We are born to seek the truth!January 22, 2015 www.cvhsolympian.comVolume 58, IssuE 5

Ping Pong players prevail

Posh Bagels make you feel “hole”

Trojans trample the

Pirates

The thin line between appropri-ate and inappropriate dancing that takes place at school events has been an issue for many years. Although there have been many attempts, nothing seems to change student behavior.

Over the years, administration has tried to find consequences or rules that could actually make a difference. Some rules that have been proposed in the past include a required talk between students with a member of administration, or removal from the dance.

These ideas may seem harsh, but it was pretty much the only thing

By Desiree BroomeStaff Writer

left to try after others were proven ineffective. Neither of those ideas were ever put into effect, but a wristband system was.

A few years ago each student would be issued a wristband. If a student was caught doing any-thing inappropriate the wristband would be cut, and that would be the student's warning. If the stu-dent was caught again and seen without a wristband, they would be removed from the dance.

In the past, administration have had to take extreme measures such as keeping the lights on during the dance, strictly because it was the only way to prevent anything inappropriate from taking place.

This year, many are hoping to

Over the last few weeks stu-dents have been warned not to park in the staff lot or in the parking lot without a parking pass. Students, however, are ignoring these warnings and parking where they want to.

This recent behavior has left our school administrators wondering what to do.

“The problem is students that are parking in the wrong spots; there have been times when the special ed kids can’t get to their classes, or visi-tors can’t park,” said Assis-tant Principal Jesse Hansen. “When teachers leave the campus sometimes their spots are taken and it’s all because of students parking in the wrong spot.”

Some of the few solutions to this problem are to ticket or tow cars, but so far the admin-istration is still deciding about whether or not to do that.

“Towing cars is a last resort because we don’t want stu-dents to have to spend three or four hundred dollars to get their car back, however

By Robbie BrandtBuSineSS Manager

if this behavior continues the punishment will come; if we know who the student is we will call them in and talk to them. By February the admin-istration will come up with a proper punishment,” said Hansen.

Some students think there should be more spaces for students to park.

“I don’t think students should park in teachers’ spots, the problem is all the signs restricting parking so I have to park two blocks away from school and walk,” said junior Alex Brown.

Other students believe that the administration is already being strict enough as it is with the parking rules and they need to stop.

“The admin shouldn’t be even more strict with the parking rules because juniors already have enough trouble finding places to park because we can’t buy parking passes,” said junior Chris Carruth.

Will cars end up being towed, or will administration continue to let our students park wherever they want? Only time will tell.

Administrators backing up on

student parking

“Banding” together at Winter BallaliSon Dhont/ photo editor

prevent such extreme measures from taking place.

“I wish people could just control themselves. You can dance without being all over each other and when they can't it ruins the fun for every-one else,” said sophomore Alexis O’Gorman.

Students in leadership have been working on coming up with new ways to make sure this is no longer an issue, and have decided to bring back the wristband sys-tem.

With putting this system back into place, then comes the issue of finding out how effective it is. If it works well at Winter Ball, it could also be put into place for Junior Prom and Senior Ball.

Anatomy Test stolen, students SuspendedBy Maia Samboy

Staff Writer

Page 7: Girls soccer team tops San LeandroPage 6: Posh Bagels opens in Castro VillagePage 5: Dropshot Divas take first place

Students dance the night away in the gym at Winter Ball on Jan. 10.

Two anatomy and physiology students were suspended after school officials discovered that one had taken a picture of an up-coming chapter test and the other received the picture and passed it to another student.

Teacher Carol Dixon stayed home sick on Dec. 4, and due to the failure of a substitute to show up to lead the class, students were left alone for the majority of sixth period.

During this time, a student entered Dixon’s office, which connects to the classroom, and went through her file cabinet, the teacher said. There, the girl found a copy of an upcoming test and used a mobile phone to take a picture of it. She sent the photo to at least

two other students, but the actual number of students who received the picture will never be known, according to Dixon.

When asked how those in the cheating scandal were caught, Dixon replied by vaguely saying, “Someone had a moment of clar-ity, went to someone, and basically told.”

The girl given a four-day sus-pension, and received a zero on the test, she said. A boy who received a picture of the test, and then sent it to another student, received a two-day suspension, he said, but was permitted to take the test once it had been re-written. A second boy, who received a picture of the test but did not pass it on, did not receive any formal punishment, he said.

The girl is very upset about her suffering grade, and with how

punishments were decided. “I don’t think it’s fair,” said the

girl. “The other people got to take the new test and I didn’t, even though they saw [the original test] too. It’s been really hard because it lowered my grade a lot. I wrote an apology letter to Mrs. Dixon … so it just wasn’t fair I wasn’t allowed to take it.”

Dixon is aggravated by the whole situation, and is upset she had to spend a whole weekend re-writing the new test and had to attend numerous meetings on the subject.

The re-written test for this unit was much more challenging than earlier tests, according to students in the class, who did not receive a study guide as usual. Many students complained about its dif-ficulty. The average score for the test was 59 percent.

“Not everyone saw the test, not everyone was directly involved with this, so giving everyone a purposefully more difficult test was just too much,” said junior Laurel Wilson.

Dixon believes the school’s handling of substitutes contrib-uted to the problem. CVHS has experienced a shortage of subs and sometimes assigns them to cover six periods per day. It seems that the sub did not show up to class because “he thought he deserved a period off,” said Dixon.

Another root of the problem can also be found in society itself, Dixon said.

“In our society, it’s almost okay to lie and cheat. It’s almost cool to be that way and I don’t know how you fix that,” said Dixon.

She is extremely disappointed in the sixth period class, and is

puzzled by the fact that no one contacted the office or a nearby teacher when the substitute failed to show up.

“No one wanted to be bold enough to take the initiative to do the right thing,” she said.

Dixon, who has a background in college teaching, is concerned students will not be prepared for the harsh world that awaits them once they graduate high school. “People are so coddled now, we’re not giving them a realistic attitude towards life,” she said.

Although this event has caused stress for all parties involved, Dixon has gleaned one lesson from this difficult situation.

“If I am ever sick again, I will drag myself in here and lock that office door,” she said.

PHOTOPiniOnsBy: Isaiah Siordia What do you think about the

parking regulation?

“I think the staff should be more considerate about the number of students there are and vice versa.”

Emily Salazar, freshman

“I don’t think tow-ing cars is necessary, just give the viola-tors a citation.”

