Nov 20, 2014

How much is too much?

Page 2: The Olympian talks teacher tenure

Volume 58, Issue 3

Modise runs to success

Cans over candy Page 4: Interact collects food for the needy

november 20, 2014

Page 7: Namane Modise’s final season

We are born to seek the truth! www.cvhsolympian.com

Sports support suffers, cuts coming

By Laura Macchiavello Staff Writer

The CVHS athletic program is experiencing a budget crisis that may affect all winter sports this upcoming season. This unfortunate predicament has caused the athletic department, which strives to provide athletes with equal opportunities, to cut all transportation funding for basketball, soccer, and wrestling.

All sports teams at CVHS are self-funded. The donations made by athletes’ families pay for equipment, coaches’ salaries, officials, league dues, transportation, and any other athletic expenses.

To run the entire athletic program it costs $320,000 per year.

So far, the CVHS fall sports have raised $36,524, only 45 percent of what’s needed from that season.

CVHS has asked athletes’ families to donate different amounts based on the expenses of their sports. For example, cross country runners are asked to pay $225 per season, baseball players are asked to pay $325, and football players are asked to pay $350. The costs of the program per athlete ranges from $225 to $350.

Because athletes’ families have donated less than the department needs to pay its bills, spending cuts may impact winter and spring teams.

An athlete’s contribution can

By Isaiah Siordia Staff Writer

Sports teams face cuts if families do not make donations to the athletic department. be paid in many more ways other than just a check at the beginning of the season. Donations, sponsorships, fundraisers, or installments, are among the various available options.

All athletic contributions are sport and season specific. This means that each team is responsible for funding their program.

For example, if the swim team does an outstanding job fundraising and exceeds the required amount needed to fund their sport, these funds cannot be transferred to another

sport in order to help them meet their budget needs. Instead, individual teams fundraising money is placed in that sport teams’ ASB account and is only accessible to that specific team.

For the past six years the athletic department has been alerting teams of the consequences of not funding their sport. There were many close calls, but no official cuts were ever made.

Last year, all three winter sport teams had very low athletic contributions. As a result, this year,

all transportation for these sports will be cut because the athletic department cannot afford the cost of the buses.

The athletic department is hoping that this change will bring more awareness towards the problem and influence more families to help fund their children’s sport.

“Their donations pay the coaches’ salaries, so the parents that don’t do anything are basically telling the coaches, you’re not worth

every student having a wireless network connected device.

Before, CVUSD would block wireless Internet access because of concern over the students using the network inappropriately.

History teacher Jeff Goldstein thinks the new rules will be an improvement over the previous standards.

"Before, the district blocked everything on the web to students because they might use the Internet inappropriately,” Goldstein said. “It's like fearing that students might say something inappropriate in class, so we put duct tape over their mouths to prevent that. We don't do that, and our current policy doesn't do that with the Internet. It allows for open access, and teachers can discipline students who use the Internet inappropriately just as

they would if a student uses inappropriate speech."

CVUSD is allowing students to access the Internet, but with restrictions. Everything is unlocked except for sites containing pornography and violence.

Out of class the students may use the Wi-Fi to access social media or other web sites. Now you can use the school Wi-Fi to access the Internet instead of your data plan and your social media is easier to access now on campus while outside of the classroom.

In order to make the Internet accessible to the students, CVUSD had to expand the bandwidth of the server. A way of thinking about bandwidth is comparing it to a pipe; before, it was a small pipe accessible to only the staff of CVHS, but now, the school district is expanding this pipe so that

students, staff and guests can easily have accesst.

“I like how you can use your student ID and password, that’s convenient,” said senior Siby Samuel.

Over the next two to ten years, the school will experience a change in the landscape of the technology-enabled classroom. Some of the forces behind this change are computer adaptive assessments, online classrooms, and digital textbooks. The school’s infrastructure must be capable of handling 10,000 Internet enabled devices. These may be tablets, desktops or cell phones carried by staff, students, parents/ guardians, or other guests on the CVHS campus.

How parents will access the Internet has not yet been revealed.

SPORTS: Page Eight

Students can stay connected on campus

By Isaiah Siordia Staff Writer

It's here. Wi-Fi, accessible to students, staff, and parents/guardians, has arrived at CVHS. The new accessibility is due to the updated CVUSD Technology Plan. The student login is similar to that of the school’s Chromebooks. The network name is your identification number followed by @cv.k12.ca.us, and your password is the one you have chosen when creating the account.

The primary goals of the technology plan is to define the near-term improvements that the district will make to its schools. CVUSD is trying to deliver a fast, reliable network that will meet the classroom standard for technology. If this plan is successful then it will result in a robust technological environment that will support

Suspension rates fall, then increase In the 2013-14 school year, suspension rates for CVHS increased.

The number of suspensions increased to 131 students from 107 in 2012-13. But both years had fewer suspensions than 2011-12, when CVHS suspended 198 students.

In the entire district, suspensions increased from 445 students in 2012-13 to 481 students in 2013-14.

“I think suspensions are good, you only get suspended for breaking certain rules,” said senior Siby Samuel. “Suspensions are a great way to provide incentive for kids not to misbehave and they are a great way to enforce the rules.”

Of the 131 suspensions at CVHS, 74 percent were boys and 26 percent were girls. About 4.4 percent of CVHS students were suspended last year.

“Suspensions.. provide incentives for kids not to misbehave.”

Siby Samuel Students tend to act up more during holidays or big school events, mainly because they are excited, school officials said. The administration believes it is because when one student acts up, others tend to follow. To solve this issue, Assistant Principal Sharon Baltazar proposes that students not follow the other students acting inappropriately, but try and lead by example and not misbehave.

“Other measures of corrective actions are taken, but when these actions are exhausted the students will be suspended,” said Assistant Principal Ruben Mata.

There were 652 district wide suspension days, and most of the suspensions related to fighting, drugs, alcohol or defiance.

