Coach Nate or Mr. Bershtel, was the previous girls cross country. Behind the scene is a father and husband who appreciates his family. He has recently given up his job as coach for the girls cross country and long distance track due to him choosing to be more family involved and increase his time investing in teaching.
He is currently teaching a Pre-Calculus class and also taught other math subjects, such as, Algebra 2 and Intermediate Math. He has made an impact both in the classroom, and on the field.
Many of his students and athletes appreciated him for his dedication and efforts he put into his job. One of his athletes, Ashley a senior who ran for him her 9th grade year to her 11th grade year said, “Coach Nate was a passionate and great coach and it is sad to see his leave the cross country family.” Her and many others felt this way because he was an amazing coach and teacher here at Long Beach Poly.
In addition, he coached an alumni, Brenda, who acknowledged, “Coach Nate always pushed me and encouraged me to run…if it weren’t for him I would not be running today.”
Coach Nate will now be replaced with Coach Gabrielle Bournes. She received her confirmation two weeks ago from the head of girls sports administration, Crystal Irving. Coach Gabby has been working with Long Beach Poly as an assistant coach for the mid-distance team for Track and Field.
Coach Nate’s decision to resign as a coach was good because he wants to be a great father to his kids and invest more time in his family.
He personally said, “ He does wish the program good luck and want the Poly cross country to continue the tradition and go far. This year the cross country team was able to compete in the season with an assistant coach from track and field and dominated in Moore League.
Tag: Long Beach Poly
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Cross Country Gets a New Coach
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$ For Our Garden
During these few weeks ago, there have been donations made to Poly in help of supporting the school garden.
These donations were made by an organization called Healthy Active Long Beach, which is a project that was developed in 2003 to address obesity as well as other chronic disease rates in the city of Long Beach.
They are mainly known for the activities they host such as ReTHINK Your Drink, Kids in the Kitchen, community events, health fairs, and so much more!With this donation, the Healthy Active Long Beach made a partnership with the H&H Nursery, a “family-fun garden center offering a wide variety of plants”, which helped make the delivery of all the new donations to the school’s garden.
This donation consisted of four bags of organic soil, two milkweed plants, sprouting kale, and sprouting tomatoes.
On top of that, during the final week of March, the WASC Committee (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) came and paid a visit to Poly HIgh School’s campus. While on their visit, they took a look around the school, but one thing that caught their attention was the school garden itself.“During the presentation of their final finding, they gave their reports of areas of improvement and areas of strength and on their 5th slideshow, they included a big picture of our garden!!!!” said Ms. Jimenez.
Now the school garden is officially ready to bring in the spring season because of these new donations. -
Why Saturday School?
Saturday school has been more of a serious matter, this school year.
In what the purpose of saturday school serves, is for students to make up “work and also days of absences”, stated by Robert Shock.The range between freshman to seniors, may be considered to go.
They’re given the opportunity to catch up and ensure that their grades will be stable.
This could be considered a new awakening, more specifically to seniors, as if you do NOT attend saturday school and/or miss them intentionally, there is the possibility of getting your privileges taken.
Such as graduation and maybe even certain senior activities.
Especially since Seniors are currently going towards a path that staff is “concerned about”. And for Juniors this is a very “important year for them”. Saturday school is made to be “academic based”.As for if saturday school is working for students, Shock says that “those taking advantage of it” are the ones benefiting.
They can also be given the chance to have a space to do their work as they provided chromebooks, books and whatever they need, in order to catch up.Saturday school is assigned through the district based on multiple absences.
At least twice a month Saturday school is in session, and it is said May will be the last month for Saturday school.
Shock also stated at PAAL they have saturday school almost “every saturday”.Many students are unsure of the consequences. The district is looking for what to do and is unsure.
It is said that for Seniors if they miss school, especially towards the end of the semester, there will be some sort of consequences set in place.
The purpose behind saturday school isn’t to “penalize students” but instead “try to help them”. -
It’s Fashion Time!
On Wednesday, April 17, Poly will be holding its first fashion show, where clothing designed by students are then modeled by other students participating.
