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It’s A Small World After All
Story by: Makayla Ogdahl
IFest. The word gets passed around like a legend. High school students whisper about it to their little siblings as bedtime stories; a day like any other in December, only we get to travel the world.
It’s kind of a different story when you are in the performance though. For spectators, you breeze into the gym as the bell rings and the most difficult task for the next hour is finding your friends and choosing a seat. For performers, like senior Careylyn Mendoza, every outfit must match, every hair must be in place, and every participant must be accounted for. But having to be meticulous doesn’t necessarily make it any less fun, it’s just fun in a different kind of way.
“I’m really glad I did it this year, especially since it’s my last IFest as a senior,” said Mendoza, “I feel like it really brought me closer with people of my own culture.” Mendoza participated in Tinikling, the national dance of the Philippines, with many other Filipino students including Alyssa Faughn and Lauryn Cabanlit. In order for their performance to go off without a hitch, they practiced for two hours twice a week in the five weeks leading up to IFest.
Although there was only one small mistake in their piece (that was hardly noticeable), Mendoza admits that going after the Samoan Haka may have dimmed their spirits a little. “The Haka is so loud, it gets people so pumped, and we came after that like…” Here she demonstrated a flitty hand motion, saying their dance is quiet and less in-your-face.
Another well-planned performance was the African Tribal dance, done by Keyonna Trader and Nisa Seals. When I ambushed Trader as she got off the bus, she said “We made our outfits really cute this year, and we worked really hard on the bends and returns.” Similar to the Tinikling group, only one small mistake was made when Seals momentarily struggled to stand up from her back-bend, and the girls became out-of-synch. Trader remedied this by hesitating for a moment, and the rest of the performance went according to plan.
Many times when we think of IFest, we think merely of stuffing our faces with good food. It is important in these times to remember the performers who are celebrating their cultures, and appreciate their commitment to their routines.
The Hour of Code, The Hour of the Future
Story by: Kerenza Robinson
Coding is the foundation of all technology. All those handheld computers and video games that everyone owns? All started out as a code.
Along with the purpose of bringing awareness of code to our students, Mr. Collins hopes to open up the gender gap in technology. Graduating college, only 12% of women earn a bachelors in computer science. By introducing code to girls before they choose their major, there is a better chance that they will be interested in pursuing the field in college.
In order to acknowledge the basis of technology, Mr.Collins participated in the international Hour of Code program this month that allowed students to use the basics of code to construct a video game. With an excellent turn out, 300 certificates were awarded to all the ROP classes.
Student Patrick Patterson is currently in the process of developing a video game that consists of a world filled of zombies, and the character must finish their quest while trying to survive. Patterson’s game is still nameless, but taking the program has helped in the development and progress of the game.
Let There Be Light
Story by: Kerenza Robinson
Sooner or later, every bird has to leave the nest. But, seniors know the process is a little more complicated than that. There is a lot of effort that is usually put into finding a college that fits an individual student. Most people research colleges and/or visit them first to get an idea of where they want to go.
Ms. Adams led a college visit for the Gifted And Talented Education (GATE) program to UCLA. These students took a 45 minute tour around the campus led by a senior from the college. They learned a lot about the history of the school and its traditions.
One of these traditions is about an inverted water fountain on the campus. Rumor has it, you can touch it one time your freshman year, but you can’t touch it again until you graduate. Otherwise, you will have to add an extra quarter to your college education.
The Griffith Observatory also caught the eye of these students. It was a huge room with a dome on top where they were shown a presentation about how the Earth changed over time. Jocelyn Valdez recalls, “It was at night so everything looked really pretty.” They saw all the big city lights and the students were even able to see the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Observatory. Inside, there were different stations about the universe, including a showcasing of meteorites that had fallen to earth and scales showing what you would weigh on other planets.
As you may already know, UCLA has quite a large campus, roughly 419 acres. The students were surprised to see how big the buildings really were. In the library, they saw a choir singing and John Lanza said that they “sounded like angels.”
There are a lot of different opportunities at this school, and Synai Salgado says,“It’s always good to branch out and do multiple activities.”
Despite the size of the campus, Amy Fangmeyer says that UCLA is “all around a close-knit community.” The students observed that everyone was serious, but they still looked like they were having fun. There was a positive atmosphere and everyone appeared to be glad to be there.
These students also noticed that the school was,“so organized, and yet nobody was being told what to do,” said Alex Morrissey. The students at UCLA walked on the right side of the pavement, like cars on a street. Throughout the campus, they would see “just a flood of people walk back and forth,” said Morrissey.
And if you’re wondering if you should visit UCLA too, the answer from these students is a definite yes. Morrissey described this college visit as,“a glimpse of what college was like.”
This experience has left a mark on these students, including Lanza, who mentioned that “UCLA is definitely one of my top choices.” They agreed that even if you are not interested in going to UCLA, it is still a good choice to visit.
January 23, 2015
November 21, 2014
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