Teacher tenure: fix it, don’t end it, we say Give teachers job protection after five years Editorial: Everyone has had a bad teacher that they wish they could get rid of, but how easy is it for a teacher to actually get fired? Most people believe that if teachers do a bad job they will get suspended or fired, and if teachers perform well then they will be asked to stay, but it’s not that simple. Some teachers have the protection option of tenure.

Tenure is a policy that restricts the ability to fire teachers, requiring a "just cause" rationale for firing. States each have established their own tenure systems. Tenure pro-

Alison Dhont / Photo Editor

vides teachers with protection by making it difficult to fire teachers who have earned tenure. In California, the teacher

Fed up with crowded lunch

By Neo Diesta Staff Writer

Upperclassmen, are you tired of waiting in line for so long to get lunch? Are you tired of an over-crowded campus?

Lunch is a 35-minute period.

Lunch to many students is very important because it gives a period of free time to eat, socialize, do homework, study, play, and do any other business students like or need to do during lunch.

Every Monday, Thursday, and Friday upperclassmen have a lunch period before the freshmen.

This means that fourth period

lunch is always crowded on campus with the population of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Even though upperclassmen have the privilege to leave campus, not many do because they won’t have enough time to leave, come back, and eat before lunch ends.

As a personal effect, I have made changes in how I eat lunch. During my freshman year last year, I bought lunch every traditional day because it was only freshman class having lunch together, so there were shorter lines. As a sophomore, if I plan to leave campus for lunch, I have to leave as soon as possible so I can have as much time as I need to eat, but I may not have enough time to go to my locker or prepare for my next class.

I please request that you make changes to the traditional day lunch schedule so the campus is less crowded during fourth period lunch.

We should move sophomores to have lunch with the freshmen and the juniors and seniors could have lunch together.

tenure can be offered after a two year probation period.

We at The Olympian are in favor of teacher tenure, but

Patience is a virtue, she learned I realized that this was a lesson in patience, and all the people in traffic were experiencing it too.

We all endure impatience often, especially since our phones can travel the Internet

“ People need

By Danika Newlin Staff Writer

Driving home from visiting my grandparents in Santa Rosa usually takes an hour and 20 minutes.

Two traffic jams caused the trip to take two hours and ten minutes the last time I visited. Stuck in the second wave of traffic, I wanted nothing more than to have my dad drive on the sidewalk in order for me to get home quicker and be able to hang out with my friends.

We tried to get off the freeway, but all the drivers seemed to have that same idea. Frustrated, I realized my hope of going to the Ice Creamery with my friends was dwindling. I settled on trying to find a pro to my situation when

PHOTOpinions By: Laniah Lewis

“You can’t get rid of bad teachers easily. And I think two years is too short of a time to qualify for teacher tenure.”

Katie Melkonians, freshman

believe that some pieces of the structure should be changed.

For example, the probation period that California teachers

must go through before they can be eligible for tenure is two years. We believe that the time period should be around five years. That way administrators can really see how the teacher benefits the students and school. In addition to a longer probation period, we believe that the students should have an input on teacher’s eligibility to receive tenure. Students have a unique perspective on the teacher and can better judge how successful the teacher really is at teaching.

However, the students would need to be trustworthy and be able to give honest feedback without bias, which would be hard for most students.

The tenure policy is a good policy, but needs some work to ensure that both the students and the teachers feel like they are being benefitted. Hopefully down the line with some changes, we will be able to give the full tenure policy an A+.

“It should be changed because the students should have the ability to fire a bad teacher when they need to.”

Daniel Lee, sophomore

to become more respectful and aware of others in their same situation. ”

in lightning seconds. Whether it’s waiting in line for your turn, or for something to happen, we have a choice to take it well or impatiently.

I have observed and experienced being impatient many times. A feeling that comes with this is the feeling that you are the

only one that matters. All other reasons and feelings the other waiters have become obsolete.

You're the only one who matters. The problem with this type of thinking is that once everyone feels this way, there is a lot of aggression for people to get what they want without caring about how others feel.

I see this being a passenger in a car. Drivers will dangerously cut others off to get as quickly as they can to their destination. At restaurants and other services, people become easily irritable if not attended to quickly enough.

People need to become be more respectful and aware of others in their same situation.

Waiting causes stress. In these situations people need to tell themselves that they cannot change their problem, and they just need to make the best of waiting. This could help reduce stress and aggressiveness.

Who knows, when standing in line, striking up a conversation with the stranger next to you can change the state of mind of both the stranger and yourself.

What do you think about teacher tenure?

“If a teacher doesn’t know how to teach, it shouldn’t matter how long they’ve been at the school. They should be fired.”

Jaime Massey, junior

“It’s bad because if you want new teachers that are better qualified then you can’t fire the old teachers.”

George Eliopoulos, senior

The Olympian November 20, 2014

Society forces us to accept rigid gender roles

By Jessica Mi Staff Writer

It happens in classrooms, hallways, and the football field. It happens in PE classes, sports practices, and the gym.

It happens every day, and no one even realizes it. How many times have you heard someone say, “Dude, stop being a girl. Man up!” How many times do you stop to think whether or not saying this is okay? We may not even realize it, but society has established gender roles that we are forced into accepting.

The largest gender categories formed at school involve sports. The football and cheer team are both co-ed at CVHS. Why is it, then, that they are both completely dominated by a specific gender? There is not a single girl on any of the three football teams, nor is

there a single boy on either of the three cheer teams. People might say it’s because there aren’t any girls who want to play football, and no boys who want to cheer. But I don’t buy that. Of a school of over 3,000, not a single girl wants to play football? Not a single boy wants to cheer? Maybe there are boys and girls out there who want to cheer and play football, but don’t dare to try out because of what society has taught us. We don’t accept people who dare to venture into the opposite gender role.

Society has taught us that girls are meant to be happy cheerleaders, while boys are meant to be tough, strong, football players.

