MISSION SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL
VOL. 51, NO. 9
June 3, 2016
41717 PALM AVENUE, FREMONT, CA 94539
Debaters compete at Tournament of Champions MSJ students participate in University of Kentucky competition By Carolyn Ge & Tanushri Sundar Staff Writers MSJ Debate competed at the Tournament of Champions from April 29 to May 2 at the University of Kentucky and the Campbell House, a hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. MSJ sent three Public Forum teams, one International Public Forum team, and three Lincoln-Douglas debaters to the competition. MSJ also won first place for the sweepstakes award, which is based on the overall performance of the team. The Tournament of Champions is an invitational debate tournament held near the end of the debate season. In order to attend, students must first qualify by winning bids from other nationally competitive tournaments throughout the year. The Tournament of Champions Committee hands out a certain number of bids to the tournament based on the size of the tournament and the prestige level associated with it. Debaters can earn these bids by advancing to high level rounds, such as octofinals or quarterfinals of these nationally competitive tournaments. Teams that earn two bids are invited to compete at the Tournament of Champions. Another method to qualify is called “applying at large.” If a debater has one bid and had previously qualified for many bid rounds, rounds in which bids are given to the winners, he or she can apply to compete at the Tournament.
FUSD adopts new textbooks Math and English books chosen for 2016-17 school year By Amber Lee Staff Writers MSJ, along with all other high schools across FUSD, will begin using new textbooks for math and English in the 2016-17 school year. New math textbooks were adopted for Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry from the Big Ideas Math series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They will replace the current Algebra 2 and Geometry textbooks published by Holt. The Big Ideas textbooks correspond to the new math pathways, in which students take Algebra 1 in 9th grade, Geometry in 10th grade, and Algebra 2 in 11th grade, unless they are on an accelerated pathway. During the 2016-17 school year, the new Algebra 2 textbook will be used for the Honors and college prep Algebra 2 courses. There will be no Honors Algebra 1, Geometry, or Algebra 2 classes after the 2016-17 school year. Between the old and new math textbooks,
The three MSJ Public Forum teams that competed at the tournament are: Sophomores Robert Chen and Devesh Kodnani, Juniors Keshav Kundassery and Max Wu, and Juniors Ansh Patel and Steven Shi. Juniors Neha Dubey and Angela Shalizi competed in the International division. Sophomore Lavanya Singh, Junior Prachit Bhike, and Senior Shivane Sabharwal competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kundassery and Wu qualified for the final round and earned second place in the entire tournament. Regarding their achievement, Wu said, “I didn’t expect to do as well as we did, but at the same time I’m not too shocked because I knew that we were capable of going far.” Sabharwal and Singh both qualified for the quarterfinal round, which is a rare feat for two students from the same school. Singh said, “At the end of the tournament, when I took a step back and realized that we had an amazing weekend, I was really proud of myself and the team. I was very happy that our hard work paid off.” MSJ also did well in terms of winning speaker awards. To determine rankings for these awards, the judges of the rounds give each debater “speaker points” on a scale from one to 30, with 30 being the highest score. At the end of the tournament, the points are totaled and speaker awards are given based on the sums. Wu received 8th place, Kodnani received 9th place, and Kundassery received 16th place. As for the sweepstakes award, in which MSJ debate much of the content is the same, although the new books follow Common Core standards. In addition, the Big Ideas books have practice sections that include more word problems focusing on different math practices such as critical thinking, mathematical connections, and abstract reasoning. Math Department Chair Scott Sugden said, “I like the structure of the math practices and the layout of the books, so we can really focus on those math practices, and really give a deeper understanding for the students.” Math Teacher Tyler Robinson also said, “I might argue the reason I decided I liked this book best was because they primarily have a lot more word problems in the homework section, which I think students need a lot more practice with. So, I think there’s a lot more critical thinking and reading that’s in this book.” The new English textbooks are for grades 9 through 12 and are part of the California Collections series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. These books will replace the current Literature and Language Arts books by Holt. Between the old and new English textbooks, there are differences in how the curriculum is organized and the pieces of writing the publisher chose to include, in addition to the Common Core standards integrated into the new book. The old book is arranged by time periods, with literature from each period’s authors, but the California Collections series is orga-
MSJ SECOND ANNUAL COLOR RUN
Read about MSJ’s most colorful event of the year!
courtesy lavanya singh
Public Forum debaters. (Back row) Juniors Keshav Kundassery, Max Wu, Angela Shalizi, and Neha Dubey. (Front) Junior Steven Shi, Sophomores Devesh Kodnani and Robert Chen, and Junior Ansh Patel pose after the competition.
won first place, judges take many factors into account, such as high-placing teams in different debate events, how far teams made it past elimination rounds, and speaker awards. Winning the sweepstakes was a huge accomplishment for MSJ because last year, no teams from MSJ advanced to the elimination rounds. MSJ Public Forum Debate Coach Victor Rivas Umana was very proud of the team’s
achievements and overall performance. He said, “We were the top performing school at the tournament, so it was not only impressive but also extremely rewarding, considering the trials and tribulations of the past year and the amount of work that we all put in prior to each day of the tournament.” The team has high hopes for next year and has already begun preparing for future competitions. ▪
nized by themes connecting the subject matter. To evaluate potential textbooks from different publishers, teachers from the math and language arts departments of each high school in FUSD joined book adoption committees. At the first meeting in the adoption process, publishers presented their textbooks to the committees. Then, committee members independently looked through or taught out of the books. At subsequent meetings, the teachers would discuss the books according to certain criteria. The book adoption process for math began in 2014-15. Sugden and Robinson represented MSJ in the adoption committee that school year, and they helped evaluate math books using criteria that included how well each publisher presented the curriculum and followed Common Core State Standards. However, the committee did not come to a decision on which textbook to adopt that year. In 2015-16, another committee for math textbook adoption was formed, and Robinson and Math Teacher Denise Nguyen joined. The adoption process was repeated, and this time the group chose the Big Ideas series. Robinson said, “We decided that Big Ideas, which is one of the more traditional books, was the most rigorous and most clear, and covered the content the best and was most beneficial for the majority of the students that were all in the
district [sic].” The FUSD Board of Education finalized the decision to switch to the Big Ideas textbooks at a meeting on May 11. For English, the book adoption committee assessed new textbooks during this school year. English Teachers Sandra Cohen and Ryan Marple represented MSJ in the committee. Criteria for the English book evaluation included Common Core standards as well as the cultural diversity, the mix of genres, and the variety of the reading selections. In the end, the committee voted for California Collections. Cohen said, “This particular book has the best blend of subject matter and it has the most user-friendly focus for teachers and for students. It does have an online component, and it does have affiliation with the History Channel and with A&E [Arts and Entertainment Network].” There will be professional development sessions for math and language arts teachers from across FUSD in June and August this summer. At the training sessions, the teachers will learn about the different components of the new textbooks, such as how to customize tests and use digital resources connected to the books. However, teachers can still design their own teaching plans to implement the new textbooks for their own classes instead of adhering to a set system. ▪
MSJ SYNCOPASIANS
The Syncopasians recently placed first in the San Francisco Asian Youth Talent Competition, and were offered a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall.
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