B4-B5: The anchor explores the lives of foster kids and adopted children, such as Santana Boswell.
P3: Students enrolled in ROTC show their faith and pride in their country.
P7:Senior Kevin Tom saves an attempted goal against Costa.
High Tide
Redondo Beach, CA Redondo Union High School
Feb. 11, 2011 vol.
LMXXIV
edition 8
]www.hightideonline.org ]
Increased traffic and noise level due to Measure C renovations cause shaky relations between concerned neighbors and the district.
UNEASY COEXISTENCE
Ski week is replaced with four day weekend by Laney Burke
Although students will not be able to flee to the snow-covered mountains after the end of first semester, summer will come earlier while still keeping a long weekend in February. After much negotiation, the Teachers’ Association (RBTA) and the district decided to cut ski week and implement a four day weekend from February 18 to the 21. According to Principal Mary Little, the district was concerned that students were unnecessarily missing school. “When we have a Monday off, people think ‘Oh I’ll just take one more day off ’ and miss the Friday before,” Little said. Because the school receives money for every present student, the district tries to find the best possible way to keep students coming to school. “Right now, with all the budget cuts, raising revenue is important,” Little said. Many teachers felt that ski week was more of an interruption than a vacation. “Last year, [ski week] disrupted the instructional sequence of curriculum,” chemistry teacher Linda Dillard said. “We had just started a new semester and already we had a break.”
by Danny Garzon
Traffic on crowded nights of football games and cars with RUHS validation surrounding the neighborhood are just a few of the complaints that a neighbor to the school, Maureen Lewis, has about the new Measure C renovations. The Measure C renovations have brought about increased traffic congestion and parking issues, according to Lewis. Lewis, who cofounded Families for a Safe Redondo, a group comprised of about 40 families that live in the vicinity of RUHS and Parras Middle School, feels that the influx of construction activity resulting from the new athletic facilities has produced an unsafe environment for students and homeowners. The school district has allocated $1.7 million from the bond measure to mitigate the traffic and parking issues, but Lewis feels that there is not yet any visible plan to address the issue. “The neighborhood was promised that improvements would be
made to ensure safety of students, added parking, and improved traffic flow [before Measure C passed],” she said. Lewis feels that the schools see the renting out of facilities as a revenue stream, but she acknowledges that no new clubs were added to the calendar this year. According to RBUSD Chief Business Official Janet Redella, there has not been an increase in usage by outside groups on campus, nor have there been any new groups using the facilities. The apparent increase in use is due to the reopening of fields that were closed for renovation. “It may give the appearance of increased use when, in fact, it is a return to normalcy,”’ she said. According to Redella, all field usage ends at 9 p.m. and the district is in constant communication with staff members and organizations that use the facilities about the concerns of community members.
“It is our intention to be good neighbors. We are doing the best we can to overcome this issue and find solutions” she said. Redella also said that traffic and visitors are being redirected from the south side of the school on Vincent Street to the newly renamed Sea Hawk Way. In addition to these measures, multiple other measures have been taken to alleviate the traffic congestion surrounding the school. Plans have been made to build another parking lot adjacent to the athletic facilities on Vincent Street. Also, the city and the district are conducting a traffic study through an outside consultant. Lewis acknowledges that improvements have been made in recent months. “We are very hopeful that the school board, the city, and the neighborhood can work together to solve these issues and keep our neighborhood the jewel that it is,” she said.
“Last year, [ski week] disrupted the instructional sequence of cirriculum. We had just started a new semester and already we had a break.”
Academic Decathalon proud of their accomplishments by Alex Curtis
Academic Decathlon (AcaDec) placed tenth out of 55 schools, in Los Angeles County, falling just short of qualifying for the statewide competition. In AcaDec, students study a wide range of materials and prepare for an annual competition in which a selected team uses the knowledge they learned over the semester against students from other schools. “We’re a little disappointed, but we know we’ll come back stronger next year and take one of the top five places,” Junior Christopher Lew said. This is Lew’s second year in AcaDec and his first year on the competing team. He earned several medals, including a gold medal for his speech and another for being the “top decathelete”. “It’s exciting to have evidence of our hard work,” he said. Junior Alex Niebergall was also excited by their success. “It’s an exciting atmosphere, to see the other teams. You get really competitive,” she said.
