The ConnectionClear Brook High School Spring 2014

Is Generation Z putting the “Z” in lazy?By Raha Meshkatian, Staff

Kick back your feet, toss your homework to the side and let’s talk about laziness in school. In the world we live in today, there are lots of things that affect the behavior and academic performance in students. One thing that is becoming more noticeable, even to other students, is an increase in general laziness. The YOLO mentality has crept its way into the halls of high schools across the country, and making excuses has become an art form. Each generation has its own nickname, those born between the years of 1994 and 2004, are known as “Generation Z”, which now has the distinction of being labeled as the laziest generation of all time. Experts agree that the one thing designed to improve our lives, may be the downfall of our children – tech-nology. “School is supposed to be fun and laid back. I am a lazy person because when I get home I just watch TV and eat,” said junior Carlos Puente. “After you’re done with school, your grades don’t even matter,” Puente added.

Getting ConnectedBy Sheeva Baghalian, Staff

Clear Brook High School is once again setting the barfor technology innovation in the classroom as the first of the district high schools to roll out the new tablets for freshman and sopho-more students. The school is also adapting a new, more open policy for all electronic devices. Students received their new Dell Latitude tablets in January, with current juniors set to get there’s next year. By the start of the 2014-15 school year, all Clear Brook students will have access to the new tablets. If they do not have a tablet, students can also use their own personal electronic device in class, like cell phone or tablet, for instructional purposes with teacher permission. Campus Technology Integration Specialist Shawn Gold-ner said the tablets can benefit students on all levels both person-ally and academically. “The benefits are great in that they contain state of the art tools to help the average student create and edit several differ-ent forms of media from basic word processing to videos, photos, web animation and presentations,” said Goldner. “The benefits to the staff are equally as great, and can help them deal more efficiently with the business of teaching like attendance, grading, SPED paperwork, and contacting parents,

giving them more time to interact with their students,” added Goldner. Freshman Mark Trejo said he’s likes having a tablet. “I think they’re very useful, we use them to take quizzes through Edmodo and to make PowerPoints,” said Trejo. “I also like not having to carry around so many books, and being able to get to the textbook online if I need to,” he added. Joshua Neubauer said he and his classmates have ad-justed well to having the tablets being a part of their school day. “We like having them and being able to use them at school and at home,” said Neubauer “I like that I can do work or a project at home, and either save it on my tablet or email it directly to my teacher,” he added. Geometry teacher, Leticia Aldridge said she thinks most students have made an easy transition to using the tablets. “I think they actually enjoy the activities we do in class using the tablets, like the one we did where we had a race to see who could solve a set of problems and you could see in real-time who was finishing problems first,” said Aldridge. Aldridge added that the only real complaint she’s had from students is keeping their tablets charged and ready for use the next day.

A study by the Social Science Research Council at the Univer sity of Virginia found that 45 percent of students are detached from school and do not improve on their learning performances by the time they graduate. A fact which leaves teachers concerned about where students are going to end up in the future based on their performance in class. “I would say about 40 to 50 percent of my students have a lazy streak,” said graphic design teacher, David Alexander. “I try to show them how easy the work is with examples and inspiration to motivate them, I even tell them that the more they learn, the more fun the work will be; but as for their futures, I am very worried about these kids as a teacher,” added Alexan-der. The biggest concern for these Gen Z students is their future. Some get grades as low as their sagged pants and still expect to get rewarded with high-paying careers such as lawyers, doctors, or investment bankers. “Usually my students who choose not to do their work end up paying the price by getting bad grades,” said Taylor. Lazy, cont. pg. 2

