Author: adviser

  • Fearsome Films

    It’s that time of the year again, Spooky Season! The perfect time to grab some popcorn, some snacks, a blanket and watch scary movies all night. If you’re not sure what movies to turn on during this Spooky Season, here are some Halloween Classics for you to watch.

    Coraline (2009): A young girl named Coraline, moves with her family to her new home. While exploring, she discovers a secret door that leads to another place that mirrors her current reality. While everything may seem like it’s better than her real life, her parallel life soon takes a turn for the worse.

    The Amityville Horror (2005): A husband and wife move their family to a new home. What seems to be the perfect house soon reveals a horrid past: the house belonged to a tenant that was possessed by a demon, causing him to murder his entire family. The family believes the house is haunted so they do everything to try to escape the horrors. (Based on a true story)

    Beetlejuice (1988): After dying in a car accident, a couple finds themselves back at their own home, unable to leave, they are left to haunt the residence. An unbearable married couple moves into their new home and the dead couple tries to scare them out but their attempts fail miserably. After accidentally summoning Beetlejuice, they soon realize how dangerous he is for the family.

    Pet Semetary (1989): A family moves to a new home in Maine and befriends their neighbor. After their cat dies, the neighbor advises that they bury it in a nearby cemetery. The cat then comes back to life but his entire personality has changed drastically- for the worse. After the family’s son dies from a tragic accident, they bury him in the same cemetery. When he comes back to life, he becomes a terrifying threat to the family.

  • Welcome, New Staff!

    Welcome, New Staff!

    Maria Salazar

    By Reymar Santos

    Maria Salazar, the new ASB secretary, is excited to work here at Polytechnic High School. She lives on the west side of Long Beach, but her family is originally from Mexico. She is the first generation from her family to become a citizen in the US. Her family is originally from Mexico. Her previous job was in the enrollment department at the other school. She graduated from Long Beach City College. Her first experience at Poly was such a new and thrilling experience because our school spirit in this school compared to other schools is overwhelming. She said, “The people are friendly; and communicating with students is nice.” As ASB secretary, she said she enjoys helping other students with activities and handing out school IDs.

    David Rodriguez

    By Alexander Phouma

    David Rodriguez is one of our new special education teachers here at Poly. Mr. Rodriguez was born and raised here in Long Beach, and attended Wilson High School. After graduating high school, he furthered his education and studied at UC Santa Cruz for his bachelors and is currently working on getting his masters at Cal State University and has been happily married for two and a half years now. Before working at Poly, Rodriguez was a teacher at Grant Elementary School. Like both of his parents, he became a teacher to help kids and he enjoys seeing students become a better version of themselves. Rodriguez likes to run with his wife and play board games. He has ran about 25 marathons so far. He also enjoys watching baseball, and his favorite team is the Dodgers. One of his favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption and enjoys buffalo wings and burgers.

    John Wong

    By Briana Mendez-Padilla

    John Wong, Poly’s new MEDS counselor, transferred this year from Poly’s sister campus, PAAL, where he worked for four years. Wong regards himself as an approachable person and hopes to gain his student’s trust and be able to guide them to success in life after high school. Whether that means college or any other situation, he intends to find out what options are best for students and ensure they reach their goals. Wong said he comes prepared with community resources to assist students not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. He wants to reach out to kids and spark a positive change within them.

    Brent Lavoie

    By Sebastian Lebario

    Ever since the arrival of Brent Lavoie, Poly has been glorified as an exceptional baseball program and has also won a Moore league title. Brent Lavoie is going into his fourth year as the Poly varsity coach with high expectations to have a repeat championship season in 2020. As of this school year, he is also going to be a special education teacher. Although he has been a coach at Poly, he finally got a job to work here after a few years of working as Millikan High School’s resource specialist teacher.
    Lavoie was born in Springfield, Missouri where he played baseball collegiately at Missouri Valley in Marshall, Missouri. He then moved out to North Arkansas Junior College in Harrison, Arkansas. He is now entering his 14th year as a high school teacher overall.

