Friday, June 14, 2013
The Smoke Signal
Club announces grant recipients
www.thesmokesignal.org
New counselor to join MSJ
See PROJECT, NEWS Page 4
staff writer anna zeng
Current Counselors Merri Blum (left), Julie Andrews (right), and Lindsey Rotter (not pictured) will be joined by Joanna Jensen in the fall.
By Anna Zeng Staff Writer Joanna Jensen, the substitute counselor for Lindsay Rotter, who was on maternity leave, will be a permanent member of the MSJ staff starting in the 2013-14 school year. Due to a district budget update implementing state-wide educational funding changes, the District Board of Education elected to add additional counselors to high schools and middle schools in the Fremont Unified School District as the first of several changes. On March 13, the District Board of Education updated its budget in anticipation of funding from Governor Jerry Brown’s state budget proposal as well as expanding student enrollment. Governor Brown’s budget proposal includes the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which aims to fix the “inequitably distributed school finance system” by introducing funding based on student demographics and headcount. With district student enrollment projected to increase by more than 200 students annually in the next two years, the new funding system will enable the district to expand staff to accommodate.
Student receives $1000 scholarship By Ishan Goyal Staff Writer On May 10, the Olive Hyde Art Gallery held its annual display for graduating FUSD seniors where it gave $4000 in scholarships and provided the students with the opportunity to sell their artwork. Senior Sherry Xiao received one of two honorable mentions along with a $1000 scholarship, while Irvington High School students won the other honorable mention and the first place. Reflecting back on the event, Xiao said, “It was a really interesting look at the Fremont art community to see what other students were doing.” The Olive Hyde Art Guild is a nonprofit organization funded by the city to showcase special exhibits and projects. The guild sponsors art education programs in schools and provides scholarships and awards for local student artists. In the past year, the gallery has hosted events displaying Women’s Figurative Art and Ceramics creations. The Guild’s primary objective is to promote interest in and appreciation for visual arts while encouraging participation in activities involving the visual arts. The Guild hopes to broaden their scope and impact throughout the Northern California art community while bringing together a diverse group of
SCHEDULE| Changes continued from page 2
ing or biking distance must be dropped off at around 8:00 am. If they aren’t able to take advantage of this extra hour, all the time becomes a waste. Nevertheless, parents have understood the need for this schedule change. The new schedule will hopefully bring more benefits
By Arushi Atluri Staff Writer Project Mission Education (Project ME) is a club at MSJ dedicated to raising money to help improve the school’s current condition and alleviate the effects of budget cuts. This past month, the club granted the following individuals, departments, and clubs money: Sophomore Haroon Rasheed, Leadership 2’s Green Team, Spanish Teacher Herbert Gomez, Math Teacher Charlie Brucker, English Teacher Katherine Geers and AP Human Geography Teacher Bill Jeffers, MSJ Tech and Robotics, Academic Challenge Club, English Teacher Nina LaRosa, the Smoke Signal Advisor Sandra Cohen, MSJ Speech, and Science Teacher Arshiya Sultana. The money will be used to purchase items such as textbooks, televisions, a graphing calculator, molecular model sets, and much more. “It’s really exciting to be able to benefit the Mission community, and we hope that our impact will help these programs and clubs grow further,” says Project ME President Alekya Rajanala. Founded by Alumnus Pulak Goyal in 2010, Project ME works in conjunction with Sirona Fuels and Salinas Tallow. Sirona and Salinas are local biofuel companies that take restaurants’ used cooking oil, then use this waste to produce biodiesel fuel. Burning this fuel instead of conventional diesel fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants by 80 percent. Project ME club members and officers work to solicit different restaurants and businesses that are willing to donate their oil to the companies; for every restaurant that the club is able to
News 3
artists. The guild provides scholarships to students pursuing a higher education at an accredited school or college for the study of a visual art. Students who wished to apply for this scholarship had to meet a series of requirements before they were eligible for the merit, such has having a minimum GPA of 2.50. The process began with the submission of their portfolio which consisted of four to six pieces of artwork. After submitting the components of their application, the student’s artwork was then displayed and observed by the general public. The event attracted art patrons and enthusiasts. Xiao, who had the honor of actually selling two of her paintings, said, “It was inspiring that people were interested in my work.” Xiao’s success at the gallery is not unheard of at MSJ. In 2012, MSJ Alumni Daniel Lee and Tian Shi received first place and an honorable mention, respectively. The MSJ campus is a reflection of the creative and artistic aptitude of MSJ students. A new mural is joining the multiple displays of art around campus. To read more about the new mural, visit www.thesmokesignal.org ▪
courtesy sherry xiao
“Aesop,” partially pictured above, was one of six works submitted by Xiao to the Olive Hyde Art Gallery exhibition.
With this new state-level education funding system, the District Board of Education decided to gradually reduce class sizes in schools within the district for the upcoming school year and add 13 support staff members throughout the district. In the district, the average high school staffing ratio is projected to decrease to 27.5 to one in the next two years, and, due to additional LCFF targeted funding, average K-3 class sizes may drop to 24 to one in the next six years. FUSD’s implementation plan also aims to ensure the safety of students and staff through the addition of counselors in junior high and high schools, as well as three assistant principals for large elementary schools. One counselor will be added to each of the 10 FUSD high schools and junior high schools, helping ease the student-counselor ratio. The current counselors at MSJ, who bear a student-counselor ratio nearly three times higher than the recommended maximum of 250 to one, are ecstatic about the change. “We’re beyond elated. A caseload of 740 to one is ridiculous; now it will be more like 550 to one, which is still quite large, but such a relief for all of us, as well as for the students,” says Counselor Merri Blum. “We’ll be much more accessible.”
“Since our primary focus is to do what is best for kids, I’m hoping this schedule allows for a smooth implementation of Common Core State Standards, as well as an opportunity to successfully and thoughtfully evaluate our programs to ensure a sixyear WASC accreditation,”
-Vice Principal zack larsen
than drawbacks. Teachers will now have more time to prepare, and students won’t be half-lethargic from coming to class at 7:00 am to take a test. “Since our primary focus is to do what is best for kids, I’m hoping this schedule allows for a smooth implementation of Common Core State Standards, as well as an opportunity to successfully and thoughtfully evaluate our programs to ensure a six-year WASC accreditation,” says Larsen. ▪ Jensen’s role in the office will be identical to those of the other counselors. Like the other counselors, she will also be writing recommendation letters for students and providing student guidance. The number of students assigned to each counselor will decrease significantly as last names will be redistributed among the four counselors. “I like it a lot [here]. It’s very interesting and different from where I worked previously in [various] elementary and middle schools,” says Jensen. “Everyone’s wonderful here, I really enjoy it.” ▪