Au Revoir French and Nǐ Hǎo Mandarin
Posted on May 25, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in Op-Ed
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Starting next school year, French will no longer be offered as a class. Instead, Mandarin Chinese will be offered again, taking the place of French. Not much was said about the change besides students saying they will miss French teacher Alonso Rolland-Estrada. But it is time to say au revoir to French and nǐ hǎo to Mandarin.
The foreign language department decided well when they decided to replace French with Mandarin. Learning Mandarin will benefit one more in the future than learning French.
Mandarin is number one of the three main languages in the world spoken next to English and Spanish. French is usually spoken in France, Canada, some African countries colonized by the French making it number 18 in the ranking of most spoken languages in the world.
China is also one of the world leaders in the market. For example, if their stocks drop like it did earlier this year, then the whole market goes through a tumble. Point is that one can make more business and strive if they make connections in China and learning the language will certainly help with avoiding that awkward language barrier. It is likely to infer that one will feel more comfortable making business with someone that they can speak to directly than having to depend on a translator to speak for you.
Of course, one is likely to visit France, but that is about it. France is more of a tourist attraction than a place to build a future in and invest in.
French is also another “white language,” meaning that mostly caucasian Europeans speak it. Mandarin is a language that comes from a completely different ethnicity with a rich culture behind it that can really open the eyes of some of the students. I am sure most students know the basic history of France and that there is not much culture behind it, but Mandarin will open one’s eyes to a new world outside of the United States and completely different culture.
Mandarin will offer an all-around education with culture, food, and the language itself. French offers a couple of pastries and the language. It looks like the students taking Mandarin will have an advantage in the future than those who took French.
Surprise Lockdown Enforced By LAPD
Posted on May 12, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in News
Chronicle Reporter
Lorena Robelo
A surprise lockdown enforced by the LAPD had everyone on their toes. On May 9 at approximately 1:50 p.m., an announcement was made in the PA system during fifth period stating that teachers must close all their doors and windows and that further instructions will be sent to their emails in five minutes.
At 1:55 p.m. an email was sent to all teachers and faculty by Assistant Principal, Samuel Dovlatian stating “TO ALL STAFF: KEEP ALL STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM AND KEEP YOUR DOORS SHUT AT THIS TIME. DO NOT LET ANY STUDENTS OUT EVEN WHEN THE BELL RINGS.”
The bell rang for sixth period but no students were allowed to leave their fifth period classroom.
“I thought it was going to be like elementary school all over again,” said PAM sophomore, Jennifer Palencia. In 2009 at Santa Monica Blvd. Community Charter School, a local elementary school in Hollywood, there was a stabbing near by and the school was under lockdown until 6 p.m. “It was one of the scariest moments in my life.”
About seven police cars could be seen on Orange. Students were not allowed to look outside the window.
“Even though I knew it was a lockdown, I wasn’t actually scared until I saw the police outside Mr. Antonyan’s window,” said SAS junior, Melissa Viera.
The lockdown was lifted at about 2:30 p.m. but students were required to remain in their fifth period until the end of the day.
Administration were informed that a potential suspect was near the area and could have potentially entered the premises.
The suspect was caught and no one was harmed.
Blood Drive More Organized than Last Year
Posted on April 20, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
The Red Cross paid a visit for the semi-annual blood drive. Yesterday, leadership monitored the blood drive in the small gym where hundreds of students and outside visitors donated blood.
The difference from last year’s blood drive was the organization. Last year, everything was hectic and no one knew how to control the masses. Not everyone got to donate last year which took up about three to four hours of everybody’s time and led them to miss class.
“I didn’t get chance to donate because they were taking forever,” said SAS junior, Abrahan Guizado. “Some people were cutting the line to donate so it took longer than usual.”
Because people were afraid they weren’t going to be able to donate this year, they scheduled their appointment for first period.
But because they had an organized fashion, each person was able to donate within the mean of an hour and a half.
“I was surprised that it took that long,” said PAM senior, Hilda Garcia. “I was told last time that it would take about four periods but I was out in a period and a half.”
It took a little longer for the people with certain blood types that were eligible to donate to the alyx. The alyx is another machine that draws red blood cells because of its great demand.
“It hurt a little more than just getting your blood removed,” said SAS junior, Melissa Viera. “But it’s worth it to save lives, plus you get pizza.”
Some were not able to save lives because they were not eligible to do so. Before they draw one’s blood, they are asked a series of questions to see if they are allowed to donate blood.
“I didn’t get the chance to donate blood because I visited Guatemala recently,” said PAM sophomore, Jennifer Palencia. Guatemala was under the list of countries visited that could potentially have diseases not suitable for blood transfusions.