Elizabeth Ludvik,sophomore

“They should tow because it is defi-nitely a problem.”

Erik Clemensen, junior

“I think it is ap-propriate for the staff to tow the cars, I don’t think p e o p l e s h o u l d park in visitors’ spots.”

Alejandro Gonzalez, senior

PHOTOPiniOns

Editorial:Parking out of bounds has

become a rising issue in the high school parking lots. In recent weeks, CVHS administration commenced sanctions, includ-ing stricter enforcement of park-ing policies on campus. Despite the reprimands, some students are still parking in staff and visitors spaces and the admin-istration is considering towing students’ cars.

We at The Olympian believe that CVHS should take various measures before resorting to towing cars.

At the start of this year, stu-dent parking permits were offered to seniors. Passes cost $50 each, valid all year. Due to restricted availability, limited student parking was offered in the general vicinity. Space was occupied on a “first come, first serve” basis. Many students were forced to find an alterna-tive parking solution on public streets a few blocks away.

While limited spaces were

Don’t tow! Students, administration should shift into neutral

provided for student vehicles, and consecutive cases of incon-venience emerged, questions about the parking lot have risen throughout the community.

Legal high school drivers face

packed schedules filled with coursework, extracurriculars, and socializing, and having to walk several minutes to their cars seems to be implausible. Undoubtedly at first sight, an

available spot in the teacher’s lot appears to be an alluring option. So why not take it?

School administration has been calling out unidentified owners to remove their vehicles

in faculty assigned spaces, with staff and employees reporting incidents of students disrupting the parking regulation. Some demanded the school to take immediate action, while others call for negotiations.

Although current rules place some restrictions, there are more that can be implemented to en-sure both students and staff can happily use the public parking space without receiving punish-ments or disrupting bystanders.

In the wake of the parking is-sue, students must stop parking in spaces under staff reservation. Likewise, the faculty should re-frain as much as possible from using other parking spaces on campus. This practice effectively ties up two parking spaces. Ad-ditionally, any students with a license should be eligible to purchase a permit.

While distractions of the park-ing policy violation cause incon-venience, The Olympian highly encourages students to consider commuting alternatives such as walking, carpooling, or biking.

Millions of unauthorized im-migrants no longer have to hide in the shadows, after President Obama released a new immigra-tion order Nov. 20. Even though President Obama passed it with-out the consent of Congress, I believe this new policy is a good idea that will help a lot of people.

Many undocumented im-migrants are people who were brought here as children and see America as their only home. Fear of deportation would be

Executive order challenges American democracy

By Danika NewlinStaff Writer

inevitable. Now, with immigrants no longer

having to fear being deported, I heard classmates talk of family members overjoyed with the news.

The Statue of Liberty is a famous American symbol that represents the aceptance of immigrants and the American dream. Obama’s pro-posal is a step towards these ideas.

Even though I support this new action, I am conflicted with Obama’s choice to present this without Congress approving. I am

for a democracy where the coun-try’s leader has to pass executive actions that have been approved by the people first.

In Obama’s passing of the immi-gration order, I feel that his action was slightly autocratic, yet I really

On Sunday, Dec. 28, seventeen-year-old Leelah Alcorn of Ohio walked in front of a semi-truck and ended her own life. Her parents had refused to accept Leelah's gender identity and sent her to Christian-based conversion ther-apy. Rejected by her parents for who she was, Leelah committed suicide. In a blog post created before her death, Leelah said: "My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that num-ber and say ‘that's f-ed up’ and fix it. Fix society. Please."

We can and should fix society, but the part of society that needs to be fixed does not want to change. Neighborhood Church is an ex-ample of that, and they proudly post it right on their website in the "Where We Stand" section. There they align being gay with being a pedophile. They categorize trans-gender people with distributors of pornography. You can see it for yourself at http://3crosses.org/where-we-stand. If you don't like

what you see, contact the church. In 2012, California SB 1172 made

gay reparation therapy illegal in our state, but it only applies to licensed therapists. That's why Neighborhood Church can legally host a "HOPE" group that tries to pray away our "struggles" of being gay. The reality is that fundamen-talist churches create the struggle, and then offer to fix it which - as we can see with Leelah - does not work. You can't pray away the gay. Read about their "HOPE" group here: http://3crosses.org/hope-group and if you don't like what you see, contact the church.

I am challenging all Castro Valley churches, but particularly Neighborhood Church to end their faith-based intolerance against our LGBTQI friends and family members. I invite you to join me. Contact Neighborhood Church. Contact the leaders of your own church and ask them where they stand. There's nothing wrong with us, nothing wrong with our rela-tionships, nothing wrong with our families and I challenge any church doctrine that says otherwise. Billy Bradford

The Olympian encourages letters from our readers. Please note that letters must be signed and no longer than 200 words. They can be e-mailed to cvhsolym-pian@gmail.com, delivered to Mr. Johanson’s box in the office, or dropped off at our Olympian office

in room 113.

Letters to the Editor

Even though I sup-port this new action, I am conflicted with

Obama’s choice to pres-ent this without Con-

gress approving.

“

”

like the idea of the order. I feel that with conflicting par-

ties in Congress, the President would have a lot of trouble get-ting the immigration law passed anyway if he had followed his restrictions. Although I believe that act was appropriate based on what the United States was built on, the way it was passed was the opposite.

Another way in which Ameri-ca was founded on was the need and want of a democracy where no ruler would have full say in the country’s choices.

Obama brought immigration into his own hands, making the choice for the entire country. That was not democratic and not what the United States government is about. It is about people having a voice in the government.

This is why I would have to say that even though I think the new immigration act is a great thing for many people, it shouldn’t be acted upon because of the undemocratic way in which Obama passed it without Congress’s consent.

Letter to the editor

aliSon Dhont / Photo Editor

Lucia Parra

I’m not scared at all of ‘coming out of the shadows.’ I’m hopeful, I’m thankful, and I’m

wishful.

“

”

The Olympian January 22, 2015 3

My aunt is like my second moth-er. My cousin Diana and I are best friends just like our mothers. When we were younger, our worlds were nothing more than going back and forth to each other’s houses and being present at each and every single birthday.

Little did we know that while my aunt drove us to McDonald’s on Saturdays for breakfast every weekend, she was a nervous wreck, paranoid that at any mo-ment a police officer would stop her and take the car away, take everything she had, deport her back to Mexico and leave her with nothing but a broken heart and an abandoned daughter. She hid these feelings well from us every time she got behind the wheel, and luckily for us, this never happened.