Technology cont. pg. 3

Lazy, cont. from pg. 1

It’s “lights, camera, action” for CBTV crew

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“I try to motivate them by doing fun labs, review games and even bribing them with food, but I feel that many of them are just not be able to focus in the future,” said Taylor. Taylor said she feels that many students believe that grades just don’t matter when it comes to their future. “I don’t feel like it’s okay to put off work, it just happens or I forget about it. I feel like at this point as a senior, nothing can really motivate me to do my work anymore,” said senior Adrian Gonzalez. “I’m not worried about slacking off affecting my future because even if I don’t get the best grades, there’s always going to be a college or job that will accept me,” said Gonzalez. Sophomore Audrey Rose agreed with Gonzalez about life outside of high school. “Well I’m kinda split on thinking it’s okay to put off work because my dad didn’t graduate high school and he still has a good paying job, but then again most jobs these days need high school diplomas, said Rose. “I’d be motivated to do my work more if I got paid for it, because I don’t feel like intelligence is based on a number you get, like a grade or a GPA,” said Rose. Junior Rashell Dann said she could see where being lazy might hurt your future, but wasn’t worried about it. “It can affect one’s future like, to the point where you don’t turn work in or college applications, and if you don’t take school seriously sometimes you might not go to a good college, but why really worry about it,” said Dann

The group’s success at SXSW led to an appearance on a local news show. “I was so nervous, because I’m not used to being in front of the camera, not on the news, but it was so awesome,” said Vela. That type of success continues to motivate all the CBTV students. Many of the advanced CBTV students saw CBTV vid-eos when they were freshmen, and joined their sophomore year, like junior Bailey Skinner. “It looked so cool and so fun, so I signed up,” said Skinner, who is now a regular co-host on the advanced video show. Junior Roy Aguilar was already interested in film when he signed up for the class. “I chose audio/video production in order to further my experience and ability in the field and this allows me time for the creative process to slowly take form,” said Aguilar. Antonio Martinez, a junior, said he’s also looking to go into film making as a career. “I like working in technology and thought it would be a fun class to serve as a creative outlet, plus I want to go into film as a career,” said Martinez. Skinner said taking the CBTV class has also inspired her to look into a career in journalism. “At first I wasn’t, but after my first year in CBTV, and now my second year, I’ve really been thinking about getting into news and broadcasting in college,” said Skinner.

By Nicole Munoz, Staff You see them in the halls, on the stairs and in the cafete-ria with cameras, lights and booms, and twice a week they make their way into your advisory class. They are the kids of CBTV and they are watching you. And now their viewing audience isn’t just limited to Clear Brook High School. Every week beginner and advanced audio/video students work to product videos showcasing what’s happening on campus, and unique skits that showcase their personal talents as writers and actors. “My best stuff comes when I least expect it,” said senior Joseph Alvarez. “It all depends on the idea and how much work you need to put into it,” he added. This year, a student-led project made the big leap from the high school campus to the bright lights of the South by South-west (SXSW) Festival in Austin with their short film. “It took hours after school to get the film done,” said Danny Vela, one of the films co-creators. “The experience of being at such a nationally recognized film festival was so exciting, there were so many awesome people there and so much to learn about new filming techniques, it was incredible,” said Vela.

Junior Bailey Skinner goes over production notes for the next show with CBTV crew members. Photo courtesy of CBHS yearbook staff.

