Poly Times

UNCOVER CITY POLY’S SECRETS Find out why Poly students are struggling during remote, pages 8-10 Check out some ways to pay for college or other post-h.s. opportunities, page 11 Are you a gamer, then check out page 12 Those we have lost, pages 6-7 Poly Politics, page 13 Go behind scenes of an Art class, page 17 Celeb gossip, page 18

FOR STUDENTS, BY STUDENTS

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Calling all City Poly Students

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The Evisceration of Playboi Carti

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Art Class Review

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Are City Poly Students Prepared for the Real World?

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The Origins of the Insurrection

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New Technology in Gaming

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Scholarships

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Alternatives to College

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Slacking Scholars

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In Memoriam for Celebrities

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Rap Interlude

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Welcome Letter and Team

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The Team Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Hall Creative Director Bayzed Ullah Managing Editor Masiel Mosquera Djineylla Baptiste Executive Editor Amera Roche Senior Researcher Nikolai Markov Writers and Contributors Djineylla Baptiste Erwin Alicindor Annaytza Santiago Yanua Zevallos Advisor Ms. Nicholson

Dear Readers, We the City Poly Magazine club are grateful that you have picked up the inaugural issue of Poly Times!

It has been a pleasure to collaborate in order to bring you this exclusive. The year 2020 was one of extreme ups and downs and the biggest issue that has unfortunately followed us into the new year is COVID-19. However, despite the challenges, COVID 19, has brought us, we would like to welcome you to the first semi-annual City Poly magazine.

This exclusive edition was developed by the hands of your fellow students. City Poly Magazine Club’s mission is to bring quality, entertaining, wholesome, and educational news to the City Poly community. We hope as you read this issue, it would remind you of the amazing and strong members that make up the City Poly community.

Hopefully, Poly Times can make us stronger by bringing us all together to agree and disagree. - Poly Times Staff

RAP INTERLUDE

By Amera minaj & gabby b

“Either y’all can rap like me or follow them dreams” We in magazine club With all this creativity I hope when we gone it keeps longevity Some of y'all baited and didn’t show up But if you a member of this club its up and it's stuck If you looking to be chief than you ran out of luck Mera and Gabby run things we the geese ya’ll the ducks You are valued on this team The news never played out Y'all think y'all got skills? But Bayzed got it laid out You need a man with the plan Bayzed is it no doubt He aint facing the jury, but this magazine is gon sell out Erwin, a supposed writer but there’s some cap in his rap Might call him a liar But his jokes do slap You wanna know the tea?

He’ll stop you dead in ya tracks Cuz when it comes to the gossip he only spits the facts Nikolai very shy but his layouts? they Stay fly He always got us big TIME But he don’t rush When he on the scene its quiet like its hush These bars keep pouring out grab da cup sip it up We da best team Ain’t dat right Mera? Yup Who’s next ?

Now she’s highly known for her off brand crocs But she be cleaning up this writing Grab the broom and the mop Yk if she here this magazine ain’t gon flop Poly times came from the bottom but we end it on top If you were confused it’s absolutely Dijineylla You don't know her name? Well now we are telling ya

Next up we got Miss Annaytza Her skills real sharp she cut it up like a razor Writing so clean need to grab a tie and a blazer She adds the sugar and the spice Yk she brings the flava Her name is gabby hall she stay on call Co wrote our cover story But her lines do be corny likeeeeeeee Leaving the audience lost like Dory She gives good feedback and I’m sure she means it but the blurbs like her shoes they leaning and screaming Now we got Miss Amera Roche she a real hoot Now don’t get it twisted my good sis is real cute But if she gets to singing, plug ya ears or put the call on mute She quick to clocking you She got statistics and proof Her skillset don’t lack many things but I can name a few Nicholson yea yk she’s our leader The real MVP, she the most valued teacher Don’t be scared to show up just cuz ya think ya bad at it Listen to her words try and take a stab at it She the OG so yk she the best at it Me and G up next tho the gangsta rhyme addicts Come to our club we be sure to represent ya Speaking of teachers need to put them on the bleachers Any concerns you got you can hit us and student government Cause I know for a fact Ms. Mckoy sure be dubbin it We came to an end, but we only beginning If you join our club than yk that you’re winning Spit the raps, write the facts No cap in our rap It’s Mera Minaj and Gabby B Drop the mic, we just snapped Ain’t got the nails on but it’s silent don’t need to clack Any back talk?

