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ASB UPDATE: Emma Farrell
May 1st, 2012
The Gazette talked to next year’s senior class president, Emma Farrell.
Gazette: What are your future plans as the senior class president?
I really want to work on making sure that our class makes memories together and bonds really well. I want us to do really well at events and to have a lot of spirit.
Gazette: What positions have you previously held?
I was the freshman class president for the fall term of my freshman year, and I’ve been spirit commissioner with (junior) Paige Finkemeir.
Gazette: What does being a senior class president entail?
I’m in charge of all the senior events and senior spirit at event. I make sure that we can raise money to pay for all the activities that we want to do.
Gazette: Is there anything new you want to do that will differentiate you from the current senior class?
I want to do something different for senior ball and maybe switch it up a little bit. I also want our float to be the best float we’ve ever had (at Granite Bay High School).
No consequence for ‘dead period’ breach
March 29th, 2012Throughout California, high school athletics are subject to the Constitution set by the California Interscholastic Federation and must adhere to the rules and regulations. Although it does not occur often, one Granite Bay High School athletic program possibly did not adhere to one of the rules. The girls’ soccer program nearly violated the “dead period” Bylaw.
As stated in the CIF Constitution, Bylaw 511.6, “during a Sac-Joaquin Section dead period (preseason and end of season), no
member of the coaching staff (paid or volunteer) may have any contact with his/her athletes and use the sports equipment for their given sport. Weight training and conditioning are the only activities that will be allowed during these time periods. Coaches may be present during weight training and conditioning.”
This year’s spring “dead period” started Jan. 16 and ended Feb. 5. During this time, the girls’ soccer program might have violated the Bylaw twice unintentionally. However, GBHS administration self-reported the violation to the Sac-Joaquin Section office.
The office did not believe that the possible violations were a major concern and did not penalize the girls’ soccer program. GBHS administration did not penalize the program either.
First year varsity girls’ head soccer coach Mark Broers, who was the assistant coach last year to the division II girls’ varsity team, is aware of the Bylaw and the possible violations, yet he believes that the situation was handled promptly and properly.
“To be safe, we let the (Sac-Joaquin section office) know what was going on to make sure that there wasn’t any problems,” Broers said. “They were satisfied that there wasn’t.”
In a forward email sent to the soccer players and their parents by Broers and written by Athletic Director Tim Healy, one of the possible “dead period” violations included a family who was independently practicing when one of the JV coaches who lived close by saw them and joined as he has done on countless occasions.
The second possible violation instance included a JV coach training a potential goalie for approximately one hour. The student has been working with the coach on a non-paid basis for over two years.
One other problem within the soccer program is that the new assistant varsity coach, Katie Vivaldi, has a daughter, freshman Colleen, who plays for the program.
Now that time has passed since the violations, Broers sees no reason to be concerned about them since the preseason has already began, and the situation was taken care of.
“I assisted last year and didn’t see any problems. This year, it’s my first year in charge, so I don’t know what has happened in the distant past,” Broers said. “But, I think it’s a good idea to be honest and open. Whatever information that I came into, I tried to share it with the administration and they took it from there.”
Although there was concern about possibly violating the “dead period” Bylaw, in the end, the girls’ soccer program did not face any major consequences.
In fact, Sac-Joaquin Section commissioner Peter Saco was satisfied that GBHS self-reported, and he found that there was no reason to penalize the program unless the administration wanted to take action.
“Granite Bay does a great job. This is just an unfortunate situation,” Saco said. “But Granite Bay follows the CIF rules very well. We are all going to move on from here and not worry too much about it, but Granite Bay is an exceptional school.”
An official penalization may have not been performed; however, according to Peter Saco, that does not mean that there is no severity for obstructing the “dead period.”
The purpose of the “dead period” helps not only high school teams in general, but individual players and coaches. Saco said that there needs to be a designated time frame in which practicing for a club team is distinguishable from practicing for a high school team.
“Leave the athletes alone. If you want to weight train and condition, that’s fine,” Saco said. “If you’re an athlete and want to play (on your own), we don’t care, but if I’m your high school coach, I have to leave you alone for a few weeks. I’ll be with you for four months.”
