Falconer November/December Issue 2021

Vol. 47, Issue 3, 24 pages

Friday, December 10, 2021

TPHS Art needs a fresh canvas ART PROGRAM on A12 &A13

“We’re

going

to

build

four

classrooms [in the parking lot by the stadium], with an art courtyard in the middle. It’ll open up to a nice big quad, and [the students] can paint the ground and the walls.

Robert Coppo

TPHS PRINCIPAL

A chair sits in front of the current TPHS art facility: a cluster of portables and storage containers.

PHOTO BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

Because when I was in my first surgery, I looked down at my hands to put on my gloves and for once, they weren’t shaking.

A16

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE, A8

A18

A14

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december 10, 2021

Meet the new SDUHSD Superintendent

New in town

Dr. Cheryl James-Ward Q: What are your main goals as the superintendent?

A: We need to make sure that our kids know how to collaborate and communicate in a respectful, civil manner. And so we need skill sets that help us to move forward no matter what the situation, no matter what happens with technology, even if we have another pandemic because we can’t compete with artificial intelligence.

Q: How and why do you plan on make our district more technologically oriented?

A: Lots of training An online program where teachers can take classes for training when they can. There are pilots starting. We’re going to start an innovation hub, including teachers, business people, board members to figure out what are those innovations that we need to bring into our district

Q&A Jerry Wu and Jacob Zhang COPY EDITOR AND NEWS EDITOR

Q: How do you plan on helping SDUHSD schools, like TPHS, meet their needs?

A: The schools are unique, and we want them to stay unique. The goal is to work with each school to build programs that get them ready for the 2030 [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Learning Framework that helps schools determine the knowledge students need to shape their future]. My job is to help provide [schools] with the resources and get to know what’s happening on every campus.

Q: How will you support students with regard to mental health?

A: We want to be a No Place for Hate district. We may need more behavior specialists. I want to see a person that can connect with students and their families and provide services to everybody.

Q: In what ways do you plan on supporting minorities and making our district more diverse?

A: I believe in diversity. I believe that students need to see people of all different walks of life, because that’s what we have to deal with in the world. If you come to my house for a party, you’re going to see everybody because I’m comfortable with everybody. So it’s building that comfort level, and you can’t build that comfort level unless you have diversity. So that means we’ve got to look at places where you can find diversity; we’ve got to look in new places.

MEETING THE COMMUNITY: Dr. Ward speaks at a TPHS Black

Student Union meeting to address racial diversity and inclusion.

PHOTO BY EMILY SUH/FALCONER

Q: What is your biggest piece of advice for students?

A: Network every opportunity that you have to meet somebody. Never burn a bridge, never, ever burn a bridge because you don’t know which bridge you have to cross back over. If there’s an area that you’re interested in, whatever it is, find people who are experts in those areas, email them. Don’t be afraid to reach out to different people.

TPHS hate crime reported; LCC closes after threat Anna Opalsky and Lola Newlander STAFF WRITERS

Two red swastikas were found in the B building boys bathroom on Dec. 2, drawn sometime during lunch or seventh period.

After a student informed TPHS Principal Robert Coppo of the incident on Thursday, the bathroom was closed the next day, and the district filed a hate crime report with the San Diego Police Department, according to an email sent by SDUHSD Superintendent Dr. Cheryl James-Ward. Both the girls and boys bathrooms in the B building have been closed multiple times this year for vandalism and “inappropriate activities.” Coppo said in a livestream to students and staff on Dec. 3 that this incident “has crossed the line from destructive to hateful.”

The symbols, which appeared on the fifth day of Hanukkah, were written in a red liquid that may have been stage blood or a red drink mix. The liquid also covered the walls and toilets, according to an email sent to TPHS staff members.

“I was really disappointed, especially since it’s Hanukkah,” Olivia Miller (12), the former president of the TPHS Jewish Culture Club, said. “Hanukkah is supposed to be about light.”

A staff meeting was held on Dec. 3

to address the hate crime and TPHS plans to release an anonymous survey for students, according to Coppo.

“We want all students to feel valued, respected, welcomed and, most of all, safe,” he said in the livestream.

Though Miller has seen anti-Semitic material at TPHS before, like swastikas drawn on desks, she does not feel her safety is threatened on campus as a Jewish student.

“I understand that it’s just some really bad individuals,’’ she said. “It’s not Torrey Pines students as a whole.”

The district has also contacted the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international Jewish organization that responds to anti-Semitic acts, and the San Diego County Office of Education to assist in training for staff and students, according to the email sent by Ward.

“This is our opportunity to confront racism, anti-Semitism and hate in all its forms and use this incident to educate ourselves,” Coppo said.

While TPHS was contending with this hate crime, the district was informed that a threat was found on the La Costa Canyon High School campus on Dec. 2. The threat was written on a wall in the girls bathroom, according to an email sent by LCC Principal Reno Medina to LCC families, allegedly

warning students not to attend school the following day on Dec. 3. This followed an earlier threat that LCC families were informed of on Nov. 30.

A male student has been expelled for the first threat and a female student is being investigated for the second threat, according to an LCC faculty member who asked to remain anonymous.

The district is currently working with the Carlsbad Police Department to investigate the second threat.

After an asynchronous school day on Friday, Dec. 3, “to ensure the safety of the entire community,” LCC returned to in-person learning on Dec. 6, according to an email sent by Ward.

“I was confused and overwhelmed,” an LCC student who asked to remain anonymous said. “There were rumors circulating, and I didn’t know what was real or not.”

According to Lauren Hendricks, a senior at LCC, police officers were stationed around campus on Monday.

“I was worried to return back to campus but was quickly reassured that our [administration] was on top of the situation,” Hendricks said. “It was definitely eye-opening and honestly terrifying to think that one of those stories I always hear on the news could take place at my school.”

HATE CRIME: The boys bathroom in the B building closes after swastikas drawn in a red liquid are discovered.

The Falconer condemns hate crimes of any sort.

If you see something, hear something or sense something, say something.

-the Falconer staff

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Kieran Pearson recognized for LGBTQ+ advocacy Jerry Wu

COPY EDITOR

Kieran Pearson (12) was selected as one of the 25 Most Remarkable Teens in San Diego for 2021, an annual award issued by the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office. Recognized for his work in LGBTQ+ advocacy, Pearson has strived to inspire greater acceptance of trans and gender-diverse members in the community by sharing his personal experience as a transgender male.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he grew up knowing that there was something different between him and his peers.

“I always gravitated towards masculine activities and those were the clothes that I wanted to wear,” Pearson said. “That was the portrayal that I wanted to have.”

Until his move to San Diego before his freshman year, he struggled to find a sense of personal identity, becoming increasingly depressed and unhappy.

He began to realize that this was more than a “phase.”

“I started realizing that this was something big and it was not going to

go away,” Pearson said.

That summer, he came out as transgender. Slowly coming to accept himself , he regained self-confidence and has developed a healthy relationship with himself.

“I have come to a place where the person who I am on the outside reflects who I am internally, and that has been amazing,” Pearson said.

Against this uphill battle, Pearson has witnessed the vast amount of misinformation rampant online, contributing to harmful misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ community.

“There’s been a lack of information about people being well-intentioned but not having known the do’s and don’ts of how to interact with members of the [LGBTQ+] community,” Pearson said.

At TPHS, Pearson is a member of the Gender-Sexuality Alliance Club which provides a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students and their straight allies to express themselves and create awareness for sexual and gender diversity.

“I’m hoping people can educate themselves on what the LGBTQ+

community is, who it encompasses and how to respect us,” Pearson said.

He helps promote the club’s social media account and works with other members creating and hanging posters throughout the school to reinforce LGBTQ+ rights.

Outside of school, he interns at the Trans Family Support Services, a nonprofit organization that helps support and guide children during their gender transitioning processes.

Pearson also runs a Discord server as a platform for young adults to engage in

discussions exploring their sexualities.

Not only that, he has shared his story on panels to increase LGBTQ+ awareness.

“I’m just trying to pave a way for all the people who come after me so they can have it easier while taking my experience.” Pearson said.

To support LGBTQ+ people, Pearson said all it takes is respect and allyship.

“Educate yourself on something that you were confused about. Don’t make flash judgments about people because you don’t know people’s stories or where they are in their lives,” Pearson said.

I have come to a place where the person who I am on the outside reflects who I am internally, and that has been amazing.

Kieran Pearson (12) LGBTQ+ ACTIVIST

PHOTO BY RASA NYCE/FALCONER

Annual inflation rate Julie Bronstein fills vacant skyrockets across US SDUHSD board member seat David Zhang

SPORTS EDITOR

The annual inflation rate in the United States has surged to 6.2 percent in October (from 1.2 percent in Jan. 2021), the highest it has been since November of 1990, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.

With the surge in inflation, energy costs have experienced the highest gain (30 percent in October) and gasoline prices nationwide have increased by 50 percent, according to Trading Economics. an online economic database. Today, the average cost per gallon of regular gasoline is approximately $4.70 in San Diego County, according to the American Automobile Association. This $1.50 increase in gas prices from November of last year has affected student drivers like Rebecca Golts (11) and Victor De Oliveira (11).

“I feel that the gas price increase just makes me more conscious of how far I drive on a daily basis,” Golts said. “I feel like I have to watch the amount in my tank constantly and try not to go too far when hanging out or eating out with friends.”

Oliveira also deals with similar problems with the rise of gas.

“My full tank used to cost $70 six months ago, but now it’s around $85,” Oliveira said.

Nationally, used vehicle prices are up 26.4 percent for the year, and new vehicle prices have increased 9.8 percent, according to Time Magazine. The current rate of inflation can be linked to

many things, according to AP Economics teacher John Milner.

“We have this thing called the business cycle where the money starts to overact and starts to heat up and we have more money out there. You’re going to see a decline in the value of a currency,” Milner said.

This decline in currency value causes prices to rise, and, eventually, when demand for goods strongly outweighs the supply, prices go up. Milner also said that due to COVID-19, the government has spent trillions of dollars on stimulus packages which can lead to an overacting economy.

Right now, supply is low due to supply chain shortages from COVID-19, and demand is high because people are back to work and excited to shop. These factors all contribute to the rising prices and create an inflation rate that could last until 2023, according to econ teacher Catherine Mintz.

