All posts by Wendy Vo

Advice/How To, School Life

IB Exams pros and cons?

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All eyes fixed onto the four-page answer books, hands viciously scribbling essays, racing against the ticking clock, as students attempted to cram all of their thoughts and information between those lines. Pens slammed down onto the table, backs rested against chairs, and students heaved a sigh of relief as they managed to finish the exam with a generous amount of time remaining. This would be the scene taking place in the dance room, and the library, as upperclassmen completed their IB testing.

For the past three weeks, both juniors and seniors have been completing a significant portion of their IB honors or diploma program. All that was learned throughout the course of high school was put to use in these annual exams. Highland is one of only three schools in the Saint Paul Public School District to provide the rigorous college preparatory IB curriculum to their students. The program has been available to Scots students since 1994, providing a more inquiry-based, international, open mindedness, and holistic approach to learning.

The vast majority of students enrolled in honors, or IB, courses have chosen to take on this demanding responsibility which comes with the cost of $40 per exam. Students seeking a less stressful path will chose the honors route and only test in 4 subjects, complete only 5 CAS activities, and give an honors speech based on a topic of their choice. On the other hand, there are also students who chose to challenge themselves by taking the IB diploma path, requiring the completion of at least 6 exams, an extended essay, and 10 CAS activities. For more information about the requirements for honors and diploma, please visit the IB Highland Webpage.

IB exams are shortly coming to a conclusion by the end of this week, May 20th, and now it is time to reflect about our experience. Would one consider this learning experience to be worth it?

Pros of taking the IB honors or diploma exams:

  • On the Common Application, colleges and universities will be able to recognize that you have tested, or that you plan on testing through the IB program, hence they will be more likely to consider trusting that your academic abilities are sufficient enough to handle the rigorous coursework in college.
  • Completing passing or fulfilling high scores on the exams can potentially earn you college credits. Some of these credits will pass as introductory courses or elective credits, which gives you a chance to save money and it also provides students with the liberty to take more classes of their choice. This is particularly true at a liberal arts college, where they would require students to earn courses outside of their major including the arts, social science, reasoning, oral speaking, etc.
  • Some students take the IB exam simply for experience. Past students who have completed the IB diploma have pointed out that the IB exams taken in history were fairly similar to the ones they are currently taking in college. The extended essay itself prepares future college students for the overwhelming research papers formulated in the area of their major. Along with that, each course will be accompanied with some form of internal assessment paper that is also considered as an individual research paper based on the area of their subject.
  • IB exams are similar to finals in college. Throughout the course of the IB program, students will explore various studying methods and find the one that is best for them.
  • The IB program is already known for its rigorous work, therefore devoted students can challenge themselves on another level and bring pride to their school. Teachers are constantly advising their students to test in their enrolled IB courses.
  • The number of students, from minority or low income backgrounds, who decide to test in IB, is beginning to increase thanks to the fee waiver offered to students with free-and-reduced lunch.
  • Passing the exam is not as impossible as it may seem. For exams such as mathematics, you would typically only need to receive a little bit over half of the total points to receive score of 4. Base on the distribution of the scores, IB will scale accordingly.
  • After every exam, Highland students are offered light refreshments including juice boxes, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. Some students also enjoy the fact that they are excused from class for an extra 30 minutes after the exam is finished.

Cons of taking the IB honors or diploma exams:

  • Not all colleges recognize the International Baccalaureate program so not every college/university will grant college credits for completing IB exams, therefore some people would rather rely on PSEO courses to guarantee transfer credits. It is advised to complete college research before choosing to take the IB exams. Determine whether the college of your dreams will accept IB credits for which subjects and the specified score to achieve.
  • There are students who feel urged to become IB Diploma students just because it is considered to be the highest recognition available to students. Those who complete the program simply to just “look good” are not as likely to take the initiative to apply themselves fully.
  • The exams are certainly extensive and lengthy, requiring over a months worth of studying. Some exams such as the English (Literature) and the History exams consist of about 2 hours of testing for a single day. Students will already grow restless and exhausted after the first hour of testing, and will fail to concentrate with the remaining hour they have left. This year, the IB exam scheduling caused several seniors to end up testing everyday in a single week, thus missing the same classes for consecutive days.
  • Some students are unfamiliar with the formatting of the exams, therefore they come to the examination room unprepared.
  • Failing the exams will not only be considered as a massive waste of time and effort, but it will also be a waste of money.
  • It takes a great amount of responsibility and commitment to participate in the program. Days before the examination period, students will already submerge themselves in an abounding amount of stress. Not only that, students have to balance their studying with regular school work in classes they are not testing in. Those who are not responsible will end up waiting until the days before the exam  to start studying, and will sacrifice their sleep to cram study, which is rather not healthy.

Overall, it is this writer’s opinion that taking the IB exams was worth it. The entire process of practicing for the exams, along with taking the exams, may seem like a whole waste of time and effort (especially if you end up not receiving the score you hoped for), but nothing can replace the sense of ambition and anticipation I have experienced as an IB diploma student.

I remember myself as a junior sitting in the examination room for the Chinese Paper 2. My legs swung back and front, fist clamped to the side of the chair as I nervously opened the examination booklet. All of the fear and anxiety drained from my mind as I was delighted when I was able to fill up three pages with character writing and a decent essay in Chinese. Each character that I was able to recall out of the top of my head made each of the three years I had been Ms. Miao’s student so meaningful. I felt proud that I was able to apply the years of knowledge onto this piece of paper, and I valued this exam as one of my greatest accomplishments.