It’s quiet that’s that

Let me introduce somebody that might be new to ya Quiet but deadly yeah her name is Yanua She’s our on deck editor, mistakes never fly She on the case, can’t take her place She's our critical eye

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in

MEMOR

RIAM

2020!

It’s almost as if the weight of just saying those words is as heavy as the load of sorrow and tragedy that the year itself brought the world. People lose their lives everyday and whether you believe in the afterlife or not we can only hope they have made it to a better place.

Everyone’s life matters and is valued, but there have been very few that were brave enough to step into the public eye and were able to touch many lives as a result. They will be grieved for a lifetime and their legacy will live forever. So, the Poly Times would like to commemorate (from left to right): Kobe Bryant Pop Smoke Naya Rivera Chadwick Boseman Natalie Desselle Tom (Tiny) Lister Jr. Juice Wrld Ruth Bader Ginsburg King Von

By Gabrielle Hall

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SLACKING SCHOLARS?

BY Gabrielle Hall and Amera Roche

COVID-19—It’s all you hear about. It is in your news feed, your social media, and it consumes your everyday life. It is arguable that COVID has made life harder for everyone, especially for workers and students. For instance, remote learning has had a drastic effect on the grades and mental health of students. Our statistics prove that for most it was a turn for the worse.

The poll shows that out of 185 responses, 45.4%, the majority of students, have experienced a little fluctuation of their GPA. Around 30.3% of students claimed that their average decreased while only 24.3% of students saw an increase. For the small number of students whose average increased it is now within a range from 90-103.33%. On the other hand, the majority of students that have an average that decreased, ranges from 70-89% and the second highly chosen

range from 50-69% was chosen by 24.5% of students. Meanwhile, 62.7% of students believed that remote learning caused a shift in their grades. You may be wondering what does this mean? Well, this data allows readers to grasp how drastic remote learning actually is. We now have—Slacking Scholars.

“The majority of students, 68.9%, believe the shift to remote learning caused their GPA to fluctuate since they now have a huge lack of motivation. Laying in bed watching Netflix with a blankie, and a pillow, I wouldn’t want to get up and do work either.”

Why are City Poly’s scholars slacking? We have the answer to this question as well. We asked students to give their own reasons as to why they have been slacking or choose from the reasons we provided in our poll. Most of the students believe that attending classes online has caused their GPA to drop, since they have lost the correct motivators, and gained instead a "classroom" full of commodities, perfect fit to be the nap room or the snack room, but far from perfect to be the work area. The second highest reason chosen by 64.4% of students is that they do not have great time management skills. Some students work all day or work all night and they get distracted easily. This is a direct result of remote learning. Exactly 59.8% of students say that the workload is too heavy and they cannot complete assignments within the deadline, which is understandable when

combined with the other reasons. For instance, 59.1% of students have a short attention span and can’t seem to pay attention to the Zoom class long enough to grasp what the teacher is saying. One cause for this, is what 25.8% of students cited, personal issues going on at home.. On the other hand, 18.2% of students felt that teachers do not grade fast enough, which discouraged them from completing their assignments in a timely manner. While 13.6% of students believed that teachers are not understanding. Some of the responses students gave were mental disorders, internet issues, teachers who do not communicate with students, and some even had a rebellious phase. The majority of the students that do not believe that remote learning has caused their grades to decrease, felt that way because 49.2% of them are more comfortable at home since they are able to work at their own pace. For instance, 39.3% of students thought that their schedule was more flexible and 34.4% of students agreed that remote learning comes with less pressure and that their teachers have become more lenient.

Out of all the general responses the poll did receive, some unique answers explained why remote learning has proven to be harder for students. One, in particular, came from Layla Tafurelli, an 11th-grade student at City Poly. When asked how her struggles compared and differed to most students of City Poly?, Layla revealed that “for me my biggest struggle is

that I have trouble focusing, comprehending, and processing things in class. The material goes right over my head, and I usually have to take hours out of my own day to do my own research in order to understand the material, which gives me less time to actually do the assignments.” When asked to elaborate why, Layla gave insight on her personal issues revealing that “remote learning plus other factors in my environment can trigger my sensory issues which make it very hard to even show up to class sometimes. I’ve even lost the ability to physically speak because I was under so much stress. That and balancing my home life while in the process of renovating and moving has made it nearly impossible to get my work done.” Layla’s learning situation is more unique than

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most. In regards to making any changes to how learning is operated remotely, she believes “that question is tough because there aren’t really specific things you can do to fix the problem. Being in an environment that makes it hard to learn is out of my control and can’t be changed, as well as the method of remote learning in itself, since we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”

“For me my biggest struggle is that I have trouble focusing, comprehending, and processing things in class.

