Aquila October 2022 (Vol. 12, Issue 1)

volume xii , issue 1 Oct. 18, 2022

aquila university preparatory academy

13 “quick! Zip Up your jacket”

reporter explores flaws in Upa dress code

welcome

from the EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

ILLUSTRATIONS VIDYA ACHAR • DESIGN ZAINAB SHAIKH

After Alexandra Rozmarin and Janessa Ulug’s departure as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Aquila, we transitioned to new leadership. In the past three years, we have witnessed three changes in leadership, but every time, our core values were preserved.

Both of us, Vidya Achar and Akhila Ayyadevara, became friends through journalism our freshman year, and are excited to take Aquila to new heights.

Vidya As last year’s Managing Editor and a Team Editor for two years prior, I have witnessed the publication of six issues, all touching on different facets of the UPA community. Known in class as the “controversy reporter,” you may recognize me from articles about drugs on campus, political opinions, sexual harrassment, and the COVID-19 outbreak. For the past three years, I’ve found purpose in Aquila‘s mission of seeking truth and reporting on it, but in my new role as Co-Editor-in-Chief, I’m taking a step back from reporting and instead focusing on encouraging reporters to reach their full potential.

“Reach down as you reach up”: help others while still being ambitious. After publishing the first of many issues this year, I am excited to continue a UPA tradition.

Akhila Through my last three years at Aquila, I have had the privilege and pleasure of seeing multiple news magazines being published, including the publication of three magazines through distance learning. I found my love for talking to and learning about people through reporting. Asking people about themselves, questioning the minute things that make them unique, are all a product of Aquila.

Often called “Akhila the Mascot of Aquila,” you could say it was destiny that I fell in love with the publication. As the year continues, I hope to return a piece of what Aquila has given to me: a sense of community.

Looking to the Future For the last three years, we’ve kept picking the class as our first choice elective because of our love of reporting and the community within the class. In our final year, we hope to give back: starting new traditions and upholding old ones.

In our first issue of the year, and Aquila’s first issue published solely by returning students, we have seen our reporters stay true to core Aquila values. In this issue a mere twelve reporters and designers, multiple students have taken on articles, photos and designs simultaneously, proving that the dedication for journalism is constant year after year.

While first year students quietly took notes on the principles of journalism inside the classroom, returners relocated to the hallway to execute those principles. Returning students conducted inter-

views during their free periods, stayed after school working on their designs on school macbooks and washed dirt out of their hair after lying on the pavement to take pictures. Thank you for all your dedication.

In “UPA Launches Universal Meals Program,” Reporter Haylie Yee explains the logistics of UPA’s new free lunch program that has seen hundreds of students lining up in the Horton at 11:45 A.M. sharp. In her article, Yee breaks down the new California law mandating free meals for all high school students, and explores the impacts the program has had on UPA students. Read the article on page 5.

On page 17, the editorial board advocates for an ASL class to be added to UPA’s course list. Through UPA’s history, a second language course was only offered once: French. However, the program was dissolved due to low interest. In “Hands-On Communication,” the editorial board lays out the reasons why UPA should offer ASL, and explores the benefits of such a program.

Director of Student Services Michael Mansfield, who has taken over Andrew Yau’s previous position, is now in charge of the enforcement of UPA’s dress code, outlined in the handbook.

Reporter April Nguyen’s opinion piece “Quick! Zip Up Your Jacket”, represented on the cover, criticizes the UPA’s dress code for stifling students’ self-expression and for its perceived vague and contradictory language. Read her opinion on page 13.

Another new development at UPA is the shuffling of administrator positions for the 2022-23 school year. Reporter Abhishek Mynam’s article “Snakes, Soap, Soccer and Scholars” on page 19 chronicles the hobbies, education and roles of four administrators: Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jean Mastrogiacomo, Yau, Mansfield and Director of Special Programs Laura McNabb.

In her piece “Anti-Social-Media Social Media,” on page 25, Reporter Kyla Ulug details the app BeReal’s impact, for teachers and students alike, on social media and its emerging issues. BeReal, which has taken UPA by storm, most notable feature is its unique dedication to online authenticity. Ulug, with the intention of fully understanding BeReal, downloaded the app specifically for this article.

As we usher in another year of Aquila journalism, we hope to continue our tradition of diverse storytelling and leave behind a legacy of hope, creativity and ambition.

Without further ado, welcome to Volume 12 Issue 1 of Aquila. Enjoy!

VIDYA ACHAR

1

Akhila Ayyadevara

Aquila Staff

Vidya Achar Editor-in-Chief

Akhila Ayyadevara Editor-in-Chief

Haylie Yee Managing Editor

Taylor Nguyen Web Manager

Kyla Ulug Multimedia Manager

Abhishek Mynam Sports Photographer

April Nguyen Copy Editor

Ria Pandey Copy Editor

Nadia Hines Team Editor

Chloe Luu Team Editor

Isaac Rios Team Editor

Shayna Tran Team Editor

Shibani Ghosh Reporter

Zainab Shaikh Reporter

Kathryn Gong-Guy Adviser

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ABOUT AQUILA MISSION STATEMENT

Aquila is a student-produced, student-edited high school newsmagazine. It serves as a designated public forum for student expression. We aim to reflect the diversity of our community and build unity through true and accurate reporting, in hopes that each of our readers will find an article they can connect with.

Aquila Broadcast

@upa_aquila

upaaquila.org

upaaquila

Aquila Podcast

“SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS” From the shift of a black and white newspaper to a vibrant newsmagazine, to a broadcast channel and an active Instagram presence, we continue to innovate the way we tell stories and elevate our publication to new horizons. We do this not just because we are student journalists but because reaching for success is what it means to be a member of Aquila.

SHARE AN IDEA Have a story to share?

Scan the QR Code to submit your suggestions or email us at aquila@upatoday.com.

3

ON THE COVER Three students pose in front of a clothing rack, two featured out of dress code and and one in uniform, to illustrate the limited options of UPA approved clothing.

Shot by Chloe Luu and Kyla Ulug.

TABLE OF CONTENTS DESIGN BY SHIBANI GHOSH

NEWS 5 - UPA launches Universal Meals Program

FEATURES

8 - NEW terrain 9 - How’s it growing?

11 - put some ice on it

OPINION “Quick! zip up your jacket” - 13 Hands-on communication - 17 IN-DEPTH 19 - Snakes, soap, soccer and scholars

ARTS AND CULTURE very nice! - 23 Anti-Social-Media Social Medai - 25 4

Food Services Manager Kyle Murphy implements new line control method on Sept. 1. Rather than students lining up themselves, Murphy counts off 25 students at a time to enter the Horton.

UPA Launches universal meals program The school establishes a new program to provide meals for 50% of students ARTICLE, PHOTOS & DESIGN BY HAYLIE YEE

B

eginning in the 202223 school year, Education Code 49501.5 required public school districts, county offices of education and charter schools that serve students in grades TK–12 to provide two meals free of charge each school day to all students, regardless of their income.

Last school year, to qualify for a free meal, a family of four had to make less than $34,450 annually, while less than $49,025 would qualify a student for a reduced price lunch. Students also had the option to buy lunches through the My Green Lunch program— the previous meal provider—or purchase snacks such as Cheetos, Cup Noodles or Gatorade at the Energy Bar. As the pro5 | News

gram now provides food for all students, it no longer singles out those from lower-income households.

Universal Meals Program is a subsidiary of the government and each district receives funding every month. The amount that is given is dependent on the number of participants in the program. The program is funded by taxpayer dollars. Each meal costs three to four dollars.

California is the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program for schools and leading UPA’s own program is Business Operations Officer Yariela Perez.

“We want [students] to be successful in the classroom,” Perez said. “But if you are hungry in the morning or you don’t have food at home, you don’t

focus and you don’t have energy.”

UPA students have felt the program’s impacts since the beginning of the year, including sophomore Jesse Jimenez, who now regularly uses the program.

“I was skipping lunch for months,” Jimenez said. “Every month I would not eat lunch for weeks on end because I would be too busy and not have time to make myself lunch or even get myself a lunch at [the Energy Bar].”

Now Jimenez finds that the program saves him time in the mornings and space in his backpack for materials needed to focus in school.

The convenience of free food is the selling point for students who participate in the

program, including senior Belinda Ho. “I am a bit lazy to get my own lunch in the morning,” Ho said. “I’m always rushing to school so it’s there, I just pick it up. It’s grab and go.”

UPA invited and reviewed different vendors before deciding on the program’s current vendor, The LunchMaster.

“They had the best proposal for having good quality food and having it here on time,” Food Services Manager Kyle Murphy said. “They’re here at 8:30 a.m. every day. It’s great.

So I think promptness and food quality are the main driving factors [behind the vendor choice].”

From Aug. 25 until Sept.

6, The LunchMaster was unable to provide food for UPA’s

options as they have not encountered a problem with their milk options.

The school hired Murphy one week into the school year specifically for needs relating to the free lunch program. Murphy is currently focusing on the program’s three critical needs: organization, storage and sanitation.

