Tag: poly

  • Fearsome Films

    It’s that time of the year again, Spooky Season! The perfect time to grab some popcorn, some snacks, a blanket and watch scary movies all night. If you’re not sure what movies to turn on during this Spooky Season, here are some Halloween Classics for you to watch.

    Coraline (2009): A young girl named Coraline, moves with her family to her new home. While exploring, she discovers a secret door that leads to another place that mirrors her current reality. While everything may seem like it’s better than her real life, her parallel life soon takes a turn for the worse.

    The Amityville Horror (2005): A husband and wife move their family to a new home. What seems to be the perfect house soon reveals a horrid past: the house belonged to a tenant that was possessed by a demon, causing him to murder his entire family. The family believes the house is haunted so they do everything to try to escape the horrors. (Based on a true story)

    Beetlejuice (1988): After dying in a car accident, a couple finds themselves back at their own home, unable to leave, they are left to haunt the residence. An unbearable married couple moves into their new home and the dead couple tries to scare them out but their attempts fail miserably. After accidentally summoning Beetlejuice, they soon realize how dangerous he is for the family.

    Pet Semetary (1989): A family moves to a new home in Maine and befriends their neighbor. After their cat dies, the neighbor advises that they bury it in a nearby cemetery. The cat then comes back to life but his entire personality has changed drastically- for the worse. After the family’s son dies from a tragic accident, they bury him in the same cemetery. When he comes back to life, he becomes a terrifying threat to the family.

  • Welcome, New Staff!

    Welcome, New Staff!

    Maria Salazar

    By Reymar Santos

    Maria Salazar, the new ASB secretary, is excited to work here at Polytechnic High School. She lives on the west side of Long Beach, but her family is originally from Mexico. She is the first generation from her family to become a citizen in the US. Her family is originally from Mexico. Her previous job was in the enrollment department at the other school. She graduated from Long Beach City College. Her first experience at Poly was such a new and thrilling experience because our school spirit in this school compared to other schools is overwhelming. She said, “The people are friendly; and communicating with students is nice.” As ASB secretary, she said she enjoys helping other students with activities and handing out school IDs.

    David Rodriguez

    By Alexander Phouma

    David Rodriguez is one of our new special education teachers here at Poly. Mr. Rodriguez was born and raised here in Long Beach, and attended Wilson High School. After graduating high school, he furthered his education and studied at UC Santa Cruz for his bachelors and is currently working on getting his masters at Cal State University and has been happily married for two and a half years now. Before working at Poly, Rodriguez was a teacher at Grant Elementary School. Like both of his parents, he became a teacher to help kids and he enjoys seeing students become a better version of themselves. Rodriguez likes to run with his wife and play board games. He has ran about 25 marathons so far. He also enjoys watching baseball, and his favorite team is the Dodgers. One of his favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption and enjoys buffalo wings and burgers.

    John Wong

    By Briana Mendez-Padilla

    John Wong, Poly’s new MEDS counselor, transferred this year from Poly’s sister campus, PAAL, where he worked for four years. Wong regards himself as an approachable person and hopes to gain his student’s trust and be able to guide them to success in life after high school. Whether that means college or any other situation, he intends to find out what options are best for students and ensure they reach their goals. Wong said he comes prepared with community resources to assist students not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. He wants to reach out to kids and spark a positive change within them.

    Brent Lavoie

    By Sebastian Lebario

    Ever since the arrival of Brent Lavoie, Poly has been glorified as an exceptional baseball program and has also won a Moore league title. Brent Lavoie is going into his fourth year as the Poly varsity coach with high expectations to have a repeat championship season in 2020. As of this school year, he is also going to be a special education teacher. Although he has been a coach at Poly, he finally got a job to work here after a few years of working as Millikan High School’s resource specialist teacher.
    Lavoie was born in Springfield, Missouri where he played baseball collegiately at Missouri Valley in Marshall, Missouri. He then moved out to North Arkansas Junior College in Harrison, Arkansas. He is now entering his 14th year as a high school teacher overall.

