Summers on its way, and as the weather heats up so does the music. Summer is a time to vibe, and you don’t want your playlist full of bad music. Luckily i’m here to save you. Here are some songs to add to your playlist this summer.
-“Plug Walk” by Rich The Kid
-“Be Careful” by Cardi B
-“Like That” by IamJyoungin
– “Psycho” by Post Malone (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
-“Crew” by GoldLink (feat. Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy)
-“Sky Walker” by Miguel (feat. Travis Scott)
With school ending in a few months, it is time to start planning how to make the most of our summer vacation. If you have no idea how to officially kick off the summer, why not spend it amongst Hollywood’s departed?
Each year Cinespia brings classic films to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A few of this year’s movies includes: Drive, Casablanca, Spirited Away, and Alien. General admission ticket prices can range anywhere from $12-$16 each. So if you would like to catch a movie with the dead, purchase your tickets early and bring your picnic blankets and snacks.
If that is too macabre, then maybe visiting a museum might be more your scene. Some of the more well known museums in SoCal include: Natural History Museum, LACMA, The Broad, and The Getty. Fortunately, not all museums require ticket purchase and it’s a fun way to learn without having to sit in uncomfortable chairs all day.
Whatever your plans are for the summer, make sure you spend it making memories with friends and family.
By now we’re hitting the gym to reach our “body goals” for the upcoming season. What exactly is “Body Goals?” No matter what size you wear, love your body for what it is. It’s easier said than done. Although sometimes we forget to treat and care for our body the correct way, it’s still okay to have a couple of cheat days.
Thick is cute, skinny is cute. Most of today’s society is accepting and embracing every kind of body type, yet there are still those who feel uncomfortable when showing some skin. Don’t let these social anxiety thoughts forbid you from wearing what you want. It’s hot, wear a dress! Don’t forget that each body type is different from one another.
Personally, I struggled to have confidence with my body. I tried my best by working out and eating healthy but for some reason I was not seeing the results I wanted. It took some time for me to accept my body for what it is. Self love is what we all need to be happy.
Living a healthy lifestyle by exercising and consuming fresher foods will put you on the path towards a more positive life. Although it may be tough to maintain a healthy and confident mindset, always remember that you are valuable and one of a kind!
Failing a class during the regular school year leads to the necessity of attending to summer school. At Poly we have the liberty of not wearing uniforms but for the rest of the other High Schools I wish to remind the students that in the month of July the weather average is above 80 .
In the summer you will have to wake up early, trade bikinis for notebooks, sweat instead of tan, hold pencils instead of ice cream, and show up to a classroom where even the staff doesn’t want to be there. For more than two hours every weekday in a one month period surrounded by four very interesting walls covered by a ceiling that has over 3,000 tiny holes, you will be missing out on awesome adventures that your friends will never forget like enjoying the aesthetic of fun outdoor places, the waves at the beaches, poolside parties, camping, and traveling.
The horror is not only for students but also for the teachers who may or may not put up with cranky, disrespectful, and dull teenagers. Just to let you know, the clock will not gain speed if you keep looking at it. And lastly, by taking your struggling course more seriously during the semester, attending school during your three months of freedom could have been avoided.
Recently, it was said that the C.A.R.E. Center was closing for the 2018-2019 school year. Funding outside of school was going on to help raise money to keep the center open. Due to the help of students, educators, alumni, parents and community activism, the C.A.R.E. Center will remain open for next school year.
Along with the C.A.R.E Center remaining open, new classes will be forming. If you will be in 10th or 11th grade next year and interested in social work or community health advocacy tell your counselor that you are interested in the Social Work and Health Class. If you will be in 11th or 12th grade next year and are interested in pursuing a future in mental health and behavioral health tell your counselor that you are interested in the Mental and Behavioral Health Professional class.
These classes will help anyone with an interest in social work, community activism, community-health advocacy, mental-health professions, and if you would like to be a coach or educator.
Michael Gray, C.A.R.E Center counselor, will be teaching the new classes. The new classes will be counted as a “g” elective for the A – G college requirements.
