Students walkout in protest of administration handling of sexual harassment and assault on March 21st
The March 21st walkout in protest of school and district handling of a former McClatchy student’s rape stirred the McClatchy community to action. Since the walk-out, student organizers have met with various staff, administration, and community leaders to enact the change that the walk-out prompted.
The week of the walk-out, students had a preliminary meeting with McClatchy’s administration, and district officials; Jay Hansen, the President of the School Board Jessie Ryan, and the District’s Superintendent Jorge Aguilar were all in attendance. The meeting laid out what students would like to see done to ensure the protection and well-being of students.
Since, students have met with Geral Lowe, the new Student Support Center Coordinator to discuss improving the Student Support Center, with talks of starting up a Community Mentor Program, as well as a peer mentor program.
“[a community mentor program] would allow community members to access guidance counselors, while the peer mentor program would train upperclassmen to handle low level underclassmen problems,” says Maya Steinhart (‘19), a student organizer.
The McClatchy administration has met with the student organizers and encouraged the group to edit next year’s student handbook, to make it “more accessible to students, and make it actually make sense,” says Steinhart.
The group is also working with the city and the Sacramento Police Department, discussing School Resource Officers (SROs) on campus, “We have had a meeting with [city council member] Jay Schenirer to discuss the district’s role in influencing the SROs, next week we will be having a meeting with Captain Kathy Lester to discuss SRO training and policy.”
The group would like to see even more meetings in the future, “We would like to have a meeting with district officials to ensure that district policy is improved and that the school will be held accountable to get the things they have said they will do, done,” commented Steinhart.
“So far, it really seems like they’ve been cooperative, but it’ll be whether or not they actually follow through on the things that they have said, that will be the true test,” she added.
Students walkout Students walkout in protest of administration handling of sexual harassment and assault on March 21st
On a Thursday afternoon on April 12th, at a UFC 223 media event, “The Notorious” Conor McGregor was arrested for assault and battery. McGregor turned himself into the NYPD after he chased down and attacked a bus carrying multiple other fighters at the event. McGregor injured two people after he threw a hand cart through the bus window.
Earlier that week, one of McGregor’s teammates got into an altercation with another fighter named Khabib Nurmagomedov with a group of about a dozen people. McGregor and his fellow teammates were let into the event without permission and got into the loading bay where the fighters’ bus was. After he had thrown a garbage can at the bus, he then threw a dolly which shattered the window. Glass from the window came flying back, cutting fighters on their face and into their eyes. McGregor was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of criminal mischief, announced the next day by the NYPD chief.
McGregor was released from custody two days later on a bail set at $50k, and is scheduled to come back to court on June 14th. “You can imagine he’s going to be sued beyond belief,” said UFC commissioner Dana White. McGregor has been stipped of his lightweight world title and it is now up for grabs. A final court date has been set on June 14th to determine what happens to “The Notorious” Conor McGregor.
Recently, The Simpsons character “Apu” has been called a racist stereotype. Apu is a fictional Indian character in The Simpsons. The Simpsons have been on air for the last 28 years and up until now, there has been no criticism or backlash concerning the character. So why has this issue flared up now?
Comedian Hari Kondabolu made a documentary on this matter called, “The Problem with Apu.” This documentary investigated how Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a negative representation of South Asians. In his documentary, he interviewed several celebrities of South Asian descent and discussed how characters like Apu can be seen as a form of racism. Not only is this character now considered an Indian stereotype but the person who voices Apu is Hank Azaria, who is not South Asian.
The Simpsons aired an episode on Sunday that addressed their current situation. However, the way they addressed it left a bitter taste in a few peoples mouths. The topic of this situation was brought up by Lisa Simpson. Lisa is usually the underdog and has always been the more liberal character, that’s why people on twitter considered this a “toothless” remark to this racial incident.
“It’s hard to say. Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Lisa said in the special episode before looking at a framed photograph of Apu on her nightstand, which is inscribed with the message “Don’t have a cow.” This is the scene that made viewers feel offended.
Caitlyn Kirkman is a student here at McClatchy who is also South Asian. She said, “I agree that The Simpsons have given the public a false representation of what Indian people are like, but I also believe that most people know that Indian people aren’t the way that The Simpsons have portrayed them. I’m not excusing The Simpsons or condoning it in an way, I still believe that The Simpsons should try to represent South Asians better.”
If you’ve ever been to a theatre production at McClatchy, you’ve likely seen people running around wearing all black, moving set pieces during shows, or controlling those fancy, complicated boards in the booth. Though everyone has spotted us in a theatre, most don’t even know what to call us, let alone what we actually do.