The IB program not only provided me with a little taste of what college work will be like, but the self reflection that came with it will guide me to avoid the same mistakes I made in high school.

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Culture Day

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The auditorium was surrounded with the most vibrant and festive decorations of hand made flags, stellar paintings representing cultural individuality, colorful ribbons, and balloons. Performance by performance, the stage was constantly filled with dancers who were willing to share their culture among their supportive peers. Some performers were conscious of their steps, but everyone still managed to end with a grand smile.

Culture Day, which was held on Thursday, April 14, during sixth hour, is an assembly that strives to share the different traditions and cultures not recognized on a daily basis.

According to Quincy Yangh, president of Asian Culture Club, the sole purpose of the various performances was to emphasize and showcase the diversity that lies around our school, and around the world. This was an ultimate collaboration between the ethnic minority clubs in our school including: Union Latina (UL), Black Student Union (BSU), Asian Culture Club (ACC), and Anime Club.

The performance started out with an introduction from the presidents of each club and promptly began with an original couple dance routine performed by members of Union Latina. Union Latina contributed to a total of two multiple duo dance performances, both with uplifting music. Brittany Fry and Charlie Paredes sang a sweet and quiet duet in Spanish, along with Alex Aguirre playing the electric guitar.

Jose Santos was greeted with great encouragements from audience members as he performed a solo Native American piece with his drum. Quincy Yangh also considered this as the most memorable act. “I believed this performance was truly outrageous because it was something I’ve never seen. Another reason why I will remember this performance forever was because I felt Jose Santos poured his heart and culture into the music that he was sharing.”

Midway through the presentation, Black Student Union also performed a unique duo dance to “Formation” by Beyonce. However, that was not their only contribution to the show.

Later in the presentation, three members of BSU including Feven Gebrezgi, Khani Paredez, and Dejra Bishop stood together on stage and shared a spoken word piece. The audience sat in silence as they listened to the trio recall each and every line of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, “Still I Rise”. The firm tones in their voices expressed their definite passion towards the meaning of the poem, which revolved around strength, endurance, and affirmation. The significance of the poem corresponds with current racial conflicts in the US, as it was intended to address the white oppressors of black people.

Senior student Kelly Shanahan also made an astonishing appearance representing her heritage with her brief but still impressive Irish tap dancing routine in her traditional Irish attire. This was the only European culture represented at the event.

The Anime Club played a role towards advertising and promoting the show, as well as arranging the decorations inside of the auditorium.

Next up were ACC’s Thai dancers led and choreographed by Pajaie Thao. As typical, ACC performed two dance performances, one of them representing Thai culture. “The Thai dance focuses on the mixture of traditional and modern moves,” says Quincy Yangh. “It reflects the evolution of how the Thai culture has progressed over the years.” Several people were quite impressed with the performance. “A memorable performance was the Thai dancers,” quoted Feven Gebrezgi, president of BSU, “because they were all so well synchronized.” This was definitely a fact as the five dancers moved in similar movements to Hmong dances in the past, including the graceful yet swift hand gestures and hip movements, and the bright smiles that ran from cheek to cheek.

Several members of Anime Club also joined forces with ACC for the finale act. The performance ended with an upbeat and modern Korean-pop (K-pop) dance led by none other than Shannon Thao. The dance covered a full range of K-pop dance covers from popular Korean songs including “No More Dream” by Bangtan Boys (BTS), “Call Me Baby” by EXO, “The Boys” by Girl’s Generation, and “Bang Bang Bang” by Big Bang. Several K-pop fans among the crowd roared with joy as they watched the performers carry out the complicated but fierce moves across the stage.

What do the clubs hope for students to take away from the performance? “This is the first year Cultural Day has made an appearance at our school,” says Yangh. “We hope that this event gave students the opportunity to acknowledge the different cultures that lies around them. We hope Cultural Day will be passed on to future generations of club leaders. It’d be great if cultures from around our school, and around the world, are shared with the students yearly.”

Yangh also acknowledged the audience members for the notable result of Culture Day. “The most rewarding aspect of the event were the reactions we received from both the audience the participants. Due to success both the audience and the participants encourages us to continue Cultural Day, they also thanked us for the dedication and the amount of effort we provided.” Not only that, but the experience he gained as the president of ACC was also of value. He spent the past months searching for the hidden talents among our student population and continuing communication with other cultural clubs.

Despite the complications towards enforcing and planning the idea of Culture Day and finding willing participants, Yangh is quite satisfied with the outcome of the performance. “Although our actual performance was great, we had a big issue with organization and time management,” says Yangh. “I hope the future generations of leaders contribute more time and effort than I did. This will help promote Cultural Day.”

Gebrezgi is also hoping that the performance would also encourage more participation from HPSH culture club students in the future years to come. “The most rewarding part of the performance was getting to see how well everyone worked together and how proud we felt afterwards.” Both presidents of BSU and ACC would agree that the sense of community built upon the mass collaborations was a valuable gain from the creation of Culture Day. As Gebrezgi would say, “culture = pride”

Entertainment, School Life

Celebrating the arts at the Art Showcase

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On March 23rd, at 6 pm, the celebration for our second annual Art Showcase was held in the lobby and auditorium of our school, with free admissions for all. The event was organized by Highland, in partnership with the Friends of Highland Arts (FHA), and a combined effort of arts, band, choir, and theater students. Highland’s Choir and Theater instructor, Kate Mendenhall, was the point person who organized the event this year, and is hoping to for this to become a tradition at HPSH.

