Tag: long beach

  • 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.

  • MOLAA for the Peers

    Students from Intensive Studies program attended a free tour and workshop at the Molaa as part of their community based instruction course.
    Thanks to the generous donations from donors at the Gala in October, Molaa is able to offer free educational programs.
    Students took the public Long Beach transfit and then walked to Molaa to learn sbout trending artist such as chicana artist Edith Hernandez and Long Beach tattoos history/landmark.

  • Dancing Away our Heart and Soul!

    Dancing Away our Heart and Soul!

  • 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.

  • The World is Ending?

    As of recently the focus on climate disruption is almost non-existent or ignored. President Donald Trump has also stated it as something he does not “believe in”. With even the President not even showing an interest in this, is concerning, as this situation seems to only get worse.

    According to statistics provided by NASA, there has been a global temperature rise of about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century. With the years passing, the climate only gets worse. Over the past 35 years, 2016 was considered one of the hottest years.

    Ocean life has had some awareness brought to it, in how plastic and trash easily gets into it, but yet after this knowledge being shared, results in fixing these issues are not as present. People advocate for these causes, such as World Wide Fund for Nature and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and yet the support is not nearly enough on a larger scale.

    Of course most people are aware about the glaciers and ice melting, but almost nothing is done in order to reverse these effects. Statistics on the effects of climate disruption are available for everyone to view, and about half a million of youth have taken action into this issue. Information gathered from the United Nations states 84% of youth believe more knowledge should be shared regarding climate, 73% feel the changes in our climate, and 89% say that the youth can make a difference.

    In what differences the youth can do is: go green, such as walking or different ways of transportation for the benefit of the earth, collaborating with others (maybe also coming together to form an organization), and finally partnering with the government, like the United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change.

  • YouTube War

    Felix Kjellberg, rather known online as YouTube sensation Pewdiepie, created his YouTube channel in 2010. As of now, he has over 67 million subscribers and has been the top subscribed channel on YouTube since 2013. However that is about to change as the YouTube channel T Series, is slowly catching up to him with a subscriber count of over 66 million.

    Now everyone is wondering who will be the next “King of YouTube”.

    Personally, I have been watching Pewdiepie’s channel since late 2013. During that time, he and a couple other YouTubers were great distractions from whatever troubles I was going through at that time. His videos would always make me laugh no matter what type of mood I was in. In other words, he had a huge impact on my life.

    With T Series around, this brings up a lot of questions, concerns, and thoughts. After all, the difference between T Series and Pewdiepie is what their channels are based off of. For starters, T Series is an Indian music record label

    and film production company owned by Bhushan Kumar and Kishan Kumar that owns other channels under the same name. Pewdiepie on the other hand, is a single person channel with no other companies based off it. Just like Matthew Patrick (The Game Theorists) had said, “Since their MCN (multi- channel network) contains a whole bunch of huge channels, not just one, all those channels can be used to promote each other.”

    I find it unfair for T Series to be receiving subscribers from their other owned channels, meanwhile Felix has worked really hard to earn his. From what I see, T Series is only receiving more subscribers just because they don’t want to see Pewdiepie stay on top. If T Series ever does come to exceed Felix, will things be any different? Are they getting the same love and support any other regular YouTuber receives? Is there anyone who will really be affected by this?

    It’s not hate I feel towards the competition, but I can assure that it is not love either. In the end, whether Pewdiepie stays number one or not, he will always have my full love and support.

  • The King Reigns Over a New Empire

    The King Reigns Over a New Empire

    As the gates open for another National Basketball Association (NBA) season, debatably one of the best basketball players on the earth, LeBron James (LBJ), enters a new team: the Los Angeles Lakers.

    Why is this so important?

    Well it’s LEBRON FREAKING JAMES. The 3× NBA champion, 3× NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, 4× NBA Most Valuable Player, 14× NBA All-Star, 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP player (the list can go on and on). James offers everything the LA Lakers need from leadership for the young potential they have to dominant offensive and defensive presence on the court.

    The thirty-three-year-old, premier basketball player takes over the court against any team and single handedly carried the Cleveland Cavaliers (21W – 45L before LeBron came) to become a four time finalist team, but sadly lost three of those titles against the Golden State Warriors.

    Although, let’s be real, the Cavalier’s roster didn’t have the pure talent that the Lakers have now such as Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and JaVale McGee. The current roster is projected to win the 2018- 2019 NBA Championship and many more after that. If LeBron James can take a below average team to the NBA finals four times, there’s no doubt in my mind LBJ can do even better with the LA Lakers as the team already has a solid foundation as it is.

