AP Seminar, AP Government, and AP Economics teacher Daniel Adler is urging his students to participate and enter the Mikva Challenge competition, which is part of a program by Action Civics of Chicago that takes up to 150 students from various states including Illinois, California, and Washington, D.C. and takes them to Iowa. Eligible students will work directly with presidential candidates on their campaign in Iowa.
Schools or classes from around the nation that follow the Mikva curriculum are eligible to participate, making the program more exclusive and privileged for Polytechnic high school students. Students interested in entering the Mikva challenge must write either a 300 word essay between one of two prompts, produce a personal campaign video, or come up with other creative projects that show “Why you want to come on this trip and why we should take YOU.” The due date for submissions is November 30th, and the Iowa trip takes place around the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, January 15-17th.
“Mikva teaches them how to take an idea and create an action around it. In order to do that, they need to do the research necessary to understand what is going on,” said Adler.
This program has been going on for nearly two decades, and was named after Abner Mikva, a senator from Chicago who wanted to get young children and teenagers into politics. Students are given the opportunity to work with presidential candidates on a door-to-door basis in Iowa as it is more hands-on in contrast to fragmented advertising sprees in other states. Participating students will also be able to attend a summit with other participating students from across the country to discuss youth issues.
Adler plans to influence the AP Seminar class because the course has another project that adheres to the Mikva curriculum: Project Soapbox. Students who take AP Seminar are going to work on a speech competition involving a call to action or a change to a problem that directly affects the student, and proposing ways to fix the problem. Three students from each class are selected to represent Polytechnic high school to pitch their speech to the Long Beach City Council.
Author: adviser
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Mikva Motivates
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Wearing Pink With Pride
The month of October is filled with care, spirit, holidays, and awareness. Poly has always had a hands-on connection with the breast cancer community.
To show their love and support, everyone wears the color pink and sometimes they intertwine the pink and blue for men and women who have or have had breast cancer. The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness, and even though it is used year round, they are most commonly seen during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in October.
Friday, October 23, was the annual Lakewood vs. Poly football game at Veterans’ Stadium. Poly was raising awareness in various ways throughout the game. The Poly football team wore pink armbands and towels while student commission competed against Lakewood in the stands to see which school could raise the most money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. In addition, the cheerleading team performed with the football team’s old pink jerseys and adorned their hair with pink bows.
“There were many people at the game showing the love by wearing pink. It was really cool see that,” added sophomore Megan Villaverde.
At halftime the Dance Team honored the Lakewood and Poly staff members who were survivors of breast cancer. They were brought down from the stadium and applauded by the crowd, acknowledging and congratulating their perseverance.
“I’m really thankful to be a part of the dance team to pull together a wave of awareness to the breast cancer survivors,” said senior Therese Pingle.
Poly’s Dance Team along, with dance director Cynthia Negrete, organized an idea to bring out a selected survivor. This selected survivor was Maria Jackson who was diagnosed in 2005. She shared the hopeful journey, experience, hardships and struggles going through the process of fighting the terrible disease.
“It really brought tears to my eyes to hear the pain of the breast cancer individuals faced,” said Senior Miranda Deguzman. -
News Brief
Paul Ryan Elected House Speaker
Representative Paul Ryan has been elected house speaker for the Republican party, succeeding John Boehner, who announced his retirement from Speakership and Congress last week. Boehner’s final duty as Speaker involved a negotiation with President Barack Obama on a piece of legislation that would prevent or decrease the likelihood of a government shutdown. As such, this allows for the Republican party to look forward and “begin the process of healing,” said Ryan’s aide. On Thursday, October 29th, Nancy Pelosi passed on the gavel to Paul Ryan to symbolize the beginning of the Paul era and the end of the Boehner era.
China Ends One-Child Policy
On October 29th, the Communist party released a statement announcing their plans to end the one-child policy, which has been in effect since 1979. This controversial policy was enacted in order to control population growth rates. Statistics show that the world average for children and young people ranging between 0-24 drastically dropped at a constant rate when China enacted this policy. However, while the Communist party may have “ended” the one-child policy, there is still a limit for couples. Couples will now be allowed to have two children, which at first still sounds restricting, but to put in perspective, will potentially double the population for young people. The motive behind removing the one-child policy is to strike a balance between the amount of elderly people and younger people to prevent the population crisis currently happening in Japan.
Long Beach Streetlights Switch to LED
Long Beach officials announced an LED streetlight program, a major project with the intention of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 7,297 tons, saving $1 million in energy and labor annually. Under a hefty $650,000 grant from the Port of Long Beach Community Mitigation, Long Beach plans to replace nearly 2,000 street lights within an ambitious two month period. Each year, Long Beach can reduce energy consumption by up to ten percent. LED lights are more efficient than the current high-pressure sodium lights commonly used as street lights. During their lifespan, the lights are expected to last 24 years with 12 hours of use every day.
