Teachers vote to approve new contract
Posted on January 22, 2019 by kcusolito in News
By Jasmine Cortez
Chronicle Editor-in-Chief
Teachers voted on a tentative agreement Tuesday afternoon. If approved, the strike could end Wednesday.
After 30 years, a historical moment hits the heart of education and a strike lasting longer than six school days impacts not only the teachers but students and families as well. The LAUSD school district is second to New York as the largest school district in America and having such a large union take matters into their own hands is something to notice.
The teachers of LAUSD are part of a teacher’s union called UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles) and have been at odds with Austin Beutner, Superintendent of LAUSD, for a while now. The strike started Monday, Jan. 14 and students were not sure what was going to happen at their schools without teachers around.
“But it’s to the point where something has to be done, something on a larger scale had to be done, so that’s why we’re here,” said Johnny Wood, history teacher.
It’s been nearly two years now that there has been no contract and negotiations were long overdue. The teachers striking is just a reminder that the time is now to change things and not try to push things aside. There is a lot of outcry towards Beutner, even enough that a popular chant among the strikers is “Austin Beutner you can’t hide, We can see your greedy side.”
Demands that have been requested and are being negotiated include smaller class sizes, a pay raise, more consistent and permanent staff including nurses and librarians, and use of the district reserve money to meet these demands.
“It’s a really hard decision for most people. Most teachers don’t want to leave their students in their classroom, but when it gets to a point where they’re not listening to us and they’re not offering reasonable solutions; it’s the last option that we have,” said Jill Gluck, 33, adult night school teacher.
When looking at it from the outside, teachers and students and supporters standing on those picket lines look proud to fight for what they stand for and are smiling proudly even while in drenched coats and sweaters, but there is worry underneath about the stability of the education system of Los Angeles Unified.
As for Beutner, he is new to education. Beutner was hired as the new superintendent of schools of the second largest school district in the nation on May 1, 2018. Beutner has an economics degree from Dartmouth College. He became a successful investment banker. Beutner has also became the CEO of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Tribune.
According to Beutner, only a third of some 600,000 students attended school the first day of the strike and cost the district $25 million. The fewer students show up, the less money is brought in for the district. Students have taken a step to support their teachers by standing alongside them and not coming to school. Parents are even deciding not to send their students to school knowing that only minimal staff will be there to watch their children.
Teachers see this as a sign of solidarity and shows that they will not stand for the lack of attention towards educators.
Administrators pull the plug on Leadership’s event
Posted on January 24, 2014 by kcusolito in News
Vanessa Garcia
Editor-in-Chief
Administrators pulled the plug on Leadership’s lunch event this afternoon, leaving students puzzled over whether or not they have seen the last of Sprit Fridays.
After a series of warnings, Craig Alessi, assistant principal, disconnected the entire sound system while a student was still participating in the freestyle rap. The crowd complained loudly when the music stopped.
Eduardo Hernandez, SAS Junior argued to Alessi that there were alternatives ways that could have prevented such an incident.
“When I tell you to turn it off, it means turn it off,” Eduardo said Alessi yelled at him in front of other students.
During today’s activity students were playing the “Human Object” game, where students were asked to build a human pyramid. Things took a wrong turn after a student was dancing suggestively on top of another student.
Administrators asked the event committee to end the game and go on to another game.
“What we saw was not safe for outside on hard ground,” said Alessi. “I don’t think it was monitored the way it could have been today.”
A meeting has been scheduled on Monday to decide what will occur next.
Leadership Coordinator Randall Fenderson said next week’s Friday event maybe cancelled.
“It is important for administrators to actually cooperate with leadership because little events like Sprit Friday raises school sprit,” said Jessica Vicente Torres, SAS senior.
Gerardo Chan, Holly San Nicolas, Ray Reyes, Azniv Derdezakyan, and Erika Salazar contributed to this story.
Morrissey Plays to Packed House at HHS Auditorium
Posted on March 24, 2013 by kcusolito in Entertainment
Kimberly Soto
Entertainment Editor
Morrissey fans began lining up Saturday afternoon on Highland Avenue. By the 7:30 p.m. show time, the line stretched down to Sunset Boulevard and Orange Avenue. After annoyed fans complained about the unorganized distribution of tickets at will call, the doors finally opened and people raced to the front of the stage.
