By AUSD Digital Communications Interns Danielle Workman and Bethany Chow Arcadia High School’s Marching Band and Color Guard Performing at SoFi Stadium during the NFL Chargers Halftime Show (Photo Courtesy of the Arcadia Music Club Parent Volunteer) The Arcadia High School Marching Band and Color Guard have a decorated performance history, which includes appearances at the first Super Bowl ever hosted in Los Angeles, the 2005 Presidential Inauguration Parade, and the renowned Rose Parade, to name a few. Now, Arcadia High’s Marching Band and Color Guard program can add honors as the first high school team to perform at the brand new SoFi Stadium during an NFL Chargers halftime show to its history book.
“As soon as Elise’s hand started moving, everything went in place,” said Alec Tandoc, Arcadia High band president and alto saxophonist, recounting what he remembered from his experience performing in front of tens of thousands of fans in the stands of SoFi stadium. Tandoc is referring to Elise Fong, this year’s Arcadia High marching band drum major, who leads all the Marching Band and Color Guard performances.
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By AUSD Digital Communications Intern Danielle Workman John Barclay, front row, third from the left, is a recent Orchesis Dance Company guest choreographer, teaching a masterclass and audition at Arcadia High School. (Photo Courtesy of Orchesis Lead Director Breanne Genite and Orchesis Public Relations Officer Mia Tsou) Arcadia High School’s Orchesis Dance Company (ODC) is continuing its tradition of incorporating both student-choreographed and guest-choreographed pieces into their performances. Even after enduring a virtual school year, ODC has found a way to pursue and expand these programs, providing more opportunities for its dancers.
“We always like to bring in professional choreographers that work and teach currently in the industry, either in the commercial dance world or in the college dance realm, where they’ve gone through a four-year university and dance program,” Orchesis Lead Director Breanne Genite explained. You can visit the winning articles on the Arcadia Unified Website HERE. Arcadia Unified School District's Digital Communications Internship (DCI) hosted its second annual AUSD News Writing Competition. For the first time, DCI created a high school division to the competition open to students at Arcadia High School.
Students were asked to tailor their articles to the following prompt: "Write about something in the Arcadia Unified School District that fosters acceptance and what acceptance looks like." The competition ran from October 2021 to November 2021 and participants were provided with these instructions. Sincere congratulations to this semester's winners, listed below! By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Lauryn Chao ARCADIA-- A multitude of First Avenue Middle School alumni have discovered their calling through a unique program First Avenue Spartans call the “Exploratory Wheel”. Within this program, sixth-grade students are rotated through four different core electives: art, industrial technology, drama, and home economics. Sixth-grade students are given a nine-week session in each of these courses wherein they explore the foundations of the elective.
Established in 1998, the Exploratory Wheel program allows students to sample different creative mediums and discover which areas align with their interests. Over the course of this nine-week program, students have the opportunity to explore new subjects and find new interests and strengths, which helps them narrow their elective choices in their seventh and eighth grade years. Ultimately, the Exploratory Wheel experience helps students pave their path for their pursuits in high school. You can visit the article on the Arcadia High School Website HERE Arcadia Unified's Digital Communications Internship (DCI) hosted its second AUSD Middle School Competition of the 2020-21 school year. In Fall 2020, DCI hosted a news article competition. This time around, middle school students from Dana, First Avenue, Foothills, and Rancho Lab Middle Schools could submit newsworthy entries via various mediums, which included video, podcast, graphic design, and news articles, with one winner selected per category. Students were asked to tailor their productions to the following prompt:
"What was the most important take-away you had from 2020 that has shaped how you will approach the future?" By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Danielle Workman The notorious quote “The show must go on,” rings true for the members of the Orchesis Dance Company (Orchesis) as they present their Virtual Dance Showcase, in lieu of their annual Spring Production. Instead of performing on a stage in front of an audience, Orchesis has found a new way to provide content for their campus and community. Swiftly adapting to this year’s virtual setting, the dancers have turned their choreography into short dance films to be compiled into one showcase.
By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Interns Claire Li and Kylie Ha “It is very easy for us to shift to bringing students back to school as far as scheduling goes; the real challenge is how we do this safely,” said Arcadia High School Principal Angela Dillman on school reopening planning.
After weeks of completing surveys, Q&A sessions, and numerous meetings, the Arcadia Unified School District announced that Tuesday, April 20, would be the reopening date for in-person instruction opportunities for students who opt to come back to campus at Arcadia High School and the district’s middle schools. Arcadia Unified elementary schools, which include grades TK-5, reopened this week. The process to reopen schools and create instructional models, schedules, and more that follow the ever-evolving county and state health guidelines have required a great deal of behind-the-scenes preparation by administrators, teachers, and staff, and has taken into account feedback from students and families. Ultimately, and par for the course, Arcadia Unified’s reopening planning has been labor-intensive, with acute attention to detail when it comes to enhanced safety measures to ensure the health and welfare of all students and staff. By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Danielle Workman ARCADIA-- Music lives on. The Arcadia High School Orchestras took the infamous expression “music lives on” in stride as they met pandemic-placed challenges with a determination to exceed all expectations for their music programs during distance learning. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Arcadia High’s four Orchestras have been able to continue practicing and performing. Their work, despite the distance, has even found them featured on the local news. It’s rare for broadcast news shows to air an entire performance, but Arcadia High’s Symphony Orchestra’s holiday performance of Silent Night was broadcast in its entirety on KCAL9 News.