None of the athletic programs have ever reported to have violated “dead periods” repetitively. If a program ever does so, the consequences would be severe, especially if the violation was intentional.
“(The consequences of violating the ‘dead period’) depends on the severity and the number of times of the violation. Normally speaking, we’ll take practice days away from the team, if the whole team (violated it),” Saco said. “The school can also impose another consequence if (it didn’t involve the whole team). We’re not going to make is so severe that it hurts a team’s play off chances, unless it becomes a continuing violation every year.”
It may not be common for GBHS athletics or other high schools under the supervision of the Sac-Joaquin Section office to violate the Bylaw repetitively and intentionally.
Typically, schools impose their own penalties, but the office can interfere at any time and punish a program far beyond the normal punishment of the first violation.
“There really hasn’t been a case where a certain team has violated the ‘dead period’ more than once,” said Will DeBoard, Sac-Joaquin Section director of commissioner, through an email. “Although, if that happened I would guess the section office would get involved and the penalty would probably be worse than what the school imposed for the first violation.”
DeBoard understands that minor possible violations like the girls’ soccer program can occur.
However, the CIF Constitution and Bylaws are easily accessible, and coaches are notified of the “dead periods.” Even if accidental violations are made, programs can learn from their mistakes and stay informed of the rules and regulations.
“All the ‘dead period’ dates are listed on (the CIF state and Sac-Joaquin Section) website(s), and the athletic directors are notified of it, but violations still happen,” DeBoard said. “Generally, they happen because coaches weren’t exactly sure what they are and are not allowed to do. You can still weight-train and condition with your coach during the ‘dead period’, but nothing else.”
Media program diversifies project focuses
February 24th, 2012
Seniors Justin Remy and Laura Rogers anchor the Feb. 10 morning bulletin.
After the first semester of watching the new video bulletin staff, many Granite Bay High School students and faculty have established their opinions about the new media changes. While some responses have been positive, others have nearly discouraged the media program.
What people fail to recognize is that, although video bulletins are a large part of the media program, other media projects that the students produce are another part of it.
On Feb. 1, media teacher Zachary Weidkamp had a serious discussion during the third-period advanced media class. In his speech, he reminded the students that, from “immature freshmen” to “well-seasoned teachers and professionals,” not everyone will enjoy their work and to only worry about being proud of themselves.
Brent Mattix, the assistant principal who oversees activities, sees a problem with how people react to the video bulletins and says he only wishes the best as students continue to exercise their talents through elective courses.
“In any place in our society, you’re going to have such a wide spectrum of what people like and what they don’t like,” Mattix said. “(Despite some negative feelings toward video bulletins), I want students to have a voice and I encourage all students to use their voice in a constructive manner.”
Although the intention of the video bulletin is to inform the school while also being entertaining, the goals of the advanced media elective is not to please the audience, but to enrich the lives of the students interested in media productions.
Mattix believes all the programs and electives that the school offers are to prepare students to be successful in post-secondary opportunities.
“Any elective allows students to go into an area where they might have a strong interest or developing interest in,” Mattix said. “(What’s great) about our programs is that they really give students real-world experiences before they have to make life-long decisions.”
The limelight shines typically on students who produce the video bulletins. However, the hidden media elective interests lie with the students who conduct video projects outside the traditional realm of just video bulletins.
For example, on Nov. 16, the media program, in coordination with faculty, students and other school organizations, filmed GBHS’s first ever Lip Dub. However, it was not produced without difficulty.
“We did as much research as we could, we watched as many lip dubs as we could to get ideas, and we got a packet that was only produced in the UK about how to organize and how to produce a lip dub,” Weidkamp said. “However, lip dubs are a huge controversy in the media and with music companies right now.”
After the Lip Dub video editing was complete, viewers could go onto YouTube and watch what the school created together. However, within days of its upload onto YouTube, one particular music company had it removed for using copyrighted music.
Media had tried to contact the company, but received no response. For now, the Lip Dub is available to watch on vimeo.com, under the UCSD Triton Television account.
For future lip dubs, Weidkamp intends to create a committee that is run by media and Student Government. It would also involve other groups on campus in the planning.
Another media element hidden behind the production curtains is Team X, which captures school athletics live with high definition cameras. Viewers, whether students, parents or community members, can watch the videos online.
