june 3rd issue | issue 8, volume 2

The Phoenix

Fremont High School, Vol. 2 Issue No. 8June 3, 2014

What’s inside:

#BringBackOurGirls

by Nicole StibbardStaff Writer

The kidnapping that caused a global outrage

According to The Guardian, US surveillance planes began flying over a remote area of Nigeria in hopes of finding and rescuing over 200 teenage school girls abducted about a month ago.

Over 200 girls were captured by Islamist mili-tants from their boarding school in Chibok, north-eastern Nigeria, on April 14th. A few had managed to escape, but almost all that were intended to be captured, were. They were said to be taken into the Sambisa forest just after being captured.

This whole abduction from over a month ago has caused a global outrage, even starting the social

media campaign under the hashtag that was started on Twitter, #BringBackOur-Girls.

The main focus is on Boko Haram, a violent Jihadist group member who is holding the girls captive. Aside from this, there has been a large amount of criti-cism toward the Nigerian authorities, whose efforts to find and rescue the captives are apparently “lax”, there-fore putting forth no effort.

Aside from US assis-tance, China, Britain and France have sent teams over to Nigeria to help the search for the captives; Israel has also offered to join the international effort to help find and rescue the girls.

On Monday, May 12th, Boko Haram released a 27-minute video, display-

ing about 130 girls who were captured in Muslim dress and reading from the Qur’an. Two of these girls within the group were singled out and were forced to tell the camera that they have converted to Islam.

The rest of the girls were standing somewhat far behind the girls in front of the camera in rows, two militants with weapons standing on each side of them. During the video, the leader, Boko Haram,

said that the girls could and would be released in exchange for jailed Islamist militants.

“I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have cap-

tured,” Boko said. The US, China, Britain,

France, Israel and every other outside force are still trying their hardest and doing everything possible to gain the release of the 200 plus Nigerian school-girls.

On his final day of a three-day trip to Calif., President Barack Obama made an appearance at a Wal-Mart, which was located in Mountain View on Friday, May 19, 2014 to promote advances in energy efficiency and solar energy.

During his speech Obama addressed actions to poetntially increase en-ergy efficiency in buildings and appliances.

According to ‘The White House Fact Sheet” more than three hundred public and private entities have committed to reduce pollution by advancing energy efficiency, some of them being Google, Apple and Wal-Mart, which have already started to use the sun to power stores and other facilities.

Google for example, announced a prize of one million dollars to develop the next generation of power inverters so they would bring solar power to more U.S homes. Apple has committed to power all its facilities with green energy. Not only have these stores

Obama’s sustainable energy in the Sillicon Valleyby Gaby AnayaStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of exquisitemag.com

Where are the graduating Firebirds headed to next?

started using solar power but also other companies like Kohl’s, Staples and Whole Foods.

White House officials said Wal-Mart on Friday would commit to double the number of on-site solar energy projects at its U.S. facilities. Solar power, en-ergy efficiency and renew-able energy were topics of Obama’s speech, according to USA Today.

The reason why solar energy is a good source of energy is because it’s clean and environmen-tally friendly which will not contribute to climate changes. Another reason is, solar energy is a renewable source meaning it can be used over and over, which is the opposite of fossil fuels. Apart from solar energy being good for our planet, it also creates plenty of new jobs that will surely boost our economy.

One of the plans Obama laid out for solar power was to train more solar industry workers. Secondly he wanted to give a clear guidance to private sectors by setting up rules that the Treasury Depart-

ment will explain. The third part of his plan is to have streamlined solar financing within the federal govern-ment.

Another plan he has in store for energy effi-ciency is, to make federal buildings more efficient.

Over the next three years, two billion dollars will be invested into efficiency upgrade. Also, they will increase outdoors the use of high-efficiency lighting. This means changing the light bulbs on the streets.

Some of the teach-

ers and students have had a few opinions toward Obama’s plans so far.

“I believe it’s a good idea, I’m for the idea of solar power and energy efficiency, I think that by doing so it will reduce the CO2 in the air” freshman

Candie Rivera, said. “I think that using

solar energy when possible and making things more energy efficient is a change that will only benefit society,” AVID and Lit/Writ teacher Alyssa Long said. “As far as I know, there are no environmental or societal drawbacks to doing this, so why not? Also, if it opens up more jobs, espe-cially in our area, I think that is a positive too. I know that very often, mak-ing these kinds of changes to solar energy and more energy efficient building systems can initially be very expensive, so that would be my only concern.”

There are a few differ-ent points of view for what Obama has planned

“As Americans, we don’t look backwards; we look forward,” Obama said, according to San Jose Mer-cury News. “We don’t fear the future; we seize it,”

The plans for a solar energy and energy effi-ciency have already started. Obama is committed to making 2104, a year of ac-tion.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Lam of KQED News

PRESIDENT Obama speaks to the public at Wal-Mart in Mountain View.

Track the hashtag on Twitter

News2 June 3, 2014

The Phoenix1279 Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd.

Room 76 Sunnyvale, CA 94087

(408)[email protected]

Managing EditorAlex Bernauer

News Editors Melissa ParlanAshley Chavez

Sports Editors Chau Nguyen

Marcus Saranglao

Arts & Entertainment Editors Hauraa Aalabdulrasul

Neha Mannikar

Opinon EditorsKayla LayaoenJasmine Salik

Lead ArtistKristina Lechuga

Copy EditorsSonya Jindal

Juan Martinez

Business ManagerSarah Arkoh

Lead PhotographerPriya Lee

Staff WritersGaby Anaya

Tatiana CastilloMike CapovillaMarinn CedilloChanel JohnsonSavanna KieneJoanah Nguyen

Alex NoyesChris Peterson

Sergio RodriguezNicole Stibbard Elliot LehmanBriana Castillo

Adviser Ms. Stacey Stebbins

The Phoenix, protected under the California Education code, is a public forum for the students of Fremont High School. The Phoenix staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner.