PHOTO BY RASA NYCE/FALCONER

SKYHIGH: Premium gasoline hits $5.139 per/gallon at a San Diego gas station

Srishti Thapar

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Democrat Julie Bronstein won the special election for the vacant SDUHSD Area 5 Trustee position on Nov. 2, garnering 59.7 percent of the vote and defeating ccandidates Lea Wolf and Ty Humes. Bronstein was sworn in on Nov. 18.

The election was required to fill a vacant board seat after former trustee Kristin Gibson’s resignation. In April, Humes was unanimously appointed by the SDUHSD board to fill her seat but was forced out less than two months later due to a recall effort led by the San Dieguito Faculty Association.

TPHS Principal Robert Coppo is glad that the election took place.

“It’s always great when you have someone [like Bronstein] who has gone through the election process and is motivated to be a school board member. I think that’s very helpful,” Coppo said.

The election had a voter turnout of 19 percent, with 3,086 ballots for Bronstein.

According to Bronstein’s campaign financial disclosures, her campaign received two separate $9000 donation installments from the teacher’s union and secured endorsements from the union and the Democratic Party. In total, her campaign contributions were $64,300.

Bronstein is “very excited to be representing Area Five.”

“I am really looking forward to working collaboratively with all stakeholders in the community,” Bronstein said.

Bronstein received a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. She is also Executive Director of Development at the University of California, San Diego and an Autism Tree Project Foundation volunteer adviser.

Her campaign ran on six primary goals: improving college counseling services, expanding S.T.E.A.M. extracurriculars, securing academic excellence, managing the

SDUHSD budget wisely, increasing parent involvement and supporting teachers.

Promoting a science-centered approach to COVID-19, prioritizing student mental health and listening to students and their parents are goals important to Bronstein.

“I’d like to make sure that student voices are being heard and respected and that they are at the table when the board needs to make important decisions that impact them on a day-to-day basis,” Bronstein said.

Some students believe that Bronstein’s 16-year residency in Carmel Valley gives her valuable insight into SDUHSD’s surrounding community.

“She has a lot of good background in the community and a lot of experience within the district which is really beneficial, so I think [Bronstein’s win] is a good step moving forward,” TPHS student board representative Payton Parker (12) said.

Maddie Moon (12), a volunteer with Bronstein’s campaign and her Instagram account manager, believes that having children in the SDUHSD gives Bronstein a fresh perspective.

“I think it is really beneficial that she’s a parent, so she knows what is going on within our schools from a student’s perspective which is really nice,” Moon said. “I know she would really be attuned to our needs and concerns as students; she values our voices.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIE BRONSTEIN

A NEW PERSPECTIVE: Bronstein emerged victorious in the Nov. 2 board election. She assumed office on Nov. 18.

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Students grapple with post-pandemic learning loss Adriana Hazlett

STAFF WRITER

A 2021 survey conducted by the Horace Mann Educators Corporation of 1,000 K-12 educators across the U.S. found 97 percent of educators reported a loss of learning in their students over the past pandemic year when compared to prior ones. “Persistent achievement disparities across income levels and between white students and students of Black and Hispanic heritage” could cause disproportonate learning loss for those students, according to McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm for corporations, governments and other organizations.

McKinsey also found the percentage of middle and high school students failing a class increased by 60 percent during the pandemic in a Salt Lake City high school district. And, since spring 2020, there has been a 50 percent increase in failing grades in some districts across the Bay Area, according to Inside Higher Ed, a news website for higher education.

TPHS students have noticed lagging behind on what they feel they should know.

“I think it was very difficult for a lot of teachers to use their usual schedules during the pandemic, so we didn’t end up covering all of the curriculum we were supposed to,” Chloe Tahmasebi (10) said. “So this year, especially in math, as soon as I finally understand something, I’m onto the next thing; it’s like you’re always running to the finish line.”

On average, students in grades one through six were five months behind on curriculum content in math. However, in majority-Black schools, students were six months behind in math, and in schools where the average household income was less than $25,000, students were seven months behind, according to the McKinsey report. Thus, some worry that online learning has strengthened pre-existing educational inequalities, according to the Consumer News and

After the pandemic, I stopped talking, and I feel like in class, I stopped volunteering. I feel like that carried over into this year. I can’t volunteer as much as I did.

Colten Farrell (11) TPHS STUDENT

Business Channel.

In addition to documented decreases in test scores and grades, students and teachers have noted that many abilities necessary for learning, such as a strong attention span, memory and critical thinking skills, have been negatively impacted by online learning.

Angela Wilden, who teaches Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry and has been at TPHS since 2009, has made note of how students seem to be

struggling more to solve problems and retain information than they did in the past before distance learning.

“The ability to learn is the same.

I don’t think they lost aptitude,” Wilden said. “I think the retention, the ability to retain [material] longer and to connect ideas from one unit to the next, has been affected by distance learning … There’s always going to be kids who struggle in every class, but I feel like this year maybe there’s a few more.”

Colten Farrell (11) recognized that he has been less likely to participate in class after the pandemic.

“After the pandemic, I kind of stopped talking, and I feel like in class, I stopped volunteering,” Farrell said. “I feel like that carried over into this year.”

With all of these effects—the loss of learning, the decrease in critical thinking abilities, and attention span, there also come the social and emotional disturbances brought on by distance learning. The lack

of interaction with peers, teachers and coaches during the months of virtual learning has caused loneliness, insecurity and social isolation, causing students to be in greater need of socialemotional supports, according to multiple peer-reviewed studies.

Academic Support Resources: TPHS Peer Tutoring Program SDUHSD Virtual Tutoring Program

CONCERT SAFETY TIPS STAY HYDRATED

ARRANGE A MEETING SPOT

To avoid alcohol poisoning (for those of age) and heat stroke, drink plenty of water.

Arrange a meeting spot with your friends before the show in case someone gets lost.

LOCATE FIRST-AID All festivals will have a first-aid tent. Familiarize yourself with its location in case of emergency.

LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER

DRESS FOR THE SHOW Wear closed-toe shoes, bring earplugs and dress in layers.

Keep in mind whether the event is indoors or outdoors.

Be aware of your surroundings and help anyone in need. Avoid heavily crowded areas. Concerts are fun, but safety is the #1 priority!

infographic by Amy Ge

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Senate Bill 328 requires high schools to begin no later than 8:30 starting in July of 2022. The new schedule has sparked discussion about whether it will create a more equitable and healthy school year or fail to consider students’ schedules outside of school.

Jerry Wu

COPY EDITOR

Two years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom passed Senate Bill 328, requiring high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., beginning in July 2022. SDUHSD decided against implementing the new bell schedule until the 2022-23 school year. The american Academy of Pediatrics endorses the new start time, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says teen sleep deprivation can lead to being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.

According to an article from the Stanford School of Medicine, a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation reported that “more than 87 percent of high school students in the United States get far less than the recommended eight to 10 hours [of sleep per night].”

Sleep deprivation is a serious threat to students’ health, also leaving them more susceptible to lack of energy and drastic mood swings caused by stress, anxiety and depression, the National Sleep Foundation said.

During puberty, in particular, teens tend to stay up later at night and need sleep in the morning hours because of changing biological rhythms, says the CDC. A Kellogg Company survey reported that only 36 percent of American high school students have breakfast daily. With school starting at 8:30 a.m., students will have more time for

breakfast and receive the adequate nutrition they need for the day. Not to mention, students who drink coffee will likely limit their overreliance on caffeine after getting more sleep, avoiding related symptoms such as anxiety and nervousness.

Additionally, sleep deprivation has significant effects on student academic performance. As reported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “reduced total sleeping hours have been associated with declining academic performance.” This study, conducted among a panel of medical students, found that students with lower grade averages had shorter sleep times and worse sleep efficiency. Without sufficient sleep, people experience slowed thinking, reduced attention span and worsened memory. Students’ test scores and grades will likely be affected as they struggle to concentrate during class and understand the material.

Senate Bill 328 offers a solution to this problem. A University of Minnesota study showed that later school start times were associated with higher academic performances.

Students will likely demonstrate the same results, followed by increased attendance and graduation rates.

Meanwhile, an extra hour of sleep will also allow students to avoid the risks of drowsy driving with a sharpened concentration. The National Sleep Foundation recorded a 16.5 percent decrease in teenage crash rates after schools started an hour later, so the new bell schedule can save lives.

Senate Bill 328 provides more benefits for the right reasons. Not only will the change contribute to improved mental and physical health of students, it will also result it better academic performances, reduced drowsy driving among teens and decreased susceptibility to drug and alcohol use. Any more delay of the new bell schedule will only do more harm than good to students.

Anna Opalsky

STAFF WRITER

In 2019, the California State Legislation passed Senate Bill 328, requiring high schools to push their start times forward to at least 8:30 in the morning. Though TPHS tried to get approval for its optional 7:40 first period on the basis that students can take it as unscheduled, the state denied the request. As of now, TPHS will need to alter its schedule by July 2022 to an 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. school day.

Though a later start time appears attractive to many, with the hope of sleeping in and gaining extra homework time, starting schools later and losing an hour of after-school time harms students who have afternoon responsibilities.

Currently, with four years to graduate and up to seven classes a year, students can meet the graduation requirement of 230 credits by only taking six classes yearly.

Because of this, many students with responsibilities after school opt to take unscheduled periods in the afternoon, replacing that lost class with an early first period. By starting school at 7:40 a.m., these students are able to leave school at 12:18 p.m. every other day, which leaves afternoons open to work, take care of siblings and participate in extracurricular activities without losing class time and jeopardizing their graduations.

Students who work after school need free afternoons to balance homework and their jobs. Similarly,

ART BY AMANDA SALATINO

students who have responsibilities at home, such as taking care of younger siblings whose schools end earlier, need to leave school in time to help their families, something the unscheduled class allows students to do. Though some will say that babysitters can be hired and students can decrease their after-school shifts, these are not economic possibilities for all families.

While leaving school earlier for some is a necessity, for others, it is simply a preference. Students with after-school extracurricular activities that are not connected to TPHS may prefer to leave school early to attend practices.

