Tag: Long Beach Poly

  • Behind the Crime Scenes!

    Behind the Crime Scenes!

    When I first thought of this article,  it was because I was     curious to see what our Poly CSO’s do with their lives outside of school. Have you ever been curious as to what your teachers do in their spare time? Surely they have something they like to do aside from all that grading

    The gate worker and security guard Mike Castillo has been working for poly for the past two years. He is someone students often walk past, but seldom ever greet.

    Castillo, when he isn’t keeping poly’s campus beautiful, coaches youth basketball and youth football. “I was a jock in high school, I guess in that way, I still am.” Castillo said, smiling in remembrance of his past self.

    Nowadays, Castillo’s joy and passion comes not from sports alone, but his family. “My kids are my everything. I’m very soon to be a Grandpa, so I have that to look forward to.” he remarked with a small chuckle.

    Jeff Eyanson (the CSO pictured) has been a part of the Jackrabbit family for 28 years. During 8 of which he has been working toward receiving his doctorate. He was able to find the time to study while he worked. “I was able to work in between the cracks of time. I was able to do a lot of research while I’m at the main gate.”

    All that hard work will soon pay off for Eyanson, “I can see the end of the tunnel.” he said with a wide grin. As of now, Eyanson already teaches youth baseball and colleges courses twice a week in San Diego. He plans to remain working at poly as well as teaching online courses, “Is there anywhere else to go? I went here, stood here for 28 years. My son will go to high school here. Once a Jackrabbit, always a Jackrabbit.”

    Looking back to his years as a student here on campus, Eyanson can only remember being one thing: Busy. “I was in all kinds of clubs, student council, I was assistant coach for volleyball my senior year, and I was coach for 13 years after. We won CIF in 2000.”

  • Help Wanted: Poly Football Looking for Pierce Replacement

    After four years football head coach Antonio Pierce is leaving Poly. One of his main reasons for coaching here at Poly was his son DeAndre Pierce, who attended Poly and graduated in 2016.

    During his four years as coach he went 35-11, and made the playoffs three out of the four years.

    Before coaching, Pierce was a harding-hitting linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants, where he eventually won a Super Bowl. During his playing career he was known for his philanthropic activities with urban youth.

    “It was a great four years,” said Pierce, according to the Press-Telegram “I learned more about myself and how to coach and I created bonds with young men that I think will carry on for the rest of my life.”

    He now starts a new journey as linebackers coach at Arizona State University.

    “Antonio Pierce made a huge impact on us, he left us on good terms, he’s now the assistant coach and some will say it’s like a promotion,” said athletic director Robert Shock.

    Freshman Jake Garcia said, “He’s probably the best coach I’ve had up to this point. Not only is he super knowledgeable about the game, he’s also the type of coach that will push his players to become the best they can be off the field.” Coach Pierce made a huge impact on his players as some of them explain that he treated his players the same, no matter what their ranking was. Junior Elijah Juarez said, “I don’t mind him leaving because I know he’ll always have my back and the rest of the teams’. It’s not personal, it’s business.”

    Poly is currently in the process of picking a new head coach, “We are in the application stage, then we’ll put together a committee to review the candidates and set up the interviews,” said Shock.

  • Raw Preparation and Practice Leads to SmackDown for Wrestling

    Poly’s wrestling season recently started and the teams are coming out strong. Recent encounter was with Lakewood, in which Poly brought home the W with senior Jerry Luna in fourth place, junior Chang Lou in sixth and senior Tomas Lou in ninth.

    Senior varsity captain Tomas Lou, explained that the team “started out a little rusty but as we worked together to improve in our matches.” Lou also he added that the “connection between our team we all share our blood and tears – I know it sounds cliché but when we’re in that room we all share those feelings where we work hard to improve as a team and a family.”

    With the support of their captain, the team has built up confidence. Freshmen wrestler Karin Lopez explained her experience in her first year on the Poly wrestling team: “They have been very supportive and showed me many new moves apart from the ones I knew before coming to Poly, and my coaches are always there cheering us on and being very supportive.”

    As shown the team has such a strong bond and them having a lot of confidence with each other gives them a positive vibe on the rest of the season and make them work to come out stronger.

  • It’s a Hard-Wood Life

    Long Beach Poly’s boys basketball team suffered a devastating loss to the Lakewood Lancers in overtime by 3 points ending with a score of 90-87.

    When talking to the senior Darryl Polk Jr about the loss he said, “I was so lost for words because we haven’t lost to Lakewood in 13 years and we lose to them by 3 points.”

    “We need to play as a team more because, when the momentum is lost we start losing sight of winning and start doing our own thing.” said Polk.

    Their next game they played was against Wilson. Poly was up by 15 points the whole game, until they started playing selfish and Sloppy. The game came down to the last quarter and Wilson started playing like the better team. After a buzzer beater by Wilson guard Jayden Woodard the contest went into overtime . Through an overtime rally Poly was able to win the game with a final score of 74-70, barely pulling through.

    On the other hand Long Beach Poly’s girl basketball team has been steamrolling through every Moore league team this season. They beat Milikan 67-47, and Wilson 72-30. Their next game is January 19 against Cabrillo.