The only difference between my mother, Maria Amaral, and my aunt, Lucia Parra, is that my mother is a legal US resident and my aunt is not. This meant that when my grandmother in Mexico got sick and needed surgery, my mother was in the waiting room while my aunt sat anxiously in California by her phone.

At 17 years old, my aunt walked through the desert all night to cross the border, only to get to a place where the person who was supposed to meet her didn’t. With hopes of reuniting with my mother, my aunt followed a man who offered to take her to Los Angeles. Little did she know she would end up on a highway being followed by police cars and heli-copters as the man sped through the highway taking her hostage. As the gunshots exploded around her, all she could think of was the hope for her future and her love for her mother.

For 20 years my aunt repressed

“A shadow will no longer be the place I hide”

the memory of her awful entry into the US, but it was only one among the many times she made the treacherous border crossing from Mexico. My aunt came to the US to help my grandmother with money. My mother and my aunt would send money home in order to keep my grandmother well, with food on her table and the necessary medication at her disposal.

“Something that shatters me is the inability to leave the country,” Lucia said. “It’s a heart-wrenching decision to choose between going to see my family or leaving my kids behind. If I decided to go to Mexico, I would miss out on seeing my kids grow up. With a pained heart and deep sorrow, I miss the funerals, the doctor appoint-ments, and the recovery periods of my family in order to watch my daughter sing at her first winter concert, to celebrate my son’s first birthday, and to be here when my daughter crosses the stage at her graduation.”

My aunt is a hardworking wom-an, with hopes, dreams, aspira-tions, and goals like every person, citizen or not. The way the US government calls immigrants aliens is insulting. Are they aliens? Are they not humans, with feel-ings, families, painful pasts, and

hopeful futures? Since when have we decided that because we aren’t born in the same country that we’re aliens? Are we not all born here on this planet? We’re all a part of humanity.

In California, undocumented immigrants will now be able to get driver’s licenses. A license is not a permanent residency or citi-zenship, but it is the opportunity to drive without fear and to have an identity.

“It’s all very exciting! I already made an appointment and have even begun studying,” said Lucia. “I can’t get over the excitement of finally having something legal, something to my name. I’m not scared at all of ‘coming out of the shadows.’ I’m hopeful, I’m thankful, and I’m wishful. It’s one step towards being able to see my parents’ faces in person some day. I feel like I’m closer to one day being able to return home to my mother after over 20 years of only hearing her voice over a telephone.”

Many undocumented immi-grants face the hardship of being in a new country, not speaking English, and trying to find work in a world without their immediate families. Somehow, each one finds a reason to stay and the motivation to continue to be part of a country

that sometimes humiliates them, tracks them down like dogs, and often makes them the butt of jokes.

“I came to this country because of Maria,” Lucia said. “She calcu-lated that a whole day’s pay from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Mexico was less than $4. She knew that I could make more than $4 a day working here in the U.S. at any job. She encouraged me to come and I was eager to. I owe everything I have to Maria, she helped me get here and supported me every step of the way. She lived my life as much as I did and experienced everything with me. I thank God every day for helping me stay safe, have my family, have a job, and I thankful to him for Maria. She is my best friend, my sister, and my mentor. To her I owe my happiness, my family, and my experiences.”

Many immigrants are accused of taking American jobs away from Americans, but the truth of the reality is they’re taking the jobs that no one else seems to want to do. Lucia has worked as a waitress at the same restaurant for 15 years.

“I am very thankful to this country. The only thing us immi-grants can offer is our hard work and willingness to take any job at minimum wage and even less than minimum wage,” she said.

By Stephanie HuertaEditor-in-ChiEf

Mi tía Lucía siempre ha sido como una segunda madre para mí. Mi prima Diana y yo somos mejo-res amigas como lo son nuestras madres. Cuando éramos pequeñas, nuestros mundos no eran más que ir y venir de la casa de una a la casa de la otra y estar siempre presentes en cada cumpleaños.

Poco sabíamos que mientras mi tía manejaba a McDonald’s los sábados para desayunar, como lo hacíamos cada fin de semana, ella era un manojo de nervios; preocu-pada que en cualquier momento un policía la detuviera; llevándose el carro, llevándose todo lo que tenía, mandándola de regreso a México, y dejándola con nada más que un corazón destrozado y una hija abandonada. Con éxito ella escondía estos sentimientos de nosotras cada vez que conducía y

afortunadamente, esto nunca pasó, nunca la detuvieron.

La única diferencia entre mi madre, María Amaral, y mi tía Lucía Parra, es que mi madre es una residente legal de los EE.UU y mi tía no. Esto quiere decir que cuando mi abuela en México se enfermó y necesitó cirugía, mi

madre estaba en la sala de espera mientras mi tía esperaba en Cali-fornia pegada al teléfono esper-ando la llamada que le reportaría la condición de mi abuela.

A los 17 años, mi tía caminó por el desierto toda la noche para cruzar la frontera solo para lle-gar a un lugar para irse con una persona que nunca llegó. Con la esperanza de reunirse con María y llegar con bien, mi tía siguió a un hombre quien le ofreció llevarla a Los Ángeles. No tenía idea que terminaría en la carretera, perse-guida por policías y helicópteros mientras el hombre conducía rápido llevándosela secuestrada. Mientras disparaban los balazos a su alrededor, mi tía sólo pensaba en su futuro y en el amor que le tiene a su madre.

Por 20 años mi tía reprimió su terrible entrada la los EE.UU, pero ésta es sólo una entre muchas de las veces que ella hizo la travesía traicionera para llegar a los EE.UU. Mi tía vino a los EE.UU para ayu-

dar a mi abuela con dinero. Mi madre y mi tía mandaban dinero a casa para mantener a mi abuela con comida en su mesa y la medicina necesaria a su disposición.

“Algo que me tumba es el no poder salir del país,” dijo Lucía. “Es muy difícil la decisión de escoger entre ir a ver a mi familia y dejar a mis hijos aquí. Si voy a

México, pierdo la oportunidad de ver a mis hijos crecer. Con profun-do dolor y mi alma hecha pedazos, me pierdo los funerales, las citas al doctor, y las recuperaciones de mi familia para oír a mi hija cantar en su primer concierto escolar, para celebrar el primer cumpleaños de mi hijo, y para estar aquí el día que mi hija cruce el escenario en su graduación.”

