Fieldtrip engages seniors’ sports medicine knowledge
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Sports medicine students learn outside the classroom The sports medicine class, which explores the biomechanics of the human body as it relates to athletic training, took a field trip to Chapman University on Jan. 15 to learn from undergraduates pursuing careers as certified athletic trainers. Athletic trainer Cory Hauge has been teaching the sports medicine course for the past three years and taking students to Chapman University for the second time this year. “It was an experience to enrich the students beyond the classroom,” Hauge said. “They got to see a first class athletic facility including an athletic training room with features that we don’t have at this school.” The workshop began Senior Jesus Quintana and a Chapman Univeristy undergraduate demonstrate to the group how to use the TENS unit. with the seniors learning how the Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit works to but you can’t control your hand,” Cameron what preventive measures athletes take temporarily treat acute pain by placing the Haygood said. “I got Taylor [Jacobsen]’s hand in order to avoid common injuries such as electrodes on a partner’s skin. to curl inwards.” the tearing of the knee’s anterior cruciate The setting on the TENS unit can get high The second part of the Chapman ligament (ACL). enough that “it [feels] like the arm [is] asleep, University workshop focused on learning “We actually had to exercise, which
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Talent Show M. Shapna Islam The annual talent show hosted by ASB Senate, entitled “Viva La Talent,” will feature performers ranging from ballet dancers to instrumental groups. The two ballet solos will be performed by junior Christina del Carmen, to Frank Sinatra’s “Ring a Ding Ding” and eighth grader Sophia Morgan, to “Swan Lake.” “Christina and Sophia’s performances are both ballet but their styles are different,” Hoang said. “Christina’s number is jazzy and Sophia’s is classical.” Freshman Phoebe Kim and junior Roger Bian, have a piano medley duet. “They auditioned with two keyboards side by side, but we hope to bring in grand pianos for the actual show,” ASB VicePresident Victoria Hoang said. Another group consists of juniors Alex Ung, David Kim, Jonathon Kim, Chase Hetting, Christopher Leon, Brian St. Claire and Joseph Bulone who will perform “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder with a multitude of instruments. “That group has a saxophone, trumpet, drums and different electric guitars,” ASB Senate member Christine Alvior said. “Seeing them all together on stage at their audition was really interesting to watch.”
M. Shapna Islam
nobody thought would happen,” Jessica Ly said. “I wish we could have been told earlier because then I would have worn a more comfortable shirt.” The day ended with the students practicing how to place injured people on spine boards. “Even though we did that last year with Mr. Cullinane, we realized that it’s an important skill because the football players could injure their spine or neck and need to be escorted off the field,” Megan Blumenthal said. “It was interesting experience for me since I want a career in sports medicine.” The field trip cemented the students’ knowledge of human anatomy. Also, the idea of college and career became a near reality. “I had never been to a college before and seeing college students eating, walking, and working on campus got me realizing that that’s going to be me in a few more months,” Lauren Cantu said.
Positive character emulated through commemorative award to keep alive her memory in the award: Proposed hearts and minds of Oxford students Priya Chakrabarti
Judy Nguyen, member of the class of 2004, was killed in a car crash in August 1999. Her memory remains a part of Oxford’s history, but a Judy Nguyen Award would ensure she is not forgotten. French teacher Ann Powell-Cordon plans to sponsor, or propose, the Judy Nguyen Character Award to the administration in the near future. Known as a “very kind person,” according to Powell-Cordon, Judy Nguyen was also “an exceptional student.” In order to keep her memory alive, “we should have a Judy Nguyen award recognizing the good qualities of this wonderful child” that are exemplified in other students at Oxford, Powell-Cordon said. Such an award, given to someone who demonstrates the pillars of character, would create an overall positive atmosphere. “The Judy Award would [go to] someone, not necessarily the most vocal or outgoing […] but someone who exhibits positive actions in their daily life,” teacher Jenni Jensen said.
Furthermore, the award would remind students of the impact they have on both the learning community and the outside worlds they participate in daily. “Even if you are not physically present you leave behind a legacy - for Judy it was her amazing heart and her genuine positive caring personality. Students may stop and reconsider their behavior,” Jensen said. The summer before Nguyen’s eighth grade year on the way home from a vacation, Nguyen and her mother were asleep without their seat belts on. When one of the tires blew out, both were thrown forward and killed. For those that knew her, “it was devastating. It messed them up for the whole year [because] they couldn’t accept that she was gone,” teacher Bruce Stevens said. Nguyen had hopes to write novels. Even after her death almost ten years ago, her family made sure that her love of books lived on at Oxford. To commemorate her life and dreams, Michael Nguyen, Judy’s father, “donated
$25,000 to Oxford Academy so she could give her classmates the world’s great literature,” said columnist Paige Austin in the OC Register on Mar. 2, 2002 in “Sad tale fills library annex.” A decade later, what has come to be known as the Judy Tree still lies directly in front of room 503. Originally planted as Oxford’s first Christmas tree, it was renamed after her the next year as a tribute to her memory. Judy’s death taught students “life is truly a gift and each day should be lived as though it were the last,” senior Kimly Phamvan said. Even with the Judy Tree and the plaque in the library that recognizes both Nguyen’s dreams and her father’s generosity, few students remember the person for whom the tree stands in the quad. The Judy Award would remedy that. “[The award would recognize] a young girl who is still in the minds of [the original] teachers. It would keep her memory alive, recognizing an Oxford student that characters dignity, integrity, and perseverance,” Powell-Cordon said.
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