    The likes of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart all grew up watching LeBron and now they’re playing with him?! They will flourish into extraordinary players as we get deeper into the NBA season with the leadership of LBJ which bodes well for the LA Lakers. Young players such as Lonzo Ball synergizes with LBJ as the player fares well with long distance passes enabling LeBron to cherry pick layups and dunks.

    Lebron James will dawn number twenty-three against the Portland Trail Blazers this Thursday.

    Kind of weird to see Kobe Bryant’s team and Michael Jordan’s number on LeBron James’ back, huh? I hope to see a dominant start to further solidify the superiority the LA Lakers have now.

  • Letter to The Editor: Mr. Puth Speaks Out About Grad Night

    Letter to The Editor: Mr. Puth Speaks Out About Grad Night

    All In Press
    Dear High Life Editors and Jackrabbit Class of 2019,

    Thank you for expressing your frustration regarding Grad Night (“Goodbye Disney, Hello Universal” published October 15), giving voice to you and your peers. Let me first state that Grad Night has traditionally been a parent-led event and the previous Grad Night Committee disbanded at the end of last year due to lack of parent volunteers. In my earlier loopmail to the class of 2019, I explained the financial issues involved:

    “Two years ago, Disneyland offered Grad Night with a park hopper pass for $90. Last year, they raised the price to the current cost of $139 for the tickets alone. Our Senior Spirit Packs reflects the pricing that is student-friendly for ALL of our activities and has our Grad Night prices starting at $90. With 437 students buying

     senior spirit packs… the senior class would have to cover for $57,970 [more] to keep with our allotted 700 Disney Grad Night tickets.”

    [700 Tickets x $139 = $97,300 /// 437 Spirit Packs x $90 = $39,330 /// $97,300 – $39,330 = $57,970]

    Two areas I would like to clarify: First, students in last year’s class of 2018 did not overspend. Their Grad Night Parent Committee raised money over several years so that when the price for tickets went up last year, the committee decided to cover the missing funding for the class of 2018 to attend Grad Night at Disneyland.

    The parents on that committee had students that graduated last year or earlier, so at the end of last year’s they quit the committee. At the beginning of this school year, there were no parents from the classes of 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022 left on the committee, so I realized Activities would have to do something to make it happen this year.

    Disneyland revealed their offer to us with the pricing of $139 per ticket on September 17, 2018 and we had to make a commitment to cover that cost within that week.  Disneyland had the luxury to choose who and when they would offer Grad Night spots to, while we had to move forward with a plan that was best for all of our students right then. It would have been impossible to make up the $57,970 that we still needed to commit to Disneyland.

    Secondly, the Senior Spirit Pack was sold based on the whole package for seniors to have an all around senior experience. Prom, extra graduation tickets, yearbook, a class ring, cap and gown, an ASB sticker, a senior shirt/sweatshirt from senior senate, and grad night. Senior year is already expensive, and making the Senior Spirit Pack more expensive would potentially mean some students wouldn’t be able to purchase it, missing out on opportunities every senior should get to have.

    Third, there have been people who have asked for refunds thinking that they can go to Grad Night at Disneyland on their own. You can’t go to Grad Night at Disneyland without going with your school – they won’t let you in. You could go to Disneyland with your friends or by yourself, but it just isn’t the same: You don’t get to stay after hours when the park normally closes, there won’t be any special events for the class of 2019, and most importantly, you won’t be with all the classmates and friends that you’ve been with during your last four years at Poly.

    Lastly, I thank everyone for doing what Poly is best known for, striving for an open and inclusive campus. While I understand it can be disappointing that we are not going to a more local place for Grad Night, I believe that the class of 2019 knows that it’s always better when we have more Jackrabbits celebrating together.

    Respectfully,

    Vincent Puth

    Activities Director

  • National Merit Finalists

    The National Merit scholarship program provides opportunities for students to be recognized for their phenomenal academic achievements. Students with PSAT scores at the top one percent of scores in the state, with the addition of reflecting transcript records of their score, qualifies them to be semifinalist. There are currently three semifinalist at our school that will compete against students from other states for a $2,000 scholarship.

    Many Ivy league colleges and corporations sponsor these scholarships, potentially giving semifinalist additional scholarships to almost any school they apply to. Pace Counselor Connie Loggins strongly believes the Poly students will “have no problem entering the final round” because of their strong commitment to academics and extracurricular activities.

    Erin Shin, a PACE senior, is one of the semifinalist, and she dreams of going to Stanford or Yale. She hopes to major in neuroscience and one day become a physician. Through her experiences thus far, she believes it is important to be a leader by taking the initiative to help others.

    Shin is persistent in her school work, but makes sure to make time for outside activities. She belongs to a youth orchestra and piano quartet at Colburn School of Music in Downtown LA; works at Kumon and the school cafeteria; and recently began tutoring in the AP Resource Room.