My friends and I ended up front, dead center. Pinch me, I’m dreaming, I thought as British funnyman Russell Brand introduced Morrissey and gave a heartfelt thank you to the man who can “elevate the mundane.”
At 10 p.m., Morrissey, sporting a cobalt floral shirt, came out smiling and roaring screams resonated throughout the auditorium. The Moz opened up with “Alma Maters,” appropriately, and played a set based heavily on his solo career. Occasionally, he would play an old Smiths favorite such as “Still Ill” which brought even greater cheers from the crowd and multiple hands waving across to reach out and touch him.
The most shocking was his dramatic performance of The Smiths “Meat is Murder” which was accompanied by a backdrop of gruesome video clips of animals being slaughtered for human consumption, courtesy of footage from a 2002 documentary “Meet Your Meat.” Many fans were forced to look away and others watched with curiosity while Morrissey turned his back to the audience and kneeled to the floor in a dejected manner.
The Moz, being a long time vegan and animal activist, arranged the banning of meat during his sold-out performance at the Staples Center similar to Saturday’s show, which sold no concessions. The crowd frantically sang, “Meat is murder!” and threw their hands up in frustration while his crystal blue eyes began to water before transitioning into my personal favorite, “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.”
Morrissey ended his set with “Let Me Kiss You” and, as always, tore off his (now third) floral button down to the crowd revealing his aged torso and creating chaos amongst the wild fans.
As tradition, fans began to jump on stage during the encore “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” and Morrissey gladly hugged those able to escape from security, including a young boy by the name of Devin who walked hand in hand with Morrissey while singing the final lines of the song.
Morrissey’s performance is one of the biggest things to happen to Hollywood High School since Elvis Costello performed in the cafeteria back in 1978. It was a truly memorable experience and goes to show that Hollywood High school is still an iconic attraction that will continue to be known for its famous guests, and it proved that Morrissey has maintained his legendary rock star status after so many years.
February’s Athlete of the Month
Posted on February 14, 2013 by kcusolito in Sports
Ashley Ramirez
SAS Junior
CC:How long have you been playing basketball?
AR:I’ve been playing since the 3rd grade.
CC: How do you feel knowing that you’ve been chosen as athlete of the month?
AR: It’s an honor to be picked and it was shocking but I’m glad I had the opportunity.
CC: What was one of your best moments on the court this season?
AR: I made a jump shot that I didn’t think I was going to go in because I’m not a jump shot shooter.
CC: What do you like the most about being part of the basketball team?
AR: What I like most is getting to be with my team and playing with people I care about.
Sheik battalion takes part in JROTC All-City competition
Posted on December 12, 2012 by kcusolito in News
The JROTC Sheik Batallion had their annual All-City Drill Competition on Saturday Dec. 8, at James Monroe High School.
The Company team went up first, following commands that the Batallion Commander Freddy Garcia gave them along with their Platoon Leaders Executive Officer Estefani Luna and Command Sergeant Major Erick Avila.
Garcia and Avila are SAS juniors and Luna is a SAS senior.
The Platoon went after, being lead by CSM Avila. This was then followed by the Armed and Unarmed Drill teams. The Armed team showed off their rifle skills with a routine they made while the Unarmed team did a routine which consisted of beats and claps.
Finally, Squad went up, which consisted of 11 people lined up in a single row who follow commands which were given to them by Squad LeaderJam Delos Reyes, an SAS sophomore.
All teams/groups had to do their routines and commands in a limited amount of space and within a certain amount of time.
The results of the competion are expected to be announced on Thursday.
The Sheik Batallion hopes to make it in the Top 10 this year.
After 30 years, cross country makes city finals
Posted on December 11, 2012 by kcusolito in News
Underclassmen lead runners to 11th out of 70 teams
For the first time in 30 years, cross country’s City Prelim finalists ran in City Finals, placing 11th among 70 schools.
Freshmen George Contreras, Carlos Lemus, sophomores Valeria Herrera, Albert Ramirez, Sergio Espejo, Eduardo Salvador, Andrew Vargas, Alex Mesa, and Junior Xavier Magana (all of whom are in SAS) participated in the race.