“If you don’t have the storage to store food properly, safely, you cannot do anything,” he said.

“We needed to identify where we are going to be more successful providing [students] with these resources,” Perez said. “So we initiated an 8-8:30 a.m. [snack] and we noticed that there were only very few kids…But then we open for break and so we actually serve more students during those 10 minutes than in the morning.”

UPA currently serves four specials a day at lunch. Students have the option to choose one of two hot meals contain-

“

Every month I would not eat lunch for weeks on end because I would be too busy and not have time to make myself lunch.

“

program due to being overwhelmed by the amount of Universal Meals Programs that it had to provide for. They currently provide meals to over 10,000 students in the Bay Area and Central Valley every day.

UPA was alerted two days before the break period and opted to provide Costco food items such as pizza, hotdogs and salads for lunch. They also served Taco Bell bean and cheese burritos as a vegetarian option for students. This was made possible by Perez who picked up all the food herself.

Additionally, the school resorted to a secondary food program, Better 4 You Meals, to provide food in the absence of The LunchMaster. Better 4 You Meals started providing to UPA on Aug. 26. They provided the bulk of the lunches while Perez provided the vegetarian option.

Each month, The LunchMaster sends the school a menu—written by registered dietitians—with a variety of choices that Murphy is able to curate UPA’s specific menu from.

“Everything should fall within the USDA guidelines for the day,” Murphy said. “So it’s up to us to make sure that we’re not picking up a bunch of high sodium items that go way over the 2500 daily allowance.”

To those wondering why students are required to pick up a carton of milk along with their food, Murphy had an answer.

“It’s a requirement,” Murphy said. “We have to comply with the nutritional guideline. Nutritional guidelines for calcium are two eight ounce containers [of milk] a day, [students] get one at breakfast, one at lunch.

Now, the kid can decide not to drink it, but [students] have to have it.”

The program does not currently have lactose intolerant

—Jesse Jimenez

While breakfast is delivered the day before and heated when necessary in the morning, lunch is delivered daily between 9:30 and 10 a.m. The food is stored hot in the trucks and after arrival, is held in 104 degrees in a food warmer within the Energy Bar for a few hours before serving.

Schools are legally required to give out two free meals: one at breakfast and one at lunch, but UPA serves breakfast twice—once in the morning and once at break, in addition to lunch.

ing meat, a vegetarian option and a vegan choice.

“I didn’t have that much of a high expectation because I’ve had experience with free public lunch before, and it’s not super duper good,” Ho said. “But it’s decent so that’s what I expected.”

Half of the meals are inclusive to a vegetarian diet while the others contain meat.

“I think [the program] should elaborate more on dietary restrictions,” Jimenez said. “I believe they do try to be inclusive like they have veg-

an options, vegetarian options, and I believe they’re executing that very well.”

Jimenez noticed that most vegetarian meals are salads and felt that more variety should be offered. Additionally, some non-vegetarian students still pick up the salads and that leaves vegetarian students with dietary restrictions without options.

After lunch, Perez and Murphy noted that there are usually 20 leftover meals.

“With the food that is leftover, we put it in some of the containers, and we put them at the front desk,” Perez said. “We also noticed that by the end of the day, the students that are switching classrooms or people that are in basketball take advantage [of the food].”

One solution the program developed to prevent wasting unwanted food was the share table. The share table is a metal table located in front of Horton auditorium for students to place items that they do not want or cannot eat in their meal. After lunch has ended, items on the share table are dumped as Murphy said it was usually milk left and it would be a liability to take food back.

Basing their estimations on the My Green Lunch data from last school year, Perez said the program expected 50 students to participate in the breakfast program and 200 students to participate in the free lunch program.

Their expectations were quickly blown away as 130 students got breakfast every morning and 350 participated in the lunch program everyday, 150 more than their original estimate. Perez and Murphy also noted that pizza days on Friday were the most popular with 500 students grabbing the meal that day.

The underestimated number News | 6

“

I hear them talking about it like ‘Oh my god, they have Taco Bell for lunch, they have pizza.’

It’s bringing everyone together and energizing [students] for the class.

—sarah atikilt

“

of participants led to one unprepared Friday, on Aug. 12, when the program ran out of pizza to serve, instead giving away chips and other snacks in its place.

“We were calling the vendor, requesting more lunches and more breakfasts and taking our chances,” Perez said. “There were some days where there was food leftover and then we put it outside for people to eat it and the next day they come back and ask ‘Is there anything to eat?’ Yes, of course there is food to eat.”

Due to the amount of students participating in the program, the free lunch lines have become a pressing issue for the students of UPA. “It barely moves,” Ho said.

“There’s always people cutting in line, so, even if you’re at the front, there’s always people who manage to wiggle through and then the end of the line ends up not moving at all.”

Supervisors, administrators and staff attempt to maintain line control during lunch, but the process is still a work in progress. A week into the 7 | News

school year, the campus supervisors created the barcode cards for each student to make the checking out process quicker rather than recording the names on site.

The school tracks how many meals are consumed each day in order to submit reimbursements to the state and federal government. Barcode scanning is the fastest way to record and document how many meals are consumed each day. The consequence of not scanning is it will impact the tracking count and risk some of the money getting reimbursed.

In order to battle the congestion in the lines, Director of Student Services Michael Mansfield began having the line start in front of Horton’s outside doors and counting off 25 students at a time to enter a shorter queue inside Horton’s auditorium—where the food is served.

“It’s a much better [process] to control the line and the flow so that [servers] don’t get backed up inside; they can continue to move along,” Murphy said.

Another solution the program proposed to the line issue is student employees.

“The students are really good at helping,” Perez said.

“Because they are helping now, I’m able to move around the line and see people’s behavior.

We also have supervisors who are paying more attention to the line. We also have the campus directors that are helping with anything that’s happening in the line.”

To become a student employee for the program, students are required to have a minimum GPA of 3.0, compliance with the attendance policies, a work permit and outstanding behavior.

“One of the goals that we have is to reduce the serving time,” Perez said. “We started in about 25 minutes serving all students, and it’s been reduced to 15 minutes and what we do is that as we get more help from students, this is a program that we want to give the opportunity for students to also gain emThe LunchMaster made its daily delivery of meals on Sept. 2, leaving before second period. The lunch meals that day consisted of cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza and chicken caesar salad with a roll.

ployable skills.”

Junior Sarah Atikilt is one of five other employees in the program who originally began by volunteering after noticing the servers needed assistance.

“The line is very long,” she said. “A lot of students also try to come back for double food before everyone else is gone.

And it can get tough and stressful but we get through it.”

The servers attempt to maintain order by instructing students to continue moving down the serving line so the flow of student’s does not build up.

Atikilt’s main responsibilities revolve around serving meals during lunch times and aiding with the set up and clean up before and after serving.

“This year having the free food makes the kids excited,” Atikilt said. “I hear them talking about it like ‘Oh my god, they have Taco Bell for lunch, they have pizza.’ It’s bringing everyone together and energizing [students] for the class.”

New Terrain

Literature enthusiast Jessica Newsome joins the English department ARTICLE BY ISAAC RIOS • PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSICA NEWSOME • DESIGN BY ABHISHEK MYNAM

A

fter an exhausting day of teaching, new English 7 teacher Jessica Newsome pours a bowl of cereal and eats it for dinner–her guilty pleasure. Newsome has a passion for trying new food. She loves going out to Vietnamese restaurants, and she accepts recommendations from students and coworkers that have lived in the area. Her favorite restaurant so far is Pho Kim Long, located on Capitol Ave., where she goes with her husband once a week.

Newsome is an outdoors person and she defines fun as spending time in the sun and outdoors, especially going to the beach and hiking.

“I think [going to the beach] is the Southern California person in me,” she said.

Newsome grew up in Redlands, California and attended high school at Redlands East Valley High School. This is where she took her two favorite classes: AP English Literature and Composition and AP English Language and Composition. “[My teacher] had us think for ourselves and ask really critical questions,” Newsome said. “That was the first time I had been in charge of my learning. She always said there’s no wrong answer, if you can prove it.”

Newsome considers herself a bookworm. Ever since she was young, her parents were massive readers and would read her “Nancy Drew,” “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” until she could read herself. She enjoys analyzing literary works with other people as she is always interested in how someone interprets text. Her curiosity in diverse interpretations of text and prose became an incentive for her to become a teacher. “[Students] think they don’t have anything to say,” Newsome said. “I would argue that they do and what they think is interesting, important and valid, and I want to hear it Newsome taking a picture and I want the class to hear it on a hike at Half Dome in as well.”

Yosemite on June 16, 2022 Newsome attended Azusa Pacific University for her bachelor’s degree in business.

She worked in marketing at a technology company called Avarr during college and had the opportunity to teach “Strategic Management” to at-risk high school students that were under house arrest or prone to dropping out of school during her last semester of college as an assignment.

“I loved volunteering with middle schoolers more than what I was doing in my cubicle,” Newsome said.

