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LIFE&ART
FEATURES “The Journey to America” p.12
“The Broad presents modern art...” p.8
“How are you paying for college?” p.6-7
THE MATADOR
SAN GABRIEL HIGH/NOVEMBER 5, 2015/ VOLUME 61 / ISSUE 3
WWW.THEMATADORSGHS.COM/801 S. RAMONA ST., SAN GABRIEL CA 91776
Administrators acquire new positions following Scanlan’s transfer Jung takes over as Assistant Principal of School Counseling, Wu moved to Student Welfare office K a t h e ri n e H o o n g With John Scanlan transferring to Mark Keppel High School as their new Acting Principal, Robby Jung has taken over Scanlan’s old position and is now the Acting Assistant Principal of School Counseling. P r e v i o u s l y, Jung was the Assistant Principal of Student Welfare, where he handled issues relating to student discipline and supported teachers and students in class. His new position focuses on taking care of attendance issues, such as making sure students are in the right classes and emphasizing student counseling. With Jung as the Assistant Principal of School Counseling, students who need help with problems such as coping with stress or dealing with difficult events in their lives can get the support they need. “He’s doing an awesome job with his new position, is easy to work with, and is very supportive in every way possible,” Guidance Technician Barbie Gomez said.
However, settling in this new position was not easy. With a new position comes new challenges, and Jung is still in the process of learning the ropes and is trying to adapt to the different working conditions. “I personally love new challenges, and despite the difficulties, I still love my new position because our staff is trying [their] best to steer our students towards a better future,” Jung said. Jung believes that the most difficult aspect of his new position is time managePhoto by Sunny Chen ment, as there are many students on campus with varying needs. He says that in order to help a student, one must completely focus on the student, which can consume all of one’s energy. Because Jung lives so far away from school, he must use a great deal of energy to juggle his family life and his job. Physiology teacher Amy Wu will be stepping in temporarily for Jung’s previous position until an official replacement is found.
Senior graduation moved to ELAC S hi rl ey Di nh After years of holding San Gabriel High School’s graduation ceremony on campus, the class of 2016 will be the first class to graduate at East Los Angeles College (ELAC). Although the senior class council of 2015 voted to have graduation on campus, the choice to move the graduation to ELAC this year was decided by the administration. Business and Activities Office manager Vicky Yum stated that the survey for the class of 2016 was disregarded this year because the school wanted to give the seniors the opportunity to not be limited to only five tickets. “At ELAC, you have triple the space compared to our stadium at San Gabriel and students can receive more extra tickets,” Yum said. “You may have to drive a little further, but at least you can have more family members attend.” According to Principal Debbie Stone, moving the graduation ceremony to ELAC saves money, helps with resources and security, and makes parking easier. “[Having graduation at ELAC] allows the students to not be stressed about who to select to go to graduation due to the five ticket limit,” Stone said. “This time around, there will be no limit to the number of tickets you can receive.” Many seniors feel dissatisfied with the decision to have their ceremony held at another campus other than their own, such as senior Rosa Gamino. “It’s better for us because we get to take more people, but at the same time it’s going to feel weird and out of place [since] we won’t be graduating on our own campus,” Gamino said. However, some seniors were not as upset as others and accepted the decision to hold graduation at ELAC. “I honestly do not mind as long as graduation is still accessible and the stadium is bigger so it’s better for us,” senior Ben Chen said. “A lot of people don’t like it, but I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Sometime before Thanksgiving break, seniors will be able to meet with Stone during lunch to voice any questions or concerns that they have. Parents and family members will also be contacted by Stone sometime in the future.
Uyen Sy Physiology teacher Amy Wu was announced as the Assistant Principal of Student Welfare by the school board on Oct. 27, following the departure of John Scalan and and the transfer of Robby Jung to the office of counseling. As Assistance Principal of Student Welfare, Wu ensures the safety of the campus and students. “I counsel and also [handle] the discipline of the students, [who] usually [come] in on referrals,” Wu said. “There’s always a story behind everything and it’s interesting to see how those stories come and how to handle the incidents.” Wu was previously the coordinator for Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) and Medical Careers Academy (MCA). A substitute now teaches Wu’s physiology class until her return. HOSA and MCA, the two clubs that Wu advised, continue to run their meetings under the supervision of Kathleen
Loggins, who is a new MCA teacher and also co-advisor of both clubs. However, Wu persists in holding cabinet meetings to discuss about future events. Although Wu is not longer able to interact with her students in the classroom, she enjoys the new experience around the campus. “I’ve never really left my classr o o m e v e r, s o I’ve always lived, breathed, eaten, [and] slept scie n c e , ” Wu s a i d . “This is a really good opportunity for me to experie n c e t h e re s t o f campus and meet Photo by Sunny Chen students that I don’t normally get to see if they’re not in my classroom and also see what goes on in other clubs.” Even though Wu’s position is only temporary, her encounters with different students and clubs have only broadened her insights of the school, allowing her to experience campus life beyond her own classroom. Wu plans to make the best out of her experience until the administrative office no longer needs her assistance.
Speech and Debate places in Spooktacular tournament Thomas Wang The San Gabriel High School Speech and Debate team competed at the first ever Spooktacular tournament and placed second for both Public Forum Debate and Dramatic Interpretation. On Oct. 30, the team went to Alhambra High School to compete at the district-wide tournament. There, sophomore Lu Yue Wang received a trophy for Dramatic Interpretation. Meanwhile, the team of sophomores Maxwell Wong and Ernest Tse won the second place trophies for Public Forum Debate. Despite placing, Wong seeks to improve to qualify for the annual State tournament. “We could have done a lot better,” Wong said. “I think I can work on my [presentation], and we can work on better teamwork [by having] something we can both focus on instead of having our own seperate ideas.” The Spooktacular aims to prepare novice and junior varsity debaters within the Alhambra Unified School District for upcoming tournaments. “There are upcoming league tournaments that we want to be prepared for, so the students that [attended] got a good experience,” Speech and Debate Coach Jessica Sandercock said. “It’s really great to get the District’s schools strengthened in order to represent the District in our league.” The Spooktacular also hosted a costume compeitition in order to encourage interactions between debaters in the school district. Sophomore Cindy Chau, clad in a mime costume, won.
“I wanted to be mime because I like the irony of being silent in a speech tournament,” Chau said. For novice and freshman Jasmine Portinga, the Spooktacular served as an educational tool. “It was helpful because [the judges] said to use more emotions,” Portinga said. “This helps me with [Humorous Interpretation performance] because you need to convey a lot of exaggerated emotions.” The team now is looking forward to Fall Novice hosted at Gabrielino High School on Nov. 14 and Fall Debates hosted at La Canada High School on Nov. 21.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Sandercock
Three members placed at Spooktacular with one member winning the costume contest.