in the class. “We first addressed hip-hop’s history from its roots (in) the defunded

came together and created the four main elements of hip-hop, being breakdancing, beatboxing, MCing and DJing,” he said.

African American culture being taught in high school has grown since William’s childhood. Growing up surrounded by hip-hop, “the police would harass us and give us soliciting and loitering tickets,” Williams said.

The class demonstrates the connection between many genres of music.

school programs of New York,” Williams said. “Teenagers from Puerto Rican and African American backgrounds

“These different components like jazz and house evolved with hip-hop and cross pollinated,” Williams added. After teaching the historical roots of hiphop, Williams leads the class into music production. “They’re telling their stories through sound. They’re selecting the rhythms and drum

THE CROSSWORD

patterns that speak to them,” he said.

“It makes me see music and hip-hop differently now since I know how to do everything,” Bell said. “I was listening to this beat this morning... it’s like an old Tupac beat, and I heard how they made it with the hi-hats. It was like it was real. That’s what I heard over the beat because I had learned it in the class.”

Sophomore Kevon Newman has learned a lot. “Back then I was just listening to music,

but you gotta really get into it (so) you can hear the little things,” he said. Newman said that the class occasionally gets goofy, “but when it’s time to get to our music we’re gonna get to it,” he said.

Williams differentiated his course. “Other classes are trying to stuff information into your brain and I’m trying to pull creativity out.” He continued, “the best thing we do is inspire. If I don’t inspire you to want to learn, to see the

importance of it and the relevance to you, you’re not gonna retain it,” Williams’ respect for students goes both ways. “He knows more than just music,” Bell said. “He is a genuine person, he is an uplifting person and he teaches you what you want to know.”

“I wish that more students would sign up,” Williams emphasized, “and see the value of not only learning about the past, but bringing it into the present.”

58. Person native to Alaskan islands 60. Suffix with north or east 61. Second halves of conditional statements, following “ifs” 62. Dog controller

DOWN

1. What flies without wings

2. Did a fender-bender

3. Sperm counterpart

4. Guarding, as secrets

5. Sections of Scottish clans

6. Not tricking

7. Singer Rit

8. Somewhat

9. Ethnicity of most people in the world

10. Tightly packed

11. Sweet dried fruits of palm trees 12. Tupperware top 13. Antidepressants that target serotonin transporters

17. Main character of Pixar’s “Turning Red” 20. Empire centered in Constantinople

23. Dens

President of Yugoslavia until 1980

26. “Geraint and ___” of Tennyson

28. Site of a war from 1955 to 1975 30. Contracted word within “we’re” or “they’re” 31. Love deeply

32. Plant structure with multiple projections from one stem, found on a maple or oak

Changes - David Bowie

Friday I’m in Love - The Cure

Dreams - The Cranberries

The Pretender - Foo Fighters

Kickstart My HeartMotley Crue

Change (In the House of Flies) - Deftones

Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash

Crazy Train - Ozzie

Osbourne

Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

Breathe (In the Air - Pink Floyd

Little Miss Lover - Jimi Hendrix

The Best Way to Travel -

— Raven Fonseca Jensen

— Nicholas McGlashan

Williams demonstrates a song on electric bass for his class.

“They’re telling their stories through sound. They’re selecting the rhythms and drum patterns that speak to them.”

Sakima Williams, BHS Inventing Hip-Hop teacher

Elite NorCal team elevates female cyclists

BY SASKIA FREEDBERG staff writer

“I was racing road (cycling) in NorCal and I was very frustrated with the lack of opportunities and the lack of support that women are getting,” said Bay Areabased professional cyclist, Helena Gilbert-Snyder, of the Norcal Interscholastic Cycling League. “And I really just decided that I wanted to try to change that.”

Over the course of six months, Gilbert-Snyder spoke with sponsors, scouted athletes, and put together Monarch Racing, which “in normal people words, means that it’s a women’s team that races at the pro level in the U.S. in road racing,” Gilbert-Snyder said. Previously, there “was not any opportunity for women to race at the professional level in the U.S.,” Gilbert-Snyder said. “You either had to be a professional cyclist living in Europe, or a hyper talented cyclist since day one who was already identified by professional level teams.”