Editorials are the official opinion of The Phoenix. Opin-ions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Phoenix. All content decisions are made by the student editors, and in no way reflect the official policy of Fremont High School, nor the opinions of the administration, faculty, or the adviser.

Business advertisements are accepted in The Phoenix. However, The Phoenix reserves the right to deny any ad. Those interested in running advertisements can call the Business Manager at (408)522-2400, or email [email protected].

Lettters to the editor and questions for the advice column, may be submitted to room 76, Ms. Stebbins’ mailbox, or emailed to [email protected]. Identities of those who submit questions will remain anonymous. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to styles and policy. Letters to the editor will be published at the discre-tion of the staff.

The Phoenix is the official student newspaper, and is distributed free of cost to the students. The Phoenix pub-lishes eight issues throughout the school year.

The end of April marked the end of state testing but some students saw a bigger obstacle ahead: AP tests.

Fremont offers a variety of Advanced Placement classes, said to be the equivalent of college level courses. The added benefit of taking these challeng-ing courses is the poten-tial college credit one can earn. One has to sign up in February for most people, the cost is about 100 dol-

by Juan MartinezCopy Editor

lars per test. The cost can sometimes be high per test but will benefit students. Teachers can be a great study resource. According to junior, Melissa Wright, teachers make study guides and expend the extra effort to ensure your success in the exam. A study tool encour-aged by fellow peers is the official AP course books printed by Barron or Princ-eton Review. An esteemed review book recommended for those that enjoy reading and or learning from a book according to those who have used them.

“I also took advantage of any AP practice packets that my teachers provided,” Wright said.

The nearly four hour-long tests are during the first two weeks in May. That can lead to scheduling conflicts. The test doesn’t count towards the class grade. Colleges like to see that students attempted the exam.

AP classes are not con-fined to any certain number. Teachers have made an effort to explain student’s options for next year and also which class is more

suitable for them. Counsel-ors cooperate with teachers to make sure an AP class is more helpful to a students GPA. In some cases, some are forced to drop it rather than flunk out and lose high school credits.

Students considering any AP classes next year are advised to take things in to consideration, such as the course load in comparison to the other classes, know-ing the amount of time and effort it takes to be in those classes.

This year seems to be the beginning of many changes for Fremont High School.

Open Campus Privilege was a policy that came into reality this year. While many students felt that it would ruin lunch off campus, the change didn’t have the effect it was expected to. Leaving campus is very simple and the line to leave isn’t time consuming. The policy was intended to raise the grades of lower-performing students.

“I feel that OCP has been very successful, for various reasons,” Dean Noa Ochoa said. “Students and staff who were against it are now supporting it and students were more committed to doing the right thing for those privi-leges.”

With the cafeteria being under construction, food trucks were brought on campus to provide food. There are three trucks in total around campus to get food.

The construction site that began this year is going to be finished before 2017. The building is going to include a two story cafeteria building, new classrooms and renovate existing classrooms. In order to start construction, part of the school had to be closed off. The corridor in the 40s wing is narrow and crowded between classes. Funding for the project came from the district to be ready for higher enrollment rates in the future. The upgrade is also meant to upgrade aging infrastructure, provide more classrooms and

by Marinn Cedillo Staff Writer to renovate the cafeteria.

School admin and district officials have been gearing towards a schedule change and it has finally been accom-plished. Teachers and administrators were given the choice between keeping the current schedule or two alternatives with names such as “fluffy bunny,” “squishy frog” and “cuddly kitten.” The votes were tallied up and squishy frog prevailed.

“I’m very excited about the change. The new schedule will provide additional time to get help and get work done that originally wouldn’t have been possible.” Principal Bryan Emmert, said.

The schedule for next year will include a new segment titled “Flex.” It is additional time incorporated into the week during school hours for students to get more work done. Teachers would continue to have office hours on Fridays.

Statewide testing changes have also been occurring, in order to meet the new Common Core State Standards. Juniors this year have taken a new exam meant to test criti-cal thinking instead of simple fill- in the -blank answers. The test scores ofstudents will not be counted as they are still working out the kinks but next year’s juniors will take it for real.

Fremont has undergone many changes this past year and it will continue. It seems like in as soon as one year this school will be almost unrecognizable. The changes being made are meant to improve this school and foster progress

Fremont undergoes changes year-round

AP testing: taxing, but beneficial in the long run

Congratulations Class of 2014

Special thanks to The Phoenix seniors

Alex BernauerHauraa Aalabdulrasul

Neha MannikarJoanah NguyenSavanna Kiene

Marcus SaranglaoAlex Noyes

3OpinionJune 3, 2014

DEAR YOU,Our end brings

me nothing but hap-piness. Do you know what you put me through?

I slaved away at a com-puter screen and with a pen and paper for months. I gave up all my free time, stopped seeing most of my friends because of my apparent duties to you. You put so much pressure on me. I thought I just might turn into a diamond (because when you apply extreme pres-sure and heat to carbon, it turns into diamond.. get it.. no? Okay. Never mind. But you stressed me out; that’s what I’m getting at).

I should’ve known what to expect as soon as I met you. After all, it was my fault, wasn’t it? I signed up to make this hard for myself. You didn’t force me to agree at the end of my sophomore year, to all those things. In fact, my friends warned me not to get too involved with you. See, they’d got-ten tangled up with you before. They knew what you were like. They warned me, but I didn’t listen.