Long Beach Polytechnic has recently filled all the classrooms with purifiers. A purifier is a device that removes contaminating particles (such as dust, pollen, and dander) from the air. Air purifiers that draw air through fabric filters are among those that do the best job of removing dust and smoke from the air without producing any ozone. Many classrooms at Poly do not have air conditioning, so even with the purifier it should help get a little breeze while still cleaning the air. Assistant Principal Matt Brown said, “To my understanding there was a grant by the port of Long Beach that the district applied for and schools that are impacted by air quality by port that do not have central air were provided site purifiers, and it was no cost to the district.” These air purifiers will be replacement for air conditioners until the school gets a full set. Brown added that, “They’re suppose to be cleaning the air. If it’s hot, you have to have the windows shut. The air purifiers are supposed to be top of the line so they will do the job. The cool thing is once the central air is put in through the campus (HVAC) the same the filters that are in air purifiers will be put into the AC Units.” According to Los Angeles Times, the Long Beach ports are the largest source of air pollution in Southern California. According to the port of Long Beach, they are committed to improving the environment and protecting the community from harmful environmental impacts from port operations.
PACE being the oldest specialized program in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), it was not surprising that the number of qualified applicants has increased. A problem arose when the final number of incoming ninth graders exceeded the maximum spaces available in the PACE ninth grade class.
The contractual maximum for English teachers in LBUSD is 175 students, which means that accepting more than 175 students becomes a problem for the school’s administration. Between 175 and 185 students are accepted into the PACE program each year.
The selection process for PACE is based on grades and standardized test scores, which are put into a formula that calculates the High School Academic Index (HSAI). Admission is based on that number. For the past two years, most applicants who met the minimum HSAI to apply to PACE and who listed it as their first choice, were accepted.
“At the CHOICE events this year, I told parents that based on the past two years’ experience, they need not worry if their child was near the cutoff point on their HSAI, that we had admitted everyone that qualified for the past two years,” said Michelle Aberle, the PACE facilitator. This year, however, there were many more students who qualified than available space in the program. This was true for a number of pathways this year. This is concerning to Aberle, who worries that parents will feel betrayed by the system. Why this occurred this year is not known.
Within the past several years, LBUSD has taken control of the CHOICE process, with more inconsistent results, according to Aberle. The district mandated that programs in the district have the same entrance requirements, which for PACE, lowered the GPA and initially raised the standardized test scores. The Pathway Coordinator at Wilson High School, Edward Steinhauser, said in an email, “This year, in an attempt to lessen the nuanced confusion around entrance requirements, QUEST, WAVE, and PACE were all given the same entrance requirements (GPA, SBAC score on English Language Arts, and Algebra 1. PACE calculated acceptance with the High School Academic Index while QUEST and WAVE used GPA top down.”
The school district is using the same admission process, using a top-down HSAI, but with results that fluctuate every year. A few years back, PACE handled their own admissions, using what the district now says is the same process. But in the previous years, results were much more predictable, and the problem of admissions exceeding contractual maximums did not occur.
“If a program like PACE has more qualified applicants than allocated spots in a given year, some of the students will be offered places at their second or third choices,” said Russ Anderson, a counselor at Lakewood High School, “Two years ago, Merit Scholars at Lakewood experienced a drop in enrollment for the first time. So, for the first time, we were able to enroll some students who had not been accepted to other programs that happened to be impacted that year. I would imagine that one reason the current selection process exists is to keep pathways strong across the district.”
At PACE, the number of acceptances sent out to the eighth graders has been based upon the number of students, historically, that ultimately accept. Some students apply to PACE with the intention of attending private schools, whose acceptances come out later than those of LBUSD. However, far more students accepted than what could be anticipated from the previous averages.
“I believe that what happened this year,” said Aberle, “is that many students, unfortunately, selected impacted programs for all three of their top choices. This means that students may be placed in programs that were not among their selections.” It is for this reason that Aberle looks back on the days when programs had more authority in the process and the process was more transparent. The district maintains, that students get at least one of their top choices.