Friends of Highland Arts (FHA) is a local non-profit group that works closely with the schools, and Highland community, to promote and further the arts in our community. They were also a tremendous help in organizing and promoting the show.

The afternoon was splendidly filled with the art of music. Stage performances in the auditorium began around 7 pm, featuring our Jazz Band, Honors Orchestra, Tremble Choir, Honors Choir, and Symphonic Band. Each of the groups performed works from their past and upcoming concerts. Some of the titles played by the Honors Band included “Adagio” by David R Holsinger and “Symphonic Dance No.3” by Clifton Williams.

Not only that, the cast of the musical, Lucky Stiff, also made an appearance at the showcase with a snippet of their upcoming spring musical which will be held on April 21-23. The Highland Theater Friends and Family were also fundraising in support for HPSH Theater. Other featured art included, Ramona White from our school’s Speech Team, who performed on stage with her creative piece.

“I feel like this event was a huge success,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “All of the groups performed really well and seemed like they were having a great time participating. Most of the times, performing groups do not get to listen to other performing groups, so it was nice that they could listen to their peers at an event like this.”

The showcase was the perfect opportunity for both our fellow peers and community to expose themselves to the talents and arts offered at Highland. During the night, students were able to present their works to the community and be appreciated for their efforts in the arts and freedom of expression. Not only was this event a wonderful source of entertainment for the open audience, but it was also a rewarding experience for our students and teachers who contributed to the show. “The most rewarding thing for me is to be able to let my students experience all different types of art,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “In choir, a lot of our focus goes into choral and vocal music. I really like that my students are able to see what other talent is here at HPSH.”

The overall Art Showcase was met with great praise from our community as well. This was evident in Ms. Mendenhall’s comment, “I noticed that community members and families really like that we provided a ‘one stop shop’ – meaning they could hear and see all of what Highland Park has to offer in our fine arts department in one night.”

Featured outside of the auditorium were the large white panels, collapsible doors, and tables filled with the collection of works from about 20 IB Visual art students. The majority of these student will use these collective pieces from both their junior and senior year to submit to IB later this month. Each of their works were linked with a cohesive theme, with their own unique sense of style. This part of the showcase itself is considered to be a huge new step for the art department, as this was Highland’s first year reserving an organized space for an art gallery of students’ masterpieces.

“The event was a huge success, despite the snowy afternoon,” said art teacher, Keri Schultz. “The gallery and audience was very full. People were excited about the wide variety of art styles that students shared.” The Saint Paul District arts coordinator, Jan Spencer Gutierrez, also showed up for the celebration.

The art gallery was a new component for IB Visual Art students, and provided students with an opportunity to first-hand experience a live art show. Mrs. Schultz also noted that the most rewarding aspect was allowing students to plan out their methods of visual presentation by finding desirable locations, lighting, and completing pre-hangings to create purpose for the organization of art collection.

“I also liked how students personalized the way they presented the titles for their work. Mazzy put her labels on rocks, which really made her environmental theme come through in a visual way.  I also think that Highland complex and the Friends of Highland Arts were able to further develop our relationship, and that was very positive.”

A total of 15 under the sea watercolor paintings, from students of Highland Park Elementary, also contributed to the visual art gallery. As a group project, elementary student also created a sculpture made up of lights, plastic bottle caps, and paint, resembling a Dale Chihuly type sculpture. Along with that, there were 10 figure drawings from the middle school students. As for our high school students, they contributed 30 self-portrait paintings, 40 sculptures, and tiles from the ceramics students.

Some of Mrs. Schultz’s hopes and goals for the future of Highland’s Art Showcase is to incorporate more activity tables to engage the youth of our community, and have them share their art as a part of our community. “I think it might be fun to have high school students there to teach techniques or little projects to other people (young and old) from our communities.” The art department is also hoping to seek more grant money for permanent lighting solutions in the space of display.

Similarly, Ms. Mendenhall also has hopes for the future of the Arts Showcase to be an event that HPSH students look forward to attending, not just families and community members. “I think this is a great way to support your peers in their artistic endeavors, and maybe even become involved with a group yourself!”

“In terms of the art, I was just really proud of how nicely students were able to share their creative efforts,” Mrs. Schultz said. “I also wanted to thank Kate Mendenhall for being the liaison between Highland and FHA Friends of Highland. It went great!”

Getting To Know/History, School Life

Making college possible at HPSH

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Congratulations to the 195 Highland seniors who have completed their college applications so far this year! Good luck to you all!

Now that a majority of our college applications have been completed and reviewed for admission, it’s time for seniors (and possibly juniors) to start formulating a plan to afford the college of their dreams. One of he most obvious ways to ease the load of our financial aid packet is to apply for outside scholarships. Even though some institutions will already offer students scholarships and grants in their financial aid package, there is still much more of the gap that needs to be covered. Why wouldn’t you want to exchange your writing for free money?

