Author: adviser

  • Fall-ing Prices

    As the holidays are coming, families are trying to get a list together to figure out what they are going to get their loved ones.  These are the top 5 stores to get your significant other the presents you want.

    5. Walmart-This store has decent prices on electronics specifically since their black friday deals are very cheap for many things

    4.Macy’s- Macy’s has clothes that all people want, from children’s clothes to teens and adults, the prices are reasonable to give your loved ones the perfect piece of clothing.

    3. Target- This store has extremely cheap prices for everything they sell. From clothes to electronics, everything is at a reasonable price and will be worth it.

    2. Best Buy- All of the best electronics you want will be sold here at Best Buy.  If you want a tv, you’ll get a high quality tv here for a great deal. Gaming consoles and phones will also have great deals here as well.

    1. Amazon- You can order anything you want from this great website.  Clothes, electronics, furniture, anything you can think of is sold here.

  • Poly’s Choir Winter Concert

    Poly’s Choir Winter Concert

    Pictures from the 4th period Holiday Vocal Assembly show a sneak peak of the Poly Choir Holiday Concert that happened yesterday, Thursday, December 5. Every year, these singers express their love for the holidays as they dress up with reindeer ears and Santa hats. During this concert only, all of the choirs come together on stage to sing “Samba Santa” and “Peace Peace”,0 a tradition carried on by choral director Brian Dokko. “Peace Peace” features the Jazz 2 choir on the bells as the remaining choirs sing their parts on stage. The holiday concert is always a fun one, as the choirs sing jazzy Christmas carols and traditional holiday favorites.

  • TikTok at All Hours of the Clock

    With over 33 million downloads, TikTok has become a very popular media platform that has risen to the top. Although many people may say that it’s a cringey app, I think otherwise. Well at first I didn’t actually. I once found myself among the several people who would claim themselves to be against TikTok. I’ll admit, I would even judge the people around me, such as my friends whenever I would see them making or posting their videos.

    My obsession with TikTok began just like any other person who is now making videos on the platform. I only downloaded the app as a joke, not thinking I’ll find any pleasure in the content it provided. At first I wouldn’t go on the app very often and even almost uninstalled it at some point. However, after more and more of the people I look up to on YouTube began using it, I found myself following them and before I knew it, I couldn’t even bring myself to close the app.

    I may have published a couple videos at some point,but I don’t really enjoy making them as much as others. Moreover, I definitely don’t enjoy showing my face to a bunch of strangers. People such as y cousin and best friend may do it, but I think just having downloaded the app is plenty outside my comfort zone for me. All in all, while I may enjoy the people who make content on the app, but I can guarantee that I will never make any videos of myself dancing or following along with the weird trends that go around just at an attempt to go vial and become “TikTok famous” as they say.

    Sadly enough TikTok has consumed much of my life.There have been situations where I have been in the middle of conversations through text with people, and end up forgetting to reply to them because I get distracted with TikTok. There has even been a certain weekend where I accidentally found myself staying up till the sun rose all because I stayed up all night on TikTok. This is something I definitely did not do before TikTok.

    The impacts TikTok has left in my life have not been very good, and that is exactly why I have decided to give myself a break from it. I don’t go on it as much as I used to (although I do still use it more than other apps) but I feel better about it as well. I would definitely not recommend people to download it unless you want to get hooked. By the way this is a joke, I do still have a life.

  • Making a List, Checking it Twice

    Holidays are just around the corner which means that everyone will be on their way to do their shopping for their loved ones or even just for themselves. However, with this comes a long list of conflict or problems that might get in the way of allowing you to get things done. To make it easier, here’s a list of things you can try avoiding before you find yourself stuck in a troublesome situation.

    • Don’t save things for the last minute- Yes, you technically do have all the way until the day of Christmas to get your shopping done, but don’t let that be the reason you save everything until the last minute. If you give yourself time and do the shopping beforehand, you can give yourself the opportunity to fix things up before giving people their gifts, or you can even add more details to it if you’d like.
    • Don’t push yourself to buy everything all at once– It’s ironic to be saying this after the last “don’t”, but I highly recommend giving yourself some time for everything. Don’t rush it all at once. Buy two gifts this week and another two next week. Spread your plans out throughout time. This way, you don’t feel overwhelmed by working on things right away and you can only focus on the things you already have bought.
    • Don’t put little to no effort or thought into your gifts– You’re going to shop for people you care about, so please don’t be careless about it. If you don’t want to stress yourself out about it, then just think about what they like. Even if you’re getting them a candle, a blanket, or a book, at least consider their favorite scent, color/material, or genre.
    • Don’t feel the need to please every single person- As previously stated, sometimes something as small as a candle or blanket could be enough. You don’t necessarily have to go all out and get the exact perfect gift for every single person. If it feels overwhelming, you don’t always have to please everyone.
    • Don’t beat yourself up over it- Maybe you can’t afford to buy presents (and that’s totally okay too!), but you still want to give your loved ones something, don’t you? Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s really the thought that counts, so if you want to still give, you can easily write some letters of appreciation or even a gift card. The smallest of things can really go a long way for someone.
    • Don’t overlook the person you are shopping for– Sometimes we tend to focus more on getting the most expensive gift so that the person will like it, and as a result we forget all about what the person will actually feel.
    • Don’t forget about yourself- Shopping can be most stressful because of all the people you feel the need to buy gifts for. However, keep in mind the most important person; yourself. Make a budget for yourself and be sure not to go over it.
  • “She Kills Monsters” Killing it at the Poly Playhouse