    Shannon Young

    By Melissa De La Cruz

    Among the new teachers at Poly this school year, there is also a new assistant principal who works with the pathways Justice and Pace. Shannon Young has been working in the LBUSD district for 19 years now. She first started out by working as a 5th grade teacher at Burbank Elementary School. From there she moved to Franklin Middle School where she worked as an English and history teacher. Shortly before coming to Poly, she was employed as an assistant principal at Millikan High School.
    Young claims her experience here at Poly has been a good one so far. She is content with and loves the idea of working at the home of scholars and champions that not only is there a focus but an encouragement on students academically, as well as with extracurricular activities as well. “The students– they’re great, kind, respectful,” she says. She claims she enjoys working with the staff which has also been quite resourceful and left a positive impact on Young as well as “everybody has been very welcoming. They’ve been kind and helpful”.
    Compared to where she last worked, she says there are more similarities than differences. This makes things easier when transitioning from one location to another. Overall it seems like our new assistant principal has had a wonderful experience since the first day. To summarize her experience so far in a sentence is, “Poly is an inviting, encouraging place for students and staff to be.”

    Ronald Scipio

    By Alexander Phouma

    Ronald Scipio is one of our new teachers here at Poly, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t sound familiar; his wife is also a teacher at the school. Scipio was born and raised in Compton, California and always knew he wanted to be a teacher while he was in high school. Before applying for the job, he was a teacher’s aide at Poly, and he previously worked at Jordan High School for five years. After our previous orchestra teacher, Mr. Osman, retired, Scipio applied for the spot and transferred from Jordan to Poly. He has two children and has been married for a total of four years. He also enjoys bike rides, working out in the gym and cooking.

    Mark Mikasa

    By Madeline Milton

    Mark Mikasa is an AP Calculus AP and Algebra II teacher at Poly. He recently taught at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights and Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel, both of which being located in California. He has had his eye on a job opportunity at Poly for awhile, as he is located in Long Beach and wanted to take a more local job.
    Being distanced from his previous schools, he missed out on a lot of school events and activities after school. “When I was in San Gabriel,” he said, “I could never really attend any games or support kids in other ways.” He is looking forward to attending games and other events at Poly.

    Dana Zapanta

    By Jailyn Lewis-Hobbs

    Dana Zapanta is the new PACE Counselor at Long Beach Poly. Originally from San Diego, Zapanta received her undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine, and went to graduate school at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Zapanta has been counseling for thirteen years, spending five years in ABC Unified and another seven years in the Clark County District. Zapanta then moved to Long Beach and began working at Long Beach Poly High School as the new Pace Counselor. When asked why she chose Poly, Zapanta said “I wanted a challenge, a new perspective. After working for a certain amount of time you want to change it up a little bit.”

    Elizabeth Baca

    By Chansochata Thon

    As many new students begin associating themselves with the pride of the Jackrabbit, so did new the Pre-Calculus and Calculus BC teacher, Elizabeth Baca. Coming to Poly allowed her to see a new dynamic where pathways allowed students to act like family. Not only was she greeted by this warm family-like dynamic, but she felt as if she had joined it.
    With the start of the fall year, Baca is eager and enthusiastic to attend football games, which not only allow her to build a stronger bond with her students and the school, but also allows her to bring her kids to share the Jackrabbit pride and love.
    Along with all the pros of a new school, the block schedule also presents a challenge to Baca. But getting used to remembering when to repeat teaching days or start a new teaching day is a struggle she is willing to conquer. Baca also is in the process of completing her Master’s Degree at CSULB to better understand the curriculum and ensuring that she will teach her students at her fullest capacity.

    Brian George

    By Kameo Mapp

    Meet Brian George, PAAL’s new assistant principal. George is originally from Long Beach, California, and has taught at Poly for 5 years and PAAL for 18. He attended USC and is a proud Trojan. George has 3 children and enjoys PAAL because of its small and very tight community. He also enjoys Dodger Blue and eating pizza.