We’re called technicians, and we’re responsible for the entire show running smoothly. Stagecraft designers and stagehands brainstorm, build, and decorate every set piece you see in a show, as well as move those sets during the show. Costume designers are responsible for planning and providing every item of clothing worn by the actors in a show. A props mistress curates every prop seen in a show, and makes sure that they are in the right hands at the right time. A lighting technician creates a lighting design for every part of a show, running the lightboard during shows so that lighting cues happen seamlessly. Sound technicians assign microphones to actors, plan and execute any sound cues, and, during shows, turn microphones on and off as need be. All the while, technical directors and stage managers oversee each aspect of production and make sure everything is moving along smoothly.
It takes months of work to put a show together. We stay for a seventh period every day, and as the show gets closer and closer, technicians stay later and later. In the process of creating a show, the tech community becomes very closely knit.
“It kind of gives you a whole new family,” said lead lighting technician and junior Riley Burke. “I love all of the people that I’ve met through tech.”
“All of us would have never even met each other if it weren’t for tech, but I count a lot of my techies as my closest friends,” said technical director and senior Chrysanthe Vidal. “We love and support each other and I don’t think you can find that in many other places. It’s family.”
Like any family (or, as some would argue, any cult), tech includes a lot of unique traditions. On special occasions, we throw Potato Parties, where we all chip in enough money to buy a LOT of McDonald’s fries, which we pour into a giant pile. We make a circle around the fries and thank the Almighty Doorknob and Clamp (a literal doorknob attached to a clamp) for blessing us with our meal. Then McClatchy sophomore Cole Eames sings the traditional Song of the Potato before we are allowed to eat. The several minutes that follow are very quiet, as we devour the entire pile.
However, being a technician is not all Potato Parties—it’s a lot of hard work.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s the best kind of work,” said Vidal.
The technicians are currently working on McClatchy’s upcoming musical, Legally Blonde, which opens May 2nd.
Since February 16th, many CKM students have been very stoked about the movie Black Panther and its instant hit status in theatres across Sacramento and the country. The film changed minds about the type of movies Marvel Studios creates, with CKM students and the general public in a craze over the popular release. The film provides a really good combination of action and drama. Many students agree that so far it is the number one movie of 2018. “It was really good! I liked it.” said Nik Girouard, a sophomore.
Many students also loved the combat skills and Wakandan spirit of Black Panther. Chloe Falzarano, a sophomore, commented on the films advancements in technology, “I liked the way the technology was added.” Some believe Marvel carefully crafted this movie because of its connection with the MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe. “How they put the movie together was the most exciting to me,” said Chloe.
“I thought that the actors that Marvel chose for the roles were good. They were very good,” said Chloe. Many students, such as Chloe and Nik, said that “I feel as though it was exciting because it was mostly and African American cast.”
Out of the all the movies by Marvel Studios, CKM students seem to agree, “It is better than the others, probably the best one ever. I am very excited to see Black Panther in more upcoming movies.” says Max Barbosa, a sophomore. “It is going to be fantastic to see him team up with the Avengers.”
Chloe also commented, “I highly recommend this movie to all CKM students, and I am very excited to see him in the next one.” The next film starring Black Panther is titled Avengers: Infinity War, another movie everyone is excited about. All thanks to Marvel!
Every McClatchy student remembers taking the physical fitness test in their P.E. class freshman year. The state-mandated test is comprised of six tests, including cardiovascular, push-ups, sit-ups, trunk lift, flexibility, and Body Mass Index (BMI). In the past, BMI was treated as its own pass or fail test. This year, the test has been updated, and now the standards for each test are based on an individual’s BMI.
To determine a student’s BMI, they are measured for their height and weight, and then a formula is used to determine what the state of California considers a healthy weight range for a particular height. A student with a high BMI is considered overweight, and a student with a low BMI is considered underweight.
In the physical fitness test this year, students with high BMIs are required to do a higher number of pacers or a faster mile-run, depending on which one they choose to do, while students with low BMIs have lower requirements.
Students have to pass at least five out of the six different tests in order to pass the fitness test as a whole, meaning that in the past, if a student failed the BMI test, they would have to pass each of the other five tests. This year, it will be harder for students with an “overweight” BMI to do that, because the requirements for passing are much higher.
“If you have a higher BMI, you have to do an unreasonable amount,” said freshman Carenna Thompson. “BMI is messed up, anyway,” she added, referencing the growing idea that BMI is not actually an accurate measure of health and fitness.
BMI considers a person’s weight relative to their height in order to determine whether someone is healthy or unhealthy. It equates weight to health, without considering a number of other things that can affect a person’s physical fitness, especially when you consider the fact that muscle weighs more than fat.
As for the reasoning behind updating the fitness test, P.E. teacher and athletic director Mr. Feickert said that the state of California had a conversation with the school district, and “questions are being asked, ‘are we holding the kids accountable that did not pass the test to continue to take P.E.?’”
