SCIENCE&HEALTH COVID-19 cases are rising, but we don’t seem to be as concerned. Pg. 10
CONFRONTING THE PAST
BACK PAGE Destinations and detours, here and abroad.
VISITING MY FAMILY’S
A staff writer visits sites of the Holocaust in Poland, and explores Football, more than any fall sport, has all of the inhumanity of man. our attention. Does it have to be that way? Pgs. 9-10 Pg. 9
BEAR
Pg. 16
WITNESS BRANHAM HIGH SCHOOL
SEPTEMBER 2022
@bhsbearwitness BHSBEARWITNESS.COM
FIND the FUNDS ELECTION 2022
You may not know about MEASURE O yet, but among all the ballot measures voters will choose in November, it will have the greatest impact on Branham, and the district. It extends an $85 parcel tax that is already in the books. The district says that the money will go toward... THE SALARIES OF 16 TEACHERS
CROWD CONTROL "It is really hard to give each individual student attention during class." Katia Saade, French teacher
Teachers take on extra work Classes expand as enrollment grows MILA WINDELL Staff Writer
ranham’s record-breaking B 2,000-plus student enrollment has led to more class sections,
more course offerings, and for some teachers an increased workload. Barely six weeks into the school year, the changes are contributing to the feeling of teacher burnout that’s been observed nationwide since the start of the pandemic. By the end of the second week of school, students’ schedules were shuffled as classes were added in chemistry and in art to reduce the number of students per class. In the science department, chemistry teacher Fitzgerald Vo took on his colleague Kevin Kalman’s seventh period class, while Kalman is teaching a new second period chemistry class. Other changes include art teacher Gabby Gramegna upgrading to a full-time teacher from part-time status, a new U.S. History class, and the collapse of a seventh period ethnic studies class. SEE OVERTIME • PAGE 3
Bear Witness staff graphic with images from Freepik
THREE COMPUTER TECHNICIANS
TWO COUNSELORS
HEAT WAVE
Students, staff: Portable AC units no help in heat ALL FIVE COLLEGE AND CAREER SPECIALISTS IN THE DISTRICT
After the failures of Measure K and Measure L in 2020, teachers and district put hopes on Measure O
OWEN DAZKO
W
JIYOON CHOI
Co-Editor-in-Chief
istrict officials and teachers hope that the third time’s the charm D for voters to pass a parcel tax that they say would keep classroom sizes low and retain the College Career Specialists at each of its schools.
Measure O seeks to continue an $85 annual tax on property owners and would provide the district with $5 million a year, which it says can pay the salaries for 16 teachers, three computer technicians, two counselors, and all the College and Career Specialists at its five schools. “We need to pass the measure in order to not to lose some of our salary and not to lose some services for students,” said Juan Fernandez, chemistry and AP Biology teacher. SEE MEASURE O • PAGE 2
Inside
Editorial Passage of Measure O vital to a growing district. Page 4 What are parcel taxes? Only in California. Page 2
Staff Writer
hen the weather reached a record-breaking 111 degrees Sept. 6, students in physics teacher Jovanna Theodosopoulou’s class sweated it out. Even though the class had received portable AC units because parts for the main systems were backordered, the hoses did not vent out of the class, instead recirculating air back into the classroom. “They were a joke,” Theodosopoulou said, adding that the portable units made it harder to teach over their loud hum. During the heat wave, while a majority of classes were well air-conditioned, a small number — school officials say that around six classes in the three-year-old SEE AC • PAGE 4