August 2018 Issue

Page 1

CHRONICLE THE HARVARD WESTLAKE

Studio City • Volume 28 • Issue 1 • Aug. 29, 2018 • hwchronicle.com

Disciplinary process to be streamlined

Beyond the Books

By SABA NIA

By KENDALL DEES

“I geek out over all of this.” Interdisciplinary Studies and Independent Research Teacher and Counselor Michelle Bracken smiled as she reached above her desk to find a three inch binder given to her by the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning. “Imagine a world where in Kindergarten you learn about how to solve problems and you are playing games and you don’t really know you are learning it,” Bracken said. “By third grade, you have developed words like the ‘growth mindset’. All of a sudden, • Continued on B3

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN ALBERT, SPENCER KLINK AND JENNY LI

School hosts cultural competency training By ALEX GOLDSTEIN

In order to discuss how teachers can respect and honor the identities of their students, all new faculty members participated in the school’s first cultural competency training, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Janine Jones said. “We thought [the training] would be the best way to not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk,” Janine Jones said. “It is one thing to say we are a diverse and inclusive community, but it is an-

other thing to actually spend the time really teaching and training people on what that really means.” The training was facilitated by Steven Jones, CEO of Jones Inclusive, a company that develops leaders and teaches them methods to fight oppression. “The facilitator, talked about the necessity of building our skills, and that each of us may be more skilled in talking about one part of diversity but less skilled in talking about other areas,” new English teacher Dara Wein-

berg ’00 said. “As a new faculty member, I felt like Harvard-Westlake was investing in building my skills, not just going to my area of strength, my own background, but encouraging me to get more competent at communicating across cultural differences.” New faculty attended the training, which helped them understand the values of the school and also meet one another, Janine Jones said. “This was an opportunity for them to really do that deep dive into uncomfortable topics and to hopefully

get them to start thinking inwardly, so that their performance outwardly matches better,” Janine Jones said. Steven Jones spoke about the Three Circles: individual, culture and institution. “He encouraged us to begin at the individual level, and I am going to definitely take that into the classroom and give my students an opportunity to tell me who they are as individuals before I ask them to conform to the culture of Harvard-Westlake or the culture of my classroom,” Weinberg said.

As part of his increased duties this year, Upper School Dean of Students Jordan Church will oversee all disciplinary decisions and Honor Board cases. In the previous system, teachers or coaches could decide how to handle first offense minor infractions. Upper school deans and Head of Upper School Laura Ross also dealt with disciplinary measures in the past. To immediately address concerns and streamline the process, Church said the new system will funnel infractions of all sizes to him. Since Church has an institutional understanding of the disciplinary process, he said with his new role he can add immediacy to the decisions and look at students as whole people. To better address any issues students may be dealing with, Church said he will seek disciplinary measures that allow each student to be seen in a broader context. Because infractions like cheating on an assignment or displaying offensive behavior may not be isolated incidents, Church said that he wishes to approach each case individually to better address their needs. “Sometimes I think students misinterpret why we are calling them on their behavior [to the Honor Board], and I think that distracts them from internalizing the message,” Church said. “I hope that will focus the community on what’s really important, which is learning and growing, and becoming a community that strives to be a caring and supportive and ethical community.”

Community

Homelessness rates rise in the valley due to a lack of affordable housing

By SOPHIE HABER

Amidst the new artisan coffee shops and boutique clothing stores that opened along Ventura Boulevard this year, the San Fernando Valley’s homeless population continues to rise. Despite an overall decrease in Los Angeles’ homeless population, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the valley increased by five percent, according to the 2018 Los Angeles Homelessness Count. With more homeless individuals in the area, the issue is becoming increasingly more visible, as encamp-

ments pop up in parks and under freeways where they hadn’t previously been. “It’s so close to home,” Charley Connon ’18, who produced a documentary on homelessness in Los Angeles called “God’s Children,” said. “In the valley, you see it everywhere on the street.” Three out of every four people experiencing homelessness in Council District 2, which includes Studio City, Valley Village and North Hollywood, lived in Los Angeles before becoming homeless, 65 percent of which have lived in Los Angeles for more than 25 years,

according to the 2018 Los Angeles homelessness count. “It’s a homegrown issue,” Ian Thompson, spokesman to City Councilman Paul Krekorian, said. While the most visible homeless people that line the streets are mostly made up of the valley’s “chronic homeless,” or those who have remained homeless for years, and tend to struggle with mental illness or substance abuse, four in every five people experiencing homelessness in Council District 2 are known as the “economic homeless,” or those • Continued on A12

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF KEVIN LU

ONLINE

Meet the staff: watch our new volume’s promotional video!

To promote the first issue of the Chronicle this year, videographers Kerry Neil ’19 and Kevin Lu ’19 filmed a Bachelor-in-Paradise-themed video with its staff during its first August layout. Watch the video on our website hwchronicle.com, find it on our Facebook or scan this QR code.


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August 2018 Issue by The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle - Issuu