This year, while varsity football was in post-season play, Team X made broadcasts for KBC Sports. Because the California Interscholastic Federation controls all postseason media and broadcasts, Team X had to capture the game in cooperation with the CIF.
In addition to Team X, Weidkamp has made other changes to the program since becoming the media teacher a year and a half ago.
Weidkamp allows his students who are uninterested in making the video bulletin to enter film contests for silent films, short films and surreal films.
“As I began to hear what students are interested (in after a year of observation), it was apparent to me that not everyone wanted to do bulletins,” Weidkamp said. “I created these groups to give them the ability and the creative framework to do what they want to do. Instead of me telling the student, ‘This is what I want you to do, keep it within these parameters,’ I tell them to come to me with the idea and I will structure it and help you plan it so that you can succeed.”
While Weidkamp may allow students to be creative outside of video bulletins, the bulletins are what the rest of the school views most often. Some people might not find it entertaining, but Weidkamp said the information announced on the video bulletin is just as important as students expressing their humor and thoughts.
“No other teacher puts their students’ work out there three times a week. Math teachers don’t hold up their kids’ tests and say, ‘Look what my kids can do,’ but I do,” Weidkamp said. “These are students. They’re learning. Some are extremely good, some are trying their best. It’s just a give-and-take situation.”
Senior Connor Riggan appreciates the written and video bulletin. Even if there are teachers who do not play it due to their negative opinions of it, Riggan said the video bulletin is made for a reason, despite glitches in humor.
“Teachers are given 10 extra minutes a day to show the bulletin (for a reason),” Riggan said. “The media kids put a lot of time and effort into the bulletin, (and I think that) they’re entertaining.”
While the video bulletins leave this impression on Riggan, junior Kyle Roberts is on the fence about his opinion toward media.
Roberts prefers more natural humor and at the end of the day, the bulletins’ humor does not leave a memorable mark on him,
“Some bulletins are funny and some try too hard because they’re too scripted, which doesn’t make bulletins funny.” Roberts said.
Greatly involved in the image that media portrays is the director of Team Silver, senior Alex Nacht.
Since freshman year, Nacht has been involved in media, and last year he was the co-director for Team Black. Through his experiences, Nacht has studied how to capture the audience’s attention.
“You have to have popular segments, popular anchors and the biggest characteristic is that you have to be recognizable to the school,” Nacht said. “I think we definitely have a unique sense of humor, but we really do put a lot of time and effort into it. So, it’s great when people watch it.”
A new media change, made by Nacht’s current team, is the TeamSilver2012 Twitter account, which was encouraged by Weidkamp. It was created so that people feel more connected to and are able to interact with Team Silver.
Each week, Team Silver picks out the best Tweet and senior Justin Remy responds to it on the bulletin. Although Tweeting allows for media staff and viewer interaction, Nacht has already cited it as a vulnerable venture that could cause a more negative stir about media.
“Last week, Justin mentioned that Gandhi said ‘I have a dream,’ and we got a lot of backlash on that (on) Twitter,” Nacht said. “I guess what’s left is (finding out) what will happen next.”
Santa’s Helpers Slideshow
December 6th, 2011Div. 1 Championship Football Game Slideshow
December 5th, 2011Importance of Senior Year Underestimated
December 1st, 2011
Senior Hailey Israel holds one of three jobs at Cookie Connection in Roseville.
Every student knows how high school is supposed to work: freshman, sophomore and junior year slowly build up the workload and, consequently, the stress.
But once the last year of high school arrives and rigorous course work has already been completed in the first three years, seniors are as good as done. At least that is what many students think.
Senior year is actually the most important time to impress colleges.
Granite Bay High School principal Michael McGuire created a questionnaire for College and Career Center speakers and admissions counselors to answer this year. Originally, the questionnaires were created to help McGuire determine if the Standardized Testing and Reporting grade bump incentives given last year affected college admission decisions.
Not only did he discover that colleges did not mind the grade bumps that students received, but McGuire learned from the sources themselves what colleges are looking for.
After an estimated 10 to 15 speakers and admissions counselors answered the questionnaire, the answer were unanimous-every college is looking for students who have the holistic package.
