Author: adviser

  • Den of Thieves!

    Den of Thieves!

    An L.A crime saga which follows the intersecting and often personally connected lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank of downtown Los Angeles. Many known faces star in the movie, such as Gerald Butler, 50 Cent, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and many more. While watching the movie, one may not know what to expect, but if you like an action packed movie, you’ll be into this.

    In fact, Long Beach Poly High School was mentioned a couple times throughout the movie. Represent!  Yup, it’s true, they talk a little on our outstanding football team. The movie is centered around the Los Angeles County. Although Hawthorne, Long Beach, San Pedro, and Compton were all mentioned in the movie.

    So far, it made 58.3 million USD in the box office. In the NY Times review, they stated that “With almost compulsive detail, ‘Den of Thieves’ rattles off title cards identifying places and major characters, some of whose names sound like Los Angeles suburbs. The would-be regional authenticity is marred by obviously off-location work. It’s no surprise when the ubiquitous Georgia peach logo surfaces in the credits.” On Rotten Tomatoes, this film recieved 39% so watch at your own risk. The ending will have you surprised and in awe.

  • Putting Talent to the Test!

    The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee came to Poly’s auditorium the weekend of February 9-11. This comedic musical follows a middle school spelling bee and the lives of the young competitors. There were two casts for a number of roles, and both were amazing and brought their own unique interpretation to the characters.

    The spelling bee is run by Rona Lisa Peretti (Emma Waters and Marisa Imbroane), the third annual spelling bee winner, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Carlos Necochea) who provided hilarious example sentences for each contestant’s word. There to comfort the spellers and escort them off stage was Mitch Mahoney (Jeremy Padrones, Choir student teacher) who was serving his community service and delivered a soulful and astounding performance of “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor”.

    Nico Fife and Max Noble played the role of Leaf Coneybear, a homeschooled boy who came in third in his spelling bee and only got to compete because the other two people could not. When he spells his words he is in a trance that somehow allows him to get the word right, in spite of showing no previous signs of exceptional intelligence which is shown in his song, “I’m Not That Smart”.

    The Characer’s, Logianne Schwartzand Grubenierre (Adrianna Luna and Mika Dyo) was the youngest and most politically aware competitor with an adorable lisp who has two gay dads (Dane Camacho and Josiah Hon who provided a hilarious performance). She sings a song about her motivation for winning the bee in “Woe is Me.”

    Chip Tolentino (Vincent Zamora) won the previous spelling bee and went to Nationals. He was eliminated early in this bee due to a hilariously unfortunate situation caused by Leaf’s sister Marigold. He goes on to deliver a song of lament chock full of comedy while selling concessions during the snack break called “My Unfortunate Distraction.”

    Marcy Park (Gabriella Kaiser and Toni Bravo) is a typical overachiever who attends Catholic school. She gave an amazing performance full of dancing and incredible vocals called “I speak Six Languages” where she goes into detail about all of her abilities.

    Olive Ostrovsky (Amanda Angeles and Mara Stanford) and William Barfee (Andy Martinez) were the final two spellers with Barfee taking the trophy. Olive has a mom who is in India (Marisa Imbroane and Jovanni Pham) and a workaholic father (Dane Camacho) and sings a heart tugging song called “The I Love You Song” which takes place in her head.

    According to Linda Bon, Poly’s drama teacher, a Musical Theatre West scout came to the show and said Poly’s performing arts department is on par with the other performing art schools in the area.

    One unique thing about this show is that audience volunteers have the opportunity to be picked as spellers in the show. One of the funniest volunteers was Albert Shaheen, a chemistry teacher at Poly.

    All of the characters were easy to get attached to causing the audience to be sad when a speller was eliminated. Between the top notch acting, singing, dancing and nonstop comedy, Poly’s first musical was an overall success and they hope to have more in the following years.

  • What in the World?!?

    Friday, January 26

    In Syria, President Ergdon said he would expand Anti-Kurdish operations.

    Saturday, January 27

    The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu calls out the Polish Death Camp Law, which states that anyone who declares that Poland is be responsible for the Polish Death camps would be punished.

    Sunday, January 28

    In Yemen 80 people were wounded and 10 killed when government troops fought with Yemeni separatists.

    Monday, January 29

    Romania’s first woman Prime Minister was sworn in.

    Tuesday, January 30

    Raila Odinga was sworn in as the “people’s president” in Kenya.