In road cycling, “You can’t just register as an individual at a professional level road race, because you need to be on a team to do so,” GilbertSnyder said. Without elite teams to compete with, promising young female riders don’t have access to the races and can’t create a career for themselves.

Annie Whalen, one of seven riders on the team, has seen this lack of opportunity for female cyclists since she

started riding during 2020, as a third year University of California, Los Angeles student. Soon after beginning, “I wanted to try to do it professionally,” Whalen said.

Gilbert-Snyder began riding as a senior at El Cerrito High School, one of three girls on the team. She put biking “on the backburner for the first year or two” of college, but then decided she wanted to ride seriously.

Whalen and GilbertSnyder met at a race in 2021, backstage before the podium ceremony and “then we just got along immediately,” Whalen said. Last season, as the only two women on a domestic elite cycling team, they were not entirely happy with their experience. Whalen said, “It was really just a lack of attention on us when we were the only women and we also had different goals

than the guys did.”

Many of the competitive teams for women in NorCal have “petered out,” or do not attend national level events or have the funding to cover the costs for riders.

“Women are going to gravel or into mountain biking if they want to chase those really elite level opportunities … there’s this massive hole in road racing,” GilbertSnyder said. Monarch Racing is one step towards leveling this inequality. Whalen looks forward to creating a “motivating and sustainable,” comradery with the women on the team who share her goals, noting that it was harder to form these bonds with male athletes “because their experience was so different than ours, their opportunities were different.”

The team will race together but not train together regularly. Most

riders work with a private coach and have a day job or are still in school.

Gregory Kennedy, a board member at KaiVelo, a California based cycling foundation that owns Monarch Racing, said that it would be “amazing if we get to a place where not only were they full time, but they were world class athletes that were able to compete in the top events and cycling around the world.” GilbertSnyder hopes that Monarch will soon have a team of development riders, as well as sponsors who are able to provide equipment.

“Everyone in cycling, and especially on this team this year, have been privileged in some way,” Gilbert-Snyder said. “(To) bring more riders into this sport and support them the same way that we were supported at some point is super important, and really ties into the core of what this team is about.”

BHS student swims open ocean, sets record

BY LEO SILVERBERG staff writer

While her classmates were in school last month, Berkeley High School sophomore Maya Merhige was in Hawaii swimming for 27 and a half hours in the open ocean. On January 19, she became the youngest person to swim 28 miles of the Moloka’i channel in Hawaii, and 90th person worldwide to swim for over

24 hours. She set the record for the longest swim of the channel.

Merhige started swimming at an early age, and by age nine, she began swimming to raise funds for pediatric cancer research through the organization Swim Across America. She has raised over $55,000 to date, which she donates to local hospitals.

“I feel like everyone’s been touched by cancer in some way,” Merhige said.

She swam in honor of her family friend Sam, who passed away from cancer last month at the age of 12.

Merhige described how Sam’s memory helped her get through the hard parts of the swim saying, “During the scary part, when I would see something or hear something … I’d always be like: ‘Sam, you can’t let me get eaten by a shark today.’ ”

Her journey from Hawaii’s Moloka’i Island to O’ahu began the night of January 18, with a rocky start.

“I got stuck in a current for the first 10 hours. So I didn’t really go anywhere,” she said. Merhige struggled to make progress with the current and the next morning, she could still see the place where she had started. On top of that, she braved the creatures of the ocean, swimming through jellyfish for three hours.

“I had just gotten stung by jellyfish and my back was cramping and I cried for

two hours,” she said. “And then I was like: ‘Okay, don’t cry. It’s fine.’ And I just kept swimming.”

Merhige was not allowed to receive any support or help throughout her swim. Despite the difficulties, the swim was not as challenging for Merhige as past swims. She experienced moments of beauty and wonder throughout, highlighting a few moments where she “saw shooting stars ... and I could hear dolphins underwater.” She even witnessed a birth, describing that, “a whale had a baby 100 feet away from me.”

Merhige is back at school, adjusting to all the attention she has been receiving. Still, she’s happy that the attention has helped her raise more money for something that she cares about.

