Author: adviser

Poly seniors Priya Kumar and Kevin Chau have been selected as semifinalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship program.
The National Merit Scholarship program provides recognition and scholarships to qualified students who scored highly on the PSAT/NMSQT. Divided into Critical Reading, Math, and Writing, the PSAT/NMSQT gauges students’ knowledge of these three sections and serves as a precursor to the SAT, exposing test takers to the substantial amount of questions and extreme time constraints most associated with the standardized test.
All high school juniors who take the PSAT are automatically entered into the National Merit Scholarship Program. The initial pool of students consists of 1.5 million entrants, which is then narrowed down to the top 50,000 scorers who are recognized by the program for their achievements. From that point, the field is reduced to 34,000 students, all of whom are named Commended Students.
Kumar and Chau are part of the 16,000 students nationwide who qualify as National Merit Scholar semifinalists. They are eligible to apply to be one of 15,000 finalists, and if selected, can vie for the 8,000 scholarships available to National Merit Scholar finalists. According to PACE counselor Connie Loggins, attaining the coveted National Merit Scholar finalist status not only entails national recognition and scholarships, but also opens up the door to other benefits.
“Being a Merit Scholar is recognized nationwide, but its rewards vary from college to college. It definitely gives you a boost in the admissions process. Some colleges even provide additional scholarships,” said Loggins.
Studying for the PSAT/NMSQT can take on many forms. Some students prefer to self-study, while others take SAT workshops as preparation for the test.
When asked how they prepared for the PSAT, Kumar said, “I went to one of the SAT workshops, and I brought my calculator,” to which Chau replied, “I have a nicer one. I also did an SAT prep thing, but it didn’t really help.”
Kumar and Chau are currently in the PACE program. Kumar plans to major in chemical engineering while Chau hopes to become a literature or philosophy major.
In addition to Kumar and Chau, Poly seniors Theresa Becich, Eric Brunner, Rachel Ogata, Lucia Procopio, Ryan Riehl, Samantha Singal, Isabel Wagner, Madeleine Wamsley, Vanessa Wilder, and Aida Ylanan were recognized as Commended Students.

Starting this school year, ACE is imposing stricter measures in order to ensure that students are arriving to school on time and attending all their classes.

According to the new bell schedule, school starts at 7:50 a.m., which is ten minutes earlier than last year’s start time. Due to the schedule change, Poly administrators have noticed an upward trend in students arriving late to class.

Each class period, administrators sweep through every hall on Poly’s campus in order to make sure that students are attending their classes. Regardless of the excuse, a student will be sent to ACE if he or she is seen without a pass by a school administrator. Although students are not present in class, they are still accounted for in the attendance system.

“Students who are habitually late to class will be reported to the LBPD for loitering,” said Assistant Principal Brad Davidson.

Students who are sent to ACE spend an entire class period standing against a wall. According to the Poly administration, this measure is intended to discipline students to arrive to school on time, teach them the importance of attending class, and improve school attendance.

While ACE’s goal to make sure students are attending class has good intentions, there are students who believe that ACE’s disciplinary measures defeat its purpose.

“Occasionally, I will be late to class. However, looking at a wall as punishment for my tardiness does not encourage me to arrive on time. In fact, ACE wastes valuable class time,” said an anonymous Poly student.

Whether or not students agree with ACE’s disciplinary measures, administrators recommend that students arrive on time in order to avoid being sent to ACE.

Poly alumni Atsuko Yomogida, Diane Olson, Jo Shuford, and Judy Salter stood with their Poly shirts on, inspecting the campus they said they once knew and loved.  This past week the four alumni from the class of 1960 took a tour of the campus and recalled what high school was like 54 years ago.

“Back then when we were going to school, life was simple, and we had a lot of fun. We still talk all the time about high school,” said Olson.

The women noticed that much has changed since they last visited. They admired the school’s new paint scheme, the portraits bordering the doors on the catwalk, and the mural on the side of the science building.

Beside the physical changes, the culture at Poly has changed too. The women said that the girls had to wear skirts and were not allowed to wear pants. They did P.E. in bloomers and had to monogram their shirts.

“We wore knit bathing suits, which sagged when they were wet. Once I tied the bathing suit too tight and I had to get it cut off,” said Salter. “They were awful.”

Poly also had sororities and fraternities on campus.  “The different sororities and fraternities would sit in different sections of the quad,” said Shuford. “So if someone told you to meet them at the quad, you knew which part to go to because of what club they were in.”

But the ladies also mentioned the cultural tensions that existed during their three years. There were no interracial couples at Poly, and there were separate social events outside of school for black and white teenagers.

“Poly has always been a completely integrated school. At that time we didn’t realize the segregation. It took me 10 years before it became contentious,” said Shuford.

As the women looked at the mural on the science building, they remembered many of the events and people depicted on the walls. They went to school with Billie Jean King, they rode the Cyclone Rider coaster that once stood on the Pike, and they danced at the Hutch.

Although these women are not from the same generation as current students, they share a common experience with them: Long Beach Polytechnic High School—Home of Scholars and Champions.