Overall the blood drive was a success and will happen every semester managed by leadership.
Get Paid for Good Grades
Posted on March 2, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Raise.me is a website that offers scholarship money just for receiving good grades and partaking in school activities. Its objective is to motivate low-income students to excel in school and apply to college. There are about 12 Hollywood High School students currently enrolled in this website.
“I was kind of worried of how I was going to pay for college but with programs like these, it makes me stress a little less,” said SAS junior Itzeel Padilla.
All one has to do is register and answer a few personal questions, like ”Are you a U.S. citizen or resident?”, nothing too threatening. Next, he or she is given a range of schools (universities) to follow that offers scholarship money. Then one enters in their grades and they gain money. One can also enter extracurricular activities, community service hours, and awards achieved for more money.
There are levels one must reach to unlock new universities and new scholarship opportunities. The more classes and grades one submits, the more likely one gets to unlocking the level and getting offered more money.
There is an opportunity for you and your friend to win $100 easily if you recommend and send a link to your friend to register.
If there are worries about tuition fees, this would be a great opportunity to get money.
Korean Boy Group Exo’s First Los Angeles Concert
Posted on February 17, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in Entertainment
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
One of Korea’s biggest boy groups, Exo, did a concert in Los Angeles for the first time on Feb. 14 and it was a success.
Korean pop, also known as k-pop, has become a world renowned genre that has expanded since the hit song “Gangnam Style” by Psy. Exo is considered Korea’s biggest boyband at the moment next to Big Bang, their rival group. Exo consisted of twelve member but three individuals departed due to issues with their company, now leaving them with nine members.
Exo announced their North American tour early Dec. but tickets went on sale late Jan. For their first North American tour, they already acquire a large fan base (with about 3 million people in their fanclub). Within the first thirty seconds that tickets went on sale, tickets were sold out everywhere. After a few hours that tickets sold out, their company, SM Entertainment, offered to sell more tickets for double the price, about $200-$300. Those tickets were sold out after three hours.
Their first concert tour in Los Angeles was hectic, according to SAS junior, Jessica Ceniceros. “Many people were screaming even when they were performing so it was hard to hear. There were also a handful of girls who had to be escorted out because they fainted as soon as Exo came out.” There was tight security because of the chaos that occurred at their Canada concert in Toronto, where girls pushed past the metal barricades to get closer to the stage and were fighting one another. Their security were not strong enough to keep the Cali girls away when they did the exact same thing, minus the fighting.
“It was an amazing experience to see one of my favorite groups,” said SAS junior, Angie Dueñas. “I never thought they would come to Los Angeles so this was a surreal moment for me.”
Overall, their concert was a success, in sales and in popularity, expanding their fan base.
School Report Card Shows Mixed Results
Posted on January 28, 2016 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
The annual LAUSD school report cards were distributed with mixed result. These report cards show the statistics from 2013-2015. On some categories, like demonstrating college and career readiness, shows improvement but on other categories, such as English learners’ progress toward reclassification as Fluent English Proficient (RFEP), scores declined by almost 20%. The report cards also mention the faculty and parents’ statistics from previous surveys.
There have been many improvements since 2013. The average increase of students demonstrating college and career readiness is about 6%. The amount of students on the right track for high school and succeeding academically inclined by 10%. Students have improved academically in the last two years.
There were some disappointing results as well. English learners, people whose first language is not English and are less than proficient in English, show signs of difficulty when their improvement rate declined by 20% as well as special needs students’ performance levels.
Although the report card showed some flaws, the overall report is commendable and exemplary. Students this year seem to be showing some promising results for the school and themselves. They will not disappoint.
Transgender Awareness Day Celebration in the Quad
Posted on November 19, 2015 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Sheiks exemplify their acceptance by celebrating Transgender Awareness Day this Friday, Nov. 20, in the quad. The LGBT Club are collaborating with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, a provider for LGBT services, to celebrate Transgender Awareness Day, a day to commemorate transgender people who have died through suicide or any form of death.
The LGBT Club will be in the quad with the assistance of the Los Angeles LGBT Center that works with adolescents to educate people on what it is to be transgender, the deaths of transgender youths and adults and other transgender related topics. They will have three guest speakers, including student, Paris, to speak about their experience being transgender and other transgender related topics. There will be a disclaimer before hand to speak about the rules and certain questions that are not appropriate to ask.
President of the LGBT Club, Ryan Alba said, “I am happy to have this event celebrated and known at school because it is important for everyone to know how to accept and be open to everyone and know that there are casualties within the transgender community.” The LGBT Club are getting ready for Friday and are bringing the transgender flag.