Newsome’s university highly encourages students to volunteer, and due to being a business major, she went into the communtut to run service projects using statistics. Her involvement with at-risk students was a part of a service project that helped prepare them for future careers.

Newsome decided that the Business track was not her passion

“

[Students] think they don't have anything to say; I would argue that they do and what they think is interesting, important and valid and I want to hear it and I want the class to hear it as well - Jessica Newsome

”

after receiving her bachelor’s degree, so she went back to Azusa Pacific University to receive her master’s degree in teaching and teaching credential. After earning her teaching credential, Newsome taught one year in Newport Beach, two years in South San Francisco and is now entering her fourth year of teaching at UPA. After teaching in South San Francisco, Newsome decided to look for a job closer to her home in San Jose. Newsome got married in June 2020, and since her husband attended a chiropractic school in Northern California, they moved in together. She has enjoyed the pace of life in the Bay Area because it feels more “down to earth,” but she misses Southern California because of the warm beaches, contrast to Northern California’s hot beaches.

Upon moving to the Bay Area, she found a job as an English teacher at UPA on Edjoin.org. In addition to her search, she found that UPA is a small charter school with a small community which motivated her to apply.

“I went to a small school while I was growing up, and I loved it,” she said. “It felt like family and felt like students were really well supported, so I wanted to be in a similar atmosphere.”

Newsome described her experience at UPA as warm and welcoming, and she hopes to bond and engage with her students better as well as help them to have a genuine appreciation for reading.

“I hope at the end of the year my students can think of at least one thing that they really enjoy reading and that at least one student feels like, ‘Okay, I’m going to give reading another shot,’” Newsome said.

Newsome disagrees with the notion that a student is either “good” or “bad” at English, and she strives to help seventh graders in the writing process, especially because it is the first step into academic writing given how challenging it can be for students as they transition from elementary school to middle school.

“Every student can write. Every student has a perspective that’s worth hearing. Every student has a voice,” she said.

Features | 8

how’s it

growing?

EXPLORING PLANTS ON CAMPUS ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY NADIA HINES • ILLUSTRATIONS & DESIGN BY ZAINAB SHAIKH

Let’s indentify plants on campus using an app called Nature ID.

RUGOSA ROSE BUSH The pink Rugosa rose bush is located near the amphitheater. This plant can be found by the path to the amphitheater near the stone tables.

Its vibrant fuchsia color can be easily spotted from almost any distance. The Rugosa rose, which grows in clusters or bushes, is a species native to eastern Asia, northeastern China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Siberia. It typically grows near or on beaches where it can even thrive in sand dunes..

9 | Features

NANDINA BUSH This plant is called a Nandina bush. Nandina are evergreen shrubs native to eastern Asia.

Despite not being bamboo, it is commonly referred to as the “Heavenly Bamboo’’ bush because its leaves look similar to those of bamboo. This bush is easy to grow and maintain as it requires little to no maintenance.

Most Nandinas are dwarf plants, but the ones at UPA tower above the majority of the student body. They enjoy full sunlight and thrive in environments with moist soil.

FALSE HEATHER This False Heather plant is located on the right side of UPA’s front office. The purple floral accents provide a rich color to the foliage in various places throughout the campus. The more sun, the more vibrant the color appears, and they can range in shades from rose pink to lavender. False Heathers are native to Mexico and several other areas of Central America.

A fun fact about false heather plants is they can grow in most soils including sandy, clay and loam. Each flower grows individually and blooms from summer to the frost of winter.

PONDEROSA PINE TREE This group of pine trees are not the only ones you can find on campus, but the pine trees pictured are located in the parking lot by the Masonic Drive entrance. They don’t require too much sunshine, but the trees thrive in the sun nonetheless. The Ponderosa trees are by far the tallest on the campus as they tower over the buildings, providing shade for students that sit on the bleachers. Ponderosa trees are native to the west coast and typically grow together in forests of various species of pine trees.

Features | 10

Put Some Ice On It UPA’s struggle to hire a school nurse

ARTICLE BY CHLOE LUU • ILLUSTRATIONS BY ZAINAB SHAIKH & SHAYNA TRAN • DESIGN BY SHAYNA TRAN

D

uring the 2021-2022 school year, UPA hired its first school nurse, Sheila Lim, for six months.

In the course of her time working at UPA as a registered nurse, she focused on testing students with symptoms of COVID-19, aiding them in minor illnesses or injuries. Every student has their own health form medication that includes their insurance, allergies, medication, health care provider, etc. and before Lim it had been in physical files. She assisted the school by organizing the medical records digitally in a way that is easily accessible for the staff to use in cases of emergencies, which strengthened the student safety and health system.

Lim was meant to be a part of the UPA community as a school nurse for the foreseeable future, but due to personal complications, she decided it was best to continue forward with hospice care instead of keeping her position as a registered school nurse. Lim had originally been hired from a private company named “The Stepping Stones Group.” The company strives to give clinicians, educators and therapists a chance to build on their skills and training through job opportunities to improve the quality of healthcare services throughout the community—providing additional resources, training, and counseling—either online or in person.

UPA used their COVID-19 funding from the state to hire the company for a nurse, but with a need to focus on multiple other aspects of the school improvement—teacher materials, overtime staff payment and student needs—UPA tried and ultimately struggled to find funding for a full time nurse.

“With all the shortages lately, it’s been hard to find a nurse to work part time,” Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jean Mastrogiacomo said. “It worked for [Lim] because due to her personal schedule, she did not want to work full time.”

Aside from ensuring students were safe, she had to take care of her own children. Not only did the schedule assist Lim, it also fit UPA’s needs because Lim only worked part time, and it cost comparably less than a full time school nurse, which would average around $75,000 to $100,000 per year. Because Lim was hired by a private company, the amount of money it took for UPA to hire her is unavailable.

Lim provided students with items such as a heating pad or a hot drink and guided students in case symptoms worsened, but other than that, she could not provide more help due to certain restrictions.

“Most of the cases were smaller incidents,” Mastrogiacomo

11 | FEATURES

said. “For example, students would come to the office because their stomach hurts, and there is only so much [the school] can do.”

Due to safety purposes, UPA can not administer any medication to students unless a specific form was filled out for the student with certain medication. Lim would help out with these forms and organize them into the system, making it easier for students to access needed medication with less of a hassle for parents. In severe cases where medication could not be administered or symptoms worsened, calls to first responders were necessary, and she was able to respond and communicate with them effectively.

“Schools should have nurses because students get sick, but sick is a very general term and having a more medically trained person on campus means that we can respond more appropriately to the situation,” Executive Director David Porter said.

The Santa Clara County Office of Education guidelines rec-

“So is it worth pulling money from other important resources that students need to provide this resource?”

- David Porter “So is it ommend a health official on campus for the safety of students, but there are no specific requirements. UPA meets those recommendations by having the entire administration team registered as health officials. When faculty is hired, they are trained to know the basics of first aid and what to do during emergen-

cies that are severe, which is where the office staff came in. Before Lim, extreme incidents would be reported to the office and a line for the nearest department of health and safety would be contacted immediately. Depending on what device the emergency medical services (EMS) are called on, the time it takes for the EMS to arrive differs for each facility, and Lim was able to handle the situation in between that time. When the EMS arrives at our school and treats the student in need, there are no fees for the student to pay unless they leave the hospital inside the ambulance. The charges for the ambulance ride depends on the company– averaging from $5,000 to $7,000.

Even though faculty and staff continue to assist with first aid when necessary, it was still very helpful to have a registered health nurse to be present and oversee the situations for concise and accurate responses to minimize panic. With her absence, UPA is trying to work out ways to organize the schools’ priorities in order to figure out whether or not it is worth the amount of money to hire another nurse and continue to improve staff and faculty response to student health.

“We’ve had instances where we have needed a nurse, but we don’t have a lot of incidents,” David Porter said. “So is it worth pulling money from other important resources that students need to provide this resource?”

The cost and the amount of instances that a school has makes it a difficult challenge to balance what is the best use of the limited funding. Some schools have medical issues that

happen daily and school nurses on campus have a full day of work— benefiting both students and the school—but that is not UPA’s case.

Currently, UPA continues to monitor the school’s needs and anticipates that it will be about a year until they can organize and make space for a part-time nurse. When UPA received COVID-19 federal funding, they used it on numerous aspects such as teacher resources, compensation for extra hours, adjustments from online learning to in-person, student activities and events and field trips to reconnect students to the school and get the community together. Even without the federal and state funding, UPA still strives to provide financial support for the school. Their goal is to balance UPA’s mission to make it achievable: improve academic outcomes, student life enrichment, IEPs & 504s, aiding English language learners, and student safety—all a part of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) from the California Department of Education.

