Tag: Long Beach Polytechnic High School

  • Cleanliness and Safety as Lockdown Lifts

    Although cleanliness in most public spaces is kept up by janitorial staff or maid services, the CDC recommends that you also take preventative measures of your own.

    The Center for Disease and Control Prevention has created an extensive list of preventative measures for public places to consider when reopening to minimize contact and contamination. It’s quite extensive, so being able to quickly give a shorter list of quick behaviors to look out for both at home and out and about are important.

     

    1. Watch the staff at a restaurant.

    Keeping an eye on how they move around if they wear gloves or not, and how thoroughly they clean off surfaces could keep both yourself and others safe. Ensure that they space tables out carefully, are wiped down carefully if/when you have the chance. They should wear masks consistently, and there’s a possibility they were told to also wear gloves. While their individual cleaning habits cannot be tracked, making sure your server keeps to the guidelines can keep both yourself and others safe.

     

    2. See how they handle other customers.

    It’s not a restaurants’ responsibility to keep everyone happy, but it is their responsibility to keep everyone safe. If a customer is unwilling to wear their mask or follow the CDC guidelines for dining safely, that is their own fault. However, if the restaurant continues to cater to this individual, regardless of their dangerous behavior, the restaurant would be at fault. They are not only putting their own employees but other patrons in the restaurant in possible harm, regardless if they are dining inside or outside.

     

    3. Make sure Inside/outside dining areas are clean, and spaced out accordingly

    Inside dining has been recently allowed by Los Angeles County, but outside dining is still provided as an option. While outside dining was a way for restaurants to cope with the ban on inside dining, both are now open to the public in almost any restaurant you can think of. Some have welcomed inside dining with open arms, some less so. But the rules and needs of outside dining should still be followed in the restaurant to the best of the staff’s ability. Open windows and large/empty spaces between tables could still be upheld. Cleaning should still be done meticulously, and masks and gloves should still be worn.

    4. If you can, watch how they make food

    While some cooking is done in the background, or as passive entertainment with a small view, some diner-style restaurants have large openings where you can see into the kitchen area if you’re sitting at the right tables or booths. Get one of these, if you can, and while you wouldn’t be able to tell what each dish the workers in the kitchen are making, see if you can pick out how they make food if they’re wearing gloves while doing so, and how often they may or may not clean the counters or their hands, and if the chefs themselves wear masks. While kitchen cleanliness has always been an important part of restaurant hygiene, it’s even more important now.

     

    5. Don’t allow your own cleanliness habits to slip

    When in public, the first person you need to look out for is yourself, especially in restaurants, while keeping an eye on the environment around you, make sure you don’t put yourself or those around you in danger. Always wear a mask unless eating, ensure that you can stay a safe distance away from others, clean up after yourself, and ensure you’re touching as few surfaces as possible. 

     

     

    Now, however, there are dangers to having a less-than-suitable cleaning routine, either inside your home or out with others. Having a less than reliable cleaning staff could get your entire business shut down, and not cleaning your home properly, with parents and students now going back to work or school, could cause one or more people in the household to get sick, or worse. Weekly, routine cleaning is needed to keep everyone in a restaurant or at home safe. 

     

    1. Clean yourself off once you get home

    A quick and easy way to make sure possible hazards don’t enter your home is by tossing your clothes in the washer once you get home and putting on new, clean clothes. It’s possible that airborne and contact germs found their way onto your clothes and yourself, taking a shower and getting into clean clothes once you get home would be the best way to minimize germs entering your household.

     

    2. Make sure you have a regular cleaning schedule

    As entering and leaving your home becomes more commonplace, it’s important that you keep the spaces you frequent the cleanest. Having a reliable cleaning routine when you return home is a good thing, but germs can always enter your home, and cleaning your home often and with good disinfectant would be an easy way to keep your home and everyone in it safe.

     

    3. Make sure to clean any packages that come to your doorstep

    Home delivery before the quarantine was a common practice but became almost necessary when stuck at home and in need of quickly delivered, commonly used necessities. However, being able to know where exactly packages you order have been, or how well they’ve been handled is impossible. Along with yourself, and your home, clean the boxes that you bring into your home before opening them, and ensure anything your order is cleaned before being brought into your home. 