Gender roles can be found anywhere. They are present in music as well. A large majority of CVHS band classes consist of males, and a large majority of the choir classes consist of females. We have been taught that singing is girly, while playing an instrument is manly. And not just any instrument. Looking at the pattern of instruments that boys choose to play as fifth graders, compared with the choices of fifth grade girls, we notice that

the boys usually choose trumpet, percussion, or saxophone, while the girls opt for flute or clarinet. Ever since we were little kids, gender roles have been rooted in our minds.

Even in high school band, most of the female members play flute or clarinet, high, melodious instruments.

People may argue that girls want to be in choir, and boys want to be in band. We want to feel like we make our own uninfluenced choices. But what if these likes and dislikes were taught by society? As kids, little boys who want to play with Barbies are scolded by their mothers, while little girls on the T-ball team are discouraged from playing.

We’ve grown up with gender stereotyping and have faced it so much it doesn’t even bother us anymore; it’s just the way things are.

We, as a school, should work to become more conscious of gender roles. We need to learn that it’s not okay to use “girl” as an insult, and that we should be more accepting and encouraging of people who dare to defy their gender roles, and maybe even dare to defy them ourselves.

these bells. By this time in the year, most students already have a plan to get to each of their destinations in a timely manner. However, when teachers decide to not respect the schedule mandated by the school, everything gets thrown into disarray.

Being late at CVHS isn’t a thing that is highly respected by staff or peers and there are even consequences to being tardy.

include eating, going to the restroom, and using your locker, then you will come to class unprepared to learn. If you ask permission to do some of these things during your next class, you will often get a speech about how you should handle personal stuff on your own time.

You may even have to suffer in your next classes because of that one inconsiderate teacher with the invalid idea that “The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do.”

I feel like this issue of teachers unfairly “extending” their class time affects my everyday life now. I’ve learned to just be prepared for these inconsiderate teachers so that I don’t have to suffer any consequences for their lack of respect, resposibility, and judgment of time.

As students, most of us are on time to class because we respect the bell, our teachers, and our educations. We just want teachers to give us the same respect that we give and dismiss us when we are supposed to be dismissed. After all the CVHS Student Planner states, “[CVHS] is dedicated to being a place of mutual respect.”

Not saved by the bell

By Laniah Lewis Staff Writer

The bell rung and I felt relieved that I could finally leave the boring class I had been in for the last hour. As I packed up and planned the route to my next destination, the teacher yelled, “The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do!”

The teacher then forced the class to stop packing and sit in silence while she expressed her seniority over us. When the teacher did release us, I had to sprint around campus to do things I needed to do in the small amount of time the school gives us, especially after some of it had be taken by the inconsiderate teacher with an invalid statement.

The bell is the signal for students to come to class and begin learning, as well as for the students to pack up and be dismissed. As students, we live our whole lives by

“H o w e v e r,

when teachers decide to not respect the schedule mandated by the school, everything gets thrown into disarray.

”

So when some of passing period, break, or lunch is taken by an inconsiderate teacher, it makes tardies more likely to happen because we only have so much time to do necessary things. If you choose to skip some of these necessary things, which

3

Ice Bucket Challenge: bring on the trend!

But save water and support other causes

By Meiling Zhang Staff Writer

Ice cubes scatter across the darkened concrete. Soaked students bounce up and down and shriek as they register the coldness of the ice. They give a final smile towards the camera and laughter can be heard in the background right before the video goes dark.

Over the course of the summer, a new challenge emerged.

It started out as a challenge to raise money for any charity of the participants’ choice. Eventually, however, the challenge became associated solely with the ALS Association. The association is a non-profit organization that helps raise awareness and lead research for a neurodegenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Millions of dollars have been donated towards the organization over this past summer by participants of the challenge.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a great way to raise awareness of diseases, but people shouldn’t be blindly taking the challenge. Especially in California where there is a hor-

rible drought, people should be more mindful of what they do and how their actions can affect others.

Despite the obvious benefits of the challenge, there are still many consequences of it that people need to know. Many participants only took the challenge for the “likes” or the “follows,” but they still don’t know what they are raising awareness for.

Furthermore, an excessive amount of water has been used for the challenge. According to BBC News, over 2.4 million ice bucket challenge videos, with just one person or a large group like a sorority, have been posted online. Assuming that each video used at least three gallons of water, over seven million gallons have been used this summer on the challenge.

Since mid-August, hype over the Ice Bucket Challenge has been decreasing, so less water has been used, but I hope people will still be charitable and willing to learn more about and donate to other good causes.

The Olympian is a publication of the journalism class at Castro Valley High School, 19400 Santa Maria Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546. © 2014

Editors-in-Chief...........................................................Stephanie Huerta Anna Talajkowski Copy Editor......................................................................Rachel Du News Editor..............................................................Anna Nguyen Opinion Editor............................................................Sally Liang Feature Editor.....................................................Callie Ross-Smith Sports Editor................................................................Adri Vandiver Arts and Entertainment Editor......................................Lauren Jelks Photo Editors........................................................Alison Dhont Jes Smith Business Manager......................................................Robbie Brandt Staff Writers: Martin Baez, Desiree Broome, Brittany Bracy, Neo Diesta, Caitlin Forbes, Laniah Lewis, Halley Lin-Jones, Laura Macchiavello, Alexander McIntosh, Jessica Mi, America Morales, Danika Newlin, Maia Samboy, Isaiah Siordia, Meiling Zhang Advisor........................................................................Matt Johanson

Talent shines at Battle of the Bands

America Morales / Staff Writer

Jennifer Kline smiles in her office full of college and university posters.

Kline inclines to help students with their future

By America Morales Staff Writer

Since Melanie Small has left the Career Center, Jennifer Kline has taken her place, bringing along her enthusiasm and years of experience with kids. She continues to offer students a variety of information on work permits, career opportunities, college and financial aid, scholarships, SAT/ACT tests, and summer opportunities.

With her great sense of humor, Kline very importantly pointed out that many people say “Career Center” rather than “College and Career Center,” which provides a better title for what she offers students at the school.

With a former CVHS student and an enrolled freshman, Kline has gotten a feel for the environment at CVHS through her children. She not only likes all the activities and clubs students can participate in, but also the tight knit community.