Having the ability to leave school earlier allows students to balance academics with other activities. If students leave TPHS at 3:30 p.m., sports practices will be pushed later into the evening and extracurriculars will be pursued in the evening, decreasing homework time. Students deserve the opportunity to create a school schedule that fits them and their situations, something the new proposed schedule will not allow them to do.

Though an alternative schedule has not been released yet, one possibility in compliance with the law would be to move the 55-minute first period to the end of the school day or to start it at 8:30 a.m.. While this would enable students to take an unscheduled last period, they would still be leaving school later and potentially need to forgo after-school responsibilities, something students shouldn’t have to do.

In prohibiting an optional first period, Senate Bill 328 burdens students who have after-school responsibilities while maintaining the class load and grades required to graduate. Though it was implemented to help students, its benefits are limited to those without the necessity of afternoon obligations, favoring students with free afternoons, ultimately infringing on an equitable education.

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opinion

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A7

Rittenhouse and Arbery trials shouldn’t be compared

Nolan Ezzet

SPORTS EDITOR

The main topic of discussion in 2020 was COVID-19, but racial justice was a close second. Two shootings that resulted in massive racial equality protests were Kyle Rittenhouse’s shooting of three Kenosha, Wisconsin protestors and the murder of Ahmaud Arbury. Fast forward to 2021, and both shootings went to court around the same time. Racial justice advocates have made clear Arbery’s killers, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, as well as Rittenhouse must be imprisoned to aid in the nation’s fight against racism. However, after looking over the facts of both trials, it’s clear that these two cases are drastically different, and both juries got it right.

Rittenhouse is not guilty, but Arbery’s killers are.

Ahmad Arbery was jogging on Feb. 23, 2020, and Gregory called the police

to tell them Arbery may be the suspect of several community break-ins. Both McMichaels armed themselves and followed Arbery, and Bryan later joined them. Arbery tried to run around their truck, but the McMichaels tried to talk to the unarmed Black man. Arbery never threatened them. This conversation escalated to a scuffle, and Arbery then tried to take Travis’ gun. Travis then fired at Arbery thrice, claiming he acted in self-defense. There’s a potential argument to be made that in the moment, Travis feared for his life and shot Arbery in response. But in the words of prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, “You can’t claim self-defense if you are the unjustified aggressor.” Because the McMichaels and Bryan followed Arbery and openly carried firearms, they were the aggressors in this situation. Even if they did act in self-defense, they can’t claim it legally.

The jury came to the right verdict, finding guilty on all counts. With this in mind, many question why Rittenhouse was acquitted. However, the facts of that case are much different than Arbery’s case, and the Rittenhouse jury also came to the right verdict.

It’s no doubt that the videos shown by the media, as well as the commentary to supplement them, signified Rittenhouse’s guilt. However, during the trial, we were exposed to a new reality. Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys showed video evidence supporting his

claim that he only shot in selfdefense. The first man he shot was Joseph Rosenabum, who approached Rittenhouse and threw a plastic bag at him after he ran in the other direction.

Rittenhouse didn’t shoot him for fun. In fact, he tried to avoid any altercation. It wasn’t until that plastic bag, which Rittenhouse easily could have mistaken for a weapon given the chaotic rioting and low light, was thrown when Rittenhouse fired.

After the first shooting, Rittenhouse took off running, and many believed him to be an active shooter. This group includes Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, who both chased after Rittenhouse. Huber hit him in the head with a skateboard, and Grosskreutz pointed his gun at Rittenhouse. In both situations, Rittenhouse feared for his life and shot both, killing Huber and injuring Grosskreutz. Those against Rittenhouse point out that Huber and Grosskreutz did not try to kill someone they believed to be any regular person, but rather an active shooter in selfdefense. However, that doesn’t mean that Rittenhouse’s decision to fire at both was not in self-defense.

This case is about Rittenhouse, not those he shot, and there is no doubt that shooting someone when your life is threatened is self-defense. Further,

Rittenhouse was not the initial aggressor, unlike the McMichaels and Bryan. The three aggressors were Risenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz, who all potentially threatened Rittenhouse first.

The nuance of who the initial aggressor was is what makes the two cases drastically different. Just because both cases include a shooter(s) does not mean they can be compared because of the different situations.

There’s a reason the juries, who both watched tens of hours of testimony and arguments, came to different verdicts.

SDUHSD Board fails to address teacher concerns

Martin Lee

STAFF WRITER

Since district’s creation in 1936, never has the political divide between the teachers and trustees in SDUHSD has seldom been so severe. The school board needs immediate reform or else our teachers and board will be broken beyond repair, directly affecting the quality of education in the classroom.

Teacher or student, both can agree that school last year was a disaster.

Students were isolated from friends, class participation was low and school was slow. But though it was challenging for students during distance learning, it was equally so for our teachers.

On top of having to teach hundreds of students virtually, they also suffered from the broken leadership of the SDUHSD board in a time of uncertainty.

The board undermined the teacher’s union, put student and teachers lives at risk during COVID-19 and is currently refusing to make amends to reconnect with the isolated teaching community. For all the reasons above, reforms improving the leadership and relationship between the teachers and the board must be made so that

students aren’t impacted by a bitter, drawn-out political battle.

In a time of crisis, the board’s dysfunctional leadership had never been so evident when they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic at its worst. From July to mid-August last year, California was effectively keeping COVID-19 cases down to a minimum compared to neighboring states. So when cases started to steadily decline from the end of August to early October, the SDUHSD jumped at the opportunity to reopen some of California’s biggest schools despite the warnings from Governor Gavin Newsom that a second wave of the coronavirus was imminent.

Despite these warnings, the board worked tirelessly to open schools for in-person learning. Their supposed “safe” reopening plans, according to the Board, were reviewed and supported by the University of California San Diego (UCSD) although there has been no clear consenus among the health experts.

On the contrary, the plan couldn’t even meet the prerequisite standards set by UCSD for reopening plans.

Furthermore, numerous UCSD doctors disapproved of the reopening plans.

In fact, when seven UCSD experts consulted for the school district on the matter, Dr. Robert Schooley, an infectious disease physician speaking as one of the experts, warned the school.

“I would hold off on most in-person high school instruction until community spread is substantially lower,” Schooley said.

Later, Schooley told the San Diego Union Tribune that,

ART BY TISYA NAIR

“A lot of these policies are based on people’s opinions that haven’t yet been verified by people’s experiences in schools.”

Regardless, the Board still pushed to send students back to campus, many teachers, including some at Torrey Pines, soon resigned or took leaves as they determined it was too dangerous to teach during a pandemic with insufficient protection.

At the end of the day, the pandemic has been a chaotic time for both sides.

“I think that we were all very much in a triage mode for a long time and it was just all hands deck everybody do and we’ve all lost our roles a little bit,”

said Principal Robert Coppo.

Coppo hopes that everyone in the district can operate within their boundaries because right now, schools face unrealistic expecatations.

As Coppo put it, “So much is being put on schools that if there’s an issue in the community or the world, it’s expected that the school better figure out a way to solve it.”

After all is said and done, the past year has been chaotic for teachers and the Board alike. Reestablishing boundaries for district members, communicating clearly with teachers, and listening to experts can all help improve the current political stalemate.

opinion

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PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

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december 10, 2021 PHOTO BY JESSICA YU

PIPER LEVY

Backpage Editor, Piper Levy, explains how a veterinary clinic has helped her find her passions in times of misdirection “What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked my kindergarten teacher on the first day of school. That was easy: a movie star. Although this might sound like an idealistic, childish dream, my eccentric personality was evident from a young age. I was never once described as anything close to shy, for my positivity would radiate throughout a room, and my lack of fear was obvious. Although some called it a lack of a filter, this confidence became one of my most integral qualities. I was never quiet, never still; in fact, for as long as I can remember, my hands have always shaken.

“What do you want to be when you grow up? You’re about to be in high school.” asked my 7th-grade teacher.

At the time, I was putting in over 20 hours per week at my ballet studio and was already on pointe, on track for a successful career as a ballerina.

However, ballet taught me that even if you love something completely, it may not love you back. My eating disorder started small but continued to worsen until I could no longer ignore the damage that was being done to my body. After 13 years, I came to the crushing realization that a career in dance would be one of hardship. As much as my experience as a ballerina helped me learn about dedication and discipline, it was outweighed by the wave of anxiety that would wash over me as I would grasp my shaking hands over my tutu.

“What do you want to be when you grow up? You’re about to start your junior year, the most important year.” asked the adults I would see over the summer. For the first time in my life, I had no response. The lack of direction I felt made me feel behind my peers— no matter how many aptitude tests I

took, nothing felt like a proper fit. In an attempt to grasp some sort of stability, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, like my father, a revelation that pleased him far more than it did me. Being the youngest child after a military powerhouse, an academic full-scholarship genius, and a future computer technology giant felt like a crushing weight on my shoulders.

My only desire was to live up to the giant expectations set before me and to make those I loved proud after all of the sacrifices they had made for me. I would pick at my shaking hands while everyone else would say unconvincingly, “Sure, I could see you as a lawyer.”

“What do you want to be when you grow up? You’re about to be in college.” ask my teachers, college advisers and counselors. It took me over a year and a half to move my way up through the Drake Center of Veterinary Care.

I began as a receptionist’s assistant,

peeking in surgery doors, visiting kennels during my short breaks, and studying every doctor’s paper I uploaded on the computer. Eventually, I was promoted to a kennel technician, where I proved to the doctors and the staff that I was capable, reliable and, above all, talented. When I got promoted to surgery technician assistant, for the first time in my life, I felt that I found my true passion. Performing operations, studying animal anatomy and learning techniques felt like things I could do every day, with a constant desire to learn more and do more for my community.

As my time at the clinic progressed, I knew my purpose was to do amazing, revolutionary things with veterinary science. Because when I was in my first surgery, I looked down at my hands to put on my gloves and for once, they weren’t shaking.

Overuse of trigger warnings is counterproductive

Michele Kim

STAFF WRITER

If you grew up in the 2000s watching Nickelodeon, chances are you have seen actress Jennette McCurdy in “iCarly” or “Sam and Cat.” Since her child acting days, McCurdy has been a vocal advocate against child acting due to the immense pressure and trauma she and many other young stars face.