    “She Kills Monsters” Killing it at the Poly Playhouse

    On November 14, 15, and 16 the Poly Playhouse presented their play “She Kills Monsters.” An action packed comedy which still managed to touch upon serious subjects, “She Kills Monsters” is a breath of fresh air amidst a stressful college season.
    The play, put on by Mrs. Bon’s Play Production class, starred Gabby Kaiser as Agnes, an “average girl with an average face living an average life,” and Audrey Moor as Tilly, Agnes’ geeky little sister who died in a car crash and a renowned Dungeons and Dragons master.
    Agnes and Tilly were never close while Tilly lived, both sisters being polar opposites and Agnes having a tendency to be ashamed of Tilly, a scenario which may be relatable to the audience. After her sister’s death, Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons notebook, containing a game scenario she created.
    Realizing there is much more about Tilly she does not know, Agnes seeks help from Chuck, a “dungeon master” who will lead her through a D&D journey in an attempt to understand the complex younger sister she never took the time to get to know.
    Filled with cheerleading demon girls, an aggressive fairy, bugbears and a cube of slime which eerily talks like her boyfriend, Agnes is in for the time of her life as she explores the universe her sister has created and often found refuge in.
    Once in the game, Agnes meet’s Tilly’s character, Tillius the Paladin, a mix between the side of her she never showed and what she aspired to be. Agnes discovers things she never knew about her sister such as her sexuality or her being bullied.
    “She Kills Monsters” targets different audiences. Firstly and most obvious, to the geeks and nerds who are fans of the game and understand what it’s like to be Tilly. This play does not mock them or make them the butt end of a joke but rather, divulges into their lives and explores their sentiments under the surface.
    But you do not have to be a D&D expert to enjoy the play, the premise is explained quite clearly, and remember, Agnes does not have any prior knowledge of the game so the audience can learn along with her.
    But the play was not only relatable to a teen audience, adults could get a kick out of the endless 90’s pop culture references.
    Overall, “She Kills Monsters” was beautifully executed play and made the audience laugh, think and cry at some point. The acting was phenomenal and the set design and costumes really transported the audience to a world of fantasy. “She Kills Monsters” was well worth seeing and my condolences to those who missed it.

  • Not Home for the Holidays

    Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Years! Happy to be home for the holidays! But wait…. instead of being able to be reunited with loved ones people are faced with deportation. Wow what a Christmas miracle!

    If you couldn’t tell, I was being ironic. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to be with their families during the holiday season due to Trump’s Administration embracing the bill, R.A.I.S.E. (Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy). The bill is meant to raise American wages by ending chain migration and by reducing the amount of Green Cards by 50%, yet, the bill ultimately fails to address an important aspect of deportation… the human within the statistics of “illegal aliens.”

    This holiday, we want to be able to celebrate the end of the decade with loved ones, but in order to do that our community must rise up against the tyranny occurring in our backyards. Instead of Santa Claus, children catch a sight of I.C.E. in front of their homes. Instead of Santa quietly sneaking in and stealing cookies, children are faced with the disruption of I.C.E. barging in their homes and taking their parents away. Instead of tears of joy, the community is encountered with tears of sorrow.

    In the fiscal year of 2018 more than 256,000 people were deported. According to the Washington Post, “I.C.E. said that 2,711 who were traveling in families and 5,571 unaccompanied children were removed from U.S. soil.” With the end of 2019 arriving, we can only hope that the amount of families separated decrease.

    With a large number of students at Poly being first generation Americans, this situation hits close to home. As opposed to former president, Barack Obama, who only deported immigrants convicted of serious crimes, Mr. Trump wants more rigid policies that would break up families.

    Peoples aren’t only deported for coming to America illegally but even legal immigrants are being deported if they have committed a numerous amount of misdemeanors, not accounting for how long ago it occurred and whether the person has changed or not. The measures that have been taken to deport family members away are unjust and some of the immigrants being deported are refugees who came into this country not knowing much. As a result, they were destined to suffer in this failed system called America, the land of the free! Family members and immigrants shouldn’t suffer from a failed system that is not set up to assimilate refugees and immigrants.

