Lady Jaguars should workout

Stares, stares and more stares. Boys, boys, and more boys. This is exactly what it feels like to be only the only girl in the weight room.

            While for boys it is easier to enter the weight room girls inside the weight room, for the girls on the other hand it is more difficult. Intimidation and trepidation are constant feelings when one finally works up the courage to simply enter that environment. For guys this may seem like an abstract concept as any person can enter the weight room though if they placed themselves in a girl’s shoes they would realize the awkward sensation that is felt. Girls are receptive to the attitudes and actions of boys. It is their instinct to defend themselves and respect their dignity.

            Short shorts, crop tops, muscle shirts, tight yoga pants, and sports bras are appropriate sport attire. People cannot expect girls to wear baggy pants or an extra large shirt in order to workout because that is not adequate attire. Yes, they may cause stares, stares and more stares, but a girl shouldn’t have to go through the feeling harassed when she wears those clothes. Sadly, though in the weight it seems as if guys only see girls as “the distraction.” If they are “the distractions” how can they not be “the distraction?” The woman was created to be beautiful to be doting to be loving; not to be seen glorified as the disposable object that can be played around with.

            Currently, in school girls only enter the weight room if they are in a sport, but now things are slowly beginning to change. Woodcraft Rangers has a program available to boys in football however they have opened an opportunity for girl. While they must have to get used to the constant presence of boys they are being given this amazing opportunity and are working on a time slot specifically for girls. However, girls still will have to deal with the constant pressure of the boys, which is unacceptable.

            After the ten years that the school has been opened this is the first time that the weight room will be opened for girls not involved in sports. This just shows the patriarchal ideals that society continues to foster and are just changing. Though the stereotypes are no joke. Boys still do carry the mentality that girls provoke the attention that lingers. They should respect girls and treat them like human beings. Girls need to have the confidence to simply enter the room. It will definitely be a challenge but challenges make people mentally, physically, and emotionally stronger which is what the weight room is all about.

WASC arrives

After over a year of preparation; parents, teachers, and students welcomed the WASC Visiting Committee. The three days of the WASC visit consisted of a series of meetings where the WASC representatives met with a series of different focus and home groups ranging from school culture to the school curriculum.

The WASC team consisted of diverse individuals who arrived with the intention to observe the school. “Their purpose was to verify the school’s over two hundred page self-study report,” said Mayra Tercero, president of the Visual & Performing Arts small school. 

For many this may seem as an easy task: however, over the course of the three days the WASC team arrived at school at around 6:00 a.m. to meet with the school staff.  Additionally, each WASC member was assigned a certain section, which they had to analyze. On March 11, the last day of the visit, they presented their findings in the 4:30 p.m. community meeting with the administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and students.  

“Based on the comments of the visiting committee we are doing well,” said Principal Jesus Nunez, who like the rest, anxiously awaited the comments from the WASC visiting committee. Further details will be posted on the school website throughout the month in regards to the comments that the WASC committee made. 

While it may seem like the end of the ongoing stress of the people who collaborated on the report, the WASC process continues and will continue to foster the school’s growth.

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Jaguars take over Dragons

South East had the opportunity to host ten students from the sister school Beijing Huairo #2 from Beijing, China February 11-13 to learn about the American culture.

The three days each consisted of activities and events that gave the foreign students insights to the school ‘s culture. 

On the first days the students were given a tour of the whole school. On the second day they had the opportunity to be Jaguars for the day as they attended classes with our fellow student body representatives. To conclude their stay, they will attend the Cultural Arts Festival, where multiple schools will contribute a piece of their culture in the school’s auditorium.

“It was simply fun,” said Jesus Garcia, senior from the Health, Science & Environment small school and one of the five students who had the opportunity to interact with the Chinese students. Other students who also had the opportunity to engage with the visitors were Julius Moreno, Cindy Andrade, Melanie Montoya, Manuel Benavides, and Kenneth Carmona; all seniors. Each student made his or her own memorable experience. 

“It [was] a great cultural exchange, both for the exposure of American schools and the Chinese schools,” said Mrs. Che-Parker.  In the end it was the perfect moment for what seems like two complete different cultures to come together. 

Executive Action Benefits SEHS students

On November 20, 2014, in front of millions of television viewers Obama announced the changes to the immigration system through an executive action. This act stipulated that parents of citizen children will be able to finally remain in the U.S. for a determined amount of time legally, DACA (Differed Action for Childhood Arrival) students will be given more aid and support when studying careers in the STEM fields, and a higher priority will be placed on reinforcing borders than deporting immigrants.        

