Volume 108, Issue 3 Modesto High School March Issue 2021

Modesto High Panthers Keep Moving Forward

TABLE OF CONTENTS

36

4Sports Update

Virtual Open House

Academic Decathlon

Mock Trial

Speech & Debate8 10

1216 Math Competition

Homecoming Postponed

M

Ar

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ISSu

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14 Remember When . . .

Lets Go Panthers!!!SpOrTS

Modesto High’s experience during COVID-19 is a microcosm of what the rest of the world has expe-rienced. Adaptability and resilience in times of uncertainty are captured in the reinstatement of school sports despite these unprecedented circum-stances. CCAL — the Central Cali-fornia Athletic League — put forth a new set of sports schedules, which impacts “six high schools in our area: Modesto, Pitman, Downey, Grego-ri, Enochs and Turlock,” according to Athletic Director Mr. Wallace. The schedule, he explained, arrang-es the sports into seasons based on three COVID-19 safety tiers: purple, orange, and yellow. The county has to be doing well in terms of covid cases and rates for sports to reopen, and for some sports it’s different. This is because of how much contact they re-quire and need the county to be doing a lot better so that the county needs to be in a specific tier to work. The first season, which can go on if Stanislaus County is in the purple tier, includes “cross country, swim, girls golf, and boys tennis,” the second “...now tennis

for the girls, boys golf, volleyball, and football,” and the third, final tier encompassing the remainder of the sports offered at school, such as Track and Field and potentially volleyball if the standards are not met to play along with the other sports in the second season. As the Athletic Director, Mr. Wallace confessed to the stress and heightened pressures he’s faced. “My biggest stress,” he revealed, “has been clearing the players so they can participate.” If one player turns out to be ineligible right before a game, then the team has to forcefully forfeit from playing, presenting just another chal-lenge on top of the struggles reinstat-ing athletic programs at Modesto High has presented. The largest struggle has been navigating how to successfully train athletes, while also following CDC guidelines. Tennis players will be using their own rackets, Track and Field competitors lowering their masks only if they are running long-distance and far from other competitors. Volleyball coach Ms. Harris shared that sports, like volleyball, will not have a pre- or

post-season. Only parents will be per-mitted to attend competitions, a select amount of athletes allowed in bench areas. Due to this, Ms. Harris echoed Mr. Wallace’s frustration. “We haven’t been able to touch a volley-ball since last February,” Harris said, also citing lower turnout than usual: “Athletes are dropping off,” she said, adding that it was “very sad” for her to see as a longtime volleyball coach. Current senior and Varsity Volleyball player Ryann Covert spoke to a similar experience. “Sports sched-ules were frustrating at first, and still can be because it seems like every time we get close to being able to play, the season is postponed further,” she said. When asked about how, as members of a teamwork-heavy sport, the vol-leyball players have been able to bond, Covert cited technology as a bridge uniting the team — texting as well as online practices — and occasion-ally working out together if it’s safe. Sophomore Chidiebere Agunanne, an athlete new to volleyball at Modesto High, reiterated the communal aspects of volleyball, saying that, “Based off the encouragement each teammate has given to one another, I can tell you the team will bond very well with each other.” As a graduating senior, Covert encapsulates the resilience and passion of our fellow student athletes and their admirable coaches. When asked of her thoughts on the new season, she said, “I am excited if we get to have another season, especially because it will be my last at Modesto High and I’ve been looking forward to it for so long!”

Who are we? MOHI! Where we from? WEST SIDE!

Kassandra Delgado and Gieselle Martinez

CCAL HighSchool Youth sports

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Online Open House

The three side pictures above are all from different slide shows shown at Open House. The first one (top), is a sample of Cornell notes taken by a Modesto High English student. The second one (Middle), is part of the IB slide presentation. The last one, (bottom), is a slide from the Perform-ing Arts Academy presentaion.

Thisschoolyearcontinuestohavepeo-pleinside, andschooleventscontinuetobehostedvirtually.

ModestoHigh’sopenhouse,present-edtostudentsandparentsonthetwentyeighthofJanu-ary, wasalsoar-rangedonlineinhopesof inform-ingincomingstudentsaboutthecampus,dif-ferentprograms,classes, andteachers. Al-thoughavirtualopenhousemaynotbeasengag-inganexperi-ence,thisdidn’t

stopModestoHigh’sstaff frommakingsurefu-turestudentsreceivedarea-sonableopenhouse.

OpenHousewasverydiffer-entbeforethepandemic. Peo-plestartedintheauditoriumforaparentpre-sentation,avid-eodisplayofaschooltourandtheprogramsavailable.

