But going through the motions doesn’t hide the fact that our school could definitely do with more spirit. Although the rally accomplishes its goal of bringing the school together to some extent, more could be done to get students more interested, involved and invested in the school.

The school is certainly capable of holding successful assemblies, particularly when they are more accessible to the student body and showcase student talent. The Diversity Assembly, for example, gives all students the opportunity to share their cultures and special skills, generating a lot more student interest and involvement.

ASB has already taken steps in the right direction by allowing active clubs to make announcements during sports assemblies, giving students a chance to share their goals and accomplishments with the school and to recruit new club members. However, active demonstrations like those in the Diversity Assembly would be much more engaging. For example, instead of just talking about their agendas, Persian Club could perform a cultural dance while members of the Slam Poetry Club could present a few of their poems.

For many of us, the most class loyalty we feel is during the two-minute tug-of-war competition when our peers fight for class dominance (and bragging rights). Other local high schools have innovative methods for encouraging friendly inter-class competition, and our high school can draw inspiration from their examples.

For example, Monta Vista High School has a basic sports assembly structure that is similar to that of LAHS, with dance performances and recognition of sports teams. However, students at Monta Vista also participate in a class cheer competition, which not only increases student participation but also a sense of class loyalty.

Assemblies can also be used as a means for educating students about different topics in a meaningful way. At Gunn High School, educational assemblies are hosted several times a year on topics ranging from health to fine arts, with an emphasis on featuring student speakers. One of the assembly’s held last year, called “Not in Our School,” focused on identity safety in school and developing greater acceptance for all community members.

The entire school congregates only a few times every year, at the assemblies held every few months. It is important to make the most of those times to share interests and talents, and to take pride in our common ground. ASB should do their part in opening up more opportunities for student participation and meaningful learning, and students should keep up their end of the bargain by responding to efforts to raise school spirit through actively taking the opportunities to share their talents.

Every year, the school holds a food drive for the Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB). Last year, through the collective efforts of students and staff, the school was able to raise 30,000 pounds of food. It is important for the school to continue setting high goals and seek improvement, as these donations make a huge difference in the lives of families that rely on SHFB.

Last year, a group called the LA 30K headed the fundraising event to double the amount of food from the previous food drive. The school was ultimately able to reach the goal and set a standard for generous giving.

Even though the food drive this year has been longer than usual, running from Monday, November 14 to Friday, December 9, the ultimate quantity of donations has been significantly less.

The school has raised about 12,000 pounds as of press time, a certainly commendable amount. But the drive has not demonstrated the level of involvement and commitment of the previous drive. After the success of last year, the school has demonstrated that it has the capability to raise 30,000 pounds, a high standard that the school should continue striving to reach.

The decrease in the quantity of donations can’t necessarily be attributed to the fact that people aren’t giving; they may just be donating to other causes. With multiple drives run by individual clubs, students already have had many opportunities to make donations. Also, other organizations such as Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts have been going door to door in the area collecting food for SHFB.

Still, it is necessary for students to recognize the impact this particular annual drive has on local families. According to the SHFB website, the Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties provides food to nearly a quarter of a million people every month. SHFB serves 3,500 people in the Mountain View and Los Altos areas alone.

If each person donated a couple of cans or dollars, the school could be well on its way to reaching, or even exceeding, the success of the previous year. The contributions could make a huge difference for the 56 percent of families who report that they do not always have enough food to eat, according to SHFB.

The school should be commended for its dedication to holding the food drive year after year. However, with the potential the school has for impact as demonstrated by last year’s drive, students and staff should not settle for a decline in donations.
When it comes time for the food drive next November, the school must focus on setting high goals and committing to them. Students must start planning for the food drive earlier given its importance and actively contribute to the cause.

As the Occupy movement spreads rapidly across the nation, it has become increasingly important for students to understand current events.

By educating themselves about the reality of recent social struggles, students can make their own judgments and actively participate in shaping the movement, which may have significant and immediate impacts on the current generation such as cuts to education.

Several students on campus have not only been following the news, but have also demonstrated initiative in taking the next step: getting involved in the movement. Students planned “Occupy Rasputin” to take place on November 9 to raise awareness about social and economic inequalities.

Although the event was canceled due to liability issues, the organization involved demonstrates student efforts to not only read about, but also take a part in shaping current events.