Jailyn Lewis, 17, decided to have her own fashion show through Long Beach sponsored by Female Leadership Academy.
With the help of many students and teachers, Lewis was able to recruit as many as 50 models and 8 designers.
With only 5 days to practice and get the entire show together, models and designers worked together to have each of their visions come to life.
As director of the show, it has been pretty intimidating getting an entire fashion show together with only five 5 days to practices.
But the energy and drive of each of the models and designers encourages Lewis to move forward.
There were many times where there were setbacks but with the help of Sarah Schol, Jewel Jackson, Patience Randall, and Chuck Taylor, and many others who helped motivate Lewis along the way, building up confident in how the show will turn out for her.
Unfortunately, in publicize the show in how Lewis intended for it didn’t workout as well, but would be happy if even 10 people showed up!
The show will feature a lot of talent with singers such as Glena Canete and Robert Chim.
With dancers including Yael Moore, Emiliano Vasquez Mendez and others. Tickets went on sale Thursday, April 11 for $5 and at the door for $10.Support the aspiring models, designers, and brand owners at Poly’s first fashion show hosted by Jewel Jackson and Jailyn Lewis! Thanks to FLA and Schol for sponsoring this event!
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Sing For Retired Teacher
The Poly Choir ensembles performed at two concerts on March 6 and 7 in the auditorium. The chorale, chamber, Cecilian, and the two jazz ensembles performed on Wednesday, and Inspirational Glee and Grace sang on Thursday. They were split up to avoid holding a two-hour long concert in one night, choir director Brian Dokko said.
The concert on Thursday was held to celebrate the retirement of Lori Grace, Poly’s chorale accompanist. Grace has been Dokko’s assistant director and teacher of both ensembles performing on Thursday for the past 10 years. She brought many Poly Choir alumni to the performance as well as a few former students from Jordan High School, where she started her career in the Long Beach district.
Many of the students who sang at the concert said that they felt happy or nostalgic about the events. “This [was] one of my last concerts as a senior,” Poly senior Jovanni Pham said. “I had a lot of fun singing with my friends.” Sophomore Sophia King of the Cecilian ensemble said that while the choirs performing on Wednesday didn’t have a lot of time to rehearse, “We did a way better job than I thought we would.”
The Poly Choir ensembles will sing again at their spring concert in May of this year. Dokko says that it is expected to be a smaller event than the most recent one.
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A Marvelous Movie Night
On March 8, at 6:00pm, Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders (PAAL) movie night took place.
The movie airing was Avengers: Infinity War. As you walked onto the PAAL campus, handmade posters of characters apart of Marvel were hung, welcoming viewers.Before the showing of the feature film there was a tribute to Stan Lee, as he recently passed away, and showed all the cameos he made in every Marvel movie, and even shows and other features.
Although the movie night took place at PAAL, Oyuki Rosales stated she want to “expose [PAAL] to the outside,” to Poly as they “don’t have a good connection”. Rosales wanted that to be established.There was a month of preparation put in place, and the decision in choosing a Marvel movie to be shown, was up to the coordinators, Rosales and Angel Ramirez, as they “love Marvel” and it was the “last movie night” of the year, especially since it would be the seniors last movie night.
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Microsoft Welcomes Minority Students!
Polytechnic High School was cordially invited to attend Microsoft’s annual Minority student day.
This is the second year it is held in Southern California, but worldwide has been an event for 29 years.
According to Microsoft’s Diversity and Inclusion Blog, 4.1% of workers are African American, 1.8% are Latino or Hispanic, and .5% are Indigenous.Caucasians are the majority, 55% of workers, meaning that there is a need for diversity in the technology field.
Microsoft aims to have a more inclusive image, accepting people of all backgrounds to be successful within their company.
In attempt to raise the number of minorities, this day hopes to inspire our generation to work within the fields of technology and business management.Based on how dependent humans are on technology, there will be an increase in the number of people that need to work in technologically related majors.
The event exposed students to new technology systems, such as the HoloLens software that mixes virtual reality with the real world.
These mixed reality systems are the foundation for future architect, engineers, and even surgeons.