    Shannon Young

    By Melissa De La Cruz

    Among the new teachers at Poly this school year, there is also a new assistant principal who works with the pathways Justice and Pace. Shannon Young has been working in the LBUSD district for 19 years now. She first started out by working as a 5th grade teacher at Burbank Elementary School. From there she moved to Franklin Middle School where she worked as an English and history teacher. Shortly before coming to Poly, she was employed as an assistant principal at Millikan High School.
    Young claims her experience here at Poly has been a good one so far. She is content with and loves the idea of working at the home of scholars and champions that not only is there a focus but an encouragement on students academically, as well as with extracurricular activities as well. “The students– they’re great, kind, respectful,” she says. She claims she enjoys working with the staff which has also been quite resourceful and left a positive impact on Young as well as “everybody has been very welcoming. They’ve been kind and helpful”.
    Compared to where she last worked, she says there are more similarities than differences. This makes things easier when transitioning from one location to another. Overall it seems like our new assistant principal has had a wonderful experience since the first day. To summarize her experience so far in a sentence is, “Poly is an inviting, encouraging place for students and staff to be.”

    Ronald Scipio

    By Alexander Phouma

    Ronald Scipio is one of our new teachers here at Poly, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t sound familiar; his wife is also a teacher at the school. Scipio was born and raised in Compton, California and always knew he wanted to be a teacher while he was in high school. Before applying for the job, he was a teacher’s aide at Poly, and he previously worked at Jordan High School for five years. After our previous orchestra teacher, Mr. Osman, retired, Scipio applied for the spot and transferred from Jordan to Poly. He has two children and has been married for a total of four years. He also enjoys bike rides, working out in the gym and cooking.

    Mark Mikasa

    By Madeline Milton

    Mark Mikasa is an AP Calculus AP and Algebra II teacher at Poly. He recently taught at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights and Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel, both of which being located in California. He has had his eye on a job opportunity at Poly for awhile, as he is located in Long Beach and wanted to take a more local job.
    Being distanced from his previous schools, he missed out on a lot of school events and activities after school. “When I was in San Gabriel,” he said, “I could never really attend any games or support kids in other ways.” He is looking forward to attending games and other events at Poly.

    Dana Zapanta

    By Jailyn Lewis-Hobbs

    Dana Zapanta is the new PACE Counselor at Long Beach Poly. Originally from San Diego, Zapanta received her undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine, and went to graduate school at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Zapanta has been counseling for thirteen years, spending five years in ABC Unified and another seven years in the Clark County District. Zapanta then moved to Long Beach and began working at Long Beach Poly High School as the new Pace Counselor. When asked why she chose Poly, Zapanta said “I wanted a challenge, a new perspective. After working for a certain amount of time you want to change it up a little bit.”

    Elizabeth Baca

    By Chansochata Thon

    As many new students begin associating themselves with the pride of the Jackrabbit, so did new the Pre-Calculus and Calculus BC teacher, Elizabeth Baca. Coming to Poly allowed her to see a new dynamic where pathways allowed students to act like family. Not only was she greeted by this warm family-like dynamic, but she felt as if she had joined it.
    With the start of the fall year, Baca is eager and enthusiastic to attend football games, which not only allow her to build a stronger bond with her students and the school, but also allows her to bring her kids to share the Jackrabbit pride and love.
    Along with all the pros of a new school, the block schedule also presents a challenge to Baca. But getting used to remembering when to repeat teaching days or start a new teaching day is a struggle she is willing to conquer. Baca also is in the process of completing her Master’s Degree at CSULB to better understand the curriculum and ensuring that she will teach her students at her fullest capacity.

    Brian George

    By Kameo Mapp

    Meet Brian George, PAAL’s new assistant principal. George is originally from Long Beach, California, and has taught at Poly for 5 years and PAAL for 18. He attended USC and is a proud Trojan. George has 3 children and enjoys PAAL because of its small and very tight community. He also enjoys Dodger Blue and eating pizza.

    Teo Weiner

    By Kameo Mapp

    Specialist Teo Weiner was raised in Culver City, CA, has educated students for 18 years and spent 8 of them at Poly before moving to PAAL. He loves to eat sushi and play with his adorable pet dog. He enjoys going to festivals, watching musicals and whipping up furtadas and omelettes. He is a strong believer in a growth mindset and growing your intelligence to the fullest. He is an advocate for staying on your path to success and never allowing the possibility of failure.

