Author: adviser

A smartphone app designed by junior Stephan Kaminsky won the 2014 Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academic Competition, or the “House App Challenge.” Kaminksy created his nucleic converter app specifically for the competition.

The House of Representatives website describes the challenge as “…designed to engage students’ creativity and… allow high school students from across the country to compete by creating and exhibiting their software…on a platform of their choice”.

This is the first year the competition has been in place; there were 26 winners in California. Kaminsky won in California’s 47th district, which spans Long Beach and Orange County. Kaminsky’s app was submitted to the district representative, Alan Lowenthal, and was reviewed prior to a selection by a panel of experts.

“I thought maybe I could make an app to help build strands or help find restriction sites, because that can be a pain,” said Kaminsky.

Kaminsky became interested in programming from videogames like “Minecraft”. He enjoys the problem solving involved in creating and maintaining apps, and he’s even made some for his personal computer. “[Programming] is fun because it’s amazing to see what you can do with just a few words,” said Kaminsky.

Stricter nutrition and fundraising guidelines have been implemented throughout the district, limiting the number of snacks and beverages sold on school premises.

In support of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, the California Department of Education recently imposed several food and drink restrictions that must be enforced in the state’s school districts.

To be distributed on school grounds, the product must abide by the new California Education code, which states the criteria for permitted food and beverages.

These laws are from 12-midnight to one half-hour after the school day ends.

The guidelines promote a healthy lifestyle, a main objective in Obama’s campaign. Benefits include a significant reduction in the caloric, sodium, and sugar levels of food and beverages that are allowed to be sold, which set the standards that must be met before sale.

The additional guidelines pose a challenge for student organizations, as many depend upon food sales as a main form of fundraising. This will make it difficult for many students to raise money without abiding by strict guidelines, which may limit much of their efforts.

Since these laws are in effect during school hours, clubs are now prohibited from selling food and drinks that do not adhere to the new laws. In addition, only one club is given permission to sell during the day.

“The harsher nutrition guidelines, though well-intended, make it much harder for the clubs at Poly to fundraise. Now, we must keep into account the time and day when we want to sell, in addition to the nutrition facts of the products we’re selling,” said junior Kelly Chap, Commissioner of Organizations.

The effects of these new guidelines will be noticed by students and faculty members at Poly, but hopefully will not disrupt the flow of everyday activity.

The two fairs Poly holds throughout the year are not at risk, for a select number of exceptions to the guidelines can be made with administrative approval.

Several Poly students attended the Fire Knife Polynesian Festival in Long Beach on Sept. 6 and 7.

Audience members of all ages and races came to celebrate the diverse culture of Polynesia.

“There weren’t just Polynesians; it was a very diverse crowd,” said Matilda Deadline.

Musicians and dancers performed into the night on a stage decked in hanging string lights and palm trees, while event staff passed out Hawaiian leis to the crowd.

Many forms of Polynesian dance from Tahiti, Fiji, and Tonga graced the stage, but the main performers of the event were the Samoan Fire Knife competitors.

Fire Knife is one of Samoa’s traditional ceremonial dances. The dancers perform with a machete on a wooden handle that is lit on fire at both ends, a tradition that requires skill and focus.

While the competition got heated (literally), so did the food vendors. They sold a variety of cultural cuisine, from chocolate chip cookies and egg rolls to pineapple burgers and spam musubi.

Traditional Samoan food was also sold in plates of chop suey, chicken, rice, and taro.

The annual Fire Knife Polynesian Festival was a big hit with Poly’s students and its community. Poly’s Pacific Islander club will be selling plates of Samoan food at their booth.

For the past thirteen years, Ms. Schwichtenberg’s classes have been saving the Earth one bottle at a time.

The students who developed this program sort, bag, and recycle almost 3,300 pounds of recyclables from Poly’s campus every year. After collecting the recycling, students in the program receive money from a larger recycling receptacle. This money goes towards supplies and activities for Poly’s special needs classes.

Not only does the project help Mother Earth, but it also helps special needs students to attain hands-on experience outside of the classroom.

“We like to encourage students with special needs to be a part of the program to give them specially designed job training and vocational education skills,” said. Ms. Schwichtenberg. “This helps prepare them for finding a job, learning to work in groups, time management, signing in and out, [and] banking and budgeting.”

These students’ efforts have led to the development of well- prepared young adults and a greener campus for Poly.

The program has even received acknowledgments from the City of Long Beach, and participated in the “Keep America Beautiful High School Recycling Contest.”

Poly’s recycling program is a well-oiled machine. Those who choose to participate in the recycling program at Poly have a routine for carrying out the recycling process.

Students can be seen every day during fifth period in their teams, collecting the bottles and cans from the blue bins of the classrooms that opt to have their recycling picked up.

But, what many people don’t see is the effort they put in to process the recycling.

Once a week, this recycling is received by one of Poly’s staff members and then sold to a larger receptacle. The money is given to the students every two weeks.

This process is beneficial because the students learn to record their work in time sheets and their paychecks in budget folders.

Students at Poly may not think about where their bottle goes once they toss it into a blue bin. But Jackrabbits can take pride that they not only help the environment when they recycle, but they help to provide job training to special needs students at Poly.

Poly’s annual Club Faire was held during lunch in the quad on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

Over 60 out of 120 chartered clubs participated. Despite it heating up to over ninety degrees, clubs both old and new campaigned fiercely for the recruitment of new members. Many clubs saw a large influx of recruits for the new school year.

“It’s starting to look like our best team yet,” said Asa Mazor-Freedman, President of Model UN. “We have so many new, capable members.”

“We’re looking forward to new members and fresh ideas,” said Co-President of Muffintops, Senior Han Vi. “We have a whole lot of new plans and recipes for the coming year.”

Freshmen were strongly encouraged to sign up for club activities.

“I joined the Ball for Life club because I’ve been playing basketball for 10 or 11 years; they also deal with donating shoes,” said freshman Miles Denmion.

“In middle school, there was nothing like Club Faire. We only had one elective, but here we can be a part of the community,” said fellow freshman Becca Guiterez.

There were clubs from almost all areas of interest, from League of Legends Club to the American Red Cross. All in all, the Club Faire was a huge success for the Poly community.

Many clubs will be planning for Homecoming Faire, which will be held on October 1st this year.

It’s not too late to sign up for clubs. Contact the club president or sponsor.

“It’s nice to see the students so involved and motivated,” said My Ngoc Nguyen, the new Activities Director. “This is a great kick off for the coming school year.”