“We were going to march down El Camino with signs demanding certain expectations from our government, such as no police brutality,” senior Audrey Cashen said. “Our purpose was to march during rush hour and get some media there to show that we stand with the 99 percent as well.”

According to the official Occupy Wall Street website, members of the movement are dissatisfied with the fact that the nation’s richest one percent controls half of the national economy. It is even more important for us to understand the significance of the movement when we live in a community that includes individuals from the affluent one percent.

The Occupy movement has already hit close to home, with Occupy Oakland and Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley holding protests.

However, nearby demonstrations have turned violent. Individuals have been arrested and police have used force to break up the encampments they consider a threat to public safety.

In evaluating recent events, it is critical that students fully understand not only the goals of the movement but also the repercussions of taking action. Because taking action can and does result in violence, students shouldn’t dive into the movement without fully understanding its goals. Before deciding on how they want to address current issues, students must carefully evaluate what message they want to convey and the methods through which they want to achieve those means.

Students should not undervalue the impact they can have on the movement. High school students should recognize the special role they can play in fostering discussion. One of the goals of the Occupy movement is raising awareness, and activism from students can potentially bring attention to related issues at an even more rapid rate.

“I really do think if people see the youth are getting involved, that will really grab people’s attention,” junior Molly Palu said.

The Occupy movement has swept the nation in the last two months, and it is important for students to recognize the reality of the revolution taking place. It is up to the students to educate themselves, decide how they want to address the movement, and take the next steps in shaping the events that will impact the future.

Every six years, the school is thoroughly evaluated by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) as part of an accreditation process. Schools are required to complete a self -study report with an action plan.

As the school begins collecting information and preparing for the next WASC report, students and staff should reflect on the positive changes in the school as a result of collective efforts to meet the action plan items.

Since the last self-study report, which was compiled in 2007, the school has demonstrated focus in reaching its goals and should be commended for its dedication to improving the quality of education and building the school community.

The 2007 WASC report set several major action plan items, the first being alignment. In response to staff, student and parent requests to ensure a high-quality learning experience regardless of the teacher or course, the Leadership Team has been holding meetings to standardize curriculum, instructional practices and assessment strategies within departments.

The school has also taken action to achieve its second goal: to help students meet state proficiency standards. In recent years, classes for the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) have been formed to prepare students to pass standards tests. Due to the commitment of staff and students, the school has taken great strides in not only achieving, but also surpassing state benchmarks.

Standardized test scores have reflected the school’s efforts. For the CAHSEE, 98 percent of students passed the math portion and 92 percent passed the English portion in 2011. Not only did the school’s API score reach 875 this year, an 18-point overall increase since last year and a 50-point increase over the last 2 years, but also almost all of the school’s subgroups have demonstrated improvement.

“Our goal is to not only increase student achievement for each student, but to also close the achievement gap,” Special Education Coordinator Kathy Sulaver said.

Another action plan item was to effectively integrate more technology into programs, communication systems and collaborative processes. Teachers have held true to the goal of incorporating more web-based activities into the curriculum to match the shift toward technology. In the English Department, for example, students are now submitting assignments through Turnitin which allows for online feedback from both teachers and peers.

Implementing the original action plans has taken the dedication and time of many individual staff members, departments, students, parents and the administration. Students should recognize how far the school has come in the last couple of years as a result of the collective effort of students and staff, and also reflect on the steps necessary for the school to maintain its high standards.

For many students, completing their online Health course is a race to the finish. Some get through the entire class in as little as two days.

Students nationwide are required to meet the health requirements set by the Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards. Students can take health courses as part of their daily high school curriculum or through online education, an option that has been growing increasingly popular since it became available. While taking Health online may be quicker and more convenient, students shouldn’t rush through the course as they may miss out on practical skills and critical knowledge.

In typical online Health courses, such as the one offered by BYU Independent Study, students read through a series of lessons. The nature of online courses makes it difficult to verify that students have understood the reading as opposed to simply skimming through the text.

More importantly, the lack of interaction takes away the opportunity for students to ask personal questions. Although students taking online classes can contact their instructors, they do not always take the initiative to e-mail their teachers. Additionally, being in an actual class provides a familiar environment. Students may be more comfortable speaking to a teacher they interact with on a daily basis, and the teacher may also be able to offer more personal advice.

The peer-to-peer interaction is a critical component of  Health class that isn’t available online. Health teacher Vickie Christensen emphasizes learning to deal with relationships and understanding body language through different activities.