     

    4. Minimize the guests in your home

    Much like at the beginning of lockdown, being able to stay home and isolated with your roommates and family are the easiest ways to stay safe, but with the slowly loosening restrictions on dining, outings, and visitors, having a person or two in your home wouldn’t be a terrible idea. However, that doesn’t mean you allow them to easter through your home, forgo watching their hands, or minimizing the time they stay with you. It would be a safe bet to meet on your lawn, porch, or outside your home, and if you do allow them into your home, make sure to clean up after them, and any surfaces they touched.

     

    5. Always have cleaning supplies on standby

    Being able to keep yourself and your home clean isn’t a new idea, but with the dangers, we could still face, even with the slowly lifting precautions of the lockdown, having a small stock of cleaning supplies tucked away in a bathroom or closet could be necessary in case something worrying happens, and the harsher lockdown is put back into place. Cleaning supplies were a bit hard to come by in the beginning, and if there were to be a second lockdown, finding cleaning supplies would be near impossible.

  • Space X : A New Space Race

     

     

    In 1903 man took flight for the first time. In 1969 one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind was made, and in 2017 Space X set the bar for reusable rockets. On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Space X test launched the Falcon Heavy at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon Heavy was expected to have a 50/50 chance of success. The 23 story tall rocket was equipped with two boosters and one core with 27 engines capable of producing 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

    The maiden voyage successfully landed the Heavy’s two self-landing reusable rocket boosters, and launched the payload of a Tesla roadster with a dummy sitting in the passenger seat, along with a track of David Bowie’s Space Oddity playing. Elon Musk said that the Roadster is  “just going to be out there in space for maybe millions or billions of years. Maybe discovered by some future alien race thinking what the heck, what were these guys doing? Did they worship this car? Why do they have a little car in the car? And that’ll really confuse them.”

    In a press Conference Space X founder and CEO Elon Musk stated that “we want a new space race… Space Races are exciting” Perhaps Space X will really start up another space race. The Falcon Heavy will dramatically decrease the cost of space flight, after all the Falcon Heavy can carry twice the capacity and is a fourth of the price of America’s biggest existing rocket the Delta 4 Heavy.

  • Possibility of Care Center Closing

    Possibility of Care Center Closing

    Is it true that the C.A.R.E Center closing, as people have been saying? Could the one safe place for some people on campus really be going away? Well the rumors are somewhat true. Sadly, as far as it is currently known the C.A.R.E Center will be closed for the 2018 – 2019 school year.

    On January 30, Poly’s School Site Council, which makes recommendations to the LBUSD School Board, held a meeting in which they talked about various topics. One topic being providing money to staff the C.A.R.E Center. School site council and the school board unanimously voted to not fund the C.A.R.E. Center next school year, in part by voting to fund other positions.

    At the February 27 School Site Council meeting about 30 students and a few teachers showed up to make statements in support of the C.A.R.E. Center. When asked about what the school could possibly do to provide funding for the C.A.R.E Center, junior Brandon Corza stated, “There should be a lot more active fundraising.” Clubs and sports can do fundraising and something as important as the C.A.R.E Center should be able to do some fundraising to help keep money flowing so it will not be at risk of closing.

    Michael Gray, C.A.R.E Center counselor, mentioned that people have been getting together to help raise money for the C.A.R.E Center. Students, parents, and even community members are coming together to help raise money. The downside of fundraising is that it would require producing a large amount of money every year.

    During the wellness week a fair was held in which some booths even had petitions students could sign. The petitions were for the C.A.R.E Center, mentioning that it is an important place on campus that students need and it should not close.

    History teacher Michael Tinsley discussed the importance of the program:  “If the C.A.R.E Center closed, our problems will be bigger. We would have an uptick in absences, potentially more students failing, social and emotional problems among students, and potentially something dangerous to staff and students.”

  • Where Did Everybody Go?

    After an explosion of tweets and posts regrading the threats of an alleged school shooting, many students decided to stay home from school on February 21. That morning,  Superintendent Chris Steinhauser sent out a group email stating, “We have been alerted to unsubstantiated social media rumors that a possible shooting was planned to occur at Poly High School.”