Not only must seniors be well-rounded, but, according to the questionnaires, a student’s senior year is one of the most essential elements that colleges look at.
“Any senior who is seeking to go to a (top tier) four-year university, who has senioritis, or who skates through their senior year is not going to get in (to college),” McGuire said.
According to McGuire, state university may be just as demanding as private universities.
State schools may have lower expectations, however, the recent competitiveness should be a cause for alarm among students who are planning to attend a public university.
Although he warns students not to take easy classes during senior year, McGuire recognizes that not a majority of the students take what he considers a year off.
“The fact of the matter is that the seniors who are very much interested in going to a top tier-one university are not taking skate course in their senior year,” McGuire said.
“They are taking the most rigorous courses that we offer in their senior year.”
Senior year may be commonly looked at, however, admissions counselors look at academics from all four years of high school.
Like freshman year, senior year is an indicator to admissions counselors that students have motivation throughout high school, whether with easier course work in their freshman year or a challenging schedule in their senior year.
Because being admitted into colleges has become more competitive and admissions counselors want to see their potential students step up to the plate in a year in which many seniors dismiss.
Although colleges are not able to see seniors’ grades throughout their whole last year of high school, Trevor Oftedal, admission counselor for Westmont College in Santa Barbra, said that all colleges keep track of their admitted students when students send in their final transcripts.
“(Westmont) notices, that if students don’t follow through (with hard classes) senior year, that they probably won’t do well in college because college is all about following through and working hard,” Oftedal said.
Oftedal admits that even if prospective students apply for Early Action, an early admissions process, Westmont College will move students to Regular Decision and, consequently, ask for their senior year
transcripts.
If students are not working to their capabilities, it is possible that colleges will question such students.
“If we see that you failed a class then we might actually revoke our decision,” Oftedal said. “And, if you don’t graduate high school, you don’t get (admitted).”
Despite Oftedal’s concerns, he admits that Westmont is more understanding than stern.
“Numbers don’t always tell the truth because something might have happened your first semester or second semester,” Oftedal said. “If we see that you were a straight A student and then you started getting straight C’s, we might wonder what’s going on and call you. Other schools might not be that tolerant, but that’s just how Westmont (handles those) issues.”
Like McGuire and Oftedal, Advance Placement government teacher, Jarrod Westberg notices that not all seniors are dismissing senior year as an easier year.
In fact, Westberg, who has only taught seniors in his teaching career, said that in recent years, more seniors are challenging themselves.
Although throughout the year, Westberg notices decreasing grades, he remains optimistic that the grade will eventually increase and that the seniors are experiencing what every class before them has
experienced, just small glitches of senioritis.
“I don’t look down at seniors, especially the high- achiever students that have been in AP classes their whole life,” Westberg said. “These kids have been working very hard for a very long time.”
According to Westberg, senioritis do not usually last too long because of our school’s general character.
“This school has always had seniors that have been driven,” Westberg said. “It’s hard to get away from that mentality (because) it just (becomes) second nature to high achievers.”
Senior and AP student Hailey Israel admits that this year she is taking what she calls senior friendly classes.
Among these classes are physiology, in which every two weeks she waits until the night before a test to complete a homework pack, and the Regional Occupation Program, which she will be taking in the spring.
Unlike most ROP classes, Israel’s will allow her to work even more at her three jobs at Cookie Connection, Subway and for senior Haley Harris’s father’s website.
Her reasons for taking AP classes, such as language, art history and government, while still struggling with her elective, art 3, is simple.
“As a senior, I still want to look like I’m doing something,” Israel said. “I just want to make sure that I have the proper course work to impress colleges as a senior.”
Public Reputation vs. Private Behavior
October 17th, 2011
Gazette Photo: RACHAEL VASQUEZ
At 16 years old, Donna had been sexually active for six months, when she and her boyfriend realized Donna’s period was late.
Her boyfriend starting questioning her, and she started questioning herself. Had she forgotten
to take her birth control pill yet again?
Did traveling to another country and taking the pill in a different time zone disturb her menstrual cycle? Should they be using condoms?
Donna and her mom have a very open relationship, so Donna told her mom that her period was late. Her mom consoled her, but four days later Donna’s period finally
arrived. She and her boyfriend then parted ways.