I thought that I was better. I thought that I could manage you in ways they couldn’t. I thought that I could be more flexible, more understanding. That they were just whiny and immature. That it wasn’t your fault, but theirs

It’s not me, it’s you: A breakup letter by Kayla LayaoenOpinion Editor

As a highschool-er, I would say that I’m

pretty busy, and at a school like Fremont, I know many of my peers feel the same way. I am a junior (which I’ve heard and learned first hand is the hardest year of high school), two sport athlete, a double AP stu-dent, a club board member, an AVID student and a Journalism student. Aside from that, I’m also a sister, cousin, daughter, grand-daughter and friend.

I’m not saying that I’m the busiest teenager in the world. I know many other super-teens who tackle on more activities and man-age to stay men-tally sane (or at least seem that way). But I feel like I speak for many teenagers when I say that it’s hard enough being a teen-ager in high school. It’s even more frustrating and tiring tackling extracurriculars.

I mean how does anyone expect a hormonally unbalanced young adult to wake up at six (or ear-lier) in the morning, learn intensively during school for eight hours, stay after school for practice, work, participate in extracurricu-lars, do homework, study and get about five hours of sleep to do it all over again the next day? On top of

that, how are 15-18 year olds expected to plan out and make decisions for their whole future? How did this system even come to be?

This isn’t meant to be a whiny complaint about how hard our lives are because we all know how much worse things can be for others. Rather, this is meant to be a sort of realization or uplifting message.

Fremont is pretty known for its active stu-dents, so many people read-ing this can relate. We sign up for these events for many different reasons, whether because we want to pick up something new, feed a certain passion or (shame-fully but

truthfully) need something to put on our college apps.

For example, I came into high school telling my-self that I will be happy, do everything and have amaz-ing grades. Of course, I was wrong. But nonetheless, I’m happy with how I’ve made my high school life so far.

I’ve been playing Fremont girls basketball for three years now. It was a pain having to go to practice and stay at school until 7:30 p.m. some days, but I made wonderful friendships out of those three years on the team. Basketball taught me how to be tough, be a team player and the importance of working out and living a

healthy lifestyle. I

have to admit, the reason why I started to throw in track and field was to get my P.E. credits over and done with it. But, it started to grow on me. The people on the team were really sup-portive and fun to be with. I got the hang of throw-ing and it gave me a very satisfying feeling after every practice or meet.

Taking on two AP class-es and AVID was probably the most difficult thing I’ve done all year. The two letters A and P aren’t something to be taken lightly and I sadly realized that during the school year as I drowned in my school work. However, despite the sleepless nights studying or writing essays, I will never regret signing

up for those classes. They taught me good work

habits and pushed me to my limits to make me a stronger writer. AVID also supported

me in getting closer to reaching my goal of going

to a four year college. Yes, we all admit, at

some point during the school year, we consider dropping our extracur-riculars to focus on school or get more free time (aka: sleep). But then most of us stop ourselves and realize we just think those things out of stress and being overwhelmed. You either keep doing that sport or club because you realize it became a part of you, or you can’t imagine your daily life without that activity.

Tired but with good reason by Melissa ParlanNews Editor

The week of June 2nd is known as the most

dreaded week of the school year—finals week. With two hours per class, the simple thought of finals makes me want to crawl up in a hole and cry.

It’s not even that I hate the idea of taking tests; it’s the stress of studying and getting all my work on time for my finals. Test corrections, late work and re-takes all have to be turned in within two weeks and I’m most definitely not ready for that. Sure, I should’ve been on top of all my work throughout the school year, but come on, I’m a procrasti-nator and it’s not in my blood to do my work in a timely manner.

One of the worst parts of my finals is that I’m taking most of my finals throughout the weeks leading up to finals. Because I have multiple classes with seniors, my whole class is forced to take our finals before our actual last day of class. This is so the seniors can take them before their checkout. Teachers do this because they believe seniors will take pictures of the tests, help out their fellow classmates or tell them answers; and well, yeah, they probably would.

Because of this, all my makeup work is due before the last few days of classes. I have to work at a faster pace and complete all my assignments, without the perks of ending school earlier like the seniors. We basically lose a whole week of extra studying and preparing only because the school doesn’t want the seniors to take the test separately from the other students in the class.

If we already have taken our finals, what’s the point of even showing up to a two hour class when you can be out enjoying the nice weather and going to the beach? No movie will satisfy me for the two hours I will be wasting in a class that I’m basically already done with.

I have two days out of finals week where I don’t even have tests! I’ll be cramped up at school for four hours each day watching movies and eating snacks. Oh, the joy.

Yes, I sound bitter. I understand that, but nothing is worse than dealing with a stressed out, sleep-deprived, and summer-desiring student. All I know is that I most defi-nitely can’t wait for next year when I’m a senior and won’t have to deal with any of this. It’s somewhat hypocritical, but hey, what’s high school without complaining about things that won’t affect you in a year?

Almost doneby Sonya JindalCopy Editor

and I would make sure not to make the same mistakes. Still, I agreed to take not one, not two, but three AP

and honors classes with you. I knew that you would be there, every step of the way. I thought I was ready. I wasn’t.

You never let me get home on time. You kept me with you after school, on weekends and even on those sacred Friday mornings when I used to be able to sleep in. I was excited to have an empty block in my schedule, but it didn’t feel like I had one what with all the time I was devoting to you.

I had to do it to be successful, you insisted. It was the only way. And to be honest, you were right. But that doesn’t make me any less bitter towards you. Me Time was lost time, you asserted and I listened.