In the State of California, you are required to take four years of P.E. Our district signs a waiver for the Sac City Unified students to only take two years, on the condition that they pass the physical fitness test. So if you pass the physical fitness test, you only need to take two years of P.E. If you don’t pass the physical fitness test, you don’t get the waiver. So if you don’t pass as a freshman, you have to take a P.E. class and retake the fitness test your sophomore year. If you don’t pass sophomore year, you have to take it again junior year. However, if you don’t pass it senior year, you still get to graduate, because you met the state’s requirement of taking four years of P.E.
The issue that arises is that students in programs that require an extra class, like the academy programs or VAPA, have no room in their schedules for extra years of P.E., but would have to take more P.E. if they failed the fitness test, meaning that if a VAPA student can’t pass the physical fitness test because of their BMI, they might not be able to be in VAPA anymore because of the schedule conflict.
This has left many VAPA students worried.
“I’m not worried for myself, but I’m definitely worried for some of my friends that are worried about it,” said Carenna Thompson. “They still deserve to be in VAPA.”
Thompson also mentioned that in her VAPA class, her teacher helped students do push-ups and train for the fitness tests.
VAPA students aren’t the only ones who feel that this test isn’t great for students.
“In my opinion, it’s not a fair test,” said Mr. Feickert. “But we don’t get to determine what we have to test.”
“I think in the P.E. department, we’re doing everything we possibly can to get all our kids to pass,” he added.
This year, for the first time, the P.E. teachers are offering a walk test as an alternative to the mile-run and the pacer test.
“We’re gonna time you to see how fast you can walk the mile, and then we’re gonna put a heart monitor on your thumb so we can determine what you heart rate was at that time with your mile run time, put it into a formula, and they will tell us whether or not you passed,” said Mr. Feickert.
“We try to do different tests to try to get the kids to pass. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
The fitness testing occurred the week after spring break, so students are currently learning whether or not they passed.
On March 14th, students participated in a walkout to protest gun violence in schools and mourn the loss of those killed in the Parkland, Florida shooting. Many McClatchy teachers voiced support for this cause, although they themselves were not allowed to attend.
“Many of the advancements during the course of the 20th century in terms of women’s rights, civil rights, and more came as a result of protests,” said history teacher Mr. Limonoff. “So I continue to support those efforts to make a better world for us all.”
Other teachers voiced a similar sentiment.
“Shooting in school is a topic that needs to be addressed, and to me the safety of our students is the most important thing,” said German teacher Frau Templeton.
Along with their support, teachers expressed some worry surrounding the walkout.
“I think that if it’s used properly, and students have context and they’re not using it as an excuse to get out of class or just to give vent to shallow emotion, it could be profitable,” said English teacher Mrs. Downey.
“But the risk is that it’s difficult to reach every student on a level that is meaningful for political protest enough so that politicians actually look at a population of youth without disregarding them.”
Other teachers were wary about administration’s encouragement and seeming sponsorship of the event.
“Civil disobedience, like a walkout is supposed to be, isn’t supposed to be free from repercussions. If you’re doing civil disobedience you gotta figure you’re gonna pay the price for it,” said science teacher Mr. Warren.
Teachers by and large were not worried by the prospect of class time being disrupted because of the walkout, “We have too many disruptions throughout the year. One more is really not going to matter,” said math teacher Mr. Granados.
Teachers also felt a lack of organization leading up to the event. “One of the things I’m concerned is they keep saying ‘we have a plan’ and we don’t know what the plan is,” said science teacher Mrs. Coleman, the day before the walkout. “I emailed and said ‘when are we going to know what the plan is?’ Has anybody answered my email? Nope.”
Teachers were told by the administration that they were not allowed to participate in the walk out, even if their classroom was empty. Many teachers with empty classrooms gathered by windows to watch the event.
Still, teachers were supportive of a student-led movement, and have hope for the future.
“I fully support the students continuing to feed this movement that they started,” said government teacher Ms. Jablonski.
What do you see when a man with one hand or one leg passes by. Do you think that he isn’t capable of doing much? Or do you think that maybe he’s stronger than he looks. Shaquem Griffin is an American football outside linebacker who was born with Amniotic Band Constriction. He had to get his hand cut off, but that did not stop him from growing up like any other kid. His father made him specialized equipment so that he could train just like everybody else as he was growing up. He didn’t give up on football, or his dream, just because he had one hand. Instead, he worked harder to achieve his goal. Later in life, he ended up being named The American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the year and a first-team all-conference choice in 2017. This year, he attended the NFL Combine where he had the chance of demonstrating his skills to different coaches that could potentially draft him.