The material goes right over my head, and I usually have to take hours out of my own day to do my own research in order to understand the material, which gives me less time to actually do the assignments”—Layla Tafurelli

Many students, like Layla, have voiced that there is really no solid solution to remote learning and its varied impact amongst students (which can be also seen in the poll) Arguably, to make remote learning at least a little more tolerable students would prefer if work was not all assigned at the same time and the due dates were not back to back.

One suggestion was to make a designated day for each teacher to assign their work, the logic being that this will be less over-

whelming and may help students with their time management. Overall, the effort from both sides of the situation (students, teachers, and staff) is appreciated and City Poly students can safely assume that they will continue to get 100% effort from

teachers and staff in order to ease the effects of remote learning. However, in order to expect the best, you have to give your best and that is what the City Poly family needs from every individual in order to make the best of these circumstances.

ALTERNATIVES TO COLLEGE

Face it, going away to college is not for everyone. However, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? How are you going to make coins? According to recent research, most people with a high school diploma will only make about $30,000 yearly. Those with a college degree have the potential to earn about $44,000 a year. Don’t fret, there are other ways to make a living and enjoy it as well like owning your own business or even being a social media influencer whomp.—Amera Roche Trade school Job based learning (apprenticeship) Online school Coding bootcamps The military Creating your own business Become a trader Social Media Influencers (Youtube and instagram influencers get paid to promote businesses)

GET THAT

SHMONEY

By Amera Roche

It is Spring and for most of us, college applications are around the corner.

We have researched scholarship opportunities and found a few that we would like to share with you.

Erie Ivie MIsfit Scholarship -$1,000 -All High Schoolers -DEADLINE: May 2021 Breanden Beneschott Fire memes scholarship -DEADLINE: OCT 2021 -All students -Submit fav memes to apply -$1,000 Sander Jennings Spread The Love Scholarship!

-Open to students who have had difficulties with self love and expression -$1,000 -April 2021 Tallo’s Scholarship -$15,000 -For U.S. Citizens Nitro Scholarship -High School & Undergraduate students -$2,000 Going Merry Seasonal Scholarships -Offered 4 times a year Scholarships 360 -All Students

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GAME DEVELOPERS BRING THE FUN TO A WORLD IN QUARANTINE?

New video game consoles and personal computers make social isolation a little bit easier for millions!

By Nikolai Markov

As 2020 inevitably came around, and the darkness overtook the whole world, little beams of light shone through in the dark. New technology* and games came out toward the end of the year.

First of all, the much awaited Cyberpunk 2077 came out in December 2020. Even though the development of the game started in 2011, it was released at the right time for many. The game’s graphics heavily relied on Nvidia’s RTX technology. The newest consoles such as Playstation 5, Xbox series X and the latest PCs were able to render all the complex graphics and make the game look very good. However, PS4 and Xbox One players were disappointed when they bought the new games and their consoles were not able to run them due to the high settings.

The new consoles were not as widely accepted as the public fought to get their hands on one. The Playstation 5, was publically shamed for looking like an indoor fan; while the Xbox Series X, was ridiculed for looking like a fridge. When the Xbox Series X was released, some people were disappointed because in the demo videos the console was shown bigger than it actually was. Nonetheless, the consoles did their job perfectly, delivering a stable 60 Frames Per Second while making the game look crisp.

Now, about the newest Graphics Cards. Nvidia and AMD have been in a fight over the GPU market. Their newest GPUs are AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and Nvidia RTX 3080 have many people argue about who has the better video card. On one side, AMD, is the cheaper ($649) less resource consuming (300 Watts), and higher capacity (16Gb GDDR6) card. On the other hand, Nvidia has the more expensive ($699), more resource consuming (320 Watts) and smaller capacity (10Gb GDDR6X) card. People might say that the choice is obvious, and isn’t it.

Performance tests in both 4k (3840 x 2160) and 1440p were dominated by the Amd 6800. But why?

Well, They both use different tactics. AMD is going all out, while Nvidia is a bit more reserved. You see, Nvidia is using the newer memory type, the GDDR6X, while AMD just uses GDDR6. The GDDR6X allows for almost twice the speeds of data transfer. Nvidia is using lower working speeds anyway, so that their card has a space to be boosted. But why does AMD still win? That is because AMD is just better.