College Possible is among the one of the college prep programs offered for Highland students of disadvantaged backgrounds. While the juniors are diligently practicing for the upcoming ACTs in April, seniors have just been finishing up their FAFSAs and several scholarship applications. Just last month, it was official that everyone in the cohort received admission to at least one college. Among College Possible students, 2 have already received full ride scholarships to their ideal college of interest. It was an honor for me to sit down and listen to their inspiring stories about the process towards achieving the scholarships and their outlooks of their future.

Our very own Highland, and College Possible student, Daniel Degollado, is one of the

46 students named as a 2016 Act Six scholar in the Midwest! The Act Six Scholarship is a program that selects students who displays leadership, academic potential, and community commitment through a three month competition among over 300 students. The full-ride scholarship is annually awarded to students who hope to attend one of the following colleges in the Midwest: Augsburg College, Bethel University, North Central University, University of Northwestern-St.Paul, and Taylor University.

Daniel first found out about Act Six from his senior College Possible coach, Keeley Norton. “I was interested in Augsburg College because first I visited there as a sophomore for the Spanish debate,” said Degollado. “It was very exciting to think that I could go to college for free so I decided to not just give it a try, but my best try.”

The first phase of the scholarship required the submission of four essays, letters of recommendation, a transcript, and financial information. With the help of his College Possible coach, he spent two and a half months diligently working on the application, and eventually found himself qualified to advance onto the next round.

For the second phase of Act Six, Degollado went to Cristo Rey High School to engage in discussions with the other 120 participants. “The only thing they asked of us was to be ourselves,” he said, “and to be honest, it was very easy to be myself.” With his spirited and entertaining personality Degollado finally found himself facing the final round of Act Six. He admitted that this was the most challenging phase in the process. Participants had to compete with each other in games, take part in more discussions about college, and have personal interviews with Augsburg’s staff.

“It was very tiring and we had to stay motivated and excited all the time. There was a part where they presented to us a video that we were going to discuss, and everybody was taking notes except for me. I felt very bad because of this. I thought I was going to lose points because we were being graded for everything we were doing. What I would do differently is to take notes. Other than that, I think I did pretty good.”

On February 24, after waiting for two weeks, he received his decision packet from Act Six, congratulating him as one of the new 2016 Act Six Scholar! “The first person I told was Keeley. She started screaming! I also called my mom and my brother and they were freaking out. My mom started crying of happiness.”

Click here to experience his life changing (and funny) moment.

Receiving this full ride scholarship had actually changed his initial plans after high school. “I was in a position where by the end of the year, if I wasn’t able to pay for college, I was going to go back to Mexico where college is sort of cheaper. But now, I’m for sure going to college.” The scholarship gave him a chance to pursue higher education in the US, and an amazing opportunity to be more productive in college, receiving recognition for his potential as an excellent student.

Degollado plans to attend Augsburg, his first choice college, to major in International Relations and dig deeper into his Latino heritage. “I want to study International Relations to understand more about my Latino culture in order to make changes and have more voice within our community. I want to be an example for those that think they are not capable of doing great things just because of the fact that they are Latino.”

Amaris Holguin, is another College Possible student who was admitted to the University of St.Thomas. Earlier this year, she had completed her application to the competitive UST Dease Scholarship, offered to underrepresented, first generation students, in urban high schools. More than 200 UST students have been awarded over the course of 10 years, each year with about 12-15 well-qualified students.

Holguin first met with UST undergraduate admission counselor, Teron L. Buford, after attending the REACH Summit Conference (Realizing Equity and Cultivating Hope) held on the UST campus over the past summer. From there, she was able to build a better connection with Teron, and got to know him personally as she continue to meet him at college fairs. Having told her about the Dease scholarship, Holguin immediately took advantage of the opportunity and set herself to complete the application. “I wanted to apply to all of the scholarships I can,” said Holguin,

“and hearing that it was for students I color, I definitely wanted to take that risk.”

Only those who were admitted to UST earlier this year were given the opportunity to submit an online application which required two essay prompts. In 400 words or less, applicants had to tell what receiving this scholarship would mean to the student and their family, as well as another 500 words describing the value of having diversity in a learning community and how they would promote and celebrate different cultures while a student at St. Thomas.

“In my essays, I explained about myself for who I am, where I grew up, and also having parents who grew up in poverty. At the time, there was nothing for me and my brother to feel ashamed of because my parents always tried to protect us from noticing our social barriers.” Holguin mentioned her concerns about how her family’s social class was going to be a major impact towards her financial ability to attend college, and having goods prospects for the future. Being a woman of color, and her decision to maintain both of her cultures was a major theme in her second essay.

During the morning of March 1st, Holguin was called down to the CCRC from Mr. McKinney’s third-hour anatomy class. Although she was simply sent down to talk with Ms. Esso, she couldn’t help but worry about whether she had done something wrong or was getting into trouble. As she walked through the door of the CCRC, she surprisingly found everyone including her College Possible coach (Keeley Norton), Ms. Esso, and Teron waiting for her in the room.

“I came here to bring scholarship opportunities for Keeley,” said Teron, “and this is for you.” He handed her an envelop. As soon as her had it in her hands, she slowly opened, quickly scanned through the first line of the letter and immediately burst into tears. Dear Amaris, On behalf of the Dease Scholarship committee, I am pleased to announce that you have been selected to receive a Dease Scholarship…..