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Announcements
Seniors: The Mr. and Mrs. Jackrabbit Pageant applications are available online or in room 805. They are due Friday, November 13th, and late applications will NOT be accepted. The pageant is on January 14th. Apply to showcase your talent!
Grad Night will take place on Friday, June 17th. The date has been changed from Thursday, June 16th. Refunds are offered if you purchased your ticket before October 22. This is a limited offer, until November 19. Tickets may be purchased though the Banker at $125, as long as you have the required consent form.
Tutoring: Algebra and Geometry tutoring is offered in room 915 every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Also, the AP Resource room offers tutoring after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, as does the library.
Students at Poly High swept the top four spots in the Long Beach Press Telegram’s annual scary stories contest. Seniors Keiran Reiser’s “Among the Broken Branches” claimed the first place and Noemi Summer’s “Lock” won second. Freshmen Lindsey Chou and John Henry Dy were third place and honorable mention, respectively. -
JUSTICE Student of the Month
Last year the JUSTICE faculty decided there should be an award system for the outstanding students in the JUSTICE academy. Thus the Student of the Month program was born. Since last year, one teacher in each grade is chosen to select one of their students for the Student of the Month award.
These students are supposed to show volunteer and social activism for the community. For example, some of the scholars last year attended Town Hall meetings to make changes and play an active role in our community. This year, some of the winners have been participating in a tree planting service in the Wrigley neighborhood with the organization I Dig Long Beach.
The October Student of the Month Award winners are freshman Vanessa Gutierrez and sophomore De’Andre Edwards.
Gutierrez was nominated by her Social Justice teacher, Ms. Mieko Harrington. “Vanessa is an outstanding student that participates in all activities with enthusiasm and great thought. Her commitment to helping others and making changes in her community has made her a natural leader in the classroom and outside of it,” said Harrington.
Edwards was nominated by his English teacher Mr. Ron Smith.
The winners can look forward to the luncheon held at the end of every year to celebrate all of the Students of the Month. -
Health Corps Collects
The Health Corps club is a Poly nonprofit organization that collects healthy, unopened food during lunch every day.
The program was first thought of by Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2003 to help America’s children escape the obesity crisis.
Students can donate healthy food during lunch in the cafeteria or the quad to the Health Corps students with the big decorative recycling bins.
The club sponser is Ms. Ejiro Ntekume. She is passionate when it comes to youth and is a good mentor for students when it comes to health.
“I would like to share my experiences and help give back to the students of Poly and pour my information into the students,” said Ntekume.
Students learn how to become leaders, as well as how to be healthy. The Health Corps club has 15 students but Ntekume has not stopped there, as there are more clubs to help students get more active. There is a gardening club, along with the Poly Fitness Club.
These clubs are not just for physical health, but also for nutritional and mental health. There is a physical activity club for Poly’s staff and during the spring, Poly has Staff Wellness program. To keep Poly aware of health issues the annual Health Fair will be held in February. -
Uphill and Cross Country
On Wednesday, October 14, the Poly cross country teams set to conquer Moore League in Signal Hill. This race is very hilly and is one of the slowest cross country courses in California. The boys raced first with close competition from Wilson and Millikan.
“Despite setbacks on the varsity team, we had people step up to the plate and show our dominance on one of SoCal’s hardest courses,” said senior Jordan Peacock.
Novoa ran a smart race, trailing Millikan’s Alex Gomez for the first two laps and passing Gomez in the final mile to finish in 16:35. Novoa won the boys race, finishing just one second ahead of Wilson’s Christian Lubrin-Simpkins, who followed the front pack closely throughout the race. Sophomore Aidan Kenny (17:02), senior Jordan Peacock (17:03) and senior Jose Long (17:04) finished fourth, fifth, and sixth overall to help the Jackrabbits. The boys won 21-36 over cross-town rival Wilson even with new additions to Poly’s varsity team.
In the girls race, Brenda Rosales set a new course record, winning in 19:20. Rosales was followed by sophomore Fiona O’Keefe (19:26), freshman Natalie Mejia (19:33), and junior Lauren Filipow (19:35). The girls showed dominance on the hill and swept the top seven spots. The Jackrabbits started out in front and continued to pull away from other teams’ runners throughout the race.
The final league meet for the Jackrabbits is on November 4.
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Athletes Beat the Heat
It is the middle of October but the August heat still has yet to pass. With highs in the 100s, practice has not been much fun in the sun for some of the nation’s best athletes.
Many of the Poly coaches and staff have changed their regular routines around to accommodate the heat.
For some teams, the sun has been a blessing in disguise, getting some athletes out of strenuous practice on some days. This proved true for the Poly girls soccer team last week when Coach Collins rewarded her players with cool treats to escape the heat.