    Teo Weiner

    By Kameo Mapp

    Specialist Teo Weiner was raised in Culver City, CA, has educated students for 18 years and spent 8 of them at Poly before moving to PAAL. He loves to eat sushi and play with his adorable pet dog. He enjoys going to festivals, watching musicals and whipping up furtadas and omelettes. He is a strong believer in a growth mindset and growing your intelligence to the fullest. He is an advocate for staying on your path to success and never allowing the possibility of failure.

    Nicole Lopez

    By Kameo Mapp

    Meet Nicole Lopez, PAAL’s new Principal of Students. Ms. Lopez is originally from North Vermont and grew up learning Spanish and French. She earned her Masters in Education at Cal State Long Beach. She enjoys the colors of nature and traveling places, especially Australia. She has one son and lots of pets who brighten her day. She likes people who break rules, take risks and do the best for themselves to create a positive outcome. She cares about her students to the highest degree and strives to bring out the best results in PAAL students.

     

  • Fall Means Football (Photos!)

    Fall Means Football (Photos!)

  • 13 Reasons (More or Less) Why Season Three is Different

    The Netflix drama, 13 Reasons Why, was released in late August of this year. Season two ended with the aftermath of Tyler’s school shooting attempt, and season three picked up after the incident eight months later. While the two previous seasons focused on the main character of the show, Hannah, season three focused on the death of one of the most frustrating and hated characters, Bryce.

    The season starts out with Bryce missing after a huge brawl that took place during the homecoming game at Liberty High. Similar to seasons one and three, each episode analyzes one of a few of students at Liberty High and tries to make a connection between them and Bryce’s murder. Within 13 episodes, each of the suspects who were known to have issues with Bryce are interrogated.

    This season was a bit heartbreaking as one of the most hated characters, Bryce (hated for his sexually abusive behaviors, the role he played in Hannah’s suicide and the harm he caused to several girls), is seen trying to right his wrongs and become a better person. The show almost has you rooting for Bryce until you are once again reminded of what horrible acts he has been responsible for. He was seen trying to become a better friend to all the people he once hurt and seeking help to change who he is. As the show unfolds, each character is guilty of his death.

    Personally, I liked this season. I hated Bryce with every fiber of my being, but seeing him trying to get better was a reminder that people do have to ability to own up for their actions and actually want to change for the better. This show talks about real, raw topics such as bullying, rape, murder, and teenage social problems that are hardly addressed in the media nowadays. The show received backlash for some of the negative impacts it had, such as enabling suicidal tendencies in teens and for continuing the show. It is unknown if the show will be cleared for a fourth season but honestly, what would they even have to talk about?

  • Food Fight

    As a student, I recognize the amount of food wasted during lunch and nutrition; some food is just left on school benches. What if the food was better? How much food will be conserved and not thrown away or half-eaten?

    I think we should look into fresh and better meals for students and faculty alike. What makes it bad? I think the biggest reason why it’s so flawed with some students is that some foods that are prepared are non-nutritious or simply unappealing. We come to hear students all the time groan about school food. “Ugh I hate this,” or “I’d rather just starve and eat when I get home,” is what most students say. I think the spicy mozzarella cheese sticks and the “turkey” sandwiches are disgusting somewhat. The worst thing that they do is that they don’t prepare meals fresh, and sometimes they are left soggy and disgusting. We must look into ways for food to be prepared fresh, hot, and ready. Why don’t they hire caterers to deliver food to our school? There must be some restaurants out there willing to cater for students; which consequently will also boost and encourage people to come to their restaurants if their food is good.

  • New Admin, Who Dis?

    This school year at Long Beach Poly High School, there have been quite a few adjustments thrown around the school which highly contrasts it from previous years. High schools have switched from two principals, to one principal on site. They have gone from Co-principals (two principals) to one principal at each high school. In other words, this change has not only impacted Poly, but it had also affected all other Long Beach Unified School District high schools as well. The difference between this year and last is that the position of vice principal opened just now. Last year, our head administration consisted of co-principals Mr. Bill Salas and Mr. Quentin Brown, meanwhile the leadership arrangement at Poly now consists of our principal, Mr. Salas, vice principal, Mr. Brown, and 3 assistant principals.

