BHS Jacket 2022/23 Issue 12

BERKELEY HIGH

PUBLISHED BY AND FOR THE STUDENTS OF BERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL

www.berkeleyhighjacket.com • friday, MARCH 3, 2023

no. 13

since 1912

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Humanize each other’: ‘Our Monologues’ brings value of community to stage

BY MADELYN PHILHOWER staff writer

18 silhouettes stood onstage at Berkeley High School’s Little Theater, applause thundering across the room as the opening night of “Our Monologues” came to a close. During the show’s two-hour run time, cast members performed monologues, dances, and songs, exploring a vast array of topics within the BHS community.

Directed by seniors Mimia Ousilas and Juniper Dorado, this year’s “Our

Monologues” dives into issues of race, identity, relationships, and sexuality through the perspectives of BHS students. Dorado explained how as an entirely student-run operation, a diversity of stories is an important aspect of “Our Monologues.”

“The variety of topics that ‘Our Monologues’ touches on helps (us) humanize each other because we’re learning about all of these different aspects rather than just focusing on one,” Dorado said. Without a variety of subject matter, “we wouldn’t see PAGE 13 EMILIA FREILICH

FEATURES

Staff remembers Reemajah Pollard

BY AVA RAMSDALE staff writer

“He was very intelligent and he was independent. He persevered through some of the most difficult challenges that a kid can face, so his accomplishments are remarkable and should be celebrated,” said Jessie Luxford, reflecting on Reemajah Pollard’s life.

Berkeley High School alumnus and former University of California, Berkeley student, Pollard was loved by many and his passing is felt within the Berkeley community.

Luxford, a teacher for the Bridge Program at BHS, met Pollard his sophomore year, and recalled him as a determined student who was funny and always helpful to others. She said that his ability to get along with anybody made him stand out, and he consistently

made the classroom more exciting.

“He gave me a lot, as a father, as a person who was his mentor, and his counselor,” former BHS college counselor David An said, who was a mentor to Pollard throughout his time at BHS. According to An, Pollard was not only an inspiration to his peers, but to his mentors and teachers as well, who loved to see him smile and laugh.

Prior to becoming his college counselor, An and Pollard developed a relationship when they were introduced by Pollard’s longtime friend. Pollard would often stop by the College and Career Center (CCC) to check-in with An, and An was glad to be able to support Pollard on his college journey as well as through his personal life.

According to An, Pollard opened up to him about some of the PAGE 10

ADEA HANSEN-WHISTLER

FEATURES

Black students face private school isolation

BY CHARLIE TAMAGNO staff writer

4.7 million students in the U.S. were enrolled in private schools in fall of 2019. In comparison, nearly 50 million students attended public schools. Of this population of private school students, just 9 percent identified as Black, according to the National

Center for Education Statistics. The experience of students of color at private schools in the Bay Area is a unique one. Families usually choose to send their students to private school in order to put a stronger focus on their academic experience, but these schools tend to be overwhelmingly white. It can be isolating, especially in smaller schools with just one

or two students of color.

Alex Scott is a current freshman at American University who recently graduated from Bentley School, an Oakland private school, where they were one of only a few Black students.

They attended private schools their entire life, which they considered an incredibly beneficial academic experience, but rough in

terms of finding people with a similar life experience. They explained that attending predominantly white schools, especially those with a mostly upper-class student population, caused damage to their self-esteem. Scott became self-conscious in school. “I’d be one of the only Black people in class,” Scott said. “I always felt like the odd one out in my PAGE 11

Submit to our Women’s History Month special issue!

Senior night recap: Boys, girls soccer, girls basketball

Feminist concepts battle misrepresentation, stigma

The Jacket is accepting art and writing submissions for our Women’s History Month special issue! More info on PAGE 8

Boys soccer, girls soccer, girls basketball wrapped up at home seasons with Senior Nights on February 2, 9 and 10. PAGE 16

Feminists’ defiant pride is misconstrued to be harmful instead of normalizing common feminine experiences. PAGE 5

2 FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

NEWS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

news editors: Kaiya Jordan & Kira Rao-Poolla

Kaiyajordan@students.berkeley.net

CA Dept. of Education reports dashboard on student achievement dashboard communicates data to the public that our district has reported, such as graduation rates and On December 15, the suspension data,” Berkeley California Department of High School Principal Juan Education released the 2022 Raygoza said. “I’m glad that California School Dashboard, the dashboard exists because according to a B erkeley it shows transparency, and Unified School District press we have work to do, and that release. The there’s a lot dashboard of things that showcased we should be “This data highlights the strengths of BHS, t h e proud of.” such as the fact that the highest graduation performance R aygoza l e v e l s o f rates by race and ethnicity is for students who noted that the susp e ns i on dashboard is identify as two or more races, and also areas rates, English not finished, where improvement is needed.”

Learner and currently, progress, mu c h d at a Kiernan Rok, g r a du at i on showing the BHS vice principal rates, and progress BHS levels of has made is academic not available. performances such as math district will use to understand BHS Vice Principal Kiernan and English. the impact on conditions of Rok described several findings As reported by the press learning, as well as progress of the collected data. “This release, the 2022 dashboard on academics, attendance, and data highlights the strengths is “status-only,” which means other performance measures. of BHS, such as the fact that that the dashboard does not “The student achievement the highest graduation rates

BY MAYA DANG staff writer

compare data from different years to display trends.

The 2021-22 dashboard is the first to be released since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will present a baseline for future years.

Looking to the future, the data gathered from the 2021-22 school year is one tool that the

by race and ethnicity is for be difficult to draw any useful served by different programs at students who identify as conclusions about students’ BHS. Their experiences with two or more races, and also progress towards English the ELPAC test vary widely.” areas where improvement is proficiency without looking The BHS S cho ol Site needed,” Rok said. at the different populations of Council has created a subAreas where improvement English Learners and different c o m m i t t e e d e d i c a t e d is needed, according to Rok, domains of the ELPAC.” to improving student include English, math, and Rok also said that BHS achievement. According to progress chai r p e rs on for English Debbie Taylor, Learners (EL). the council’s “We need to track students early on and “ T h e goal is to make sure students are passing all of their E n g l i s h understand L a n g u a g e classes and continue to have opportunities for w h a t d a t a Proficiency other high students to make up credit.”

Assessments schools (and for California their districts) Juan Raygoza, ( E L PAC ) i s collect and BHS principal also a stateanalyze. mandated The School E n g l i s h Site Council Proficiency Assessment that has several racial inequalities, hopes to request and review tests four domains of language: explaining how the overall Berkeley Research, Evaluation, speaking, listening, reading, success rates for students and Assessment’s analysis of and writing. Students receive at BHS follow a predictable student achievement data, an overall score based on their pattern, with white and Asian cours e enrol lment, and results in each domain,” said students generally performing demographic data to improve Anna Maine, Multilingual better than Latinx and Black student outcomes.

Program (MLP) co-lead and EL students.

According to Rok, the teacher/coordinator. “It would R ay goz a e ch o e d t h i s school can give better support statement, saying that BHS to students and increase isn’t adequately serving Black graduation rates in numerous and Brown students in English different ways. and Math. He described how “We can focus on making the administration and staff our classrooms safe and want to increase attendance welcoming spaces for all for all students, especially students with rigorous and students of color. engaging curriculum and T h e y a l s o w a n t t o learning experiences. We ensure that more students can continue to invest in our are University of California teachers by providing support eligible, recruit more students and quality professional for Career Technical Education development. And we can programs, and continue to continue to provide a high support specific groups of level of wrap-around services students in English and math. such as tutoring, academic “While I do not believe support, and mental health EL progress can be measured counseling to make sure every solely by ELPAC scores, I do student has the support they believe there is much to be need to achieve success,” Rok done to improve academic said. outcomes for all English Raygoza agreed with this Learners,” Maine said. “All sentiment. He added that services — including mental Berkeley High School needs health and academic support to not only record graduation — for all English Learners rates, but in addition track mu s t b e e x p an d e d an d students throughout their supported by the district.” earlier years of high school to Howe ver, Maine a ls o make a greater difference. described the limitations “ We n e e d e a r l y of the dashboard’s data on intervention,” Raygoza said.

ELPAC. “I don’t think (the “Graduation happens after dashboard) represents BHS four years, but we need to track students’ abilities. ...The data students early on and make also does not differentiate sure students are passing all b etween EL Newcomers of their classes and continue and Long Term English to have opportunities for Learners and EL students students to make up credit.

JESSIE LEE with Individualized Education (The school needs to) engage Programs. These three groups and empower students to feel are quite different, and they are successful and be successful.”

DESIGN BY REBECCA BIRENBAUM

Berkeley High School overall academic performance

Data from the California Department of Education dashboard on student achievement.

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NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

Admin works to update School Safety Plan

BAY BRIEF

BY FINOLA JACKSON staff writer

The California Education code mandates that all public schools annually submit an updated and reviewed Comprehensive School Safety Plan (CSSP) to the state by March 1. Shaheen Mohammad, Dean of Students, led this years’ effort to update the Berkeley High School Safety Plan.

The BHS School Safety Plan currently includes protocols for situations ranging from earthquakes to on-campus sexual assault to armed intruders. This 83 page document, available on the Berkeley Unified School District website, also provides direction on student discipline and mental health aid to students after emergencies.

Additionally, the CSSP contains plans for unlikely disasters, which include hostage situations, terrorist attacks, fallen aircraft, and explosions. Page 15 of the CSSP proclaims room H104 as the schools’ designated morgue area.

Teachers access expansive information about school safety protocols through emails from administration, according to Hillary Fong, a U9 Ethnic Studies teacher.

Teachers receive training in the form of interactive videos. Teachers are given 5-6 different videos covering things like active shooter scenarios, bloodborne pathogen transmittal, and mandated reporting. They have questions embedded and a quiz at the end where the taker must score at least 80 percent correct to pass.

Teachers had in person training on those subjects in the past, and have discussions about them in regular meetings from time to time.

Teachers are also trained in practical application of the School Safety plan.

“We’ve practiced barricading the doors, and evacuating in the event of an earthquake,” Fong said.

Additionally, each classroom holds a small booklet of emergency procedures, essentially a condensed school safety plan.

BHS students partake in active shooter drills and emergency earthquake evacuations. In the case of a violent intruder incident, students watch educational videos on ALICE protocol, an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. Students practice evacuating for fire drills and earthquake drills. “(In the event of an earthquake), People have in

the back of their heads, you need to drop down and hold your neck, because it’s also something that’s been taught throughout school,” said BHS sophomore Nia Adeborna.

Student teachers, however, have sparse emergency training, according to student teacher Timothy Finnigan.

“You’re just sort of thrown into the fray, and with the expectation that you’re going to abide by your host teacher’s expertise with those things,” Finnigan said.

According to Fong, being prepared and improvising are both important, dependent on the situation.

“It’s good to know some general things,” Fong said.

“So just find people and figure out how to take role (call). But at the same time, I feel like sometimes major disasters kind of mess up the whole plan. So you have to

improvise.”

Finnigan said training can be useful if students are able to hear directions, but that students also benefit from trusting their instincts.

“It’s great to have a plan,” Finnigan said. “It’s great to have systems in place, places to go, places to be, but also have trust in yourself as an individual and to respond in a way to your own instincts for survival. Some BHS students acknowledge the necessity for regularly updating the school safety plan, given the prevalence of school shootings in the United States.

“We’re there knowing that (school gun violence) is a reality,” Adeborna said.

“Especially when there are loud noises, you’re like, (gun violence) could happen, because it has happened at other schools.

BHS student views document on emergency procedures.

MADI NATHAN

BHS Community Theater set to open in May

Community Theater construction continues into March, with seats covered in tarps.

BY VIOLET MILLER-BRADY staff writer

On January 3, the A Building reopened, but construction on the Community Theater has continued since.

The theater first went under construction in the summer of 2020. The process was initially expected to be completed by the summer of 2022, though the school now predicts construction will end sometime in May of this year, according to BHS Vice Principal Harrison Blatt.

