Happy Women’s History Month!
The High Life staff features some of the inspiring women they admire.
Don’t forget to celebrate the women in your life everyday!
Category: Slideshow
-
Daisy Lane Parade
LB Poly’s Marching Band, colorguard and JROTC participated in the Daisy Lane Parade on December 14.
-
Poly Hosts “The President’s Own” Marine Band
On October 24 “The President’s Own” Marine Band performed in the Andrew Osman Performing Arts Center here at Poly. The United States Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization.
-
Library Renamed In Honor Of Poly Alumni
On September 21, the Long Beach Public Library reopened its doors with an improved and renamed library. The now Billie Jean King Library held an opening ceremony with guest speakers such as Mayor Robert Garcia, council member Jeanine Pierce, among others as well as the tennis player and women’s right activist herself, Billie Jean King. King was greeted by an uproar of applause and proceeded to tell the story of how she would sleep with her tennis racquet and library books at night. The Poly alumni is fiercely loyal to Long Beach and hopes this new addition will be a helpful resource to the community.
-
Clubs Sell Goods at Faire
Students at Poly High School were dismissed from class 90 minutes early on Wednesday for this year’s Homecoming Faire.
The faire was a great way for clubs to raise money as well as to boost morale in the students, who were all buzzing in anticipation and excitement for the school-wide event. Many clubs, such as Red Cross, color guard, Gender Sexuality Alliance, German, Chinese, and eSports showed up early to school to set up their booths and prepare for the upcoming event.
Once the bell rang at 1:10
Wednesday afternoon, students flooded into the quad, hurrying to get to the front of a line for a booth. A multitude of food, products, and games were offered: cookies, brownies (“sexually liberated brownies,” as the GSA club called them), ice cream, sodas, stickers, sausages, bean bag tosses, etc.
Some groups had also prepared a dance performance to various rap, hip-hop, and pop songs. There were also two different photo booths available for students to use.
“This is my 46th faire in a row; I’ve been selling cheesecake for years,” Mr. Brett Alexander, the administrator of the Speech and Debate club, said.
One club, Model United Nations, had a very unusual service offered. The members had brought in corsages, a white flower bouquet, plastic gold rings, a veil, and fake marriage certificates to
The event was huge, and many of the clubs were busy with all of the students wanting to participate. Business seemed to get even busier as time went on. The Red Cross club, which proved to serve a very popular booth, was struggling to keep up with
supply. Team Pink+ reported having waves of students on and off. “It gets…sometimes packed and sometimes not,” Alejandra Nieto said. “I think [the faire is] too short – it’s like 30 minutes away from usual,” said Monse Nieto.
Some clubs made signs to hold above the large crowd. Gabriel Elal stood next to the color guard booth and danced with a purple flag to advertise and draw in customers. “We’ve seen people have fun,” Yancy Roldan of the STATs club said. “They’re energetic…just having fun by playing the game.”
“It always beats my expectations as far as, you know, how many people participating and how many people are interested,” said Mr. Puth, Poly’s activities director. “As an adult, you get to see…how creative the clubs are and how creative the students are. But you think you’ve seen it all, you think you’ve heard it all, and then all of a sudden, here they come, and they do something like a green tea boba…I’m excited because I see how the students have come together and put this together.”
Poly’s commissioner of organization, Senior, Zoey DeYoung, played a huge role in the functionality and organization of the event, Puth says. “I don’t even want to make light of what I’m saying here…she’s spending like hours everyday for the past couple of weeks making sure that, you know, everybody’s needs are met, and then addressing issues that may arise. I’m just guiding her through the whole process.”
-
Whites, Camera, Action!
There has been talk recently concerning the diversity, or the lack thereof, in the nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards. This is the second consecutive year in which the lack of diversity—and African Americans, to be specific—has been a concern of the public. What’s the deal?
Last year, it was more reasonable as to why there were not that many African Americans, to be more specific, nominated. The only big movie with an African-American leading actor or an African cast and director was Selma, a movie depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his struggle for civil rights. It is a struggle that we seem to still be going through today. This year, on the other hand, there does not seem to be a valid excuse as to why there are not any minority nominations. There has been an extensive list of exceptional movies with African American lead roles that came out in 2015.
The 2015 dramatic sports film Creed was written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who just happens to be black, and starred Adonis Johnson, another black man. But alas, despite raving reviews from TIME, Rolling Stone, and other publications, the only one to get nominated from this film was a white man.
Director, F. Gray Gray, an African American man, had a booming, charismatic cast of young, new faces, who were all-black in the hit blockbuster Straight Outta Compton. This edgy, heartfelt movie told one of the least known but most intriguing rags-to-riches stories of all time. It truly made you want to laugh, cry, and straight up made you wanna yell “F**k the Police!” It reminded this generation’s group of African-Americans what we can do with the power of music. Ironically, the Academy did not seem to think so because the only ones to get nominated from Compton were the white writers. I mean kudos to them—they helped make an amazing film— but really Academy? Really? You completely overlook the almost all-black cast and black director? This is a movie that not only showed the public the emotional, tortured side of some of the toughest rappers, but also incorporated racial controversies that still exists, and are a problem to this day. No offense to Leonardo DiCaprio and the writers and directors of The Revenant but I am not so sure that a movie about mountain men and DiCaprio trudging through mud is Oscar-worthy.