FEATURES| 12

“QUICK! Zip up

your jacket”

Reporter April Nguyen breaks down the flaws within UPA’s dress code ARTICLE BY APRIL NGUYEN • PHOTOS & DESIGN BY CHLOE LUU

T

. he dress code and its enforcement has become an unwelcome part of the daily routine as a UPA student, an immediate dread filling me as I walk past administrators, cycling through the various stipulations of the dress code and looking down at my outfit I had no time to put together. Contrary to the intent of this policy, I spend more time rifling through my wardrobe, trying to piece together clothes that both look good to me as well as fall within the strict rules. Each day, I find myself longing for the weekend more and more, for the feeling of waking up and putting on an outfit that makes me feel like me.

I have never believed that a dress code is needed at any school because ultimately, it is an inconvenience, becomes problematic and places unnecessary attention on clothing, which is a superficial practice to begin with. In previous years, I sat with my frustrations, and I saw hope when we returned from distance learning to much looser rules, until this year.

Dress code through the years

Nothing has truly changed about the dress code since last year.

The attire guide diagram that depicts the above and below the waist specifications is still the same. However, there have been noticeable differences in the enforcement of these rules.

There was a shift in administration due to the former Director of Curriculum and Instruction Matt Daugherty’s leave. The position of Director of Student Services went from the current Director of Alumni Outreach and Support Andrew Yau to Michael Mansfield. Both Yau and Mansfield actively enforce the dress code with the assistance of the rest of the administration and staff.

The dress code was very different almost a decade ago, according to both administrators, who explained that students used to only be able to wear white and navy blue UPA polos with khaki tan and navy slacks. I find this to be a stifling practice for teenagers who are beginning to discover who they are.

I have attended schools with strict and set uniforms that limit self-expression and promote conformity, and when it came time to make decisions about my personal style, I didn’t know what I wanted. There were aspects of fashion that I liked, but in the back of my mind, I could still feel the threat of consequences that reached beyond the perimeters of the school campus preventing me from making decisions that I wanted to make.

Fortunately, students and staff of previous years were able to 13 | OPINION

make changes to loosen the dress code. The expansion of the common dress policy to include college apparel, AP class shirts, black UPA polos, club shirts, black slacks, plain polos and jeans was a slow and involved process. Yau explained that he led a student focus group to make several of those additions to the dress code and is planning to do so again this school year due to the recent confusion towards tightened enforcement.

Yau plans to accept any and all volunteers to represent perspectives from each seminar class of all grade levels. This group will begin meeting in the second semester during seminar periods, and broad discussions will be narrowed down to viable action items. By forming the student focus group, his hope is that all students will be able to voice their opinions, questions and concerns, and the administration will be able to have an open dialogue about the necessity of certain rules, including the dress code.

“Students have to realize that if they want it, they can’t just complain about it and de-

Nguyen poses with a ‘Friendly Dress Code Reminder’. Administrators handed these slips out during the first week of school to serve as a precursor for more severe dress code violation consequences.

mand it,” Yau said. “They actually have to, you know, put their feelings down on paper or send it to the board or something so that it’s considered.”

Implementation of the dress code

Regarding stricter implementation of the common dress policy, Mansfield said that many of the supposed changes that students and staff have noticed and questioned were actually already written into the dress code last year. The major difference last year was the first full return attempt from distance learning when the faculty and staff were “just happy to have everyone back,” and the nonexistent enforcement of this guideline led students to believe that, for example, plain T-shirts were allowed, among other misunderstandings.

This was one of the major disappointments, frustrations and confusions going into this school year.

When I went shopping over the summer, I kept UPA’s dress code policy in mind and purchased clothes with the expectation that I would be able to wear them.

Even on break, I was thinking about the control that school had over my wardrobe and therefore, self-expression, and the lack of clear communication led to individual perception of the rules and ultimately, a waste of thought and money.

Based on complaints from administration and staff members about patterns of dress code violations, Mansfield decided to make changes in enforcement so that the rules written in the handbook were actually applied.

“Talking to all the people, all the staff that I’ve talked to, teachers, administrators, no one was advocating getting rid of it,” Mansfield said. “Okay, so if you’re not gonna get rid of it, then you have to enforce what you got on the books.”

However, rounding up students by the dozen, as was done throughout the first three weeks of school, and causing them to be 10-20 minutes late for class is not effective and is contradictory to the intended purpose of the dress code, which is supposed to contribute to the academic success of students. Students feel uncomfortable and singled out in these situations, when in reality, their unintentional or minor violation of the dress code went unnoticed by the majority of students and staff.

For students that repeatedly violate the dress code, multiple rounds of warnings and discussions await them. Consequences include being “brought into the office,” a phone call home to parents demanding a change of clothes, or wasting time in lunch detention.

I don’t see how setting up enforcement as operant conditioning, meaning to learn by means of rewards and punishments, is beneficial. We don’t end up with any meaningful takeaways or understandings of how the dress code might be promoting a certain aspect of our learning. There is only a continuous buildup

of irritation and an unproductive use of time for those involved.

Although I do recognize an annual pattern of loosened observance of dress code rules, from both students and administrators, as the school year progresses, the unnecessary and uncomfortable enforcement of dress code ultimately contributes to a great deal of my resentment towards it.

Purpose

“Why does UPA have a dress code?” There are a number of answers to this question, several given by the student handbook and even more by administrators and teachers. Regardless of the response, I truly believe that the basis of these rules have fallen through the cracks over the years as the dress code evolved, and the policy itself is failing to meet its intended purposes.

The student handbook stated that, “dressing for success fits with UPA’s high academic expectations for its students.” I fail to see the correlation between a student’s outfit and their ability to exceed graduation requirements. The repeated suggestion of a relationship between academic ability and pieces of fabric on students’ bodies is outstanding to me because there is none, and the dress code should not try to fabricate one. As a school, UPA has already experienced an entire school year of a much looser dress code and the enforcement of it with no overall effect on our learning.

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Furthermore, I think that the dress code fails in its role “to assist in the creation of a positive learning environment.” According to Mansfield, a positive learning environment is one where a student is happy and follows the dress expectations since they support a “safe, respectful and healthy learning environment.” However, this is not defined in the student handbook, and this leaves the term “positive learning environment” completely up to the interpretation of the individual.

In regards to the statement about common dress allowing “the students and staff at UPA to focus on internal growth and expression,” Mansfield said that this was a part of the original language of the student handbook draft he was given.

Realistically, I don’t think this is able to be achieved. Being self-conscious is a part of the human experience that a strict dress code can’t eliminate, and for some, the rules might place a stronger focus on this feeling of insecurity.

This year, Yau has specifically clarified that the major rationale for following the dress code should be a sense of respect towards the school, staff and administration. This justification has yet to be written into the student handbook that we are directed to, and I don’t entirely agree with the reasoning.

As students, we demonstrate respect to UPA by treating the campus and everyone in it with kindness and consideration.

Many of the specifications under the common dress guidelines are quite contradictory to the intended purpose of the dress code— to act as an equalizer. As an example, the selection of approved tops, as defined by the dress code, seems to go directly against the intent. With UPA polos costing $20, the average AP class or club shirt costing $15, and college apparel averaging a price of $25, it is a wonder how one of the main purposes of UPA’s dress code is to act as an equalizer.

The remaining choices are a plain polo shirt and plain outerwear, both in the colors of either white, black or blue. There is not a logical explanation nor a large enough difference between a polo and a plain T-shirt that to discriminate and make one acceptable and the other not. Personally, I purchased several plain T-shirts over the summer, and I find it incredibly frustrating that I am now unable to wear 80% of the clothes that I have on a regular basis.

Similarly, the color and pattern specifications are unreasonable.

Not only is the color intermediate of black and white not allowed, the entirety of the rainbow, with the exception of blue, is not permitted. Stripes, plaid, gingham, flannel, tie dye, checkered, hound-

15 | OPINION

stooth and all other geometric patterns are also forbidden, and all of this without good reason.

For the most part, I find all these restraints incredibly aggravating since they suddenly do not apply to articles of clothing tagged with a UPA or college logo and a higher price tag. How is it fair that a plain, green T-shirt that costs $5 is considered a violation when that same green T-shirt with the printed letters “Cal Poly,” costing $25, is acceptable?

As a school offering “an intensive college preparatory curriculum” to students that may be unable to afford this level of education at private schools, it would make sense that there is concern for students to be bullied for the way they dress or to feel ashamed by the way they dress compared to others. However, I think students should be taught to not judge their peers based on the clothes that they wear, and that is not a lesson to be given by an attire guide of dos and don’ts.

Having strict guidelines leaves little room for judgment since everyone is expected to wear similar clothes, but our dress expectations do not enforce any kind of common dress since so many exceptions to the uniform exist.

There are no rules to prevent students from flaunting expensive, brand clothing and accessories, making it easy for some students to feel bad about not being able to afford items from certain higher end companies.

Furthermore, the uniform option for underprivileged students illustrates a clear separation of wealth between students who are able to afford new polos and students who aren’t. UPA’s PTSO offers old and discounted polos, and it is evident in the dull navy blue color or the outdated UPA logo that a polo is a remnant from the last decade. The school also provides plain T-shirts with the small letters “UPA” printed on them for free upon request.

This option not only strays from the standard uniform expectation of polos but completely stands out as it does not share the typical look of a club or college T-shirt.