As for her next swim, Merhige plans on completing the Ocean’s Seven, which is a series of 7 open water channel swims throughout the world.

As I sat there on the carpet of my childhood bedroom floor, I had my mind set on where beauty lay — in the shiny strands of hair that would glide so easily through the bristles of her hairbrush. The Barbie doll’s hair was straight, blonde, graceful, and pretty. Everything that mine wasn’t.

Being the Black daughter of an Asian mother who had a completely different hair type than me, we struggled with dealing with my hair. Thus, I wore it in the easiest and most convenient hairstyles — two braided pigtails or a ponytail … every single day. I never wore my hair out, not only because no one else around me had the same hair as me, but also because I didn’t know how to style it and make it “presentable.” And so, everyday for the first decade of my life, I wore pigtail braids, ponytails, buns … whatever hairstyle would just bundle all the frizz away.

I wished for straight hair a lot. With straight hair, I knew that no one would ask to touch my hair as if I were a fascinating zoo animal. I wouldn’t have had to wake up an hour earlier every morning to style my hair before school. My hands and biceps wouldn’t cramp and ache as I ripped through the knots and tangles of my curls. I wouldn’t have to schedule my Sundays around washing and drying my hair. With straight hair, life would be so much easier.

But as much as I could wish and whine, the aches, pains, and sleepless nights would always be there. With curly hair comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes work. So I started working. I stood in front of my bathroom mirror for hours after school practicing and trying dozens of different hairstyles and hair routines from YouTube. As my biceps cramped up, I worked. As the tears of distress and anger slid down my cheeks, I worked. As the cries of exasperation escaped my mouth, I worked. As I continued to work, the dedication I had towards caring for my hair flourished. I finally began to respect my hair. I began loving the way my curls bounced, the way the tangles beautifully toned my biceps, the way my fingers ached as their strength grew, the way I could express my creativity through my hair as I experimented with various hairstyles … I began loving the way my hair made me work. Black hair is more than a hair texture — it is Black history, Black community, Black strength, Black creativity, and a major aspect of the Black identity. Embracing our Black hair symbolizes the love we have for our history, culture, and community. Black hair is beautiful because of its tangles, coils, curls, and frizz that bring out the uniqueness within our race that hasn’t always been welcomed, but that we have bravely fought to protect.

Black hair is difficult to care for, and as I continue to embrace my natural curls, the work definitely will not get any easier. But I’m willing to put in the work needed to care for my natural curls because my hair connects me to the ancestral roots that I share with the rest of the Black community, and that connection, that aspect of my identity, is something I’d never give up on.

COURTESY OF PAUL GILBERT-SNYDER

Merhige swam to raise funds for cancer research. PENELOPE GILLIGAN

Helena Gilbert-Snyder won the San Rafael Twilight Criterium on July 30, 2022.

BLACK ATHLETE SPOTLIGHTS

BY CLARA TJEN staff writer

Jamari Widemon

Jamari Widemon, a junior on the Berkeley High School varsity boys basketball team, first picked up a basketball when he was only eight years old, and has been a talented forward since. For Widemon, basketball is an outlet for when things are challenging in his personal life, and has helped him through the losses of people close to him. Basketball is therapeutic for him because he “only has one focus” on the court. When Widemon is having a bad day, he turns to basketball to relax or calm down. He described the comfort in “hearing that swish or bouncing of the ball.” These sounds distract him from what’s going on inside his head. Because of his love for the sport, Widemon tries to find time to play whenever he is able to and usually plays five to seven days a week.

Nia Adeborna

Nia Adeborna is a sophomore and a striker on the Berkeley High School JV girls soccer team. “My dad is really passionate about soccer, so he’s the one who really got me into it,” Adeborna said. During COVID-19, Adeborna had a hard time finding motivation to continue playing soccer. She wanted to be with friends more and she “felt lonely while playing soccer.” When she got to BHS, she decided to go out for the high school team and found it a lot easier to build a community. It was much easier to “make connections with (her BHS teammates) and become friends with them than it was with kids on your club team that go to different schools,” Adeborna said.