You egged me on to take on task after task and eventu-ally I must’ve gotten addicted. Now I suppose some people would call those tasks “titles” and “accomplishments.” I would also call them that. I am proud to have them, but I am also completely worn out from trying to get them. And why? Because of you - you made me work so hard to get them.

I was used to things being handed over to me, some-times without me even having to ask. With you, I was glad at first that you didn’t treat me like some kind of queen. You reminded me that I was only human and that I, like every other human, had to work hard to get what I wanted. I was grateful for the lesson in humility.

But my newly-learned humility quickly turned to humiliation. Soon you had me begging on my knees for

absolutely anything at all. Suddenly, I was always going out like I wanted, but I was never out just to be out. Just to have fun, waste some time with my friends. No, I was out work-ing. And while it was usually not torturous and dare I say even enjoyable at times, it was tiring.

It was tiring to do everything I’d signed up to do, with you and for you. Eventually, I started to do some of that stuff for myself, but your promise of success was always there. I was just a pony you dangled a carrot in front of. A dog you pretended to throw treats for while you hid them behind your back and snickered.

But you know what? I am taking my carrot. I know you didn’t throw any biscuits for me.

I, Kayla Layaoen, am 100% done with you. After nine months (not counting the two months of summer I spent with you in a casual state of disarray) of this and more, have finally accepted that I do not need this anymore.

We had our ups and we had our downs. Mostly, it felt like I was having nothing but downs, but in retrospect I know that there were a lot of ups as well. I know it’s childish to claim the ups as my own doings and blame the downs solely on you, but that’s what I’m doing.

It’s not me; it’s you. I’m great. I had to be - How else would I have survived an entire almost-year with you?

So, Junior Year, it is with the utmost happiness that I say: We’re over.

GOOD RIDDANCE, KAYLA

Special Feature June 3, 20144

Where are the Firebirds flying to next?

University of California, Berkeley

“Fremont made me realize to be proud of who you are. No matter who brings you down, or the troubles you have gone through, you got to where you are today, and you should be proud of that no matter what.” -Jeremy Barnard

“I’ll never forget what a wonderful experience Fremont was. It’s the only school I’ve been to that I haven’t moved from and Fre-mont is like a second home. Being part of track and field for four years was one of my best experiences and my two best friends only grew closer to me. Fremont has helped me grow academi-cally, physically and mentally and I’ll cherish the memo-ries forever.” -Maria De Jesus

“The teachers at Fremont are incredible. A huge part of my success in school came from the dedication, determination and overall kindness of every teacher I’ve had. I will never forget the role they had in my high school career.” -Ethai Barnea

“My counselor helped me out the most. All the presenta-tions they did, and being available for such long hours, I really appreciate their hard work. One thing I will never forget about Fremont is the belief I saw from every teacher and coach in myself.” -Anchal Takiar

“All of my teachers have been so supportive and a major role in my success. I’ll never forget the football games and my years on the cheer team.” -Krystal Bacon

“I really appreciated how caring and helpful all of my teachers at Fremont were. Each and every one of them inspired me to work harder and achieve my personal best. They have actu-ally inspired me to become a teacher myself. I plan to go to San Jose State to major in Child and Adolescent Development to make that dream come true. Though, I’ll mostly be work-ing with elementary schoolers, not so much with the adolescence, haha.” -My-Tam Hoang

San Jose State University

“The challenging AP classes helped prepare me for college.” -Radostin Ivanov

“I'm deeply thankful for the friends I've made though high school, friends I wouldn't have gotten to meet had I gone anywhere other than Fremont. Few things other than my them and perhaps a curiosity for the future keep me going on the average day.” -Andrew Brannon

Santa Clara University

“I couldn’t have done anything that Ive done without the tremendous support of the teachers in my life and then Admin. I follow my heart and I instantly fell in love with Western be-cause it reminded me of the home that Fremont was to me and that I will always have it in my heart.” -Paris Trytten

“I had a lot of support from my friends and family. It was really hard at first choosing a community college over a four-year university, but at the end it was down to weighing the pros and cons of going to community college or a university. I love all my friends and family that supported me throughout my decision making time.” -Omer Kogot

Central Oregon Community College

“Fremont taught me to learn to open my mind, to go out of my comfort zone and become more caring towards others. I’m never going to forget Fremont because it was the first place that’s ever taught me how to embrace my personality and to find who I am. The reason I chose Azusa Pacific University is because it reminds me of Fremont in the community aspect. When I walked on campus, I felt welcome and at home. I’m looking forward to that.” -Raechel Chen

Azusa Pacific University

Foothill College

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

De Anza College

“Many people bullied me and honestly I thought I couldn’t take it. I was done. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. So I proved everyone wrong and became a stronger person completing my 4 years of high school. I chose to be in radio broadcasting cause I want my voice to be known. I want to model cause I know no matter what people say I’m beautiful. I want to sing cause it has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. I’ll never forget the people who were by my side through all the issues I went through.” -Patricia Alvarez

“I’ll never forget the four years of playing water polo and swim-ming—and all of the friends I made from participating in the sports.” -Omri Levia

“All the teachers and coaches were really helpful. The reason why I chose De Anza was because of their track team. One thing about Fremont that Iwill never forget is how welcom-ing and diverse it is.” -Gabriel Varelas

“Definitely the staff and teachers because of the numerous hours they have spent to provide me with all the opportunities I have received. The awesome baseball team and their wonderful reputation with busi-nesses because of their ‘learn by doing’ motto. I will never forget the friends I have made at Fremont because they have been a big part of my identity and what made Fremont home for me.” -Mason McCloskey“What I will remember most about Fremont is the competition between class years. From homecoming to powder puff, the friendly games and afterschool rallies were pretty rad.” -Garett Jones