    Pictured is the empty parking lot with limited amounts of students attending school that morning.

     

    For more information, read Issue 10 released on Thursday, March 8.

  • Choristers Get Opportunity of a Lifetime

    Choristers Get Opportunity of a Lifetime

    On Wednesday, January 31 and Thursday, February 1, LBUSD’s high school honor choir  performed alongside the Long Beach Symphony at the Terrace Theater for third through fifth graders.

    The honor choir includes the following high schools within LBUSD: Poly, Millikan, Wilson, Lakewood, and Renaissance. They met at Millikan for weekly rehearsals since the beginning of January.

    Eckart Preu, the eighth Musical Director of the Long Beach Symphony, conducted both the symphony and the choir.

    He started the concert off with two pieces from Carmen, composed by Georges Bizet, one with featuring a trumpet solo and the other featuring the choir singing in French. The next piece was “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor composed by Alexander Borodin. This song and “1812 Overture” composed by Peter Tchaikovsky were both sung in Russian.

    The “1812 Overture” originally featured live cannons to emulate warfare, but the Terrace Theater would not allow those, so instead a red button was used to play recordings of the cannons. Preu selected a child from the audience to hit the button when he signaled them. After that piece the honor choir took a break for two symphony only songs.

    The first piece was “Ride of the Valkyries” composed by Richard Wagner. This is a song that is used in many commercials and movies so it was recognizable for the children. The second piece included an additional student volunteer who got to conduct one of the pieces.

    The last piece of the show was a real crowdpleaser. It was “Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace. The kids went crazy over hearing a song from a movie they knew very well and were amazed by hearing that song with a live symphony.

  • Creativity at its Finest

    Creativity at its Finest

    A new mural and garden have recently been added to the school. Both the mural and garden are located northeast of the 600 building. The mural was created by one of Poly’s very own students. Ahmad Ali, an 11th grader in the intensive studies program, was the one who created the design for the mural. The chance to create the mural was given to all the art classes at Poly, but in the end Ali’s design won and was chosen.

    Intensive studies teacher Indria Jimenez feels like the garden is a great chance for the students to learn about gardening and healthy eating habits. Also, they’re going to have inclusion between the general education classes and intensive studies students by developing STEM, environmental science, and gardening lessons.

    To make the garden and mural come all together, a lot of people put in time and effort into the process. A local artist volunteered to come and outline the students art work for free. Auto mechanics teacher Chris McColm gave used tires for them to use as planters. Two additional garden beds will be donated by Bobby M and Mr.Hazel. Also, students from multiple programs provided help in painting the garden beds and tire planters. The paint was donated by Allan H-building maintenance worker. With the help from all these amazing people and students the mural and garden was created.

  • The Wait Pays Off

    The Wait Pays Off

    On December 19, 2017, Poly had its grand re-opening for its auditorium after an almost three-year renovation. The service was held at the side entrance on 15th Street and included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, along with a string quartet and Jazz One playing and caroling to welcome the guests. There to welcome back the public to Poly’s auditorium were board of education members, such as Megan Kerr, and Poly staff, including choral music director, Brian Dokko.

    The renovation was long overdue but was finally pursued in January 2015, mainly due to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring access for people with wheelchairs, along with the damages from the earthquake of 1933.

    Now with the changes, the auditorium has an elevator lift available for those that require it. The building also has “the original stage but new interior walls and ceilings, seats, lighting and sound,” according to Dokko. The latest model of the walls and ceiling have allowed for better acoustics for choral music and the cushioned seats have the audience in a more comfortable state during performances.

    However, the alterations do come with a cost.

    “We got rid of the balcony and suffered the loss of around 400 seats,” Dokko said. “We are just over 1100 seats now.” But, it’s a price worth paying especially no longer having to go offsite for performances.

    Poly’s choral, instrumental, and dance concerts along with events such as Jackrabbit Pageant and Baccalaureate are ready to take on the old stage of the new auditorium.

    “I’m super happy,” Dokko said. “It feels wonderful to be back. It’s been so long. We forgot how it feels like to be in here.”