    Despite her full schedule, Erin is persistent in managing her time “by trying to stay off social media” though she admits that “doesn’t really work these days”.

  • Robotics Club Hosting Fundraiser

    Long Beach Poly Robotics Club participated in an off-season competition called Fall Classic and placed first in the competition.

    The Fall Classic is hosted by a company yearly with the objective of having games created for schools to compete with their designed robot.

    The LBP Robotics Club completely redesigned their robot within 4 weeks.

    Although this is their second year as a rookie team they’ve done well with the club and competitions. There are currently 30-35 members active in the club.

    Senior Marine Alais has been part of the club for two years now and said she was recruited by Theana Guttieri, a now graduated Poly student, when Guttieri stopped by the science classes to discuss about recruitment, Alais said it sounded interesting and joined. Alais experience with competitions makes her feel like it’s “a really big community”, with most schools helping each other out and working together.

    The club not only has their focus on competitions but also in community outreach, working on projects, and mentoring middle school students.

    An upcoming fundraiser  for the club will be taking place December 15 at Applebee’s.

    The club is also hoping to create a Vex team and have an upcoming competition taking place during the beginning of January.

  • Poly North: From a Counselors Perspective

    Poly North is an opportunity for sophomores to gain experience in the woods that will dramatically change their lives forever.

    The origin of Poly North started 4 decades ago. It is focused on supporting the students on a more personal level. Anyone can say that the activities, for instance, the mountain hikes and seminars that are introduced to the students, impact everyone including the staff, senior counselors, and students.

    At Poly North, students interact with each other through seminars about topics or problems that Poly or society has and focuses in on solutions that could benefits students on a personal level.

    For instance, Vincent. Puth (Activities Director/Mentor/Poly Alumni/etc) shared his story of the time he went to Poly North and how he went from wanting to do bad things to being Student Body President. His story contributes to the meaning behind Poly North. This opportunity is a life changing experience that Poly believes every sophomore should endure.

    The first camp took place on October 26-28. Once the bus landed at approximately 3:00 pm, the sophomores eagerly waited to be grouped into their seminar groups. Once the seminar meeting ended, both senior counselors and staff members handed out meal cards for the hungry campers.

    In the dining hall, group activities called Warm Fuzzies took place. The game was to pass a softball from one person without using hands. The purpose of Warm Fuzzies was for the sophomores to get close and comfortable with close interactions. Staff members then performed skits in front of the sophomores.

    The last activity on the first day, was the night hike. Temperatures at lowest reached 38 degrees whilst on the night hike, as the hikers looked upon the starry night. Finally, the campers participated in their own cabin talks.

    On Saturday, the second day, campers rose bright and early at 7:30 to breakfast. After eating, seminar groups met up again for a seminar talk and to participate in several outdoor activities. Some activities included rock climbing, hiking, low ropes, and co-op games working their seminar groups.

    The sophomores then headed back to the dining hall for another round of Warm Fuzzies, this time passing a lifesaver between toothpicks held in the mouth.

    After all activities and seminar talks, the sophomores and seniors were then ready to perform their own skits for the staff and everyone else.

    After all the skits were performed by each seminar group and senior counselors, the usual night hike took place and short dance happened.

    On the final day, the seminar groups met up one last time as everyone said their goodbyes. Free time was then administer as the sophomores chose what they wanted to do, such as archery, volleyball, or just hanging out. Senior counselor took the traditional route and all jumped into the freezing lake together.

    After lunch, were the goodbyes. With the cabins all packed up, everyone who attended camp said their final goodbyes and bittersweet farewells.

    The committee for Poly North can  aided with donations – which can be accessed on Long Beach Poly’s school website.

  • Library Renamed after former Principal

    Library Renamed after former Principal

    Poly’s library has been named after Bob Ellis-July 26, 1924-February 6, 201-, a former student and principal, at a ceremony honoring him. The ceremony was held on September, 11 headed by Mr. Brett Alexander, a teacher here at Poly. Ellis graduated in 1941, a letterman of the debate team. After high school he attended Long Beach City College, Cal State Long Beach, and the University of Missouri. He also served in the navy in WWII and the Korean War. After his service he came back to Poly and became a teacher, counselor, and head counselor, until he became the principal from 1978-1980 to 1985-1986.

    As principal, he founded the Center for International Curriculum(CIC) program, was responsible for moving graduation from the crowded Terrace Theater to Veterans Stadium, built the rally stage, renamed 17th St to Jackrabbit Ln, and during his time here had a three year period where not a single teacher asking for a transfer to another school. At his time at LBCC he helped establish a program in which seniors could take classes at the college.

    He was also a principal at Jordan and Wilson High School, Hughes Middles School, and three elementary schools in the district.