“I just became so oblivious at the moment, and I remember crying the whole day. I cried as I walked along the halls to the principal’s office, and cried again there as Dr. Tucker congratulated me.” She even went to surprise her mom at work who also shed some tears. “Mom worked since she was 11, working for me and my brother to support the family. I was always so worried that she was going to continue struggling for us forever.”

Receiving acknowledgement for her hard work and effort invested towards this scholarship is something she appreciates about receiving the Dease scholarship. “But definitely seeing the look on my parents faces when they heard the news, it’s grateful to know that they no longer have to worry about supporting me and my brother for the rest of their life.”

Similarly to Degollado, she would like to acknowledge Keeley for the vast amount of help and support during the application process. Both admit that their success stories wouldn’t have been possible without her presence.

Her advice for juniors and seniors? “Take all of the chances you can get your hands on. Even with the slim chances, you would never know what would happen.”

College Possible is still recruiting sophomores for next year, so if you are a sophomore, or know one, please feel free to talk to the College Possible coaches in the CCRC! College Possible has made a life changing difference for these two winners, and I have no doubt in my mind that they will make a huge difference in our community in the future.

Clubs and Activities, Events, School Life

Let’s talk about Benstock 2016

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Hmmmm……What can you do with that lucky $2 you surprisingly found in your back pocket, especially on a Friday night? Come to Benstock on Friday March 11, held in the auditorium from 7-9:30 pm! Tickets are only $2 for students, and $3 for adults. However, if you bring in a canned good, you will save $1 off the ticket price. 

At Benstock you can enjoy a series of performances featuring a variety of singing, dancing, not to mention it is a show of amazing talent.

Benstock has been a rewarding tradition for the past 17 years, and every year students have the chance to see their classmates show off their talent. In the past years, there have been performances by rock bands, breakdancers, spoken word artists and singers. 

Benstock is also Highland’s annual student charity event, hence another fantastic opportunity to share back with the community. The amount accumulated from ticket admissions will be used to donate to a charity of choice, still to be decided. All of the canned goods will also continue to be donated to the local food shelf Francis Basket. 

History

The original event began with a student’s desire for a trip to Australia. In 1999, student Ben Rosales organized a way to fund the trip by performing with his band on the school stage. Now where did the name Benstock originate from? His inspiration was developed from the music festival Woodstock. To personalize the name of the show, he decided to replace the ‘Wood’ prefix with his own name, thus the name Benstock was created.

The shows started mainly with performances from bands. Many of the past performers have grown successful musical careers. Eventually, the show expanded into a talent showcase encompassing a wider range of performances such as spoken word and both original and cover music.

It was not until 2007 that HPSH’s National Honor Society started to sponsor Benstock. This was also the same year Ms. Landreau became the adviser for NHS. The thing that makes Benstock special is that it is a production where everything is student led. Ms. Landreau and Ms. Hanson only stand back to support by the executive control.

 Spreading the Word

In the recent years, promotion through social media such as Twitter and Facebook event invitations have been considered to be effective on some level. This method of advertisement is more relevant for student to student promotion rather than the way publicity was handeld in the past. The effects of media usage to spread the word about Benstock was more centered around Highland students, and therefore, more Highland students attend the event now in comparison to previous years.

T-shirts were originally a major factor towards promoting Benstock, as executive members would travel around town selling the personally designed Benstock t-shirts, and advertise by posting flyers around the neighborhood. As a result, historically, there the audience was more diverse in that that there were not only students, but also people from the local community, including more teachers.

Risk Takers: First Time Performers

Other than the fact that Benstock is a student organized production that is both fun and entertaining, it is also an amazing opportunity to encourage students to try something new and become risk-takers. Every year there are several students who admit that Benstock was their first stage performance in front of anyone. Yet, every year, Ms. Landreau is astonished by the audience members themselves. “They are just the nicest crowd, with wonderful affirmation, and every year the crowd shows their love to the people on stage. I want people to feel safe.”

All students were welcome to audition for Benstock. This year, there are even three acts that include freshmen. Ms. Landreau hopes for Benstock to continue in the future years to come, and for more teachers to come and discover and be awed by the talents of students and encourage individual voices.

Here are some video clips of past Benstock Events : Benstock 2014  Benstock Intro 2009

People who will be featured in the performance include:

Raquel Loera
Ramona and Maeve
The Father
Maeve and Roland
Schyler Jackson Fish
Charlie, Alex, Thomas, Evan, and Fernanda
Owen Stanley
Olivia Mason and John Manning
Taji and Nehali
Kenji Callahan
Malik Griffin
Claudia Stensrud
Paige and Sydney
Leah and Maria
Pohla and Manning
Francisco, Zach, and Nathan
Sami and Sydney Linssen
Dean and Ricardo
Makeshift

People who have passed the auditions have worked hard and are proud of their talent, and therefore it is our obligation as awesome Highland classmates to come support the talent in our school.

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Join Highland clubs

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Of all of the clubs in our school, there will definitely be one that suits your individual personality and interests. Whether it has to do with your cultural background or a personal hobby, clubs and extra-curricular activities are something that will promote diversity in the school environment. Here I have decided to spotlight a few of the offerings here at Highland.

Anime Club – Meets in room 2401 (Ms.Shomion’s classroom) every Thursday from 2-4pm.

As a devoted member who consistently attends these meetings, Lily Berg is the president of Anime Club. A wide variety of students join, but often times the people who are interested would overlap with members of the Asian Culture Club. According to Lily, these members tend to either be eccentric or quiet, but even so, anyone is more than welcome to join. Not only will you get to stay after school to play games and watch anime, this is also the perfect opportunity to make new friends.