  • ROTC Pays College Tuition

    ROTC Pays College Tuition

    It is officially college season and this is the time when high school seniors are working on college applications and looking for any and all ways to get money for tuition.

    Unfortunately, not all scholarships guarantee a full ride for college. However there is always the choice of a military scholarship that does in fact pay for all years of a student’s college education. The Air Force, Army, and Navy branches of the military have Reserved Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs in colleges that give scholarships to anyone willing to apply.

    While the scholarship provides students with full college tuition, in return the student has to be committed before the start of their sophomore year in college to stay in the program while they remain in school. That student has to not only be committed to the ROTC program but also to being a commissioned officer in the military at a minimum of four years after college. The choice of being enlisted to the military is always a choice but there is also the choice of going into the military as a Health professional; there are many choices for health professions in the military, anyone can be anything from a Doctor to Obstetrician to Veterinarian and anything in between.

    Unfortunately neither the Marines nor the Coast Guard have the option of ROTC for college students but they do have something similar. The Marines have an option under the Naval ROTC program that allows students to apply for a Marine Corps scholarship and the Coast Guard has a separate program called the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative that gives students who may be interested, the chance to get a scholarship as well.

  • DACA is Still a Thing

    DACA is Still a Thing

    About 9 months into his presidency, Donald Trump has managed to repeatedly mortify many Hispanic families. Apart from the fact that he is still working on building his “border wall,” he has repealed DACA impacting many Hispanic members who were part of the program.

    The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was created by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and allows certain people, or Dreamers, who come to the U.S. illegally as minors to be protected from immediate deportation. Recipients are able to request “consideration of deferred action” for a period of two years which is then to be renewed.

    DACA increased wages and labor-force participation of DACA-eligible immigrants and has increased the odds for a career and better standards of living than previous family members.

    One Poly student has felt the impact of Trump’s DACA repeal.

    “I, out of my whole family and my two brothers, am a DACA recipient,” the anonymous student said. “One of them is graduating this year and when he got the news it struck our whole family hard.’’

    Around 800 college and university presidents have signed their institutions support onto a letter urging Congress to pass legislation as soon as possible to permanently protect Dreamers. These universities would like to provide security for dreamers who currently study on their campuses, and who will be seeking an education with their establishments in the future.

    “Colleges and universities have seen these remarkable people up close, in our classrooms and as our colleagues and friends,” according to the letter posed to congressional representatives. “Despite the challenges they face, they have made incredible contributions to our country and its economy and security.”

    Many people think that DACA is no longer an issue, however, it still impacts a wide variety of Poly’s surrounding communities.

    “The repealing of DACA was a big hit to many other families and I know, some way, my family such as other families will not stop fighting for our loved one’s dreams,” the anonymous DACA recipient said.

  • Video Class Receives Grant

    Video Class Receives Grant

    Contemporary Video is a class that allows students to explore the world of film, from scriptwriting to editing. The class can be difficult for students, even more so without the proper equipment. Contemporary Video teacher Laura Stringer realized this problem and set out a plan of action to get the necessary funds for her class.

    “I’ve never really taught this kind of class before, which in itself can be difficult, but not having the proper equipment doubles the challenge,” Stringer said.

    She, along with the other film teachers in the Long Beach Unified School District sought out for a grant.

    The Career for Technical Education (CTE) decided to give a state grant of a $200,000 range to the teachers. The changes within our school are already inaction, as room 804 received new computers on October 26.

    “These are from the last millennium,” Stringer sang in pure excitement as she and her class carried out the outdated machines. Her wooden tables are the next to go, and she has plans for a new layout for her room for the following year.

    New air conditioners and a possible field trip are expected to be in her possession by spring. By December, she plans to obtain new cameras, desks, and blackout curtains.

    “We can practice filming some sort of show for the school, with the curtains,” Stringer said with a wide smile. “Maybe with news, maybe even with The High Life, anything really. I went back [to college] for my credential just for this class. I’m very excited.”

    Contemporary video is a PARTS class, which offers students a chance to expose themselves to careers in film beyond college. The goal of the class is for the students to have a hands-on experience in filmmaking.

    Although the class does have the new Mac computers installed and ready to use, the class itself is far from ready. Students are to use their own personal devices as there are not any cameras. Any editing is to be on hold until the spring.