    Of course along with change come impacts. There have been several people who have been affected by this change. However the main people would be the lead administration. As Mr. Salas stated, “there is definitely a sense of more responsibility for the principal”. He also mentions how there has been a change in communication. Now teachers and other staff members among the community, can now go to the one person as opposed to who is in charge of taking care of certain areas of the school.

    Overall, this has not necessarily been a good or bad change to the school or the people of the school. Instead it can be seen as a change that can help these administrators learn to navigate and be able to handle as well as manage themselves through a new experience. It’s also beneficial that there’ll only be one person whom the staff members can go to if they need help rather than two separate ones because it’ll make it easier for them to look for and go to that one person.

  • Bye Bye Spidey: Spiderman Leaves The MCU

    Bye Bye Spidey: Spiderman Leaves The MCU

    Spider-Man is a character that everyone in the world knows about. Fans enjoy him, people enjoy the movies, and kids demand his merchandise. But Sony wants to take the rights that Marvel owns from using Spider-Man in their movies. You might wonder why this is an issue, but when Sony wants to take away Spider-Man in the middle of his story being told, fans will get angry.
    Back in February 2015, Disney, Marvel Studios and Sony announced a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights, leading to a new version of Spider-Man to be introduced and integrated for the Marvel cinematic universe. The deal allowed Sony to have final creative control over MCU films where Spider-Man is the main character, while Disney had full control over films with Spider-Man as a side character. It also stated that the character was allowed to be in five movies as part of the contract. I believe that Marvel misread the contract since they wanted to make five stand alone movies of Spider-Man, but Sony is including Spider-Man’s cameos for the Avengers as part of the five movie deal. Right now, Sony has offered to give Marvel 30% of Spider-Man rights and money that it makes from the films, but Venom from Sony’s Venom universe needs to be included in the MCU as well. It’s weird how Marvel owns this character, yet they’re fighting the rights to use it with another company. I believe that it shouldn’t even be an argument about who owns the character since Stan Lee of Marvel created him in the first place. But at the end of the day, we can say that money has a lot to do with it. It couldn’t be about anything else…that’s Hollywood baby.

    UPDATE:
    Spider-Man is reportedly back in the MCU after the studios, Sony and Marvel, reached a new deal to continue their partnership. The new deal sees Marvel Studios producing the next installment of Spider-Man’s cinematic franchise, with Kevin Feige taking a lead role in the production once more. Spider-Man will also appear in other MCU movies going forward as he has previously done.

  • Late To Class? Get a Pass

    Late To Class? Get a Pass

    Attention all Poly students! This is a quick reminder that you must be in class before the tardy bell rings. Teachers, please remember to close your doors…

    If you’ve been paying attention to the intercom for the past two weeks, then you’ve surely heard this or a similar announcement.
    Constant announcements after the bell rings for passing period is just one aspect of Poly’s new tardy policy.

    Having taken effect at the beginning of the school year, the policy intends to reduce the amount of tardies throughout campus. Tardiness has been a problem at Poly, with over 80,000 tardies just last year. This is the main reason the policy was created.

    The policy consists of the usual two minute bell during which staff members encourage students to get to class. Once the final bell rings, teachers are expected to shut their doors and not let anyone else in. If you are unable to make it to class on time then you will need to find a staff member around campus who can give you a tardy pass.

    If the policy is not followed, consequences can be expected. A student with three or more tardies is assigned lunch detention. If the amount of tardies goes up to six then the consequence will be after school detention.

    The team in charge of creating and enforcing this new policy is the Safe and Civil Committee led by new Assistant Principal Shannon Young. According to Young, teachers presented the information that the amount of people coming into class late can become a distraction and disturb teaching.

    The results are already apparent as the amount of tardies has been reduced by 33% over the same time period last year, according to Young. Students are visibly more hurried to get to class and areas which were previously known for loitering are now clear.
    Periods 1 and 2 however, continue to be the periods with most tardies. Young is not discouraged by this information.

    “We are hoping that as we continue to enforce and utilize our progressive discipline,” said Young, “we continue to see a reduction in periods 1 and 2.”

    Teachers and students views on the other hand, differ. Students believe the policy could be more understanding.
    “Instead of punitive repercussions, they could offer incentives as encouragement instead,” said MEDS Academy senior Kerah Hunter.