    In order to stay safe this holiday, you should know your rights. I highly suggest you search up a know your rights card and if an I.C.E. officer does try to instigate a situation show them the card and attain a lawyer. Remember you have the right to remain silent during this holiday season.

  • Doin’ it all for the (Kindness) Gram

    What can make your day better than a written card from your friend addressing how thankful they are for you? Of course, money and materialistic items might cause a feeling of happiness, short term, but a personal letter written to someone you admire can leave a mark on that person’s heart.
    Long Beach Polytechnic High School this year provided the opportunity for students to send kindness grams to their friends. In addition, there was a Kindness Week starting from November 12th to the15th. Each day represented a way to be kind to your friends, students, teachers, and yourself. Audrey Deth from ASB stated the purpose of Kindness Week was to get kids mood and overall vibe uplifted. However, according to Deth it does “take a lot of dedication because we represent the student body so we try our best for any even that’s also not the Thanksgiving Drive or Kindness Week.”
    Teachers were more than grateful to take time out of class to pass out the grams to students. This year, English teachers were given the role to pass out and return the kindness grams, but the students themselves had to know what period and English teacher their friend has in order to deliver it to them.
    Karen Ferrer, an 11th grade student received cards and wrote cards to friends. She thought it would be a great time to draw images and write witty comments to her friends to uplift their day.
    Most people were shocked when they received a gram. The shock of receiving a kindness gram demonstrates how we tend to forget to remind those we love how much we appreciate them. Not only do we forget to love others, but we also forget that we are loved, which is something everyone deserves to know. We often are so focused on our day to day, trying to go down a set schedule, that we forget to take a moment, step back, and just appreciate what we have.
    Make sure to remind someone how thankful you are for them, even if it isn’t even a holiday. It may seem silly or outright useless to you to even take time from their day to tell them such plain words! However, you never know what someone is going through and just the two words of thank you can say more words then its composed of. If you’re looking where to start, send a handwritten letter– if you’re feeling extra thankful draw a heart or a picture along with it.

  • The Truth About Thanksgiving

    Most of us have heard the story of the pilgrims as kids. As we have been told, the pilgrims were immigrants from England who traveled to America seeking religious freedom. An English-speaking Native American named Squanto helped the pilgrims find food and learn how to use the land so they could survive in the new world. As thanks to the Native Americans, the pilgrims held a feast with a turkey, united together as one people to show gratitude for their bountiful harvest and good friends.

    Today, however, many of my friends are against the celebration of Thanksgiving because they believe that we are not celebrating friendship, but instead the oppression of the Native Americans. By coming to America, the first settlers brought diseases to the native people, attacked them, and stole the land that was rightfully theirs. Therefore, to celebrate Thanksgiving is to support the slaughter of the “real Americans” and forceful takeover of their homeland.

    However, many historians believe that this story that we have been told about these first settlers is indeed false. For one, the pilgrims did not come to America seeking religious freedom. According to the Plimoth Plantation, a museum dedicated to preserving history of the Plymouth Colony, the pilgrims had already fled religious persecution from England by immigrating to Holland. While there, they had complete freedom over what religion or church they followed or associated themselves with. No, they didn’t come seeking religious freedom, but instead because they feared they would lose their culture. Many of their children had begun to move away from their families and associate themselves with the Dutch culture. To preserve their identity as an English people, they decided to take the journey to the Americas.

    Most of the rest of the story is true. There was indeed a Native American named Squanto that helped the pilgrims, and they did have a three-day feast of Thanksgiving with each other where they ate and hunted together. But you also might not know that the epidemic that killed Squanto’s people had come and gone before the pilgrims arrived. They had nothing to do with that slaughter that so many people attribute the first Thanksgiving with.

    It is undeniable that our country has some corrupt, bloody history. But that first feast of the pilgrims was not symbolic of any of that. Even if we are wrong about the pilgrims, that doesn’t mean that the holiday is corrupt. For years, Thanksgiving has been celebrated by sitting down with family and friends for a meal to show gratitude and joy for each other’s company. It doesn’t matter if that feast actually took place or not. You can still give someone a gift on Christmas without believing in Christ or go trick-or-treating without believing in ghosts or spirits, so it is perfectly okay for you to give thanks this holiday season and share a good meal. Just don’t forget the pie.