Mi tía es una mujer trabajadora, una persona con esperanzas, sue-ños, aspiraciones, y metas como toda persona, ciudadanos de este país o no. La manera de la cual el gobierno estadunidense les dice “aliens” o extranjeros en español, es humillante. ¿Son extranjeros? ¿No son personas con emociones, familias, pasados dolorosos, y futuros esperanzados? ¿Desde cuando decidimos que porque no somos nacidos en el mismo país somos extranjeros? ¿No somos todos nacidos en este planeta?

“La sombra dejará de ser el lugar donde me escondo”

Lucia Parra and Maria Amaral (left and right, respectively) embrace then and now.

“We are part of the economy and raise children with the ambition to better themselves and pursue an education. We can never offer back the country what it offers us but we work hard keeping in mind that every day we spend in this country is a blessing.”

According to President Obama’s executive order, undocumented immigrants will now be able to solicit working permits and defer the fear of being deported from the country if they meet certain requirements, such as having a child born in the US, passing a background check, and being able to prove they have been living here for five years. These are only a few of the requirements and the process will not be easy. Register-ing names and giving fingerprints are all a part of the process, but most undocumented immigrants see this as beneficial to their futures and worth the risk of stepping forward.

This decision is only in effect while Obama is president and can be removed by the next president, but people like my aunt do not lose hope. The president is giving

María Amaral y Lucía Parra comparten un abrazo.

continuación: Página 8

people the very hope he cam-paigned on.

I support his decision, not be-cause it affects my aunt, but be-cause it affects so many other people like her.

“I have lived in this country obeying the rules, paying my taxes, committing no crime or offense against anyone in hopes that one day the government will see that I am here and that I have been good,” Lucia said. “I’ve been pa-tiently waiting for an opportunity to be a part of this great country legally where the only shadow I know is the one that is casted as I walk freely, openly in the bright sun. A shadow is no longer the place I hide in hopes of working quietly to have a future for myself and my for family.”

Lucia Parra y Stephanie Huerta sonríen juntas.

Edtior’s note: The story above is translated below for all our Spanish readers, enjoy.

Band, orchestra teacher conducts to the top

By Laniah LewisStaff Writer

2014 was jampacked with many amazing newsworthy events. Here’s a month by month compilation of impor-tant events locally and nation-ally.

January: President Barack Obama proposed possible reforms for America’s surveil-lance program, such as requir-ing National Security Agency analysts to get court approval before checking phone data, and also affirmed that the NSA will no longer eavesdrop on leaders of allied nations. Castro Valley Teachers Association won a three percent raise and increase in benefits from the Castro Valley Unified School District.

February: The Seattle Se-ahawks beat the Denver Bron-cos for their first Super Bowl win in franchise history. Castro Valley Unified School District was fined $1,050 by the Oc-cupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for four ventilation and health vio-lations in the CVHS 700 wing.

March: Abu Ghaith, son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to kill Americans

as well as provide support to al-Qaeda. Hollywood actress Anna Khaja, a Castro Valley native, returned home to per-form “Shaheed: The Dreams and Death of Benazir Bhutto,” a play she wrote herself.

April: Donald Sterling, for-mer LA Clippers owner, was banned from the NBA and fined $2.5 million because of his racist remarks which were recorded and published by his former girlfriend. Jenny’s Cafe at CVHS was closed for remodeling.

May: Oregon and Pennsyl-vania legalized same-sex mar-riage. CVHS prohibited selling candy on campus, even for fundraisers.

June: The Supreme Court ruled that stated that police

need a warrant to look through an arrested person’s phone. In our community, the adminis-tration was up in arms about the popular game “Assassins.”

2014: A rockin’ year in review

The man who greets every-one with a boisterous “Hullo!” has 73 class favorites, his own YouTube talk show, and tells bad jokes. He teaches six dif-ferent music classes at CVHS, and dedicates countless hours of time to his work. He is, perhaps, the most interesting music director on earth: Steven Hendee.

CVHS’ own instrumental music teacher has been se-lected to receive a prestigious national award. For the past three years, the music de-partment has been blessed to have Hendee as the director of bands and orchestra. With 23 years of music teaching under his belt at numerous Bay Area schools, Hendee has certainly earned his selection into the John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor.

“I’m very excited to have been selected for this award.

Hendee leads his students in a music piece in the winter band concertJeSSica Mi/Staff Writer Lindsey Guan,

sophomore

He’s the most

eccentric teacher I have ever

had.

“

”

Steven Hendee wins prestigious

music awardBy Jessica Mi

Staff Writer

It’s very special to me,” com-mented Hendee.

The national award honors band directors who maintain school band programs of ex-cellent quality for a period of at least 20 years and who have showed strong leadership in their professional organiza-tions.

Ever since joining CVHS, Hendee has really improved the music program by adding new activities and events. He implemented the marching program, with a week-long summer band camp so that our school could have a marching band and field show.

This year, Hendee has also

added an advanced band class called wind ensemble for stu-dents who wish to learn and perform music at a more chal-lenging level.

“I think the CVHS band and orchestra are getting more exposure throughout the Bay Area,” he said.

Hendee has made quite an

impact on students as well. “He’s the most eccentric

teacher I’ve ever had,” said sophomore Lindsey Guan.

“He has contributed so much to the music program and has furthered our growth in music,” said orchestra student Lotan Yeung.

“He’s my favorite,” said

sophomore Natalie Blumberg.To Hendee, his valued dedi-

cation is just another part of the job. “Volunteering my time and talents to the program’s greater good is something that is im-portant to me and something I try to teach my students as well,” he said.

July: The CIA admitted to hacking and analyzing of the emails of the Senate Intel-ligence Committee. CVHS hosted a very successful Pride event to help support and cel-ebrate the LGBT members of our community.

August: The nation mourned the suicide of actor Robin Wil-liams. Outrage followed the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

September: TMZ released a video of Ray Rice, a Baltimore Raven, punching his fiancee, which led to a stricter NFL policy on domestic violence. CVHS students complained about stricter enforcement of the dress code, while the community groaned over the purchase of a $14,000 espresso machine, which was later can-celed.

October: The San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the third time in five years. The CVHS library received a $5,000 donation from the Barona Band of Mission Indians.

November: President Obama issued an executive order to protect some immigrants from deportation. Gary Howard and Dorothy Theodore won the election to claim seats on the Castro Valley school board.

Dot Theodore and Gary Howard

Anna Khaja

December: Many protested at various locations about the increase of UC tuition. CVHS and many other local schools closed for a day due to a heavy storm.