The ConnectionOrchestra students take it easy in The Big EasyBy Nicole Munoz, Staff The smell of Cajun food and sounds of jazz bands filled the air from every street corner. The beautiful sights and sounds of New Orleans welcomed Clear Brook orchestra students with open arms for a weekend competition. Students loaded up on buses early on Friday, April 11, for a trip that was a year in the making. “We started thinking about this trip on our spring trip to Dallas last year, when we saw that Northshore High School in Louisiana was going to have a competition, so we decided why not make a weekend out of it,” said Orchestra Director Christina Bires. Bires said she worked closely with the orchestra’s parent booster club for six months to organize and earn money for the trip. “We just didn’t know if the students would enjoy New Orleans, but many said they were excited to go out of state, so that got the ball rolling,” added Bires.Senior Brandon Connor said excitement started building as soon as everyone heard about this year’s spring trip. “Whenever I found out about the trip, I wanted to leave immediately,” said Connor. “I’ve experienced these spring trips for the last three years I’ve been in orchestra, and I was ready for my last year to be the best,” he added. Before the bus could even take off, the orchestra worked for months perfecting their performance pieces, M to the Third Power, Black River Ballad, and Dance Diabolique, with a week of intense practices by all four orchestra classes in the days be-fore they left. “I’m always stressed before anything big our orchestra family does, but the excitement I saw from all the kids got me excited, too. Junior Vivian Huynh said the anticipation over going to a city like New Orleans made it hard to wait so long to go. “There was so much hype built up over this trip, and as it got closer to the day we were leaving you could tell how every-one was super-excited,” said Huynh. Orchestra members didn’t know what to expect after all they had heard about New Orleans, but said they were ready for anything. “When I found out we were going to New Orleans, I thought the trip was just going to consist of history and an old historical city and be boring,” said sophomore, Priscilla Lopez. “Actually being there and experiencing New Orleans for myself was actually really cool,” said Lopez.By noon, they were in the French Quarter roaming around Jax Brewery, and boarding the Natchez steamboat for trip down the Mississippi. “We get to New Orleans and there’s people dancing in the streets and bands playing music,” said Lopez. After spending at day on the town, it was time to get down to business and get ready for their performance.

The next day though, the CBHS orchestra students had to wake up almost as early to perform at Northshore High School. “Our performance was the only reason we were in Loui-siana,” said Bires. “I think the kids knew that and so they gave it their all, especially the kids who didn’t know the song well.” In the end, the group’s hard work and determination paid off, ending the competition with the top award for Best Orches-tra, and Best Cellos. “I was so happy when they gave us those awards,” said sophomore Jacob Robertson. “It was mostly because I’m a cello, but getting the highest award there made it even better,” he added. Bires said all the hard work planning and practicing for the spring trip was worth it. “I was so happy for the kids, they all came together from four different orchestras, never really having played with each other, and came out on top,” said Bires.

Orchestra students have fun waiting in line before touring the World War II museum in New Orleans, LA. The group was in the city from April 11 - 13 performing at the North-shore High School Compeition.

The Connection

Technology, cont. from pg. 1 Spanish teacher Nicole Williams said she feels the tab-lets are helping to bridge a gap between low-level thinking and high-level thinking skills. “These tablets are helping bridge the difference between low-level learning structures and higher integrated thinking, along with student directed activity,” said Williams. Juniors Cruz Laguna and Josh Smith said they’re look-ing forward to getting their tablets next year. “I think it will help us keep our work more organized, and being able to work on the same project or assignment from school or our house,” said Laguna. Smith added that the tablets will help students get ready for a more paperless environment in college. “While I think that some parts of high school will still have to be paper-based, it will help us get ready for college, where a lot of my friends said their textbooks are online, and a lot of their assignments are turned in electronically,” said Smith. CCISD’s tablet roll out is part of a the districts $367 mil-lion bond referendum that addressed CCISD facilities, instruc-tional technology, and co-curricular and extracurricular programs. Approximately $45 million was allocated for the districts tech-nology initiative that includes seeing that all students in grades 4 through 12 equipped with a tablet computer; and give students in grades Pre-K though 3 access tablet computers in the classroom.

Reading is not a dying passion for some studentsBy Christian Labberton, Staff Are the days of cozying up with a good book gone? Is getting lost in a story possible when turning the page is done with a swipe of your finger across a tablet screen? Is watching the movie the same as reading the book? According the American Library Association, only 24.5% of teenagers say they enjoy reading outside of school, with 77% saying they only read books for school. Sophomore Steven Ginn said he doesn’t like reading because he doesn’t care enough to follow the story. “I have no imagination, and can’t really picture the story in my head, I hate that they’re so long and most are difficult to understand because of the way they are worded,” said Ginn. Hisham Nawful said he gets distracted by all the words, but thought that audio books might be a good option. “The things that annoy me about reading are pretty much the same as before but also it has to many words, the words go me and I don’t really pay attention,”said Nawful. “I wouldn’t mind an audio book though, that might help me focus, because I’d rather just listen,” he added. Freshman Atasia Delaney said she the large amount of book summaries on the internet make it to where she doesn’t have to read a whole book. “I don’t like reading because it’s not my top priority, besides who needs to read a book when you have Sparknotes, or Shmoop,” said Delaney All is not lost, according to stageoflife.com, 63.5 of teenagers still buy books from big name companies like Barnes &