“I think that the camaraderie of the staff so far sounds very positive and collaborative. I also like that it’s a public school because it’s able to provide much more opportunities than any of

the smaller private schools,” said Kline.

Because this is Kline’s first year working at the College and Career Center, she worries she will have a lot to learn in such a little amount of time. However, she is determined to assist all students seeking her help.

“If I don’t know the answer to a question I will look it up and get the answer to them by the end of the day,” said Kline.

Having worked at Stanton Elementary School as an instructional assistant, Kline knows how to work well with students.

Kline stated how she plans on helping students this year.

“My goal is to open opportunities they thought they never had. I hope to help all the students that I can,” she said.

As she encourages the seniors to take part in the college visits, learn their options and not to get stuck in one mindset, she suggests they attend all the events the College and Career Center has to offer, such as Senior Night, and Cash for College Night on Feb. 11, 2015, which helps all families get money for college.

“It’s never too early to start planning for college,” said Kline.

Trick-or-Canning shows value of food over candy

By Jes Smith Staff Writer

Many of you know the beloved holiday, Halloween, when people go around in costumes and walk around with friends and family to ask for candy at houses with the famous line, “Trick-or-Treat.”

Yet another way to enjoy Halloween is to give back, so CVHS teacher Clare LePell and the Interact club host a food drive called “Trick-or-Canning.” In a few neighborhoods in Castro Valley, Palomares Hills, and Columbia, high school students volunteer and pick up canned food that the people leave outside their house to donate.

Every year the event has turned out very well and has raised a plethora of cans for charity, and

this year they raised enough cans to fill more than a quarter of a classroom.

In total, they raised 2,827 cans, which filled up 14 barrels of canned food for the less fortunate. Over 50 students from the high school helped out this year, and made many families happy for the holiday season!

“Today a charity truck is coming by to pick up all these cans,” LePell said. “We did very well this year and as you can see it takes up an entire corner of my classroom!”

The event is an example of how very easy and very helpful it is to donate canned food for the less fortunate, and it is a great opportunity to help a family stay happy and healthy before the holiday season.

Joon Kang and Sarah Choi play a sweet song.

By Laura Macchiavello Staff Writer

CVHS’s annual Battle of the Bands, organized and hosted by DECA, occurred on Friday, Oct. 24. The nine performing acts consisted of a solo, two duets, two dances, and four bands. Every single performance showed passion, dedication, and liveliness, while also supporting a good cause.

Each performance truly showed how extremely talented CVHS students are. From the beginning of the night until the last show, the crowd listened, clapped along, sang, and cheered for their fellow classmates, friends, and family.

The performances were of course the main attraction, but there was also a concession stand, a T-shirt stand, and a People’s Choice stand. The People’s Choice stand allowed audience members to donate money to their favorite band’s jar. The money collected

was given to a charitable foundation called Open Arms Ukraine.

This important organization helps orphans, ages six to eighteen, in Ukraine, have better lives by befriending these struggling children, as well as making them feel as if they have a safe home, keeping them out of trouble, and supporting them. Over $200 was raised for Open Arms Ukraine.

Also, the act with the most money raised won the People’s Choice award. The winner was the band Def Con. They were awarded Open Arms Ukraine T-shirts and certificates.

The judges had a hard decision to make for the winning performance, especially after hearing so many great acts. First place ended up going to the band Stand Off, who undoubtedly delivered a memorable and talented performance. Their winning prize was $50. The members of the band are Tyler Cook, guitarist and singer,

Laura Macchiavello/ Staff Writer

Grey Janowski on the drums, Cesar Revuelta, also playing the guitar, and Mitch Avery, who is usually on the keyboard, but couldn’t play because he had a football game that night. They played five songs, one being an original named “You’re Mine.”

Second place was given to the Jazz Quintet, who kindly donated their 25 dollar prize money to Open Arms Ukraine. Last but not least, third place was given to the same winners of the People’s Choice award, Def Con. They were awarded with Battle of the Bands T-shirts.

This traditional club event most definitely delivered a huge dose of musical entertainment.

“DECA is incredibly proud of this year’s turnout. The acts were great and we had an awesome time putting on another successful Battle of the Bands! See you next year,” said senior Suhani Abdullah, DECA club president.

Students vent about missing vending machines

By Alexander McIntosh Staff Writer

The vending machines are gone and students are hungry!

Who could’ve done such thing!

Michelle Obama?

This year all the vending machines selling food are now gone and have been replaced with machines selling water because of the school nutrition law taking away unhealthy foods and not allowing snacks over 200 calories.

Though kids do need to eat healthy, teenagers are going through puberty and need the

calories to keep up with their growth. Many object to the change. ”I do think that students are going to be able to get it however they want. I don’t think that they should be stocked with purely unhealthy things but I do think they should have more snacks readily available for students,” said history teacher Ian Rodriquez.

Along with the vending machines, the school snack bar does not have a variety of snacks either to satisfy students’ appetites, encouraging students to go off

campus for lunch.

“Honestly, it’s a little upsetting considering that some people depend on that for lunch because they don’t like the school food,” said student Jay Chahal.

Members of the cafeteria staff declined to comment.

Assistant Principal Jesse Hansen said school officials only had the option of water or sundry items such as chapstick or pencils due to the new law.

Sure, students are mad at the school but the school isn’t the reason for the new law and the changes.

The Olympian November 20, 2014

When CVHS teachers were students at CVHS

5

Alumni talk about their high school experiences

By Brittany Bracy Staff Writer

Many teachers may seem as if they’ve never been a high school student a day in their lives, but don’t judge a book by its cover. In reality, many teachers were former students at CVHS and in their high school days, you never could’ve told them that they’d be back to teach.

For the most part, teachers seemed to have been very laid back as freshmen and sophomores, but by senior year they were broken out of their shells. A couple of our favorite teachers describe their shocking high school experiences.

“I was pretty quiet, generally I wanted to sit back, do my work, and go home. The more I got involved the more I did like it. The one activity that I did for CVHS was journalism because Ms. (Carmelina) Frasca encouraged me to, and I ended up really liking it, ” said Ian Rodriquez.