    “They should be more lenient,” said Brooke Coleman, a junior in BEACH Academy. Coleman points out the diversity of students who attend Poly and who might live farther away, “The school doesn’t understand the struggles of getting to school on time.”

    The unequal distribution of punishment among students, is one of the concerns of English teacher and Softball coach, Elizabeth Sanches. Sanches said there needed to be a balance between the consequences for a student who is a few minutes late compared to the one who is 40 minutes late.

    “To punish them both in the same manner doesn’t seem fair,” said Sanches. Regardless, she believes that after the tardy mess of last year, the policy is necessary.

    English teacher, Kerry Boyd, also agrees it is necessary. “Students have been more motivated to get to class on time, especially compared to last year,” said Boyd.

    Poly’s new tardy policy will continue to be in effect throughout the school year. Administration hopes to successfully continue reducing the amount of tardies and create a balanced environment for teaching and learning.

  • Girls Volleyball Spikes Success

    One of the many sports active this season at Long Beach Poly High is girls Volleyball, coached by Leland McGrath. Tryouts and training for Frosh Soph, Junior Varsity, and Varsity teams were held earlier this summer. The girls volleyball teams have matches held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with tournaments also taking place on some Saturdays. Junior Varsity and Frosh Soph games start at 3:00pm while Varsity begins at 4:15pm.

    On Sept. 21-22, the teams competed in the Durango Volleyball Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.

    After a few tough matches against Wilson and Millikan the Jackrabbits started getting the outcomes they’ve been hoping for in their matches, including a  25 – 16, 25 – 13, 25 – 10 sweep against the St. Joseph Jesters.

    Thanks to a lineup change made by Coach McGrath and a change in the girls’ energy the Jackrabbits got what they were striving for. McGrath put sophomore Adonia Faumuina as one of the setters in the team’s two-setter system.

    Halfway through the  Moore League girls’ volleyball season, Long Beach Poly swept Lakewood on Sept. 25, forcing a first-place tie between the Jackrabbits and Lancers.  Poly was also fierce in a road sweep of the Lancers, winning 25-21, 25-10, 25-15.

  • Senior Appreciation

    At last, we have come to the end of this school year! Congratulations to all the students that have made it, but more importantly, con- gratulations to the seniors who have come so far and even now, are still continu- ing to go even further as they take their next big step in life. This school year, I have met so many amazing seniors that have influenced me and left a huge impact on me in several ways. They helped me settle in when I was unsure of what to do in a certain class, they were the greatest student counselors at Poly North, they were even there to assure me that I was always welcomed in a friend group. It was always the little moments that made

    them leaving me thankful for ever having the oppor- tunity to have met them. Friends, classmates, peers; call them whatever but to me they will always be one of the biggest influencers to have ever come into my life. I also feel like they should be more honored and feel proud of themselves as we should for them. After all, they once started out like everyone else. They began sprouting as a tiny bunny and grew throughout high school becoming the ex- travagant jackrabbits they are now. This class of 2019 should deserve more ac- knowledgement because even without knowing it, they influenced a lot of other people’s lives, not just mine.

  • Prom 2019: Time to Shine!

    Prom 2019: Time to Shine!

    Sunday May 26 at 7:00 PM at the Hotel Maya was where the class of 2019s prom was held. At the event there was food, games, caricature, henna, karaoke, photo booth and multiple dance rooms.

    The weather was not as cooperative before prom, as it was raining. Multiple girls were either holding their dresses up or not even bothering to do so.

    Not only did they have a main dance room but there was also room dedicated to just music in Spanish. In previous years, this was not a thing and people were upset about having very limited songs played.

    Most of the activities were present in the same building as the Spanish DJ. There was some confusion amongst students about where some of the activities were. With the food not many people were enjoying the food, such as on how on one side there was cold food and the other having hot food.

    Senior Denise Diaz said her experience was “fun” and really liked the Spanish DJ. Diaz noticed that people who “normally don’t dance to Spanish music” were dancing to it. Although much people weren’t fond of the food, Diaz enjoyed the “chicken tenders”. She disliked walking in her heels, as she had to keep going “back and forth” and it felt like “forever” walking in them.