The Olympian can’t wait to see what happens in 2015.

The OlympianJanuary 22, 2015 5

75th

1939-2014Anniversary

CASTRO VALLEY SANITARY DISTRICTEffective Environmental Services since 1939510-537-0757 | www.cvsan.orgThis ad was paid for by Import Mitigation

Attention High School Seniors!

Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) is offering the 2014/15 CVSan Environmental Leader in Waste Reduction Scholarship for high school seniors. Up to 2 students who help their school reduce waste may be awarded a $500 scholarship.

Download the Scholarship Application from CVSan’s website: www.cvsan.org/studentscholarship Instructions are provided in the application. Applications must be received by CVSan on Friday, April 3rd by 2:00 p.m., no exceptions. It’s not too early to start on your application!

CVSAN STUDENTSCHOLARSHIP

Students marvel at the idea of no school, sleep, and getting busy with personal hobbies over winter break. When asked what they did over break, most students would say they got a lot of sleep and visited family. Although some students tell of places they went to and what they did there, including the many crazy stories that oc-curred.

One example is Logan Gorkov, who went to Las Ve-gas for three days and got to see Criss Angel, who is “EX-TREMELY pop punk.”

“I also watched a bunch of dancers in masks get a dozen middle-aged men to do the Harlem shake,” said Gorkov.

Senior Xavier Taylor told of how he got to go to his brother’s work at a psychiatric home in Ventura and witnessed a patient try to attack the staff. His brother helped with re-straining him.

“He distracted him by asking what time it is and when he looked away, he jumped him. They got him but my brother got punched pretty hard by the guy,” said Taylor. That’s a good way to spend Christmas Eve, with family.

The last week before school resumed included New Year’s Eve when people described at-tending family parties, watch-ing movies, ice skating and finally, simply resting.

“I took my friend ice skating for the first time with a group of our friends,” said Sophie Maras Gillet.

Break came and went, and left students with many stories.

Winter break brings many adventures for students

By Alexander McIntoshStaff Writer

Players compete with a passion while a group watches.america moraleS / Staff Writer

Bay Area magician is truly magical

During lunch the old gym opened its doors to the 21 teams of the December ping pong tournament. Students from every grade came in to support their favorite teams and watch the biggest ping pong battle of the year. Each team showcased their skills to prove they were worthy of first place. However, only two teams made it to the final round to try and take the med-als home, team Team and team Dropshot Divas.

The tournament became even more interesting when last year’s defending cham-pion Sean Luster predicted, “Oh, it’s about to be easy. No competition, its over.”

Seeing Luster’s comment as

a challenge, the other teams felt even more of an urge to take the championship title and defeat the former champion.

“Well, I think that’s a load of crap and we’re going to take the win. They got nothing on us. We’re team Hanz, and we’re going to kick everyone’s head in,” responded Jack Prettyman.

“We are going to stay strong. We are against the odds, but we’re going to fight through,” added Brian Tognolini.

Although the gym was full of fans every day, the final game was the most crowded along with heavy cheers and screams of excitement. Surprisingly, Sean Luster’s team, Team, lost the game to team Dropshot Divas. Justin Tat and Mat Situ took home the trophies and the championship title for the 2014 ping pong tournament.

By America MoralesStaff Writer

A year ago I attended a magic show called Illusion Fusion, and recently saw the magician, Alex Ramon, once again on Dec. 13 in his new show, #NewMagic. Ramon has been the Magical Ring-master in the Ringling Broth-ers and Barnum and Bailey's Circus and has even acted in Patch Adams alongside Robin Williams.

Ramon first picked up his magical hobby the summer after he turned 13. He never showed people his magic or talked about it because he didn’t want anyone to take his hobby. The owner of a shop in San Francisco called MisDirec-tions Magic Shop always en-couraged Ramon to perform his magic to the public.

In 2011, Ramon was offered a location in South Lake Tahoe for a show. He took the offer

and created an award-winning show by the name of Illusion Fusion which ran until March of 2014.

Ramon missed touring and going to cities he had never been to before.

“Lake Tahoe was a destina-tion, people came to me. It’s a whole other thing when I go to them,” he said.

His first job was touring and he felt that it was his calling to tour again. Ramon wanted something new to tour with, hence the idea of #NewMagic. For Ramon’s new show he created a new illusion called “Acoustic Levitation.”

“Everything in life always closes doors to open another that leads to something else;

the opened door for me was magic,” said Ramon.

Ramon is very thankful for all of his family’s support in his career.

“Almost every single day for about eight years I would run upstairs to my mom and just say ‘Watch.’ Not once did she tell me to come back later, she would always stop every-thing and just watch,” he said.

Ramon is scheduled to bring his show to the Castro Valley Center for the Arts in late 2015, although no date has been set for sure. From his start with Mickey’s Magic Show to the current #NewMagic, Alex Ramon is a mind blowing and must-see magician.

By Jes Smith Photo editor

Alex Ramon wows the crowd with the trick “Toccata for LightBulb.” JeS Smith / Photo editor

Ramon makes his hobby and dream into a

career

Ping pong players paddle path of

perfection

Students reflect on

their holiday vacation

Banner heads should go to key, important stories

“Posh” is not the first word I would use to describe the typi-cal Castro Valley business.That being said, I was of course very eager to try the new Posh Ba-gels that opened in December in the Castro Village.

The variety of choices on the menu immediately attract one’s attention: plain bagels with cream cheese, bagel dogs, sweet and savory crêpes, bagel sandwiches, and even donuts and cronuts.

Although the word “posh” suggests an expensive and formal environment, in actu-ality, the place is very clean, friendly, and quite affordable. The place feels very much like a café, which makes it an ideal stop for high schoolers during lunch, or just for anyone who wants to eat a quick meal dur-ing the week.

For people who enjoy a high-quality, simple bagel with cream cheese, Posh Bagels will not disappoint. The quality and freshness in their bagels makes

The Interview: beginning of WWIII, Or Average Comedy? By Anna Nguyen

News editorBy Robbie Brandt

BusiNess MaNager

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to inter-view a dictator? You may end up liking this person. He may treat you like royalty, give you gifts, and maybe let you drive a tank while listening to Katy Perry music (this could, how-ever, just be a distraction so you don’t find out who they really are). Or have you ever wanted to make him cry like a baby and suffer for all he’s done to his people?

