VHS Journalism
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September 28th, 2018
Volume 71 Edition 02
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” -Lyndon B. Johnson Photo by: Avenlea Russian
Photo by: Liliana Lara
Photo by: Sailor Hawes
Who made the cast of the fall play? Find out on page 3.
Is the College Board looking out for you? Check out Sailor What’s your favorite class? See what other students think Hawes’ opinion on page 6. on page 5.
Candidates vie to replace retiring school board member As the November elections draw closer, Jerry Dannenberg, Deborah Meyer-Morris, and Madhu Bajaj are locked in a heated race to replace retiring trustee, John Walker on the Ventura Unified School District School Board. Sam Coats (An earlier version of this article left out some endorsements of Deborah Meyer-Morris by local political groups. The Cougar Press apologizes for this omission.) As the November elections draw closer, Jerry Dannenberg, Deborah MeyerMorris, and Madhu Bajaj are locked in a heated race to replace retiring trustee, John Walker on the Ventura Unified School District School Board. This will be the first Board election ever to utilize the district system, which was implemented earlier this year. While in past years voters from the entire district would be able to vote for all trustees, this was changed to a system in which each of five districts elects a trustee. The new system was implemented under threat of lawsuit, in order to
ensure that lower-income voters and Latinos on the East and West sides of town are not drowned out by the white majority and higher-income neighborhoods in between. District (or “Area”) 4 --Walker’s seat-- covers a wide swath of the East End, taking in most of Saticoy and the areas around Juanamaria and Poinsettia schools. The School Board is a body of five elected trustees that works in coordination with the superintendent to set direction and policy for all the public K-12 schools in Ventura. It is charged with overseeing the District’s budget, handling some disciplinary matters and setting curriculum for schools to teach. The campaign has focused on issues of communication between all parties in the education system -- parents, teachers and district officials alike. After the
retirement of longtime Superintendent Trudy Arriaga, her successor Michael Babb was forced out over concerns about the district’s responsiveness to parent complaints. Other issues in the campaign include the district’s response
to racist bullying incidents at VUSD schools, and the contentious fight with the Ventura Unified Education Association teachers’ union over scheduled increases in take-home pay for educators.
Infographic by: Sam Coats
Dannenberg, endorsed by trustee Walker, is focusing on his extensive experience in the education system as he vies for the seat. “In the way of background, I’ve got 41 years’ experience in public education, as a teacher and a school administrator,” said Dannenberg. “When I came to Ventura, I came as Principal of Juanamaria School. I worked in the District Office for a number of years as Superintendent of Curriculum Instruction… That gives me a knowledge of the history of the District, and where the district’s been… I think I can be of help to the new Administration, in the sense that I have some history that I can share with them, and make them understand how the District got to where it’s at now.” continued on... thecougarpress.org
Taking a stand for the Pledge of Allegiance We’re over a week into the start of school and Ventura High School students are yet to do The Pledge of Allegiance at the start of second period after The Call to the Colors, as it has been routinely done for the passed several years. Jezel Mercado The Pledge’s absence has been felt on campus by returning students, as they are habitually ready to say the Pledge after the short song, and have been wondering why we no longer say it. When asked about it, Principal Carlos Cohen explained, “Since we got a new bell schedule, I don’t have the number of minutes that I had assigned before.” However, I brought to his attention the fact that the Pledge of Allegiance takes approximately ten seconds. To this, his response was, “I would love to do what the students want me to do, especially with [this]. I would much rather do both… We’re 38 seconds in, what’s
another ten.” I went around and asked students on campus if they would be willing to take the extra ten seconds to say the Pledge. That way, even if they chose not to participate, other students could still have the option to stand up and say the Pledge if they wanted to. When asked, junior Sage Kirkpatrick’s response was, “Yeah, I would want to do it… because I support America.” Regardless of how patriotic or not-patriotic, VHS students seem to come to the consensus that even if they personally don’t care for The Pledge of Allegiance, it should still be said so that students who care about it have the opportunity to pledge to the Flag.
Senior Max Cohen said, “I would love to give other students the opportunity to do [the Pledge of Allegiance].” Photo by: Jezel Mercado
Freshmen Joseph Lombardo (left) and Noah Koontz (right) stated that they’re fine with doing the Pledge of Allegiance in class. Photo by: Jezel Mercado Photos by: Jezel Mercado
“Yeah, I’d be okay with that,” said junior Aidan Garza of doing the Pledge. Photo by: Jezel Mercado
Principal Cohen explains why we no longer do the Pledge of Allegiance. Photo by: Jezel Mercado