    Nicole Lopez

    By Kameo Mapp

    Meet Nicole Lopez, PAAL’s new Principal of Students. Ms. Lopez is originally from North Vermont and grew up learning Spanish and French. She earned her Masters in Education at Cal State Long Beach. She enjoys the colors of nature and traveling places, especially Australia. She has one son and lots of pets who brighten her day. She likes people who break rules, take risks and do the best for themselves to create a positive outcome. She cares about her students to the highest degree and strives to bring out the best results in PAAL students.

     

  • Fall Means Football (Photos!)

    Fall Means Football (Photos!)

  • Library Renamed In Honor Of Poly Alumni

    Library Renamed In Honor Of Poly Alumni

    On September 21, the Long Beach Public Library reopened its doors with an improved and renamed library. The now Billie Jean King Library held an opening ceremony with guest speakers such as Mayor Robert Garcia, council member Jeanine Pierce, among others as well as the tennis player and women’s right activist herself, Billie Jean King. King was greeted by an uproar of applause and proceeded to tell the story of how she would sleep with her tennis racquet and library books at night. The Poly alumni is fiercely loyal to Long Beach and hopes this new addition will be a helpful resource to the community.

  • 13 Reasons (More or Less) Why Season Three is Different

    The Netflix drama, 13 Reasons Why, was released in late August of this year. Season two ended with the aftermath of Tyler’s school shooting attempt, and season three picked up after the incident eight months later. While the two previous seasons focused on the main character of the show, Hannah, season three focused on the death of one of the most frustrating and hated characters, Bryce.

    The season starts out with Bryce missing after a huge brawl that took place during the homecoming game at Liberty High. Similar to seasons one and three, each episode analyzes one of a few of students at Liberty High and tries to make a connection between them and Bryce’s murder. Within 13 episodes, each of the suspects who were known to have issues with Bryce are interrogated.

    This season was a bit heartbreaking as one of the most hated characters, Bryce (hated for his sexually abusive behaviors, the role he played in Hannah’s suicide and the harm he caused to several girls), is seen trying to right his wrongs and become a better person. The show almost has you rooting for Bryce until you are once again reminded of what horrible acts he has been responsible for. He was seen trying to become a better friend to all the people he once hurt and seeking help to change who he is. As the show unfolds, each character is guilty of his death.

    Personally, I liked this season. I hated Bryce with every fiber of my being, but seeing him trying to get better was a reminder that people do have to ability to own up for their actions and actually want to change for the better. This show talks about real, raw topics such as bullying, rape, murder, and teenage social problems that are hardly addressed in the media nowadays. The show received backlash for some of the negative impacts it had, such as enabling suicidal tendencies in teens and for continuing the show. It is unknown if the show will be cleared for a fourth season but honestly, what would they even have to talk about?

  • Oh, Strap!

    Oh, Strap!

  • The Problem With PE

    The Problem With PE

    As obesity rates in the U.S. are rising, it is important that we exercise. As teenagers are constantly undergoing stress and life changes, exercise is extremely beneficial and should be encouraged.

    Harvard Health Publishing said in an article that exercise releases feel-good endorphins in the brain that improve mood and help with depression and anxiety. Some even say it acts similar to an antidepressant.

    Like most schools, 20 credits of physical education is required for graduation at Poly. However, if you do not pass 5 of the 6 standards for the state Physical Fitness Test, you are required to take a P.E. class or a sport until you graduate or pass the test.

    According to the UCLA Newsroom, out of 12 schools in the district, an average of only 37.8% of students were able to pass the fitness exam; approximately one in three students. In my second year of P.E., the only girl that was able to run the mile in less than ten minutes (one of the standards required to pass the exam) was only ever able to make that time once or twice at the very end of the year. Mind you, this class had a large majority of girls. Out of about 35 students, only nine were male, so only one girl being able to pass that one standard is outrageous.

    According to the California Department of Education, the fitness test is meant to be taken in fifth, seventh, and ninth grade. It is also stated that “the main goal of the test is to help students in starting life-long habits of regular physical activity.”