“Instead of running and conditioning, we eat Popsicles, take naps and bond as a team,” says senior varsity soccer player Madison Brown.
The basketball team is having a football scrimmage instead of the normal conditioning the players do in their morning practices but, luckily, the basketball boys get the luxury of practicing early in the morning.
“It’s a great feeling going to practice before the heat comes. I’m happy we get all of our working out done in the morning and have the rest of the day to focus on school and not think about the practice I would have had sweating in the sun,” said senior varsity basketball player Drew Buggs.
Even indoor sports teams are feeling the burn. Varsity volleyball player Maddi Olea jokes about adding an air conditioning system into the gym. “We would be able to practice longer in a more comfortable environment, I think it would be a really good investment and would make lots of us more excited and energetic for practice, especially this year,” said Olea.
Our varsity football team has already played two away games in tremendous heat, one in Arizona against the Centennial Coyotes and another in Las Vegas, Nevada against the Bishop Gorman Gaels. Playing in those cities has made the team appreciate the beautiful Long Beach weather.
“It may be hot now, but I know some other schools have it much worse than us,” said junior varsity football player Joshua Brown. “Playing in extreme weather like in Arizona and Las Vegas showed us as a team that weather can really affect your game if you let it.”
With the approach of the winter months, we will all have to wait and see if the sun gives these hardworking athletes a break this year or if they will have to endure more scorching temperatures throughout the rest of the season
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Poly Spikes Out of Bounds
The Jackrabbits’ second round of the Moore League conference continued as the girls volleyball team defeated Jordan on Thursday, October 15. Poly also played in a non-conference match against Saint Joseph High School on Saturday, October 17, which resulted in yet another win for the Poly girls volleyball team. However, on Tuesday, October 20, the Jackrabbits took their first loss in league play against Poly’s longest rival, the Lakewood Lancers.
The Poly volleyball team swept the Jordan Panthers in three sets, even when coach Leland McGrath put in his second string players. The girls played their game well and had a relatively good afternoon of playing.
Although the Jackrabbits faced a non-league team Saturday, October 17, the Jackrabbits still managed to come out with a shutout 3-0 win. This game gave the girls the confidence they needed as they prepared to face Lakewood again the next week after previously beating them on Thursday, September 24.
The Lakewood Lancers have only lost once to Poly in the Moore League. They, along with the Jackrabbits, both wish to ruin each other’s records. Poly practiced hard the Monday before the game to get ready for the rivalry game the next day. It was a game that everyone was excited to watch and the cheering sounds bounced off all four walls of the Poly gymnasium. The stands rumbled with an overwhelming amount of Poly fans, including Poly’s student section who came out to watch the game.
The Jackrabbits came onto the court with confidence and fought hard against their rival. The Lancers won the first set but the Jackrabbits fought back winning the second set of the match. Although Lakewood won the final two sets Poly fought with intensity making numerous kills and amazing digs. Sophomore Kalyah Williams particularly stood out along with junior Penny Tusa, both of whom turned their game on when they stepped on the court. Williams and Tusa made kill after kill, which really helped to bring up the spirit of the team even when they were losing.
With scores of 25-15, 26-28, 25-20, and 25-14, Lakewood finished out with the win to tie with Poly standings. Although the Jackrabbits lost, they knew they played hard and put their best foot forward on the court.
Poly girls volleyball is currently on a bye week, but will be back to play their next league game on Tuesday, October 27, against Millikan.
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Long Road Home
On Friday, October 9, the Jackrabbits returned to Vets Stadium to fight against Compton High School. Coming off of a nasty 99-9 win against Compton last year, the Jackrabbits expected nothing less than victory going into the game. Compton fought harder than last year, but Poly still left victorious with a score of 48-6. Although Compton scored towards the end of the fourth quarter, it didn’t match the 42 points that Poly won in the first half. The football team hoped this win would carry over to next week but, unfortunately, the next game against De La Salle would prove to be much more of a challenge than Compton.
The Jackrabbits endured many roadblocks on their way to Northern California to take on the nationally ranked Concord De La Salle Spartans, but none proved as difficult as the game itself on Friday night. It was a highly anticipated game and rematch of the 2001 national championship game where De La Salle upset Poly.
Poly came out fired up and senior Davir Hamilton recovered a fumble on their first defensive possession. Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits struggled to move the ball and were forced to punt after three plays. Poly managed to get another fumble recovery, but came up empty handed again. According to junior linebacker Josh Brown, Poly came out ready to play and was pleased with their defensive intensity that caused De La Salle’s fumbles.
