Month: November 2017

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CA Passes New Non-Binary Recognition Bill

 

California citizens who do not identify as male or female will soon have the ability to identify as a third gender on all state documents.

On October 15, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Gender Recognition Act, which allows California residents to identify as ‘non-binary’ on birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

Jerry Brown is currently trying to pass another bill to include individuals who do not identify as female, male, or non-binary; such as transgender and intersex people.

Jerry Brown also signed a separate bill, Senate Bill No. 310, that would allow people in prison and county jail the ability to ask a court for a name or gender change. Senate Bill No. 310 states that on “September 1, 2018…. the bill would…establish the right of a person under the jurisdiction of the department or sentenced to county jail to petition the court to obtain a name or gender change”.

In addition to this, the state prison system has offered to pay for any and all inmate’s gender reassignment surgery who have asked for it, and it has added some rules allowing inmates to ask for bras and cosmetic and personal items.

McClatchy’s QSA (Queer Straight Alliance, known formerly as Rainbow Coalition Club) supports the new law. Vice President Abby Schumacher, a junior, is happy for this new law because people who “feel they are in the middle have an option, not in a box to place themselves in.”

President Leeza Wong, a senior, sees California’s choice an important step and a great way to start. “We chose nonbinary first because it’s an umbrella term for many genderqueer identities that fall in the middle of the gender spectrum.”

Both Schumacher and Wong see the law’s immediate effect on McClatchy. Once the law starts next year, the school needs a new form since CKM is a public school, so it “should follow suit,” according to Schumacher.

Although recognizing people’s genders and sexualites will take time in America as a whole, it is possible. As for California, Wong is proud for the state’s decision but believes the state should wait for its neighbors before making another step.

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SYFA Gets McClatchy Students Involved In Local Activism

 

McClatchy students may have heard of the organization SYFA (Sacramento Young Feminists Alliance), a city-wide network of student activists that works to strengthen our community by bringing awareness to the causes of intersectional feminism at a local level.

 

SYFA was founded by Zelia Gonzales, Inga Mantecas, and Maiti King, all former CKM students, in 2014.

 

Founder Zelia Gonzales says, “Maiti, Inga and I…were inspired by all of the young women starting their own small feminist coalitions in high schools across Sacramento. We realized that all of those clubs were small and weren’t connected with each other…We decided we wanted to start something…to bring together all of the resources and brainpower of our clubs and support the starting of new coalitions.”

 

SYFA’s meetings are held at Sol Collective on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday’s of the month. During those meetings, events and fundraisers are planned, and lively discussions are held.

 

Anna Murray, a Senior at CKM, and current co-president of SYFA, emphasizes the importance of the organization, saying, “I think that some people think that we don’t really need feminism anymore…but there’s a lot of problems facing women today…and in order to move forward and be productive we need to acknowledge that, and I think [in the past] feminism hasn’t been doing that. So I think it’s important to change the connotation [of feminism] to something that acknowledges that.”

 

SYFA holds yearly events and fundraisers, such as dances, Open Mic nights, and an annual convention. All events are youth oriented and center on providing platforms for teens in Sacramento to raise their voices and get involved in the community .

 

The annual convention is one that builds community by bringing youth together, “I really like the bonding that the convention goers always have, there is a really strong desire for community and togetherness” says Murray.

 

SYFA is compiled of students all over the Sacramento region, from McClatchy, to Natomas Charter. Julia Benson is a Senior at Natomas Charter Performing and Fine Arts Academy, and an active member of SYFA. She heard of SYFA via a family friend, and says she “was looking for a bigger club outside of Charter. Plus I am passionate about civil rights and wanted to be more active in my community.”

 

“When everyone comes together, especially because Sacramento has a lot of problems, I think having a united front is really cool,” Murray says.

 

Reinforcing the practical purposes of SYFA, Zelia Gonzales explained, “SYFA is really about teaching young women leadership and project management skills through project management skills through feminist projects–and that is a feminist idea in itself.”

 

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November Baseball

 

The MLB season is finally over and the Houston Astros have won the most intense World Series ever. This is the first World Series the Astros have ever won in their time as an MLB team. This ends the third longest drought without a championship in the MLB after 55 years. This is just the 3rd time is baseball history that a series has been played in November and the 36th time there has been a game seven.

In this series 68 runs were scored and 23 home runs were hit. T-mobile donated 20,000 dollars to hurricane relief for every home run hit; a total of 104 home runs were hit, and over 2 million dollars were donated to charity. With all that has happened from the hurricane, many of the players including Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Carlos Correa have donated more than 100,000 dollars combined for hurricane relief.

Many Dodgers fans are very disappointed with their loss in another playoff series but are still loyal to their team. Wilson Moore expressed his loyalty to the Dodgers, “It’s not tempting at all [to switch teams] because I have been a Dodgers fan for so long, even back before the new ownership when we were awful… we have such a great young group of guys and a good farm program and a lot of money.”

The World Series MVP winner was George Springer. Springer finished with eight extra-base hits, three doubles, five home runs, and 29 total bases this World Series. Springer’s five home runs in this series sets a new record passing up Chase Utley in the 2009 World Series when he hit four.

Now the countdown has begun to the new season, which starts on March 29th of 2018.

 

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McClatchy Women’s Golf Takes First at Sectionals

Lady Lions Golf Team

Monday, October 23rd, the Lady Lions golf team took home the gold at WildHorse golf course for the 6th time in McClatchy women’s golf history. It was an outstanding win; the other competitors were beaten by 36 strokes.