People like McCurdy who are on the path to recovery from mental health struggles may have found trigger warnings, a quick advisory before distressing content is presented, to be helpful. However, McCurdy’s recent take on trigger warnings that she expressed on her podcast, “Empty Inside,” prompted me to rethink trigger warnings.

“I think that the sensitivity is actually hugely destructive and holds so many people back from recovery,” Mc Curdy said.

In talking about her recovery, McCurdy found “the whole freaking world [as] a trigger ... If you get in

recovery, you’ll have to face triggers.

They’ll be on television, they’ll be when you’re driving, they’ll be when you’re shopping for food,” McCurdy’s take can be seen as insensitive by people who see exposure therapy, in which people deliberately exposes themselves to their sources of trauma to “desensitize” themselves to it, as unhelpful. Are trigger warnings helpful, or is there a harmful side to them?

What was once a useful way to help trauma victims steer clear of content that may prompt distressing flashbacks, that purpose has been blurred due to the overuse of trigger warnings on social media. In an age of social media, users scrolling through Tik Tok or Instagram can see someone’s morning routine and breakfast or posts of a girl showing off her stylish outfit.

Frequent comments requesting uploaders to add trigger warnings because food or the thinness of one’s body is triggering have become common.

This is the line where trigger warnings turn from helpful to harmful.

Social media users cannot expect every poster to consider their peronal triggers because trauma and triggers are deeply individual.

Anything can be a trigger for anyone, and while trigger warnings can cover the basic, broad triggers such as violence, gore and flashing lights, personal triggers will be present unintentionally

in the media. The expectation that content creators should know and take into account everyone’s unique triggers is simply unrealistic.

Trigger warnings also have the potential to be harmful. According to the journal Psychological Science and the American Association of University Professors, when a video includes a trigger warning at the beginning, it brings attention to specific triggers that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

This assumes that viewers would have found the content disturbing in the first place and therefore makes trigger warnings counterproductive because it is attaching a trigger to content.

Another issue is that words such as “trigger” and “trauma” themselves are taken much less seriously than they used to be due to being overused and used in the wrong

contexts. To be triggered, by definition, is to be distressed as a result of a deeply traumatic experience, not merely upset. This is one main criticism that trigger warnings get, that they should not be used at all because trauma exists everywhere and it is so difficult to protect everyone from their unique traumas.

One way to help highlight the gravity of trigger warnings is to shift our vocabulary. Many are now using the term “content warning” to bring attention to unpleasant topics that people may not want to hear about, but are not common triggers: things such as alcohol and shouting. The use of content warnings does not discount trauma, but still warns people about content that might upset them.

In short, trigger warnings are still helpful for content including topics such as violence, gore, sexual assault and flashing lights, but they must be used in moderation. Not everything needs a trigger warning, and we must expand our vocabulary by using content warnings to avoid undermining the true meaning of a trigger.

ART BY ISABELLA ZABARSKY

tphsfalconer.com

STAFF EDITORIAL The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland, saw over 30,000 delegates from 197 nations come together in the hopes of making meaningful impacts in the fight against climate change at a global event that would determine the future of our planet.

And yet again, despite these incredibly high stakes, the overwhelming reaction to COP26 was one that had been experienced countless times before: too much talk, and not nearly enough real, consequential action.

As the two-week conference dragged on, some agreements shined through the growing cloud of impatience and anger shown by activists and protestors. The U.S. and EU formed the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, and over 100 countries joined. Significant progress was made with regard to deforestation when over 100 countries, including Brazil, Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are home to most of the world’s forests, committed to halting and reversing deforestation by 2030.

And yet, despite these few highlights, the bulk of the conference was permeated with vague, ostentatious pledges that didn’t include any concrete framework or means of achieving them.

These types of promises have led many to view COP26 as more of a publicity stunt that left too much room for political, instead of purely scientific, discussion. Nations are trying to delay the time until they have to face this issue head on and make meaningful progress.

Perhaps the root of this inaction comes

opinion

the falconer

COP26 fails to deliver meaningful climate reform from the extreme lack of enforcement by this COP and all the ones before it.

Global climate conferences rely solely on voluntary Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are goals that individual nations pledge to meet by a certain date. However, these NDCs are almost always vague, and most do not include how a nation would actually reach that goal. So while one highlight of COP26 was that all five of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gasses presented an NDC to reach net zero emissions by a certain date (all of them were by 2050 or later), in reality this is just another example of a big goal for the future in place of meaningful action now.

Another cause for frustration came from the lackluster diction used when nations actually seemed to come to an agreement.

One of the biggest foci of COP26 was addressing coal power. Coal remains the single biggest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and hopes of cutting its usage seemed to come true when 40 nations joined an agreement to “phase out unabated coal power” by 2040 in richer countries and 2050 in poorer ones. However, India and China, who alone account for 64 percent of global coal consumption, forced a lastminute change in the wording of the pledge from “phase out” to “phase down.” While the actions of countries like India and China to water down significant climate pledges in the interest of their own economies is not new, it cannot continue any longer.

The world has spent too many years focusing on the economy, all the while

ART BY CAROLINE HUNT ignoring the catastrophic impacts it has on the environment. Investing in renewable energy sources and shifting away from fossil fuels now would cost exponentially less than scrambling to move infrastructure away from a rising tide or deploying thousands of firemen to extinguish the rampaging wildfires that we will see in the next decade. The fact is that the environment and the economy are not mutually exclusive.

Countless studies have shown that investing in renewable energy sources and making the global economy greener would create millions of new jobs, but many countries, as shown clearly in COP26, are unwilling to make the necessary, systemic changes to save our planet.

The extreme hesitancy of influential countries to take meaningful action on climate change is not new, and yet never before has it been publicized so much and on such a global stage. COP26 has shown the world that we are far away from truly meeting this challenge.

Student Voices Building more cities around pedestrians, to help reduce carbon emissions.

Also, recommending more plant-based diets.”

Poorer countries will continue to bear the brunt of catastrophic environmental calamities with no means of saving themselves, while rich countries with all the resources to shift away from fossil fuels will continue to prioritize their economies. The sad truth, illuminated during COP26, is that until the effects of climate change start more dramatically impacting people in developed nations, the rest of the planet will suffer.

COP26 was the 26th United Nations climate conference. The year is 2021. The world should be making huge strides forward, but instead too many nations are still lagging behind, tripping over their own selfish interests and knocking the entire planet down with them in a domino effect. We entered COP26 with many questions about the future of our planet. We left with a lot more.

-The Falconer Staff

What reforms do you wish to see put in place to better address climate change?

-Ali Polidori (12) I wish there was a better way of recycling e-waste to help reduce carbon emissions.”

-Joshua Yu (10) Editor-in-Chief: Assistant Editor-in-Chief:

We, the Falconer staff, are dedicated to creating a monthly newspaper with the intent of encouraging independent thinking, expanding our knowledge of journalism, and providing the TPHS student body and community with a truthful, unbiased news source, in accordance with our First Amendment rights.

3710 Del Mar Heights Road San Diego, CA 92130 PHONE: (858) 755-0125 x2245 FAX: (858) 523-0794 E-MAIL: falconer.ads@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.tphsfalconer.com

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The Falconer is the student newspaper of Torrey Pines High School. Its content, which is the responsibility of the Falconer staff, is not subject to administrative approval. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the staff, while opinion columns represent the writer’s perspective. Advertisements do not represent endorsements. The Falconer, an open forum, welcomes signed letters or guest editorials on pertinent issues from the TPHS community, which may be submitted to room 102, via email at falconer.ads@gmail.com or to Mia Smith’s mailbox in the administration building. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Jasmine Criqui Mirabel Hunt, Srishti Thapar, & Amy Ge

Copy Editor:

Jerry Wu

News Editor:

Jacob Zhang

Opinion Editor:

Dixie Wallerius

Feature Editors:

Jenny Han & Helene Gao

Entertainment Editor:

Viyang Hao & Kelsie Park

Sports Editors: Backpage Editor Adviser:

Nolan Ezzet & David Zhang Piper Levy Mia Boardman Smith

Staff Writers: Adriana Hazlett Regan Guirguis Caroline Hunt Rami Kabakibi Michele Kim Martin Lee Micah Levy Maddy Miller Matan Morris Natalia Mochernak Lola Newlander Anna Opalsky Kathryn Reese Naomi Ciel Schneider Photographers: Jessica Yu Emily Suh Rasa Nyce

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A10 the falconer

december 10, 2021

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A PEEK AT

PALS Every Wednesday, the Peer Assistant Listeners, better known as PALs, host Welcome Wednesdays, a lunch gathering where students can come in and talk to PALs about anything on their minds. Darmin Tarasewicz (9) often spends his Wednesday lunches in Room 57.

“On one of the Welcome Wednesdays I went to, we played Mario Kart. Rather than [the atmosphere being toxic when playing] games like this, PALs were very supportive and helped everyone out,” Tarasewicz said. “That was a great environment [to be in] for someone like me who has never played before.”

Tarasewicz tries to go to most of the events hosted by PALs as a way to better familiarize himself with the school. “[It] is a great organization where you can talk with others about anything,” Tarasewicz said. “As a new student, this is a great way of figuring out more about the school.”

The organizer of Welcome Wednesdays, PALs, is a class that focuses on providing a multitude of services to TPHS students.

It currently has 43 members with Darmin Tarasewicz Jeffrey Owen as their FRESHMAN adviser. The class has an untraditional structure, as Owen’s job is to supervise the class while the PALs president determines the plans for the year.

“There’s a few tasks that we have to do from the school like Challenge Day and campus tours but then, once we accomplish those, then it’s really up to [the PALs president] in what [they] want to do with the program,” Owen said.

To Bailey Grennan (12), the current PALs president, PALs focuses on destigmatizing mental health on campus as well as providing a space to help new students feel more included on campus.

“A lot of our efforts go to being kind to others as well as being kind to yourself, [that’s] really important,” Grennan said. “We’re just about getting people resources that they might not

be aware of … We’re basically like a support class for the school.”

According to Grennan, an important goal this year in PALs is establishing the foundation of committees, groups formed within PALs that focus on certain aspects of TPHS culture. These committees are: New Student, Outreach, Environmental, and Mental Health and Wellness.