In the end, does the dress code serve any purpose? Maybe it does. The common dress policy might work for students that don’t place emphasis on expressing themselves outwardly or are even unable to. I respect that. However, the myriad of confusing distinctions between what is and isn’t approved, for no real reason? I

can’t respect that.

What is “professional dress”?

Mansfield explained that when he was brought on this past summer, one of his earlier tasks was to analyze the language of the dress code as it was written in the handbook, and “close the loopholes,” limiting interpretations to what the expectations were.

However, in discussing the supposed interchangeable terms and specific phrasing for these rules, I believe there is still work to be done.

“Common dress” refers to “default” dress, according to Mansfield, which means what a student is expected to wear on a day to day basis. However, “professional dress” is meant to be applied to “common dress” in that UPA aims for a “higher standard” of dress.

These terms aren’t equivalent.

With the changes to the dress code over the years, “professional dress” is not a term used to describe or justify these regulations.

As students, if the school is teaching us that a polo with a logo or college apparel or limited color options is considered “professional dress,” then I believe we are being misled.

“Two years ago, a student always came in a vest and a collared shirt, always professionally dressed,” Yau said.

“Technically, they were out of dress code, but if they’re dressed better than 90% of the staff, is that really out of dress code?” Apparently.

Furthermore, “professional dress” is completely subjective to the profession: a professional yoga instructor will have different attire expectations from an accountant. As of now, we are students that are learning, reading, writing, drawing, running, playing sports and more. We have an extremely active and diverse six to seven hours of school each day, and our attire should reflect that.

For quite some time now, many girls, including myself, have been following a major unwritten rule. The expectation that the midriff must be covered is not stated explicitly in the “Common Dress” nor “Free Dress” subsections of the student handbook. The stipulations that I assume must be addressing the length of tops reads as: “All clothing must fit properly and appropriately (as defined by UPA administration)” and “All clothing must remain “appropriate” in fit.” More often than not, this rule, and similar ones, discussing coverage and length, are targeting female students and teaching all students, from a very

young age, that female bodies are sexual objects. Labeling a wide variety of clothing as “inappropriate” encourages slut shaming and body shaming, perhaps unintentionally, and mainly, female students learn to feel bad about their bodies in these articles of clothing, perpetuating traditional standards of proper attire.

Realistically, proper attire for schools should make students comfortable in their learning environment, and they should not have to be self-conscious about how much of their shoulders or stomach are or are not covered. Rules regarding the coverage or appropriateness of clothing contribute to rape culture: feminine clothing is often penalized for being too suggestive, blaming the potential victims for coming off as too provocative instead of educating everyone around them that bodies are not to be viewed in a sexual lens.

In the state that UPA’s current dress code is in, I see a primary focus of control on what image the school board and administrators want UPA to uphold—providing a narrow view of what careers are deemed successful—and I cannot find a good reason for promoting “professional dress.”

The Change

Now is the time to make the change. Instead of simply changing the language to add further restrictions and tighten previous ones, students and staff need to truly reevaluate the dress code.

Which stipulations of the policy are necessary and which ones are not? Are there better ways to promote the purposes intended by the dress code?

Students should be free to dress like students. I believe that as long as students are not harming themselves or others by way of their clothing, there should not be excess restrictions in place. UPA students have a myriad of classes, clubs, sports, friends, and opportunities to focus on, and making sure a top has a collar or that a jacket is of a certain color does not need to be one of those focuses.

Going from a strict uniform over a decade ago to free dress with the necessary limits is a major leap that I feel the school should take and would only benefit from.

Then, I wouldn’t need that last outfit check before leaving the house.

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Hands-on

Communication Aquila’s editorial board advocates for an ASL class at UPA ARTICLE BY EDITORIAL BOARD • ILLUSTRATIONS BY ZAINAB SHAIKH • DESIGN BY APRIL NGUYEN

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lthough American Sign Language did originate from the United States, it is not a derivative of English. With its own rules in grammar and syntax, this fully developed language is intrinsically different from all other spoken languages, and yet it still has the regional differences—rhythm of signing, signs that are used and slang—that make a language so interesting. Furthermore, deaf culture has a rich background full of art, literature and history that can be explored just like any other foreign language that is studied.

All things considered, American Sign Language (ASL) classes should be added to the foreign language curriculum at UPA. Spanish is currently the only language that UPA offers to satisfy the foreign language requirement for graduation. A typical high school in our area offers students a wide selection of languages in addition to Spanish, including French, German, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese, etc.

However, given UPA’s current number of teachers and classrooms, students resort to taking classes outside of school to fulfill the language requirement.

Many students turn to dual enrollment— enrollment in two educational institutions simultaneously, typically at a high school and a community college—in order to take classes that are not offered at their school, like ASL.

17 | OPINION

However, in order to do so, students must get approval from a school counselor or administrator to take the outside course.

Unfortunately, there are limitations to that option. California Education Code 76000.3i states that only five percent of a school’s freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors can be enrolled in a particular community college during the college’s semester or quarter period. UPA has 463 high school students enrolled, which means only 23 students can enroll at a specific community college per quarter or semester because of the limit. De Anza College and Evergreen Valley College are popular choices among students at UPA, but not everyone is able to

take the foreign language classes of their choice at those colleges because spots for both dual enrollment and college courses fill up quickly. In addition, due to the high number of students enrolled in language classes, there are less spots for other UPA students interested in taking non-language classes in order to earn the necessary credits or accelerate in their academic tracks.

Moreover, the addition of ASL would be beneficial for everyone involved in dual enrollment. The counseling department, which is especially busy leading up to and at the beginning of the year, would not need to work with as many students who are all looking to resolve the same issue: how does one take a language course at a community college? With another course selection, these students would be able to avoid the process of filling out a multistep application and consulting with the counseling department in order to take classes at their local community college.

ASL is a highly valuable language. Over 1.5 billion people live with hearing loss globally, 360 million of whom are deaf, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). The number of people with auditory issues, according to WHO, is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2030. Proficiency in ASL enables inclusive communication between people that speak different languages and a range of hearing groups including deaf, hard of hearing and even other hearing people.

Such a visual language allows silent conversation which can be useful in a classroom setting. A number of teachers at UPA make use of several signs that can communicate common messages or questions. For example, the letter “R” is signed by intertwining the index and

middle fingers with all other fingers curled in, and it is often used as a signal for “restroom” so that class instruction is not disrupted.

There is a beauty in the physical aspect of sign language; it cannot be replicated by an algorithm. Translation services like Google Translate continue to improve in its grammatical and colloquial accuracy. Although the importance of learning other languages remains, the need to do so in order to travel to foreign countries and speak with the people that live there is lessened by translation technology, but not when it comes to ASL. Learning to sign is like learning choreography: it takes repeated practice to commit the movements to memory, and there is no technological shortcut.

Providing a completely different alternative to Spanish will encourage higher participation in learning a foreign language on campus and in particular; adding ASL gives all students easier access to a unique and increasingly useful course.

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SNAKES, SOAP, SOCCER AND SCHOLARS UPA administrators take on new roles ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY ABHISHEK MYNAM • ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAYLIE YEE • DESIGN BY AKHILA AYYADEVARA

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ormer Director of Curriculum and Instruction Matt Daugherty left UPA after the 2021-2022 school year after fourteen years of working at the school as both a teacher and an administrator. This upcoming school year, UPA hired two new administrators, changing the position of some of the previous administrators.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jean Mastrogiacom Jean Mastrogiacomo was born in South Korea in 1989. At age three, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia. After living in Atlanta, she moved to California, back to Korea, and eventually, she came back to California when she was a junior in high school.

Growing up in Korea, Mastrogiacomo re-

Photo illustration of Mastergiacomo working her office.

19 | In-depth

membered loving the public transit system, which allows people to travel all over the city, and how even as a young girl she was able to travel from place to place easily.

In her free time, Mastrogiacomo makes paper flowers and soap. She says she has an “obsessive personality” where she constantly needs to be doing something, causing her to easily become interested in these hobbies.

“I like to have something that I’m constantly working on. I like for my hands to be busy at all times,” Mastrogiacomo said.

After high school, Mastrogiacomo went to De Anza College for two years and transferred to University of California Irvine as an English major.

In college, Mastrogiacomo joined a multicultural sorority where she met new people and had the opportunity to try n e w things that she

would not have done otherwise.

“I found out what a little bubble I’ve been living in,” said Mastrogiacomo, “Everybody I knew was like me, from the same area of socioeconomic status, similar family background.”

Mastrogiacomo also joined a program called Humanities, in which she volunteered at local middle schools. After volunteering at different middle schools, she realized she loved working with kids and watching them grow, which inspired her passion for teaching.

After graduating, Mastrogiacomo received her teaching credential at SJSU. She started working at UPA as an after-school English support teacher after getting a referral from her professor at SJSU. A few months during the next semester, Mastrogiacomo started teaching an English makeup class for students at UPA who needed to complete English credits. After teaching this class, she was hired full-time as an English 8 teacher for the 20092010 school year.