If you answered yes to either of the above questions, the film The Interview might just be the film for you. The film is about a world famous television host named Dave Skylark, played by James Franco, and his best friend and producer Aaron Rapoport, played by Seth Rog-en, who score an interview with the infamous dictator of North Korea Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park.

This interview however isn’t just all fun and games for our two heroes. When Skylark an-nounces his interview with Kim Jong Un the CIA wants him to take him out. And no, I don’t mean take him out to dinner, I mean they want them to kill him. Skylark is at first over-joyed at the prospect of taking out Jong Un and being a hero until he meets Kim for the first time. Dave and Kim become fast friends and discover that they have many things in common like daddy issues, their love of basketball and margaritas, and most importantly their love of Katy Perry. This leads to Dave having second thoughts about killing Kim. Aaron however sees right through Kim’s ruse and tries to warn Dave who is now stuck deciding to kill or not to kill.

A week before the film’s ini-tial release Sony (the company financing the film) was hacked. The hackers known as The Guardians of Peace released personal information about employees and actors who have worked with Sony in the past. They even went as far as to threaten an attack if the film was released. So the film was cancelled. After much debate, however, the film was released right on schedule. And you know what? Nothing hap-pened. That is part of the reason I’d give this movie four out of five stars. Overall this film was entertaining, had a perfect cast, and jokes that will make you roll off your seat laughing. That is why I encourage everyone to see The Interview.

It’s not every day that a movie catches the attention of a third-world dictator. The Interview, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, will be forever engrained in Hollywood history, but for the most unexpected reasons.

The movie follows American talk show personality Dave Sky-lark (Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) as they travel to North Korea after land-ing an exclusive interview with notorious dictator Kim Jong Un. The two catch the attention of the CIA, which recruits them to assas-sinate Kim. As the two prepare for the interview, each experience a different side of North Korea, from singing Katy Perry with Kim, to trying to escape his team of lethal guards. Over time, they are exposed the indecencies of the country, and are faced with the overwhelming task of killing the beloved leader of North Korea.

While the film has received a huge political response, it should not be treated as anything more than it was originally intended to be. The Interview is first and fore-most, a mindless, independent, American comedy. It is not gov-ernment propaganda, nor a threat to North Korea. The cheap jokes

and outrageous stunts portrayed in the film are meant to generate laughs, and shouldn’t be given a second thought. Although satirical themes are integrated through the entire plot, it is far from being an informative documentary.

On the other hand, the film and controversy surrounding it has brought some much needed atten-tion to the devastating condition faced by North Koreans under the Kim regime. While the com-edy’s plot is purely fictional, the circumstances surrounding them are eerily similar to the real world. The people of North Korea are at

the mercy of the very young Kim Jong Un, whom they believe to be a godly figure.

For several decades, the Kim family has driven North Korea into a state of hunger, poverty, and malnourishment. In openly criticizing the dictatorship, an op-poser's entire family is placed into labor and concentration camps. Basic human rights and necessities are violated by the government, and nothing can be done to speak out against it.

The filmmaker might not have expected it, but The Interview had played a tremendous role in ex-

posing many people to what is just the surface of difficulties faced by North Koreans. Newly imposed sanctions from the US have been placed in response to the Sony hacks, and the United Nations have revisited North Korea’s hu-man rights violations.

The quality of the film itself may have been mediocre, but its impact is undeniable. Behind the explo-sions and sexual innuendos, an important message is being pro-moted, one that should continue to be spread until justice in met in North Korea.

Spread some love on Posh Bagels

them a good choice, no matter how minimal you want to go with your bagel.

The sandwich option is great, especially for meat-lovers. Each sandwich is jam-packed with meat and various top-pings to your own choosing. For the price (ranging from $6.50-$7.25), this is a very good value meal.

For me, the most intriguing item on the menu was the cro-nut, which is a croissant-donut hybrid. I was initially skepti-cal of this mixture, but it was surprisingly tasty, though not

something I will be going back for anytime soon.

Even though the Posh Bagels is a chain of restaurants, it is more local than its predeces-sor, Big Apple Bagels. A big highlight to this is the locally brewed coffee from Peerless Coffee and Tea, an Oakland-based company that has been around since 1924. Not only are you supporting local busi-nesses instead of huge fran-chises, the quality and flavor is superior to most coffee in the area.

To improve in the future,

this restaurant could put out recycling and compost bins. Though it may sound like a minor issue, I believe that res-taurants have a responsibility to encourage proper disposal of waste.

Because of the convenient location and the big variety of choices, I will be back at Posh Bagels soon. With prices ranging from $1.10-$7.40, the cost for a full meal is quite af-fordable. Whether you want a bagel, a sweet treat, or a cup of coffee, this place will satisfy most cravings.

By Halley Lin-Jonesstaff writer

Hailey liN-JoNes/ Staff Writer

Neo diesta/ staff writer

Banner heads should go to key, important stories

A m a z i n g Ac c o mp l i s h e d At h l ete s

Bianca Greer, freshman Angelo Tollis, seniorTori Kiani, juniorIsaac Nodal, sophomore

By Neo Diesta / staff Writer

The team is down by two points with only ten seconds left in the fourth quarter. Freshman Bianca Greer gets the ball and shoots and scores, making the team go into overtime.

Greer plays forward for the CVHS girls varsity basketball team as a freshman. Playing since she was four years old, she has gained a lot of experience in the game to be able to make the var-sity game as a freshman.

“I play at a high speed and aggressive level. And that’s how varsity players play,” Greer said.

The CVHS varsity boys bas-ketball team marched home after an easy victory against the Tennyson Lancers on Jan. 7, with the final winning score of 86-44.

With a score of 35-10 already at the beginning of the second quarter, the crowd was ener-getic and cheered on their fellow Trojans.

Finishing off the end of the first quarter strongly, junior Law-rence Johnson shot a half court shot right before the buzzer, and the crowd closely followed the ball and went wild as soon as it swooshed through the net. The Trojans continued shooting hoop after hoop through team effort.

“It was a team effort, we all did our part. It was our first league game so that’s big. It’s always important to start off good,” said junior Trevelon Adanandus.

Towards the end of the game in the fourth quarter, Adanandus got a fast break and went for a dunk. He flew high into the air and slammed the ball into the basket while the crowd and his teammates shouted with excite-ment. Afterwards, the Trojans were eager to finish off their game strongly.

“It was a big dunk for my team. It was my first dunk this year so I was very excited,” com-mented Adanandus.