Ashton Nguyen (12) is co-chair of the New Student Committee, a committee dedicated to helping new students become more integrated into the school environment.

“For the New Student Committee, [we] hope to help students feel [less] overwhelmed when entering school ... We provide support to help students become more comfortable and involved with the TPHS community,” Nguyen said. “We hope to never let a TPHS student feel alone … at their school because they have so many people [from PALs] that want to support them.”

Other events that PALs organize are Yellow Ribbon Week, Red Ribbon Week, Stress Less Week, the Kindness Relay, Welcome Wednesday and oftentimes Student Connection time, all of which hope to provide more opportunities for students to feel more included and bring about more awareness of mental health.

While PALs may seem like a place to get helpful resources, to TPHS students, it goes beyond that.

“I don’t feel that PALs [are] like a high school counselor. They don’t take your hand and walk you through the journey of high school,” Tarasewicz said. “They are your friends in your [high school] journey, supporting you in the background.”

Tarasewicz’s future plans include joining PALs one day, wanting to share his own experience with PALs and providing a nontoxic environment for playing Mario Kart.

by Viyang Hao

They don’t take your hand and walk you through the journey of high school. They are your friends in your [high school] journey, supporting you in the background.

If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one or would like emotional support

CALL 800-273-TALK

Join PALS for WELCOME

WEDNESDAY every week in ROOM 57

If you’re in a crisis and need help immediately

TEXT “HOME” TO 741741 PHOTOS BY JESSICA YU, KAREN BILLING AND JEFFREY OWEN

Stay up to date on PALS by following them on Instagram

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A12 the falconer

december 10, 2021

Painting a Better Future Sharpened colored pencils, graphite-stained fingertips and palettes blanketed in dry paint.

Vibrantly-hued papers, the smooth stroke of a stylus and slabs of clay ready for molding. It is among these things that many TPHS students discover new passions, hone their skills and find themselves at home.

One such student is Ericka Brown (10), who is currently taking Painting, as well as Drawing and Design.

“I like everything about art,” Brown said. “The way you can express yourself and create something out of your own mind is just really amazing. It takes your mind off things, and I think it also gives you a purpose in life, as dreamy as that sounds.”

Brown devotes much of her time to the arts, even going to paint during her free period. Whether she be splattering bright dollops of reds and golds on a

The way you can express yourself and create something out of your own mind is just really amazing.

Ericka Brown

SOPHOMORE

canvas or capturing the features of human emotion in her sketches, Brown feels that whatever she creates in her classes will improve her skills as an artist, as well as herself as a person.

However, her creative pursuits do not occur in a conventional art building setting but i n trailers on the east end of campus, tucked beside the

football field and numerous storage containers.

For the past five years, there has been no permanent building for TPHS art students. The old art structure was removed in 2016 to make room for the new music and dance rooms, and since then, the visual arts department has been relocated to a cluster of portable trailers, now paint-splattered and worn from years of artistic expression.

Students like Brown have struggled with this atypical art space.

“I feel like it’s incredibly hard to move around because everything is sort of crammed together,” Brown said. “You trip over other people and walk over their chairs. Everything is stuffed in cabinets piled high with different boxes and art supplies. I guess there’s just not a lot of room to teach or to even breathe in there.”

Katie O’Brien, who has been at TPHS for almost seven years and teaches Drawing and Design, Painting and Sculpture, voiced similar concerns.

According to O’Brien, the trailers limit the art department’s storage of artwork and supplies, as well as the students’ capacity to exhibit finished pieces.

“The portables have been okay for a temporary situation … but they have felt subpar when it comes to the best environment for students getting inspired,” O’Brien said.

Scott Jay, a Ceramics teacher who has worked at TPHS for the past two years, also noted the potential safety hazards portable classrooms pose.

“Ventilation can be an issue, as the space is small, and there isn’t a ceramic-grade ventilation system in place to keep the dust from building up in the air,” Jay said.

Moreover, the distance between other classes and the trailers proves to be a nuisance for students and teachers alike.

“When I first started [taking an art elective], I had a class in the temporary rooms,” Tina Solki (12) said.

“I was late to my first couple classes because I kept getting lost since you wouldn’t expect those buildings on the outskirts of school to be the art rooms.”

Thankfully, after five years of uncertainty, the new art building is currently scheduled to be completed

CAUTION ART BUILDING NEXT SPRING

in the fall of 2023 and will be placed behind the Wood Tech and Auto Technology workshops.

“We’re going to build four classrooms with an art courtyard in the middle,” TPHS Principal Robert Coppo said. “It’ll open up to a big quad, and the students can paint the ground and the walls and make it look very artsy.”

The space is set to consist of a digital lab, two visual arts classrooms and a Ceramics classroom with a kiln.

The art teachers hope the new building provides the same benefits as the one before the portables did. O’Brien, who spent a couple years in the old building, described it as large and open with a lot of natural light—heaven for the school’s aspiring artists.

“We had a gallery space, which was great because the kids could paint the walls in there,” O’Brien said.

“We could have art shows there. It was a real place that we felt like was our own instead of in the media center, where we sometimes try to do art shows.”

A TPHS alumni Jeanette Ju (‘18), who spent many years as a student in the old art building, thinks that an area specifically for the arts is essential.

“I think being in an actual building that was meant for art made students feel like their art was valid since in general, I don’t think TP is necessarily [seen as] an art-focused high school,” Ju said. “In general, if you want to make things that are creative and artsy, you need a space that feels like it’s for that.”

The art teachers at TPHS recognize this same importance.

“To provide a classroom learning environment that meets the needs of art discipline [is essential],” Jennifer Doerrer, an art teacher at TPHS for 20 years, said. “We hope for large studio spaces where students can create art and technology that supports instruction and actually engages students.”

O’Brien also stresses how a proper creative space may boost the art department’s position in the community.

“We feel like having a good building promotes our department because we hear a lot of kids saying, ‘I’m going to go to CCA because that’s the art school.’

We don’t offer the after-

tphsfalconer.com

school program, but we offer a lot of art classes here, and I feel like they’re undermined because we’re in these portables.”

Plus, O’Brien feels that having a sophisticated area for students to practice art has far-reaching effects.

“I think having a brand new building creates an awareness that we have a great art program,” O’Brien said. “It creates excitement around the students. And I think that it helps motivate students to want to do art. It just makes it a more fun, interactive and professional experience overall.”

While the anticipated acquisition of a new art building represents a critically important step in the right direction for the TPHS visual arts program, it does not remedy many of the other challenges that the art department faces on a daily basis.

For a start, large gaps exist in the provision of art supplies for students. Solki is particularly concerned with the waste that goes on in art classrooms and the lack of funds not being able to cover that.

“Kids often take stuff home, and sometimes never bring it back, leaving everyone else with less,” Solki said. “And while we can’t really stop that from happening, obviously, I think having the funds and the resources to back it up helps alleviate some of that.”

Yuehua Xie (12) has observed similar issues, finding a lack of art supplies and resources available to students. For instance, in her freshman-year painting class, Xie recalled her class running out of white paint. Though there are multiple reasons for the limited stock of supplies—students taking supplies home and waste—both Solki and Xie trace the low stock to a lack of schoolwide support for the arts. For the 1,000 plus TPHS students taking an art class, limited resources can prove detrimental to the learning experience and prevent students from creating art that they love.

“Because of their limited supplies, the kinds of art [students can] produce are limited too,” Xie said.

Solki has felt this firsthand, drawing a connection between how shortages in materials can place restrictions on her

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creativity. “[Having limited supplies] has limited my ability to experiment with new mediums,” Solki said.

Once, Solki found herself wanting to expand from her usual media form as a digital artist, hoping to experiment with paints, graphite or wherever her creative bounds take her. She found this difficult, however, with material shortages.

Some teachers, in an attempt to address the limitations of the lack of resources, resort to providing supplies with their own paychecks.

“Mrs. Doerrer tried to bring in more diverse supplies, like paint pens or pastels, but she couldn’t really afford to buy enough so that the class could use it,” Xie said.

Some feel that the supply deficit diminishes the art department’s status as a significant part of TPHS culture.

“The arts at Torrey Pines feel like they’re being treated like a club, like something that’s not an integral part of the school, even though they definitely are,” Solki said.

Solki is currently taking AP 2D Design and has taken classes like Digital Art and Drawing and Design. She believes in the power of art to move people and frequently ponders the effect of art on her life and the effect it can have on others’.

“Art is a way of connecting us between people in communities and between people from the ancient past to today; we’ve been creating art for forever,” Solki said. “We’ve been indulging in beauty [since] forever.”

In supporting the art department, the TPHS community can share in the beauty of art.

“Some of the prettiest stuff in the school was created by art students on their own volition,” Solki said. “So imagine [the possibilities if we get more] funding or mini-grants to help beautify the campus.”

Coppo is committed to finding a way to display student art on the TPHS campus.

“We’re trying to work on the gallery space right now. That’s one of the tricky pieces,” Coppo said.

“One of the gallery spaces I want to start using is the lobby to the PAC. It’s got great lighting, a little place for concessions and a great entrance, natural light, etc. We’re trying to work on yet another

the falconer

gallery space that might be connected to the art courtyard to make it a little more immersive.”

J a y e c h o e d C o p p o ’ s sentiment.

“Having student work displayed throughout the school as well as in a designated interactive gallery space allows for a more real-world interaction with the arts on campus that all students can benefit

Art is all around us and makes up a large part of our visual experiences in life. A school should be no different.

Scott Jay

CERAMICS TEACHER

from,” Jay said.

No matter the form it comes in—drawing, sculpting, digital art, etc.—art provides many positives, both for the school and students themselves. If TPHS would like to reap the benefits of having a prosperous art program, then the new building, funding and resources to go along with it are essential. Students and teachers alike can only hope this new building will serve as a catalyst for further improvements.

“Art is all around us in the real world and makes up a large part of our visual experiences in life,” Jay said. “A school should be no different.”

With construction starting for the new art building in the spring, an enhanced art program is ready to blossom.

by Adriana Hazlett and Caroline Hunt

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A14 the falconer

1 in 2500 From “evil young boy with superpowers” to “Encinitas skater” to “young Antman,” Jackson Dunn (12) has a diverse range of roles in his successful acting career.