The total budget for the theater and the A Building sums up to approximately $60 million according to BUSD spending reports.

“It’s a pretty comprehensive project that

involves things like seismic retrofitting, to make it safer for earthquakes,” Blatt said.

“There’s also some pretty extensive work done to the backstage area, like dressing rooms, green rooms, and storage.”

He added that the stage has been scaled down to accommodate the new backstage area, but the 3500 seats will not be altered.

The space will also be made more accessible to people with disabilities, with additions such as ramps and accessible bathrooms.

“Now, it’s much more open and welcoming to all people, which I think is really really important and fits with the values of the school and the community,” Blatt said. Reaching the restrooms was previously much more difficult for

MADI NATHAN

those with disabilities.

Jordan Winer, a drama and AC English teacher, spoke about the function of the flatscreens that were recently added to the A Building classrooms.

Classrooms in the A Building will serve as green rooms, a space for performers to get ready and wait before, during, and after performances in the theater.

Additionally, a new sound and video system is being installed throughout the A Building and Community Theater, which will enable people in the green rooms and the lobby to observe what occurs in the theater.

“If we’re doing a show in the theater we should be able to turn this on and actually hear it,” Winer said.

“Or even cooler than that, is we could be watching (a

show) on that monitor and know, it’s time for me to go.”

Despite many new features, the house of the theater will remain untouched, still containing many of the original details from the theater’s initial design in 1938.

Blatt added that the Community Theater has a rich history; famous artists such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and many others have performed on its stage.

“The goal is to bring it back to that level of prestige within the community and really put on some professional performances that are supported by the students,” Blatt said.

Other plans for the use of the theater include student musical and theatrical performances, graduation events, and other student productions. While classes are held in the A Building, they will have access to the Community Theater and Little Theater, Blatt said.

Blatt discussed his hopes on the impact of the renovation on the community.

“I think it’ll really inspire a lot of students, families, staff members, to come to Berkeley High and do really amazing things in the performing arts,” he said.

GURSIMAR KAUR

After months of searching, I finally got a new job last month. But, as President Biden gave his State of the Union address on February 7, it became apparent that I was one of thousands to have had a career shift. The new year of 2023 came with a spirit of opportunity for thousands of Americans, as job reports showed 517,000 new jobs created in the market as of January. Unemployment is at a record low of 3.4 percent (CNBC). Biden also mentioned in his speech the growth of new business applications — approximately 10 million new business applications between 2021 and 2022.

If everything is going so well, then are there even any issues in the job market? What was that whole fiasco about tech company layoffs?

Aren’t we heading into a recession?

Early in 2023, you may have come across news about the white collar layoffs: this largely means layoffs in the tech industry. Companies like Google, Goldman Sachs, Washington Post, Meta, and many more have been cutting down on employees. Coming across a headline like this is an obvious cause for concern because one increasingly questions the possibility of the economy heading into a recession. This is particularly concerning for the Bay Area, as we are home to many big-name corporations that were said to be laying off workers. So, what is the job situation in the Bay Area?

Bay Area unemployment rates are still remarkably low. Economists evaluated the layoffs situation and eventually stated that the fear and news of layoffs has been overblown. The number of people employed post-pandemic still stands way above the prepandemic number. In the larger scheme of the job market, people are employed and new jobs continue to be created. However, the fear of a recession crosses many minds due to a variety of other economic worries.

One of these worries is inflation, which is far harder to combat while the job market stays strong. With low unemployment rates come higher consumer spending. People earn money and spend money. So, despite The Fed raising interest rates to lower economic activity and investment rates, relatively high consumer spending sustains inflation.

However, higher interest rates have a direct impact on businesses. Inability to break even due to increased costs of operations and lack of adaptability can cause businesses to shut down.

More importantly, high interest rates make it hard to take out a loan, which can toughen circumstances for many businesses.

Knowing this, I was puzzled as to how it’s possible for there to be 10 million new business applications simultaneously with high interest rates. Also, how is there such a high rate of employment if times are tough for businesses? My educated guess is that we are in a lag period. A time period in between an incident and its impact. The strong consumer spending is keeping businesses afloat. It is also true that while inflation makes things harder for businesses, it is not to the extent of business shut-downs. Also, the concern of interest rate does not impact pre-existing, well established businesses as much as it may the new businesses. Since we are in a lag period, we must wait and see how many out of those 10 million new business applications actually persist through and how interest rates might impact the unemployment rate.

3

4 FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

NEWS

Bridge program provides support for post-high school options The Bridge program plays an important role in making sure that its students have enough information to make informed decisions about their post-high school options.

Additionally, according to Luxford, in past years the program has also toured colleges such as Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and UC Santa Cruz.

daily afternoon meetings, weekend study sessions, and regular tutorials throughout their four years at Berkeley Originally piloted in High School, Bridge the summer of 2010, the students invest between Berkeley High Bridge 150 and 250 additional Program has provided academic hours per year in support for students, their education.” Currently, often first generation Bridge serves four cohorts, to college or students totaling approximately 120 from socioeconomically students per year. disadvantaged backgrounds, According to Bridge while preparing them Coordinator Jessie Luxford, for college and while the program helping them started as a threebuild academic and-a-half-week The Bridge program plays an skills, as stated on important role in making sure that its summer program Berkeley Unified for high schoolstudents have enough information to bound School District’s eighth make informed decisions about their graders, over the Bridge website. post-high school options.

Not only does years, it has been the program transformed into work to keep the current fourstudents on track from their The Bridge program’s year program. Each cohort of freshman to their senior college tours were Bridge students is assigned a year, but it also provides interrupted by COVID-19. teacher whose goals center many resources related to “When we weren’t in school, around providing social the college exploration and we weren’t able to go. And and academic support application process. now we’re playing catch throughout their high Touring nearby colleges is up for all the cohorts that school years. a major part of the program weren’t able to go,” Luxford “I think that Bridge is and, according to Meredith said. really effective at helping Irby, a Bridge teacher and Bridge is described in the students make sure they’re one of Berkeley High’s 2018 Western Association of on track with their classes, librarians, is essential.

Schools and Colleges Report and kind of being that extra “I think the college visits as a voluntary program for support when they’re falling are really important and students who have the desire behind, and making sure really impactful. We went to to attend college, specifically that students are connecting UC Davis and Sacramento underserved students. with their teachers, working State last year, and just The report states, on their self-advocacy getting a sense of the “Beginning with the summer skills,” said Meredith Irby, campus and if they can see session prior to 9th-grade a Bridge teacher and also themselves there,” Irby said. year and continuing with serves as one of Berkeley

BY AARON STEVENS staff writer

The BHS Bridge program educates on post-high school options, including Berkeley City College.

ASHLEY DIAZ

High’s librarians. a class, only certified The benefits of the Staffing shortages have teachers can take on the program have not gone also impacted the Bridge role of cohort leader. As unnoticed by the district, program. shared by Luxford, the as according to the BUSD Despite this, the program Bridge program is currently 2022 budget, the program has continued thanks to trying to become an official received enough financial L u x f o r d ’s support for dedicated each cohort leadership teacher to be “It’s been one of the hardest and most rewarding fully funded and the things I’ve ever done. I feel like I’ll know them for c o nt i nu i n g their after they graduate, and that’s really special. role. efforts of staff.

“It’s been I’m really grateful for that experience.” “ T h e r e’s one of the been enough hardest Meredith Irby, interest and most BHS librarian and Bridge teacher every year. rewarding And now things I’ve what we’re ever done,” trying to do is open it up for program, which would Irby said. “I feel like I’ll the counselors to lead the allow counselors to have know them after they cohorts,” added Luxford. the position, hopefully graduate, and that’s really Since the Bridge program eliminating the issue of staff special. I’m really grateful is technically considered shortages. for that experience.”

BHS seniors reflect on the impact of pandemic on school spirit

BY SABINE ROSEN staff writer

The last part of freshman year and the entirety of sophomore year can be a crucial bonding time for classes. Due to the pandemic, 2023 seniors missed these parts of the high school experience. On the other hand, the 2019 class of seniors was the last Berkeley High School class to graduate without classes being moved online.

COVID-19 left significant impacts on student spirit, yet many senior classes are beginning to develop spirit once again.

Even though our 2023

class of seniors didn’t have as much of a chance to bond due to school being online, Aja Lelchuk, a senior in Berkeley International High School (BIHS), still thinks their class is fairly close.

“I feel like last year everybody came back to school and was really ready to socialize and kind of felt like we needed to make up for the time loss,” Lelchuk said.

Even though 2023 seniors missed out on socializing, many made up for it during junior year.

“I can’t see us being closer than we are now, but I think that it would have been a more gradual shift. I’m not sure if it would have really

changed the connections or like the strength of the bonds within (our classes),” Lelchuk said.

On the other hand, Rachel Obbard, a senior in Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA), thinks that the senior class would have bonded more if they had had freshman and sophomore year fully in person. She thinks right now she only knows her small school classmates really well and the extra time would have helped her to connect with more people.

A class of 2019 senior, Luca Spycher also talked about how well he knew the people in his grade.

“I would say I felt kind

Lelchuk said the staff was “Pushing back on it … more than in the past year. I think like my freshman year, we fully had an assembly during Rally Day and, like, all the school was there, and we all were cheering and they had the seniors come out, but this year there was nothing.”

As for all other senior events like Senior Sunrise and Senior Spell Out, Obbard isn’t quite sure why they have lower turnout as before. She said maybe it’s because, “It’s not as much of a big thing within our grade as it used to be.” On the senior spirit events, she added, “I didn’t want to go since no one that I knew well was doing it, but I would have liked to go if

school spirit.

While some students feel that Rally Day isn’t how it used to be, the love and commitment to Rally Day for many has stayed present.

Riley Kirkman’davin, a class of 2019 alum said, “It was chaotic and fun…. I mean for like all of passing period you would hear f--- ‘20 in the halls.”

The class of 2019 also pulled off a senior prank.

After school one day, students filled up one of the metal planter boxes that surround the trees near the A Building with tons of water.

GWENDOLIN WEBER-STOVER of close to the people in my They proceeded to buy class … But I mean, there goldfish and add them to the were still people popping planter boxes leaving tiny up in my classes senior year fish swimming on campus. who had gone to Berkeley “The administration didn’t High for years, and I’m like, know what to do with them, ‘I’ve never seen so we just had you before,’” he on-campus said. goldfish for “There were still people popping up in While some a while,” my classes senior year who had gone to feel that the Kirkman’davin Berkeley High for years, and I’m like, seniors this said.

‘I’ve never seen you before,’” year during

For the Rally Day didn’t class of 2023, have much Lelchuk said,“I Luca Spycher, spirit as usual, think it’s been, 2019 BHS alumnus the staff played like, hella a role in that stressful … change. BHS I don’t think administration tightened they were.” This year many we’ve gotten to that point restrictions on what was students adjusted to school in the year yet. I think the allowed during Rally Day in-person, leaving potential second semester might feel this year. for future years to build up more like senior year.”

OPINION BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

opinion editors: ella creane & ellora mookherjee amodt

The issue with misconstruing feminism

BY SIMONE FAULKNER staff writer

Womens' autonomy, sexual liberation, and a supposed “kill all men” mentality are ideas often used to villainize feminism.

The word feminism is commonly misconstrued to mean women’s independence from men, and even women’s superiority. According to a global study conducted

by Ipsos, one-third of men worldwide believe that feminism does more harm than good and attacks traditional masculinity, which isn’t the goal of the movement at all.

At its root, feminism is not independence nor superiority, it’s the advocacy for women’s rights, aimed at reaching equality of the sexes.

Feminists’ defiant pride in aspects of womanhood that are deemed socially unacceptable is misconstrued to be harmful, instead of an attempt to normalize common feminine experiences.