University of California, San Diego

University of California, Davis

“My counselor, Mrs.Freitas, helped me the most in order to get my applica-tions done for college. I chose UC Davis because it's a great school and I am going to be computer science major. I'll never forget that Fremont was a second home for me.” -Hooman Mohammadi

“I chose Puget Sound because it had every-thing I was looking for. It's a small school in the north west with a lot opportunities for research and exploration in the area.” -Natalie Paul

University of Puget Sound

“Choosing Davis over Berkeley and UCLA was honestly a very difficult decision. For me, it ultimately down to finan-cial concerns and school prestige. Davis provided me with generous and very much needed financial aid that would allow me to continue education past undergraduate studies.” -Takumi Sakai

“Fremont’s special because you get to see everyone’s unique personalities and talents, and at the same time, everyone comes together as one unified community. I’ll never forget all the memories I’ve made here with my Key Club family and Journalism family! I chose Davis because I just fell in love with the school. It has the major I want and is an overall happy campus! You can’t walk around without seeing a bunch of smiles.” -Neha Mannikar

“Probably all of the support I received from teachers. I dont think I'll ever forget how much they cared for their students.” -Vy Tran

“Ill never forget all the friends and memories I made at Fremont with Band and all my classes.” -Kanika Srivastava

“Fremont has taught me to work hard, strive towards my goals, and cherish the connections I have made with the people around me. That is one thing I’ll never forget about Fremont.” -Connie Ooi

University of California, Irvine

Number of Fremont students attending: 19












“I want to thank the entire admin team as well as teachers. Every single has of them has supported all of us since day one, all the way until now. They want you to succeed in life.” -Brandon Cross

California State University, ChicoNumber of Fremont students attending: 5

5June 3, 2014 Special Feature

Where are the Firebirds flying to next?

“I will never forget Fremont and all the friends I have been able to make from every sport and club I have been involved with.” -Hailey Sanidad

Rochester Institute of Technology

Purdue University

“The numerous leadership opportunities at Fremont helped me stand out amongst many possible candi-dates, and show that I deserved to be admitted. I’ll never forget how our school looks in the morning as the sun rises over it in the cool, fresh air.” -Stuart McCrorie

Western Washington University

“I couldn’t have done anything that Ive done without the tremendous support of the teachers in my life and then Admin. I follow my heart and I instantly fell in love with Western be-cause it reminded me of the home that Fremont was to me and that I will always have it in my heart.” -Paris Trytten

“I’ll never forget the four years of playing water polo and swim-ming—and all of the friends I made from participating in the sports.” -Omri Levia

University of California, San Diego

“The environment here is so family-like and open that it encouraged me to become more outgoing and open to other people, which helped me realize the major that I wanted to do, which is PR/Communications. I’m never going to forget the people that have helped me along my journey here and the amount of pride I had for this school. -Varsha Srivastava

Boston University

“Fremont has taught me to work hard, strive towards my goals, and cherish the connections I have made with the people around me. That is one thing I’ll never forget about Fremont.” -Connie Ooi Georgetown University

“I’ll never forget all the people that supported me over the 4 years at FHS.” -Alex Bernauer







University of California, Santa Barbara

“If there is one factor that led me to decide UC Santa Barbara for English, it was prob-ably my lit classes. Am Lit Honors and AP Lit reinvented my idea of a literature class; it was no longer one of those classes you threw on the back burner, but rather one that you had to put time and effort into in order to reap the benefits. And Mrs. Fujii went to UCSB, so I guess I’m following in her foot-steps to become an English teacher!” -Mackenzie Hart

“The amazing support system and hon-esty the guidance team and teachers have provided has encouraged me in ways that have encourage personal growth as well as academic excellence.” -Ishita Kanungo


Arts & Entertainment6 June 3, 2014

4 Things To D This Summer

June July

August

Take the cable car down to Chinatown. San Francisco can be such a fun place to spend time with family and friends but there are so many things to do. It’s easy to overlook the small, fun things. The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is one of those hidden gems. Located at 56 Ross Alley San Francisco, the factory is in the heart of Chinatown. The smell of fresh baked fortune cookies draws tourists from miles away. The factory offers samples to all and sells giant bags of cookies for 99 cents. San Francisco is always a great place to visit and the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is only an added bonus.

Go whitewater rafting. Sure, Rip Roaring Rap-ids at Great America is fun. How about a real rapid? California is one of the only states to offer 13 rapids in the northern region alone. The South Fork Ameri-can River is less than a two and a half drive from San Jose and offers rapids for the whole family. For less than $70 a person, rafting companies provide rafts, oars, safety devices and lunch for rafters. Rafting is a fun activity that anyone can enjoy. Most rafting companies also allow guests to pay an extra fee to rent tents and grills for an overnight stay on the lake. This activity is a nice solution to those hot summer days up ahead.

Stay local and visit the Sunnyvale Farmers’ Market. Open from 9am to 1pm every Saturday, the Farmer’s Market is a great place to visit with the family. Fresh fruits and vegetables are available for low prices. Organic juices and popcorn are among the more popular items. The Farmer’s Market is located on Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale. Instead of sleeping in everyday, save a Saturday morning for the Farmer’s Market.