Dunn has 12 acting credits on IMDb, an online database of information on media, but plans to add more roles to his repertoire.

“Taking a scenario and applying your own emotions and your own experiences to it is a really magical thing,” Dunn said. “It’s very expressive because you’re giving it life through something else. It’s very exciting for me.”

At a young age, Dunn was always interested in acting, participating in his preschool play as the Grinch. His career was kickstarted after hearing a Nickelodeon commercial on the radio asking for child actors.

“I was nine years old, so I was like, hell yeah. I went to an audition at a hotel lobby in downtown San Diego, read a Coca-Cola commercial, and I guess they liked me,” Dunn said. “There was then a showcase where I performed a scene on stage in front of agents and managers in the industry, and that’s where I got my manager [who] brought me to agents and the rest is history.”

After his acting debut as young Jessie Ernst in the TV series documentary “Killer Kids” (2014), Dunn soon landed his first professional recurring role as Will in the hit comedy-drama TV show “Shameless” (2015). In 2016, he was also cast as Elmer in Nickelodeon’s “Legendary Dudas,” appearing in five episodes.

“I was thrown into an environment that was chaotic and hectic, but I just thought this was my calling. As a 10-year-old, it was really interesting to see the other side when you grow up watching TV shows,” Dunn said As he gained more experience, Dunn gueststarred in the TV shows “Henry Danger” (2015), “Colony” (2017), “GLOW” (2017), among many other well-known series. In December 2017, Dunn filmed an appearance for the highest-grossing movie of all time, Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), as young Ant-Man. “I learned to respect the process and see all the moving parts and how many people are involved in it,” Dunn said. “It’s really crazy to see how many names are in the credits in a movie or a show. There are thousands of names for just one

december 10, 2021

Jackson Dunn: “a creature of time and space, amateur self-expressionist, nature enthusiast, garderner of the fruits of life and also an actor”

tiny [portion] of a movie and I think it’s incredible that people can work together on something like that.”

I learned to respect the process and see the moving parts and how many people are involved in it.

Jackson Dunn SENIOR

Dunn states the crowning achievement of his acting career was his lead role in the movie “Brightburn” (2019) as Brandon Breyer, an extraterrestrial serial killer with superpowers.

“Getting a lead role is the pinnacle of artistic fulfillment as an actor. It’s like the absolute fullness of acting because you’re literally in every scene and the plot revolves around you. It’s awesome,” Dunn said.

Despite the long hours and complex processes he went through for the movie, Dunn enjoyed the experience.

“I was 14 when I made that movie, and I was working nine and a half hour days. And it can get pretty heavy, but it was nothing I didn’t expect,” Dunn said. “I just felt like it was my job. They say to do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life or whatever, and that holds true for me.”

On top of acting, Dunn is also interested in the writing part of the film production process.

“I really love writing and I’m always writing

something. I have a lot of half-complete Google Docs of just scripts that I’ve started. In the future I really want to make a solo short film, writing, directing and producing myself, and I want to take on that responsibility,” Dunn said.

More recently, Dunn acted in a locally-produced short film, “When the Bell Rings,” as an Encinitas skater. “[Cody] is supposed to be sort of satirically presented and the point of the film was to represent the essence of the Encinitas skate head culture, and I think we did a pretty good job,” Dunn said.

Currently, Dunn is pursuing acting opportunities while in school and plans to attend film school after graduating from TPHS. “I’m auditioning all the time, so just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I hope to get my feet off the ground with maybe a solo production short film or something. So I think the future is definitely promising. I plan on moving to L.A. to just put everything in it,” Dunn said.

No matter what role he lands next, Dunn will be doing what he loves and fulfilling his artistic vision.

by Helene Gao

Jackson A. Dunn PHOTO BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

tphsfalconer.com

feature

the falconer A15

United States

CENSUS 2021 The Falconer analyzes recently released U.S. Census data: get informed on congressional seats, electoral voting, and why it matters For the first time in 171 years, California lost a congressional seat in the United States House of Representatives as its delegation dropped from 53 to 52, according to the Census data released in April 2021. This means that California now has one less voice and vote in Congress. Delegates are representatives of the state, which depend on each state’s population. The decline in congressional seats in California decreased with its population, balancing the voice of the state in Congress and the Electoral College. California remains the state with the most congressional seats standing at a total of 52 after the 2020 Census, with Texas following at 36 representatives and 29 million residents.

According to the New York Times, California’s population growth slowed in 2020, though it remains the most populous state in the U.S. with nearly 40 million residents and an estimated 988,456 residents per state legislator. Residents moved to predominantly conservative states such as Texas and Idaho. Many Californians blame Governor Gavin Newsom and the state’s majority Democratic legislature, citing COVID stay-athome orders and mask mandates as a reason for the exodus, the New York Times story said.

The Census Bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, with California headquarters in Sacramento and multiple outreach offices throughout California in major cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Fresno.

Each Census Bureau location is responsible for the data collection of residents in its designated region: recording population, housing units and economics. Census data is collected every 10 years within districts using sample surveys and administrative records to accurately get an exact count of residents.

The fewer seats in the state, the fewer voices the state has in the House of Representatives.

Under the Biden administration, President Biden ended Trump’s Census Policy, which included a question asking residents if they were citizens.

It was speculated that many were hesitant to answer, which may have factored into the decline in census responses.

For the most part, redistricting won’t change California’s overall political makeup, but Los Angeles, the most populous county in California with 3.9 million residents, could be fractured dramatically, according to redistricting analysts of the LA Times. With Los Angeles being the 25th Congressional District, it could be drawn inland, giving it a conservative lean that could disrupt the balance in Congress between liberal seats and conservative seats.

The Census measures how many residents are in a specific district, not how many citizens or registered voters are in the district. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, everyone with a usual residence is counted in Census data. Being a registered voter is not a requirement for inclusion in population counts.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Census in 2030 will mark a significant turning point in history as immigration is expected to increase and make up a greater percentage of Census data. The U.S. Census goal is to ensure accurate representation of residents of each state and its data provides a foundation for legislation for the remainder of the decade until the next set of data is collected.

The Census also plays an important role in the Electoral College, the system that determines the winner of a U.S. presidential election. The number of electoral votes per state are decided using data from the census. With the release of the 2020 data, the future of national elections remains uncertain.

by Madison Miller

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN

INSERT CATCHY TITLE NOW PRESENTING: PETER AND THE STARCATCHER REVIEW

The TP Players made a triumphant return to live theatre with “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to the more widely-known story of “Peter Pan.” The production, which ran for eight shows in the proscenium theater between Nov. 3 and Nov. 13, was the first in-person play at TPHS since “Pippin” in Feb. 2020. All actors wore face coverings, with most opting for tent-like KN95 masks to allow them to speak more clearly. Wireless microphones also allowed them to project their voices without being muffled.

While the plot necessitated some practical workarounds (at one point, a character has a gag tied over his mask, and another has a fake mustache fastened to the outside of one), most impressive was how well the actors adapted to not being able to use the bottom halves of their faces to express emotion.

Though you wouldn’t know it from watching, “Peter and the Starcatcher’’ was the debut show for 18 of the 24 cast members. Enthusiastic performances abounded, featuring a masterfully puppeteered styrofoam crocodile, an improbably welltimed toss of a stuffed cat and varying levels of commitment to a British accent.

Grant Tucker’s (12) accent as Lord Leonard Aster is near the top of the list, with a posh, blustery quality that is successfully played for laughs.

Tucker’s character’s bespoke, painted coat eventually gets commandeered Black Stache (Sean Kim [12]), the play’s primary villain.

Kim makes himself remarkably hard to hate, however, carrying himself with ostentatious swagger and a saunter that is remarkably smooth for someone wearing leather pants.

Zero Shin’s (11) debut performance is as Black Stache’s loyal and longsuffering companion Smee, who does everything from regularly correcting Stache’s malapropisms to giving him a high five with Stache’s own severed hand.

The climax of Act I pits Black Stache against Ron Tal’s (11) nefarious Captain Bill Slank in a tense duel to the death punctuated by booming thunder and flickering lights. It’s one of the best segments of the show, with solid sound and lighting design, interesting fight choreography and a brief but surprisingly compelling deathbed monologue by Slank about his tragic backstory after he gets thrown overboard.

The emotional core of the show comes from the relationship between Molly Aster, Lord Aster’s daughter, and Peter, played by Naomi Ciel Schneider (12) and Trevin Henry (10), respectively.

Schneider has mastered her character’s earnest, unassuming nature, which makes Molly an excellent foil to Henry’s more hotheaded Peter.

The bond between the two characters grows over the course of the story as Peter learns about courage, love and selflessness from her, making their inevitable goodbye at the play’s end all the more heartbreaking.

Meanwhile, Alf (Ethan Wong [10]) and Molly’s nanny, Mrs. Bumbrake, (Lauren Deerinck [12]) make for an adorable “odd couple” dynamic, with the flirtations and coarse manners of the former ultimately winning over the prim sensibilities of the latter.

Deerinck’s ethereal singing voice alone justifies her casting, but her poise and delivery of the alliterationprone Mrs. Bumbrake’s lines establish her as a standout performer.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the TP Players’s rendition of “Peter and the Starcatcher.” It was refreshing to see the actors not take themselves too seriously in order to fully lean into some of the more absurd elements of the narrative, and the potent combination of snappy one liners and genuinely heartfelt moments make me eagerly look forward to seeing more from the cast members in future productions.

by Jasmine Criqui

photo by jessica yu/falconer

entertainment

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

A17

OPINION

out AND PROUD?

Marvel and DC owe their LGBTQ characters Regan Guirguis

STAFF WRITER

I 9 8 9

Shvaughn Erin is famously known to be one of the first DC genderqueer superheros debuting in 1978. Erin was first portrayed as a woman within the comics, but in a 1989 edition, it was revealed that she is biologically male. In 2005, however, she was retconned as a cisgender female.

The “Rawhide Kid” series take place in a fictional Old West featuring one of Marvel’s best-known Western heroes. However, in 2003, a controversial limited-edition of the “Rawhide Kid” series, “Slap Leather,” was released where he was depicted as gay.