AMD has 16 gigabytes of memory compared to Nvidia's 10 gigabytes. The increased capacity combined with Smart Access Technology, helps AMD to be the best.

THE

ORIGINS OF

THE INSURRECTION

By Mr. Feinberg, Government and Economics Teacher

On January 6, 2021, thousands of armed protesters came to Washington D.C. and listened to President Trump speak for an hour where he explained how the election was stolen (it wasn’t, his speech was filled with lies): “All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats, which is what they’re doing and stolen by the fake news media.

That’s what they’ve done and what they’re doing. We will never give up. We will never concede, it doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.” He also encouraged them to go to the Capitol Building (where Congress meets): “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

There is a long history in America of Republican politicians and Republican media pundits (people who share their opinions about politics to an audience) claiming that Democrats, liberals, progressives, and leftists hate America and are trying to destroy it.

This has never been true, but it did not stop people from Joe McCarthy to Barry Goldwater to Newt Gingrich to Pat Buchanan to Rush Limbaugh to Lindsay Graham to basically all of Fox News repeating these claims. However, this part of the Republican Party wasn’t really that influential until the Obama administration, when a movement called the Tea Party helped elect some very conservative, far right members of the Republican Party. This is where Donald Trump started getting support before he ran for president in 2015.

From the start of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign in 2015, he advocated violence against people who protested against him, people who were “politically correct,” and people who disobeyed the law. During the next four years as President, he continued to call for violence against his enemies. For about two decades, leading up to him becoming President, many right-wing (conservative) news outlets like Fox News had also been insulting Democrats, the media, protesters, and people who break the law. However, this is not new: since about the 1940s, there have been con-

servative newspapers and magazines that describe Democrats, liberals, progressives, and leftists as dangerous threats to America. Fox News also encourages their viewers to be violent.

The armed protesters, after Trump’s speech, marched to Congress, broke through police barriers that were surrounding the Capitol Building, pushed past some Capitol police officers (other Capitol police officers let them through), broke windows to enter the Capitol Building, and traveled around the building, breaking into offices for Congress Members, looting objects from offices and meeting spaces, and vandalizing the building.

Since Trump is partially responsible for this, all Democrats and 10 Republicans in Congress voted to impeach Trump. On February 12, the U.S. The Senate acquitted Trump, with 57 senators voting guilty and 43 voting to acquit.

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ARE CITY POLY STUDENTS PREPARED FOR THE REAL WORLD?

By: Gabrielle Hall and Amera Roche

City Poly Is not preparing students

“I don't have any classes that teach me things that I will ACTUALLY need in the real world like how to do taxes or insurance or something that can actually help me”

“No, because I don't feel like we're getting assignments that prepare us nor do I feel like we are discussing things in school that relate to the real world.”

“I think we need to learn more on how to handle situations like being pulled over or being wrongfully accused by higher authorities.”

54.20% Yes 45.80% No

City Poly Is preparing students “The reason I think that City Poly is preparing me for the real world is because it’s teaching me all about time management and how to utilize it when I do certain stuff in the future or the real world” “Strict deadlines and the working with people out of my clique makes me feel that City Poly or school in general is preparing me for the real world.” “most people would say no but i believe that city poly is actually preparing us for the future. The reason why I believe this is because of Mr. Feinberg. He teaches us government (how the government works)and in senior year he will be teaching us finance (how to buy property and pay taxes). with those 2 classes it gives us an edge over those who don't have those classes in their school. Lastly we have city poly events, some of these events actually help some students choose their career path and helps the students figure how colleges work and what type of education a student wants after high school. so, yes I do believe City poly is helping their students with preparing for the real world.”

“Lots of people might say school doesn’t because they don't teach you about finances but school teaches you time management and helps you realize how the world really is regarding

things like handing in things on time or doing what you're told. It helps me realize things won't get done by themselves and if I want to do something I will have to work for it.”

“Personally for me City Poly offers college and AP courses ahead of time so, I can get the in college experience while still in high school and courses such as part government, engineering/architecture, and spanish will help me with my career and making me more aware of the world around me”

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What do you recommend City Poly and NY schools do to better prepare their students for the REAL WORLD? How do you think they should go about it?