A significant amount of aspects of womanhood have been stigmatized. Often men, but sometimes other women, negatively comment on other women’s body

hair, periods, employment, emotions, parenting, clothing, and the vast amount of different choices that women make. This is seen as 20 percent of men globally believe that women are the inferior gender, according to Ipsos. Women who are comfortable with their body hair, talking about their periods, freely breastfeeding, and more, are often demonized for making these choices, and women who prefer to be hairless, who choose to not have children, or to stay employed when they have children, can be demonized too for not fitting the “male gaze” and acting selfishly.

There is no way to win.

Men and women alike pervert the idea of feminism, only to highlight a specific type of person — the perfect woman. But feminism is supposed to be inclusive, right?

This is when feminism, a broad term, is abridged.

White feminism emerges, a submovement that only focuses on one type of person. White feminism, as well as straight feminism, cisgender feminism, ablebodied feminism, etc., only presents certain faces of the movement while ignoring parts of history it doesn’t

wish to consider.

White feminism does fight for women’s equality with men, but only focuses on equality for white women and fails to address the other forms of oppression, aside from gender, that other women face on account of other marginalized intersectional identities. Women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and non-able-bodied women fight for gender equality with the added possession of these identities and the discrimination that accompanies them as a result. The exclusionary nature of feminism has existed since before the original women’s rights movement and the suffragettes; women who do not fit the constructed standard of womanhood are excluded from a seemingly inclusive movement.

Though it is a tool for hate for some, feminism is a movement meant to uplift women and fight for their equality. This should be the main focus.

Berkeley High School’s curriculum often features women’s literature, history, and feminist theory that contributes to the movement and complements students’ on-campus action for inclusive feminism. Groups like the Women’s Student Union, Body Positivity Club, and Feminist Book Club, among others, work to uplift women and include all who want to participate.

Students of color, men, LGBTQ+ students, and non-able-bodied students hold a place in these student clubs which helps spread the understanding of what feminism really is: an inclusive equality movement.

LEILAH DOOSTAN

March’s endless grind: How to manage it

BY JULIA BRIMMER staff writer

Nothing happens in March. Though home to Women’s History Month, St. Patricks Day, and the National Latin exam, the thing that makes March secretly unique is the fact that there are zero non-weekend days off throughout the month, leaving Berkeley High School students endlessly wandering the halls for fiveday weeks and yearning for the weekends.

While the introduction to March as an endless grind of work without play may seem like an exaggeration, it really does capture how many

people, not just students, view their time off work and school.

Burnout is real. “In my 27 years as a chemistry teacher, I have definitely experienced periods of burnout,” Aaron Glimme, a BHS chemistry teacher, said. Paul Bishop, a student at BHS, noted that he typically feels burnt out when ends up constantly frustrated from doing repetitive tasks. This shows how monotony can often lead to burnout and stress, making breaks from school seem like the best way to break that monotony.

Though breaks can appear beneficial in getting students and workers refreshed for the future, studies have shown that

Student studies on laptop, surrounded by work.

LILA HALLWARD

those benefits do not always stick around long-term. The American Psychological Association found through surveying that around 25 percent of working adults believed that the influx of energy and reduced stress that comes with vacation disappears the second they return to work. 40 percent of these adults said that those benefits only last a few days.

Bishop understands this phenomenon. “I usually look forward to school because Mondays help ease students in generally … but a lot of the time many pieces of homework I didn't remember will come back to me and then I’ll start stressing about that.”

So, what are BHS students and staff supposed to do when they’re feeling burnt out, but breaks aren’t there to help them?

First, finding ways to switch up your day-today lives can be beneficial.

Glimme found that partaking in science internships outside of his job at school definitely helped him cope with burnout that

comes with being a BHS teacher. “I generally like to break up my day into things I enjoy to do and school work,” Bishop said, discussing ways he manages stress.

In addition, music has been found to relieve stress. In an overview of a study published in 2020, researchers concluded that listening to music can release endorphins and improve our sense of wellbeing, distract listeners, reducing physical and emotional stress levels, and reduce stress-related symptoms. “Listening to music definitely helps. I can kind of just zone out for a song or two, and if I'm listening to music while doing work it might help me find the drive to continue doing that thing,” Bishop said on the effects music has on his stress levels.

While March can seem daunting, there is still hope for students as long as they are able to improve how they cope with stress as a whole.

Working together, students can get through this March madness.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

5

mayamookherjeeamodt@students.berkeley.net

WHAT AM I? YANCY MICEL ALEGRE-PACHECO

I am American. At least, that’s my nationality.

The stigma surrounding the word “American” makes me struggle to identify myself with it. When I am asked this question similar to “Where are you from?” or “What are you?” I always say I'm from the U.S. just to see their face contort. But when I am asked about my ethnicity I always say that I am Honduran and Filipina or Hispanic and Asian.

When I say this, I myself flinch, because deep down I feel this is not true. I feel I'm not enough of either to consider being put in the same sentence as them.

However, at this point, I have somewhat come to accept the idea of being “American.”

Though the culture of the U.S. is not apparent, just like a blood stain on a white shirt, any person of color sticks out. When you think of an “American,” you think of burgers, hot dogs and the Fourth of July, but we are so much more than that. We are the capitalist scum, we are the righteous protesters on Wall Street, we are shooters, we are shot at, we are the suburbs, we are the ghetto. The history of the people versus the government is a long and strong one in our country. Most of the conflicts were to fight for something that was taken away or to gain something that was never had. The start of the U.S. independence was caused by people who were done with being under unfair government control, yet in many ways, continued to be the thing they ran from. But from the roots of the U.S., we were always the ones who fought. We were born to be free.

I say this to explain that although the U.S. is far more than just burgers, hot dogs and the Fourth of July, I still am not associated with the Christian housewife that gossips about Mary Lou Anne’s son at book club, not as if I could ever be any other Midwestern stereotype. Since I am not American enough to belong, I'm not Latina enough to belong, and I'm not Filipina enough to belong, I don't belong. I’ve explained that I am not great at fulfilling the American prophecies so you’d expect me to be something else. I am not. I am whitewashed, to say the least. I grew up listening to classic American rock and all that. I never learned to move at parties; unlike Shakira, my hips share plenty of lies. Yet, as I’ve explored in other columns, I am constantly experiencing the push and pull of the cultures and environments that surround me and will continue to surround me. This is because the categories that societal norms have created don’t have a box for me. I’m too dark to be looked at as an American. There are few people that have had similar experiences as me.

At this point, it’s hard to have anyone to express frustration to, as not many will get the feeling of being entirely left out of your identity.

You can't be something that you’re not, and I wish it was far easier to just be yourself in the land of the free. I’ve learned to not let others tell me if I’m up to their standards.

6 FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

OPINION

EDITORIAL

Women must value interpersonal relationships Perhaps the most devastating oppressive strategy used against people subject to maltreatment is uprooting camaraderie within them. As women, straightforward connections with each other have been complicated by the patriarchy, weaving a toxicity into the formulaic thought patterns of which we extend human compassion.

As a generation, we must welcome and encourage female companionship and protect the homosocial relationships that lay a foundation for achieving gender equality.

Historically, relationships and marriage were a way for women to attain power and security. Nowadays, while women’s rights have changed drastically for the better, this outdated image of “needing a man” has unfortunately prevailed through media. Movies, books, and television that display romantic relationships dominating over all else have crept into the subconscious thoughts of everyday interaction.

A pressure to attain what’s so heavily propagated as the gateway to happiness is hard to ignore. We must teach young people that romance cannot stand above platonic companionship.

That fulfillment comes from a plethora of healthy relationships, romantic and otherwise, and that all types of connection hold equal value.

Another aspect of media that leads to strain in female companionship is female characters portrayed through the male gaze. Female characters frequently extort personas that focus more on oversexualization and association to men over individuality and intelligence. Young girls attempt to emulate this image as they grow older, leading them down a path of shallow discontent. Only in recent years have these characters in movies and television taken on new and nontraditional roles, focused more on discovering themselves versus romance. We must continue to push the needle forward by encouraging these types of characters to define the female condition in media, and to demonstrate to young girls the traits they should seek and admire in themselves and other women.

Entertainment news platforms are also a key component of the mistreatment of women in media, often relying on redundant stereotypes of being “catty”, or unable to get along with each other. These perpetuations make women seem incapable of functioning on their own without men to keep regulation. As young people become immersed in popular culture and are constantly exposed to this type of content, it becomes easy to get wrapped up in a warped gauge of reality. It’s important

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to emphasize that this content strategically feeds into false narratives designed to damage female relationships and keep the oppressed reliant on the oppressor.

Seeking male validation not only deteriorates the value of women’s opinions, but prioritizes men unnecessarily. Girls might understandably feel compelled to change their actions and behavior in order to receive the social acceptance they’ve been conditioned to desire. However, we cannot afford to sacrifice the value of ourselves and people like us for the sake of this kind of toxic approval. Women must ensure the worth of fellow women’s thoughts and feelings by caring less about male validation and more about those who care about them.

As women at BHS, we must consider the context of which our environment was created, and learn to recognize the sources from which our behavioral urges stem. If we develop the skills to effectively diagnose the patriarchal aspects of our everyday lives, we’ll be able to better understand ourselves and our intentions when it comes to socialization. This will lead to more time and effort spent nurturing companionship with other women that has previously been neglected as a result of patriarchal media influence.

Women appreciating the bonds and friendships that they hold with other women is one of the most powerful methods of resistance, as it is what will begin to rebuild the unity we need in order to combat sexism. Only together will we be able to persevere in the fight for gender equality among all.

- Ellora Mookherjee-Amodt, opinion editor

Glorification of select career paths limits student happiness

BY SHANZA SYED staff writer

Picture a lawyer passionately defending a client who was falsely accused of a crime, a firefighter bravely battling the flames of a California wildfire, or a calm, cool, and collected doctor saving a patient's life.

There’s no doubt that each of these professions are deeply necessary and valuable to society, but it’s important to note that every career brings something new and invaluable to the table. Unfortunately, from a young age, children are implicitly and explicitly taught that certain career paths are "better" than others, leading to a narrowminded view of the jobs that are being offered to them.

In elementary school, College and Career Day is a common practice. On this day, schools invite professionals to talk about what their careers entail. But often, most of the careers that are represented are doctors, lawyers, and police officers. So from a young age, kids are more informed about these types of careers.

If people around them are talking highly of more well-known careers, students naturally feel a greater pressure to choose one of these professions, to gain the approval of others.

In fact, 52.1 percent of Generation Z’s parents have strongly tried to influence their children’s careers, according to Joblist. This often comes at the detriment of student happiness, as the career that they’ve chosen may not be a reflection of what they want, but rather a reflection of what those

around them want.

Being unhappy with a job from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, takes a large mental health toll. Gen Z has been called the "unhappiest generation yet" by multiple publications, such as The Telegraph. While choosing the wrong career doesn’t account for all of Gen Z’s mental health troubles, it can definitely play a big role.

Berkeley High School, along with other high schools, offers Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses to work to remedy the situation.

Three-quarters of all school districts offer some form of CTE class, according to the U.S. Department of Education. CTE classes not only allow students to explore different fields of work, but it provides them with an opportunity to enter a career without a four-year degree — if that’s what they want.

However, there’s no denying that money is a big concern for the next

generation. As the price of buying homes, or even just groceries, increases due to inflation rising to a current rate of 6.41 percent, a greater pressure to take these highpaying jobs is created.

Rather than pursuing what interests and fulfills them, surviving takes precedence.

55 percent of parents push a career path toward a child based on the high income of that job, according to Joblist.

However, according to the National Library of Medicine, “there is very little evidence of any relationship between income and daily experiences of happiness — and any relationship that does exist would suggest higher income could be associated with less happiness.”

At the end of the day, happiness should be what people strive for. Deciding a career is a decision that one must take without the influence and pressure of others. What makes one person happy doesn’t necessarily make another person happy.

LUCIA RADILLO

OPINION

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

7

‘Queerbaiting’ accusations cause harm to queer communities

BY KALI PROUD staff writer

The new trend of calling out queerbaiting has become a lot more toxic than calling out cultural appropriation.

