Volume 106, Issue 2 Modesto High School December 2018

Best and WorstGifts

~MoHi’s

Clothing Closet

Clothing Closetpage 3Sherlock Holmespages 4-5Gift Givingpages 6-7

School Safetypage 11

Air Qualitypage 10

Attendance Clerkspages 8-9

Screen Timepage 12Classroom TV’spage 13Budding Surgeonpage 14Mental Illnesspage 15

The Clothing Closet

When you throw a stone into a lake, the ripples it creates are 1,000 times larger than the stone. Can a piece of clothing have that same effect?

Stacked high with folded clothes and strung with colors and fabrics, is an unsuspected room on cam-pus, founded upon the intention of beneficence. ‘The Closet’ was established last year with the com-bined efforts of senior, Aidan McAllister, and teacher, Ms. Monjure. Although never officially opened, the Closet is being redesigned and refurbished by a group of Modesto High students and teachers with a vision and passion to capitalize on the strong bones of an idea.

The room is piled high with clean, new or gently used shirts, sweaters, jackets, pants, shorts, formal attire, scarves, shoes, and other articles of clothing.

The Clothing Closet is accessible to all students, it is a place for students to feel good about themselves, a place to feel comfortable and supported. Most people take for granted the clothes hanging in their closets, but simple necessities, such as clothing, can be placed on the back burner during times of finan-cial hardship.

Teacher, Ms. Harris stated, “This is a gift to our cam-pus and our students. Each and every year that I have worked, I have had countless students who need clothing. Reasons range from sheer necessi-ty, to students getting hired for jobs and need-ing nicer clothing, to special events happen-ing and there being no ability to purchase the desired clothing.” The Closet will be ran by students during lunches, and can be accessed privately through teachers or staff mem-bers. There is also a special request form for students who need specific types of clothing. Every effort will be made to provide proper attire for job interviews, events, or other special occasions.

Modesto High School, denigrated as the ‘ghetto school’ of west side Modesto, boasts a rich population that parallels its atmosphere and its commitment to global mindedness. Problems sewn into the fabric of everyday life subside when people do not accept them as ‘necessary evils’ or institutionalized ‘normals’ but rather solvable obstacles.

Ultimately, every person goes through their sub-jective struggles, whether it be illness, disability, or financial struggle… It is important to have a place that can remedy struggle, that can instill hope for a better tomorrow and a better future.

When you throw a stone into a lake, the ripples it creates are 1,000 times larger than the stone. Can a piece of clothing have that same effect? Kindness can.

by Shelby Benz

As Christmas approaches, this Modesto High play was as perfect as it sounds; the classic Christmas Carol tale but with a Sherlock Holmes twist. Mr. Murry, the director of the play, has directed 51 main productions within the 25 years he has been teaching at Modesto High. He’s been a part of the PAA program at Modesto High ever since it began. He chose the script, cast the actors, and built the set with indispensable help of PAA coordinator, Ms. McHale and her students. Her stu-dents also do the lighting and sound work during the play. Murry admits that every single play that he has directed has had a “problem in it that we never had before - either the terms of set design or how to create an image or look on stage or build some-thing that had never been built before or used before.” Virtually every play has a problem that needs to be solved.” Murry admires “people who understand how difficult it is to create the script and set.” He also admires “those who work with other people even if they don’t like them.”

When in theatre, it’s all about “a couple of basic things: memorize the text, know your block, and be dependable.” He explains that, with experi-ence, “every single play has some unique feature about it that we’ve never seen before, something that I have to build that I never built before.” Behind this mastermind is the stage man-ager, Carina Arreola, a senior who is part of the MHS Performing Arts Academy. While trying to come up with ideas, she has to take what is in the script and bring it to life and “it’s kind of difficult with [the] limits [we] have and what we can do, so we kind of have to think outside the box.” There was really no specific problem that they had to overcome besides the small ones that occur here and there. She is key to the play com-ing to life as she is the tech and has to take care of the sound effects in the play. She has to maintain organization and have a set plan while staying focused. She has to watch for a certain cue based on the actors’ actions or lines. Arreola said, “Some-times I get nervous that they don’t say it or some-times they skip their lines and it like gets messed