2 0 0 6

First appearing in 2006 in Marvel “Team-Up Volume 3,” Freedom Ring was one of Marvel’s leading gay comicbook heroes. However, since Freedom Ring was unexpectedly killed in the next issue, there has been controversy surrounding the character and the length of his representation.

Green Lantern was first introduced as straight in 1940. Later in 2012, DC Comics revealed an alternate-universe version of the hero as gay in a new series featuring him, “Earth Two.” As a character, he has provided the LGBTQ+ community important representation and furthered DC’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters.

2 0 I 6

2 0 0 3

2 0 I 2

Created originally as a symbol for feminism, Wonder Woman was confirmed to be bisexual

by Greg Rucka, DC comic book writer, in 2016.

Though the comics had never explicitly clarified her sexuality before 2016, Wonder Woman continues to show affection and acceptance toward everyone.

Phastos is the first superhero that openly identifies as gay in the MCU. In the movie, “Eternals,” Phastos has a husband and a son named Jack. The introduction of Phastos hopefully signifies a shift in Marvel’s willingness to portray LGBTQ+ characters on the big screen.

sources: cbr, cnn, hollywood reporter, image comics, league of comic geeks, out

2 0 2 I

infographic by martin lee and jerry wu

Over the last year, both the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) have released new content for their beloved fans. Characters like Loki, Harley Quinn, William “Billy” Maximoff and Thomas Maximoff are finally bringing LGBTQ+ representation to the big screen. Though it is great that the MCU and the DCEU are finally embracing this kind of inclusion, it is their responsibility to live up to the development of their existing LGBTQ+ comic book characters in future projects.

The first episode of “Loki” on Disney+ implied that Loki is gender fluid; the following episodes revealed that he is also bisexual. This is a big deal in the MCU as Loki is the first canonically queer lead character in the films and TV shows. Loki was already a fan favorite, but now he may also be a character in whom people see themselves.

However, this representation means nothing if the show fails to follow through with it. Even after having confirmed in the third episode that he is bisexual, the show continued with the romance between him and Sylvie who is the female variant of himself. The confirmation of Loki’s sexuality and gender identity has less impact when there are a mere couple of mentions of it throughout the entire season. “Loki” needs to find a balance between developing the character’s storyline while also recognizing those aspects of his character, making sure he is not only a token LGBTQ+ character.

Another show that was released in the past year as part of Phase Four for the MCU is “WandaVision.” In “WandaVision,” fans are introduced to both of Wanda Maximoff’s sons, Billy and Thomas. In the comics, Billy is openly gay and is married to Hulkling, while Thomas is bisexual. But, this isn’t specifically talked about in the show because the two are only featured in a couple of scenes when they are babies. However, the fact that they are bringing these characters into the MCU is significant. Their storylines leave many doors open for their futures in the MCU. Marvel Studios isn’t the only film studio starting to include LGBTQ+ characters from their comics on the big screen.

In HBO Max’s animated series “Harley Quinn,” near the end of the second season, Harley enters a relationship with Poison Ivy. They start as friends, but as they interact more, the audience starts to realize that there is more going on between them.

In the comics, they were first shown in a romantic relationship in 2013 during the “Harley Quinn” comic series, and their relationship is still going strong. The executive producers of “Harley Quinn,” the show, have stayed true to their relationship and have said they have no intention of breaking the two up anytime soon. The show is able to further the story while also staying true to the two’s relationship in the comics.

Quality representation allows members of the LGBTQ+ community and others to see themselves in heroes and villains alike.

Getting these characters onto the big screen took longer than it should have but has opened up a multitude of opportunities to deliver meaningful LGBTQ+ representation in future MCU and DCEU projects.

Mirabel Hunt

ASSISTANT EDITOR IN CHIEF

Lincoln High cancels game with Cathedral Catholic, alleging racism toward Black athletes PHOTO COURTSEY OF IMDB.COM

Lola Newlander

STAFF WRITER

Throughout most of the fall season, high school communities are enthralled by the buzz and excitement of Friday Night Lights, but one high school football team made the difficult decision not to participate in one important game. The Lincoln High School football team announced that it would not play Cathedral Catholic High School in the 2021 football season due to numerous alleged acts of racism by the Dons.

A letter released on Oct. 26 on Lincoln’s Twitter account, written by head coach, David Dunn, said Lincoln players had been racially targeted by the phrase “Catholics vs.

Convicts,” spread through a picture of a Cathedral Catholic player wearing a shirt depicting the phrase, which circulated on social media last spring.

“Their actions not only criminalized and hurt our student-athletes, but they also created a false, undignified, undeserved

perception of them and our close [knit] community,” Dunn said in the letter.

TPHS Principal Robert Coppo also recognizes the importance of protecting students, even at the expense of athletics.

“I applaud [Lincoln] for standing up for what they believed in.” Coppo said.

The San Diego City High School Football Conference placed Cathedral on two-year probation and their coach on a two-game suspension for the conference’s findings in their investigation into social media posts by players at Cathedral Catholic targeting the Lincoln team.

“I definitely feel for [the Cathedral football team], but I do think it was fair,” Matt Staycer (11), a TPHS varsity football player, said.

Soon after the social media posts were discovered, Cathedral Catholic Principal Kevin Calkins issued an apology.

“Our students and our school community have learned a lot from this experience,” Calkins said

in the statement. “We look forward to repairing our relationship with the Lincoln High School community.”

Although these promises were made to Lincoln, Dunn disagrees that they led to actual effort by Cathedral Catholic to change their culture.

“We acknowledge that members of the Cathedral community have made the effort to connect with our coaches and faculty,” Dunn said.

“However, more deliberate intentional efforts to combat racism are warranted. Combating racism and anti-blackness takes daily, intensive innerwork and systems change.”

The slogan “Catholics vs.

Convicts” was not originally a creation of Cathedral Catholic football players.

In 1988, the University of Notre Dame popularized the motto for their football game against the thencontroversial University of Miami. The game between Notre Dame and Miami was memorable and is still known as

“Catholics vs. Convicts” today. This event was what led to Cathedral Catholic players creating their own “Catholics vs. Convicts” shirts for their game against Lincoln.

“These racist issues are still occurring and students are still so uneducated that they bluntly think it’s okay to do something like that,” Ayana Johnson (11), president of the TPHS Black Student Union said.

“Because the population of [students] at Lincoln and their football team are Black, [players at Cathedral Catholic] have now associated them with being thugs and [criminals].”

Although Lincoln could have continued on with their game against Cathedral Catholic, Dunn believes that refusing to play was the right thing to do, standing up for their values.

“Privilege should never supersede equality,” Dunn said. “[It] should never yield unending platforms to profile us, discriminate against us and harm us.”

The great reverence for football does not just lie in the love of the game. After all, who loves watching men in Capri leggings pace around a field before running for about ten seconds. In my limited time watching football, I have noticed that a team’s quarterback is basically the star of the show. Like Hollywood stars, quarterbacks attract a lot of praise and an equal amount of hate. But have no fear, for I now present to you the absolutely definitive ranking of a peculiar six quarterbacks.

I’ll start with the youngest of the bunch: Mac Jones. A ripe 23 years old, Jones was freshly picked from the University of Alabama by the New England Patriots. Besides working on obtaining the trademark for “MJ10,” Jones is the first quarterback in NFL history to rack up a 70-plus completion percentage in his first two games. I could go on about his many “first rookie in NFL history” titles, but I think the biggest accomplishment of them all is filling Tom Brady’s shoes. Jones also has an amazing girlfriend, Sophie Scott. Rumor has it that she even helped him memorize the Patriots playbook. You know what they say, behind every powerful man is an (even more) powerful woman!

Next is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. He led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in 2020, on a full stomach of ketchup-y steak.

I don’t know if he cut ketchup out of his diet, but he has thrown 12 interceptions thus far: not good!

The Chiefs are coming back though riding on recent wins against the Broncos, Cowboys, Raiders, Packers and Giants.

The third is the head Cowboy in charge, Dak Prescott. He is a fantasy football favorite, which can possibly be attributed to the endless supply of puns his first name presents such as: “The Dakstreet Boys,” “Baby’s got Dak” and “Dak Dynasty.” Most importantly, Prescott champions his own cancer foundation, “Faith, Fight, Finish” in honor of his late mother.

His one flaw may be consistency but I’ll let it slide.

My least favorite has got to be Mr. Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I really felt for Patriots fans when Brady moved to Tampa in 2020, ending his 20-year career with New England. Talk about betrayal!

Who’s my favorite you may ask? Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. Hands down. Though they haven’t been having the best season (that dang thumb!), he is trying his best. I could go on about the dozens of NFL records attached to his name, I think his most notable quality is his kindness! And what about that big smile? So wholesome!

No further explanation.

tphsfalconer.com

sports

DAY IN the life

the falconer

PHOTO COURTSEY OF TRUMAN LAZARUS

The gun goes off. In the blink of an eye, the TPHS sailing team plows away from the start line. In the first five minutes, other than putting in a colossal amount of effort to travel an underwhelming distance at the expense of getting drenched, the sailing team takes the lead after a successful start.

Led by captain Sivan Brewer (12), the TPHS sailing team is one of the many club teams at TPHS. “It’s pretty rare for a public school to have a sailing team,” Brewer said. “Most of the other schools that we compete against are private schools, usually because they grow up with parents who have boats.”

For many, like Aweys Kharraz (12), joining the sailing team was mainly for having fun, while for others, like Truman Lazarus (11), it was a chance to compete.

“I found out about sailing at Club Day,” Kharraz said. “Because I came from Ohio, the biggest benefit for me was making friends.”

Some members, like Lazarus, set a course in sailing long before high school. Lazarus got his passion for sailing from his dad, who also sailed as a kid.

“My family has been at the yacht club where Torrey Pines sails for 30 years and so I just ended up joining the [TPHS sailing] team.”

The team practices in the waters off the coast of Point Loma and downtown San Diego multiple times a week, using rented boats from the Southwestern Yacht Club.

In preparation for a race, known as a regatta, the team primarily practices starting.

“Starting is the most important thing in a race,” Lazarus said. “So, [practice] is a lot of starts. We’ll do like ten starts in a row.”