On average, there are 11-12 members involved in the Anime Club. The number of members who attend these meetings around the spring time will gradually decline as more students participate in spring sports. Therefore, Berg is hoping for a more diverse group of anime lovers to come and join in the fun of foreign entertainment. All that she asks of prospective members is to be open minded and accepting towards the differences in preferences. “Not everyone will like the anime shows we watch, so be open minded,” says Berg. “At the same time, our options depend on the sensitivity of students, but we do still try to include some mature anime.”

Some members are also given the option to watch their own anime of interest on their iPads if they don’t like what is being played on the screen.

Earlier this year, the Anime Club had helped ACC with the Hmong New Year performance, and they are also looking forward to participating in Culture Day to represent Japanese culture. Berg is currently looking for new members, particularly sophomores or freshmen who are interested in becoming the new president after seniors leave. Berg is also hoping to organize a field trip to an Anime convention in the near future.

Book Club – Meets in the east side of the library every six weeks (or once a month) with Ms. Sabota as the adviser. Sarah Zaephel is the president of the club. They call themselves the Book Table, a book club for teens. Their acronym for Book Table goes as follows: Book Talking About Books in the Library while Eating.

Are you one of those kids who gets nagged at by the teacher for gluing your eyes onto the pages of five inch books in class? Then come join book club! Anyone is welcome to join and come every six weeks. To join, make sure to talk with Ms. Sabota beforehand. Most students agree that they joined the club either because they like reading, or because they were invited by a friend.

As a member of Book Table, students should be committed towards reading the books and to coming to the meetings prepared to discuss with the 25-30 other students in the club.

As a treat, students who attend these meetings will have the pleasure to indulge on slices of pizza, candy, and pop while talking about the book. Another bonus— you get free books!

“Anyone who is willing to read the book and talk with people should definitely come and join,” says Nelson, a book club member. “I joined the club mostly because I was invited by a friend, but at the same time I enjoy reading during my free time. It is something that takes you to a world where you get to decide how the story looks like.”

During each meeting, Ms. Sabota would start off the discussion

From the Highland Website

with a few questions. “The process is nothing intimidating like in English class,” says Xe Chang, a book club member. “No hand raises. If you have something to say, you just say it!” She mentioned that developing a community of book lovers that can gather around a table to simply talk about books is one of the significant accomplishments of Book Table.

Among some of their goals as a club is to organize field trips to meet some of the authors whose works they have read over these past months. Like any other club out there, they are also hoping for more students to take an interest in joining, despite already having 25-30 frequent members. “We want to show people that it’s not just about being a book club, it’s more than that.”

The biggest struggle for them is getting people to actually finish the book and come prepared to discuss. Nelson admits that there were some awkward moments for newbies which he could relate to, but once people start seeing how open minded we are as a group, you notice the sense of acceptance and comfort from feeling belonged.

Math Team – Meets every Monday and Wednesdays in room 2305/2304 led by math teacher, Mr. O’Connell.

Are you a good math student who is looking forward to fulfill math, science, technical, and professional majors in college? Join Math Team! Math Team is an opportunity to unleash your ability to creatively think, potentially become a better math student, and meet both students in and out of our school. The benefits of joining Math Team includes: gaining extra assistance with math problems and homework, getting time to prepare for college entrance exams, learning to solve problems quickly, increasing chances for scholarships, and even earning a Highland letter.

Math Team has a current record of 21 years at state tournaments. Last year they came in tenth place for state divisions and first in the St. Paul division.

Union Latina – Meetings are held every Wednesday from 2:15 to 3:15. Lesly Gonzalez-Barragan and Zaira Gutierrez are the presidents of the club and it is advised by Ms. Romero.

Union Latina is another perfect opportunity to meet more people and be a part of a cultural club. This is the third year since the club was formed at Highland, but this is considered to be the first year where everything is much more organized with people cooperating. Members of the club are known to be individuals who want to achieve and change the community in out school. They strive to change the views of how people see Latinos and minority groups.

Walking into one of their meetings, one will find themselves in the middle of a discussion revolving around ideas for what they what to achieve in the future. Earlier during the school year, Union Latina had joined forces with the Asian Culture Club and Anime Club for the production of Hmong New Year. Currently, they are starting to make plans for the Cinco de Mayo performance in the spring.

Their biggest achievement this year was their participation in the tailgating event during Homecoming week. “We were able to sell tamales that earned satisfaction from parents and students, and at the same time were are able to raise enough money for the club.”

Among some of their top goals for Union Latina is to develop new ways to promote their club and include more members who are not just Latinos.

 

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Chinese New Year at Highland

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Free on Friday? Well, here’s something. On February 5th, 2016, Highland will be hosting a 2016 Chinese New Year celebration organized by the Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy and the Highland Park Middle. Taking place at the Highland Park Sr auditorium, this event will last between 6pm-8pm. The celebration will include a performance and a carnival. Worried that the late night event will leave you feeling hungry? They’ve got that covered as desserts will be served after the performance. However, the actual date of the Lunar new year is on Monday February 8th, 2016. This will mark the first day of the year of the Red Monkey which is the ninth animal in the Chinese Zodiac.