By Symphonee Russell

Online Open House Theparentpresen-tationwasshownat5:30andtheactualOpenHousestartedat6:30andendedat8:30pm.TheOpenHouseisnor-mallyconductedinthecafeteriaandsmallgymwheredepartmentsandprogramshavetablesthatpeoplecanwalkaroundandexaminestudentworksamplesoutofcuriosity,oritmightbeafutureclassastudentwillattend,andmaywishtoaskques-tions.Thereareusuallyliveperformancesbythebandandcheersquads,aswellassamplesfromthefoodandnutritionclass. ThevirtualOpenHouseisunsurprisinglyverydifferent,butinsomewaysstillenjoyable.Prin-cipalManningintroducedhisthoughtsaboutthiseventbysaying,“Iwouldmuchratherhaveitinperson.WeputonthebestpossibleOpenHouseonlinebasedonthecir-cumstances.Wetriedtoinvolveasmanystudentsaswecouldinmakingtheshow.” Fromhome,peoplewatchedtherecordedvid-eodisplayusingthelink

onModestoHigh’sweb-site.Then,OpenHousestartedbyscrollingdowntoanareathathadmul-tiplelinkswiththenameofthedepartmentsandprograms.PeopleclickedwhichonestheywouldliketolearnaboutandenteredaMicrosoftTeamsmeetingwiththeteacherswhoarewithinthatde-partmentorprogram. TheOpenHousewasavailabletoanystu-dentsorfamilymembers,butitwasmainlyaimedateightgraderswhoareconsideringattendingModestoHighSchool. Mrs.Hansen,coor-dinatorofModestoHigh’sPAAProgram,describedOpenHouseas,“anopportunityforincom-ingfreshmanandtheirfamiliestolearnaboutModestoHighanditsmanywonderfulopportu-nities.” Somecurrentstu-dentshadneverbeentoaModestoHighopenhousepriortothisyear. FreshmanKeithBuenrostroIsonesuchstudent.Hesaid,“IhadneverbeentoaModestoHighopenhousebefore

thisevent,sothiseventwasthefirst.Iwaspleas-antlysurprisedatthefor-matandaccessibilityofalltheteachers.Ofcourse,IwouldhavemuchratherhadtheOpenHouseinperson,butIthinkthattheOpenHousewasrunverywell.” Althoughtheopenhousecouldbeaccessedthroughadevice,onlyasmallernumberofstu-dentsandparentspartici-pated. “Wewilldefinitelyworktodrasticallyin-creasenextyear’spartic-ipation!”PrincipalMan-ningexclaimed. Virtuallearningandparticipatinginonlineschooloccasionsmaybelessexcitingorinteresting,butthatdoesn’tmeanitsnatchesalltheamuse-ment.Thissuddenlockdownhasforcedbothstudentsandteacherstoadapt.Bothhaveworkedhardtoprepareadecentopenhousetointerestandinformfuturestu-dents,evenifitwasn’tinperson.Thatmaybeoneofthemostnoteworthyfactorsaboutthisyear’sOpenHouse.

Academic Decathlon - The Cold War The idea for the Academic Decathlon (AcaDeca) was created during a time of con-flict and the carnage of World War II. One B-17 pilot and prisoner of war named Robert Peterson came up with the idea of AcaDeca where students can take academic tests, while he was in a German concentration camp at Sta-lag. In today’s age, there is a new conflict that interferes with people’s livelihood and daily life called COVID-19. There have been many events that the COVID-19 virus has postponed or drastically changed and one of them is Aca-Deca. This year, AcaDeca went online with its tests and its annual essay being virtual with less interaction as a team, and more emphasis on individuality. Areeya Dewitt, a junior at MoHi said, “We were relegated to individual studies of any subjects we were interested in for the AcaDeca competition. Fortunately, a major-

ity of the material was available online, and notes could be shared between those who were choosing the same subject.” Despite the different conditions, decath-letes were able to adapt and come out on top in the competition with one of our own Panthers, Nithya Medam, earning the top scoring essay for the entire county. Medam was also the top point earner for MoHi. Even with the conditions being different, some felt that it was nice to be virtual, as navi-gation throughout resources was easier. Ferial Dagher, a junior at MoHi said, “The competi-tion being virtual meant we got to organize our schedule for test taking as we felt necessary, and it also helped make it more convenient. Overall, I feel as though the changes have been mostly positive, but I would still enjoy getting together with team members in person.”

Ivan Lopez Haiying ZengNithya Medam

By: Richard Zheng

This is a Microsoft Teams Screenshot of our Decathletes who competed valiantly.