A sailboat start is a sequence of three minutes before a race to gain the maximum speed and the desired positioning, where boats fight to get as close to the start line as possible without crossing it, making it one of the most challenging and demanding aspects of sailing a regatta.

“The biggest challenge is starting off,” Brewer said. “There are so many boats on the starting line, and sometimes you can’t get a spot. And sometimes the boats in the front will block your wind.”

Aside from technique, each pair of teammates per boat must have flawless coordination to ensure a successful race. One sailor, called the skipper, is in charge of the mainsail and steering, while the other, known as the crew, mans the smaller sail in the front.

In the case of faulty coordination, positioning or mismanagement of wind, the dreaded but amusing “abandon ship” may be heard across the water.

“What makes [sailing] fun is being around friends and having a fun time seeing someone capsize — you all laugh at him.” Kharraz said.

In the weeks leading up to a race, they ramp up the frequency and intensity of practices and focus heavily on improving teamwork.

“What we do is we get two people working with each other, so they have good chemistry and they’re ready for when they’re sailing in the regatta,” Lazarus said.

The team has five official competitions and several scrimmage regattas per year, where teams across California wind up to compete.

“There is a lot of travel, and it’s really fun,” Lazarus said. “You get to go all over California; you get to go to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara [and] San Francisco.”

Not all 14 members were in the same boat when they first joined the sailing team; there were varying levels of experience, but Lazarus and Brewer ensure that beginners get the attention and instruction they need.

“I have the responsibility to give [beginners] the best experience … to go around to different boats, help the younger kids — the freshman and sophomores — one on one,” Lazarus said.”

To the members of the team, the relationships built and experiences gained from high school sailing outweigh anything else.

Lazarus, never would have thought that his high school sailing career would bring him back to the same yacht club his father once sailed at.

And, for Kharraz, he never would have thought that his friendships would be built on, or sometimes under, an ocean 2,000 miles away from his home in Ohio.

by Jacob Zhang

sailing team

A21

sports

A22 the falconer

december 10, 2021

SDA skater rides to glory The Chaos crosses the line competition and sixth at the Olympic Women’s Park Finals.

But skateboarding is not solely Just 10 years before her Olympic debut at Tokyo’s 2020 Games, Bryce defined by competition. Skating Wettstein grasped her father’s hand as always surprises Wettstein becuase it she glided across the orange tile of the is so spontaneous.

“Everywhere I go, it [offers] Encinitas YMCA skatepark. Though she would soon be skateboarding before something so much different than millions, Wettstein’s journey began on what I had planned out originally,” she said. a whim, skating with her father.

Wettstein is not just a skateboarder.

“I just remember thinking that it was like skateboarding around in a She surfs, is on SDA’s varsity fishbowl,” Wettstein said. “It was so volleyball team and has released nine singles and an EP of original songs on beautiful.”

Since that initial run, Wettstein, an her ukulele.

Though balancing her classes, a Encinitas native and current student at San Dieguito Academy, was infatuated school sport, songwriting and surfing with the sport. By the time she was 12, with her skateboarding career she knew she wanted to skateboard appears nearly impossible, Wettstein compares her activities to a paint forever. “[I just felt] different the instant my pallet; if she was to remove one color, her picture would not be complete. feet were on the board,” she said.

And there is no doubt Wettstein has Years after her first competition at age seven, Wettstein went on to place made her life as colorful as possible: first in the Women’s Park Finals at from her multicolored Converse with the 2019 USA Skateboarding National mismatched laces that she wore to the Championships. This year, she placed Tokyo Games, to the bright turquoise third at the X Games Women’s Park wooden bowl in her backyard fondly named the Iguana Bowl.

The bowl looks like a shallow, empty swimming pool and sits next to a 10-foot vertical ramp. She uses it to teach younger girls to skate, sharing her passion with others.

“You have the ability without even having to try,” Wettstein said. “You have … everything that you need right by your side, all you have to do is invite it in and then let it take over you.”

As the girls skate back and forth on her ramp, Wettstein passes this philosophical take on skateboarding on to the next generation. Just as it was passed to her 10 years ago when she followed her father to those orange tiles, “saying yes to something PHOTO COURTSEY OF just might change your life forever.”

Anna Opalsky

STAFF WRITER

BRYCE WETTSTEIN

Dixie Wallerius

OPINION EDITOR

With athletics back in full swing and large groups of students searching for normalcy in high school, sporting events have become popular once again As distance learning took away social interaction among students on campus, it also took away the energy and socializing at sporting events. Games being back to full capacity has re-energized students to a new degree. The student section is filled with competitive, invigorated students that are excited to watch the teams compete more than ever.

But the higher the energy, the more hurtful cheers appear.

One of the SDUHSD policies revolving around sportsmanship, 6145.4/AR-1, states that “berating an opponent’s school or mascot, berating opposing players and making obscene cheers or gestures” is unacceptable and violates the protocol. TPHS has violated this protocol during some games, despite efforts from the school administration to maintain good sportsmanship.

ASB has a responsibility to promote good sportsmanship during the games. The student section typically remains civil during highenergy games, largely due to the ASB spirit squad.

“The goal of spirit squad and my role as spirit commissioner is to only start positive cheers and pump up the school while not putting other schools down,” ASB Spirit Commissioner Lindsay Hole (12) said.

The students at games do typically adhere to the positive cheers, even with intensified rivalry. This allows for TPHS good sportsmanship to be shown and promoted throughout the games.

“While we do have those occasional students starting cheers that are a little questionable, the spirit squad and I stop this by not cheering with them,” Hole said.

While students appear to be trying to find the balance between the competitive energy during rivalry games and promoting good sportsmanship, there have been incidents where this is not always the case: one recent one being the Falcons’ football game at La Costa Canyon.

“I think it’s all about the balance between being competitive and being rude,” Hole said. “The ‘F—k LCC’ chants were rude, and I don’t usually have this kind of problem with The Chaos, I think it’s mainly the rivalry that brings out this ‘putting people down’ behavior.”

While chants like these are rare, they highlight the fierce competitiveness and school pride that students at TPHS have. For years, the school has been working to find a balance and help students uphold the value of good sportsmanship.

In 2013, TPHS, San Dieguito Academy and La Costa Canyon had a district summit for students to better address and encourage positive sports rivalries. It is a reminder that good sportsmanship is something that the school is constantly striving for.

“The expectations really haven’t changed,” Coppo said. “We still want everyone to go there and have a great time cheering for our team, not tearing down the other team, which can sometimes be hard to do, but it is a CIF rule.”

While student and sport rivalries have always existed and will continue to throughout the entirety of high school, it solely depends on the students’ behavior to help create a school with good sportsmanship without the rival mentality disrupting that.

TPHS surf team offers community and experience going up against surfers almost twice his age. Though he didn’t yet know As the sun beat down on spectators how to paddle out on his own, Acevedo and surfers alike one bright day in was determined to compete and had Rosarito, Mexico, Jorge Acevedo (10) friends take him out instead. For the psyched himself up for his heat. Beside young surfer, this memorable day in him, his surf instructor encouraged his surfing career was all about the experience. him.

“It wasn’t really about doing tricks.

“I think you’re ready to surf with the It was mostly about enjoying it and just big guys,” his instructor said.

“I’m so down,” Acevedo replied, eyes really grasping the feeling of being in a competition, surfing with the older wide with anticipation.

Then 10 years old, Acevedo was guys,” Acevedo said. “It was definitely competing in his first surf competition, a really fun day. I keep thinking back to that day once in a while.”

Surfing has historically been riddled with negative stereotypes: the sport often not being taken as seriously as others.

Yet for those who have truly experienced the rush of catching a wave, the activity has much more to offer than people realize. Kaede PHOTO COURTSEY OF KAEDE Ward (10), a surfer on

Kathryn Reese

STAFF WRITER

the TPHS surf team with Acevedo, recognizes surfing’s many benefits. “[Surfing] is for sure a beneficial part of my life. It definitely helps your mental and physical health to have a sport that you can focus some of your time on,” Ward said. “It gives you something to do, which is really nice because you’re kind of occupied. [Surfing] takes your mind off of what’s going on.”

TPHS Surf PE coach Jonathan Moore echoed this praise of the sport. Having been introduced at TPHS in 1974, Surf PE has grown “tremendously” in popularity over the years, according to Moore. He believes having the course as an alternative to a traditional PE class is important because of the sport’s many benefits for teens. “[Surfing] is great cardio with all the paddling you do. It’s a great muscle toning activity as well as strength building,” Moore said.

However, surfing’s benefits go far beyond health. According to former World Surf League Champion C.J. Hobgood, the community building is what makes the sport special. Having grown up surfing on the coast of Florida,

Hobgood appreciates the activity for the foundation it gave him.

“Surfing definitely gave me a brotherhood. It gave me a respect for people, and things that I really needed as a kid,” Hobgood said. “Having older guys around that were dedicated and a good influence taught me how to treat people and how to operate in situations.

I feel like that, as a kid, laid a really good foundation for me.”

The world renowned surfer, who competed on the World Tour for a long 19-year career, is a big proponent of the sport. “[Surfing] is a good outlet. There’s freedom baked into surfing. It’s individual, dealing with the ocean where it’s a bit wild, so you sort of feel alive,” Hobgood said. “I think that leaving the world and stepping into the ocean is just a really good balance to be a healthy human.”

The experiences of Acevedo, Ward and Hobgood illustrate all that is to be gained from surfing. From exercise to mental health care to community, the sport has so much more to give than sandy hair.

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Otto Landrum

november 30 TPHS vs. Mater Dei Catholic photo courtesy of Otto Landrum

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2 days

Age Adult(13-64)

Ski/Boots Your cost: $113.00 Toursim Assessment: $1.70 Sales Tax: $8.76 TOTAL: $123.46

Gas Stations In Area

Directions From “Torrey Pines High School”

*6 Gas station found near Mammoth Lakes

Time without traffic: 6 hr 59 min Time with traffic: 8 hr 45 min

Avg Price: $7.72 per gallon Total Miles: 387 miles Estimated amount spent on drive there/back: $289.50 Must-make stops on the way: Miles and miles of brown, flat desert.