The intentions of those who use each term are widely different, and the two just aren’t comparable.

Constructing a sense of identity can be difficult to grapple with as one person.

Having communities of people with similar experiences pertaining to ethnicity, gender, beliefs, or sexuality can be crucial to the entire process.

Cultural appropriation and queerbaiting both get called out for endangering such communities, but in reality, the similarities between them isn’t a long list.

Cultural appropriation is a term from the 1980s used to describe when cultural elements of a minority group get used by a majority group inappropriately. Examples of cultural appropriation include a majority group

oversimplifying or profiting off of cultural elements of a minority group.

Mina Hardwick, one of the co-presidents of the Multicultural Student Association, explains that it can be difficult to draw a line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

“I feel like cultural appreciation is actually making sure to be respectful of other cultures and talking with people from that culture,” Hardwick said.

Since it’s such a difficult issue to navigate, calling out cultural appropriation is meant to be a way to educate others.

“Intentions don’t make (cultural appropriation) okay, but I think there’s also a big problem with just assuming everyone has bad intentions. It’s more important to explain why it’s wrong,” Hardwick said.

On the other hand, queerbaiting is a relatively new term that was originally used to define when media creators purposefully hint

at queer representation without ever actually delivering. It’s a marketing ploy used to draw in a queer audience without losing the larger homophobic audience. Recently though, the term has evolved to refer to real life people as well.

On social media, queerbaiting has been used to describe users that may fit into queer stereotypes without being publicly out or even queer to begin with.

One celebrity who faced accusations of queerbaiting is 18-year-old actor Kit Connor, who plays a bisexual character in the teen drama Heartstopper.

Fans used Twitter to accuse Connor of queerbaiting, causing the young actor to leave the app completely. He returned briefly to tweet a response to fans, saying, “i’m bi. congrats on forcing an 18 year old to out himself.”

This new use of the term is incredibly harmful to the people accused of queerbaiting, as it demands some kind of proof of identity. The entire idea now

revolves around a belief that queer people are meant to look and act a certain way, thus feeding into homophobic stereotypes.

Putting someone’s sexuality under such intense scrutiny is immensely invasive, and it can make them feel as if they owe their community something, whether that community is their fans or other queer people. It completely invalidates a person’s own experiences and self understanding.

When used to describe

media, the term can be an empowering way to identify homophobic media creators, but when used to describe a person, the term itself becomes inherently homophobic.

Building communities will always be essential to the long process of self discovery, but we need to be careful that we’re actually strengthening those communities.

Queerbaiting’s second meaning has made the term a weapon that only boxes

JAY TRAUNER

the LGBTQIA+ community into a set of expectations.

Self-expression can’t thrive in an environment that declares queer people must look and act a certain way.

With a school as large as Berkeley High School, and with social media having as far a reach as it does, accurately representing communities is especially important. However, this also means that accusations of queerbaiting can have even more detrimental effects.

BHS should require community service hours for the benefit of all

BY SOPHIE DRESKIN staff writer

ISA SHIMOMURA

Media overexposes teenagers to violence, causing mental strain

BY SERENNA REDWOOD staff writer

Violence in media is deeply prevalent and is often pushed on people from a very young age. In middle school, students may begin to read and watch sci-fi books or movies with heavy violence. Soon enough, teens get to the age watching movies like “Pulp Fiction,” packed full of people knocking each other’s brains out of their noses. This normalization of violence in movies, TV shows and books has a negative impact on teens’ mental health and the way they relate to others and the world as they grow up.

To some degree, violence in the media is reflecting the real world and it is beneficial for those who do not have to experience such violence to understand what others have gone through. However, that only goes to a certain

extent. Sci-fi and fantasy films do not reflect reality and most realistic films that are heavy on violence have no correlation to real events.

Fighting through hoards of people with swords or guns is not something a Bay Area teenager is ever going to encounter; even though many wish it would be, and that is where the issue lies.

The violence shown in media is always extremely glorified; the hero kills hundreds of people in the span of an hour and half and is congratulated. They saved the day, possibly the world, and almost every time, they had to kill a ridiculous amount of people to do so.

As long as it’s ‘bad guys’ they are killing it’s viewed as fine.

Rena Witkin, a Berkeley High School senior said, “Personally I am really sensitive to violence, it always feels big to me to see things like that. But I feel like broadly it kind of desensitizes people because

if you grow up seeing violence constantly, like even in cartoons, the point of the humor is that people are getting hurt ... (which) makes it seem funny in the real world too.”

Video games make the issue of glorification of violence even worse. You get to be the one behind the gun, killing thousands of bad guys by pushing buttons, for fun.

The other form of media we consume, the news, also normalizes violence. On the news we are exposed to very real violence that is devastating to real people.

Being exposed to this so constantly from the time you are a teenager numbs you to it.

Violence in media will never stop, but the industry needs to stop glorifying violence in the everyday life of teenagers who young viewers look up to. Teens don’t need violence to make an adventure.

Some high schools across the country require students to complete a certain amount of community service in order to graduate.

However, at Berkeley High School, there is no school-wide requirement like this — with the exception of requirements specific to certain Small Learning Communities, like Berkeley International High School. Despite this, community service is essential throughout the formative years of one’s life.

It aids the local community, helps students develop a sense of belonging and commitment, and is great to put on college or job applications. BHS should

require that students complete community service hours for the benefit of all.

Community service has a great impact, especially at a local level. Volunteers are the backbone of communities, especially underfunded and understaffed places.

With many more high school volunteers, different organizations and places all around Berkeley would benefit. Volunteering also unifies people from many different backgrounds. No matter where one lives or what their economic status is, everyone who engages in community service has the common goal of bettering the community.

Self-improvement can come from giving back to the community as well.

Volunteering is a great

ELLIOT SCHRAG

way to develop a sense of belonging and selfappreciation, especially for teens. High schoolers often feel as though they’re not good enough or out of place, so volunteering can be a crucial way to lift spirits and mental health.

According to a study done by the National Library of Medicine, “adolescent volunteering may lead to further involvement in young adult volunteering and have a positive effect on school completion.”

The high school years are incredibly formative; creating good habits now transfer on into adulthood.

Though some might say that volunteering is useless if a student is forced into it, that is not the case.

What matters is the impact that one can have on their community, and the impact their community can have on them. Additionally, these hours could possibly guide students away from negative options, such as substance abuse, because their time would be focused towards helping others.

Through community service, students can learn more about their local community, help to better Berkeley, and build healthy habits. By adapting methods used by other high schools that already have mandatory service hours in place, BHS could become a better place, in turn making the entire city of Berkeley a better place.

8 FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

FEATURES

Best Places: Locations around the Bay Area to go out on a date

BY YSABEL CHU staff writer

Choosing the perfect location for a date can be a nerve-racking task, so here are some recommendations from Berkeley High School students David Goldstein, Luca Vicisano, Vaiee-Talia Tu’ua, and Emmett Price to help ease the decision.

If you both enjoy art, the San Francisco de Young Museum is a great place to go. “I mean it’s just nice to look at art,” said Vicisano, a BHS junior. “I feel like you get to know a lot about the person based on their interpretations of art. I’ll ask whoever I’m with what their thoughts are on certain

pieces of art, like what they think the meaning is. It’s also fun to just joke around.”

Also in San Francisco, the Exploratorium is a great place to learn about various topics with your date. “(At the Exploratorium) there’s this one activity where you test your reaction time in different scenarios,” said Tu’ua, a BHS sophomore.

It’s really fun to see your reaction time especially when you’re in the booth with your partner. There is also another exhibit where you test walking on rocks to see how quietly you can walk. I think those two activities were definitely my favorites.”

Whether you’re an ice skating amateur or you’ve

ice-skated a hundred times, it’s always fun to get to know your date on the ice.

At Oakland Ice Center, you and your date can both rent your skates there and enjoy their snack bar.

“I really enjoy ice skating (on a date) even though I’m not particularly good at it,” said BHS sophomore Emmett Price. “It’s a fun thing to do together. I feel like it’s an icebreaker because you’re falling and getting bruised together.

But it’s still fun.”

Blake Garden, owned by University of California, Berkeley and located in Kensington, is the perfect place to go on a picnic, take a walk around, and enjoy nature. While it’s only

Victory Point Cafe has shelves full of games to play inside.

Listen toThe Buzz: What keeps students centered outside of school?

The Buzz spoke with two BHS students about their interests in beekeeping and open-water swimming, respectively, touching on fulfillment and mental health.

Scan to listen! Also available on Spotify, Anchor, and Apple Podcasts

Blake Garden, open on weekdays, has free admission.

PHOTOS BY SANAM ROZYCKI-SHAH

open on weekdays during casual and fun environment. comfortable enough with business hours, it has “If you don’t know your each other.” completely free admission. date that well, it’s a good According to Goldstein, “I really like the gardens,” way to get to know them sometimes great dates don’t said Goldstein, a BHS senior. through doing a fun activity need to be at one specific “It’s definitely a good picnic together,” Goldstein said. location. spot. They also have a big “Or you’re both learning “I mean really my best chess set, and a creek area the game, and you have idea for a date is to kind with redwoods. of like wander It’s very nice, I’m a a r o u n d , ” big fan.”

Goldstein said.

Goldstein also “I feel like it’s an icebreaker because “I’ve had plenty added that since you’re falling and getting bruised of dates where not a lot of people we’re exploring together. But it’s still fun.” go there, it’s a great UC (Berkeley) secluded spot. campus or going Emmett Price, At Victory into Oakland or BHS sophomore Point Cafe you something. Just can enjoy food kind of wandering and snacks while around, going to playing any board game an excuse to sit next to different thrift stores or to from their huge collection. each other. If you do know different kinds of things Goldstein appreciates your date, it’s also super where it’s not just one Victory Point Cafe for its fun because then you’re specific place.”

FEATURES BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

features editors: Lauren Huang & Amelia WIley Moreira

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

laurenhuang@students.berkeley.net

The history of BHS’s current Small Learning Communities

AC is started and tested, then made official. BIHS is formed a short while after as a rigorous course option different from the AP curriculum.

With a grant written by Flora Russ, Computer Academy is formed with a class of 40 to 45 sophomores.

Computer Academy rebranded and attached themselves to public health and medicine, to form what is now known as AMPS.

DESIGN BY REBECCA BIRENBAUM

The design for CAS is passed by the school board, and the media-based small school grows quickly.

A group of teachers work to form AHA, which bridged academics and art-based learning.

9

LUCY RICKART-WEBB

BY SABINE ROSEN staff writer

of BHS staff consisting of Linda Carr, Miriam In 1985, the California Partnership Academies the motivation to create BIHS “was to explore Stahl, denise brown, who prefers her name (CPA) was started by the state, in part to support it as a rigorous academic program that was not left uncapitalized, and Ray Cagen all created a kids struggling in school. The academies were the standard kind of AP curriculum AC offered.” proposal to create an art-focused small school. programs inside schools that students could According to Thorman, Jim Slemp, the principal “We initially wrote the proposal to become a participate in, and were focused on specific topics. at the time, wanted to create another rigorous (small) school because we had When the Berkeley High School vice principal option for students that had students in our classes that at the time went to visit one of the CPA programs a little more structure than were really excellent students in Oakland, they came back proposing that BHS AC. Currently, there are five small but didn’t do too well across the create a program of its own. Flora Russ, who was During the 2013-14 learning community options for school year, Computer board," Stahl said. "We wanted to in charge of all computer classes at BHS at the see arts and academics bridge, students, but it hasn't always been Academy detached from time, said, “They came to me, and they said we'd so students can achieve at higher like to have this academy, this California State the California Partnership this way. rates in academic classes as well Partnership Academy, and we think computers Academy, and rebranded as they were doing in their art would be a good fit. Do you want to write a grant?” itself to be what is now classes.”