    Even though they blew out Wilson the Lady Jackrabbits always fell like they can improve, “We didn’t play with as much energy as we did against Millikan,” said freshman Kalaya Buggs.

  • Girls Water Polo’s Many Goals and Aspirations This Season

    On January 10, 2018, Long Beach Poly’s girls varsity water polo won its first Moore League game of the season against Lakewood with a score of 18-1 .

    “It was our first Moore League game, so it’s exciting to see how well we are doing so early in the season. Our hard work and ability to work well together as a team is definitely going to pay off this season. We had a strong preseason with intense practices and scrimmages against competitive teams,” said senior Sidney Balle, a utility player.

    The Poly team has played schools such as Canyon (9-7 W), Mission Viejo (14-6 W), Agoura (12-9 L), Yorba Linda (18-3 W), Santa Monica (9-4 W), El Toro (8-3 L), Villa Park (14-7 W), Cerritos (23-1 W), Palos Verdes (7-3 W), Redondo Union (14-9 L), and Peninsula (8-5 W) during their preseason in December.

    “During the preseason we worked really hard. We had the future in mind and we knew it wasn’t time to rest, but time to prepare. We had practices and tournaments and those preseason games were our time to make mistakes and correct them in time for the season. My position on the team is a utility player which means I do a bit of everything,” said senior Amanda Horton, “Headed into the game, I was focused but I knew as a team we should just aim to have fun and play good water polo. We started out a bit slow offensively, but our defense shut them out.”

    In the first quarter, Poly was in the lead with four points against Lakewood’s zero. In the second quarter, Poly stretched the lead to seven points. During the third quarter, Lakewood scored their one and only goal, with Poly scoring another five.

    “We had an amazing defense against Lakewood. They often had only one or two passes before we stole the ball. We came out slow in the first quarter but stepped it up in the second, scoring most our goals off counterattacks,” said senior Darby Huff, a set guard on the team. “But, I can’t stress enough that the relationship shared between all the girls, a bond created out of blood, sweat, and tears is going to make us successful this year. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls, especially our five amazing seniors who lead the way for all the younger girls.”

    “For the Lakewood game, I played as a setter. I felt that this game went great and was a great win for us to start Moore League an opportunity for us to fix any mistakes before facing tougher teams in Moore League and CIF playoffs,” said senior Sidney Brightenburg.

    “The Lakewood game started out slowly, but as the game progressed we had more intensity. Our great team defense paid off, allowing only two or three passes before we stole the ball from them. Our quick offense and good ball handling gave us the opportunity to make a lot of goals,” said senior Sidney Balle.

    The girls’ water polo team’s success did not come without hardship. For about five weeks, one of the heaters in the Poly pool was broken. They spent a week practicing in cold water before switching their practices to Cabrillo’s pool. Practices were also held at CSULB, LBCC, and Belmont. Shortly after, the girls returned to their own pool on January 8.

    Huff described how the team overcome adversity: “I feel very confident going into the season despite our setbacks involving sickness and our pool being out of commission for four weeks. We all have worked really hard this year, and our amazing coaching staff has pushed us not only physically but mentally as well.”

    Since the Lakewood game, the Jackrabbits have played five matches, including wins against Brea Olinda High School on January 12 and Warren High School on January 13. Poly’s girls water polo team now has an overall season record of 12 wins and six losses.

  • Port of Long Beach Internship

    From mid-June to mid-August, approximately 25 students from around the LBUSD donate eight weeks of their summer to a rare, educational opportunity.

    The Port of Long Beach Summer Internship offers students a way to explore various Port careers through hands-on experiences.

    For senior Claire Barr, the internship’s Program Management Division allowed her to “work with civil engineers on projects” related to Middle Harbor, one of the four fully automated terminals in the U.S.

    Not many internships allow high school students to get “up close to cranes”, or go on vessels and unfinished bridges, but the Port of Long Beach (POLB) internship does. According to Barr, students work with one another and gain skills necessary for their future careers.

    For senior Aidan Kenny of the Survey Division, one of his favorite memories was “being a part of a high priority meeting” with his supervisor.

    For senior Evan Swanson of Environmental Planning, the most valuable thing he learned was “how to behave in a work environment.” S

    enior Julia Pecego of Construction Management was also a part of the program.

    The application process for the internship is highly selective, however, Barr encourages all eligible students to apply because “it will help guide you towards your future.”

  • Available Jobs for Teens

    There are plenty of job opportunities scattered among the Long Beach community.

    Jamba Juice in Long Beach is hiring team members for part time and pay $10.50 an hour. They are looking for people who can take pride in their work, genuinely care about the customer and the experience you are providing them. If you get the job you get a 50% discount off all smoothies, juices and food products.

    PetSmart in Signal Hill is looking for part-time cashiers.

    The Vans store in Belmont Shore is looking for a part-time sales associate. This job is good if you enjoy interacting with people, have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment and are very patient.