    Wednesday, January 31

    African leaders almost call for President Trump to apologize for his vulgar remarks about Africa.

    Thursday, February 1

    The oldest son of Fidel Castro commits suicide at age 68.

    Friday, February 2

    The government of Burma denies that there were mass graves in a village located in the Rakhine state.

    Saturday, February 3

    The leader of Poland’s ruling party says that the Polish president should approve the controversial Holocaust bill.

    Sunday, February 4

    Iran sentences a man to six years in prison for allegedly selling nuclear informations to both the United States and an unknown European country.

    Monday, February 5

    A U.S. conservationist, Esmond Bradley Martin, was found dead in Nairobi.

    Tuesday February 6

    A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, killing 2 and injuring more than 200.

    *Information for this segment was compiled from the World Digest section of the Washington Post*

  • Today in History

    1825 – John Quincy Adams is elected as the 6th president of the United States.

    1861 – Tennessee votes against secession (US Civil War).

    1895 – Volleyball is invented by W G Morgan.

    1926 – The theory of evolution is forbidden in Atlanta, Georgia schools.

    1935 – US female and male Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson and Robin Lee.

    1940 – Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy for the heavyweight boxing title.

    1971 – Apollo 14 returns to Earth.

    1990 – the Galileo flies by Venus.

    2011 – Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday” reaches number one on the Billboard 200 chart for its eleventh week.

    2016 – The Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 at Super Bowl L.

  • Behind the Crime Scenes!

    Behind the Crime Scenes!

    When I first thought of this article,  it was because I was     curious to see what our Poly CSO’s do with their lives outside of school. Have you ever been curious as to what your teachers do in their spare time? Surely they have something they like to do aside from all that grading

    The gate worker and security guard Mike Castillo has been working for poly for the past two years. He is someone students often walk past, but seldom ever greet.

    Castillo, when he isn’t keeping poly’s campus beautiful, coaches youth basketball and youth football. “I was a jock in high school, I guess in that way, I still am.” Castillo said, smiling in remembrance of his past self.

    Nowadays, Castillo’s joy and passion comes not from sports alone, but his family. “My kids are my everything. I’m very soon to be a Grandpa, so I have that to look forward to.” he remarked with a small chuckle.

    Jeff Eyanson (the CSO pictured) has been a part of the Jackrabbit family for 28 years. During 8 of which he has been working toward receiving his doctorate. He was able to find the time to study while he worked. “I was able to work in between the cracks of time. I was able to do a lot of research while I’m at the main gate.”

    All that hard work will soon pay off for Eyanson, “I can see the end of the tunnel.” he said with a wide grin. As of now, Eyanson already teaches youth baseball and colleges courses twice a week in San Diego. He plans to remain working at poly as well as teaching online courses, “Is there anywhere else to go? I went here, stood here for 28 years. My son will go to high school here. Once a Jackrabbit, always a Jackrabbit.”

    Looking back to his years as a student here on campus, Eyanson can only remember being one thing: Busy. “I was in all kinds of clubs, student council, I was assistant coach for volleyball my senior year, and I was coach for 13 years after. We won CIF in 2000.”

  • Beyond U.S.

    Beyond U.S.

    Just outside Libya’s capital of Tripoli, a shocking video came to surface on July 8, 2017, showing groups of migrant farmers being sold at Libyan detention camps. Most of the victims were migrant farmers and north African refugees.

    These auctions involving migrant farmers, have been going on for quite a while, however, a specific date is not clear. The video in question, provided by Casey Quackenbush of the New York Times, shows the detained being auctioned off for as little as $400 to work around neighboring African countries and even the Middle East. According to the International Organization for Migration, “slave markets” have been most active along migrants routes of North Africa. Some of these slave camps have been raided by the Libyan police and the conditions were said to be horrific with cramped quarters and meals barely enough to suffice. The African Union’s top official Moussa Faki Mahamat, has stated that there is about 700,000 African migrants detained in these camps.

    “Some Nigerians were being sold like goats for a few dollars in Libya,” said Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari at the Ivory Coast Summit on November 29, 2017. At this summit, various North African countries came to speak on Libya’s so called “lucrative” trade.

    The country of Libya, has been taking measures to expire these camps with formal investigations by the Libyan government. Libya and various European countries such as France and Germany in connection with the United Nations, have flown over 250 migrants out these camps back to their home country. However, progression in Libya is dismal. Libya, infamously known to be a lawless country, has been turning a blind eye on slavery for years with past leader Moammar Gaddafi being accused of inflating the trade.