BHS wrote a grant for the new Computer called Academy of Medicine and Public Service The art-focused classes that kids take in AHA Academy they received, and in 1990, they got their (AMPS). Since Computer Academy was leaving were intended to allow students to express their first class of about 40 to 45 sophomores. From CPA, “We needed to attach ourselves to something knowledge on the material through art. there, the institutions known as Small Learning specific, like arts or media, but given those were Around the same time, Academic Choice (AC) Communities (SLCs) at BHS began to form. taken we went with public health and medicine. began to be tested at BHS. AC was created for Eight years after the creation of the Computer That's how we rebranded into becoming AMPS,” students to choose their own paths and focus on Academy, the SLC Communications Arts and said John Tobias, current co-lead teacher of AMPS. their interests.

Sciences (CAS) was officially created, but the In 2015, the administration started to discuss Alex Day, a current idea had been around the option of creating a Universal Ninth Grade, Universal Ninth Grade BHS for a while. Plans to not requiring students to choose SLCs until tenth create another SLC with grade. This change was in an effort for all BHS Before Berkeley International High teacher, attended BHS from 2002 to 2006 and said, “I a media-based focus that School (BIHS) was created, students ninth graders to learn about the SLCs during their remember my history and was different from the freshman Ethnic Studies classes, and make a more could choose to be in none of the SLCs. English classes were in AC Computer Academy were in-depth choice in terms of which SLC they join.

After BIHS was established, that but I wasn't all the way in discussed. However, it was Day believes that this change was very beneficial. option went away.

AC since I wasn't in Honors a lot of work.

“I think students are way more informed about Math.”

Before Berkeley “We tried to get (CAS) their SLC choice now that we have (Universal International High School started and the principal Ninth Grade) instead of having just a 30 minute (BIHS) was created, students could choose to be was against it,” said Rick Ayers, a former BHS presentation on it in eighth grade, we get to in none of the SLCs. After BIHS was established, teacher and one of the original creators of CAS. educate the students on it during class,” Day said. that option went away.

“The administration was against it because they In the middle of ninth grade, BHS students The final SLC, BIHS, was created by a team felt it would be a real hassle for them.” make an important decision about which SLC of teachers, students, and parents in the fall Eventually, though, the school board passed the they would like to attend. They rank their choices of 2005, intended to be larger than the other design. There was a lot of interest in a media-based and their names get put into a lottery where they smaller communities. Miranda Thorman, who school at the time, and CAS grew quickly. hope to get their first pick. Currently, there are five was part of that team of founders and is a current Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) was the small learning community options for students, middle school principal in Alameda, said that next small school to be created. In 2006, a group but it hasn't always been this way.

10

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

DECONSTRUCTING DRAWDOWN JULIUS BRAUR

Student teachers pursue BHS careers

BY AMELIA REED staff writer

Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to stopping global warming and aiding the world in achieving “drawdown, the point where greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere start to decline.” Project Drawdown’s website presents a “solution library,” consisting of 93 articles explaining the answers, as well as the drawbacks, to the biggest problems that climate change poses for our future. These articles are classified by the topic area of what the solution aims to achieve, such as buildings, electricity, transportation, land use, agriculture, etc.

“Improving Aquaculture”, “Bioplastics”, and “Waste to Energy," caught my eye. The website also presents six educational videos in episode format for easy and accessible information.

In the first episode, called “Setting the Stage”, the narrator explains correlating graphs that help us better understand how aspects of climate change are connected. As the global population not only rises but skyrockets, land occupation and water consumption also increase exponentially. The episode also explains how even though the graphs may indicate our future is certain doom, humans have improved and we can still turn this ship around. The second episode, which is called, “Stopping Climate Change,” explains what the goal of “drawdown” actually is. In the third episode, which is called, “Reducing Sources”, the main contributors to greenhouse gasses are named, like industry, electricity production, food and agriculture, transportation, and more. The fourth through sixth episodes (“Supporting Sinks and Improving Society,” “Putting It All Together”, and “Making It Happen”) are the episodes that provide more focused information on actual solutions, and Berkeley High School students should definitely watch these for themselves to find out some of the most important and hopeful information that Project Drawdown offers.

Some of this information and hope can be found in the 93 articles mentioned in the Solution Library, like aquaculture, bioplastics, and turning waste into energy, which I will give a brief overview of here. Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing ways of growing food for animals. Ensuring that part of their energy consumption of is based on renewable energy would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Most plastics today are made from fossil fuels, but bioplastics utilize plants as an alternative source of carbon. They often have lower production emissions and are even sometimes biodegradable. Finally, waste-toenergy processes burn waste to produce heat and/or electricity. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and using up the waste in landfills, which create tons of greenhouse gases. Because of the side products of waste-to-energy solutions is often toxic pollutants in air and water, these solutions are really just a stepping stone towards getting rid of dependence on fossil fuels and coal, and “is not part of a clean energy future.”

Check out the website: drawdown.org/ solutions/. This is a great resource for BHS students to explore how climate change solutions are happening in real time.

“I could not imagine being in an office just sitting in a corner job,” said Elliot Robles, a student teacher at Berkeley High School. He described the best aspect of his work being students’ energy. Robles has been working as a student teacher for Fatemeh Mizbani’s chemistry classes for a little over a semester.

“I wanted to be a teacher in high school, but my parents were very concerned about the pay, which is understandable,” Robles said. “After watching a lot of medical TV shows I thought (that) being a doctor would be alright.”

However, after he took his first biology class in college, Robles realized that being a doctor wasn’t for him. What did stick with him was the subject of chemistry. So, he enrolled in a teaching program that required taking related classes as well as his current position of working as a student teacher. Robles will continue being in this role until the end of this spring, which will put him on track to get a teaching certification. Next year, Robles plans on teaching chemistry at BHS. Emma Zhao, another student teacher at BHS, experienced similar feelings from her parents about her becoming a teacher. Her

grandmother, father, and mother all taught in some capacity when she was growing up, which was the initial reason Zhao wanted to start teaching. However, her parents still preferred her to move to a different profession.

Nonetheless, along with influence from her family, Zhao found teaching to be fulfilling.

“When I first started student teaching, I was really scared of being in the classroom, because I was worried that I would make people uncomfortable, or the students wouldn't really be able to understand me,” Zhao said. “But in every single student teaching experience that I've had, it's been really wonderful in terms of how I've interacted with the students.”

Different from Robles’s program, after Zhao graduated college, she had to student teach for a while.

From Oakland Technical High School, Washington Elementary School, East Bay Innovation Academy, to BHS, Zhao has been a student teacher for four years now, adding up to around 200 total hours of teaching. She plans to finally achieve a teaching credential by the end of the semester.

Kainoa Scott is grateful for his time as a student teacher at BHS because of the support he has received from fellow teachers.

During the past five months, he’s been a student

Student teacher Emma Zhao checks in with students.

teacher for Lyndsey Schlax’s economics class, and has enjoyed the interactions with his students. Now, he’s focusing on using the support he has to learn how to become a better teacher.

“I (want) to just gain confidence in my teaching and get more comfortable with it (and) get more comfortable producing my own lessons and curriculum,” Scott said.

So far in the time he’s been a student teacher, Scott has found himself a lot busier than he used to be, due to the classes he is taking at St. Mary’s College along with student teaching.

“I’ve never been this busy … There’s a lot of pressure,” Scott said.

Along with stress that comes from his busy schedule, dealing with student behavior is something Scott has come to dislike during his time as a student teacher. Robles shares these sentiments with Scott, saying, “I’m not about confrontation, so having to be stern is really tough work right now.”

For Jason Biloch, student teaching has allowed him

LARSEN PORTER

to do two things he enjoys: teaching and music. Before working in Richard Conn’s American Government class this semester, he worked at a nonprofit theater organization called Castro Valley Dramatic Arts Academy where he taught music lessons for about 10 years. Now Biloch finds himself wanting to either teach theater or world history.

“When I was in high school I wanted to be a history teacher,” Biloch reflected. “And then I was like, you know what’d be more fun, I want to be a musician … I got lucky and was able to teach things … like teaching theater or teaching music, but I also just really liked the teaching part of it,” Biloch said.

Student teaching is a required step for becoming a teacher, allowing people to gain experience and learn how to teach. Although there are some struggles with being a student teacher, having the chance to interact with students and help learn outweighs the negatives for many of these student teachers.

Reemajah Pollard’s memory leaves impact CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

challenges that he had grown up with, something that made An want to love and support him even more along his journey.

Despite the personal challenges he faced, he was described as “one of the funniest you'd see at Berkeley High.” According to Mary Jacobs, a former counselor for the College and Career Center at BHS, “he’d sing and dance and it gets you through those stressful situations.”

When Genevieve Mage received Pollard as one of her Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS) English students during his junior year, Pollard quickly showed that he was highly driven, intent to make his dreams a reality.

Mage discussed how Pollard impacted the AMPS community, his fellow classmates, and his teachers through his sense of levity in the classroom. “I think he was a great inspiration to a

lot of kids, especially given his life circumstances. You didn't need to know a lot about his personal life to know that he was coming from a lot and he could find joy even in the darkest corner,” Mage said.

Pollard faced difficulties, however he fought hard for his successes despite the disadvantages he faced.

An said that in a life where the odds were constantly stacked against him, Pollard succeeded in many ways and worked hard to reach these achievements.

Pollard endured many challenges in his personal life, and the lack of mental health resources available for Pollard left him isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mage.

“Part of the impact that I hope he leaves is that we need to take better care of people,” Mage said. “And it's not any individuals fault, but (Pollard) could have had an incredible positive impact on this world and

because so many systems failed him we will now be forever in deficit.”

He was a leader in his community, and while he had many goals of his own, he never failed to help out his classmates and offer his support, according to Jacobs. She explained how

ALEXANDRA MORGAN

the entire counseling team rooted for Pollard and wanted him to achieve his goals.

“I used to joke that we were part of ‘Team Reemajah.’ There were so many adults who supported him … He was such a ... lovable person.”

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

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Lack of diversity isolates Black students attending private schools CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

friend groups.”

Scott struggled with being singled out, never growing accustomed to scenarios in class such as being the only Black person during discussions that surrounded topics such as slavery, police brutality, and racial violence.

This put an immense amount of stress and pressure on them — they’d sometimes be treated like a delegate for their entire racial group. Once, when a non-Black teacher used a racial slur in front of their class, they felt “an indescribable frustration having to sit there and listen to a white teacher explain history and your culture incorrectly, while battling the anxiety of becoming the spokesperson of

your community if you decide commented anything less than gone to a public school it uncomfortable.” the end of the day, this is to intervene,” Scott said.

Zairi recounted how people unfortunately something I’m positive, they’d begin to dislike would’ve been easier for me Reflecting on their high their own hair. Now, Scott feels to find other people that I have denied her identity, used to.” school years, can truly connect claiming she didn’t “look However, some schools S cott b elie ves with deeper than Black” when she described have made an ef for t to they missed out race,” Scott said. her ethnicity. “If I did go incorporate affinity spaces. “...an indescribable frustration having to sit “There weren’t to a public school, I think I Damiana Harper, a junior at on a key aspect: experimentation. there and listen to a white teacher explain many people who would definitely feel more Lick-Wilmerding High School history and your culture incorrectly, “For one, I understood my comfortable talking about in San Francisco, finds them think I’d definitely while battling the anxiety of becoming the neurodivergence, these kinds of things with crucial in creating a place to have more Black or people who others, but right now I’m a connect with others. “The spokesperson of your community,” friends and I c o u l d h a v e little closed off about it.” affinity spaces are a place friends of color,” affinity with in “There are ... times where I (where) I do not have to pretend Alex Scott, Scott said. “Just terms of gender feel conflicted about my Black whatsoever, which is relieving Former Bentley student that one factor a n d s e x u a l identity because it’s hard to for everyone there.” She added would have identity. There have a solid understanding that affinity spaces are wellchanged my w e r e q u e e r of w ho I am w he n I’m funded. Lick-Wilmerding also entire high school p e o p l e at my surrounded by people of vastly hosts Family Networks, run by experience in ways I probably their hair is the main aspect high school, but even then, different backgrounds for student clubs such as the Black don’t even know … I would’ve that they love about themself. intersectionality matters and the majority of my day,” said Student Union to connect experimented with my hair It was hard to venture the feeling of displacement Mason Jones, a sophomore families with similar cultural more.” Scott refrained from outside of the box, when was still present, even in club at The College Preparatory backgrounds within the high style variety in high school, Scott already felt disconnected meetings.”