Lauren Reynolds, a senior at Poly, said, “ It was interesting to see how much technology can benefit our future in multiple aspects. It allows us to access information more conveniently by technically being hands-free.”Overall, there are many opportunities to benefit all students of color by being able to intern for Microsoft in college.
The MACH program allows college students to have a head start in getting a job with the company while still being a full time student.
Even if students are not interesting in pursuing a career in coding, the company promotes those interested in business, marketing, and even engineering to apply to the program. -
Model United Nations, Take Flight!
Photo Courtesy Patrick Gillogly Poly’s Model United Nations club and elective hosted by Mr.Gologily accompanied 30 students from February 8th – 10th to Boston, Massachusetts to participate in a simulated United Nations meetings.
The prestigious model united nations event was hosted by Boston University coined, “BosMUN,” which invited high schools around the world to accumulate the brightest minds to solve the most debated problems.
The venue took place at the grand Marriott Boston Copley, a big enough venue to contain several high schools and hundreds of delegates.
At the venue a student or students would represent a country, preson, or place and debate in a committee which pertained to specific topics.
Students argue from the country or places perspective which requires background research prior to the event.
How students start and end the meeting, discuss, and dress is all in accordance to the real United Nations meeting.
For example, the majority of the conference required delegates wear western business clothing which shows the seriousness in the event.
The four committees that took place for delegates to debate about where The Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN),
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), The Disarmament and Security Committee (DISEC) , The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Zane Witter, known mostly for being a varsity cross country runner attended the trip in hopes to experience a model united nations with different people from other countries.At the trip Zane argued representing Argentine Republic on The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), committee specifically about net neutrality and smart cities.
After the Bosmun XVII event, Zane along with many other delegates who went on the trip voiced that, “it was an eye opening experiencing,” as they all saw different perspectives and opinions on modern problems and topics that appear in today’s media.
Bosmun wasn’t the only thing that fueled excitement for the trip as Boston itself offered more than a model united nations conference such as Prudential Center, on Newbury Street.The center and street is littered with popular and undiscovered places such as California Pizza Kitchen, Dig Inn, and Davids Tea which all serve modern, healthy alternatives to today’s food.
Overall, the BosMUN XVII was a successful trip where students learned more about the world and about themselves. -
The Rivalry Continues: Soccer Edition
It’s that time of year again, where the Wilson and Poly girls soccer teams play in a rivalry game that has lasted decades. On Tuesday, December 18, the Jackrabbits girls varsity played the Bruins in what was the game that set the stage for the rest of the season.
Last year, Poly lost to Wilson 0-2. But with a new coach this year and many returning players, it felt like a new energy was given to the team.
“I didn’t sleep last night,” First year coach Anthony Perez said before the game. “I was so excited.” The Poly girls got out onto the field brimming with confidence, desire for this huge win the first thing in their minds.
Poly started off strong, scoring in the first 4 minutes off a low cross by sophomore Kelsey Adams to Skylar Herrera who nailed it into the net. However, Poly couldn’t remain in the lead, and Wilson scored twice before half time was up.
“We need to work as a team, don’t be afraid to play physical, and play with all your heart, ok? We can do this,” Junior Morgan King said in the team huddle at half time, while Poly was still behind.
They went back out onto the field for the second half with high tension, the teams getting more and more physical as the game progressed. There were five yellow cards given out in the final 20 minutes, but Poly held their own. Despite being behind on the scoreboard, Poly was playing equally, if not better than Wilson.
But in the final 8 minutes of the game, Poly got a corner kick. It was a perfect ball that arced across the crossbar, right to the head of Junior Aniah Cutler who drove the ball right into the goal. This goal was energizing for the team, as Poly finally had a bigger chance to comeback and beat Wilson once and for all.
With 40 seconds left in the game, Poly got a free kick. Taken by Senior Ella Hiveley, it rebounded and was found at the feet of Sarah Santos, who was able to aim at the open space in the goal left by the goalie, and shoot. And the ball went it.
With 25 seconds left to spare, Poly was able to pull off a win in what possibly was the biggest game of the season.
The entire team, bench, and stands went crazy, enthused that Poly was able to pull off a win with almost no time left. “I knew we were going to win no matter what,” Cutler said after the game.