While teaching at UPA, Mastrogiacomo mostly taught middle school classes such as English 7 and English 8. UPA’s founder Jackie Guevara pushed Mastrogiacomo to pursue her admin credential, and she eventually earned it in 2015. At first, Mastrogiacomo became an AVID coordinator, but over time, she started to attend administrative meetings. Eventually, in 2018, Mastrogiacomo got her first admin position as the Director of Special Programs.

In this position, Mastrogiacomo was in charge of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), an inventory of all the programs and supports at UPA. She was in charge of award ceremonies, graduation, promotion and would coordinate all the support classes UPA had to offer.

For the 2022-2023 school year, Mas-

trogiacomo has taken over for former Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Matt Daugherty. In this position, she is in charge of all the testing at UPA such as AP exams, Smarter Balanced assessments, SAT, PSAT, ELPAC (English language learner test) and NWEA. She also oversees the counseling department, helps to create the master schedule for the students and is in charge of all the textbooks and making sure that they are all ordered and returned.

Since becoming an administrator, Mastrogiacomo has said she misses teaching middle school students.

“I miss seeing all the creativity from kids in the classroom and seeing them grow,” Mastrogiacomo said. “I just real-

design, and this inspired Yau to explore his passion for art and graphic design “Art is sort of like a creative outlet. It doesn’t have to be very rigid,” Yau said.

“You can create something in your own way and come up with an end product that’s unique to you.”

From middle school to high school, Yau started working towards being an art major as he realized his hobby could be a potential job in the future. Over time, Yau ended up wanting a more well-rounded education, so he instead attended the University of California at Riverside as a history major since history was a topic that interested Yau in high school.

In college, as a way to make some money on the side, Yau created a graphic design company called Blackstar Designs. In this company, Yau would create custom t-shirts with imprints of different logos or designs for local high schools. Even though Yau did not pursue art as a career, he still designs in his free time.

Yau also started a business in college where he specialized in turtle and snake breeding. Yau became the “biggest aquatic turtle dealer,” west of the Mississippi. Even though Yau made a significant profit from selling the animals, he saw his business as more of a hobby. When he first started teaching at UPA, he would bring turtle eggs and snakes to show students. At one time, Yau would have five thousand animals living in his house. Yau eventually

graders and World Geography for ninth graders. Yau liked UPA’s environment due to the smaller campus and student population has enjoyed seeing how it has grown over the years.

“If there’s a problem or an issue for whatever reason, where a student’s needs aren’t being met, we can, within a week or sometimes within a few days, fix that issue,” Yau said. “At UPA, we’re really able to sort of make decisions; we’re able to help students on the fly and make decisions on programs and things without much interference [from the school board]”.

Over time, Yau started teaching fewer classes at UPA and started dabbling in administrative work like helping out administrators with their tasks. A few years before Yau eventually made his switch to become an administrator

Photo illustration of Yau and Mansfield talking with each other as the supervise outside. ly loved getting to know the kids really well, seeing how much they changed and became their own person by the end of eighth grade.”

Director of Alumni Outreach and Support Andrew Yau Yau was born in San Francisco, California in 1983 but grew up in Cupertino, California. Yau comes from a Taiwanese background and partakes in celebrations such as the Moon Festival and Chinese New Year.

Yau’s older sister Liz, who is five years older than him, went to UCLA for graphic

sold the animals when he and his wife started a family as his wife did not want him to be away multiple times a year for shows.

After getting his bachelor’s degree in history, Yau went to San Jose State University for his teaching credential before getting his first teaching job at UPA in 2008.

Yau ended up getting connected with UPA through his advisor at SJSU who knew one of UPA’s founders, Jackie Guevara.

When Yau joined the UPA staff, he started off as a US History teacher and was also the first AP US History teacher at UPA. Yau also taught American History for eighth

full-time, he taught the yearbook class at UPA which was an elective. In 2016, Yau made his transition to the Director of Special Programs, where he was in charge of the academic support classes at UPA which are a part of the Students of Promise (SOP) program. Yau was also in charge of organizing field trips such as the junior trip and college campus trips. The following year, Yau became the Director of Student Services and was in charge of academic discipline and campus safety.

Currently, in his new role as the Director of Alumni Outreach and Support, he In-depth | 20

focuses on providing academic support and working with UPA’s alumni. Yau is in charge of making sure students are passing their classes and if not, that they are making up for these classes in summer school.

Yau works with students to make sure that they have enough credits to graduate, and he often meets with these students weekly.

The other half of Yau’s job consists of fulfilling UPA’s new goal of connecting UPA’s past and future alumni together.

Yau’s goal for this year is to finish creating a website for UPA’s alumni so that they can connect with each other and post job opportunities for the UPA community, past and present. Yau hopes to even invite these alumni to UPA so they can speak to current students about college and their jobs.

Director of Student Services Michael Mansfield Mansfield was born in 1985 in Austin, Texas, but in third grade, he moved to the Bay Area.

Mansfield’s parents put him in soccer at the early age of four. Since then, soccer has become one of his biggest passions in life.

Mansfield played for multiple soccer teams in competitive

Photo illustration of McNabb supervising during break.

21 | In-depth

leagues growing up and even played for his high school team. Mansfield liked competing for a team, and he felt that soccer was a good way for him to do that.

Mansfield’s passion for soccer was not just limited to him playing; he ended up coaching soccer multiple teams, including his younger brother’s soccer team. Even now, Mansfield still plays soccer in adult leagues where he plays in tournaments. For some tournaments, he travels as far as Santa Cruz to Las Vegas.

For both his undergraduate and master’s degrees, Mansfield attended UC Santa Cruz. Mansfield ended up pursuing a double major in United States history and United States politics. In high school, history was a subject that Mansfield was drawn towards as he felt that it was interesting to him unlike other school subjects.

“With all love and respect, I’m a history nerd. I’ve always loved history. I geek out on it. As the kid that watched History Channel and gobbled up every minute of it, just really fascinated by it,” Mansfield said.

Since high school, Mansfield knew that he wanted to go into education because working with kids was another passion of his. Growing up, Mansfield coached soccer teams and worked at summer camps, and this sparked his

passion for working with kids.

It wasn’t until he interviewed his history teacher for a school project that it clicked for him, that he could mix his passion for working with kids with history.

After completing his master’s program at UCSC, in 2008, Mansfield applied to over 30 teaching jobs. Eventually, Mansfield ended up getting an interview for a job at UPA. Jackie Guevara was impressed with Mansfield’s teaching, and he joined UPA’s staff during the 2008-2009 school year.

At UPA, Mansfield taught Ancient Civilizations the first year he was at UPA. After that, he ended up teaching World History, AP World History, World Geography and AP United States Government and Politics.

Mansfield also coached UPA’s soccer team up until he left UPA. After working at UPA for a couple of years, Daniel Ordaz, the executive director before David Porter suggested that Mansfield should get an administrative credential. So, Mansfield ended up teaching fewer periods, and he ended up doing some administrative work on the side.

In 2014, Mansfield made a big decision to leave UPA and teach at a different high school. The main reason Mansfield left was due to the commute he had to make everyday since he lived in Santa Cruz, and he wanted to teach in a community closer to him.

After Mansfield left UPA, he ended up utilizing his admin credential, and he became an assistant principal at Watsonville High School. Mansfield also taught at other high schools while he was away from UPA. One of Mansfield’s friends urged him to join a doctoral program, so Mansfield ended up going to San Jose State University for a doctorate in educational leadership. He completed his doctorate program in 2021.

While Mansfield was working at other high schools, he felt that nothing was the same as UPA. He loved the environment that UPA had and the values and mission that UPA instilled in its students. Mansfield values education, and he felt that UPA puts emphasis on education unlike other schools he taught at.

“Right after I left, I missed this place, and I missed it every single year I was gone,” Mansfield said.

While working at UPA, Mansfield and Yau became close friends and kept in contact even after Mansfield left UPA. Last year, when Yau told Mansfield about how UPA was planning to switch around admin

positions, Mansfield knew he could not pass on the opportunity to come back to UPA. Now, as the Director of Student Services at UPA, Mansfield helps with student discipline and conflicts. He is in charge of detention, dress code violations and Saturday school. Mansfield tries to help students resolve the issues they have with other students such as fights or conflicts by allowing them to work it out with each other or with him. He believes in how mistakes help make people better and help them mature as a person.

“If you have goals and things you’re trying to achieve, go for it. Do your best.

But sometimes you gotta make mistakes; something’s gonna happen, and it’s not about how it seems to end, but it is about what’s the next step,” said Mansfield. “You can always fix things, you can always address things. You can always grow, and you can always get better. You can always redo the plan.”

He is also in charge of school safety

girls’ team. By playing on the boys’ team, McNabb was able to perfect her skills for the future. During her junior and senior year, she played for the girls’ team, and she ended up becoming an MVP of the league both years.

Recently, McNabb got into playing water polo again as a way to destress. McNabb joined an all womens’, adult water polo league called a Masters Class.