Both Creed and Straight Outta Compton were just a punch in the face. They gave you a look into crude reality, but they also made you want to hug someone. That is not easy to find. Although there are not many films with a predominately minority cast, they were not hidden from the Academy’s view. Maybe the Academy voters just thought, “We get it; it’s hard being a minority, now stop complaining,” but what they do not understand is that these are the movies that keep us going. They remind minority groups what they/we have been through and that it does not matter if we are Anglo-Saxons. You just got to have dedication and heart. If the Academy, and all of the media industry, chooses to keep Hollywood white, we will just keep making movies that tell us where we come from, and what we have been through. -
Pray For Humanity
In case you have had your head in the sand for the last week, Paris was stricken by a horrific series of terrorist attacks on Friday, November 13. The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), took a total of 129 lives, including Cal State Long Beach student Nohemi “Mimi” Gonzalez, who was spending a semester abroad at the Strate College of Design.
Six locations in Paris were targeted by the terrorists, including the Bataclan concert hall where the California rock band Eagles of Death Metal were performing, the Stade de France where France and Germany were having a friendly soccer match, and several restaurants where gunmen unloaded round after round upon innocent patrons.
As a response to the attacks, Paris officials raided an apartment Wednesday, November 8, where suspects were believed to be staying, leading to two deaths and eight arrests.
The day after the attacks, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent the western world a terrifying message: “Let France—and those who walk in its path—know that they will remain on the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State.” He has warned that these attacks are “the first in a storm.”
These threats, whether empty or not, are terrifying, and will inevitably lead to an intensification of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment, as well as an increased international fear of the Syrian refugees.
The sick irony in hiding behind media-influenced fear of Muslims is perfectly explained by Reading Football Club player Dan Holloway, who tweeted, “To people blaming refugees for attacks in Paris tonight: Do you not realise [sic] these are the people the refugees are trying to run away from…?”
People who instinctually generalize the entire Muslim population of the Middle East as Islamic extremists need to take a step back and realize that these ISIS militants are a miniscule minority; only 0.01% of Muslims in Europe have gone to fight with ISIS.
Responses by countries across the globe are admirable, including Barack Obama’s speech stating that the crisis in France was an attack not just on the French people, but on all of humanity.
However, despite the social media outbursts of #PrayForParis and large public awareness of the attacks, it seems that terrorist attacks in third world countries will continue to go unnoticed.
On Thursday, November 12, the day before the Paris attacks, the streets of Beirut, Lebanon, were struck with a double suicide bombing killing 43 and wounding 200 others. It was the worst outbreak of violence since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990. The country is devastated, not just by the deaths of its people, but also by the rest of the world’s ignorance.
Because Lebanon neighbors Syria, the world tends to ignore its crises, assuming constant chaos in Lebanon merely because of its geographic location.
I am not suggesting that the horrors of Paris are unimportant, or do not deserve sympathy and support. I am proud to see all my friends add the Paris Flag Filter to their Facebook profile photo. I just want us all to realize that the Western World is not the only place affected by terrorism; other countries suffer similar attacks on humanity that are ignored by the majority of the world. Eighty percent of all deaths caused by terrorists take place in only five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria.
Tens of thousands of people die this way each year. That is unacceptable; the world has to unite if we wish to fight against the killing of civilians all over the globe. -
ACEing Autism Comes to Poly
Senior Jasmine Roberts has brought ACEing Autism to the Poly tennis courts. This seven week program started on September 19, and has seven sessions every subsequent Saturday from nine to eleven AM, at the Poly Billy Jean King Tennis Courts. ACEing Autism is a volunteer-based program that teaches kids with autism how to play tennis. It is designed to give the kids social interaction and physical stimulation. The organization was established in Massachusetts in 2008 by Richard Spurling, whom Roberts worked with last summer. It has since been brought to the West Coast and has locations in Encino Park, Westwood, and Burbank. Each session consists of a warm-up, skills training, drills, and closing games. A team of three volunteers is assigned to each participant and every volunteer has been trained to keep the activity fun and engaging. Roberts originally proposed ACEing Autism for the International Ambassadors program but was turned down. Despite this, she decided to continue with the project, and last summer visited hospitals, autism centers, and physical therapy centers throughout Long Beach and Torrance. At each establishment, she spoke to administrators and posted flyers to spread the word. Over the summer, she gathered around forty volunteers for the Poly program. “There aren’t many programs like this, so it is really fun for the kids, and more-so for the the parents. They are really happy to see their kids having fun. Last Saturday, one of our participants said for the first time in their life that they had fun,” said Roberts. Roberts is now in the process of bringing more attention to ACEing Autism. She is working to get press releases published in the LA Times and Press Telegram, and she has been in contact with the Long Beach Mayor’s Office. While Mayor Robert Garcia was not able to make it to the October 3 session, he did give this statement to Roberts: “I commend the efforts of the Poly High ACEing Autism tennis volunteers…This community volunteer program addresses the lack of quality recreational programs to children with Autism, it’s a perfect match to use tennis as a means to enhance kid’s health and fitness while simply having fun with other kids.” ACEing Autism has proved to be quite the success. CBS News attended the October 3 session and a has had a news segment, about Roberts and the program that was shown that night. In the news segment it was announced that the Poly chapter of ACEing Autism will hold more sessions in January.