    Libyan officials, however, have been trying their best with the help of the European Union to eliminate the countries humanitarian crisis. As of now, the future for these migrants and refugees remain unknown.

  • Poly Nation Makes Transportation Presentations

    Poly Nation Makes Transportation Presentations

    On January 11, a group of PacRim sophomores were given the opportunity to give a presentation to the board members, including CEO Kenneth McDonald, at Long Beach Transit (LBT). According to LBT, students are not “utilizing enough transportation in the city.”

    To provide more perspective, the students were divided into small groups and assigned to a specific target area. According to Melannie Rodriguez, the groups “surveyed over 500 kids and basically found what the students didn’t like.”

    The marketing presentation ideas ranged from creating an app that would provide accurate schedule updates, to partnering with brands like Supreme for sponsorship, to distributing cards with electronic chips.

    For Korey Loueng, the Supreme proposal was his favorite because of its current popularity and it is something “people would like.” There also appears to be a reputation stigma surrounding bus transportation. Often times, buses are littered with trash and most seats are stained.

    According to Angelica Murillo, providing “more comfortable seats” may invite students to frequent bus transportation.

    And in this day and age where students cannot live without their phones, Serena Ier stated that “putting wifi on the buses” may reel in the high school demographic that LBT is looking for.

    The experience allowed the students to gain insight on the importance of what they learn in PacRim; Kevyn Reyes liked the challenge of applying his marketing knowledge to a  “real world problem” that may be valuable in the future. Jahmal Bell, Mercie Vivao, Jocelyn Yanez, Sodavid Nit, Kaiya Phillips, Jaileen Williams, Anahi Nunez, and Vincent Thornton were also participants in the bus changes presentation.

  • Valentines Day Horoscopes!

    Aries: Goes for someone way out of their league

    Taurus: Is still dating their middle school crush

    Gemini: Falls i

    n love with a new person every week

    Cancer: Makes you meet their mom before the first date

    Leo: Breaks up with you due to contrasting beliefs

    Virgo: Is perpetually stuck in the friend-zone

    Libra: Asks you out through a DM

    Scorpio: Constantly asking if you still like them

    Sagittarius: Claims they’re “just not ready”

    Capricorn: Plans an elaborate surprise to ask you out

    Aquarius: Avoids you until you awkwardly drift

    Comic sketched by Ella Christensen

    Pisces: Plays hard to get-ends up alone

  • Look at this Posse

    Look at this Posse

    Alena Taing (Middlebury College, Vermont)

    “I’m so grateful for this experience of course, and all the learning that comes with it and the support system I will have throughout my whole life. I had always wanted to go to a school on the east coast, but private school tuition was so high it seemed almost impossible. So I am very thankful I have the chance to live out my childhood dreams.”

    Miles Denmion (Dickinson College, Pennsylvania)

    “I look forward to a new experience where I can represent the knowledge and experiences earned in Long Beach.”

    Lauren Calderon (Northwestern University, Illinois)

    “It still doesn’t feel, like, real that I’m receiving almost a quarter of a million dollars to attend the school of my dreams. I never imagined this would be a reality. I cannot wait to spend the next four years of my life at Northwestern, where I plan to major in Chemistry and minor in Spanish.”

    Paula Clemente (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

    “From the Posse program, I get more than a money check, but a lifelong network with people who are there to support me! I’m excited and scared to go to the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the fall as a molecular biology major, but I’m still going to have to adjust to the weather. All I know is when the time comes next year, I want to nominate a student from Poly, so they can be a Posse scholar!”

  • 60th Annual Grammy Recap!

    60th Annual Grammy Recap!

    To those who produce music, it is a dream to be nominated for a Grammy. 2017 consisted of amazing new music from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Childish Gambino, Lorde and many more. On January 28th, the 60th Annual Grammys were held at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. The show wrestled with a range of social and political topics including immigration, racial injustice, and the #MeToo movement by many influencers of our time.