As the buzzer went off to finish the game, the Trojans gathered up and celebrated their win.

By America MoralesStaff Writer

Trojans basketball demolishes Tennyson

There is one senior who you will see working hard to get better at pinning down his op-ponent and that is Angelo Tollis from the boys varsity wrestling team. In all his years of wres-tling, his favorite thing is the intensity.

“It requires you to be physi-cally, emotionally, and mentally balanced,” said Tollis.

Tollis also loves being able to wrestle and train along with the other boys in the team who equally love the level of intensi-ty and are also very determined to be better.

“GOAL!” is all you’ll hear when you see junior Tori Kiani kicking the soccer ball into the goal. From the girls varsity soccer team, she already has a lot of experience in the sport. Like most athletes, she loves soccer for the competition. Plus, she is able to practice and play with her friends that love soccer as well.

“Honestly, I just like to win,” Kiani said.

With her playing the position of right mid or forward, the girls varsity soccer team will surely do that.

It’s a tie game between CVHS boys junior varsity soccer team and the Trojans’ opponent. All the players have been running back and forth on the field attempt-ing to break the tie. That is when sophomore Isaac Nodal plays his position as forward, and hustles the ball to score the winning goal. Nodal has always been into the game of soccer since he began playing it at three years old.

“After playing for so long, you grow a love and desire for the sport,” said Nodal.

By Jes Smith Photo editor

Tori Kiani dribbles the ball past defending Pirates in an attempt to score.

JeS Smith / Photo Editor

The girls varsity soccer team played its first home game of the 2015 season against San Leandro Pirates on Jan. 7. The Trojans won with a final score of 6-0 behind the star player of the game, Jasmine Edwards, who scored four goals.

Two other star players of the game were Alyssa Vigallon, who scored one goal assisted by Pagan Hetherington, who also scored a goal.

“The game was one of the best games we have played. It was re-

ally nice to get a win for our first home game of the new year. I was super proud of my team,” said junior Tori Kiani.

San Leandro also had a few attempted shots on the Trojans’ goal during the second half, which were saved by goalkeeper Fanta Diomande.

CVHS and San Leandro both had four corner kicks, and six fouls per team, while CVHS had two offsides and San Leandro only had one.

It was a great win for the girls soccer team and hopefully there are many more to come!

Girls soccer team makes Pirates walk the plank

The 2014 Oakland Athletics baseball team had a really solid team throughout the whole year. The A’s led the MLB in wins throughout much of the season, but after they made the Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester trade, the A’s played under .500 baseball, which was something no one was used to from the A’s.

Billy Beane, the A’s general manager, said Lester helped the team get to the playoffs, but the numbers show that Cespedes’ win above replacement (the total value of a player to the team) was one of the highest in all of Major League Baseball. Cespedes had a huge presence on the team. He was a fan favorite and he was driving in runs, the leader in the team in that category, so all A’s fans were disappointed by his departure.

Another trade that no one seems to be able to wrap their head around is Josh Donaldson for Brett Lawrie. Donaldson was a supreme third baseman that carried the whole A’s team and he was also the starting third baseman for the Ameri-can League in the 2014 All-Star

Game. Donaldson hit for power and contact. He was the back-bone of the A’s, so trading him for another third baseman that didn’t perform as well as Don-aldson doesn’t make sense.

Beane just blew my mind with this next trade. A couple of weeks ago he traded Jeff Samardzija to the White Sox for a Double A shortstop with no MLB experi-ence and a .250 batting average, a right handed pitcher who doesn't have nearly as much experience, a catcher, and a first baseman. Samardzija was an All-Star this year and had a good record, so I definitely think he was worth more just a couple of minor leaguers.

I don’t know where the A’s are going with all this but I definitely don’t think they are going to the playoffs this year with all their ridiculous moves. Hopefully everything goes as smoothly as Beane thinks it will.

The A’s also traded away their top power threat, Brandon Moss, to the Cleveland Indians for just a minor league second baseman! He needs to stop rebuilding and start adding on instead of subtracting and waiting for the future. Now the A’s don’t have any power on the left side of the plate.

All-Star catcher Derek Norris has been dealt to the San Diego Padres for right handed pitcher Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez. These are the ninth and tenth pitchers the A’s have gotten this season in trade for All-Stars! People can say that Beane knows what he is doing, but there are fans out there that focus on the present rather than the future.

Oakland A’s make rookie mistake!

By Martin BaezStaff Writer

The OlympianJanuary 22, 2015 8

By Caitlin ForbesStaff Writer

2014 was a rough year for the staff at CVHS. Not only has there been understaffing in the special ed department and school administration, but there is also a constant short-age of substitute teachers this school year.

Teachers receive almost daily emails with requests for them to fill in for classes without substi-tute teachers during their prep periods. Sometimes teachers may receive phone calls that request their help directly.

According to union represen-tative and history teacher Mark Mladinich, the prep period is a crucial hour for teachers to prepare for classes. It is the time where they photocopy papers, plan lessons, grade papers, and collaborate with other teachers.

“By contract they cannot be told they have to sub, so they are given a choice,” said Mla-dinich. The requests are “just the front office saying, ‘Hey we need help,’ but they’re not saying you have to do it.”

Teachers that offer to help out

are paid for the extra hour they spend teaching at their hourly rate. Those teachers, however, must have all their lesson plans and teaching materials prepared prior to their designated hour in the day to do so.

“Most teachers are busy enough that it’s hard to give up an extra hour or two,” claimed teacher Eric Bahm, another union representative.

Teachers are generally ex-pected to send in their requests for substitutes with at least a three-day notice and lesson plans for their substitutes if they have a planned absence. The problem with the process arises when teachers do not notify the district at least 24 hours before a sub is needed to allot for the time the school district requires to find and contact an available substitute teacher.

There are many classes with teachers that are unable to make it to school that day due to an emergency or an illness, which gives the school and district very little time to find someone capable to cover the class.

As a result, many students are required to sit in a classroom

Renaissance is returning to CVHS! Leadership is bring-ing back the grade reward system after four years of being absent from CVHS. A group of leadership officials in the Renaissance Commit-tee have decided to create a new Renaissance program that includes amazing prizes for the students that qualify.

Although the Renaissance Committee members are still working out details, they have determined that the qualifications for Re-naissance will be based on grade point average (GPA) with three different quali-fication sections and one qualification section for GPA improvement. Some of the prizes for the qualifying students could be t-shirts or booklets. They are also working on the expansion of Renaissance so it will continue to reward students throughout the school year instead of over one semes-ter as Renaissance did four years ago.