Taking health in a class setting allows students to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. Students engage in mock scenarios where they learn to check up on unconscious victims, practicing everything from inspecting the patient to checking the body for bleeding.

Health through online education may be an issue due to different health requirements in every state. While BYU Independent Study, which is based in Utah, follows its own state standards, Christensen said that California, which has specific requirements set by the California Department of Education, focuses on a “comprehensive health class” and believes “we can’t teach abstinence only.”

Not only does the Health class meet state requirements, it is specifically tailored to students at LAHS and exposes them to the available resources both at school and in the community. Organizations such as the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) and YWCA visit classes to let students know where they can find help. Students are also introduced encouraged to take advantage of resources at the school, such as the Health Van.

Although taking Health at school requires more time and effort than taking it online, students should take the course and take it seriously, as the benefits of the class are significant and lasting. Health class should serve as a forum for discussion and emphasize the practical application of lessons to increase student awareness of health-related issues and properly equip students for the future.

Since the end of last week, students enrolled in AP classes may have lost motivation to learn new material and review for finals—particularly when teachers have been “teaching around the test” all year. With the big tests already taken, reviewing for finals feels like busywork.

To more efficiently engage students and combat the post-AP daze, teachers should model their finals schedules around AP test scheduling. By testing students either right before or after their respective AP tests, teachers relieve students of additional stress and are able to teach concepts that aren’t defined by AP curriculum.

Because finals should reflect coursework and AP classes are geared toward preparing students for AP tests, the content of both tests often overlap. Often, teachers include previously published AP questions on their finals or create new questions modeled after the official tests. If finals were to coincide with AP tests, students could study for both tests simultaneously, rather than being tested on the same content twice with a three-week margin in between. In particular, finals before AP tests give students a last chance to review concepts they may have struggled with on the final in preparation for their AP tests.

Coinciding finals with AP tests also opens up three weeks for students to study topics that are not constrained by AP curriculum. The scheduling allows for ample time to complete projects or explore subject-related areas of interest without the pressures of looming finals. Students then have the freedom to focus on learning for the sake of their own curiosity, rather than simply to maintain their GPAs or earn a five.

This year in math teacher Carol Evans’ AP Statistics class, students took their three-day final two days before the AP Statistics test and are now creating performance measurements based on topics of their choice. The open-ended project requires students to apply a variety of statistical concepts, but also allows them to choose what topics to explore. During the scheduled 90-minute final period, students will present their projects, fulfilling the school policy of having a “meaningful” final activity.

Adam Randall’s AP Physics class is similarly flexible. This year, Randall let students choose their final date based on how they could prepare best for both their final and the AP test, and students decided on taking their exam the week after the AP test. During the remaining time, Randall will help students conduct labs on electricity and magnetism—topics that were not on the Physics C Mechanics AP test students took this year but that are important concepts to understand. Randall said the labs are an opportunity for his students to give back to the physics community at the school, a goal he tries to accomplish every year.

AP teachers should consider more flexible finals schedules based around AP tests, as well as utilizing remaining time efficiently with subject-related projects and presentations. If more AP classes model themselves after those such as the AP Statistics and AP Physics schedules, students may take the last three weeks of school more seriously and be more engaged, rather than suffer through busywork and complain about looming finals.

In response to student and staff requests for a more lenient cell phone policy, the administration announced in March that cell phones will temporarily be allowed during brunch and lunch. Fourth quarter will be used as a trial period to determine the effectiveness of the new policy. The administration will be paying attention to whether or not cell phone usage in classrooms increases.

The administration’s attention to student voices is commendable, and students need to respect the opportunity they have been given. But if the administration measures the success of the trial period based on the number of phones confiscated, they will be setting impossible standards and measuring the policy unfairly and inaccurately.

As many teachers did not enforce the guidelines of the cell phone policy prior to the trial period, they were reminded to abide by the rules and actively confiscate cell phones during class and passing periods. Principal Wynne Satterwhite said that after the program had run its course, the administration would “see whether or not there [was] an increase in violation” and then make further plans on revising the actual policy.

There is no problem with acknowledging the importance of adhering to the policy.  In fact, the new system makes sense–students shouldn’t be using phones in class, especially with increased freedom during brunch and lunch. However, using the number of confiscated phones in determining the policy’s effectiveness puts students at a disadvantage by setting them up for failure.