The “red” part of the year represent fire which originates from the Five Elements incorporated into the Chinese calendar. Red is also considered to be a very lucky color in the Chinese culture. Chinese New Year will last for a total of 15 days

People born in the year of the Monkey includes the years: 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, and 2028.

According to SunSigns.org, people born in the year of the Monkey are ambitious (and competitive), smart, yet mischievous, and are associated with activity and adventure. With the year of the Red Monkey, people will be dealing with more financial problems. It is also advised that this year people should be more aware of their actions before making any abrupt changes with anything contributing to money, careers, and relationships.

Location of the event? Highland Park Senior HS: 1015 South Snelling Ave, St Paul, MN 55116

School Life

The Gates Millennium Scholarship

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All over the nation, homes were filled with the clicking and clacking of keyboards as students furiously typed the night away. Rushing to unleash the eight stories of their lives, these student kept in mind that those essays would be the summary of their academic success, adversities, and commitments as a potential leader. With those eight stories, there could be a chance that they will create a life changing moment, determining the fate of their future, and their financial support in college. Being one of those students, the night before the deadline, at 12:15 AM, I sat back with a sweet sigh of relief after smashing the submit button five times (grateful that the site did not crash on me), and from there the waiting began. 

January 13, at 11:59 EST, was the final deadline to submit the largest scholarship opportunity in the US for students of color. The Gates Millennium Scholarship was established in 1999 by Bill and Melinda Gates. Just in case you didn’t know, Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft, known as the world’s largest PC software company. With the $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the goals of the Gates Millennium program is to provide outstanding minority students an opportunity to fulfill their highest academic potential, without being hindered by a financial barrier, so that they can create more diversity in different career areas including education, health and sciences, and mathematics, while also providing better opportunities for future leaders, and offering full support for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Only student of colors are eligible for this scholarship, including African American,  American Indian/ Alaska Native, Asian American/ Pacific Islander, and Hispanic American. Other requirements include:

  • US citizenship or permanent resident;
  • GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or have earned a GED,
  • demonstrate leadership and commitment to community service, extracurricular activities
  • Eligible for the FAFSA
  • Will be enrolled in a US accredited college/university as first year students

Students who are rewarded with this scholarship will have their entire college tuition covered at a 4-year institution, and depending on whether the student chose to pursue careers in the sciences, mathematics, or education fields, six years of their graduate degree will also be covered. Being eligible is one small step towards an amazing opportunity, but being able to sacrifice time and effort requires a great commitment.

For the process, students would complete an extensive application with basic demographics and a profile, including your ethnicity, parent income, and self listing your classes and grades. The short descriptions must be included when listing your your leadership roles, community service positions, and jobs you have attained. Some students feel intimidated when they notice the five spaces given per category and worry about not being able to fill all five spaces with large contributions like being class president or team captain. Leadership in this case is just your participation in activities where you have a role and purpose. You don’t have to obtain a high or significant position to be considered a leader. However, the time spent completing the application itself is nothing near the amount of time spent writing the eight essays.

The person reading the essay is only able to identify students as an individual based on the content of the essays. Within those eight thousand words, applicants should be aware to use words wisely and creatively so that those eight thousand words will paint a clear portrait of who they are as a student of color both in their community and at school, leadership capabilities, and educational devotion. By portraying the descriptive details of the particular moment that is unique to only themselves, students are able to explain how their personal characters represents their worth towards this scholarship. 

The essay prompts are as follows:

  1. Discuss the subjects in which you excel or have excelled.  To what factors do you attribute your success?
  2. Discuss the subjects in which you had difficulty.  What factors do you believe contributed to your difficulties?  How have you dealt with them so they will not cause problems for you again?  In what areas have you experienced the greatest improvement?  What problem areas remain?
  3. Briefly describe a situation in which you felt that you or others were treated unfairly or were not given an opportunity you felt you deserved.  Why do you think this happened?  How did you respond?  Did the situation improve as a result of your response?
  4. Discuss your short and long-term goals.  Are some of them related?  Which are priorities?
  5. Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life; school, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc.  How and why did you become a leader in this area?  How did this experience influence your goals?
  6. Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home, school, or elsewhere.  Please select an experience different from the one you discussed in the previous question, even if this experience also involved leadership.  What did you accomplish? How did this experience influence your goals?
  7. Other than through classes in school, in what areas (non-academic or academic) have you acquired knowledge or skills?  How?
  8. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about that may help us evaluate your nomination (i.e., personal characteristics, obstacles you have overcome)?

The Gates Millennium Scholarship uses the same application every year, with the same constraints, and the identical eight essay prompts. The majority of the prompts are rather specific, and although you should grab the reader’s attention with a detailed story, it is also particularly important to give a clear answer in your conclusions. Although the minimum requirement for the essays are 500 words, it is encouraged that students make the best out of the 1000 word maximum.

Think that the organization will only take your word for everything you say about yourself? Nope. The application also requires students to seek recommendations from two individuals who are capable of recognizing your achievements and identify who you are as a suitable applicant. One person has to be the nominator and another a recommender. The nominator is often a teacher who you most connect with. It is crucial to ask someone who recognizes the importance of this scholarship in order for them to incorporate how much effort you have put in towards this scholarship.