Obsessed with food trucks? Follow Off The Grid. Off The Grid is a company that organizes food trucks throughout the Bay Area. The trucks meet regularly on Tuesdays in Cupertino and Thursdays in Sunnyvale. Follow them on Instagram and Twitter to find out where they’ll be. Some of the popular food trucks are The Grilled Cheese Bandits, The Waffle Roost, Sam’s Chowder Mobile, Oh Miso Hungry and Rockos.

by Jasmine SalikOpinion Editor

Finding the perfect gift for a graduating loved one can be especially difficult. The added emphasis on bring-ing a gift that will make a lasting impression on the se-nior in your life makes it an even more stressful occasion.

The most important thing to keep in mind while brainstorming gift ideas is that it doesn’t matter how elaborate or expensive the gift is, as long as time and ef-fort is put into buying or making a special present.

There are so many different options you can choose from and various routes you can take when bringing your gift to graduation. You can buy a present, make one, personalize it corresponding to the college the graduate is attending and so much more.

Try to make the gift creative and fun, something a teen would love. Unique gifts are also greatly appreciated. There are number of gifts you can craft by yourself.

College Survival Kit This is an example of an af-fordable and creative gift. For extra fun, try to personalize your kit with the college the graduate is attending. First, buy the actual kit, which can be anything from a box to a basket, or anything cute you can fit numerous small items in. Once you have bought the special basket, which can found at any arts and crafts store, the next step is to buy little items that are placed inside of the kit. These items can vary from lasting foods to basic home needs. Ramen noodle bowls, notebooks, small towels, laundry detergent and post-it notes are all great ideas that can be incorporated in your gift.

Money vs. Gift Card Many times, people just don’t have the time to make elaborate and crafty gifts, or quite frankly lack the artistic abilities. This is when the option of giving money or gift cards comes into play. However, which one is better? Gift cards definitely show a more personal interest since the card can be chosen based on the preferences of the senior. Buy a Forever 21 gift card if the graduate girl loves clothes, purchase a Coldstone gift card if the senior has a sweet tooth. The opportunities are endless. Although cash can be a great super last-minute gift, it is often better to stay away from the cliché and poorly planned present.

Take Your Senior Out Another great gift idea would be to take the senior out. Pick their favorite restaurant or one that gives discounts for graduates. The Elephant Bar in Cupertino, Calif. is a great example of a restaurant that will honor your graduate. Remember to not limit yourself to where and with whom you can go out with. Go watch a movie, go to Golfland, anything where you can spend a good time together or in a big group.

Priya Lee | The Phoenix


G(rad) gifts Featherette Spring Show

Photo Courtesy of Off The Grid

Photo Courtesy of Silicon Valley and Beyond

Photo Courtesy of Renne Rutledge



Photo Courtesy of Frans Lemmens

sportsJune 3, 2014 7

Strong season comes to an end at Sequioaby Elliot LehmanStaff Writer

Boys varsity baseball qualified for Central Coast Sections by obtaining an 11-4 record throughout the season. They are the El Camino League Division winners.

“We decided to all get mohawk haircuts to honor becoming league champi-ons,” Levi Torio, junior, said.

After qualifying for CCS, the team’s quarter-final match was against Sequoia High School on Thursday, May 22.

This was the first var-sity game at this high level for some players and this meant the team prepared a little differently than usual. The stakes were higher for this game because it was a CCS game.

Unfortunately, the team lost against Sequoia. The score was 5-2.

This means that the baseball season is over for junior Dean Otsuka and the

rest of the team.They will not advance

further in the CCS tourna-ment.

“Usually before a game we would just have a prac-tice, but CCS meant more than just an ordinary game,” Otsuka said.

CCS playoff games meant extra excitement for both sides. Both teams were expected to reach their peak performance, to further advance in the playoffs.

Physical condition is key for performance, so the team focused on their skills. However, this need for performance can result in added pressure on the players.

“Preparation for this game was a bit different because we prepared men-tally more than just having practice,” Otsuka.

As with most other sports, the mental aspect of baseball is a very important one. It is vital to focus on

Priya Lee | The PhoenixSENIOR Alex Bernauer pitches against Sequioa High School in the first round of Central Coast Sections at Sequoia High School.

their mentality if players want to play their best.

Although the season is over, it is not the end of baseball for most of the team. Players will continue to practice throughout the off-season to hone their

skills for next season. “I’m planning on

practicing and improving my skills for next season to hopefully make another run at CCS,” Otsuka said.

The team aims to stay competetive so that they can

compete in the CCS tourna-ment during next season. The rest of the returning team will also continue to focus on their skills in preparation for next season.

The earlier the team starts to focus on their

skills, the better they will be by the time the next season comes around.

Practice during the off-season will hopefully make the team’s return to the diamond better.

especially the new young guys,” Levia said. “We didn’t do as well as I hoped we would have, but it was still so much fun to go and compete.”

They had a time of 1 minute, 33.2 seconds in the trial rounds at the International Swimming Center at Santa Clara. The team said they didn’t place as well as they had hoped. However, they also said that just qualifying for CCS was very rewarding after such a good season.

“I’m really pumped that we even got to compete in CCS this year,” Tedorovich said. “It’s a pretty big deal consid-ering all of the people who were competing and the four of us actually made it and it’s not like we lost. We just didn’t do as well as we hope, but I don’t feel sorry for myself be-cause we were competing against some incredible athletes.”

They hope to place again and do even better next year. For Tedorovich this was only his first year at Fremont and first CCS meet, so he has many opportunitites to outdo his time and. For Levia, this was his last CCS meet but he says he’s very happy with the team’s performance.

For the first time in a long time, four swimmers from Fremont

High School qualified for Central Coast Sections in swim-ming. Senior Omri Levia, sophomores Nir Bekker and Rick Franc and freshman Boris Teodorovich qualified for the competitive 200 yard freestyle relay. Although they ended up placing 20th out of 37 teams, they say the experience was amazing.