ASB Treasurer Jessica Yin campaigned last year for the Renaissance program to come back to CVHS.

“If you look at our ac-tivities program, we don’t have any kind of program to award academic achieve-ment, which I think is really important,” says Yin. “It will

be nice for the students of CVHS to be rewarded on their academic excellence and be encouraged to work harder to improve their GPAs and be the best that they can be.”

In words of encouragement to all students, Yin says, “Re-naissance is not just for top students. Improving your GPA is just as important as maintaining a high GPA. Renaissance is a program to offer real, tangible rewards as you make your way to-wards a long term goal for the future.”

Nicholas Whitaker, lead-ership advisor, also talked about the new Renaissance program. According to Whitaker, Renaissance will most likely start next year and the leadership team will be trying to get local busi-nesses to participate, possibly providing some of the prizes, since the Renaissance pro-gram has no funding.

“The leadership team is do-ing their best, its completely run by them which requires extra work to help reward students,” says Whitaker. “It’s definitely something we regretted getting rid of, but we are excited to bring it back because students de-serve rewards for outstand-ing achievement.”

Hopefully by this time next year CVHS will be reunited with Renaissance.

Substitute shortage affecting school Renaissance to return with rewards for CVHS students

continuación: Página 3

“La sombra dejará de ser el lugar donde me escondo”

Todos somos nativos a este mundo y extranjeros de nin-guno, completamos lo que es la humanidad.

En California, inmigrantes indocumentados podrán so-licitar una licencia de conducir. Una licencia de conducir no es la residencia permanente o una ciudadanía, pero es la oportunidad de tener algo; de manejar sin miedo y tener una identidad.

“Todo es muy emocionante. Ya hice mi cita y hasta he co-menzado a estudiar,” dijo Lu-cia. “No supero la emoción de por fin tener algo legal, algo a mi nombre. No tengo miedo de ‘salir de la obscuridad.’ Tengo esperanza y doy gracias. Es un paso adelante, un paso que me llevará más cerca de algún día poder ver las caras de mis padres en persona. Siento que estoy más cerca que nunca del poder a regresar a casa con mi madre después de 20 años, de solamente poder oír su voz por un teléfono.”

Muchos inmigrantes indocu-mentados afrentan la dificultad de estar en un país nuevo, sin poder hablar inglés, y tratando de buscar trabajo en un mundo sin sus familias. Pero de alguna manera, cada uno encuentra una razón para quedarse y la motivación para continuar siendo parte de un país que a veces los humilla, los persigue, y que convierte sus situaciones en chistes de mal gusto.

“Yo vine a este país por María,” dice Lucía. “Ella hizo las cuentas y se fijó que un día

de pago en México, desde las siete de la mañana a las diez de la noche era menos de cuatro dólares. Ella sabía que yo podía ganar más de cuatro dólares al día trabajando aquí en los EE.UU. en cualquier trabajo. Ella me animó, le debo todo lo que tengo a María, ella me ayudó llegar aquí y me apoya-ba con cada paso que daba. Ella vivió mi vida así igual como yo la viví. Yo le doy gracias a Dios todos los días por mi seguri-dad, mi familia, mi trabajo, y también por María. Ella es mi mejor amiga, mi hermana, y mi guía.”

Muchos inmigrantes son acusados de robar los trabajos Americanos, pero la realidad es que ellos toman los trabajos que al parecer nadie más quiere tener. Mi tía ha trabajado en el mismo restaurante por más de 15 años.

“Yo le estoy muy agradecida a este país. La única cosa que nosotros los inmigrantes le podemos ofrecer es nuestra dedicación al trabajo y nuestra disposición a tomar cualquier trabajo por un pago mínimo y a veces hasta menos del pago mínimo,” comentó Lucia. “So-mos parte de la economía y criamos a nuestros hijos con la ambición de mejorarse y per-seguir una educación. Jamás podremos ofrecerle al país lo que nos ofrece a nosotros pero trabajamos duro tomando en cuenta que cada día que pasamos en este país es una bendición.”

De acuerdo con la decisión ejecutiva del Presidente Obama, inmigrantes indocumentados

podrán solicitar permisos de trabajo y deferir el miedo de ser deportados si cumplen con ciertos requisitos como tener hi-jos nacidos en los EE.UU, pasar una verificación antecedente, y poder comprobar que han es-tado aquí por los pasados cinco años. Estos son sólo algunos de los requisitos y el proceso no será fácil. Registrar nombres y dar huellas son parte del pro-ceso, y muchos ven esto como un riesgo que vale la pena para comenzar a crear un futuro mejorado en este país.

Esta decisión sólo estará en efecto mientras Obama sea presidente y podría ser eliminada por el próximo presi-dente, pero personas como mi tía no pierden la fe. El presi-dente ofrece la misma fe cual él promovía en su campaña presidencial.

Yo apoyo su decisión, no porque afecta a mi tía, si no porque afecta a personas, mu-chas que se encuentran en situaciones como la de mi tía.

“He vivido en este país siguiendo las reglas, pagando mis impuestos, cometiendo ningún crimen ni ofensa con la esperanza que algún día el gobierno vea que estoy aquí y que he sido buena,” dijo Lucia. “He esperado pacientemente la oportunidad de ser parte de este gran país legalmente donde la única sombra que conozco es la que el sol forma mientras yo camino libremente y abiertamente. La sombra de-jará de ser el lugar donde me escondo trabajando callada-mente para obtener un futuro para mi y mi familia.”

with neither a designated sub-stitute nor a proper lesson plan despite the fact that teachers are asked to have emergency lesson plans. Some teachers are not op-timistic about an improvement in the situation.

The shortage “shows that we do not have enough qualified substitutes. Unfortunately, the way to remedy that would be to maybe pay them more, but that would come out of other things at the school. It would be at the expense of either equipment or pay for teachers,” stated Bahm.

Currently, a substitute teacher in CVUSD earns about $125 per day.

“We’ll have subs at our school that are signed up in different districts,” said Principal Blaine Torpey. “They’ll take whichever job pays the most or whichever one is most convenient, so we’re doing what we can to create a work environment that encour-ages substitutes to want to work with our district.”

Bahm believes that since the substitutes are hired by the district, “it’s not a mistake on the school’s part; it’s more of a district issue.”

By Meiling ZhangStaff Writer