Noble, with 40.2% of teenagers buying books from online retail-ers like Amazon. Because teens can borrow books and read them for free, 31% of teenagers say that they spend no money whatso-ever on books. The website also said that one out of two teens will buy one to two books a month spending anywhere from $5 to $20 a month on books. And 75% of students said they have had a parent, teacher, or other adult authority figure recommend an inspirational book to them in the last year. Sophomore Mathew McKernan said he likes to read, and thinks more students don’t read because they think it’s not cool. “It intrigues me and the stories are awesome, adventure and stuff like that can’t happen in real life,” said McKernan. “Most kids don’t think reading is cool, or they’ll look like they study all the time, they might like it if they found the right story,” he added. Sophomore Eliza Qazi said reading is like a movie you get to create in your head. “I like to read, it’s like a movie you get to create in your head as you read the words,” said Qazi. “I think more people should take the time to read be-cause more and more books are being turned into movies, and the book is always better than the movie,” she added. So whether it’s a at the library or online, it’s not too late to pick up a book, pick a comfy spot and start reading.

The ConnectionWolverines reach out to community near and farBy Sheeva Baghalian, Staff Students at Clear Brook have done their best to show our community what Wolverine Spirit is all about. Through their Through their involvement in clubs like PALS, Senior Hearts, Best Buddies, and the Red Cross Club students across all grade levels have spent the year students reaching out and helping oth-ers. Our Peer Assistance and Leadership, or PALS, program is one of the oldest community service organizations on campus, and the strongest PAL program in the district. PALS go through an in-depth selection and training to be mentors to at risk students throughout the district. Once chosen, Clear Brook PALS are assigned to work one-on-one with selected students at Clear Brook’s feeder schools, as well as here on campus. “The PAL Program is for juniors and seniors who have a desire to help and serve others,” said faculty sponsor Donna Stone. “They must have a reputation of respect for others and dependability, as well as commit to and choose to be drug and al-cohol free, as we do a great deal of promotion for living a healthy lifestyle at our feeder elementary and intermediate schools,” said Stone.PALS are assigned one PALee at each of three elementary and intermediate schools, and visit their PALees at least once a week. The second-year PALS, or PAL 2s, focus on helping the community by weekly visits to nursing homes and Alzheimer Centers, including working one-on-one with the Villagers from Hope Village. They also teach a program called “KIDizens: Because Kids Are Citizens, Too!” to the second graders at local elementary schools. PALS involvement in the community is not limited to just working at schools. “All PALS participate in community service throughout the school year,” said Stone. “PALS volunteer for elementary provide childcare dur-ing elementary school PTA Meetings, and help out with a wide-variety of events held by non-profit organizations and churches in the Bay Area,” said Stone. Junior Kaitlyn Loving said she has learned a lot this first year. “My first year as a PAL has been a great experience, and has opened my eyes to a lot of different experiences,” said Lov-ing Senior Alyssa Mata said being in a group that is commit-ted to giving back to the community is something that will help her as she moves to college and beyond. “Helping people has given me a broad perspective on what people go through at different stages of their lives,” said