Academic Decathlon 2020 - 2021 MHS Team Results by Division

HONORS DIVISIONNithya Medan - Essay (Gold), Social Science (4th), Science (Gold), Math (Gold), Interview (Bronze)Jennifer Chang - Social Science (5th), Science (Silver), Math (Silver)Fernando Bazan - Interview (4th)

SCHOLASTIC DIVISIONEmre Soydemir - Social Science (5th)

VARSITY DIVISIONIvan Lopez - Social Science (Silver), Music (5th), Math (Bronze), Essay (Silver), Interview (5th)Yaprita Eliyah - Science (5th)

ALTERNATESMario Camacho - Literature (4th), Social Science (5th), Science (Silver), Math (Gold)Kassandra Delgado - Social Science (Silver), Music (Silver), Art (Bronze)Ferial Dagher - Social Science (Bronze), Essay (5th)Rana Banankhah - Social Science (4th), Music (4th), Science (5th), Economics (5th)Reza Banankhah - Science (4th), Math (4th), Economics (Bronze)Haiying Zeng - Math (4th), Economics (Silver)Sehaj Pannu - Math (5th)Richard Zheng - Essay (4th)Areeya DeWitt - Essay (5th)

MOCK TRIALMOCK TRIAL

In February, Modesto High’s Mock Trial team competed in a way they have never before — in a virtual mock courtroom, placing in the top four in the district.

Like everything else, Modesto High’s Mock Trial team had to adapt to the unprecedented circumstances created by COVID-19, making “just about everything harder,” according to the Mock Trial coach and advisor, Mr. Mitchell.

Practices were all held remotely through Teams, the competitions themselves through Zoom. In one competition against Patterson High, the Patterson students kept cutting off because of connectivity issues. The assemblage of the team proved to be difficult too, by the virtue of everything being translated into a virtual formatting, including Open

House and club fair, which was where Mock Trial had previously shone through and thrived in attracting members.

Due to all the changes, Mock Trial competitors heavily spoke to the radically different experience in the courtroom this year. Senior Briana Perez, a defense attorney in Mock Trial, said that despite this year being a “roller coaster,” the team still managed to compete and practice successfully. “This year’s competition was not as exciting because it didn’t feel so much like a real court case; however, it was still an amazing experience,” she said.

Mock Trial President, prosecution attorney Melody Cosgrove echoed the differences in this year’s competitions but said that ultimately, they all tried their best to “keep it all as

Senior Briana Perez, preparing for an upcoming trial

Sophomore Lucy Liang on campus, practicing for a trial

By Kassandra Delgado

All pictures courtesy of Scott Mitchell

Picture of the entire Mock Trial team over Microsoft Teams

normal as possible.” Mock Trial, she said, “became more of an individual activity rather than a team effort due to the online nature.”

This year, the team mostly consisted of underclassmen, giving the team high hopes for the future because they can further refine their abilities in the courtroom for future success. Regardless of whatever circumstances are faced next year, Mr. Mitchell encourages students to join Mock Trial. “Students who have any interest in law or public speaking should consider joining,” he shared via email. “It’s one of the best extracurricular activities offered at our school.”

Freshman Keith Buenrostro, practicing before a trial

Speech & Debate: the Digital Voices

The Speech and Debate community is one that builds upon each other’s love for public speaking and the fiery competition that comes along with it. However, this year with the pandemic, the way in which Speech and Debate members’ voices are heard has changed. All the high school students that were participating and competing in speech competitions are now confined in their homes for safety purposes. However, this doesn’t mean that the Speech and Debate program has stopped its burning passion for the sport.

This past year of Speech & Debate was a tricky one for the competitors, since it was all conduct-ed virtually with pre-recorded speeches to be judged and debates set up on online calls handling between 3 and 10 people at once. This can be difficult to juggle with, especially with only one year of the new distance speech. However, our Panthers were able to do so, with many earning medals in multiple events. On February 26th and 27th, Modesto High School competed at the State Qualifications. If a competitor is able to perform well in this tournament, the competitor is able to qualify for the State level of Speech & Debate. This year, Modesto High was able to have 11 students qualify for the State Qualifications in a variety of Speech & Debate events.

Mason Neumann & Rana Banankhah and Armaan Rai & Pranauv Vijaykumar qualified for Par-

This is Gargi Rao, delivering her Original Pose and Poetry Speech for recording.

Distance Speech

liamentary Debate. Ferial Dagher qualified for Lincoln Douglas Debate and Impromptu Speak-ing. Partaap Bains qualified for International Extemporaneous Speaking. Manveersinh Parmar qualified for National Extemporaneous Speaking. Hannah Diep qualified for Expository Speak-ing and Original Oratory. Gargi Rao qualified Original Pose/Poetry and Original Oratory. Dzifa Ackuayi and Saloni Bansal qualified for Duo Interpretation. Congratulations to the 11 Panthers who made it to the State Qualifiers and we wish them the best of luck!

Mason Neumann, a senior at MoHi expressed his feelings about the new conditions and said, “I have appreciated the tenacity of our speech and debate program and the league as a whole during this time. I’m really proud of our team as we recently had our most successful state qual-ifying tournament ever. We have 11 students qualifying this year”. Dzifa Ackuayi, a freshman at MoHi also expressed his feelings about the new conditions and said, “The year leading up to the last few tournaments has been very fun and I’ve definitely learned a lot. There’s always a little bit of stress when the competitions are coming up but I’ve learned a lot and had a blast throughout. I’ve also gotten a chance to see how hard the teachers and judges work for us to put this all to-gether.”