The scholarship is very competitive with about 64,000 applicants each year. However, the faction of students who complete the application or fulfilled the requirements of at least 500 worded-essays leaves us with a 1 in 16,000 chance to be among the 1,000 students who will be winners. In mid-March, applicants will be notified on how to access the status of their application to see whether they made it in as a finalist. After that, the finalists will have to submit additional materials including transcripts, tax returns, college acceptance letters, and other information that determines their eligibility before announcing the actual winners. Not all finalist will be awarded the scholarship. By mid-May, finalist will be informed of the outcome of their applications.

Between 2000 and 2014, $845,713,056 has been awarded to the Gates Scholars, with and average award of $12,492 per scholar.

Unfortunately, the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program will no longer be open to new applicants after this round due to the lack of funds left for future students. This shocking news became a major motivation for students to complete their best work for the scholarship, recognizing that their younger siblings and peers will no longer attain the same opportunity to become a Gates Scholars.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Would you pay $15 for a 2-hr field trip?

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Hey seniors, remember the last time you guys went on that senior trip to Zero Gravity? Some of us paid up $15 to attend the trip in hopes of skipping class for the day. But did any of us realize that it was $15 just to spend only 2 hours jumping around on trampolines? Some went because they actually wanted to, while others pulled off the price just because they wanted to miss class or because all of their friends were going. Not to be dramatic or anything, but the trip should have been extended for at least another hour in order for the trip to be worth the price. With $15, a student can pay for approximately 6 days of school lunch.

Those who did not attend the trip admitted that they were not willing, nor able, to sacrifice that amount of money to join the rest of the seniors on the trip. Some of us were left behind at school, and unfortunately, still had to attend our usual classes. It honestly feels unfair that money has to be involved in order for students to be able to participate in fun senior activities. Shouldn’t senior activities be for the benefit of everyone? It is understood that students had voted for this trip, but not all students were aware of the fact that it only allowed them to miss the last two periods of school. Plus, they were still responsible for work they missed while class was in session.

You shouldn’t have to put a price on the happiness of students. Even though a survey was created to determine the senior field trip, not all student took it, therefore only those who took the initiative to vote on social media were able to have their say on the options.

An alternative should have been given to seniors who were not able to attend the field trip. For example, different activities could have been supervised by different teachers between those times, such as sports activities in the gym, a movie in the auditorium, or other things that students would rather do besides sitting in class.  

Snow tubing will be the next opportunity for seniors to participate on a senior field trip. Based on the opinions of previous seniors, it will actually be a fun and exciting activity for us to experience, but let’s just hope that it will be reasonably priced to fit the financial needs of all students who want to go.

Advice/How To, School Life

Ways to eliminate distractions

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It’s finally the start of a new quarter, and hence the perfect opportunity to change your work ethic to shape your study skills from the start, rather than waiting until the last minute to beg your teacher to bump up your grade since you’re only 0.01 percent away from a B. This year, teachers have been emphasizing their resentment towards students who don’t take the initiative to do their best in class from the start. Change your lazy habits now and show your teacher that you’re capable of being responsible.

Seniors, it is especially important for you to get on your teachers’ good side early on so that they will be more than happy to write you a letter of recommendation when you need it. Starting out strong at the beginning of the quarter will definitely motivate you to continue succeeding. Learning how to balance school assignments with home life will simplify your life, you will not have to face the giant snowball effect of work build-up at the end of the quarter, and you are less likely to have cold bitter feelings towards your teachers.

  • Have a bowl of snacks placed right next to you. Nibbling on simple repetitive snacks like peanuts and chips will both prevent hunger from distracting your work momentum and also the repetitive gestures and chewing actions will keep you in the zone longer. You are also less likely to notice the tediousness of your work until you finish the snack. Some good foods that supposedly makes you smarter? Blueberries, spinach, dark chocolate, and fish.
  • Remove all electronic distractions, and only consider using them for educational use. Studies have shown that listening to music may also help the brain, and a little of something in the background will make you less likely to think you’re not only doing homework. Try listening to natural sounds like rain or birds chirping.  
  • Sleep is a crucial factor in our ability to succeed, therefore you should get at least eight hours of it every night, instead of waiting until 11pm to complete your internal assessments. FYI: Trying to maintain focus and doing homework while you’re sleepy and tired is the same as focusing while intoxicated.
  • Take 5-10 minute breaks in between assignments. Now is the time to check your phone or stretch, because overworking your brain over a long span of time is not a healthy practice. Even when pulling an all nighter on the assignment due the next morning, still take the five minute break every hour and so.
  • Occasionally changing your methods of studying will help keep your mind focused. Change is good! A good way to educationally make use of your iPad is to download the Quizlet app used to make digital flashcard. Quizlet also offers various activities to help you memorize information using the flashcards you created. It’s easy, simple and fun!
  • Create a comfortable learning environment. Whether it’s your kitchen counter or your couch, make sure you surround yourself with all of the learning materials needed. Bring everything from a bag of pencils and pens, highlighters, textbooks, notebooks, and you may as well bring your backpack too. If having doubts about whether you need that one book, bring it with you anyways.
  • Use a planner. Even though our school does not provide students with one, it is a wise choice to invest in a planner. You don’t even have to spend much on it. You can get a small planner at Walmart for only $5, nothing fancy. Even a mini note pad would work.

And lastly, believing in yourself is a significant tool to boost your confidence. Make goals to become a better person, even if you think you’re already perfect. Instead of just sitting there, staring out into space, make use of every bit of time you have to complete work in school so you don’t have to run into the problem of laziness at home.