N E WS 1 , 2
UNI N
F E AT U R E S 3 , 1 3
FEBRUARY 2018 Volume XXIX Issue IV
OP-ED 4,5
D E D I CATI O N S 6 ,7
T HE
S PR E A D 8 ,9
L I F E S T YL E 10, 11
E N T E R TA I N M E N T 12
SPORTS 15
MHSTHEUNION.COM For the latest updates
STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL
Shortage of teachers ails the school; multiple impediments contribute BY ANDREW HA
Hiring new teachers for MHS has become much more difficult in recent years, according to Principal Francis Rojas. There is an overarching teacher shortage, and it is, in part, due to the economy and teaching not being the highest paying profession, Rojas said. The English department is still looking for a new teacher to fill a recent vacancy, Rojas said. However, the timing of this job opening–in the middle of the school year–makes it all the more difficult to find a permanent replacement teacher, he explained. “Right now, I’m having a hard time hiring an [English] teacher. I’m interviewing someone and they got a job somewhere else,” Rojas said. “I called the principal of another school and I said, ‘Looks like this person was interviewing you too. They chose you. Do you have anyone leftover?’ and they say, ‘No. That was the only person we interviewed,’ and I said, ‘Same here.’ So we’re kind of stuck, and I think a
lot of it has to do with our economy.” According to the Learning Policy Institute’s 2017 update on “California’s Growing Teacher Shortage,” there is an insufficient supply of teachers to address the growing demand for teachers. Based on a survey of more than 200 CA districts, 75% of districts face teacher shortages and a vast number of those schools project the situation to worsen. Moreover, the math department had its own struggle when a teacher resigned a week before the 17-18 school year began, Co-Math Department Chair Mei-Hsiang Tseng said. Since most qualified unemployed teachers find jobs during the spring, the department was in a difficult position: the applicant pool in August had fewer qualified teachers. Once a person is accepted as a teacher at MHS, the school has to retain the teacher, Tseng explained. “Young people stay one or two years and eventually they resign, because they think that industry pays more,” SEE TEACHERS ON PAGE 2
courtesy of Francis Rojas
Workers dig up part of the green to access the main electricity line. This is to resolve the damaged circuit breaker that caused a loss of power on Jan. 19.
Power shortage causes class issues BY HOPE DO
A broken circuit breaker caused half of the J Building to lose power, and it disabled MHS’s network on Jan. 19, according to Principal Francis Rojas. Fluctuations in the main electricity line due to damaged wires caused the power failure, Rojas said. During their investigation into the cause of the failure, workers found that something had chewed on the wires, exposing them, Rojas said. Fortunately, the cafeteria was unaffected by the loss of power, Rojas added. “We got the network up around 5th or 6th period,” Rojas said. “The district did a really good job of sending people over to check it out.” The loss of the internet was frustrating for everybody, Spanish Teacher Natalya Selitser said. Due to her classroom’s dependence on online activities and Chromebook use, her usual class routines were disrupted, but she was able to change up her lesson plans and use the textbooks, Selitser continued. “The whole lesson plan and other things were messed up, but of course, we used the things that we have, ap-
plying old-school,” Selitser said. “It happened, unfortunately, but it was just a little disaster.” Everything was working like nothing had ever changed, Senior Christopher Pham said. All of the teachers who were affected by the loss of power were coping well, producing backup plans and making sure class ran smoothly, Pham continued. “I think the school’s response to the broken circuit was done as quickly as they could for an unexpected event and that they did the best they could with limited time,” Pham said. “I would like to say out of opinion that some routine maintenance checks should be conducted just as the elementary schools and middle schools have done earlier.” Junior Dana Nguyen found out about the loss of power when her class was turned away from the school library during first period, Nguyen said. Throughout the rest of the day. some teachers declared study hall periods, allowing students to work on assignments from other classes, Nguyen said. “I was disappointed by the loss of the internet,” Nguyen said. “I guess they fixed it in a timely manner.”
Theodore Do | THE UNION
Sophomore Nhu Hao Nguyen, Junior Lyn Loi, and Sophomore Jarvis Nguyen (left to right) perform a traditional Chinese fan dance at the Multicultural Rally on Feb. 9. The dance is a modern twist on performances dating back to 200 A.D.