School. “I’m almost always the school community. fearing that if they tried from other members of their This feeling of singularity singular or one of two Black These spaces for something new, and someone community. “I think if I had is difficult to navigate. A students in history and English c o m mu n i t i e s w i t h l e s s current freshman representation at at Maybeck High school are used School, Maissa by students to Z ai r i we nt to “It’s hard to have a solid understanding of connect with each public school her who I am when I’m surrounded by people other and find entire life until cohorts. S cott of vastly different backgrounds for the this school year. had dif f ic ulty majority of my day.”

Having been connecting with used to seeing others.

Mason James ethnic diversity “My s o c i a l a t s c h o o l a l l Sophomore at The College Preparatory School experience was throughout her pretty negative. I life, the student made a few really population being largely white classes which can make things good friends but overall it took completely threw her off when tough. Especially since this me a long time to find people she arrived in the first couple year in my history and English who I truly connected with,” of months. “It kind of singled classes, we’ve been discussing they said. “There were a lot of me out in a way … Being one the Transatlantic Slave Trade people who I really liked but of only three mixed kids in the and Black literature from our cultural differences always freshman class makes me feel the Harlem Renaissance. At seemed to stand out to me.”

J HORSLEY

Teachers and students reflect on discontinued electives at BHS

BY SAGE FELDMAN staff writer

Berkeley High School’s course offerings are constantly and subtly shifting; new classes spring up with much fanfare and older classes are quietly retired. Some core classes, like English or math, have solid bets that although their curriculum might change, the class itself will remain.

Other electives and alternative courses, like Dana Moran’s Asian American Pacif ic Islander History class from 1997, have much less security.

R e qu i re d c l a s s e s are guaranteed a comfortable influx of students each year, but electives have no such luck.

Joseph Omwamba currently teaches Universal Ninth Grade English, but used to teach Kiswahili from 2004-15 as a world language, along with other classes under the African American Studies umbrella.

“The (Kiswahili) curriculum was mostly syntax … but I used it to talk about African culture,” he said. Having an avenue to talk about his heritage and introduce students to a new culture was quite meaningful t o O m w a m b a . “ It w a s important to me to have … that connection to my roots … and to (present) something

that is spoken in most parts its first two years, then by other of the class of 1998, who with of Africa to my American teachers for its last two. “It Moran’s guidance helped students,” he said. started with (a discussion of) get the class adopted. “We T h e l a n g u a g e w a s immigration patterns … then wrote the proposal together, d i s c o nt i nu e d d u e t o a it pivoted to current issues … suggesting curriculum and declining amount of students. (like) affirmative action and readings, fundraising and “The numbers had letter-writing in dwindled … (the support of the administration) “The (Kiswahili) curriculum was mostly class,” said Mah, was not content who took the syntax … but I used it to talk about with one teacher class in 1997, the African culture.” teaching five first year it was s t u d e n t s ,” offered. She helped O m w a m b a focus the class on Joseph Omwamba, said. Still, the immigration and Former Kiswahili teacher relationships he the Asian diaspora formed with the in the United States. pupils he had were “I remember the lasting ones. “Some of them the pitting of Asians against class began with learning are my friends on Facebook … other groups,” Moran said. The Asian geography — everyone They can write me a message curriculum and the class itself was required to pass that in Kiswahili and wish me a came out of a proposal, led by geography test … to make happy birthday.” One even Kiri Mah and Nina Ichikawa sure we all knew the countries recently reached out and bid Omwamba a happy New Year.

“I would be very glad if it came back,” said Omwamba, who derived great joy from seeing his students learning Kiswahili and interacting with his culture.

The current Asian American Pacific Islander Literature curriculum has a spiritual predecessor — Dana Moran’s AAPI History class, which the current Ethnic Studies teacher taught in 1997, at the beginning of the year. It was a semester-long elective, taught by Moran for Dana Moran taught AAPI History beginning in 1997.

that Asian Americans had immigrated from,” Mah said.

It was the only time Moran would teach an elective, and she enjoyed leading a class where all the students had opted-in, already interested in the subject. Moran appreciated “the sense of community and the things that really bound the kids together.” Mah echoed Moran’s sentiment, excited to have been part of a group of students interested in their backstory. “I loved that class.

My memories of it are that of … so many super engaged students excited to learn about their history,” she said.

Unfortunately for the future of the class, Moran already had a full teaching schedule, and so she had to

hand it off to other teachers.

A lack of staffing contributed to the class’s discontinuation, but so did a lack of student interest: “We had to recruit pretty heavily for it,” Moran said. Additionally, AAPI History’s unique structure as a semester elective meant that when BHS phased out that type of elective, the class was left high and dry. Moran tried to combine the history class with Chicanx Studies to create a year-long program, but to no avail.

“It felt pretty magical when I took the course,” Mah said.

Moran’s AAPI History class and Omwamba’s Kiswahili class continue to resonate in the minds of the students who took them years earlier.

Joseph Omwamba taught Kiswahili for 12 years. PHOTOS BY JAHAN INGRAHAM

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ENTERTAINMENT BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

Entertainment editors: Ruby Freedman & Marina Howard

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

“Lady Bird” is a 2017 movie that has been called a feminist masterpiece. While I believe that the director, Greta Gerwig, created an excellent movie with strong feminist themes, the source of inspiration this movie draws from is often left out. The 2002 drama comedy “Real Women Have Curves,” an older movie with many similarities to “Lady Bird,” is an often overlooked movie. Both movies are about teenagehood and a mother-daughter connection. They examine how our relationship with our mothers shapes how we view the world and ourselves. They aim, in part, to help people empathize with their mother and view their mother as a human being. We so often see our mothers as an extension of ourselves and our own needs. Humanizing mothers is important, yet often forgotten.

However, the movies also teach us to give ourselves grace and allow ourselves to heal from our fractured self image caused by our mothers. Because part of being human means you aren’t perfect, moms make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes can stay with their children for the rest of their lives. While both mothers make comments about their daughters’ appearances, their children react differently. In “Lady Bird,” the main character’s self image and self worth are impacted by her mother’s comments. In “Real Women Have Curves,” the main character rebuts her mothers comments and actively works to find self acceptance.

“Real Women Have Curves” features a Mexican family, but in “Lady Bird” they are replaced with a white family. Whitewashing in the media is a very unfortunate yet common occurrence. The most famous example of this is the 1961 movie “West Side Story,” an adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet story with a ‘50s teenage gangster spin in which the Puerto Rican characters were all played by white people in brown makeup. They even darkened the skin of the only Puerto Rican actor, Rita Moreno.

“Lady Bird” didn’t bring attention to “Real Women Have Curves.” Instead it retold the story in a palatable way for general white audience.

There are so many similarities between Lady Bird and Ana — the main character of “Real Women Have Curves” — it feels eerie. They want to leave their private California high schools for prestigious East Coast colleges, but are both faced with the challenge of their parents’ financial struggles and familial issues.

“Lady Bird” did have aspects that aren’t usually seen in the media, but they were also shown in “Real Women Have Curves.” By whitewashing the story, “Lady Bird” loses some of the original feminist meaning that Greta Gerwig was trying to showcase. “Lady Bird” shouldn’t have gotten the recognition it did without talking about “Real Women Have Curves.”

RubyFreedman@students.berkeley.net

The history and impact of sneaker culture levels of creativity, there is a way to express your style and your opinions on fashion. I use my sneakers The polarizing 1960s to channel my thoughts,” were the beginnings of Yabusaki said. “My interest what is now known as in sneakers started with my contemporary sneaker friend, Marquis, and my culture.

A subculture cousin who was a reseller.” emerged amid numerous He explained that he protests, the Vietnam started collecting sneakers War, and the civil rights in eighth grade with the help movement. Sneaker culture of his friend. “Throughout continued to grow in the rest of eighth the late 1970s, thanks grade I would buy to the burgeoning half authentic and Sneakers began to symbolize the hip-hop movement. impactful influence that Black culture half replica shoes As a result, sneaker has over broader American culture. to expand my culture grew to be collection,” he said. significant in African Yabusaki talked American fashion. about the connection It created a community of in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s he feels between sneakers creativity, expression, and was used as an outlet for and his heritage as well. individuality during times expression. As this complex “Sneakers also connect me of hate and fear. culture has evolved it has Although sneakers may also grown rapidly all over just seem like pieces of America and the world. New melted rubber and cloth terms such as “hypebeast” to some, they’re actually started and more and more a massive part of Black collaborations between culture in the United famous artists and favorite States.

Sneakers have brands began to emerge, been marketed within faster than ever before. As the basketball — a Black sneaker culture continues to dominated sport — since the grow today, people question late 1960s, when a majority whether the central values of the players in the National have changed. Berkeley Basketball Association were High School freshman with Black. Sneaker companies a love for sneakers, Josh began branding their shoes Yabusaki, explained what in connection to famous his shoes meant to him. basketball players and began “To me, shoes are your expanding sales. Black personality and bring out

BY TASNIM AIT DJEBARA staff writer

celebrity endorsements skyrocketed the success of these shoe companies. When Nike released their first pair of Air Jordans in 1985, they made a series of ads linking the shoes to Black youth culture. Sneakers began to symbolize the impactful influence that Black culture has over broader American culture.

Sneaker culture back

to my community and are a way for me to celebrate Black history,” he said.

Many other students at BHS share similar feelings towards sneakers, such as freshman Jordan Salgado.

Salgado said, “Sneaker culture is generally really inclusive and cool. It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone’s welcome.

Sneakers are a way I feel connected to a lot of people.”

Similar to Yabusaki, Salgado became connected to sneaker culture through family. “For example, my old cousin sells and collects shoes and it gives me and him this sort of connection we wouldn’t have without shoes. It makes us a lot closer,” he said.

EDEN MIDDLESWART

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

PENELOPE GILLIGAN

Jewelry is versatile. Ava Distasi, a BHS junior, provides an example of one of its many uses. She creates jewelry for a purpose: charity donations.

All of the money Distasi makes is donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds. The pieces she creates are each modeled after people she is influenced by, whether they’re close friends or idols.

This includes the nuances she adds, the

overall style, and what she names the piece.

One such piece is a necklace she created based on Anne Boleyn, one of the wives of King Henry VIII. In this piece, Distasi carefully selected red beads amongst the white to somewhat resemble bleeding from the neck. These small touches, along with the cause she works for, are what make her art so unique.

Distasi started curating jewelry when she was about 12 years old, but only started selling it in the past year or two.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Distasi felt a renewed sense of dedication to the cause she was supporting. While she felt she didn’t have enough money to personally contribute at the time, she decided to take another path rather than abandoning the cause altogether.

“It’s something that I really care about, and even if I’m just donating the little money that I make from my peers buying my jewelry, it’s still something that I can feel good about and I feel like I’m contributing at least slightly to a cause that really matters to me,” Distasi said. “Just doing whatever I can.”

— Hannah Groth-Reidy

ENTERTAINMENT

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

13

Lil Yachty abandons his SoundCloud roots in ‘Let’s Start Here’

BY OSCAR WALLENSTEIN staff writer

On January 27, Lil Yachty opened the listening party for his surprise new album, “Let’s Start Here,” with the words that many eclectic fans of modern music have been forced to hear again and again: “I really wanted to be taken serious as an artist.” He continued with, “Not just some SoundCloud rapper, not some mumble rapper.”

As one of the biggest faces in the SoundCloud era of rap, which peaked from 2015 to 2019, Lil Yachty bought his mom a house while still in high school. Through all of his first seven albums, Lil Yachty incorporated his achievements as a key theme.