    The test was not designated to be religiously standardized like an annual benchmark. There is a multitude of healthy students on campus who exercise regularly outside of school but are not able to pass. A few of them may struggle with health issues that prevent them from passing. The issue with the physical education requirement is that the traditional kinesiology class is heavily focused on ability, not participation. Your grade depends on your accuracy at throwing, catching, or passing balls; how fast you can run, or how many push-ups or sit-ups you can do in one sitting.

    There’s no argument: exercise is important for everyone. But forcing students to meet these specific standards doesn’t make them enjoy it. If we wanted to be judged on how well we can kick a soccer ball or throw a baseball, then we would’ve joined the sport instead.

  • Food Fight

    As a student, I recognize the amount of food wasted during lunch and nutrition; some food is just left on school benches. What if the food was better? How much food will be conserved and not thrown away or half-eaten?

    I think we should look into fresh and better meals for students and faculty alike. What makes it bad? I think the biggest reason why it’s so flawed with some students is that some foods that are prepared are non-nutritious or simply unappealing. We come to hear students all the time groan about school food. “Ugh I hate this,” or “I’d rather just starve and eat when I get home,” is what most students say. I think the spicy mozzarella cheese sticks and the “turkey” sandwiches are disgusting somewhat. The worst thing that they do is that they don’t prepare meals fresh, and sometimes they are left soggy and disgusting. We must look into ways for food to be prepared fresh, hot, and ready. Why don’t they hire caterers to deliver food to our school? There must be some restaurants out there willing to cater for students; which consequently will also boost and encourage people to come to their restaurants if their food is good.

  • New Admin, Who Dis?

    This school year at Long Beach Poly High School, there have been quite a few adjustments thrown around the school which highly contrasts it from previous years. High schools have switched from two principals, to one principal on site. They have gone from Co-principals (two principals) to one principal at each high school. In other words, this change has not only impacted Poly, but it had also affected all other Long Beach Unified School District high schools as well. The difference between this year and last is that the position of vice principal opened just now. Last year, our head administration consisted of co-principals Mr. Bill Salas and Mr. Quentin Brown, meanwhile the leadership arrangement at Poly now consists of our principal, Mr. Salas, vice principal, Mr. Brown, and 3 assistant principals.

    Of course along with change come impacts. There have been several people who have been affected by this change. However the main people would be the lead administration. As Mr. Salas stated, “there is definitely a sense of more responsibility for the principal”. He also mentions how there has been a change in communication. Now teachers and other staff members among the community, can now go to the one person as opposed to who is in charge of taking care of certain areas of the school.

    Overall, this has not necessarily been a good or bad change to the school or the people of the school. Instead it can be seen as a change that can help these administrators learn to navigate and be able to handle as well as manage themselves through a new experience. It’s also beneficial that there’ll only be one person whom the staff members can go to if they need help rather than two separate ones because it’ll make it easier for them to look for and go to that one person.

  • Bye Bye Spidey: Spiderman Leaves The MCU

    Bye Bye Spidey: Spiderman Leaves The MCU

    Spider-Man is a character that everyone in the world knows about. Fans enjoy him, people enjoy the movies, and kids demand his merchandise. But Sony wants to take the rights that Marvel owns from using Spider-Man in their movies. You might wonder why this is an issue, but when Sony wants to take away Spider-Man in the middle of his story being told, fans will get angry.
    Back in February 2015, Disney, Marvel Studios and Sony announced a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights, leading to a new version of Spider-Man to be introduced and integrated for the Marvel cinematic universe. The deal allowed Sony to have final creative control over MCU films where Spider-Man is the main character, while Disney had full control over films with Spider-Man as a side character. It also stated that the character was allowed to be in five movies as part of the contract. I believe that Marvel misread the contract since they wanted to make five stand alone movies of Spider-Man, but Sony is including Spider-Man’s cameos for the Avengers as part of the five movie deal. Right now, Sony has offered to give Marvel 30% of Spider-Man rights and money that it makes from the films, but Venom from Sony’s Venom universe needs to be included in the MCU as well. It’s weird how Marvel owns this character, yet they’re fighting the rights to use it with another company. I believe that it shouldn’t even be an argument about who owns the character since Stan Lee of Marvel created him in the first place. But at the end of the day, we can say that money has a lot to do with it. It couldn’t be about anything else…that’s Hollywood baby.