“I enjoyed academic classes

Brittany Bracy / Staff Writer

CVHS alumni now teaching here include (from top left) Michael Kentris, Jason Marlis, Alan Kraut, Barbara Andersen, Ian Rodriquez, Kelly Abbott and Daren Wilkerson. and outside of class I was a part of the Improv Club and I did music. In my senior year I did theater tech class and didn’t expect to enjoy it but I did. I was socially reserved but not in terms of speaking up in classes,” said Alan Kraut.

Certainly, there isn’t a class without a class clown.

“During high school I wasn’t involved in anything.

I was very social and trying to

be a class clown, but also very quick to leave. I never slept in Ms. Frasca’s class,” said Jason Marlis.

For some teachers, extracurricular activities were the highlight of their high school lives.

“I was really involved. I was in DECA, I was a peer counselor, and I was on the football and tennis team,” said Michael Kentris.

“I was in leadership with

Rachel Maddow; leadership and homecoming were so fun!

I also did a lot of volunteer work in the summer and it all started with that Key club stuff,” said Kelly Abbott.

“I played a lot of sports. I loved volleyball, basketball, and track. I wasn’t really in any clubs,” said Barbara Andersen.

Other than your average student, a couple of teachers led some seemingly exciting

lives outside of campus.

“By sophomore year I had become a drummer, and I played in a rock and roll band. By junior and senior year I was doing a lot of drama and theatre. I was outgoing and sociable but I didn’t really follow the popular crowds,” said Daren Wilkerson.

Although these teachers are very different, the former students from different walks of life somehow ended up as our teachers of today.

New Assistant Principals help rule school

Jesse Hansen Ruben Mata

By Neo Diesta

By Maia Samboy

Alternating from a middle school to a high school of thousands of students is a big change. If anybody were to successfully make the transition, it would be Jesse Hansen.

Hansen was hired this year to be a new AP at CVHS, having previously been an AP at Martinez Junior High.

So far, he loves the diversity here.

“I love being a part of an excellent, diverse school,” Hansen said.

As AP, Hansen is not able to make changes for the school on his own, but he is able to help the principal, Blaine Torpey, make changes for CVHS that he thinks is for the greater good.

When not serving as one of the assistant principals, Hansen loves to spend as much time as possible with his family, especially at good restaurants because he loves good food. He also likes to do many active outdoor activities like playing basketball and walking his dogs.

New Assistant Principal Ruben Mata has been catapulted through the ranks of the CVHS administrative staff since he began working here as a counselor last school year. With prior experience as an assistant principal in Los Angeles County and eight years of experience as a counselor in San Diego, it is no surprise that the selfdeemed “Nor Cal transplant” was chosen to fill Blaine Torpey’s spot as AP when he took over as principal earlier this school year.

As an AP, Mata is now in charge of school safety, overseeing campus patrollers, school drills, and communication with school resource

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

officers. Although Mata is excited to take on new challenges as an AP, he is sad about parting with his former job as the House Four counselor.

Luckily for him, his counseling days are not over quite yet.

Although he has taken over as assistant principal, he remains the counselor for a portion of the House Four students, and is the counselor for students in the Puente Program. Mata is an integral part of the Puente Program at CVHS, which introduces underserved students to rigorous curriculum and multicultural authors.

Helping CVHS students is not the only thing Mata loves to do. In his free time, he enjoys cycling. Mata enjoys going as fast as he can, and prefers the lighter road bikes to mountain bikes. He has been cycling for about five years, and can even be seen whizzing down Hesperian Boulevard on the weekends.

CVHS is thrilled to have the experienced and hard-working Mata on its team, and luckily for us, Mata is happy to be here.

“It [CVHS] is an awesome community, and the students are awesome. I think overall, and don’t tell my other districts this, the student population at Castro Valley has been the best I’ve ever worked with,” he said.

Nikki Pitcher

By Jessica Mi Staff Writer

Amidst all the crazy staff changes going on this year, Nikki Pitcher has joined the CVHS administration team as the assistant principal for Houses Two and Three (last names HueyMilligan). She is in charge of the Trojan Den and athletics and well as tests, including AP testing, the CAHSEE, SAT, and PSAT, as part of her AP duties.

Pitcher has a lot of experience in education and school administration. She started out as a classroom biology teacher and has served as a middle school vice principal and high school assistant principal at the Vallejo City Unified School District. Pitcher is currently in her second year of studying to earn her doctorate in education at California State

University East Bay. There are many things CVHS can look forward to this year from Pitcher.

“Since I’m new to the community, I look forward to getting to know as many students and staff as possible,” she said.

Pitcher also envisions many positive changes to improve CVHS. “I’d like to see the student voice utilized more," she said.

Pitcher wants to help students speak up and be able to advocate for themselves. To help students learn, Pitcher said, “I’d like to create more mentorship programs for our students." These programs could help students learn as well as build relationships.

One thing Pitcher noticed was unique about the CVHS campus is the huge cultural diversity and variety of different clubs.

“I like that there is a broad range of clubs," she said.

Besides all this school business, administrators are people too. In her free time, Pitcher enjoys being active and going to church, concerts, and amusement parks. “I also do like to shop,” she admitted, “but I do not like cooking!”

Being an administrator isn’t as easy task. Pitcher said that her job can be pretty difficult at times, though in the end it is very rewarding. Despite all the problems she has to face, Pitcher loves her job.

“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” she said.

No fault found in The Fault in Our Stars

By America Morales Staff Writer

Win the World Series on a PS4

By Martin Baez Staff Writer

For the last year, I’ve been playing a baseball game for the PS4 called MLB 14: The Show. The game is excellent. It lets you play with your family, friends, and connect to compete against anyone, anywhere in the world and an even bigger plus is the amazing graphics that let you see every string of green grass and gravel on the baseball field.

The game, played by most MLB baseball players with a PS4, is pretty neat if you ask me. It allows you to play regular games against any MLB team or minor league team so when you and your friend want to recreate the Bay Bridge series, just grab two dualshock controllers and start playing.