The girls stood by the putting green, chattering about how much they wanted to win this event. They huddled in a circle wishing each other luck then ended with their cheer, “Lions on Me, Lions on three, 1, 2, 3, LIONS!”

During the match the girls fought their hardest. They went up against our rival Kennedy in addition to Roseville and Whitney High School.

At the end of the match the girls huddled together and watched the score board. It was nerve racking, but also very exciting. Finally, Coach Dan Ng ran up to the team with a big smile on his face. The head directors wrote “McClatchy (Score 451) 1st.” The girls started crying out of excitement. “We did it!” Sophomore Kayla Diaz said. They hugged and cheered with big smiles on their faces.

This was a dream come true for the Lady Lions golf team. A new first place banner will soon hang up on  the gym wall.   

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Intent to Sign

On November 8, eight athletes signed a Letter of Intent to play sports for colleges.  The Letter of Intent is for athletes who were recruited by a college and they are going to that school.  The Letter of Intent was signed for Softball, Baseball, and Lacrosse.  The five students that signed for softball were:

Cassidy Busch to Westminster College,

Gabby Jimenez to Utah State,

Katelyn Dendas to Humboldt State,

Maren Bernal to Coppin State,

and Nicole Self for Walla Walla University.  

For baseball, Jack Filby signed to UCLA,

and Jack Hinrichsen signed to Cal Berkeley.  

For Lacrosse, Trevor Thompson signed to Colorado State Pueblo.  

During the event, students and staff filled the library to support the athletes signing their letters.  

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SCUSD Teachers Intend on Striking Wednesday if Deal is Not Reached

Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center

Sacramento City Unified teachers have announced that they will strike on Wednesday November 8th, 2017, if an agreement isn’t reached between the SCTA (Sacramento City Teachers Association) and the Sacramento City Unified School District.  

According to Larry Hopper, Secretary of the SCTA, “around 3,000” people showed up to a rally outside the Serna Center on Thursday afternoon, before the school district’s board meeting took place.

Smaller class sizes. Making arts and music available to all students. An increase of school nurses and psychologists to national standards. Those are only a few things that the SCTA has asked for.

The district has rejected these proposals through more than a year of bargaining with the SCTA. Both side blame each other publicly for the delay of an agreement.

What would a strike mean for students and parents? Should parents keep their children home from school? Will there be enough substitutes to keep the schools open?

Nikki Milevsky, mother of two and 1st vice president of the SCTA, said “I am very concerned about the safety of students in our schools during the strike. The district does not seem very prepared, and I am not sending my kids to school.”

“The vast majority of around 600 substitutes will be on strike,” said Milevsky.

“The district is recruiting anyone they can find, and they are offering $500 a day. They don’t even have to have credentials,” said SCTA president David Fisher.

Schools are not legally able to hire substitutes without the proper certification. So, in the event of a substitute shortage, students would likely be supervised by campus staff in a central area like the library or the cafeteria.

Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
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McClatchy Students Support Their Teachers in Upcoming Labor Strike

Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center

McClatchy students finally had rumors about a possible teacher strike confirmed on Thursday, November 2nd, when the Sacramento City Teachers’ Association announced that they will be striking for higher wages starting November 8th. Despite not knowing too many details yet, a lot of McClatchy students support their teachers in their protest for higher wages.

The teachers in the Sacramento City Unified School District voted to strike until the District will negotiate better wages for existing teachers, as well as fill many of the currently unfilled teaching positions in the district. The teachers’ union argues that this would make Sac City a more desirable district for teachers and students and therefore improve the quality of education.

Many McClatchy students are unclear on all the details, but still support their teachers in this decision.

“If they’re not getting paid right I think that they have the right to protest,” said freshman Janine Milne.

Junior Madie Feickert agreed, saying “I think that they’re doing the right thing. It’s really unfair the way that they’re being paid.”

Students also cited teachers’ hard work as a reason they deserve a raise. “Being a teacher—even being a bad teacher—is a lot of work,” said senior Matteo Wharton.“I mean I’m a bit of a socialist so I’m always going to be on the side of labor, but they’re being treated unfairly and the district isn’t hearing their demands so if they have to protest in order to get the wages that they deserve, I’m all behind that,” said Wharton.

Even students who would be disappointed to be without teachers for a while recognize why they have to strike. “As much as I don’t want my teachers to go on strike, I think that it’s an important change,” said Quincy Johnston, a junior. “I wouldn’t want them to go on strike, but if they went on strike for like a day I wouldn’t be mad. If they were gone for a long time that’d be unfortunate, but I hope that something can be worked out.”

On the day the strike begins, the teachers will have a picket line in front of the school. Most teachers will be in the picket line, and it’s expected that no teachers will cross the picket line to go teach.

There will still be school during the strike, so the district will try to get as many substitutes as possible. However, many substitutes will be striking, as they are part of the same union, so finding enough substitutes for the entire district may be a difficult task. The teachers will not leave behind lesson plans, so students won’t be getting formally educated during the strike. It’s expected that students will be put in the gym or the cafeteria for the day.

Many students are not planning on coming to school the day of the strike. Some students see it as a nice day off, while others are considering protesting with their teachers.

“If I come to school it would be to protest,” said Matteo Wharton. Senior Molly Martin agreed, saying “I’ll support Mrs. Morrison in anything she does.”

Whether or not students can persuade the District to negotiate a better deal with the teachers, their support of the strike is a strong show of solidarity.

Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center
Photo from the Union Rally at the Serna Center