    UPDATE:
    Spider-Man is reportedly back in the MCU after the studios, Sony and Marvel, reached a new deal to continue their partnership. The new deal sees Marvel Studios producing the next installment of Spider-Man’s cinematic franchise, with Kevin Feige taking a lead role in the production once more. Spider-Man will also appear in other MCU movies going forward as he has previously done.

  • Late To Class? Get a Pass

    Late To Class? Get a Pass

    Attention all Poly students! This is a quick reminder that you must be in class before the tardy bell rings. Teachers, please remember to close your doors…

    If you’ve been paying attention to the intercom for the past two weeks, then you’ve surely heard this or a similar announcement.
    Constant announcements after the bell rings for passing period is just one aspect of Poly’s new tardy policy.

    Having taken effect at the beginning of the school year, the policy intends to reduce the amount of tardies throughout campus. Tardiness has been a problem at Poly, with over 80,000 tardies just last year. This is the main reason the policy was created.

    The policy consists of the usual two minute bell during which staff members encourage students to get to class. Once the final bell rings, teachers are expected to shut their doors and not let anyone else in. If you are unable to make it to class on time then you will need to find a staff member around campus who can give you a tardy pass.

    If the policy is not followed, consequences can be expected. A student with three or more tardies is assigned lunch detention. If the amount of tardies goes up to six then the consequence will be after school detention.

    The team in charge of creating and enforcing this new policy is the Safe and Civil Committee led by new Assistant Principal Shannon Young. According to Young, teachers presented the information that the amount of people coming into class late can become a distraction and disturb teaching.

    The results are already apparent as the amount of tardies has been reduced by 33% over the same time period last year, according to Young. Students are visibly more hurried to get to class and areas which were previously known for loitering are now clear.
    Periods 1 and 2 however, continue to be the periods with most tardies. Young is not discouraged by this information.

    “We are hoping that as we continue to enforce and utilize our progressive discipline,” said Young, “we continue to see a reduction in periods 1 and 2.”

    Teachers and students views on the other hand, differ. Students believe the policy could be more understanding.
    “Instead of punitive repercussions, they could offer incentives as encouragement instead,” said MEDS Academy senior Kerah Hunter.

    “They should be more lenient,” said Brooke Coleman, a junior in BEACH Academy. Coleman points out the diversity of students who attend Poly and who might live farther away, “The school doesn’t understand the struggles of getting to school on time.”

    The unequal distribution of punishment among students, is one of the concerns of English teacher and Softball coach, Elizabeth Sanches. Sanches said there needed to be a balance between the consequences for a student who is a few minutes late compared to the one who is 40 minutes late.

    “To punish them both in the same manner doesn’t seem fair,” said Sanches. Regardless, she believes that after the tardy mess of last year, the policy is necessary.

    English teacher, Kerry Boyd, also agrees it is necessary. “Students have been more motivated to get to class on time, especially compared to last year,” said Boyd.

    Poly’s new tardy policy will continue to be in effect throughout the school year. Administration hopes to successfully continue reducing the amount of tardies and create a balanced environment for teaching and learning.

  • Girls Volleyball Spikes Success

    One of the many sports active this season at Long Beach Poly High is girls Volleyball, coached by Leland McGrath. Tryouts and training for Frosh Soph, Junior Varsity, and Varsity teams were held earlier this summer. The girls volleyball teams have matches held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with tournaments also taking place on some Saturdays. Junior Varsity and Frosh Soph games start at 3:00pm while Varsity begins at 4:15pm.

    On Sept. 21-22, the teams competed in the Durango Volleyball Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.

    After a few tough matches against Wilson and Millikan the Jackrabbits started getting the outcomes they’ve been hoping for in their matches, including a  25 – 16, 25 – 13, 25 – 10 sweep against the St. Joseph Jesters.

    Thanks to a lineup change made by Coach McGrath and a change in the girls’ energy the Jackrabbits got what they were striving for. McGrath put sophomore Adonia Faumuina as one of the setters in the team’s two-setter system.

    Halfway through the  Moore League girls’ volleyball season, Long Beach Poly swept Lakewood on Sept. 25, forcing a first-place tie between the Jackrabbits and Lancers.  Poly was also fierce in a road sweep of the Lancers, winning 25-21, 25-10, 25-15.