I've grown to love the game

more and more this year as they have added new features that are amazing. For example, back in the older versions of MLB: The Show, the roster couldn’t be updated at the trade deadline or whenever there was a trade so when the best player in your team gets traded away and you don’t ever want to see them again, you get stuck with them because there weren't any roster actualizations.Now,however MLB 14: The Show has added that neat feature that lets you stay in touch with everything around the real baseball world for all the fanatics out there.

This game has accomplished some amazing features. Ever imagine yourself batting during game seven of the World Series with the bases loaded, the lights and cameras flashing on you at your home ballpark down by one run? With this game, you can! With all the adrenaline running through you then next thing you know….BAM! You hit a grand slam to win the World

Series in dramatic fashion.

This amazing game lets you go inside baseball and analyze every single little thing like swing mechanics all the way down to running and throwing mechanics with the fluid and smooth motions made by the players in the game. Another neat thing about the game is that you can create yourself and play in the minor leagues and make your way up to the big show.

This amazingly detailed game lets you see every single aspect of the game of baseball, down from bunt rotations to guys hitting mammoth home runs. It lets you slow the game down and analyze everything you always wanted to do while you played the game but couldn’t. It makes you get the feeling that you are the one actually playing the baseball game and batting, not just some computer. Will the feelings you get playing this game be just like the real deal?

King Oberon and Queen Titania, who was lost in the mortal world for the past 500 years.

Unfortunately, Anita does not have any recollection of Tania’s life, or her six older sisters, or her mysterious disappearance from the Faerie realm on the eve of her marriage to Lord Gabriel five hundred years earlier.

Swept away into a court of magic and beauty, the lost princess of Faerie is torn between her life in the Mortal World, full of familiar sights and memories, and the realm of Faerie, where nothing is certain. Since Tania’s mysterious disappearance 500 years ago, Faeries have been sunk into darkness and gloom. The entire kingdom is mourning the death of her mother, and her eldest sister refuses to see her. Upon her return, Faeries comes alive again as a land of winged children, glittering balls, and fantastic delights. Between two worlds, Tania slowly remembers why she disappeared.

She doesn’t know who to trust: her sisters, Lord Gabriel, or the

boy she thought she loved in the Mortal World. But she’ll have to remember why she disappeared so long ago, because she’s the only one who can stop the treasonous plot afoot that threatens the entire world of Faerie.

Jones does an admirable job of bringing out individual characters’ personalities and strengths.

A floral Faerie tale unspools at a measured pace, the author ’s fascination regarding the immortal world is unique and even communicates well with today’s readers. The premise of the novel is compelling in itself with plot twists and breathtaking descriptions. The fantasy tale centers to the overlapping of a magical realm parallel to the world of humans.

It adds obstacles as bonuses to Anita/Tania’s story by making crossovers so difficult. The surprise ending will leave you waiting in anticipation for the sequel, The Lost Queen.

Overall, The Faerie Path is highly recommended for those who enjoy teen romance and adventure.

The Fantasy of The Faerie Path

By Sally Liang Opinion Editor

In the fictional novel The Faerie Path, author Frewin Jones reveals the fantasy realm of a young girl torn between her mortal life on earth and her newly discovered magical life as a Faerie princess.

Anita Palmer is an ordinary teen girl living in the hustle and bustle of her hometown. Elated by her approaching sixteenth birthday and plans with her new boyfriend, Evan, she thinks nothing of the strange dreams she’s been having.

It comes as a big shock when she is swept into an entirely different world, the realm in which her boyfriend and Anita really belong.

Brought back by Lord Gabriel Drake after a boating incident, Anita discovers that she is actually Tania, the seventh daughter of

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of experiencing the humorous, yet romantic and heartfelt, touching movie, The Fault in Our Stars, adapted from the book written by John Green.

The movie takes you through a range of different emotions as you experience the unforgettable journey of Hazel Grace and her friends who struggle to overcome the battle of cancer.

Although I had not taken the time to read the book before the movie came out, I immediately rushed to the bookstore after having watched the movie to buy my own personal copy of the story that greatly impacted my heart. Not only had the movie opened my eyes up to the beauty of the world, it also

taught me to cherish the little things we have in life.

Hazel Grace, played by Shailene Woodley, wasn’t like any other teenager, having an oxygen tank as her companion, until she met Augustus, played

by Ansel Elgort. After meeting, Hazel and Gus become very close and understand each other the way no one else could. Together, they explore the funny, memorable, and sometimes cruel reality of life and being in love.

Before watching the movie, I didn’t truly know what the story was about. I simply went in wanting to watch some type of romantic movie. After the movie, however, I realized it was more than just a chick-flick, and I definitely did not expect to come out bawling.

I would recommend this movie if you are interested in a well-rounded emotional movie that will have you hooked from beginning to end!

Johansson + Freeman = Success

By Alexander McIntosh Staff Writer

Scarlett Johansson, better known as Black Widow from the movie, The Avengers, has come on set to a new movie called Lucy. The movie theorizes that humans can only access ten percent of their brain and ponders the thought of what humans are capable of if they had access to more of their brain. What if there was a drug that made us able to do so? What would we be able to do? Luc Besson, the director, answers these questions with action and much imagination.

Lucy, played by Scarlett Johansson, a college girl who does more partying than

studying, is forced into a drug trade and winds up getting kidnapped and having to deliver the drug to someone else while it’s in her stomach, for safe keeping, of course. But the drug has a leak and gets in her system, giving her the capability to use more than the ten percent of her brain. The direction of the movie is her using the ability to her advantage and more.

To go with Johansson’s amazing performance, Morgan Freeman, who plays a neuroscientist, also brings out the plot and the reality of evolution. The reason that this movie is good is because it simplifies the theory, it gives us the main points and builds on that rather than giving the math. In simplifying the explanation, it gives more room for graphics and amazing camera angles. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good movie to watch.