Yet the pregnancy scare remains fresh in her mind.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, “Donna,” a pseudonym for a Granite Bay High School senior who asked to remain anonymous, is one of the 13 percent of teenagers
who have sex by the age of 15.
A majority of teens who are privately exploring sexual behavior don’t, however, tell others, because they worry about public perception.
“I don’t tell anyone about my situation because it’s not something that you can just bring up in a conversation. It’s taboo,” Donna said. “People… feel awkward about
it, and (so would I) because people could take (my pregnancy scare) as… that I’m a bad person.”
AP psychology teacher Natalie Elkin said that there are polarizing forces that encourage teenagers to be reserved or to engage in sexual behavior.
“Culture gender expectations (include) women having few sexual partners and becoming sexually active at a later age, and for males to have more sexual partners and become sexually active at an earlier age,” Elkin said.
“James,” a pseudonym for a senior who lost his virginity as a freshman and who wished to remain anonymous, views sex as a bond that only the two people involved can
experience and understand. He also believes that talking about sexual behavior can cause bullying.
“You (can) put anyone down and say, ‘Oh, you had sex with that girl? She’s (so) ugly that I can’t believe you would have sex with that,’” James said. “So yes, you can be
teased (as a male) if your partner is deemed as undesirable.”
James says the bullying can also push some to have sex earlier.
“For some people, (losing their virginity) seems to be a race,” he said, “but for some people it is more special and cherished.”
James says he is now fine with purchasing condoms, which the Palo Alto Medical Foundation says reduce the chance of pregnancy to three percent if used properly. But he says his first experience was rough because he didn’t want to be judged at the store because of his age.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to react, how the clerk was going to react, or how the other consumers (were going to react) the first time I bought condoms,” James said. “I was a freshman, so a freshman buying condoms is a weird image for people.”
Now, James is more concerned with people he is close to socially hearing about his sexual life.
“(Someone’s sexual behavior) is almost like a secret, because it’s something that I’ve only been able to experience, something that I’ve only been able to witness,” James said. “It makes me uncomfortable and worried when I think that someone else might be able to know what I’ve gone through, and I (don’t want to) feel that I’m losing something of myself.”
While issues about contraception are obviously important for preventing disease and pregnancy, people are reluctant to talk either because they don’t want people to know about their private life or because they have other reasons for needing to be on “the pill.”
“In my class, I try to point out that you can’t (generalize), because if you know a teen who is on birth control, that doesn’t (necessarily) mean they’re sexually active,” health teacher Kathie Sinor said. She said the pill can also function as hormone therapy.
Senior “Brooke,” who asked that her name be withheld, is on birth control for medical reasons, but she still feels that talking about birth control is awkward.
As a freshman, Brooke had an irregular menstrual cycle and severe acne, so she was put on birth control. Soon after, she developed red lumps on her shins and was taken off.
Two years later, Brooke was put on birth control again, this time by her OB/GYN.
“It’s embarrassing to be on the pill because guys automatically think that a girl is on the pill because she’s having sex,” Brooke said. “It’s a personal thing, and I’m fine sharing it with my closest friends, but people automatically associate birth control with sex.”
In general, Brooke understands that private sexual behavior should remain private.
“No one should judge you on anything,” Brooke said. “It’s your life.”
Sports-A-Rama
September 28th, 2011Results in for STAR, AP tests
September 23rd, 2011Last year, after Advanced Placement testing ended in May, many Granite Bay High School seniors were wearing the same forest green shirt.
It wasn’t an ordinary shirt. Its message – “If you didn’t take AP Economics, you don’t know shift” – was a testament to the newest AP course at GBHS.
AP microeconomics and macroeconomics were added a year ago as part of a year-long block course with AP government and an elective called Law and Justice.
Almost 140 students were enrolled in the course last year.
Of 113 seniors who took the AP microeconomics exam, 103 students passed with a score of three or higher – a 91 percent pass rate. In AP macroeconomics, 80 out of 107students who took the exam passed with a score of three or higher – a pass rate of 75 percent. Both pass rates were well above national pass rates last year.
In other words, AP economics students last year really knew their shift. Read the rest of this entry “
Club Day
September 14th, 2011Ads