These projects elevated Lil Yachty to a youthful stardom, and defined his playful role in the landscape of popular music. Until now.

Many Yachty fans were not excited to hear his words at the listening party. Mainstream rappers’

departures from their genre are usually unsatisfying, given that they already have a specific public image that is often rooted in rap culture. If Lil Pump, for example, were to attempt a singer-songwriter or folk album, it would most likely not do well commercially, regardless of its musical quality. He would have a difficult time coming off as the Lil Pump many know and love within the constraints of a genre so far from his musical origins.

Yet, contrary to the arguments many Lil Yachty fans make, the quality of Lil Yachty’s newly released 14 tracks is beyond acceptable.

In fact, it’s packed with A-list pop orchestrators.

Patrick Wimberly, Jacob Portrait, and Justin and Jeremiah Raisen are all names well known in producing and songwriting circles for their abilities to make catchy music with an air of sophistication when subjected to closer listening. The problem with the album came with the concept. When Yachty told

us that he wanted respect as a musician, it became clear that wanted respect from a specific audience. His words indicated his abandonment of the indifferent and often confrontational attitude towards criticism that is integral to mainstream rap culture. Whether that criticism is coming from fellow contributors to the genre or from people culturally distanced, who are often white and of another generation, rappers tend to put an emphasis on their immunity to disapproval.

The Tame-Impalameets-Silk-Sonic sound featured on “Let’s Start Here” is what taints the validity of the album.

With its heavily reverb-ed synths and singing hidden behind layers of high-end production devices, the bubblegum hooks are able to escape the stigma which accompanies most modern pop, allowing fans the ego boost that can come with listening to “psychedelic rock” or “alternative dance,” without the chordal experimentation of those

genres.

The album was sold as an experiment, pushing boundaries while testing Lil Yachty’s creative prowess,

COURTESY OF CONCRETE/QUALITY CONTROL MUSIC

but the sound employed is instantly listenable. Yachty is already respected enough in the rap community, and he seems willing to trade

his status in the culture to which he owes a large part of his success for a notion of a Tyler-the-Creator-style transition to pop stardom.

BHS students perform community stories in ‘Our Monologues’ the community’s story.”

Biddle-Gottesman uses the full picture of Berkeley a variety of approaches as a High school, of our performer in order to stay community, or of the person true to the author’s piece. who’s performing,” she “I try to get a lot of continued. feedback from people, Each monologue in especially in the cast,” she the show was written and said.

Biddle-Gottesman submitted by a BHS student, continued, “(Although) many of which were it’s not my monologue, it’s submitted anonymously. definitely a monologue that W h e n I can relate to, so I monologues are try and think about anonymous, “we how I relate to it “It’s not just like a show for the have to craft a story when performing.” with very little audience. It’s also for the actors, and Each rehearsal, context about the the members of it’s a way for us to process things.” person … so we “Our Monologues” have to find a way check in with Eloise Biddle-Gottesman, to honor the story each other from BHS sophomore and get the actor anywhere between involved with their twenty minutes to own interpretation an hour, talking (in order to) embody the this monologue,” Biddle- about their lives and how piece,” Dorado said.

Gottesman said. “It’s not they’re doing.

Eloise Biddle-Gottesman, some far off playwright, so “It’s not only (about) a BHS sophomore and “Our I really have to do it justice getting ready for a show, it’s Monologues” cast member, because this is someone in also getting to know a whole

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

has deeply considered her role as the performer of the anonymously submitted monologue “I Should Have Known.” The monologue delves into the pain and guilt that can take place after a loved one attempts suicide.

“I didn’t write it, but I know that someone at Berkeley High (who might) come see the show wrote

Jessica Hipona performs the monologue “I’m Not a Culture Vulture.”

Meilin Jokela, Maya Hill, and Medina Lam perform “Beyond the Passionfruit Vines.”

group of people who you may have never met before,” said Maya Hill, a BHS senior and cast member, dancer, and choreographer. “I think that that bond between us makes us have such good chemistry as a whole cast.”

Because of the many sensitive topics spoken about within the performance, trust between cast members is a crucial part of “Our Monologues.”

“I know I have people I can fall back on consistently,” Hill said. “Even beyond this show, we’re going to stay as friends, and it’s a great community to be a part of,” they said.

In addition to being a vital outlet for student creativity at BHS, “Our Monologues” provides a space for the audience, writers, and performers to acknowledge their emotions and heal.

“It’s not just like a show for

the audience. It’s also for the actors, and it’s a way for us to process things,” said Biddle-Gottesman.

Cast members wrote and submitted their own works in addition to outside submissions, adding vulnerability to the show.

“When we’re performing our stories or someone else’s, it’s healing,” said Dorado.

“Performance is a part of it, but (‘Our Monologues’) is also about the community and just being able to share your story.”

In Hill’s eyes, “(‘Our Monologues’) is really important to Berkeley High because it demonstrates stories from people often not heard.” They added, “Having a judgment-free place where people can learn about something they may not have known someone was facing (is) really important for the people at Berkeley High.”

PHOTOS BY EMILIA FREILICH

Performers and audience members step out of their comfort zones in the performance.

“Hopefully (when) you come to the show … there (will) be pieces that make you feel heard, and also pieces that challenge your thinking and make you see the different people around Berkeley High in different, more human ways,” Dorado said.

The final two performances of “Our Monologues” are from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4. Tickets can be purchased online at ourmonologuesbhs. wordpress.com or in person at the BHS Little Theater.

Disclaimer: Various Jacket staff members are involved in Our Monologues but were not directly involved in the reporting or publication of this story.

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ENTERTAINMENT

‘Last Of Us’ adds humanity and emotion to the zombie genre

BY ELTA TRACY staff writer

We all know the zombie genre; gory, lumbering, mindless monsters that attack bands of scruffy survivors after an apocalypse.

Sometimes slow moving, sometimes fast, always bitten and stupid, the zombie has been used countless times for thrilling, if not basic, entertainment. It seemed that the material that came with it had dried up in recent years as productions like “World War Z,” “The Walking Dead,” and “Dawn of the Dead” appeared to have covered all the bases.

However, on January 15, HBO released its major hit “The Last of Us,” a zombie series that took the monster theme but gave it a uniquely human angle. While this show is about the undead, it is character and story

driven, featuring themes of single-parenting, pandemics, and chosen family. “The Last of Us” brings humanity to the classic monster genre.

The show starts out with an intense pilot, featuring a pandemic-centered apocalypse where the very real ophiocordyceps fungus mutates to take over human bodies due to rising global temperatures and climate change. The infection causes people to brutally attack and bite others without a mind of their own. It is a classic zombie model with a current twist of climate change and a pandemic theme. The timing of the show’s release hits especially close to home as the world is emerging from a pandemic and climate change becomes a more prevalent problem. This just adds another shade of realness and relativity to the show.

Beyond the

uncomfortable relatability of the series, what makes “The Last of Us” powerful is that the characters are at the heart of the show, not the monsters. While there are plenty of violent battles and bizarre zombies, the true magnetism of the show comes from the two leads, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey).

Their connection and playful dynamic is what makes viewers care about them enough to hold their breath during every battle.

Additionally, the introduction of other side characters, and the in depth exploration of their backstories adds a completely new aspect not only to zombie movies but to television in general.

The third episode takes a detour from the main pair, telling the love story of two seemingly irrelevant men during this apocalyptic setting. Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett display the lives of

THE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

DOWN

1. Walked back and forth worriedly 6. Text message service 9. Wide-ranging 13. Saudi ___ 15. Bird closely related to the chickadee 16. Thing often represented by a lightbulb 17. Kneaded, massaged 18. Favoring one political party 20. Baseball stat 21. Morse code unit 23. Memento ___ (Latin) 24. American, nickname 26. Cooking instructions manual 28. Employment stimulus loan program, abbreviated 31. Caribbean sorcery 33. Web browser or savannah journey 35. Stop briefly 38. One ___ 40. Legal proceeding 41. First Greek letter 42. Middle school English curriculum, abbreviated 43. Ancient Anatolian region that gives its name to a column design 44. Writing material 45. State Department security arm 46. Use an oath 47. Punishment with a fine 49. Own, in Dortmund 51. Rolls of grass 52. Aptly named city in Illinois 54. Bankman-Fried and Smith, for example 58. Berkeley-born hip-hop and media exec 59. Japanese belt or sash 61. Payment to a professional for services 62. Parachute behind a boat 66. Himalayan nation 68. Quite a bit 69. Shady Department of Defense intelligence agency 70. Mountain songs 71. Information about world happenings 72. Educational talk series 73. Handbag

1. Deflect, as a sword 2. Dutch constituent country in the Caribbean 3. Birthplace of Abe Lincoln 4. Recede, as the tide 5. Passed away 6. Standard conditions for experimental measurements 7. Home of the Heat and Marlins 8. Razor sharpeners 9. 8, to Octavian 10. TV program interruptions 11. Caspian or Black, for example 12. Make into leather 14. Dote on 19. Formally written work 22. Made fun of 25. Food that fits Jewish dietary restrictions 27. The Clintons’ daughter, or a London soccer team 28. Writer Thomas of Common Sense 29. Capital of Cape Verde 30. Ernest Hemingway’s boat, or one of his protagonists 32. Young grizzlies 34. Upside down smiles 35. The Mamas & the ___ 36. Mission to be remembered, famously 37. Increased, as stakes 39. Vegas attraction 48. Off-target 50. American gymnast Douglas 53. Capital of Idaho 55. Succeeding 56. Eating times 57. Some people claim to have a sixth one 58. Consumes 60. Breakfast restaurant chain 62. Peter ___ 63. Tipple 64. Propel a shell 65. British— boyRaven Fonseca Jensen 67. Nigerian percussion jug

— Nicholas McGlashan

two middle aged men who meet after the outbreak and fall in love on Offerman’s character’s well-equipped survivalist homestead.

This episode brings something unique to the apocalyptic framework of the show by creating a moment of immersive peace while we explore the lives of two characters who seem unrelated to our main ones. Their romantic story ends when they both peacefully end their lives, and the show shifts back to Joel and Ellie. In another instance, the most recent episode followed Ellie’s

experience with her past love interest, Riley (Storm Reid), and how that loss set her on her path.

This deep dive into emotions, love, and human connection is unexpected given that the show is based on a video game. Most television like this is more action driven, like its video game counterpart. But “The Last of Us” refutes that stereotype by representing diverse stories and voices — some of which, like Ellie’s love interest, Riley, weren’t even represented in the video game — while

OLIVIA HIBSER

also featuring an action driven plot.

“The Last of Us” brings to life an ageold plot but with deep connection — both between the characters and the viewers. The real world issues it represents make it relatable, while its apocalyptic setting makes it the right amount of escape from daily life.

“The Last of Us” sparks laughter, raises awareness, and redefines the zombie movie genre by raising the bar and daring other shows to be as heartbreaking, hilarious, and captivating.

PLAYLIST: BEDROOM POP

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Good Advice - Khai Dreams Hours - Again&Again Your Soul - Forest., Biskwiq Still Beating - Mac Demarco Bags - Clairo Peach - Kevin Abstract

SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK - Joji Goodie Bag - Still Woozy ​​Lovers Rock - TV girl 3 Boys - Weather Report Television / So Far So Good - Rex Orange County

GABRIELLA BUSANSKY

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SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023

BHS hosts WACC wrestling championships

Wrestlers match up on Feb. 11 at the West Alameda County Conference championships.

BY SIMON POLICY staff writer

The sheet of drizzling, gray clouds, and the sharp, cold wind disappeared behind the Berkeley High School wrestling team as they entered the Donahue Gym on February 11. The sound of friendly chatter and squeaking shoes bounced off the walls, creating an atmosphere of good-natured competition that lasted throughout the day. The gym held three large wrestling mats, each occupied by wrestlers from nine different schools as they geared up for the seasonending championship.