    Senior Darli Ortiz doesn’t consider herself much of a “party person” but for prom being one of her first “parties” she found it enjoyable. Ortiz disliked the fact that there was “two different ballrooms”, as everyone was separate and there not being much unity.

    Senior Montserrat Valencia Delgado preferred the spanish DJ as they played spanish music and was “smaller”. Delgado was alternating between the two dance rooms and liked that there was a “variety” of spanish music. Senior Jose Diaz added onto what Delgado said and stated that due to it being small “you could request songs”. Senior Rachcna Sokhom-Khou also said the area with the Spanish DJ was “crowded”.

    Senior Evelyn Sanchez was surprised when arriving to prom, as she expected “less” to be present. Sanchez felt the main dance room could have been “a lot better”. Sanchez liked the Spanish DJ but when it came to him playing music, he played a lot of “reggaeton” and she didn’t know how to “dance to it”. Sanchez for the most part had her expectation pretty low for prom, but when at the event felt it had went past her expectations.

    Senior Amy Martinez had most of the same remarks as other students but did point out about the lack of seating, and how people were “standing up” and had “nowhere” to put their stuff.

    The night ended with confetti falling from the ceiling and songs relating to having a good time and living or remembering the moment. Doors started opening up at 10:30 but most students stayed for the entirety of prom.

     

  • Hooligans Break into Campus

    On Sunday, May 19, an unknown number of people snuck onto campus and broke into six classrooms in the 300 and 400 buildings, the weight room, the locker rooms, and three coaches’ offices. Some items were stolen, and other rooms were only vandalized.

    The crime is still classified as an ongoing investigation by the LBPD. so Poly principal William Salas was not able to completely share all the details of the event (such as how exactly the suspects broke into the locked rooms and what items were stolen) because spreading that information could affect the investigation.

    However, he did say that none of the gates were open on Sunday, so the suspects most likely climbed a fence to get on campus.

    He couldn’t say exactly how they got into the locked classrooms and offices, but they definitely did not use a key.

    The school is equipped with silent alarms and numerous video cameras, security measures to help deter these kinds of crimes from happening and to catch people who do commit them.

    When asked if there’s anything he’d like people to know in regards to these breaks-ins, Salas stated, “The campus is well-secured. There

    are safety measures in place that will help us apprehend whoever’s responsible.”

    Out of the six classrooms that were broken into, according to administration, the one that got the worst of it was Sarah Schol, 10th grade PACE English teacher and club sponsor for Female Leadership Academy. Schol has stated that the suspects probably “came in through the window.”

    They then proceeded to kick over everything they could and “destroyed one of [her] metal filing cabinets by walking on top of it.”

    When describing the shambles her room was in, she said, “They took all the food that was in the refrigerator and… decorated my floor with protein shakes, salad dressing, cookies… They opened up my FLA file drawer and poured liquid into all the drawers and destroyed a lot of the items donated to Female Leadership… They crumpled papers up and threw paper everywhere… They destroyed student projects by stepping on them, ripping them apart, breaking them… They did a lot. I’m leaving a lot of stuff out; they ripped stuff off the walls. It was devastating.” The suspects also stole a number of items from the class.

    Schol was not at school the Monday after the vandalism had occurred; the substitute for her class called her to inform her that the classroom had been vandalized and sent her pictures.

    “It was frustrating because I wished I’d received more updates about what was happening. You feel powerless already when you’ve been victimized and violated, but to be kept out of communication just amplifies that feeling… It really hurts.”

    DeAngelo Moss, the boys’ locker room attendant, said that the vandals stole items such as skateboards and shoes from lockers that students had left unlocked.

    The vandals left a mess everywhere, having thrown clothes and other trash all over the floor. They also broke into the office in the locker room, went through all the drawers, and threw a bunch of papers around.

    The Sunday before these vandalisms had occurred, on May 12, someone had graffitied profanity and slurs onto the benches in the batting cage, however it is unknown if this event is related to the vandalisms that occured on May 19.