Advisor and coach of AcaDec, Aimiee Gauvreau is proud of her students. “At the beginning of the year, when we were first discussing our goals, goal number one was making the top ten. Goal number two was having fun doing it. I know we achieved both,” Gauvereau said. This is the first year Gauvereau has coached AcaDec. Previous advisor, Julie Ferron has remained involved with the program throughout the year despite not being able to coach, which Gauvereau believes has eased her students into the unexpected change of teachers. “When you have everyone working together, it just seems to be an easier transition,” Gauvereau said. The program hopes to receive their next set of curriculum earlier next year, as they feel they did not have a sufficient amount of time to learn it all. “I know we’ll be able to do so much better. I’m also happy with how we did this year,” Niebergall said. The students in AcaDec, according to Gauvereau, are nothing less than dedicated. She
—Linda Dillard
1. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN LY
Brain Power. 1. The members of AcaDec gather to take a group picture along with their coach and advisor, Aimiee Gauvreau. 2. Some members gather at the banquet.
says that they are truly interested in learning. “We’re not nerds. We don’t enjoy studying and schoolwork. There is something about AcaDec that is just irresistible,” Lew said.
2.
Administration believes recent vandalism represents lack of respect and pride for the school by Melissa Rosero
PHOTO BY ALEX SHEA
Mischief. Freshman Circle was vandalized with toilet paper and maple syrup.
Unable to identify anybody from the security video footage, the administration is still investigating the students responsible for last weekend’s vandalism. According to Assistant Principal John Newman, administration believes that the vandalism occurred sometime Sunday afternoon. The pranksters tee-peed the trees and poured maple syrup on the bricks and tables of Freshman Circle. Although the maintenance staff cleaned most of the vandalism before students needed to use the area, the prank was still visible to the students.
According to Newman, such pranks create unnecessary work as the maintenance staff had to power wash the maple syrup off the bricks and benches during Monday’s snack break. “We have plenty to do without having to clean up after a senseless prank. This senseless wear and tear causes work for people who already have enough, “ Newman said. Even though Newman found the tee-peeing to be “harmless,” such pranks still display a lack of respect and will not be tolerated. “Our staff works very hard to provide a safe, clean environment, a culture of acceptance, and an excellent education. It is disappointing that people would disregard all of that ,” Newman said.
The teachers also preferred to get a week out earlier instead of having ski week. “Sure, the break was nice,” Dillard said. “But it’s going to feel better getting out a week earlier in June.” Although many staff members prefer the new schedule, some students are disappointed that ski week has been canceled. Senior Josh Obear, an avid skier, preferred the week-long break. “Last year I spent 30 days in Mammoth,” he said. “But this year I don’t even get 20.” Seniors Brennan and Baron Abramowitz believe ski week did not get the full trial run it received. “They need to give it another year,” Brennan said. “It was nice to have a break to just relax. We just went through finals.” According to Obear, there are about 12,000 people at Mammoth Mountain on the weekends compared to the 3,000 people there on an average weekday. “My dad won’t even take us [to Mammoth] on weekends anymore because it’s so crowded,” Baron said. However, according to Little, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. “[If we have a week-long break] the school year would be pushed into summer,” Little said. “This creates problems for students going to summer school.” Last year held one of the latest graduation dates in Sea Hawk history, but with the vacation cut, graduation has been moved up to June 17. Next year will have a similar graduation date but there will only be one day off in February with an extra day off earlier in the year for a Jewish holiday. Little hopes that by trying different ideas the RBTA and district will find the most beneficial schedule. “We’re always looking for the best way to do things. Did teachers like it? Did it work?” Little said. “It’s a guessing game.”