PACE has also noticed a trend toward decreasing resiliency in the students coming into the program. Teachers, counselor Connie Loggins, and Aberle are all interested in finding ways to decrease stress and to increase the satisfaction that comes to students who enjoy learning among teachers who clearly enjoy their students. The program remains resolute that program standards be maintained at the current high levels. And according to both Aberle and Steinhauser, all LBUSD high schools are looking at ways to better serve our students, making sure that all pathways are accessible and prepare students for success.
I have been reading the Poly High Life for over 32 years. I enjoy it, and more often than not I am impressed by the quality and content of the many articles that our awesome Poly students write. Even when I don’t agree with the content and substance of the article, I am still impressed. But in the March 28th issue I read an article entitled (sic) “Why does school feel more like jail?” by Koa Calloway.
The writer took it upon himself, albeit ignorantly, to totally bash the Campus Security Officers who dutifully serve the students and staff at Poly. First allow me to briefly share a few of our duties/responsibilities: We prevent and break up fights at the risk of harm to our own selves, which has happened. We take weapons and drugs from students. We identify and remove non-students from campus who have somehow gotten on campus—sometimes for the wrong reasons. We work EVERY after school event—sports, music, drama, etc. to maintain the safety of ALL who come to these activities. We even secure the safety of their vehicles. We remove students from class whom the teacher have deemed unruly or disruptive. We do so much more.
But Mr. Calloway seems to think that all we do is harass and disrespect our students! Wow. When I read his article I was shocked to find out that he is a senior at Poly. I wondered, where has this kid been for the last almost 4 years now? Has he ever been escorted to room 119 for getting into trouble at Poly? The odd thing about his article is that he never states that he personally ever had a negative run-in with a CSO. Mr. Calloway, the process of showing your I.D. when you leave campus during school hours, has been in existence since before you were born. And if you can’t figure out why we do that, then as a senior you have really been out of the loop. Students try to sneak off campus during school hours everyday at Poly. What do you think happens if one succeeds and then something really bad happens to him/her? Or if a CSO allowed a student to leave during school hours without showing their I.D. and their official excuse to leave campus? Not a good ending.
You say a lot of students don’t seen to like us. Well I totally disagree with that statement! Poll your fellow students. Besides the ones who may have disciplinary issues, I think we would pass the test with flying colors. We don’t harass students, physically assault students, nor curse at students. You may have witnessed an isolated “incident” between a CSO and a student, but you don’t know the whole story. You only know what you saw and heard. Which wasn’t much, because our camera system recorded that situation. We are not here to be friends of the students. We are here to protect, and hopefully, respect our students. But along with discipline, comes rebellious attitudes that we have to deal with.
No one on this campus has better relationships with students than the CSO’s. Students confide in us about many things. I should know, I am a CSO and a 33-year employee at Poly. And a proud alumnus. So before you attempt to pass ignorant judgment along again, remember, somebody knows the facts!
If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet in the past two weeks, chances are you have seen him. His posture is unmistakable, and his voice even more so. The young man is dressed in a while shirt, red bow tie, blue jeans, and boots, with a rugged cowboy belt buckle to top it all off. More striking than his appearance is his location. The boy appears in a Walmart with a single elderly onlooker, which wouldn’t be too strange if not for the fact that he is giving a legendary performance. With nothing but the tapping of his foot to accompany his voice, the young man yodels his rendition of Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues”. When I first saw this meme I liked it. The singing was simultaneously sweet and grating, while the lack of context raised many compelling questions. However, my amusement with the meme faded quickly, and its constant reuploads and reiterations have begun to wear me out. The internet has taken things too far, and ruined something funny by shoving it in everyone’s faces 24/7. I don’t need to know his name. I don’t need to see him on Ellen. I don’t need to see him perform at Coachella, of all places. The meme should have just been left to fade as a pleasant memory, and not soullessly milked of all originality through the thousands of individuals and corporations who jump on every viral bandwagon that rolls through town. A lot of tired, worn out memes started out funny and original, but as the masses of pop culture consumers overtake the meme, it soon loses every shred of individuality, as parasite after parasite claws at it, trying to claim a morsel for themselves. My advice for those who want to cherish their memes is this; save it for yourself and for your friends, but DO NOT let the meme spread to those who won’t respect it the same way you do!