Becca Cardiello

Becca Cardiello is a senior on the Berkeley High School lacrosse team. Cardiello moved to Berkeley from New Jersey at the start of ninth grade and started playing lacrosse at BHS that year. Cardiello has had a complicated relationship with her sport, but she ultimately stuck with it, due to the community she’s become a part of and the satisfaction of accomplishing personal and team goals. She noted that, “Lacrosse is a very white sport. ... Being in high school and playing other schools that are ... more predominantly white than Berkeley has just really been interesting.” However, Cardiello holds the important role of keeping the energy of the team positive. “If we have a good attitude, we can have a good practice. ... Attitude is everything,” she said. Cardiello also enjoys the feeling of achieving success after working hard during difficult practices and “knowing that we were able to execute something to the best of our ability and it ended in a positive way.”

Yoga restores mind and body balance

BY MATEO TSAI staff writer

In a second story studio, Melanie Green leads coaches and athletes on the Berkeley High School mountain biking team in yoga every Monday afternoon. She asks riders to consider how many hours a week they spend hunched over their handlebars, spines bent and muscles tight, and prompts them to compare that to the time they spend each week doing yoga. Overwhelmingly, the athletes in the room spend just this one hour each week balancing out their movement.

“When we’re practicing our sport, and we just do the same thing over and over, but we’re not balancing it with the opposite, then it’s much harder to listen ... when something might be going on (with our bodies),” Green said.

For her Monday classes, she invites riders to be curious about what is painful or sore, adding, “I try to think about what muscles mountain bikers use.”

She shapes her practice

by working through inverses of the stress that biking puts on rider’s bodies. She incorporates shoulder openers to combat the biker hunch, as well as working in balancing poses to strengthen racing focus, clearly detailing these benefits as she leads.

For example, the downward dog: in biking, there isn’t much upper body work. In addition to stretching the legs, “downward dog creates a lot of strength and balance in the upper body. The arms, the triceps, the bicep, the shoulders,” said Green. On another level, “because the head is hanging, it’s a very releasing posture for the mind and the brain.”

“The practice of yoga quiets the mind. It stops the churning,” Green said. By concentrating on the breath and body, athletes eventually learn to focus their minds.

For Lauren Turner, a former collegiate athlete and current owner and CEO of a sports consulting practice in Inglewood, California, sports taught her “the consistency of discipline, and just what it means to be able to really make a commitment to something.”

Boys varsity soccer is currently second in league with an overall 13-5-3 record. The Jackets are currently on a four game winning streak. Their next game, senior night, is at 7:30 p.m. at home on Friday, February 10 against Bishop O’Dowd High School.

Girls varsity soccer won league for the fifth year in a row with an overall record of 11-4-4. Senior Captain and University of California, San Diego commit Shima Dixon said, “After winning league, we’re super excited to see how far we can make it through NCS competing at the highest level.” Senior night took place at home on their final conference game against San Leandro High School, at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 9.

Boys varsity basketball is currently first in the league with an impressive overall record of 18-7. Junior Samir O’Brien is currently ranked seventh in the North Coast Section for average points per game with 20.8. Their final conference game is at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 10, away against Piedmont High School.

Girls varsity basketball holds an overall record of 5-19. Their final conference game is at 5:30 p.m. away on Friday, February 10 against Piedmont.

Wrestling is coming off a big win in the San Lorenzo High School tournament, against Hayward High School and San Lorenzo. “The season is going well. Varsity has done some good work but I’m especially proud of our new wrestlers who have been incredible this year!” said senior co-captain Gabriel Ross. On February 11, Berkeley is set to host the West Alameda County Conference finals.

Cheer’s competition squad took third place at Nationals in Las Vegas two weeks ago with a routine they had been working on since June. “We were all super thrilled to make BHS history, especially since most of us on the team had never competed before,” said senior Jasmine Moreira-Cortes.

JO PURCELL

BY

ILLUSTRATIONS

LEV TEIBLUM

sports editors: Luisa Bertolli & Norah Lee

LEV TEIBLUM

BHS mountain-bikers took a yoga class on February 5. SUNNY BEVIS-LIPTON

Boys soccer Girls soccer Boys basketball Girls basketball Wrestling

Cheer