“I think we got this far because we really worked hard and had much faster swimmers than in previous years,

by Mike CapovillaStaff Writer

by Tatiana CastilloStaff Writer

The long stretch is worth it Team qualifies for CCS relay rounds

Photo Courtesy of Omri Levia

Fremont High School is privileged to have many different sports teams available on campus. However, with numer-ous sports, there are also numerous opportunities to injure oneself.

Boys junior varsity soccer player, freshman Mani Poudat, experienced

a torn quad muscle which led to him being benched from games and incapable of playing for a month.

“I played all of pre-season, but then my injury occurred right before the actual season started so I didn’t get to play like I had initially intended,” Poudat said.

It’s very common for soccer players to be injured because of the many differ-ent stretches and positions

they go through to improve their skills, however, the most common soccer in-jury is a pulled leg muscle, since most of the muscles used in soccer are the legs. Although a pulled muscle is extremely common and easy to get, there’s one thing one can do to help prevent such an injury.

“Always stretch before you start playing,” Pou-dat said. “If your stretch doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it right.”

Football is another contact sport that results in many injuries. Anthony Torres, freshman on the JV football team, experi-enced knots (tightening of muscles) in his calve this past season.

“It was because I didn’t stay hydrated and that’s really important to do especially because we’re in the sun most of the time,” Torres said.

Although Torres was not dismissed from play-ing, it still affected him during games.

“I had to be more careful with my approach and I had to watch the way I was moving because if I made one wrong move my leg was stiff and uncom-fortable for a long time,” Torres said.

Concussions are said

to be the most common injuries for a football player to experience. A concussion is temporary unconsciousness, dizzi-ness, confusion and/or loss of memory caused by a blow to the head.

“I got a concussion towards the beginning of the season, which resulted in me sitting out the rest of the games,” junior Jisiah Ybarra, varsity football said. “I only played one game.”

The amount of time a player is benched depends on the severity of the concussion, which in most cases leaves players out for the remainder of the season.

“Most of the injuries happen at practice, be-cause we’re giving all of our effort but we’re also doing it a million times in a row,” Oscar Baerga, junior on varsity football said.

Sophomore Ruben Aguilar, varsity football player, injured his knee during practice, which re-sulted in him being placed on crutches with a knee splint.

“I’m on crutches for about six weeks, but I’ll be playing next season,” Aguilera said.

Basketball players also experience their fair share

Lack of stretching causes athletic injuries

I had to be more careful with my approach and I had to watch the way I was moving because if I made one wrong move my leg was stiff and uncomfortable for a long time.

Anthony Torres

of injuries throughout the season. While some tear their ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), others roll their ankle, which can make running back and forth on the court extreme-ly more difficult.

“This season I didn’t get very much play time because I rolled my ankle during practice,” Tia Poole, junior on the varsity girls basketball team, said.

Track and field is another popular sport on campus and the injuries are just as common, but not as severe.

“Shin spilts are really common, and so is the lack of confidence,” Luis Cor-dero on varsity boys track and field, said.

Shin splints is pain along the tibia and the pain feels like it is throb-bing or aching. It is most common in runners or dancers who recently revved up their workout intensity, do not have good quality shoe support, or run on different surfaces.

Although every athlete is prone to injuries, simple tasks like staying hydrated, stretching and icing can alleviate the pain.

If the pain is too great, one should seek their doctor.

Sports8 June 3, 2014

Flipping out, since she qualified for CCSby Chau NguyenSports Editor

With many twists and turns in her high school diving career, sole diver, sophomore Hailey Young, qualified for Central Coast Sections diving qualifying rounds, which was held at the International Swim Center on May 16th.

To qualify for CCS, varsity divers must score over 280 points at league finals.

Young took home 339.8 points, which was the total of all of points she received for her dives at league finals.

Chau Nguyen | The PhoenixSOPHOMORE Hailey Young does a front somersault full twist after round one of Central Coast Sections.

Three track stars out, one to CCS finalsby Kristina LechugaLead Artist

Chau Nguyen | The PhoenixJJ Escalera tries to hold off a Leigh runner during the final lap of the 1600 meters at San Jose City College.

“Every meet I went to, my mom always asks me who I’m doing it for. I always say, ‘Barbara.’”

Hailey YoungUnfortunately, she did

not advance past round one of five at CCS since many of the girls were more experienced.

“You can join different clubs and games and most of them are in junior Olym-

pics or dive at Stanford,” she said. “I’ve only been doing it for two years. I was really nervous. There was a lot of people and a lot of really good girls and a huge selec-tion of girls. It was really intimidating.”

Judges award points based on the degree of dif-ficulty of the dive and how well they’re executed.

At first, the point system seems confusing because there are multiple things to keep in mind, but there are only two huge factors for the point system: performance and the dive’s difficulty.

The highest and low-est scores are “knocked out”, or not counted. Only the remaining scores are added together and the to-tal of the remaining scores are multiplied by the dive’s degree of difficulty.

As an example, if a dive receives a five, a three, a two and three sixes, then the score of the two and the six would be knocked out, since they were the lowest and highest scores.

The remaining scores are now a five, three and two sixes, which add up to 20. Twenty is then multi-plied by the dive’s degree of difficulty (1.9). That’s a

total of 38 points.None of the points are

rounded.Divers are only allowed

11 dives for CCS and they all have to be in a particular order. The same dive can’t be repeated. However, there are also voluntary dives and optional dives.

Optional dives are any other dives that are the real game changers because these are usually, the more difficult ones that can score more points.

Voluntary dives are mandatory because they’re the ones that assess if one knows the basics of diving.