By telling previously lax teachers to enforce the original policy, the number of cell phones confiscated will inevitably increase. Moreover, students have experienced the results of the policy’s enforcement; Satterwhite reported an overall increase in the number of cell phone confiscations since the start of the trial period. That increase is not an accurate measure of the policy’s effectiveness because staff members are being stricter about the cell phone policy than they used to be.

Still, students need to do their part in ensuring the effectiveness of the policy. By demonstrating responsibility and respecting the rules, students can increase chances of continuing the policy.

By changing multiple variables in the experiment–the loosening of cell phone regulations along  with the crackdown on cell phone usage in class–the administration cannot accurately measure whether the policy worked. Regardless, the new cell phone policy  should be implemented in the future.

For the past 26 years, Writers Week has thrived because the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) has worked to bring professional poets, novelists, journalists and songwriters to the school. Thanks to the collaborative effort between PTSA members and the guest writers, students have the opportunity to explore writing with a professional backdrop.

For this cause, both groups should be commended by the school and the community. And students deserve a pat on the back as well, for it is their respect and curiosity in guest writers that perpetuates Writers Weeks success.

With the Writers Week program, the school strives to expose students to some of the many different careers that stem from strong writing. Its goal, though, is even more ambitious: to both highlight how fun writing can be, and get all students, whether they like writing, excited about the power of the pen.

Though Writers Week has grown into a school tradition, the program should not be regarded lightly. PTSA members plan months in advance, seeking writers to attend, and spend “hundreds of hours” organizing the week’s events, Co-Chair Debra Strichartz said.

The PTSA’s dedication is especially apparent in its lineup of writers. Guests range from an award-winning broadcast journalist, to a novelist whose work inspired a popular television drama, to a freelance comic journalist and other professionals—all who were once regular high school students.

The diversity of guest writers not only appeals to a diverse student body, but also demonstrates how strong writers can be more than just authors—they can be artists, too.

Coming to the school, the guest writers face no small feat themselves. Regardless of their schedules, participating writers take the time to share their stories. And a classroom of 30 silent students is daunting, especially when writers are opening up about their passions.

But students have made the transition from writer to presenter as fluid as possible. When writers present, the students who engage in discussion and express an appreciation for writing are the ones who encourage writers to return in following years.

The PTSA and guest writers are a pivotal component in maintaining a strong, educational program. Students, too, should be proud for creating a welcoming environment for guests. And because of the effort put into Writers Week, it gets closer to achieving its goal every year. Writers Week has grown into a success unique to the school. With the continued support of the school community, the Writers Week tradition will persevere.

We are fortunate to have many dedicated teachers at the school—but almost all students can agree that there are moments when a poster-making activity takes up too much class time or a bland Powerpoint entices the sleepy.

The administration is well aware of this fact and takes students’ opinions into account when deciding on teacher tenure. For this reason, the administration created a survey that students may take to evaluate their teachers.

Administering the survey is mandatory for teachers who are not tenured, but optional for those who are. Regardless of tenure, teachers should solicit feedback from students, and distribution of the survey should be mandatory for all teachers.

In the last couple of weeks, students spent class time responding to a digital questionnaire. The results of which will be used to help administrators evaluate teachers. In past years, the survey was taken via Scantron, but was moved online this year so results would be more efficient.

But while administrators are becoming more proactive, not all faculty members are. Many tenured teachers have neglected to allot time and make the effort to garner student critiques.

Tenured teachers remain unevaluated by students and administrators when they neglect to solicit student opinions. Student feedback should not be imperative because teachers are concerned about having tenure. Rather, teachers should request feedback to establish a better learning environment for students and teachers alike.

Through surveys like the one the administration conducts, students have the ability to emphasize their favorite parts of a class and give teachers suggestions on how to improve their teaching styles and activities. The surveys serve as an icebreaker for open communication, and will foster better student-teacher relationships.

Conducting the surveys shows respect for students and lets them know that their voices are cherished. In turn, students will regard their teachers with more respect. Students can also encourage teachers to adapt to new teaching methods that are more current. These changes may better suit students’ learning styles, and will help generate more interest in the classroom.

Now it’s up to the teachers to give the students that voice.

When tenured teachers fail to maintain a healthy level of awareness about their classes, it is students who steer them back on track.

All teachers, tenured or not, should solicit student feedback. Requiring that every single teacher distribute the online survey will give students a chance to have their say, and teachers a chance to better engage them.