  • Pac Rim, PACE, and CIC Offer Shadow Program for 8th Grade Students

    With November approaching quickly, seniors at Poly are deciding where they would like to attend college. However, seniors are not the only ones choosing their next destination for their education– eighth graders across the LBUSD district are faced with the same dilemma.

    From October 16 to December 6, PACE, CIC and Pac Rim will host eighth graders as shadow students at Poly.

    Pac Rim and CIC facilitator Jeffrey Inui said, “Shadowing is an opportunity for kids to see the school and the programs in greater detail. The way Poly does it, is that we set up individual hosts with students. The reason we do it this way is because it gives [students] a genuine experience about what the classes are and what the programs are.”

    Cindy Stuart, the PACE office assistant, went into detail about how the shadowing program goes about.

    “[Eighth graders] apply through the district, and I get a list of emails,” Stuart said. “I email the parent and the eighth graders the application and ask them about their favorite subject or sport. And then I have a list of juniors and seniors that want to have a shadow. I then go through their schedules and try to match them. We had 250 [the day when applications were open], and then I cut it off the second day at 300.”

    Inui, on the other hand, explained the shadow program for CIC and Pac Rim.

    “[Eighth graders] design the experience,” Inui said. “Eighth graders can choose anybody. Pac Rim has always done [shadowing], but it wasn’t official until last year. You couldn’t even choose Pac Rim if you wanted to shadow it. This year we have 500 to 600 requests to shadow.”

    However, smaller learning communities (SLCs), or pathways, do not have shadow days for prospective students. According to Inui, the SLCs about four years ago attempted to give eight graders the chance to shadow their programs.

    Besides Millikan and Poly, other LBUSD high schools opted out of initiating shadow programs for eighth graders because of the incessant amount of effort, work, commitment and time it takes to accomplish.

    Another upcoming event, is the Eighth Grade Choice Night on November 28.

    “The pathways will all present– not just CIC and PACE,” Inui said. “Families will be welcome to visit the campus and see projects. Student council and music groups get heavily involved. Usually I get 300 to 400 parents show up. There will be translators that the district provides.”

    Senior Gabby Gliane, alongside Student Commission and the rest of link crew, will host the event.

    “We will be joining forces to help kids to come to Poly,” Gliane said. “We are going to try and have games and a little orientation, so it can be fun.”

    The PACE representatives will present the the program through Michelle Aberle’s powerpoint presentations, which are 30 minutes in length and occur five times throughout the night.

    “Aberle also invites seniors to come and help out [during choice night],” Stuart said.

  • Pink & Powerful

    Pink & Powerful

    Cancer. 

    It’s something that has affected many American families.  From adolescence to adulthood, trauma from this disease can last a lifetime.  It can not only affect the individual, but the people within their lives.  It can create emotional scars, but can also bring families closer together.  Cancer can come in all shapes and sizes.

    One of the most prominent forms of cancer is breast cancer. 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer, and the survival rate is 90%. Depending on the type of breast cancer, surgeries can range from lumpectomy, which is the removal of tissue in and around the tumor, to a  mastectomy, which is the total removal of the breast. After the surgery, many women receive chemotherapy, in which drugs or medicines are used to treat the cancer.

    The treatment of of breast cancer can be quite stressful, and patients need all the support they can get. That’s where Breast Cancer Awareness month plays a role. It is a month dedicated to supporting and celebrating patients and survivors of breast cancer.  It helps raise money for research into the causes and treatments as well. There is even a club dedicated to raising money, called Team Pink Plus.

    Senior Becca Gutierrez explained what Team Pink Plus does for Poly

    “So Team Pink+ is a cancer awareness club on campus,” Gutierrez said. “For the month of October (Breast cancer awareness month) we focused raising money for breast cancer, specifically for The Young Survivor Coalition. They are an organization that helps and supports women who are battling breast cancer and are under the age of 40. We fundraised through selling spirit packs at the breast cancer game, holding a silent auction for tickets to the We Can Survive concert and USC tickets, and most recently a Pie Your Teacher in the Face Rally. We raised over $1000 in October alone through these events and we plan on continuing to do the same through the end of the year!”