Conservative Christians Bash on Starbucks’ New Cup
Posted on November 12, 2015 by Lorena Robelo in Entertainment, Politics
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Conservative Christians are bashing on Starbucks’ new red cups. For Christians, Christmas is the “best time of the year,” but because Starbucks simplified their cups, “Christmas is ruined,” said Amanda Peers on Twitter.
Starbucks’s new holiday cups lack design because they wanted to be “universally appreciative and applicable to all religions and beliefs,” said Aaron Deen, Starbucks employee.
Starbucks also wanted customers to be creative and optimistic and make their own designs on the plain cup.
The hashtag, #merrychristmasstarbucks, was trending worldwide on Twitter. Christians used this hashtag to complain about how he cups were not festive are enough.
Others who thought nothing of the cups and were tired of the Starbucks bashing spread the hashtag, #itsjustacup. Student, Melissa Viera, and regular Twitter user tweeted, “This is so dumb. Christians always want to interfere with everything #itsjustacup.”
On Nov. 10, Donald Trump announced for Christians to strike against Starbucks until they change the cups back. Who knows what Starbucks will do but they have not yet answered to the bashing.
Cheating Scandal in AP Calculus Class
Posted on November 5, 2015 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Math teacher, Hakop Antonyan, caught his AP Calculus class cheating. On Oct. 30, Antonyan distributed what was considered a “hard test” for some of his students but many of them passed with a good grade but showed no work.
This got Antonyan suspicious. On Nov. 2, he accused many people of cheating and gave the accused cheaters an opportunity to confess that they cheated and they would suffer a less severe consequence than they would if they did not say anything and he found out they did cheat. Only one person came to confess.
Many students felt like they were wrongfully accused. Student Itzeel Padilla was accused of cheating when she clearly said she is innocent. “I didn’t cheat and I was offended he even thought I did,” said Itzeel. “I go to his tutoring everyday he has it, I go to him for help after school when I don’t understand something, and I go to the AP readiness workshop every time they have it. I have no reason to cheat.”
Some students who were not accused of cheating and got a good grade on the test were furious because that score will no longer count because of the cheaters. “I got a 100 percent on my test and now it doesn’t even count because of the cheaters,” said student Diego Tamayo. “That could have brought my grade up by so much but now my hard work and studying is worth nothing.”
Antonyan was “upset” and “disappointed.” He said, “The reward that teachers expect from students is more than the grade, it’s the knowledge they gain and how they can apply that in their future. And how do they expect to pass the AP Exam when they are not doing honest work?”
Antonyan distributed a new test on Nov. 3 to test out his theory and see if his students actually know their Calculus.
Colin Hanks and Sean Stuart Discuss Filmmaking
Posted on October 16, 2015 by Lorena Robelo in News
Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Colin Hanks, Tom Hank’s son, and film partner, Sean Stuart, made a documentary on Tower Records, an iconic retail music chain. They did a session on filmmaking at A Taste of Tomorrow, a job and food fair that took place on Oct. 14. They had two sessions where guests came and informed people on a certain career. In this session, Hanks and Stuart spoke about filmmaking and did a Q-and-A on themselves and their upcoming documentary.
Hanks and Stuart were interviewed by Bradley Rubin, a well-known chef, in Karen Cusolito’s classroom, room 424. Rubin began by speaking about different ways one can tell a story. Some ways to tell a story is through one’s clothing, social media, writing and much more. But the way Hanks and Stuart told a story was through documentary filmmaking.
Hanks said that when he decided he wanted to make a documentary about Tower Records, he was in New York, acting in small roles, and was frustrated because he did not know what he wanted to do with his life. It was not until an acquaintance of his told him how Tower Records was based in a pharmacy. That interested Hanks because he grew up spending most of his time growing up at a Tower Records. He researched Tower Records for six months before contacting his childhood friend, Stuart, to help him with filming the documentary.
Filming the documentary was a bit of a hassle for Hanks and Stuart. The filming of the whole documentary overall took seven years. Hanks and Stuart said there had been multiple times where they have considered putting the film down and they took some hiatuses but they always felt a need to finish it. Hanks said, “You can’t succeed without failure.” They stated that struggle is a crucial process in filmmaking but when one is passionate about something, it is worth the struggle.
For the last minutes of the session, the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions to the document filmmakers. Student, Omar Fritz, asked Hanks and Stuart, “ What was it like to make a film involving two things you really love, music and filmmaking?” Stuart replied that the cross of the two worlds were amazing. Although they had a hard time, they enjoyed making the film and it was the most accomplishing and euphoric moment for them to see the finished product. They ended their session with that one question because they were running in a tight schedule. Later that day, Hanks guest starred in The Late Late Show with James Corden to speak about the same upcoming documentary.