This is Briana Perez, delivering her Speech for recording for the Yosemite Federal League

By: Richard Zheng

WINTER HOMECOMING POSTPONED

Just a matter of weeks ago, MoHi was preparing to host a one-of-a-kind winter homecoming week. The event was slated to take place virtually, primarily through social media and school announcements. This year’s theme was “Movie Series” and each one of the classes had chosen their own movie series to base their homecoming day around. Freshmen chose Mission Impossible, Sophomores chose Frozen, Juniors chose High School Musical, and Seniors chose the Avengers. However, just a few days before the event was going to begin, an announcement was made via the school Insta-gram account postponing homecoming until April.

According to junior Jenny Chang, homecoming was postponed for various rea-sons. To begin with, “each class was planning on filming their homecoming skit at school; however, the school wouldn’t let us do it due to COVID restrictions.” And without these skit videos, Chang explained, a key component of homecoming would be missing. She ex-plained that the leadership class would not want to let the students down by not provid-ing the full experience of homecoming to the best of their abilities virtually. Due to the fact that so many have expressed interest in the skit in past years, ASB believed it would be best to make sure that the skits were a part of

By Rana Banankhah

the Winter Homecoming this year as well. Additionally, Chang denoted that the interest for winter homecoming was lacking among the student body. Due to these fac-tors, ASB made the decision to postpone the homecoming. Nonetheless, the leadership class is planning to make this homecoming one of the most memorable in MoHi history. Students should be on the lookout to partic-ipate in games for the chance to win prizes. Additionally, according to leadership student and junior Nithya Medam, the skit will be-come a class contest, meaning that whichever class’ skit receives the most likes on Instagram will win the contest. If your class wins the skit

contest, then the entirety of your class will receive a $5 gift card from Mr. Manning!

Other exciting news about the upcoming homecoming is the fact that there is a chance that it might not be virtual. “Thanks to the help of Modesto City Schools’ new reopening plan, there will be a chance that homecoming will occur in person, just like in years past,” revealed Medam.

All in all, there’s a multitude of reasons to look forward to the upcoming homecoming hap-pening next month, from April 19-23. Although the event was postponed, ASB is looking toward making a striking comeback!

Freshmen are planning on a Mission Impossible theme, while Sophomores are planning on a Frozen theme.

Juniors are planning on having a High School Musical theme and Seniors are planning for an Avengers theme.

Remember When...

you could actually go to ral-lies and football games...

you could go to school and be with your friends all day...

you could go to the movies with dozens of other people...

that was cool, huh?

that was cool, huh?

that was cool, huh?

you could be part of the Black Hole, no matter how packed and crowded the stands were...

people could actually see your smile...

you could remember what day it was without checking your phone...

that was cool, huh?

that was cool, huh?

that was cool, huh?

Even though almost everything about our everyday lives has changed within the past year, some things never change; your teachers still care about you, your friends are still there for you, and MoHi still supports you. Without a doubt, these have been difficult times, Panthers, but stay hopeful because we are getting closer and closer to returning to our normal lives! -Rana Banankhah, Panther Press Editor-in-Chief

On February and February 10, Modesto High students socially distanced in the school library for the American Mathematics Com-petition sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). According to the organizations website, the American Mathemat-ic Competition (AMC) has two exams. The AMC 10 and AMC 12. Students take one of the exams based on their grade and age. Both exams are 25-questions, 75-minute, multiple choice tests in high school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of prob-lem-solving skills. The MAA website states that “the AMC provides an opportunity for high school students to develop positive attitudes towards analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers.”

When asked why she wanted to start an AMC club on campus, club president, Nithya Medam replied, “ I de-cided to start the club not only due to my passion for math, but also because I recognized that many of my peers had similar interests.” Medam went on to explain the preparation pro-cess for the exams considering school has been conducted virtually thus far this year. She explained that “preparing for the test was quite difficult in terms of being able to gather all of the club members to-gether. The real challenge was posed by the virtual nature of the meetings.” All of the previous years’ exams are available in an online archive, so students used those to help them pre-pare for the difficult math problems they would face. “The math problems them-

selves are challenging since they not only incorporate advanced mathematics but a significant amount of logi-cal thinking as well. The an-swers are rarely derived from straight forward methods and it really forces participants to seek solutions innovatively,” said Medam. A small group of stu-dents participated this year, and they are waiting to see who qualified for the next lev-el. Regardless of the outcome, this year’s team enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a nationally recognized compe-tition.

American Math Competition Club New on Campus

By Alejandra Hernandez and Marco Pineda