Young joined diving when her mom and her went to the swimming pool during the summer after eighth grade. Her mom saw a flyer for diving and asked if she would join. Young said yes.

However, during the summer after her freshman year, her coach Barbara Blank unfortunately passed

away. The athletic direc-

tors tried to find a new diving coach, but instead, asked the Homestead High School’s diving coach.

Young learned seven new dives this season and has perfected the ones she did last year in junior varsity. During the season, Young went to HHS and dived with their team and she also went to the ISC for her diving club.

“Every meet I went

to, my mom always asks me who I’m doing it for. I always say, ‘Barbara.’”

Her coach is one of her main motivators that led her to CCS, since she wanted to make her coach proud and live up to her expectations.

At a diving banquet last year, Young was rec-ognized for her efforts and what Blank said to her, gave her a greater motivation to continue diving.

“Everyone was an-nounced and she an-nounced me,” Young said. “We all got an award and when we got out award, she announced a special thing for all of us. When she said my name, she said, ‘Hailey Young, the future of our diving team who got first in leagues,’ I turned really red.”

Even though Young is the only diver at Fremont, she strives to perfect her dives and make Blank proud.

“It’s like my kind of sport,” Young said. “Every-one has their kind of sport. You have track, there’s wrestling. Everyone has their own kind of sport. Mine is diving.”

Perhaps she is the fu-ture of the diving team.

Senior William Yeh, sophomores Jacqueline Juana Escalera and Annah Jones and junior Sabina Dayal represented some of the best of the Fremont High School’s track team at Central Coast Sections pre-liminaries at San Jose City College on May 24th

They were in the top 20 CCS rankings and were able to participate in the prelims because of their performance at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Championships on May 16th.

Yeh placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles at SCVAL with a time of 15.70 seconds, dropping two sec-onds off of his average time and setting a new personal record. However, at CCS prelims, he placed 32nd with a time of 17.57, losing some seconds. Despite this, it was still an accomplish-ment to get this far.

Dayal advanced to CCS prelims because of her third place in long jump and fourth place in triple jump at SCVAL

However, she couldn’t advance to finals because of her performance at prelims. She placed 20th in long jump and 16th in triple jump at prelims. Despite her scratches, she is still ranked eighth for long jump in CCS.

“I ended up scratch-

ing, which means my foot was over the line you have to jump from,” Dayal said. “Three of my four jumps were by less than an inch and my fourth jump was from behind the line and was just an uncomfortable jump. I was really frustrated, but I’m really hoping that next year is better and I’m going to practice a lot and be ready for it.”

Jones placed seventh at SCVAL in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints. Only the top six from each event qualify for CCS trials, but Jones advanced to prelims in the 100 meter because the other competitor did not participate. At CCS prelims, she placed 17th in the 100 meter.

“Since it was my first meet outside of our league I was super nervous,” Jones said. “Especially because I didn’t know a lot of the girls I was competing against and how their running tech-niques compared against mine.”

Although her rank wasn’t what she desired, Jones still aims to get back on track.

“I knew that some of the year round training I did last year was a huge help for increasing my muscles strength, thus making me a faster sprinter,” Jones said. “I didn’t make it past trials because of a dumb injury that wasn’t even suppose to

happen. It’s always disap-pointing to know that you’re able to succeed at some-thing and then one little fluke can mess up every-thing you worked so hard to accomplish.”

“But if it’s one thing that athletes tend to learn, it’s persistence,” Jones said. “And I plan to make it further next year with even more training and dedica-tion even though sometimes it’s hard, you gotta do what you got to do.”

Only one of the athletes is advancing to CCS finals: Escalera.

The top 12 runners go to CCS finals for the 1600 and only the top eight in the 800 go to finals.

Escalera is seeded last in the 800 and 10th in the 1600, but the amount of pressure isn’t much for her.

“It actually is less pres-sure,” she said. “Whenever I’m seeded first, there’s all this pressure. There’s a target on your back, like everyone’s trying to catch you, but being seeded last, especially in the 800, is OK because all the times are super close. I have a goal to catch someone. I don’t have to worry about being caught.”

She did not advance past prelims last year, but she is proud of how hard she has worked during prac-tice and not getting off track on her physical abilities.

“It’s a huge honor,” Escalera said. “The Central Coast Section for distance girls is the second or third best section in California. A girl who runs a 5:10 mile would easily make state in other sections like Southern California. If I moved to the south, I would make states a lot easier. But I like it better here because the more com-petition I get, the more I’m going to run fast personally.”

However, she had some mistakes during her 1600 at prelims that she hopes to solve before CCS finals on May 30th.

“I kind of messed up in the 16 actually,” Escalera said. “In the beginning, the

pack, we went around the turn and then this one girl that I was going to stay with went faster. So instead of slowly gaining up to her, I quickened my steps, so it wasted a lot of energy.”

Escalera says that run-ning is more of an indi-vidual sport because it’s all about you

“It also relieves stress,” Escalera said. “It’s such an individual sport. I’ve played team sports, but I just like the fact that’s it all based on you. You don’t need a ball, you don’t need a racquet, or like a bat. It’s your body and you have to push as hard as you can with what you have.

That’s why I like it.”However, Jones thinks

that track is not so much an individual sport.

“Well, I want the school and even the track athletes themselves to know that track really isn’t that much of an individual sport,” she said. “Everyone thinks that only certain people on the team are the best, but that’s not true. Those individuals on the team have people behind the scenes helping them run faster, helping them support one another. It’s not all about the “ath-lete” but as the team as a whole.”

june 3rd issue | issue 8, volume 2

Documents