​            Not only will it give students the confidence to apply to out of state schools, but most DACA students will find more motivation in becoming engaged in the science, engineering, technology, and mathematics fields. “Many students are afraid to apply to out of state schools, because they feel the need to monetarily support their parents. Hence, they are constrained to work,” Bry Smith, Counselor from College Corps said.
      

​Despite some students not benefiting from the executive order such as Katherine Pena, senior in the Business, Leadership, and Innovation small school who can neither become a DACA student nor can her parents qualify for this action; she still does not lose hope. “I have faith that one day Obama will a comprehensive reform to all students,” Pena said.
      ​Nevertheless, some of the students’ parents will be able to reap benefits. “I am so excited for my mother, we have both have been waiting a long time for this moment,” Danny Carranza, freshman from the Tech & Media Magnet said. Thus, many students such as Carranza will have less fear in
endeavor into new experiences outside of California.

LAUSD's Mysterious Policy

For many when we see a worker that speaks Spanish we begin to speak because it is our native language. Therefore, the English-Only Policy in cafeterias is irrelevant to primarily all the student body.

Is the district blind or something? Only 76% of the students in LAUSD are Hispanic (Oh so they may say), as it is reported in their 2011- 2012 LAUSD Fingertip Facts report. Therefore, students in primarily all of the LAUSD face the same fleeting reality, a Hispanic the majority of the time will be next to them (which is not a bad thing) but it means that in one way or another they are exposed to the Hispanic culture. What this means (if they already don’t know) is that it is rubbish to say this policy ensures a student’s safety, in terms of the non-speaking Spanish students being exposed to great danger. The district said in a statement, “In an emergency situation in a busy kitchen are where and it trying to communicate ‘hot food’ or a similar warning it is suggested that theses phrases are spoken in English for the benefit of everyone working in the kitchen and cafeteria area,” luckily most bilingual students are always willing to translate and well the district is so smart to print out instructions in English (WOW that is so GENIUS!).

An even more pressing problem is the fact that a Cafeteria Worker would not be able to communicate with a student who does not speak English. What is a student supposed to do then? Sadly there are no Spanish labels and if the workers are unable to speak to the student in Spanish than they will be sued. They should consider ALL of their students before making decisions.

The Evoution of Homecoming

Change is inevitable, unstoppable, and the factor that makes every year fresh. This year’s homecoming dance serves as a reminder of evolution, where students continually welcome a bright new school year.
    This year the leadership students added a twist to the traditional homecoming dance as they opted for a Sadie Hawkins style dance, which is when girls ask guys to be their dates.  Robert Garcia, a Tech & Media Magnet senior said, “Some guys felt sad because they did not have the luck to be asked out,” while girls felt empowered as they chose the guy whom they wanted to go with.
    Many of the girls added creative twists to proposals, while some created their proposal based on the sport that their potential date play, other girls opted for other ways. For instance, one of the girls decided to write their proposal on a baseball, while other girls decided to ask their potential date in a more traditional way. Pedro de Anda, a sophomore from the Tech & Media Magnet was asked out with a poster that said, “Want to book homecoming with me?” Either way this was completely different to the way that homecoming was when the school had their first dance.   
    This year’s homecoming theme was Under the Sea, selected by the leadership class. All in all the leadership produced a homecoming dance that was a combination of conservative style and fun, filled with memorable moments. This year’s attendants had a variety of opinions, Carlos Lopez, a senior from the Law and Justice small school, said that it was “the best experience of my life”.
However, senior from the Health and Environmental small school Yocelyn Ruiz said, “It could have been better.” One of the main ideas that Garcia, Ruiz, and Lopez definitely agree on is the fact that leadership could have chosen a better DJ.
    In comparison to the school’s first homecoming dance, this year’s homecoming was definitely something else. Not only was the first theme different, but the trends, fashions, and hairstyles were too. One of the visible contrasts that Yocelyn Ruiz noticed was in the attire. She said, “Before girls used to dress fancier.” She wore “a black dress and golden strapped sandals.” On the other hand there was a combination of formality and informality.  De Anda said, “I wore a black button-up and black slacks and a blue bow tie.” As opposed to De Anda, Garcia said, “I was told to go casual so I wore jeans and a checkered shirt.”
    The school’s first theme was a 50’s theme. Unlike this last theme the guys opted to wear suspenders, black pants, and their hair slicked back and some of the girls opted for poodle skirts with the intention their homecoming theme, though the homecoming queen did not follow that trend. She wore a loose black dress to her knees, loose curls thatwent midway down her shoulders, and dangling earrings. While the prom king opted for a black suit, white button-up t-shirt and a grey tie with squares. To compliment their 50’s style dance the DJ also made sure to play the ultimate hits of the generation.
    A contrast can be observed from the styles adapted of what know seems like a decade ago to present
times.