The West Alameda

County Conference (WACC) is a county-wide wrestling tournament for boys and girls, with over 150 matches taking place throughout the full-day event. The male athletes who won at least three matches qualified for the largerscale North Coast Section (NCS) championship, whereas the female athletes automatically qualified. The exceptional winners of the NCS championship are able to compete in the higherlevel state championships.

Shiella Paredes-Akimoto is a BHS senior and cocaptain of the wrestling team.

While the championship was just beginning, ParedesAkimoto shared her predictions regarding the

SEBASTIAN FLETCHER

event.

“I think our wrestlers are definitely going to do pretty well,” she said.

Paredes-Akimoto explained that “the biggest thing that leads to winning matches is wrestling smart … Wrestling smart is just having good situational awareness.”

Senior and wrestling co-captain, Gabe Ross, was enthusiastic about the results of the championship.

“I think that I did great, first of all,” he said. “In my first match, I was stumbling a lot. You can see that in the video of the match. But in my second match, I had my head in the game and I was able to beat a Castro Valley kid that actually beat me earlier in the year. That was

awesome.”

Unfortunately, according to Ross, “there were more injuries this year than I’ve ever seen in any other year.” Several of the boys varsity players couldn’t compete in the conference tournament due to injuries.

The Berkeley High boys varsity team scored a total of 51 points throughout the championship, placing them in seventh place out of the nine competing school teams. Regardless of the varsity team’s placement, many of the BHS wrestlers undoubtedly brought their A-game. Ross highlighted some of the outstanding athleticism of his teammates, stating that “Shiella (Paredes-Akimoto), the girl’s co-captain, Metztli (Olague Guerrero), a sophomore girl in her first year on the team, and I all got conference champion for our league.”

Along with the three aforementioned athletes, several other BHS wrestlers qualified for the NCS championship which occurred the following weekend.

The WACC championship showcased the comradery and talent of the BHS wrestling team. As Ross put it, “Everyone did great, and I’m really proud of my team.”

Boys volleyball welcomes two new coaches

BY LULI GALINSON staff writer

As the Berkeley High School boys volleyball team gears up for the spring season, they will be equipped with two new coaches for the varsity and junior varsity teams. Both coaches, Silas Everett and Colton Stone, are long-time players and former college athletes.

Silas Everett, BHS alumni, will be the head varsity coach this year, and hopes his history at the school will help him connect with his players.

With 30 years of volleyball experience under his belt, he still holds fond memories of when he first started playing on a club team his freshman year. BHS didn’t have a boys volleyball team at the time.

“I played club for Golden Bears. And we went to the Junior Olympics three times. And I really enjoyed participating in that experience,” Everett recalled.

He continued his career playing volleyball for four years at Tufts University in Massachusetts, where his team went to club volleyball nationals, ranking in the top 10.

Colton Stone and Silas Everett, pictured left to right, bring new energy to the volleyball coaching staff.

“I was selected as the club all-American at that time, and that was just a real honor,” Everett said. Postgraduating, Everett began coaching for Golden Bears for a few years and then started to travel abroad and, “picked up volleyball here and there.”

Everett sees a lot of potential in this year’s team, noting, “What’s exciting for me is that we only have one returning player so the rest of the players now have a chance to step in and fill some really big shoes on the varsity court.”

The aforementioned returning player, junior Oliver Shrieve-Herzog, noted that the new coaches have created “a welcoming

environment. And that’s really the biggest thing for volleyball.” He also sees great potential in the new players.

“I think in volleyball, you can really become good, faster than any other sport.

So I think if people really like it, like the new freshmen and sophomores, they can improve,” he said.

The new junior varsity coach, Colton Stone, has an equally impressive volleyball resume. He began playing volleyball during his freshman year of high school in Virginia, and by his senior year was named state player of the year. He continued playing in college at Purdue Fort Wayne at the Division I level.

“We were pretty bad my

MEI SAPHIR

freshman year. But then we worked super hard and got to ninth in the nation,” Stone added. He currently coaches for the Bay to Bay volleyball club.

Stone finds on the volleyball team that, “There’s a lot of work to be done. But I feel like everyone here has the common goal that they want to be successful this year. So everyone’s just working super hard right now.” Stone looks forward to helping the bounty of players who are new to the sport develop.

“I definitely see myself in some of the freshmen and sophomores just like asking a ton of questions coming in, having some great energy, lots of smiles,” said Stone.

BECOMING ‘THAT GIRL’ CARINA THOMAS

It’s crazy how much changes as you grow up.

You make new friends, discover new hobbies, upgrade your style … but you’re unprepared for how your relationship with food changes.

The “that girl” TikTok trend is a very popular concept. This trend showcases an extremely romanticized, perfectly productive lifestyle where one wakes up at 6 a.m., hits a workout at 6:15, and journals at 6:45 — basically the perfect teenage morning routine — a.k.a. the “that girl” lifestyle. I participated in this trend in hopes that it would improve my lifestyle and thus, my self confidence. But little did I know, these toxic routines and diets would lead me onto a very dangerous road of disordered eating and exercising habits.

I began to change and restrict what I ate.

Breakfast became a smoothie. Lunch became eggs and berries. Dinner became small portions of what my mom made. Snacks? — not an option. I began exercising to punish myself and burn the calories, telling myself that anything less than these diets would make me a failure. Eventually, these eating and exercising habits became extremely obsessive — I limited myself like crazy, completely disregarding my deteriorating physical and mental health.

One day, after completing a 30 minute run on the treadmill, followed by two 20 minute HIIT workouts, my body finally began giving up on me. My vision dimmed and I became light-headed as I sunk to the ground, my sight still dark and blurry as I took deep breaths in, in an attempt to revive myself. My breaths became quick, heavy, and scared. Very scared.

After that moment, I knew I had to fix my habits or else I would descend down into the deep grave of physical and mental destruction that I had unknowingly been digging for myself ever since I decided to become “that girl.”

While I’ve started to heal my relationship with food and exercising, the after effects of months of abusing my body and mental health still linger throughout my everyday life.

Picking what to eat for a snack is a daunting struggle, as I tend to be extremely indecisive and anxious over choosing between the lowest calorie option or the option that I actually want. There are still times I feel guilty after completing a regular meal. Sometimes, I can’t help but think about the little girl who could once eat a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and a chunk of butter on top without feeling anything other than a valid, healthy, and happy human being.

Feeling guilty after eating creates a negative relationship with food, and that negativity is not worth the ever-lasting distorted view on what is healthy. Just accept what you eat, enjoy it, and move on. There’s no room for regret in a truly healthy lifestyle.

Too often, we allow social media trends to determine our personal goals and desires.

What many of us teenagers deal with are the detrimental thoughts that cause us to over analyze our intake of food and exercising habits.

Balance is key — nutrition and happiness should be treated as equal. Choose to lead a healthy lifestyle by prioritizing physical and mental well being over unrealistic standards constructed by the internet.

15

16 F R I D A Y , M A R C H 3 , 2 0 2 3

sports editors: Luisa Bertolli & Norah Lee

SPORTS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

BHS SENIOR NIGHT RECAP

BY CLARA TJEN & LULI GALINSON staff writers Longer versions available at bhsjacket.com.

GIRLS SOCCER

Girls soccer huddles for a cheer on Senior Night.

EMILIA FREILICH

On their February 9 Senior Night, Berkeley High School’s girls soccer started out strong with a starting lineup packed by their 10 seniors. Berkeley began with a goal 53 seconds into the game scored by senior Rosie Bessette and ended with a 2-0 win against San Leandro High School. “We have ‘family’ on our back, but it’s something that we all really mean, and we say it every day. It’s just the number one thing that makes this team different from anything else,” said senior Ruby Hill, captain, and four year veteran of Berkeley High School’s girls varsity team. She, and many of her fellow seniors, hope the non-seniors on the team are able to carry on the family legacy and community amongst new players each year.

GIRLS BASKETBALL On Wednesday, February 1, girls varsity basketball had their Senior Night game against San Leandro High School. Although they lost 33-48 to San Leandro, the fun night honored the seven seniors at the end of their season.

The signature yellow and red balloon arch welcomed the seniors as they entered the court and received flowers and gifts from the other players on the team. One senior, point guard Liz Sanchez, felt as though the season ended on a good note, saying, “All of our family, friends, and supporters were out there, so we just played our hardest.”

Sanchez noted that she will miss the energy she feels on the BHS court, “whether it’s my teammates, or the

audience in general, and just the support of the community.”

Girls varsity basketball held senior night on February 1. EMILIA FREILICH

BOYS SOCCER

Berkeley Unified School District Berkeley High Jacket 1980 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94704

Non-Profit Org. US Postage Paid Oakland, CA Permit No. 8334

Senior Joey Hall, suspended in the air on Senior Night. MALINA MEISSNER

On February 10, Berkeley High School’s boys varsity soccer team suffered a difficult 1-0 loss against their rivals, Bishop O’Dowd High School. It was especially disappointing to the seniors on the team because it was their last home game as BHS players and their Senior Night. The night began with a ceremony honoring the 10 graduating seniors joined by their family members. One of the seniors, Joey Hall, shared, “I remember looking at the seniors when I was a freshman, sophomore, junior and (thinking) ‘Oh, that’s gonna be me one day,’ and then I was like, ‘Wow, that is me right now,’ and it was quite euphoric.” Jaiyah Fuksman, a captain and senior this year, echoed this sentiment, reflecting on one of his fondest memories playing for BHS when he “made a save against O’Dowd. And then they started chanting my name.” Fuksman emphasized that he is going to miss the brotherhood of the team.

norahlee@students.berkeley.net

Athletes preview BHS spring season

BY ZADA SANGER staff writer

Track and field had a massive tryout turnout of 300 people following their last season, when they sent one of their 200 runners to state championships.

Senior runner Jackson Harris spoke on the 2023 team, saying, “There are lots of competitive kids that want to get better and go to (North Coast Section) and state. The team culture is rebuilding as we have more coaches this year, as well as more commitment and focus throughout the team.”

The Berkeley High School softball team was league champion last year with a league record of 9-1. Senior Paola Gunier, a varsity catcher, said that she hopes “to keep building off what we had last year, which was a really solid team. We lost a few strong seniors but we have some younger players stepping up into these positions, and who are doing great so far.”

Their debut game against Dougherty Valley High School is at home at 4:00 p.m. on March 3.

Girls lacrosse took fourth in the league last year. They had a high tryout turnout

this year of 52 players, and a final varsity team of 18.

Senior player Piper Owsley emphasized that this season they are “focusing on being a more cohesive team. We have girls from different club teams and levels of experience so it’s really important that we work to come together.” Their next home game will be at 7:00 p.m. on March 10 against Washington High School.

The BHS girls swim team won league in 2022 for the first time in 20 years. There are 30 varsity swimmers this year. With new coaching staff, new access to resources like Swimcloud, the BHS swim team hopes to establish a long-lasting reputation this year. “Since we were freshmen, the swim program has improved so much,” said senior and captain Lily Welsh.

Boys lacrosse took third in league in 2022. Senior goalie Max Cherbini, on the team’s goals, said, “We want to have fun, win games, and create a strong bonded community. We also hope to build off our season last year and make the NCS playoffs again.” Their next appearance at home will be on Friday, March 3, at 5:30 p.m. against Granada High School.

BHS swimmers dive into the 2023 spring season.

MORGAN OSTRER

ATHLETE PROFILE Jamaia Harrison, a junior who plays shooting or point guard on the Berkeley High School girls basketball team, has played basketball seriously for around seven years, starting with her friends in elementary school and joining a club team in middle school.

Now, in addition to playing at school, she’s been able to visit other states for tournaments with her club team, Legacy United (formerly West Coast United). This has given her the opportunity to experience activities and environments outside of California. Harrison, who is 5’4”, finds that differences of height don’t bother her. “It’s your skill that helps you do what needs to be done in the game … There’s so many people smaller than me that play basketball,” she said. Unfortunately, Harrison has been injured since December, when she sprained her ankle after “being guarded by a girl who was 6’4” the whole entire game.”

NOLAN WHITEHILL

— Mateo Tsai