Sherlock Holmes and The Case Of The Christmas Carol

Behind the scenes

up, [but] I have to deal with it and think on my feet.” Before starting a show, she has to “be bossy” while “making sure everybody is in their place” at the same time. It is her responsibility to turn their thoughts into actions. Many people who participated in this pro-duction had a lot of fun while trying to be seri-ous at the same time. An actress that plays Mrs. Hudson and help design the stage sounds from scratch is Brielle Wallar, a senior, who is also in the PAA program. She admires actress Meryl Streep and tries to “find [a] connection from [herself ] like in [her] character. When comparing herself to the character she plays, she said, “[Mrs. Hudson] is much more poised than I am.” She loves how Mrs. Hudson can be classy and hate that she is so forgiving. Wallar said that she is “always trying to play [a] different [role] while learning to not doubt my-self because I don’t think I was going to be able to do it but I did it.” After attending the play opening night, Vanika Kang, a junior loved how “Holmes was visited by the man he murdered because smoke came out of the door then the whole auditorium got dark and it was really cool.” What she found interesting was “that it showed Sherlock’s past and

future.” After watching the two and a half hour play, Kang said that she “would definitely recom-mend people watch it because it was an amazing play.” Hannah Murry, a junior, who also watched the play, said it was good. “I felt that it was really entertaining and really well done.” Her favorite character was Sherlock Holmes, played by senior Jack Ford. “He did such a good job at embody-ing the role he was playing.” She loved how they portrayed the ghost of Christmas and recom-mend people to watch the show because “it’s [a] fun twist on the two classic stories of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘The Christmas Carol’.” This play has 25 characters, but when asked who will amaze the audience, many have respond-ed positively to Jack Ford’s performance. With all the designing and hard work that students put in to this play, the audience was be blown away by Jack’s performance who as stated by Mr. Murry, “stayed on stage most of the time throughout the play.” From the direction, set design, and acting, to the backstage crew and all that goes on that the audience never sees, this excellent play is an example of the hard work and dedication paying off for many talented panthers.

Photos and story by Diego Aguirre & Sabrina Mean

The holiday season is a time for giving and appreciating one another. To celebrate this year’s holiday season, we decided to ask some of our fellow students at Modesto High about the best and worst gifts they’ve ever recieved. From a pair of new kicks to a new addition to the family, these gifts commemmorate the spirit of the holidays, no matter how big or small they are. The Modesto High Panther Press team hopes you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.

“The best gift I have ever got-ten was the Harry Potter book series. My parents bought me them for Christmas in 2012. They actually taught me that

reading can be fun while I ex-panded my vocabulary.”

-Vanessa (‘19)

“My favorite holiday gift was a pup-py. My cat had recently died about a month before and we knew we were

getting a new pet.”

-Adele Dumar (‘19)

The Best and Worst Gifts Ever Received

“The worst gift I ever re-cieved was a grilling set (a gift frim a white elephant

party about two years ago). I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t

see the use of the grilling set. I asked someone who likes to grill to switch with me for a

Starbucks basket.”- Xochitl Cortez (‘19)

“The best present I ever got was my Jordan shoes.”

-Lisabeth Duarte (‘22)

“My worst present wasa pair of socks because they weren’t warm and fuzzy socks.”

- Lisabeth Duarte (‘22)

“The worst christmas gift I have ever got-ten was a pair of socks because I already had

socks.” Leslie Andrade (‘22)

By Marycruz Caballero, Yaritza Mendez, and Gina PalliosArtwork by Gina Pallios

Attending to our Students

By Jasmine LÓpez & Angelina Niave

They have info on anyone or anything you need to know about the school. No, it’s not the counselors or any of the princi-pals. It’s the people that call your parents when you’re out sick or if you ditch school - the attendance clerks. There are four atten-dance clerks who oversee the entire student body. They are in the office from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The clerks will not only give you a tardy slip for first peri-od after getting stuck behind the train, but they notice and hear all the things that the rest of us don’t pay attention to. They talk to our parents a lot and play the part of a mediator at times. If it wasn’t for them, our school could not function. Therefore, get to know them. Guadalupe Hernandez, pictured at the top, is the head attendance clerk. Guadalupe says, “My door is always open, if you need help.” Valeria Corona, a senior, recalls a time when her teacher marked her absent although she was in class, “My teach-er marked me absent, but Lupe made it really easy for me and got it fixed fast.” Pamela Ingalls (pictured second) who has worked at Modesto High for 23 years says, “I care about you, and I’m here to help you succeed.” Alexia Rodriguez appreciates coming into the attendance office and being welcomed by Pamela, “When I’m late to school for whatever reason and am having a bad day, she always smiles and is so nice to me.” Ricardo Torres (pictured third) who has been working at Modesto High for a little over two years says, “Remember it’s be ‘true’ to yourself, not ‘truant’. I am always ready to help you.” He is not only loved by the students, but also by his colleagues. Campus security, Nancy Meeks says , ”Those people in there have a lot of heart, especially Ricardo.” Maria Rameno is fairly new to Modesto High just finish-ing her first year here. While Maria may be new to attendance work, she is always one step ahead, “Maria calls my parents when I need to clear my absences,” says Leo Sandoval. When you get a chance stop by the attendance office to say hi and thank you!