The NFL Combine is the place every college football player wants to go. It’s a place where you can show NFL coaches and veteran players that you have what it takes to be a pro-athlete. Players from every position are invited to participate in a variety of drills and exercises that demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses. Some of the drill include the 40-yard dash, the vertical jump, the bench press, the 3-cone drill, and the shuttle drill.
Shaquem was given a “Blue Star” which meant he received top performer in 3 categories during the Combine. He He ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, jumped 117 inches for the broad jump, and did 20 reps with a 225lb bar.
Shaquem could be an inspirational figure for all athletes here at McClatchy. He could inspire those who want to do better, to work harder than they ever have before. A lot of the times, people sell themselves short and say that they just can’t do it. However, Shaquem could, and he only has one hand.
Three weeks ago, two McClatchy students, myself and Zach Neff (‘18), traveled to Las Vegas for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Rugby Americas North Qualifier representing the United States’ U18 men’s and women’s sides. The Youth Olympics, held every 4 years for both summer and winter sports, aims to showcase talented young athletes aged 15 to 18.
This year marks the 3rd Summer YOG and will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina of 2018. Each country is only allowed to have one female and one male team in the YOG. USA chose rugby as their Youth Olympic team sport for both men and women.
In order to qualify, USA’s boy’s side had to beat Barbados, Canada, and Jamaica. The girls played Barbados and Canada in addition to Mexico.
Before even making it onto the pitch, both boy’s and girl’s sides trained for 4 days before cuts were made. The girls team cut 1 player from the squad while the boys cut 7; each final team had 12 players.
“Even as we strove to build continuity with each other, those three days were essentially a competition, so everybody worked and performed at a high caliber,” said Neff.
Both Zach and I made the cut, although I was unable to play due to a concussion sustained during practice. Despite not being able to play, I was still named co-captain. I fully embraced my new role as a leader and as a second pair of eyes for the team. The game became far more intellectual than ever before.
While every player on both the boy’s and girl’s squads was assigned an individual role by their coaches, no two people shared the exact same duties. Some players roles were specific to their style of play, other’s roles spoke more to their responsibilities as a teammate and player.
Zach played a rather important role, as he was an asset for both his skill and sportsmanship. “I played the last 5 to 3 minutes of all of our games. I was valued for my knack in making quick line breaks through a defense, and held down the crucial role as a finisher. Of course, I also consider my role as a ‘team player’ notable,” he said.
The motto for the U18 boys and girls teams became “overachieving at your role” for the benefit of the team. This selfless mindset helped carry USA through the tournament.
Preparation and attention to detail also helped, “Playing for the Youth Olympic team is no joke” said Neff. “I’ve never been immersed in such professionalism in rugby before. During every training, we wore GPS devices that measure speed, position, and effort on field. We were also filmed by a drone to analyze precise details and identify the causes of our successes and failures. Every training was planned to the last 30 seconds. Our recovery regiment was also emphasized and mandatory. I’m talking ice baths, pool sessions, and protein bars.”
This hard work evidentially paid off, as both USA’s boys and girls sides had little trouble beating Barbados. Neither team allowed Barbados to put up a single point. The boys won 57-0 while the girls finished the match with a 29-0 lead. The boys then went on to beat Jamaica 38-7, but the victory wasn’t as easily won.
“Barbados couldn’t hang with the USA for a moment,” said Neff, “but Jamaica put up a good fight both times they played us.”
The girls squad ended the day with a 41-0 win against Mexico.
The next day, both boys and girls would face their toughest foe: Canada. The Canadian squads aren’t notably big, tough, or quick, but their organization and discipline are excellent.
“It was Canada that gave us trouble,” said Zach. “While I believe we were a more talented team with threats everywhere on the field, the longer-trained Canadian squad didn’t allow too many small mistakes.”
The boys lost to Canada 19-12, but went on to beat Jamaica 33-14 in the semi-final. The girls team also fell short to the Canadians, losing 5-14. They also bounced back in the semi-final with a 53-0 win against Mexico.
USA was scheduled to play Canada in the final the next day. While the past four games were held at a nearby recreational sports complex, the final was held in the Sam Boyd professional stadium.
Walking up to the tunnel entrance to the field was dreamlike. Fans dotting the stadium seats cheered for the YOG athletes. Photographers peeked at the entrance of the tunnel and snapped shots of us waiting to run onto the field. “The large cheering crowd contributes to the feeling of otherworldliness. It was, simply put, an amazing feeling” said Neff.
Although both USA’s boys and girls teams lost to Canada in the final, the boys team will still advance to the YOG as Canada’s boys ice hockey team had Olympic priority over their rugby team.
Neff will have the opportunity next fall to represent McClatchy, Sacramento, California, and the United States as a whole.
(Left to Right) Junior Waqavesi (‘18), Olivia Popp (‘19), and Zach Neff (‘18)