“From the start of the season, they were unified and demonstrated excellent teamwork, above what was expected. It was this teamwork and frosoph team unification that played an important part, in having the team we have today,” said Coach Adolfo Carcano about his team. “They showed extreme potential and fulfilled this potential everyday in practice with one goal in mind making it to city finals, representing hollywood to the utmost highest standard, and bringing home the best rank in the city.”
Valeria Herrera ran in the frosoph division and came in 40th place with a time of 23:52. The frosoph boys finished with 18:51,19:01, 19:14, 19:19, 20:06, 20:17, and 22:08 as their final times. Xavier Magana ran last in the JV Division and finished with a time of 19:14.
The team ended the season well, making history along the way. This is the first time in over 30 years that a XC team makes it to City Finals. “Overall, it has been the greatest season ever for cross-country at Hollywood High School,” said Carcano.
The race was cancelled and postponed for two weeks due to rain.
The team members are proud to know that they put in their best effort and got this far this season.
School JROTC achieves a 1,087 score on DAI evaluation
Posted on November 16, 2012 by kcusolito in Features, News
The JROTC Sheik Battalion had their annual DAI evaluation on Nov. 2, 2012. After three months of continuous practice, the cadets arrived at school early that morning to prepare for the arrival of the Director of Army Instruction Lieutenant Colonel Ted McDonald.
All the cadets that participated were a new generation of members and they experienced a real DAI evaluation for the first time. They were inspected on the information they had learned during their short time in the program, how organized they were as a whole, and what they knew about their positions and ranks in JROTC.
The battalion earned a total of 1,087 points out of a possible 1,100, their best score since 2009.
“The administrators were very supportive, and the cadets did an outstanding job. The inspection went really well. I couldn’t be any prouder of my JROTC staff,” said MSG Harris about the evaluation.
The next day, the Color Guard competition was hosted by JROTC and they were the third group to participate. “ We’re hoping for a top 5 finish,” said Executive Officer Second Lieutenant Estefani Luna.
Running towards City Finals
Posted on November 16, 2012 by kcusolito in Sports
On Nov. 1, the team attended league finals at Pierce College. Magana and SAS sophomore Valeria Herrera, along with Varsity senior runners Alfredo Robles, Karla Hernandez, and the Varsity girls made it as a team.
The Junior Varisity boys made history and achieved something that had not happened in over 33 years: they became League Champions and qualified for city finals as a team.
“We’re going to get what we worked for,” said Coach Adolfo Carcano. “Perseverance in the face of adversity.”
September’s Athlete of the Month
Posted on November 16, 2012 by kcusolito in Sports
Ronald Clayton- SAS Senior
How do you feel about being athlete of the month?
Clayton: “It’s a great thing. I truly work hard. But I think everyone is really an athlete of the month.”
How long have you been playing football?
Clayton: “I’ve been playing for 7 years, but i’ve been playing football at Hollywood for 3 years.”
What inspired you to start playing football?
Clayton: “Watching college football games and seeing how intense they were made me want to play.”
What do you like most about playing football?
Clayton: “I love the excitement, the fun, and the memories.”
What is one of the best moments you’ve had on the field?
Clayton: “The first game against Panorama HS, I broke about 5 tackles on the sidelines when everyone thought I was down.”
Off To A Good Pace
Posted on October 12, 2012 by kcusolito in Sports
Hollywood High School’s Cross Country team won their first meet of the season against Esteban Torres High School on Sept. 27, 2012. The meet was held at Elysian Park and the course was three miles long.
Some runners achieved first place for every division which included FroshSoph, JV, and Varsity for boys and girls.
Tenth grade SAS student Sergio Espejo ran the course in 19:50 which got him first place in the FroshSoph Boys Division.
This is not the first time the XC team has won this season. On Sept. 22, five members of the team won medals at the Belll-Jeff Invitational.
Tenth grade SAS student Eduardo Salvador ranked in 10th place out of 100 runners. Coach Carcano said that this was a “good start to the season” and said he hopes to make it to All-City finals.