MH

Sattendance

As the Camp Fire raged through Butte Coun-ty, Modesto High School began to feel the effects of the wildfire. Due to unhealthy levels of particulates in the air, the MCS district had to cancel all after-school and weekend activities taking place on campus. As one can imagine, this caused some problems at Modesto High. On Thursday, November 15, several students and staff members began to use masks to ward off the particulates. As the air quality declined – reach-ing over 300 AIQ on Friday, surgical masks, painting masks, and the rare N95 masks started appearing as well. According to the Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s scale of 0-500, over 300 AIQ is con-sidered hazardous, the highest level. One student in particular found amusement in bringing a gas mask to Modesto High. However, for senior student Thaviereak Keary, the declining air quality was no joke. Despite the weather conditions and being sick, Keary continued attending her classes. She began to encounter bigger problems when she de-scribed the sensation of breathing in the particulates as if “there was something stuck in [her] chest.” Even-tually, she took time away from school to recover from her illness. When conditions started improving halfway through the week of November 19th, Keary was finally able to return to school and make up for

her absences. “The air quality has improved a lot, and the storm winds have helped move out the smoke quite a bit,” she said. “[It] has made me appreciate when we have rain or good air days even more than before. I’m mostly recovered at this point too, which is great.” Senior Marina Sisneros, who is one of the co-ordinators of Winter Formal shared her concerns, “It was really unfortunate that we had to postpone the event, as I had it planned and ready. And now given the possible dates for the event, I won’t even be able to attend.” Due to needing to audition for prospec-tive college programs, she will have to skip her last winter formal. As for the overall design of the event, no changes have been made so far. Sports practices were also disrupted; however, the Cross Country (CC) team managed to circumvent the bad air quality. CC coach, Brian Heese shared some insight into how the conditions affected their practices.,“We had the runners run up, down and around the halls in the main building two different days. One day we bought particle resistant masks and they ran outside. We did a circuit workout in the weight-room. The idea was to give them work on their legs and stretch out their lungs without having to breath much of the bad air.” Even with this setback, runner Alan Guerre-ro qualified for the State Fresno CC meet with 6th place at sections. Preparing for the State was just as difficult, but the rain on Wednesday, November 21 helped to alleviate the conditions. Although Alan didn’t do as well as hoped, the coaches were still impressed by his perseverance nevertheless. Although Modesto High faced a few prob-lems, it doesn’t compare to the ordeal that the vic-tims of the wildfire have faced. Hopefully Modesto or the rest of California won’t have to face a disaster like the Camp Fire again.

By Derek Tang

One student takes extreme measures against the bad air.

Air Quality Reaches Hazardous Levels

Student Safety - A Top PriorityBy: Lauren Byerly Over the course of the semester there have been two incidents involving guns at our school. The first involved a student carrying an unloaded gun on campus and the second involved a student carrying a BB gun on campus.

These issues were reported by students to the supervision office. Mr. Medina commented, explaining that “One of the things that help[s] us is the vigilance of our staff, the vigilance of our campus supervisors, the cameras that we set up, and the kids.” The school then addressed these issues by following the district’s conduct code and reporting the incidents to the proper authorities. They acted “based on the regulations pro-vided by the district [conduct code] and administered what it says to do,” according to Mr. Medina.

Two phone dialers were sent out to the parents and guardians of the students of Modesto High School to inform them about the situations. In an interview with Mr. Medina, the Assistant Principal of Super-vision, he said that the administration organized the phone dialer, “As soon as the investigation [was] com-pleted and we [could] verify what happened.”

Despite this informational phone dialer, ru-mors about the situation ran rampant. Senior Jordan DeManuel recalled that he couldn’t remember exactly who he heard the rumors from. He said that he ques-tioned the rumor in the beginning, “but after hearing something similar to that [the rumor] again I started thinking it was true.” He further reflected that “Now-adays anything is really possible so for something like that to happen wouldn’t be the most surprising thing to me.”

This recollection highlights the importance of accuracy of information surrounding issues con-cerning guns on campus. There are two main methods through which I think we can dispel rumors and lessen the fear that events like these inspire.