McNabb considers herself the “black sheep” of her family as she is the only person in her family who decided to go into education instead of medicine.

McNabb went to New York University for her undergraduate degree, and at NYU, McNabb ended up applying to be part of the Gallatin School of Individualized Studies instead of applying for a certain major.

While attending the Gallatin School of Individualized Studies, McNabb had the opportunity to take courses in all of the different colleges NYU had to offer. McNabb took courses from the Tisch School of the Arts, Steinhardt School Of Culture, Edu-

“Right after I left, I missed this place, and I missed it every single year I was gone.”

- Michael Mansfield such as fire drills, earthquake drills and protecting the school from harm.

“Student services to me is a combination of helping create boundaries and helping people understand what’s okay and what’s not okay to function as a school community,” Mansfield said.

Director of Special Programs, Laura McNabb McNabb was born in 1982 in Southern California.

Growing up, McNabb was an avid water polo player, playing all four years of high school. At first, McNabb played for the boys’ water polo team for her first two years because her school did not have a

cation, and Human Development, School of Continuing and Professional Studies and the College of Arts and Science. The wide variety of coursework gave McNabb the opportunity to intern at Sesame Street where she reviewed television scripts and provided feedback on them. McNabb also took a script writing class, and she wrote a script for a children’s program called “Annabelle and Her Red Balloon.”

She also took classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and classes about film where she studied children’s films.

McNabb eventually decided that she wanted to go into education. In taking law courses, she realized that she wanted to make a difference. McNabb stated that she

realized education was the path forward for equity, and she wanted to help provide students with opportunities who may not have always been able to get them.

“I believed in education as the place that could really transform society in terms of equity and in terms of access,” McNabb said.

McNabb grew up in an affluent area where she had access to education and learning opportunities, but she realized that not everyone was in the same position as her.

“I felt that just because of where you were born, it shouldn’t determine where you were going. If you have equity within our schools and our educational systems and we’re able to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality rigorous education, then all students have doors that can open for them,” said McNabb. “Regardless of their financial standing, regardless of their immigration status. That was my passion.”

After this realization, McNabb switched majors at NYU from pre-law to children’s educational entertainment.

McNabb was glad that she had the opportunity to go to college in New York.

She stated that she felt that New York City itself was one of her “professors.” In New York, she was able to learn from being around diverse groups of people and having the opportunity to meet people that she would not have met if she went to a college in a different city.

After NYU, McNabb got her multiple subject teaching credential at SJSU. After getting this credential, McNabb started teaching, mostly third grade. Eventually, McNabb took a test called CPACE, and she got her admin credential. Before she came to UPA, McNabb had experience working with charter schools such as ACE Charter and San Carlos Charter Learning Center as a Director of Student Services.

McNabb was hired at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year as the Director of Special Programs. Students may know McNabb from her signature greeting: “Hey scholars!” McNabb is focused on helping students in special education. McNabb works with students who have 504 plans and disabilities. McNabb plans to start working on the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) at UPA where she supports all the students and their needs in social and emotional learning.

In-depth | 22

VERY NICE!

Comparing Seventeen concert experiences, two years apart

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ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY SHAYNA TRAN & TAYLOR NGUYEN • DESIGN BY TAYLOR NGUYEN

ay the name, Seventeen! Seventeen!

Seventeen is a K-pop boy group that debuted under Pledis Entertainment in 2015. The group’s name is derived from the combination of its 13 members and its three subunits that join together to form one group—Seventeen.

The hip hop unit consists of S. Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon. The vocal unit consists of Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK and Seungkwan. The performance unit consists of Hoshi, Jun, Minghao and Dino. Each unit allows the members to release songs specifically dedicated to the hip hop, vocal, or performance category.

Though we haven’t been fans since day 1, we’ve been obsessed since the album, “Teen, Age.” They have released four studio albums, eleven mini albums, two repackaged albums and two special albums. Seventeen has had three world tours: “Diamond Edge,” “Ode to You” and “Be the Sun.” January 21, 2020: Taylor’s POV With their second full-length album, “An Ode,” Seventeen announced their second world tour, “Ode to You,” scheduled to start August of 2019 and end March of 2020. They were expected to perform 25 shows in seven different countries. However, due to Typhoon Hagibis in Japan and the outbreak of COVID-19 in the beginning of 2020, Seventeen canceled seven of their shows and unofficially ended their “Ode to You” world tour.

I was able to attend their concert at the SAP Center in San Jose before the COVID-19 lockdown. My mom was lucky enough to get a hold of two tickets, each $135, in section 128. It was thrilling to know that we would be sitting in close proximity to the stage and get a chance to interact with Seventeen members. Since this was my second concert experience, I knew that bags that were not clear and larger than 12-by-6-by-12 inches in dimension were not allowed inside the venue for safety purposes. With that, I grabbed my clear, plastic fanny pack and was prepared to watch one of my favorite artists perform.

Once my mom and I arrived at the venue, around 5:50 p.m., the lines had already stretched a lengthy distance. It was intimidating at first glance, but it was soon rewarding to receive some free merchandise from fellow fans, a common occurrence at K-pop events.

Although the arena doors opened at 6:30 p.m., I was not able to step inside the building until

e ces themselves on Seventeen introdu f. of it gyu starting by one with Min

23 | Arts & Culture

around 7:00 p.m. because of the lines that formed way before the doors opened. After a bag check by security and scanning our tickets, my mom and I rushed to the merchandise stands as they tend to sell out quickly. There were T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, ball caps, polaroid photo card sets and lightsticks. Regardless of Seventeen member Hoshi introduces how pricey the merchandise himsel f by imitating tiger.

Fans have was, ranging from $25 to given him this feline aima ge based upon his sharp visu als and dance skills. $75, I purchased a T-shirt and lightstick for a whopping total of $100, not including tax. I especially had to get my hands on Seventeen’s lightstick, also known as a “carat bong,” since lightsticks tend to be a symbol of fans’ support towards K-pop idols. The lightsticks synced to the “Seventeen Lightstick Ver 2” app luminate coordinated colors throughout the whole concert—it was an enchanting sight to see.

The seats were what really made the concert worth the price: I was in the section to the right, a row near the VIP pit and had an amazing view of the stage. Before I could settle in my seat, it was 7:30 p.m. and the concert had started with all of the members strutting down the stage with bold, rhinestoned stage outfits as the opening song “Getting Closer” from their sixth mini album, “You Made My Dawn,” began to blast throughout the whole venue.

Song after song, performance after performance, I was struck in a daze of admiration.

The stage was designed with a variety of props—large LED frames, a couch, chairs, a book, fake flowers, an elevated stage structure and more—that were continuously changed to fit the essence of each unique song. Along with these came the core piece that tied the visual aesthetic: coordinated outfits. Their outfits ranged from spunky and chic concepts to match their dark genre of songs to dandy outfits for their bubbly genre. The end of the concert introduced more casual outfits such as their merchandise t-shirts. The addition of props and outfit changes not only elevated the performance but was overall aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

It was a roller coaster of emotions to sing along to hype songs, such as “Lilili Yabbay” by the performance unit, and then suddenly change to slow songs, such as “Hug” by the vocal unit. I was also pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of subunit songs as I expected their tracklist to be limited to their group songs. Despite being a 13 member group, none of the members’ vocals clashed as they all sang in harmony. I was especially impressed by how surreal it was to hear DK and Seungkwan, the main vocalists of the group, hit every high note and hold a stable voice even as they danced.

One of the first songs I listened to by Seventeen is “Pretty U”

from their older album, “Love & Letter,” that ended up being my favorite performance from that night. I loved the fun and bright choreography that paired well with the sweet lyrics and the playful energy the members gave off during the performance.

A downside to the concert was the lack of energy from my section of the crowd. I expected more enthusiasm from this section since the group members were especially drawn to the sides of the stage to hype us up; however, I was mistaken. Even though Mingyu had gone to the very edge of the stage to get closer to my section during the last “Aju Nice”, it felt out of place to fully express my excitement, so I quietly swayed along with the other people beside me. At least with this level of calmness, I was able to catch some of the confetti to take home and remind myself I was actually present at Seventeen's concert and that it wasn’t a dream.

Seventeen concerts are unlike any other. Although there were two members, S.Coups and Jun, that were unable to perform that night due to health conditions, it did not lessen the experience.

They truly have a talent of engaging their audience—even while transitioning into the next song—and not a single second was boring. They did not miss their chance to interact with their fans in the crowd or play around on stage with other group members all while carrying out a breathtaking performance. I would say this was one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

August 14, 2022: Shayna’s POV To celebrate their new album, “Face the Sun,” they announced their third world tour, “Be the Sun.” Their lead single, “HOT,” had already become popular with 1.74 million pre-order sales in the first week. I was able to get a ticket for Aug. 14, 2022 in the Oakland Arena for $300.

Getting inside the venue took a long time because of security checks. When I got in, the merchandise truck and booths included crop tops, long sleeved and short sleeved tees, crewnecks, hoodies, tote bags, hats, beanies and lightsticks.