Are you stressed? Do you have anxiety? Are you in fear of something? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this article might be helpful to you. Anxiety is one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States, and nearly all of us experience it at some point, with or without a diagnosis. Why is it that we have to experience anxiety, stress, and fear?
Our bodies react chemically towards our situations and atmospheres. For example, we run from bears because we know they can kill us. Without this instinct, there would be no motivation to act, and we would be dead. It is our innate survival mechanism.
Too much stress, though, could lead to a chemical imbalance, which is never beneficial. High school is full of demanding classes and extracurriculars, which create stress for many students. Every day, I deal with these emotions, but what keeps me “sane” is my foundation in Jesus Christ. Sometimes, I have to realize how fragile my mind and body both are, and that I have to give all my worries up to the Lord.
Jesus is my savior, who I place my trust and faith in for my life. He will take care of my needs and desires, but I first have to believe He will. There is no curveball that life throws at me that Jesus cannot handle. Despite my sins and shortcomings, Jesus remains as my guide and protector.
There is a variety of ways to cope with difficult times, but are they consistent and helpful? Trusting in Jesus is the best method to have peace. His peace—majestic and beautiful—is almost unexplainable and only comes from Him. Here are a few Bible verses to emphasize Jesus’ promise:
“You [Jesus] will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3).”
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10).”
Does leaning on Jesus mean you will never stress? No, I mean if that were the case, I would live a stress-free life but I am not. We are still human and will continue to feel these emotions.This promises that Jesus will be by your side through the thick and thin. It would be in your best interest to remember this verse:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).”
Shortly after US Senator Kamala Harris had been sworn into office in 2017, she was speaking at her stepdaughter’s high school when a student raised her hand and asked, “What are we going to do about a divided America?” Harris distinctly remembered that question and, at a town-hall meeting at the Long Beach Convention Center on Friday, April 6, explained to a crowd of local residents how relevant the answer is today.
“It broke my heart,” Harris said. “Here these kids are– they should be coming out knowing that they can be whatever they want, they should be dreaming with their eyes wide open about the possibilities for their future– I looked at her and I said, ‘You know, I reject the premise. I do not believe we are divided. I believe, based on all of my personal and professional experiences, based on the things that I have seen and known, that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.”
Public health
Harris went on to explain how the government has three main roles.
“You should also understand that government has three essential functions– public health, public safety and public education,” she said. “We’ve got to support and put resources into all three, understanding that is just the noble cause and reason for being of government, and it must perform its job and do it in a smart and effective way that is relevant to the people– meaning, making sure that we give all people access to those three.”
As for public health, Harris stated that health care should be considered a right and not a privilege.
“We should not be playing politics with public health,” she explained.
As a result of the politicization of health care, the debates surrounding it are ongoing.
Harris explained how, for seven years, Republicans were trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was signed under former President Barack Obama. She stated that the party began to politicize the act and coined it Obamacare. Then, Donald Trump took office, and his administration made repealing and replacing the ACA their No. 1 priority.
“It was interesting to see that some of the town halls that would happen in so-called red states, folks would show up and say, ‘Yeah, get rid of that Obamacare, but this here health care I got right now, I like this,’” Harris said while laughing with the audience. “Even though it was not perfect, what it did was it dealt with things like pre-existing conditions and said that that should not be a barrier to having access. It said that it should not be a deficit if you happen to be a woman, and therefore, responsible for reproducing the human race, that you should not have barriers to your ability or have to pay more for your ability to have access to reproductive health care.”
The outcome of the ACA supports the theme of commonality Harris discussed at the beginning of the town-hall gathering.
“Back to my earlier point,” she said. “We should look at a victory in terms of the people speaking and understanding there are certain things we all have in common. What ended up happening is that people in so-called red states and so-called blue states and purple states spoke up and said, ‘Don’t play politics with our health care.’”
The attempt, according to Harris, to repeal and replace Obamacare was defeated because of the people who stood up and spoke out exhibiting “the beautiful system of democracy.”