The first one is one Mr. Manning suggested. In an interview he discussed the safety committee as a possible resource, “We have a safety committee that meets every quarter and topics such as these are discussed in the committee [...] that is a perfect for-mat and venue to discuss future improvements to the communication to the students.” He then went on to suggest that the leadership class should nominate a group to attend committee meetings and represent the student body and their concerns.

I believe that we should not only send out phone dialers to the parents, but also have an open dis-cussion session between students and administration officials about the safety at their school if they have any.

In the end, campus safety is the goal of ev-eryone at this school, from the administration to the students. As Mr. Manning said, “My number one responsibility here at this campus is student safety.”

Digital Learning People tend to get distracted when they have a screen in front of their faces, and with the introduction of devices, screens are implemented in our homework routine. Devices have been added to supposedly be a “faster and easier way” of do-ing our homework but many are disagreeing with this. Some people say that putting a device in front of students will most likely dis-tract them. Why would kids want to do their homework on a device when the device can be used to watch videos or play video games? This is just like dropping money on the ground and expecting nobody to take it. Students are liable to charge their devices every night and bring them to school the next day. How-ever, if it is not charged that means students will miss out on a whole day of learning and be very be-hind on work they are supposed to turn in or work on during class. It is the student’s responsibility to get their homework done that is assigned by teach-ers no matter the circumstances. Taking into con-sideration the mishaps of technology, devices can hinder our education. One benefit of using devices is being able to get immediate feedback, like ask-ing teachers for help or seeing what you have done

wrong on tests/homework. You can also get sent notes from teachers on work that you may just not be understanding or from an absent day. This makes life so much easier for students, teachers, and par-ents. The effect of digital devices on student learning is debatable. Students may put less emphasis on

literacy be-cause there’s auto-correct and audios that can be used without much effort. This can affect punctuation and fluen-cy skills for English. The devices are a huge eco-nomic invest-ment because it cuts down on printing costs and are made to be durable. De-vices are con-troversial on

campus because not everyone has the same opinion on them. Many people believe they are a distraction. One website, Top Hat, says, “This distraction isn’t only a problem for the students on the laptops, but it can also lead to the distraction of surrounding students.” Like the website Top Hat says, not only does the computer distract the user but it may also distract peers. The verdict is still out on whether or not go-ing digital is a benefit or distraction. Hopefully, the answer will not be at the expense of a generation of learners.

By Adam Zemaryalai

Recently, the district has purchased a load of new televisions to be utilized in various classrooms throughout the school. This has posed the question as to why the district, with the multitude of problems our school faces, has decided to purchase dozens of new, high end, expensive, and possibly excessive tele-visions?

When asked about why the new televisions were purchased, Mr. Wilson of the tech room said, “The TV’s have the ability to have Internet on them, they have the wireless connection on them, and any teacher that is subbing can connect to it from their computer. The teachers can connect from their com-puter to the TV with videos and lesson plans a lot more efficiently than doing it on the dot camera. Also, it is $500 to replace the projector bulb when it dies, so when we replace the bulb two times, we already pay for the TV. The TV is going to last ten years. The projector bulb lasts a year.” He further elaborated by explaining how the cost of the purchase was funded by a technology grant, which the district applied for eight years ago. Now that most classrooms have been equipped with a TV, the old, functional projectors will be donated to other elementary schools, while the broken ones will be auctioned off.

So, how do the teachers feel about this change in their teaching community? Mrs. Guinn, a freshman and junior English teacher said, “The new TV’s are useful in that they help students from all corners of the room see what you want to project… They make incorporating technology in lessons easier.” Improving students’ learning environment by integrating tech-nology into classrooms has definitely been an area of significance in America’s education system over the

past decade. The televisions are simply one step in the direction of a technology dominated education system. However, despite the numerous benefits the TV’s provide, teachers still face drawbacks. For exam-ple, the sound from TV speakers can sometimes spill over neighboring classrooms. Mrs. Guinn recalled that, “Sometimes there is a sound issue with TV’s that are in close proximity to other classrooms, sometimes we can hear other people’s televisions. Also, while the televisions make it easy to incorporate technology into our lessons, I do feel the expense might be better used for better connectivity for our computers be-cause we restart our computers a lot.”