Multicultural show replaces culture shows BY THEODORE DO
The first MHS multicultural assembly took place on Feb. 9 as a double third period, serving as a replacement for the original cultural day shows, according to CLOG Commissioner Maggie Ly. The change occurred because of the problems that had existed with the day shows in previous years, Ly said. In the past, each culture was able to do a whole hour show throughout the day, Teacher Liza Gable-Ferguson said. However, the system prevented some students from being able to watch the show, she continued. “Some kids went six times a day, some didn’t go at all,” Gable-Ferguson said. With the rally, everyone was able to see it, Ly said. Teachers also liked it because the show didn’t take any instructional time away from them,
she explained. Seven CLOGs - Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), Black Student Union (BSU), Chinese Club, Manava, Korean American Student Association (KASA), Latino Student Union (LSU), Pilipino United Student Organization (PUSO) - participated at the rally. The rally included a dance of each culture, along with a fashion show, Ly said. The multicultural rally was a great moment for the whole school to get together and celebrate the many cultures in the MHS campus, Senior Maricarmen Garcia said. “The multicultural rally gave a chance for various cultural clubs to be highlighted, focusing on the variety rather than just putting the spotlight on one culture,” Garcia said. However, there were drawbacks from the show, according to Junior Lyn Loi. The participants had to fit everyone’s acts together, and the
audience did not get the chance to explore every aspect of the different cultures, she said. “Day shows helped my club improve their dancing because they got to practice the choreograph six times,” Loi explained. “From a performer’s perspective, being able to perform six times on stage felt very fun compared to only doing it twice in the gym.” As a smaller club with less funding, PUSO had not organized day shows or Saturday shows in the past, Senior Charlize Alexa Semana said. The rally allowed the club to participate with all the others, she continued. “I prefer the multicultural rally because it’s just so beautiful seeing it, even for just a glimpse, instead of just seeing one culture,” Semana said. Even though the CLOGs are restricted from doing the day shows, they are still allowed to do a Saturday show in the theater to showcase their culture, Gable-Ferguson said.
New AP classes to be offered at MHS next year BY GRACE CHANG KELLY LUE
New Advanced Placement (AP) classes are now available for the 2018-2019 school year, according to the Student Handbook. New classes include AP Environmental Science (APES) and AP Chinese, the handbook stated. APES is a brand new class also being introduced at MHS, Science Teacher Glen Barrett said. It goes over the interrelationships of the natural world and how humans are connected to it, he explained. “[APES] is a combination of social
science concepts, like ethics, politics, and economics, with ecology concepts like biodiversity, energy, and ecosystems,” Barrett said. “This is a great class for a variety of potential careers and college majors, including business, politics, and law, as well as the more obvious environmental and biological pathways,” he continued. AP Chinese is also a new class that students can potentially take next year, said Chinese Teacher Martha Chen. According to Chen, any student who has finished Chinese 3 can sign up for the AP Chinese course. “Students will learn how to communicate based on information they
have learned, compare cultural products and practices, use metacognitive skills to acquire new information, and draw inferences from familiar information in authentic materials to formulate their own hypotheses and conclusions,” Chen said. Students are recommended to take AP Chinese in order to obtain more practice through various exercises, Chen continued. In May, after taking the course, students will take the Advanced Placement Examination in Chinese. Chen clarified that you are still able to take the exam without taking the AP Chinese class by simply signing up and taking it at MHS.
Admin plans to replace campus security company BY KATHERINE HUBENY
Security on campus is going to be replaced to give campus security supervisors an opportunity to create relationships and become invested into the campus, according to Principal Francis Rojas. The switch should be coming up toward the end of February, Rojas explained. Currently, security on campus is from a private security firm, Rojas said. With the switch coming up, the new security officers will be employ-
ees of the district and will have a direct link to the administration and district office, Rojas continued. “The people who we hire will be held accountable to us because right now it’s a third party,” Rojas said. “The private security firm has their own regulations, and they have certain processes in which they do things.” The new security will have a different feel and different roles on campus, Rojas explained. The admin team plans to review expectations and provide direct instructions to them, he added.
“I’m hoping that every period they check the restrooms, make sure there are no kids hiding out in the restrooms, and they are on a rotation schedule going out the parking lot,” Rojas said. “So there’s actually a coordination of what they can do.” This seems like it could be a positive change on campus, according to Senior Aaron Tran. However, he and most students think the current security is adequate, Tran continued. “I like the security that we have right now,” Tran said. “I feel like they really cater to the students.”