    Many remarkable moments happened throughout the show. Kendrick Lamar opened the show with U2 with his song “XXX,” as he raps about poverty and revenge. A #MeToo moment was brought into the spotlight by Kesha and many fellow female artists that attended that night standing behind her in this overwhelming, powerful, emotional movement. For those who aren’t aware, the #MeToo movement brings widespread awareness and prevalence to sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. The women in white performed “Praying,” a ballad off of her first studio album, “Rainbow.” Performances from Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Rihanna, SZA, and Sam Smith took the stage by storm, with hit singles released last year.

    The nominations this year among the musicians, rappers were going head to head in each of the category. For Bruno Mars, it was the highlight of his career thus far. An upbeat master of singalong bops, which also makes you want to groove with the move. Mr. Mars won all six of the awards he was nominated for, including the top prizes of: album, record, and song of the year. The provocative and critically admired rapper from Compton, CA, Kendrick Lamar, was the next most awarded artist whose five wins included awards from the rap categories. For those who didn’t go home with a Grammy in hand, it was an honor to be nominated, which clearly indicates how worthy and impactful their music was and still is in many lives.

  • Choristers Get Opportunity of a Lifetime

    Choristers Get Opportunity of a Lifetime

    On Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday, February 1, LBUSD’s high school honor choir  performed alongside the Long Beach Symphony at the Terrace Theater for third through fifth graders.

    The honor choir includes the following high schools within LBUSD: Poly, Millikan, Wilson, Lakewood, and Renaissance. They met at Millikan for weekly rehearsals since the beginning of January.

    Eckart Preu, the eighth Musical Director of the Long Beach Symphony, conducted both the symphony and the choir.

    He started the concert off with two pieces from Carmen, composed by Georges Bizet, one with featuring a trumpet solo and the other featuring the choir singing in French. The next piece was “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor composed by Alexander Borodin. This song and “1812 Overture” composed by Peter Tchaikovsky were both sung in Russian.

    The “1812 Overture” originally featured live cannons to emulate warfare, but the Terrace Theater would not allow those, so instead a red button was used to play recordings of the cannons. Preu selected a child from the audience to hit the button when he signaled them. After that piece the honor choir took a break for two symphony only songs.

    The first piece was “Ride of the Valkyries” composed by Richard Wagner. This is a song that is used in many commercials and movies so it was recognizable for the children. The second piece included an additional student volunteer who got to conduct one of the pieces.

    The last piece of the show was a real crowdpleaser. It was “Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace. The kids went crazy over hearing a song from a movie they knew very well and were amazed by hearing that song with a live symphony.

  • What High Schoolers Are Really Wearing

    What High Schoolers Are Really Wearing

    Often, the clothing that a typical high schooler chooses to wear is a broader statement of their personality. Being able to personify oneself nonverbally is ideal for the antisocial community of teenagers that overwhelms a school campus. Thrifting has always been an extremely popular way to obtain fashionable clothing for Long Beach Poly kids. Being a student here myself, I can certainly say that about 70% of my closet is thrifted, consignment, or handed down to me. But whether the clothes were $2 or $200, what matters is the person wearing it. Are they comfortable? Do they approve of themselves? Do they care what other people think? Are they dressing that way for someone other than themselves?

    The featured kids above are a few members of the eclectic group of students at Poly high school. On the far left is senior, Clara Donovan, wearing a thrifted floor length floral dress with a black cardigan to cover up from the cold breeze that mocks the 80 degree winter weather we are having.  “Yeah! I look good today!” she exclaimed when I told her she’d be in the newspaper for a fashion article. Clara epitomizes the eclectic, unique teenager that Poly is known for.

    In the center photo, is Scott Volland, a PACE visionary, known for his classic and preppy style he skillfully exhibits everyday. Volland’s Fit of the Day contains a light knit sweater over a button up, collared shirt and beige corduroy pants concluded with some slip on shoes and a modish scarf.

    And finally, on the far right is the girls water polo player, Darby Huff who excitedly said, “Oh! Cool! It’ll be in the newspaper” in regards to my photographing her outfit. Huff is truly a woman of the water, and it’s shown in her notorious Hawaiian shirt, “finest pair of mom jeans you have ever seen,” and faded vans. Huff stated that she actually “got my shirt  in Greece during my month long club water polo trip. I was at a bar with my teammates and there was a band playing and some girl took her shirt off and threw it but it didn’t make it to the stage–only into my hands! I tried to give it back, but I couldn’t find her, so I just kept it!”

    Overall, these kiddos have a keen eye for fashion and know exactly how to style themselves.  In this modern age for recklessness through style, these are a few of the  special ones.