Mrs. McDonald, an English and Speech and Debate teacher, said, “The TV’s are easier to use than the projector because the words sync up in the Study Sync program that we use… I can walk around, proj-ect and talk about the curriculum, and show kids how to do stuff, so this is much easier. Also, in the long run the cost is going to be much less.” She also reported that it is significantly easier to have student do presen-tations, as the connection to the TV is instant and they don’t have to worry about getting in the way of the projection.

Overall, although there are a few drawbacks, the new TV’s are making a positive impact on stu-dents’ education. They are contributing to the stu-dents’ learning environment and have given teachers more ease of access when teaching. Also, the virtually nonexistent cost has allowed Modesto High to in-corporate more technology into classrooms. With all factors considered, the new TV’s at Modesto High are benefiting our school’s learning environment. - By Rana Banankhah

Are They Worth It?An investigation on the new classroom TV’s

Surgery 101Mohi Student performs first Procedure

Cleveland, Ohio – Modesto High Junior Ashish Thakur participated in a course that “has amazing potential to help, treat, and heal through medical and surgical procedures.” This course was at the Cleveland Clinic’s Endoscopic Intramural Surgery Lab. There, he learned a new skill – how to perform endoscopic sur-gery using new cutting-edge technology. He practiced on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a pig and was shocked with how well his hand-eye coordination was. For those looking to be surgeons, he “highly recommends playing video games to hone this skill.” Ashish is an aspiring doctor and is ready to pursue a long education to gain the skills necessary to practice medicine. In this course, he received a hands-on experience in the training physicians undergo in the long process of learning new techniques. “Other attendees, who were trained physicians had hundreds, if not thousands of hours, of practice with the endoscopes”, he says, but this did not deter him from handling one. He was also surprised that even trained surgeons get nervous when trying out new skills. For those wanting to pursue a career in medicine, Ashish has some very useful insight into what it takes to be part of this field. He says, “The opportunity to participate in this course makes me feel that high school students with an interest in medicine or biology should consider similar experiences [because] the exposure would expand their awareness about how physicians learn and practice medicine.”

By: Alex Phaing & Tori Galloway

Mental illness, what is it? Is it something that makes your life more difficult? Is it something that has the power to ruin friendships or bonds with just about anybody? Or is it a simply a minor inconvenience that can be easily avoided? Truth is, it’s kind of all of those. Mental illness ranges from person to person, not only in severity, but also the altercations that arise from it. Some people, like myself, have crippling disorders that make everyday scenarios very tedious and impossible to navigate through. Some people have very mild dis-orders that they possess the ability to subdue. Regard-less, it’s a state of mind that most people would prefer to do without. As for myself, I’ve grown up with mental illness. I discovered I had a mental illness in seventh grade; every time I walked outside, I was in a horrible state of fear. I would later discover that this is known as agoraphobia, a fear that stems from, get this, a fear of situations that might involve or create panic or embar-rassment. In summary, I had crippling anxiety be-cause I was scared that I might get scared. There were numerous times my mental illness took over my life, including this year when I was forced to go into inde-pendent study because I couldn’t function after being outside for only one hour. Mental illness stinks, and when people don’t understand or display any form of sympathy or compassion, that stinks even more. I was lucky enough to be able to receive help. Now I can handle going to school once more, and I want to help you, or your friend, or anybody you might know suffer-

ing right now. After speaking with a licensed marriage and family therapist, I was able to gather some valuable information for anyone seeking help. First, it’s important to understand what you’re going through. If you are trying to identify any mental illness you might think you have, call the National Help Line. Some early behavioral traits to be aware of is, if you begin to lose interest in activ-ities you usually find joy in, if you get too worked up or freaked out over usual daily tasks, or if you have impulsive thoughts you can’t control or sub-due. Those are just a few out of many. If you find yourself identifying with any telling traits of men-tal illness, attempt to seek out help. You can speak to counselors at your school, the National Help Line, your local mental health line, or any adult you believe that can lead you to help. If you have a friend that needs help, try to speak them first. If they are accepting of your concern, advise them to seek help through similar means listed previously. If they refuse, continuously try to express concern, but don’t be pushy. If their behavior is too con-cerning and they are rejecting any help, try to find an adult that can help the student. Remember, mental illness is extremely serious, seek help if you need it.

For help and resources, turn to the back cover!

Mental Illness, It’s all in your head!

By Matthew Smith

2625 Coffee Rd., Ste. A, Modesto, CA 95355 209.408.8850

Open daily 9AM - 6PM

Mental Health Resources

National Helpline: 1-800-622-HELP (4357)

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

Center for Human Services: (209) 526-1476

The MHS Counseling Office can also assist you in obtaining referrals for outside assistance.

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