De Le Salle got things moving on their next offensive drive when quarterback Anthony Sweeney connected with All-American tight end Devin Asiasi for their first touchdown. Poly responded as they moved the ball down the field, but the drive ended when they were unable to convert on 4th and inches. The Spartans were able to capitalize on Poly’s turnover and scored on just 4 plays to take a 14-0 lead. Poly continued to hurt themselves when the Jackrabbits were called for a holding penalty that led to a safety for De La Salle. The Spartans used that momentum to score on the next offensive series when Sweeney connected again with Asiasi. Poly ended the half on a positive note when junior Aaron Shampklin returned the kickoff for 65 yards, which snapped the Spartans record of 12 quarters without giving up a touchdown. That Jackrabbit touchdown cut the deficit to 22-6.
Despite being down by 16 points to start the 3rd quarter, the Jackrabbits were hopeful they could get a defensive stop, but the Spartans had other plans. De La Salle scored on a seven minute and 18 play drive that squashed Poly’s hope for a comeback. With a running clock in the 4th quarter, Poly was unable to get anything going offensively and lost 52-6.
“There were some positives we can take from this game and build on for the rest of the season heading into playoffs,” junior safety said Josh Talbot.
Poly will host the Lakewood Lancers this Friday, October 23 at Vets Stadium. Be sure to come and watch the Jackrabbits fight to keep their first place position in Moore League.
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Shredding SoCal
The Poly Surf team began their first year in the Sea View League with two competitions last week against Millikan and Los Alamitos.
In surfing competitions there are eight heats in which six surfers all compete in individually. The heats include four short boards in the boy’s section, one short board in the girl’s section, one long board for both divisions, and a body board heat. The home team wears red, blue, and yellow rash guard jerseys, while the away team wears orange, green, and white jerseys.
For those who may not be aware of how surfing competitions are judged, surfers compete in a heat for 15 minutes. In the time span, surfers can catch as many waves as they want, but only the top two surfers are scored. The level of surf skill is scored out of ten based on the quality of wave the surfer catches, how well the surfer rides it, and how many turns they can carry out.
The Poly Surf team commenced their first event against Millikan last Monday, October 12, at Poly’s home break in Bolsa Chica in front of tower 23. The waves on Monday proved to be a complication as they reached levels that were a couple feet above the surfer’s heads. Although the Jackrabbits lost the competition to Millikan, Poly surfers were determined to showcase their talents against Los Alamitos.
The next competition against Los Alamitos took place the next day on October 13 in Sunset Beach. This event proved to be a better round for the Jackrabbits as the competitions progressed. Los Alamitos started off by winning the first heat in the boy’s short board with a 12-9 lead leaving the Jackrabbits in second, fourth, and sixth place. Los Alamitos continued to gain higher status than the Jackrabbits in each heat until heat five of one of the boy’s short board division. Poly sophomore Ryan Love, placed first place, which raised Poly’s score by six points in that heat. Senior Chad King placed third, adding an additional four points to Poly’s score. The scores helped the Jackrabbits earn their first win in a heat. Despite this victory, Los Alamitos was still able to surf their way to the top and win the competition.
Fortunately, the two losses are not putting a dent in the Jackrabbit’s determination to get an overall win in the next competition. Senior surfer Zac Cervana hopes to “pick better waves to get the best score” for the Jackrabbits’ next competition in the Sea View League.
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LAX comes to Poly
This spring will be the first season for the Long Beach Poly girls lacrosse team. Because of the success the boys team had in the 2014-2015 season, Poly decided to host a girls team this year.
Lacrosse is actually very similar to soccer, which is why the new lacrosse coaches decided to recruit mainly from Poly’s soccer team. The motive of the game is to score the most goals in the small net just like soccer. Players must cradle the ball in the pocket of the lacrosse stick and are allowed to use all parts of their body except their hands to touch the ball.
“Because it’s so similar to soccer, it was easy to get the hang of it and to understand it,” said sophomore Jolani Mastrangelo.
The team began practicing last spring, but did not become official until this fall. Because of the growing popularity of the sport, a lot of girls have joined the team and be a part of it all.
“I was never really interested in lacrosse before I started practicing last year. I always saw game on TV, but I never thought I would ever get to play the sport,” said senior Imani Martin.
The team has already been practicing for some time and plays pickup scrimmages on the weekends.
“Lacrosse is really fun. I like my teammates, we always cheer each other on and help each other on the field. We have a good chemistry off the field and I hope that will carry over when we start playing games,” said Mastrangelo.
Though this is a spring sport, the team will participate in Fall Ball, where the girls will play exhibition games with schools around the area to get ready for season.
“Lacrosse is something I really enjoy. Joining the team was fun because we’re all new to the sport and we learn a lot from each other,” said senior Emaani Stells.
The team practices on Wednesdays at Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Chittick Field and is always looking for new members.
“I encourage all girls to come out and just try it. I was skeptical at first too, but I am definitely enjoying it,” said sophomore Allison Waddles.
Anyone interested in joining the girls lacrosse team may contact the coach to get information about practice times and the lax life.