Carlmont sports wrap up See page 14 Carlmont’s bathroom hygiene goes down the drain
The Highlander
pg 2
Carlmont High School Newspaper Volume II, Issue 8, May 2011 See us online at http://scotscoop.com
Exchange students roam the hallways
wanted the students to get a taste for different Staff Writer cultures. It also gives the Carlmont High School had French students a reason a few extra students for two to speak French,” she said. weeks during the month of This year was one of the April. The Carlmont French smallest groups, consistprogram worked together with ing of eleven students, a school in Aquitaine, France whereas in past years, in order to bring a group of most groups had at least exchange students to get a taste fifteen students. However, of California. “this was a great group,” Several people were asked noted Burton. to host the students, and after Julia Albertson, a somewhat of a struggle, homes freshman, was one of the were found for all of them. hosts. Alexia Lhuillier, the While most host students were exchange student staying sophomores, there were also a with her, got to experience few freshmen and juniors. both the touristic and local The exchange program was aspect of the Bay Area as started sometime in 1999 by well as a bit of Southern Kathy Burton, a French teacher. California. She started it for a few selfless “While Alexia was reasons. here,” Albertson said, “we “There wasn’t an exchange went to San Francisco and program at Carlmont and I did all Continued on page 13
By Anna Wheeler
No more money
How Carlmont plans to bridge the budget gap
Photo by Gianna Dimick
By Erica Valbusa Staff Writer
French students and their hosts exploring the bay area
Cheating in school Exploring dangerous ways to get by See page 7
Words with
By Sarah Levin Fun Stuff Editor
Carlmont is in trouble. There is an invisible menace lurking within our walls. It draws unsuspecting students in with promises of fun and games, and ensnares them in a bottomless pool of addiction. It infects anyone and everyone without mercy, and does not discriminate between students or teachers.
Carlmont is looking for ways to close a $250,000 gap for the next school year. One way the school will achieve this goal is through fundraising. The Carlmont Academic Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises funds to educationally benefit the school. The CAF Board is made up of current and past Carlmont parents, faculty, as well as alumni. “The foundation is essential to filling the gap of funding for classes, supplies, and teacher collaboration,” commented Principal Raul Zamora. In the past three years, about $20 billion has been cut from California schools.
It can hide itself anywhere. In fact, it’s probably lurking in your pocket right now. I speak, of course, about the iPhone and Android app, Words With Friends. On the surface, Words With Friends seems like just another harmless app. You hear about it from a friend, you download the free version (because who wants to pay 99 cents for virtual Scrabble?), and you don’t give it a second thought. You grow
to enjoy playing WWF, and are grateful for buying it. But soon, the fun ends. Before you know it, you’re playing countless games at a time. You buy a dictionary, just to check if there are indeed any words consisting of only consonants. Every five minutes, you refresh the page, in the vain hope someone has already played back. Your entire life begins to revolve around those little yellow tiles, and any conversa-
“This time in the economy, in order for us to remain fiscally responsible as a district, we have to cut back on certain things,” added Zamora. “This has posed a challenge and we are faced with many difficult decisions.” CAF recently completed a campaign that raised its goal of $100,000. For the 2009-10 school year, CAF managed to raise $76,790. During the 2010-11 school year, they gave about $75,000 to school programs and plan to use the remaining money to fund programs for the next school year, where the minimum fundraising goal is $250,000. Funds raised this year will go towards CAF’s main goal of decreasing class sizes,
tion not involving the phrase “triple word score” bores you. Your friends and family soon see the uselessness of trying to converse with you, as you only say things like. “Ooh, ‘weather’. That’s worth like, ten points.” or “Do you think ‘JUXWAZPATION’ is a word?” Soon, you are at risk of infecting others. Words With Friends Addiction (WWFA) is an airborne disease, and can be spread by such simple activi-
specifically ninth grade English, math, and science classes. However, the funds will also provide students with instructional supplies, contribute to teacher collaboration, and continue to offer after-school tutoring programs for students needing academic support. Technology improvements are another area that needs much more funding that can be provided by the district. The estimated cost for maintaining class sizes is about $100,000. If enough money is not raised, some Carlmont classes may have as many as 40 students. CAF is also being asked to raise an additional $50,000 for classroom instructional supplies, such as science labs and art projects. Continued on page 13
ties as saying to a friend, “Hey, You should play Words With Friends.” Thus the cycle continues. An unbroken circle of addiction, that if left untreated, will consume Carlmont in no time at all. Sad as it is, more and more students are falling victim to WWFA every day. Sophomore Ryan Yen admitted to be extremely addicted. “I play WWF every day, but I only
Continued on page 13