The challenges posed by distance learning for these performing artists have made these accomplishments no small feat. By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Bethany Chow ARCADIA-- School clubs are a major component of the student experience at Arcadia High School (AHS). Many AHS students partake in the annual two-day club fair that introduces every chartered club on campus, meeting information, and how to join. Clubs vary in size, with most clubs having upwards of 20 members. The largest club on campus is home to over 130 members. AHS Clubs also have many different purposes, ranging from learning about food science and taking part in environmental action to practicing poetry and learning about different cultures. Many clubs also host off-campus activities, including volunteering, various workshops, and bonding events.
This year, however, Arcadia High clubs have been forced to move their operations online. Each club has adapted differently to going virtual. Clubs that were mainly activity-based, like the Student Sierra Club, a club that supports learning and interacting with the environment, switched to online versions of their usual activities. By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Kylie Ha Sound mental health makes all of the difference, and the Arcadia Unified School District continues to highlight that. In its most recent efforts, Arcadia Unified’s middle school counselors and psychologists from Dana, First Avenue, and Foothills Middle Schools and Rancho Learning Center (RLC), along with the support of additional district staff and students, teamed up to prepare a wellness summit exclusively for middle school students.
“We want students to know that they are not alone and that focusing on your mental health and self-care is a strength, not a weakness,” said Arcadia Unified RLC School Counselor Stephanie Perez, who served as the team lead for this event. By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Grace Lee Few things have stayed the same throughout the past year’s wild series of events. In the search for normalcy and routine, seekers have been left with a dearth of successful finds. And yet, there is still something that provides a sense of community, relief from stress, and a distraction from the perturbing world: sports.
Whether it’s through watching the Los Angeles Dodgers win their first World Series in 32 years or playing a game of soccer with the family in the backyard, sports serve as a welcomed reminder of a more carefree time and a hope for a different future. This is no different for student- athletes across the nation. At Arcadia High School, the athletic department has decided to permit organized team practices, which began Nov. 2, 2020, allowing athletes to precariously envision their deferred 2020-2021 seasons. Arcadia Unified's Digital Communications Internship hosted its first-ever AUSD Middle School News Writing Competition, where middle school students from Dana, First Avenue, Foothills, and Rancho Lab Middle Schools could submit article entries in response to the following prompt:
"Write about an instance of unity, strength, perseverance, and/or leadership taking place in your school, classroom, or AUSD community." By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Leila Nunez While many school districts have one counselor who is shared by multiple schools, the Arcadia Unified School District has made educating the “whole child” a priority and has taken action over the past few years to secure at least one full-time counselor at each of its schools. Building on its efforts, Arcadia Unified has added a full-time social and emotional learning counselor, Dr. Deja Anderson, to oversee Arcadia High School’s new Wellness Center and provide dedicated mental health and wellness support for the students and staff of Arcadia High.
Virtually unveiled at the start of the 2020-21 school year, Arcadia High’s online Wellness Center is a place where students, parents, and staff can go when they need additional mental health support or if they want to be proactive with learning about and maintaining their mental well-being. By Arcadia Unified Digital Communications Intern Anvitha Marlapati ¨I appreciate the opportunity to connect with them, to teach them, and to support them during this challenging time,¨ said Karalee Nakatsuka, an Eighth-Grade History teacher at Arcadia Unified’s First Avenue Middle School, referring to her 165 students she is currently teaching. Not only is Nakatsuka managing the impacts of the pandemic on her own family, but she also remains as committed as ever to delivering to her students the quality instruction that this 2019 Gilder Lehrman Insitute’s California History Teacher of the Year has become known for.
Not only devastating the world by taking the lives of many, the coronavirus has put everyone on lockdown, forcing many businesses, shops, services, events, and countless more activities to shut down to help curtail the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. Schools have also been physically shut throughout the United States and other parts of the world with a pivot towards Distance Learning. As a result, teachers have had to burn the candle at both ends and work quickly to move instructional materials, lessons, and the like online in order to continue to provide support and an engaging education for their students. Though the Arcadia Unified School District has been physically closed since March 13, 2020, Arcadia Unified teachers have kept their classes and learning going virtually. By Arcadia Unified School District Digital Communications Intern Claire Li “I realized I had to evacuate when I saw the fire coming down the mountain; every 10 minutes it just kept getting bigger and closer,” recounted Arcadia High School junior Zoe Bui. The Bobcat Fire, currently at 62% containment and having burned approximately 114,202 acres as of Sept. 29, is one of Los Angeles County’s largest recorded wildfires, second to the 2009 La Cañada Flintridge Station Fire, which burned 160,000 acres. As a result of rapidly raging flames throughout the Angeles National Forest, many Arcadia Unified School District students and families were impacted, two of whom were Arcadia High School students Zoe Bui and Joyce Pang.
This year, California has experienced a record number of wildfires, with over 4.7% of its total land burned thus far. Since multiple large fires were burning at the same time, including the nearby El Dorado and Apple fires, affected areas suffered from unhealthy air quality in previous weeks, and many continue to do see smoke advisories. For days on end, Arcadia residents looked up to see gray skies with a faint, red sun shining weakly above. |
DCI Interns on the news writing team publish articles that are often published on local newspapers, such as Arcadia Patch and the Arcadia Weekly. The articles, ranging in subject, dive into the AUSD world and cover events, opportunities, news, and first-hand accounts of unique stories in the community.
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