    Target in the Lakewood mall is looking for cashiers. To qualify you would need to have a helpful attitude towards guests and other workers, able to answer customers questions thoroughly and quickly, have a flexible schedule, and also willing to work in other areas of the store.

    Starbucks on 7th and Park is looking for a barista. To qualify you would not need any previous experience required although they require you to be able to learn quickly, be able work as a part of a team, help maintain a clean and organized workspace, and help produce products consistently for all customers by adhering to all recipe and presentation standards.

    And if none of that interests you but you still want a job, there are always people who are looking for babysitters. Depending on how many kids or how long the parents will be gone the pay can vary. If you want to babysit you can ask a family friend or parent to put out the word that you’ll babysit.

  • Interested in a Fashion Career?

    If you’re interested in pursuing a career in fashion or makeup check out this internship. The internship is called Freedom and Fashion and there are different programs you can join. Freedom and Fashion offers a fashion mentorship program that allows you to create your own fashion line. The program teaches important skills like leadership, self image, and the ability to make different decisions. At the end of the program they host the Freedom and Fashion Annual Fashion Show. the show displays the student’s hard work and achievements.

    They also offer the Freedom and Fashion Beauty Mentorship Program. In the program they don’t just teach beauty skills They teach self value, inner beauty, and the power of self expression. The students in this program leave with knowledge of the beauty industry and the experience needed. At the end of the program they provide students with on set experience with the Freedom and Fashion Pro Studio Day. They partner with professional photographers and a high end studio. Students are able to leave with professional photos to start their portfolio.

    Another program they offer is Freedom and Fashion Stylist Experience. Students have the opportunity to partner with professional stylist that mentor and teach the students new ways to communicate through fashion.

  • Tips for Internships

    Internships help gain work experiences to help build up your resume, reach goals, improve team working, engagement, employability, communicating, and interpersonal skills, through trainings.

    First impressions are very important, so keep in mind that to be a professional you must dress like a professional, shake hands, make eye contact, smile, be friendly and confident. Don’t wait for the internships to come to you, besides the thousands on-line internship web sites and books, network through family, friends, friends’ family, and school contacts to find out about possible internships. While being an intern you will have a great opportunity to network with people working in your field.

    Treat your internship like its real job by showing up for work on-time and being prepared. Find a mentor in the same work field that will support you and provide you with advice. Establish good relationships with your coworkers.

    Stay off your phone and social media during shift hours, this will show others you are willing to learn, are motivated and have a genuine interest in your job, also ask questions when possible. Such internship programs, even volunteer opportunities, will provide you with real world experiences, and build a career foundation.

    Research shows that companies recruit about 85 percent of internships and similar experiential education programs participants to become full time workforces.

    So put all your effort in now and before you know it you will go from being an intern to an employee.

  • IDs? ID Even Necessary?

    IDs? ID Even Necessary?

    It’s 7:27 A.M., I had three hours of sleep, and I’ve faced my inevitable fate that I am about to fail my Calculus quiz. I make my way from the parking lot to the Jackrabbit/Atlantic gate, dragging my feet, half asleep, trying to ignore how happy the kid in front of me sounds. I get to the gate and damn – my ID. I left it somewhere in the depths of the mess that is the backseat of my car. I whip out my sophomore-year ID (that somehow I have managed not to lose) from my backpack’s front pocket and wave it to the person who believes that he is the all-mighty guardian of the wonderful kingdom that is Poly. It has worked before; it is the way I have entered this palace since the beginning of the school year. However, this time it did not go over so well. I was stopped in my tracks and my ID was confiscated and ripped from my too-tired-to-function hands. (I was actually emotionally attached to that ID and am upset that it was forcibly taken.)
    After I was denied entrance into the holy land by the high and mighty ID Police, I was directed to get a temporary ID at the main gate. I did not argue the fact that I pass through that gate every single day, or complain that the girl before me passed through the gate without showing her ID because the guard knew her. Instead, I turned around and walked onto Jackrabbit Lane towards the main entrance only to be greeted by a long line of ID-less criminals waiting to be granted permission into the academic Promised Land.  I stood in the line for a split second, but chose to try my luck at the other gate. I was expecting that gate to be guarded, too, given that the first guy was stricter than Donald Trump at the Mexican-American border. But to my (not so much) surprise, it was not. I was actually more upset than relieved that it was not guarded because I was turned around at the first gate for not having my ID and was then expected to wait in a line to be given a temporary ID by a person who seems to hate this newly-enforced rule as much as students do.
    If students are expected to respect this rule, I suggest Poly does not enforce it merely half way. These temporary IDs are a waste of time and money. If the administration is actually worried with campus security, I expect them to have the gates guarded at all times that they are open, including during zero period and after school. Additionally, if you want me to willingly dig into my backpack to show you my ID, ask everyone for their IDs. The only injustice I hate more than partially enforcing rules is exceptions to the rules. So I argue that these ID checks at the gates are not only unnecessary but absurd and it makes students want to enter school even less than they already do. I once saw a kid leave campus because he was denied entry without his ID and apparently had one too many warnings. So please do not make it harder than it already is for students to go to school. It is seven in the morning, so cut us some slack.