Life Skills

Taxes

“Teaching about things we will need in the future like banking and interacting with new people.”

“Just teach the actual basic thing that we are going to need, like how do taxes work.”

“I recommend all schools should teach about money, life after college or life without college, and actually teach topics about the major you’re interested in. The education system thinks we can handle every subject thrown at us and let us struggle, while a teacher can only teach about one subject. How can a child be an expert for learning more than five subjects when a teacher can only learn and teach one; it isn’t fair. This could also be helpful for us students, but very complicated.”

“How to respond to police harassment and how to know if you are being racially profiled.”

“We should have classes on everyday adult things like how to fix and tire and we can do that by integrating it into the curriculum.”

“Teach them more life skill things, like about the government. For example, teach them what they are doing when they are voting so they would know what they are doing.”

“Help guide students towards their goal in life instead of filling the schedule with theses classes that are not building their knowledge on their future career” “Things that City Poly can do to help students better prepare for the real world is to have more advanced classes for lower and higher grades. They can also make students create their own club if they have the support for it.”

“Talk more about being able to be an independent worker. For example, at the very least, giving an explanation on taxes. I can't do other things but something in that range of topics please.”

“Honestly add more classes like Feinberg’s, but instead of it being like a graded class that affects our average it could be a pass or fail class.”

“Introduce classes from freshman year teaching students how to save, invest, and do taxes.”

“Offer more rigorous courses. Paying taxes, buying a house, credit cards, saving, and driving.”

Jobs “City Poly and other schools could do more college workshops and internships.”

“Teach economics and money management and how to get a job.”

ART WITH MS. HOWELL: A PEEK INSIDE MY CLASSROOM

By Annaytza Santiago

DORMEUSE, CHEVAL, LION INVISIBLES (INVISIBLE SLEEPING WOMAN, HORSE, LION)

As a freshman at City Poly, I have the honor to take Art with Ms. Howell. In our class thus far, we have learned about paintings, sculptures, printmaking, digital media and photography. Since this is a class I truly enjoy—especially in a remote setting—I wanted to take you behind the scenes.

Annatyza: What curriculum of Art do you teach?

Howell: Art appreciation. Mostly about observing, criticizing, discussing art pieces.

A: What are the students currently doing in Art? H: Digital media: Equal to everyday living. It is part of the following: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord, TikTok, etc.

Digital media changes the way people look at society today.

A: Do you have any thoughts on increasing the amount of assignments where the students have to write informative or argumentative essays?

H: So far, only one at the end of Marking Period 1. This type of writing is a tough skill; it needs logic when you are writing an argumentative essay.

A: What is the next unit of Art going to be about?

H: The next unit is going to be about sketching/drawing.

A: What do you think the students enjoy the most about taking an Art class?

H: Mostly anything about anime/surrealism. To further explain, surrealism is the act of an art piece opening one’s mind to think deeply about its subject, colors, and why the artist created it.

A: Which lesson has been your favorite and why?

H: Sculpting: Looked at famous sculpturists. A lot that occurs inside of sculpting, is to others; they put hard work with their art.

Observe backstories of their lives, their traumas, their reasoning for why they do what they do, and what steps they take to completing their masterpieces.

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The

Evisceration

of Playboi

Carti

BY ERWIN ALCINDOR

As we all know 2020 did not end on a completely high note for multiple reasons and it did not end the best for Playboi carti.

Well known rapper Playboi Carti did not end 2020 on a completely high note either since he disappointed his fans. Carti has a huge fan base which was acquired during his album “playboi Carti” in 2017. Sadly after that album his fans were only able to get leaked snippets from unreleased music that he made, along with him pranking his fans into believing he would drop the album but it never happened until christmas day of 2020. 3 years later Carti finally dropped his most anticipated album “ whole lotta red” but the album became way too overhyped and let down the majority of his fans. Within the same hour many people took to social media speaking their opinions on the album calling it “whole lotta trash” and “whole lotta a**.”

Calling All

Poly Students

Do you enjoy covering drama? Making designs? Writing about celebrities? Or even bringing the community together? Well you can do all that and more by joining the Poly Times magazine club. Here at the magazine club all ideas are welcome, there's no such thing as a bad idea. We get together every Wednesday at 3:30.—Poly Times Staff Positions: WritersEditorsIllustratorsGraphic DesignersPhotographers-

INTERESTED OR HAVE FEEDBACK, PLEASE EMAIL US: polytimes@citypolyhs.org

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