“As we are going through these days, and we are shouting at the TV, and we are wringing our hands, and we are having all of these feelings of anxiety and frustration,” Harris said, “let’s remember also that, again, it may not be perfect, but we designed a beautiful system of democracy in terms of making sure that the people can have a voice, and hopefully, will be heard.”
Education
Toward the end of the town-hall gathering, Harris began answering questions from the audience.
A resident asked that, since “Long Beach is an education town, what can we do to support your efforts, and where do you see the federal government and U.S. Senate? What could you do to help us improve locally within
the education area as well?”
“One of the best ways to achieve safety in a community, much less productivity and success in a community, is to focus on educating our young people,” Harris responded. “Those are just dollars better spent.”
Harris added that she is also in favor of tuition-free college.
“There are so many of our students right now that are sitting back, you know, out of high school, in high school or sitting down at the kitchen table with their parents looking at the numbers and wondering does it make any financial sense for them to go to college,” she described. “Those that do, end up with a burden in terms of student-loan debt that is literally distracting them from their ability to thrive and to be creative and to succeed. It is causing a lot of our kids actually going to bankruptcy without an ability to actually refinance or deal with the bankruptcy. So, those are some of the things that I could use your help on to make sure that we are loud and clear about the need to reform what we are doing at the federal level around that.”
In addition, the current education system, according to Harris, is quite outdated.
“We have to fund education,” she said. “We have to understand that, frankly, we have got to bring education forward 150 years. […] In terms of what we can do to be more effective around educating our children, it’s about resources, it’s about valuing our teachers and paying them for what they do. We are giving them the resources and not requiring them to be the school nurse, the guidance counselor, and the therapist and God forbid asking them to go to school with a gun. Right?”
Harris said that, as jobs transform and fit the standards of the 21st century, schools and education should as well.
“Let’s begin to think about how we can modernize our education system in a way that we achieve greater equities,” she said.
A version of this article was first published for The Signal Tribune.
There have been some changes added to Poly this past month. Three of the girl’s restrooms now have sanitary napkin/tampon dispensaries. Yes, something we’ve actually needed for a long time; no more bringing an entire box from home, which is great for me. Living in a single dad household is great until it’s 10:00 at night and you’ve just realized you are completely out of tampons. I once asked my dad to buy me some pads and he came back with adult diapers. Needless to say, the idea of being able to get them at school when necessary was a blessing for me. That’s not even the best part. They. Are. FREE.
After years of criticizing the third-wave feminists, I was actually appreciative of the first world problem protests, until the time came when I actually needed a pad on campus. It was exactly two days after the dispensaries were up and all of them were completely out. I should have seen it coming, mostly because I actually saw it happening. I saw a girl press the button 8 times and took 8 pads with her, while her friend encouraged her and giggled. Did I also laugh? Yes, because I was under the impression that girl was robbing the school, not me. It’s you greedy females, and you know who you are, that are the reason we can’t have nice things like tampons and real toilet paper.
I don’t know why I thought the school would refill the dispensaries once they ran out, why on earth would they do that? Some things are just too good to be true. I am thankful for the girl code, section 8, paragraph 3 that states that, if another woman asks you for a pad and you have one and don’t need it, by law you have to give it to her. The consequences for breaking such law is being labeled as a fake for life.
Ladies, I understand, I do. We need these items in order to survive, and there just isn’t enough for all of us, but don’t be a pad-hog! We are not to be fighting over things like animals, that’s the men’s job. We need to continue looking out for each other during those trifling 4-8 days. I guess what I’m trying to say is, whoever took all the tampons and didn’t need them can square up because I ain’t putting up with this BS. I’m crampin’, I’m hangry, and I’m breaking out, and the one time something good happens to me, you just had to take it away, I cannot even with y’all messy, greedy, inconsiderate little girls. I’m tired of asking randoms for pads and getting those XXL triple flow, heavy duty, see-it-thru-my-leggings, pads. If they were 25 cents, none of y’all broke peeps would’ve been stacking up, blessings become curses, it be ya own gender!