There were more merch lines inside than outside of the venue, so I would recommend going to the merch lines inside of the venues because they are usually shorter. I was able to get a crewneck for $85, and it was worth rt the price because it is so cute. As I pa his rnon singing Seventeen’s Ve ling.” ar “D , ng so was going into the venue, I was able glish in their first En to get freebies including banners of the members’ faces and of lyrics from “Darling” and “HOT.” When we got to our seats, Seventeen’s music videos were playing on the big screens. It was a magical moment because, in contrast to Taylor’s seating section, everyone was singing along in their seats, and we were already jumping before the show even began.

At 7:30 p.m., the show began. The concert started off with their single “HOT,” which set the mood for the concert so well. When the curtains started to lift, I was already screaming. I just couldn’t believe that they were real. I have watched so many live performances on Youtube but seeing it in real life is actually magical. There were colorful EDM lights that displayed colors based on the vibe of the song. There were even parts in between the songs where short video clips played that foreshadowed the upcoming songs. Their outfit changes were all so mesmerizing. My favorite part was when

ing “Gam3 team perform The hiphop ng. so it un second Boi” as their

J e o n g h a n Sevent een’s Je gh an waving to started using his arm sling as crowd after theyonfin the ished perfo “Very Nice. rming ” a fancy tote bag and was showing it off on the big screen.

They performed a mix of songs from their newer albums and older albums which I loved. I was so excited to hear “Shadow” live because it is one of my favorite songs from the new album, but I was also excited to jump around to “Snapshoot.”

There were also parts of the show dedicated to the different units, where each unit would perform their own two songs. Not even five seconds after crying to “Imperfect Love” by the vocal unit, I had to get ready to jump around and sing to “Gam3 Boi”, by the hip hop unit.

My favorite performances were “Moonwalker” and “Wave” by the performance unit. They started off dancing behind glass as an intro to “Moonwalker.” Immediately, I was in awe because there was smoke everywhere, and they had beautiful silver outfits. It was like they were hypnotizing me with their fluid dance movements and angelic voices.

They ended the show with the never ending “Very Nice,” as they did with every show on their tour. It was a tradition for the staff to keep playing “Aju Nice,” a song from their first studio album, over and over again, without the members knowing when it would end. I was so exhausted at the end, but it was so worth it—I didn’t want to leave.

My post concert depression was horrible. At school, I would just keep rewatching the videos that I recorded. I think at one point I was close to tears because I could not accept that I was at school instead of screaming my heart out.

As my friend and I were taking pictures after the concert, some other attendees went up to us and just started hyping us up. It is something that I will never forget— that I met so many amazing people after the concert ended. Honestly, I just couldn’t believe how hot and attractive they were in real life.

Seventeen’s Ming Look forward yu telling the cro wd to sing loude and to jump du r ring never endin to more in the g “Very Nice.” next Going Seventeen! Ha ha ha ha!

Arts & Culture | 24

TIME SENSITIVE BeReal..

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The Anti-Social-Media

Students and teachers discuss BeReal and its impact on authenticity online ARTICLE, ILLUSTRATIONS & DESIGN BY KYLA ULUG

A

San Jose • 39 min Late • • •

notification pops up on your phone. “Time to BeReal.” You have two minutes to post a picture for all of your friends to see.

Launched in 2020, social media app BeReal asks users to post one front-facing picture and one outward-facing picture once a day, with every user posting ideally at the exact same time.

For someone accustomed to social media apps like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, this style of posting seems hasty.

No filters, no editing, no time—only two minutes, to be exact. BeReal has the goal of simplifying the online experience and preventing users from over-thinking their social media presence.

Science teacher Vivien Chern heard about the app from AP Psychology teacher Loren Schwinge last year. Everyone posting everyday at the same time was a new concept for Chern, whose favorite and most-used social media app is Instagram.

Beyond Instagram, which she uses to connect with students, she notes that using BeReal has given her another outlet to follow up with students she has had in the past.

“Just yesterday, I was looking at the BeReal, and everyone [UPA’s class of 2022] that was in college was posting a real moment of them in their dorms, and I just thought that was super cool,” Chern said. “I 25 | ARTS & CULTURE

wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. I just like being able to follow them.”

Chern also comments on the more authentic feel of BeReal in comparison to other social media apps. Along with BeReal, she keeps up with her “teacher account” on Instagram, on which many of her students follow her.

A major reason she created the account is to try to give students some insight into the fact that teachers do have a life.

On the same note of authenticity, Chern admires how instant and genuine BeReal is, especially because apps like Instagram are more curated. Praise aside, it took Chern a while to get used to the front-back camera of the app.

“For the longest time, I didn’t understand how it [the front & back camera] worked until I saw someone do it in class,” Chern said.

This concept is not new, though. Other apps have used this same feature in the past: championing a casual and authentic vibe as their prime appeal.

Released in 2013, Frontback, an app with a similar concept, garnered over 200,000 downloads in a month before its shut down in Aug. 2015. If an app like Frontback failed in the past, why is the same idea blowing up eight years later?

“I think people crave [realness] to some extent,” senior Joshua Asada said. “Other apps don’t have the randomness aspect that BeReal has: usually there’s some level of consistency, whether it be scrolling for boredom or routinely posting stories. Even though people can post at any time after the notification goes off, it still feels more

candid because there’s not really an endless stream of content to consume.”

Asada downloaded BeReal at the start of April 2022 after hearing about it from TikTok and discovering its popularity within the class of 2022. Back then, more people were ‘being real’—as the app states—but as of recently, Asada comments on the ‘faker’ atmosphere of the app.

“There’s a lot more posing, a lot more being late,” Asada said. “You click on the three dots in the corner and it says ‘six retakes.’ The most I’ve seen is 25 retakes.

That was very Instagram-reminiscent.”

Along with overusing the retake ability, many users take advantage of the freedom they have to post late. Both sophomore Elshadi Jahdid-Alam and Asada have noticed when people wait until they look nice or are doing a fun activity, like going to a concert, to post the daily BeReal.

With the advent of ‘RealMojis’ and comments available, Asada believes the nature of the app is also shifting to be more reactionary, like Instagram.

“A lot of people try to post something that will cultivate a reaction from friends,” Asada said.

“I think slowly it will become like other social media that are superficial.”

When thinking of superficial social media, the first thing that comes to mind for most is Instagram.

While agreeing with this, Jahdid-Alam also noticed the shift from social media’s usual calculated approach to a more casual tone in recent years, noting the rise of the “Make Instagram Casual Again” movement.

The term, “make Instagram casual again,” has been circulating around social media since around 2019—some users at-

“Other people just want to know that we’re all experiencing the same things.”

–Elshadi Jahdid-Alam

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tribute the movement’s popularity to “relatable” influencers like Emma Chamberlain, apps like TikTok for advocating for a relaxed setting or even Instagram’s attempt at removing the option to see likes on people’s posts.

For Jahdid-Alam, the increasing popularity of ‘photo dumps,’ ‘spam accounts’ and ‘relatable’ content are at fault for the shift.

“On TikTok, relatable accounts having to do with school work or trying to find the cool side of your pillow at night are popular,” Jahdid-Alam said.

“Other people just want to know that we’re all experiencing the same things.”

Jahdid-Alam thinks the rise of BeReal signifies Gen Z’s migration towards a more relaxed atmosphere on social media.

“A lot of influencers post big trips and stuff like that,” Jahdid-Alam said. “But I feel like now it’s also cool to show regular everyday things like going to the park or studying.”

Jahdid-Alam got BeReal in June 2022 as a way to keep in touch with friends over the summer and found it fun to check in with them everyday through the app.

“Instagram is a lot more serious than BeReal,” Jahdid-Alam said. “So, it’d be easier to show the regular me [on BeReal], whereas on Instagram, you’d still want to make sure you look good and that it’s interesting.”

Although she rarely follows influencers and beauty bloggers, Jahdid-Alam still feels the effects of Instagram’s toxic standards.

“I don’t follow a lot of influencers. But,

39m ago

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there is the whole seeing pretty people online thing: ‘Do I need to match those standards?’” Jahdid-Alam said. “But on BeReal, I don’t feel like that because it’s not really a competition.”

Despite any attempts to casualize social media, Asada thinks the nature of social media will always be somewhat ingenuine.

“People have always strived to look for attention, but social media just makes it a lot more accessible and quantifiable.

“Clout has always existed,” Asada said.

“At the end of the day, people are still posting something. When you click that post button, you’re making the active decision to say, ‘Okay, this is something I want to show as a representation of myself.’ As long as you’re posting something, there’s some level of filtering going on.”

Despite filtering, Asada believes BeReal has overall pushed social media users towards having a more authentic social media presence.

“Instead of having this institutionalized pressure to look a certain way, people have the freedom to choose how they want to portray themselves,” Asada said. “It leaves it in the hands of the people to choose to be real or fake.”

“As long as you’re posting something, there’s some level of filtering going on.”

–Joshua Asada

ARTS & CULTURE | 26

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