  • Royal vs. Jokers

    The rally stage. The infamous rally stage that houses the butts of seniors during lunch and nutrition, is indeed the throne to kings and queens: seniors, the rulers of the kingdom we call Long Beach Polytechnic High School. The little, itty-bitty specks we call “freshman” perhaps would be named as “the jokers”. Their lower status prevents them from being able to rest even a pinky on the brick steps of the almighty rally stage. Even at twenty arm lengths away, just the thought of one of these jokers on their rather dirty and cold stage creates a fire hot rage for the kings and queens of Poly High School.

    One day in the Kingdom of Poly High School, a brave group of freshmen – I mean, jokers – were getting ready to eat their grub. At the rally stage, the kings dined fancy with their Hot Cheetos bags, every last crunch of processed cheese flavor bringing them closer to a bad case of diabetes, while the queens ate their lunch out of perfectly crafted Tupperware. As the jokers innocently pause in their steps to sit on the rally stage – I mean, throne – of seniors, the kings and queens were enraged at the sight of a lowlife joker on their beloved cathedra. The royals got up in a fury, walking almost a mile to the other side of the stage, catching their breath as they got to the jokers after their long trudge. A good workout, I might add, after all the Hot Cheetos, but that’s besides the point. The jokers trembled in their little boots as the royals huff and puff and blow them off the stage. The royals laughed in their victory, thinking they will never see or hear of the jokers on their stage again. Or so they thought…

    The next day, the kings and queens change it up and are instead fine dining on sweet and spicy Takis, satisfied with the lack of jokers around them that would contaminate their air. As the end of lunch grew closer,  more jokers, left and right, surrounded the stage with their new weapon: a sign. The sign read, “Freshman (Jokers) Welcome Here”. Their sign, a flag representing their will to fight the system created by the royals, waved high and proud over the stage, the blue and green markers bleeding through the paper due to the damp air. A great inspiration for all jokers and for those to come. A symbol of their strength and the f’s they don’t give. The royals, taken off guard soon begin to realize the persistence of the jokers, but prepare to fight back. Ripping the war flag off the catwalk, the seniors take back their turf. However, the jokers didn’t even blink, they didn’t give one rat’s ass. Instead, they sat right back down. Cheek to cheek, they sat their cheeks on the throne.

    The previous story is based on true events at Poly High School. The arrogance expressed by the seniors that inspired this tale is not necessary. Don’t kick poor freshmen off the stage. Poly is supposed to be a place where we welcome everyone. Seniors, sit down!

  • Choice Night

    Choice Night

    Poly pathways, sports, and clubs showed off their accomplishments so far in the year for potential incoming freshman on Wednesday, November 20 at Poly.

  • Awareness Month

    October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month in many parts of the world. Breast cancer awareness is an effort to increase recognition of the disease and reduce the shame brought on to one by education on symptoms and treatment. Greater knowledge of this disease can increase early detection and survival rates amongst those who might be living with it. Money that is raised for breast cancer goes toward a reliable permanent cure.
    Breast cancer awareness advocates raise funds and provide needed knowledge and patient empowerment. Educational campaigns are held along with free or low cost services. We all associate breast cancer with the prominent symbol of the Pink Ribbon.
    October is also Red Ribbon Week, which is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. It began as a tribute to fallen DEA special agent Enrique Camerena in 1985.

  • Book Review: The History of Long Beach Poly: Scholars and Champions

    Although it is not on the New York Times Best Sellers list, the new book The History of Long Beach Poly: Scholars and Champions is getting a lot of attention these days in not only Poly, but the whole city of Long Beach. The authors, Mike Guardabascio, a Poly alumni, and Tyler Hendrickson, explore the unique aspects of our historic school from the beginning in 1895 through present day Poly. The book includes sections of early Poly days, how the World Wars affected life at Poly, celebrity alumni features, original traditions created by the school, and more information about Poly I don’t even think our principals know about.
    Overall, there is a ton of intriguing information, but I’m not quite sure if ALL of Poly can fit into 191 pages only. Each chapter has small sections like “Football” in the chapter “Poly’s Sports Programs” where it only covers a page and a half. For a high school that is known for our football team with the most drafted NFL players, the section could’ve been a bit longer, more in depth. Perhaps it was a style decision, they want to keep it short and prompt, but it feels to me that the authors just gathered “cool” information and slapped it together to form this book. Now, the grammar errors are even less forgivable.
    The book wasn’t all just sloppy facts, I did feel as if the book was a good overview of our school. As they said in an interview on The 562.org, “somebody’s gonna find this and fall in love with Long Beach.” I agree with this, I do believe this book was aimed for an audience that is not familiar with Long Beach or Poly itself, which could have been the whole point of writing it. Furthermore, the interview also made the authors’ love for Poly apparent and a strong inspiration for the production of this book. However, the lack of depth and careless errors made me feel this book did not fully express or reflect their love for Long Beach Poly High School.