With this huge win under their belt, Poly continues to be undefeated in both league and non-league play.
On Tuesday, January 8 at Poly, the Jackrabbits and the Millikan Rams girls soccer played against each other. Last year, Millikan beat Poly 3-1, but equipped with a new coach and some very strong returning players, Poly was hoping to pull off a win this year.
This game started off strong for Millikan, scoring in the first eight minutes off of a cross by Emily Tamayo. Karli Slater headed the ball towards the far post where Samy Sierra headed it into the goal that Poly goalkeeper Kira Ybarra missed.
Poly was able to rebound with a drving kick straight into the net by Senior Skylar Herrera in the 20th minute. But the Rams responded to the Jackrabbit goal with a cross by Sunha Park led by a shot into the goal by Oliva Tostado, putting Millikan in the lead.
They also played Cabrillo Thursday December 20, winning 4-0.
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Shooting at Torrance
On January 5 at Gable Bowl House, three people were shot dead and four were left injured. The victims of the shooting were all in their twenties. One allegedly was trying to stop the fight that caused the commotion. This all broke out because of a fight between fathers at a family gathering. At the bowling alley, the day had been “crowded” according to eyewitnesses.
As far as the victims, the 20-year-old who had been the youngest among the victims, had tried to stop the fight between the shooter’s group and the other men. People inside the bowling alley said, “There were 15 shots fired” and the commotion caused countless amounts of panic and chaos. Many families fled for cover as the rounds were fired.
In a video released on social media, a woman held one of the victims as blood soaked the floor. As the video circulated, the more people were able to identify the shooter.
An arrest took place two days later. The shooter was a man who was 47-years-old named Reginald Wallace. Wallace was a man who had been sentenced 17 years for assault with a deadly weapon and was released in 2017. He had been on parole at the time of the shooting. Now he is being sentence 25 to life for manslaughter and violating probation. Some might say, this incident remains as a horrible way to start off 2019.
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Hot H2O
The oldest rivalry in Long Beach came back to life for one more game, as the Long Beach Poly Girls Water Polo team counted down to their last practice before they faced the game that matters the most to them: Wilson.
The game started at 6:19 pm December 19, with the sprint won by Wilson High School. Poly’s head coach Brandon D’sa used Kate Sarantos, Tara Johnson, Alana Snyder, Maddie Marshall, Paulina Martinez and Josie Hahn as his starting line up. Within the first two minutes of the game Wilson scored 2 goals, ending the first quarter with 3 goals and four attempted goals by Poly.
After a heated two minutes of yelling and emotional speeches from both teams, the second quarter began with the sprint won by Wilson. Poly had Tara Johnson, Aristiana Modica, Josie Hahn, Kate Sarantos, and Paulina Martinez in this quarter. With 4:35 left on the clock Wilson scored another goal making the score now 4-0. Aristiana Modica got ejected allowing Wilson to be a “man up.” Wilson scored yet another goal, the score now 5-0. After their first timeout a Wilson player got ejected, giving Josie Hahn, Poly’s girl, an opportunity to score. During the third quarter, Wilson high school scored two more goals, which make it 7-1.
The last quarter arrived and the sprint was won once again by Wilson. Off of the sprint Wilson scored another goal, the score being 8-1. Off of the line, another of Wilson’s players were ejected for grabbing resulting in Poly scoring again, making it 8-2. The goal was made by Josie Hahn from the five meter line. After the goal was made, Poly’s number 12, Tara Johnson was ejected, resulting in another goal, the score now 9-2 at 3:19. After a minute of seeing who has the ball, Maddie Marshall stole the ball passing it to Emily Rockenbach who scored, the score was leveled out to 9-3. Wilson scored another goal the score rising to 10-3. After that goal Poly’s 4-5 side player Kate Sarantos scored another goal with 1:09 left on the clock. However, one more goal was taken by Wilson, the score final score turning out to be 10-4.
Jennifer Sarantos, Kate Sarantos’ mom said, “We’ll get them next year, and the year after that and so on and so forth, you just gotta keep believing and it will happen.”