Mata.Best Buddies is another group on campus that gives back to the community and children with intellectual and developmental dis-abilities. “Our organization is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships pairing special education students with regular educa-tion students,” said faculty sponsor Tanya Folmsbee. “As a club, we do fun activities together and celebrate the power of friendship,” said Folmsbee. Folmsbee said Buddies get together in school and then meet with their assigned buddy once or twice a month out of school to do an activity together,” said Folmsbee. Best Buddies has eight formal national programs — Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e-Buddies®, Jobs, Ambassadors, and Promoters — that help positively impact our community. A new group formed here on campus is the Red Cross Club. Sponsored by science teacher Alaina Garza, the club is based on spreading the hard work done by Red Cross volunteers around the country. “Red Cross Organization at Clear Brook High School is based aroundfurthering the reach and cause of the national American Red Cross through service projects, disaster education, and relief ef-forts through raising funds,” said Garza. Garza said that even though the group is new to campus, they’ve been working hard to raise awareness and help the com-munity. “The Red Cross at CBHS is still very young; it was founded less than two years ago, we’ve had service projects such as the Canvassing Project for Fire Safety in Neighborhoods around the Clear Lake Area, and raised money and donations for national disasters this year.,” said Garza. Some programs promote good will just here on campus, like the Senior Hearts. Senior hearts is a group made up of seniors that show and promote school spirit and their appreciation for senior student athletes that compete at Brook. The heart of this organization is Gretchen Jefferies. “We recognize each sport’s senior athletes during their season by presenting them with recognition “hearts”, and also attend some of the sporting events to help cheer them on,” said Jeffries. Each of these clubs at Clear Brook High school cheer on and support our community members and our students. Random acts of kindness are being preformed every day by different mem-bers of the community.

Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Exam Schedule

Monday, June 2*7th Period-Final Exam 7:20 – 9:13 a.m.3rd Period-Review 9:20 – 10:22 a.m.6th Period-Review 10:29 – 11:30 a.m.Review Session I 12:30 – 1:23 p.m.Review Session II 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 3*5th Period-Final Exam 7:20 – 9:13 a.m.3rd Period-Attendance 9:20 – 9:30 a.m.6th Period-Final Exam 9:37 – 11:30 a.m.Review Session I 12:30 – 1:23 p.m.Review Session II 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 4*2nd Period-Final Exam 7:20 – 9:13 a.m.3rd Period-Attendance 9:20 – 9:30 a.m.4th Period-Final Exam 9:37 – 11:30 a.m.Review Session I 12:30 – 1:23 p.m.Review Session II 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 51st Period-Final Exam 7:20 – 9:13 a.m.3rd Period-Final Exam 9:20 – 11:30 a.m.Early Release at 11:30 a.m.Buses will run at 11:30 a.m., on this day only.

*Afternoon buses will be running as usual for a 2:30 p.m. afternoon pick-up on Monday, Tues-day and Wednesday. Students will also have a one-hour lunch break on those days, after which they must report to the afternoon tutorial sessions. Students will not be allowed to wait on campus for buses at the end of the day. If you choose to leave at 11:30 dismissal and not attend afternoon tutorials, you must make your own travel arrangements.

Senior Exam ScheduleTuesday, May 27

7th Period during class time

Wednesday, May 285th & 6th Period during class time

Thursday, May 292nd & 4th Period during class time

Friday, May 301st & 3rd Period during class time

Seniors must attend all classes during Senior Exams even if they are exempt because these are Regular Schedule Days. Senior Exams may be split into two days, if necessary, but must be complete by Friday, May 30.

Senior End-of-Year EventsMay 5 Senior Advisory Meeting

May 8 Senior Award Nominations in Advisory

May 19 – 21 Cap and Gown Deliveries

May 20 Senior Awards – 6:30 p.m. in the Clear Brook Auditorium

May 22 Senior Banquet – 6:30 p.m. at the Green Event Center

May 27 Senior Panoramic Picture – 9 a.m. at Clear Brook

June 4 Graduation Practice – 1 p.m. at Clear Brook

June 5 Graduation – 7:30 p.m. at District Stadium

June 5 Project Graduation – 11:59 p.m. to 5 a.m. at Itz Pizza in Pasadena