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PALOS VERDES HIGH SCHOOL - ISSUE 3, VOLUME 26 - DECEMBER 10, 2021
Seniors Stomp at 2021 Class Comp
The Return of Ramirez By Aidan Sun editor-in-chief
As the first semester comes to a close, a new face has stepped into the principal’s office here at Palos Verdes High School. Dr. Trista Ramirez began her term as interim principal on Nov. 29 taking over for Carter Paysinger, hoping to oversee the remainder of a successful 2021-22 school year. Unlike Paysinger, however, Ramirez is no stranger to the PVHS campus and the Palos Verdes community. After graduating from Cal State Dominguez, Ramirez began her work as a school counselor at Palos Verdes Intermediate School (PVIS) more than two decades ago in 1999. Since then, she’s continued serving PVPUSD as a counselor at Ridgecrest Intermediate School, principal of PVIS and associate principal and head of counseling at PV High. During her time at PVHS, Ramirez worked to open the wellness center, something uncommon at the time for high schools in the South Bay. She also worked to improve the counseling department and the college and career center (CCC). For the last few years, Ramirez took a step back from on-campus administration to work as the district’s Coordinator for Student Mental Health and Support. “I worked directly with the counseling programs, [grades] 6-12, about how we are supporting students’ mental health and wellness,” Ramirez said. “[I] also worked with student support specialists, our schoolbased therapists, on the programs that they deliver oncampus. I oversaw a lot of other things at the district office [too]
By Lucia Ruiz features editor Students excitedly file into the gym. Posters scatter the walls and members of ASB set up the games. After over a year without a class competition (comp), Sea Kings are restless for school spirit. “Class comp is when we get the entire school together, usually in the gym and students sit in their classes and they are assigned colors and we’re decked out in those colors,” ASB director Jama Maxfield said. “Then we compete in various games to try to win ‘Best Class.’ Teachers come down. They perform or do some of the games and it’s just a fun thing to get everybody in one spot.” Everyone, staff member or student, can enjoy class comp. “I think the goal of class comp is to get the entire school involved in trying to do something with their class and create some sort of fun memory,” Maxfield
said. Class comp was yet another activity that had to be postponed due to COVID-19 and the student body felt the repercussions. “I don’t think we all felt very connected with our school,” ASB Commissioner of Spirit and Athletics Danielle Fullerton said. “We kind of just felt like we were doing our own thing. Like half of the school are complete strangers. It’s a weird feeling.” However, there are still silver linings within this cancelling situation. “[Now] I think everyone is really eager to participate because we haven’t been on campus for the past 18 months,” Fullerton said. “I think it’s going to be really fun.” Now that class comp is back, students in ASB had to meticulously plan everything that went into the event. “The ASB Spirit Commissioners will put together a list of games and ideas and then the presidents and vice presidents of every class go out and they’re
supposed to recruit people to do the games and explain the games so that they know what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, what they need to wear, et cetera,” Maxfield said. “And then that’s really it. Then we go over it with ASB and make changes if something won’t work or if we think we can’t do that game, that’s too dangerous or whatever. We usually try to do it around some sort of a theme. So the first one is usually holiday-based since it’s in December.” This year, the games chosen were Battle of the Exes, Finish the Lyric, Human Tic Tac Toe and One Item in the Trash Can. “After quarantining and being in lockdown for so long, it was fun to be with the entire school and see everyone’s faces,” junior and song team member Caeden Kim said. “My favorite part was performing with Song because I’ve never performed at class comp before.” Although the seniors won, all classes participated and had fun.
related to basically what would be called student services [like] attendance, discipline, other support services for parents and coordinating a lot of those activities and then some.” Ramirez appreciated her time spent working within other schools and at the district offices. After getting her master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University and doctorate from the University of Southern California, she used what she learned to work extensively to implement wellness programs, crisis response and improved college counseling. “I actually wrote my dissertation at USC on student mental health, and mental health and wellness programs in high-performing school districts and best practices for administrators,” Ramirez said. “When I moved to the district office it was an opportunity for me to work district-wide to put some programs and practices in place.” Despite her success at the district, however, Ramirez missed working directly with students and teachers and is happy to return, although temporarily, to PVHS. “I’m excited to be back,” Ramirez said. “[PVHS] is a place that I consider my home and I spent a lot of my career here so just being able to come back and help and provide support to the teachers and the staff and the students and the families [is] really something I’m excited to do.” Outside of work, Ramirez enjoys cooking, gardening, reading and spending time with her husband and two daughters. She will remain as principal until June with a permanent principal set to be chosen by the district before the 2022-23 school year.
(Photo by Aidan Sun)