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Modise scores major attention

Jes Smith / Photo Editor

Senior Namane Modise rushes for the end zone during a Trojan football game.

The future of star football player Modise shines bright

By Martin Baez Staff Writer

Namane Modise has been doing outstanding for the last couple of years wearing the Trojans varsity football uniform.

His success has led to the possibility of being recruited for a college football team to play and continue his education.

Modise has been a key part to the varsity football team, making outstanding plays in

the field like the 95-yard run for a touchdown against Encinal High, while also scoring four touchdowns that same night.

When asked about his college plans, Modise said, “Go to Cal, get a good education, play there and get my degree of course and hopefully go to the NFL draft.”

Modise wants to have a successful future and hopes to secure a degree in case football doesn’t work out. Modise is definitely motivated to make his dreams a reality.

Modise is a very respectful player and isn’t selfish with all the recognition he is getting. He doesn’t have a goal for himself but he has a goal for his team: he wants the whole team to do well and contribute.

“Honestly my goal is for

Danika Newlin / Staff Writer

Emma Armstrong pulls ahead of the competition at the WACC championship meet.

Castro Valley races for success

By Danika Newlin Staff Writer

Hard work brought the CVHS cross country teams to the WACC championship meet on Nov. 4 at Hayward High. Twelve schools from the Shoreline and Foothill divisions attended to compete.

Senior Emma Armstrong was the fastest Castro Valley girl from the varsity team. She finished the three-mile course with a time of 19:06.41 in fourth place. Sarah Fung also finished in 11th place with a stunning time of 19:30.83, leaving competitors in the dust.

The Trojans had an overall finish of fourth place to Piedmont, Bishop O’Dowd, and Alameda, and the girls team will race in the NCS championships on Nov. 22.

The varsity boys team didn’t finish as well, but the runners’ determination was shown all throughout the race.

Senior Carter Mackey was

neck and neck with three Bishop O’Dowd runners the entire race but was not able to pass them when they came upon the finish line.

He finished strong ending up in fourth place with a final time of 15:37.11. The final placement of the boys team was sadly, eighth, but still beating Hayward and Encinal.

Mackey and his teammates will also race in the NCS championships at Hayward High.

The JV girls finished first behind Jessica Yin, who finished second overall. The frosh soph girls took second behind top finisher Kristen Sun. Though the varsity teams didn’t make the top scores, the team as a whole made several wins throughout the season with incredibly fast individual and team scores. As the cross country season comes to a close, the teams should be proud of themselves for the amount of dedication they put into their workouts and races.

Respectable finish in fourth for girls tennis team at WACC finals “There was

By Lauren Jelks A&E Editor

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everybody. I want the seniors to leave here feeling like they left everything out on the field,” he said.

Modise doesn’t only worry for himself but is a team player and cares for all his teammates.

As the football team’s running back, Modise hopes to “have a big impact for the next generation that's coming up for football.”

Modise holds ambitious goals to improve himself, saying, “I think I need to definitely get bigger, hit the weights, become more disciplined with everything and my work ethic, not just from working out on the field. Even things like making it to class on time. I feel like I could be more of a leader and I would like to have more people rely on me. I like to be trustworthy so people can depend on me.”

Modise is the type of player that plays for the name on the front of the shirt, not the back, and thanks to his incredible work ethic, he is where he is today.

Other people acknowledge Modise’s success, accomplishments, progression and improvements. Nic McMaster, the varsity football coach, said Modise is a bright young man with a good future. He doesn’t know where exactly Modise will continue to play but he knows he will be playing somewhere else.

“He’s a real good, hardworking kid. He leads by example, which I like and appreciate.” said McMaster. The coach really appreciates Modise’s leadership on the field and he is proud of Modise for improving academically in order to have a better future for himself.

“Good person number one, good person number two,” said McMaster of his star running back.

Jes Smith / Photo Editor

Rachel Dong fighting it out for a win during the WACC championships.

This year’s varsity girls tennis team season ended with a bang, as the top players participated in the WACC tournament on Nov. 7-8. Three singles, including Hailey Agulay, Rachel Dong, and Gabby Zakas, competed well as the two doubles teams, made up of twins Alexa and Nicole Buciarelli and teammates Caroline Yu and Brianna Wong, also played hard.

Even though the day was filled with tough matches and high stakes, all the girls, whether playing singles or doubles, worked their hardest against some of the toughest schools in the league.

“The challenge was the toughness of our competitors.

definitely some added pressure.”

Caroline Yu Tennis Player

They all played good tennis.

Nevertheless, it was a good way to end because despite not winning overall, I got to play with my doubles partner for the last time, and we put in our best

effort,” said senior Caroline Yu. In the end, CVHS number one player Dong was able to place third in singles, while both Agulay and Zakas put up good efforts early on. The Buciarellis were able to work hard in the first round, but ultimately lost, while partners Yu and Wong played a good match against Berkeley High.

While there were no tournament victories, the CVHS girls tennis team was well represented by seven fabulous varsity tennis players. Other schools within our league may have won, but the CVHS tennis team has heart, talent, and a work ethic that truly shows in their scores, both during the league and during the tournament.

You go, Lady Trojans.

The Olympian November 20, 2014

8

Howard, Theodore win board race CVHS welcomes new counseling team

munity was ready for somebody new."

Theodore is hoping to improve the school system by drawing from her own experiences as a mother of two children in the public schools, as well as from her former position as president of Castro Valley Elementary’s PTA. “I want to create a more open culture in our district. I want parents, teachers, and staff to feel safe in criticizing district leaders, make suggestions, and offering solutions,” she said.

With a lot of new changes in administration, budget, and school standards (such as Com-

mon Core curriculum), the school district has an increasing demand for strong leaders who will be able to make many difficult decisions.

“This is an exciting and challenging time. We have terrific schools, but we will have to work creatively to keep them that way,” said Howard.

Many Castro Valley teachers and parents hope that Howard and Theodore will bring new perspectives and ideas that will carry the district forward.

Although Howard is not a newcomer to the CVUSD board, this will be his first full term as well. He originally stepped into the position in August 2013 to take the place of trustee George Granger who had resigned earlier that year.

Howard’s campaign emphasized budgeting and funding to maintain and improve many of CVUSD’s important programs and facilities, such as the ROP program and school nutrition standards.

Looking forward, Theodore hopes that Castro Valley citizens will assist and support them with the issues that the board will be addressing.

“I fear that many community members have lost faith in our district to make sound decisions. I hope to help rebuild and restore trust in our board,” said Theodore.

that books are returned and fines are paid.

Monthly notices have been sent out to students to inform them that they have overdue books, but they are not proving to be as effective as the staff hoped.

Students could be facing consequences, such as not being able to purchase tickets to school events such as Winter Ball, Junior Prom, and Senior Ball, and not even being able to pick up their yearbook or caps and gowns for graduation.

Once students returns their books, they will be issued a clearance slip that they can take with them to buy their dance tickets, or pick up their yearbook.

This past year, schedules were held at registration for students who had fines for overdue books.

To avoid extremely last minute returns, changes in due dates for books such as novels issued to English classes may be put into

effect. This change would make those novels due six weeks after the check out date, so that books would become overdue as the year goes on, instead of it being recognized at the end of the school year.

To clear fines, students have many options. If students believe that they turned in their books, they could talk to the textbook coordinator, or their AP to try to locate the book. Students can locate lost books and turn them in to clear the fine, pay the school to replace them, buy the book online for a much cheaper price and turn them in as a replacement, or even volunteer in the book room to work off what they owe.

CVHS staff would like to implement these changes as soon as possible and significantly decrease the number of overdue books and fines, and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

$9,450 requested ($350/player) JV Football: 40 percent, $3,381 in donations/fundraising of $8,400 requested ($350/player) Varsity Football: 57 percent, $6,401 in donations/fundraising of $11,200 requested ($350/player) Girls Golf: 62 percent, $1,000 in donations of $1,625 requested ($325/player) Girls Tennis: 79 percent, $7,615 in donations of $9,675 requested ($225/player) Girls Frosh/Soph Volleyball: 23 percent, $825 in donations of $3,575 requested ($275/player) Girls JV Volleyball: 25 percent, $825 in donations of $3,300 requested ($275/player)

Girls Varsity Volleyball: 55 percent, $1,950 in donations of $3,575 requested ($275/player) Cross Country: 37 percent, $4,875 in donations of $13,050 requested ($225/player) Freshman Cheer: 25 percent, $900 in donations of $3,600 requested ($300/player) JV Cheer: 65 percent, $3,100 in donations of $4,800 requested ($300/player) Varsity Cheer: 25 percent, $1,500 in donations of $6,000 requested ($300/player) Dance Team: 5 percent, $150 in donations of $3,300 requested ($300/player)

Jes Smith / photo editor

Gary Howard and Dot Theodore speak of their plans for Castro Valley schools

By Halley Lin-Jones Staff Writer

The election results are out, and Gary Howard and Dorothy (Dot) Theodore are the new CVUSD board members.

Howard led the election with 38.3 percent of the votes, and Theodore came in second with 36 percent of the votes. Janice Friesen, who has served as a CVUSD school board member for the past 25 years, will not be returning to her familiar position this year.

"I know the community truly appreciates the time she has put in," Theodore said. "But the com-

Overdue books carry a heavy fine

Thousands of dollars of books missing

By Desiree Broome Staff Writer

Overdue books have plagued CVHS for many years and the school plans to crack down on those who owe books and fines.

At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, there was $16,000 worth of books missing and at the end of the 2013-2014 school year there was over 26,000.

Book fines have already exceeded $13,000 in 2014-15.

CVHS staff and librarian Kathy Clarke are looking to develop new ways to ensure

Student athletes face budget cuts

SPORTS: from page one

being paid,” stated Andy Popper, athletic director.

This year’s team contributions will ultimately influence the decisions made for the same teams the following year. If this issue continues to escalate, greater changes will have to be made, possibly including cutting JV teams, or the utmost, cutting out a sport entirely.

These are the amounts the teams have raised through midNovember, as reported by the finance office: Freshman Football: 43 percent, $4,002 in donations/fundraising,

Students struggle as staff transitions

By Meiling Zhang Staff Writer

With the new school year came many changes to the CVHS administrative staff. The 2014-15 school year has a new interim principal, three new assistant principals, and expects two new counselors.

During the past few months, two counselor positions have been opened. Lisa Wasserman resigned mid-October and Ruben Mata was promoted to assistant principal when Blaine Torpey was made the new interim principal.

Both Mata and Wasserman were counselors for House Four students at the very end of the alphabet which left those students without a designated counselor.

“It’s definitely frustrating to be applying for college without the help of a counselor, but I know that the administration is doing their best to remedy this situation,” said senior Jeffrey Van. Counselors have previously updated students with deadlines and information on application criteria, but now with two open counseling positions, students have to be spread out among the remaining counselors.

When students with last names at the end of the alpha-

bet enter their house office to speak to a counselor, the house secretaries send them to various counselors that are available at the time, but some students may have to leave a note for the counselor and wait to be called in another day.

Head Counselor Ivery Mcknight claimed the understaffing “has reduced the amount of time that we would typically have to address student, parent, and school concerns within our individual caseloads.”

The lack of consistency in counselors has caused some students to approach their trusted teachers for advice. Teachers, however, do not believe that is the best thing for students to do.

“It feels like understaffing this year has caused a weird void in communication and knowledge where students keep coming to me with questions that I don’t feel prepared to answer but I keep filling in those questions because they can’t get those answers elsewhere,” claimed history teacher Jason Marlis.

Vacancies for counselors is not a common situation, but counselors and officer staff have been putting in their best efforts to accommodate all of the students.

Although Mata is no longer a counselor, he is also doing everything he can to alleviate the situation by continuing to give advice and support to students when he has extra time.

Luckily for everyone, new counselors have been hired during the first week of November, and after a few weeks of training, they should be able to officially start working after Thanksgiving break.