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Not Sure About AP Classes? Here’s Why you Should Take Them

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By Luke Langlois

As a student progresses through high school, one of the most monumental decisions they have to make is choosing which classes they want to take. Most of the time, classes in high school are pretty streamlined. But, as a student gets to junior year, sometimes sophomore year, they are presented with more choices. Usually, a student gets the choice of whether or not to take an AP class. Today, I would like to present the knowledge I have of AP classes, being relatively experienced with them. I do not intend to FLEX my classes. Rather, I would like to offer some advice to those who are going to be making these tough calls soon. Let us begin!

  1. College credit – If you’re a student who intends to go to college, an AP class can help you get college credit. College credit can be awarded for a score higher than a 3, though some colleges will only take scores of 4 and 5. It depends on the school. But, in general, a high score on an AP exam will save you time, energy, and money in college, probably the most valuable resources. This is the most straightforward benefit, but it is likely the most important one in practicality. In addition, if a college allows an AP course to fill a general education course, you can get a jump-start on your major and quickly start on work that you are passionate about. If you are unfamiliar with how many classes/credits you need to have to get a college degree, I’d look it up. You need to take a lot of classes! If you are given the early opportunity to fill up a college’s requirements, DO IT!
  2. Majors – On the topic of majors, AP classes can help you narrow down what you potentially want to major in. Large colleges these days can have hundreds of possible programs, so you probably do not want to go into college with zero ideas on what you want to do with yourself. If you turn out to be absolutely awful at AP World History and are not able to remember historical facts to save your life, you’d know that, just maybe, history isn’t the direction for you. And, of course, doing well in an AP class could drive you to a certain major. Personally, I have been completely steered straight. No biology majoring for me. Just kidding, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. But, I do have a much greater understanding of what I would be getting if I decided to major in Biology. The same goes for all of my AP classes.
  3. Up your game – AP classes, conducted well, will challenge you and push your academic limits. When classes do not have a well-defined deadline that they are approaching (like an AP exam), they can take a good amount of time to make sure the class understands the material. This is not something that’s bad about non-AP classes; a slower pace is the better option for many students. But, if you are looking for a “thrill,” take an AP class. In AP classes, the class has a test approaching. There is no time to take breaks. For example, the AP Biology textbook we went through this year contained 43 comprehensive chapters. Some chapters were shorter than others, but none of the chapters were ones that you could just get through in a day or so. In classes like this, students are forced to up their academic game if they want to stay on top of the workload.
  4. Colleges love it – Colleges are like parents. They want students that can make them proud and give them a good name long after graduation. When you take AP classes, you are giving colleges a concrete way to view how you challenge yourself. Essentially, AP classes show colleges that you are willing to dedicate more effort to your academics. Course rigor is important.
  5. Be humbled – This sort of ties in with my third point, but AP classes are going to be harder than any other non-AP class you have taken. You may think you’re ready for it, but you’re probably not going to be. There have been two specific AP classes that I have taken that hit me like a TRAIN. That would be AP World History and AP Biology. AP World was my first AP class. When we started taking reading quizzes in that class, it was the end of my dignity. It’s easy to get lost in textbooks when they detail the history of the entire world. Then, a year later, I started with AP Biology. The first AP Bio test hit me like a fighter jet going faster than the speed of sound. In both of these cases, I was rocked. AP classes challenge you and show you that you’re not as great as you think you are. It’s tough to swallow, but when you believe you have a lot to improve upon, you improve.

I could go on all day about how much I adore AP classes. I promise I’m not a College Board mole, but I do think AP classes get an unnecessary negative reputation. If you have not taken an AP class yet, take one. The AP exams are stressful, but we get the privilege of taking them at THE PALM VALLEY SCHOOL (unless you take something weird like Latin). You may hate taking the class with all of your being all the way up until June, but in the end you’ll look back and say “I learned.”

Editor: Hannah Hall

ASB Presidential Candidates

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By Holden Hartle

In anticipation of the upcoming ASB elections, I thought I would do an analysis of those who are running for ASB President, similar to a post that I did detailing those who were running for President of the United States. I interviewed each candidate as well as read their candidate statements from previous campaigns, whether that be for a cabinet position or a class representative. Here is a brief profile on each of the three people running for Palm Valley’s ASB President.

Hannah Makkai

Hannah, a rising senior, enjoys being a part of the decision-making process. She has held positions in student government since middle school. She also mentioned being a student at PVS since preschool. She said that because of this, she has watched the school grow and has adapted with it. She believes being a part of the Palm Valley community for so long will allow her to note the diversity of the student body and make decisions accordingly.

One of her most defining achievements is the PVS Instagram page. I asked her if it was helpful or useful, to which she responded affirmatively. She did concede, however, that it is very difficult to make posts, considering the multiple hoops one has to jump through. It is something she would like to improve upon if elected President.

Finally, she has lots of ideas. She has the creativity to think up events, but has she thought of all the possibilities that could deter a night like “movie night” from taking shape? Expense? Enthusiasm? Availability? Moreover, it is possible that she is prioritizing ideas such as “movie night” and “team competition night” over ideas such as efficiency and democracy. Perhaps this is something that she will learn as President. Nevertheless, if you are looking for someone with copious amounts of creativity for fun ideas in ASB, then Hannah should be your choice.

Brennan Nick

When I asked Brennan, also a rising senior, why he wanted to run for President, he started by saying that it was a very difficult question to answer, but he went on to explain that he enjoys being a part of the decision-making process. He said that he did not agree with the 2017-2018 administration and some of the decisions made. He said that this year was a lot better than last year because the ASB process was more democratic. Along with being more democratic, he said that communication among ASB greatly improved, mainly due to the current president, Jackson Dean.

Brennan is a man of his word, and you can count on that. Last year, his campaign statement claimed that he was going to use Google polls to bridge the gap between students and ASB. He did just that. Honesty and transparency are rare in today’s political climate.

When I asked him if he had an edge over the other candidates, he said that he has experience at the second highest position that an ASB member can be, as he is the current Vice President. He also said that he has a document with all of the plans he has for the upcoming year. To me, at least, this shows that he is “on his game” so to speak. His pragmatism shows his motivation and willingness to be President.

My criticism is that if you want fresh eyes and a new way of thinking in ASB, Brennan might not be the way to go. The fact that he looks up so highly to Jackson means that he may model a lot of his platform and his style of leading after him. So if you are a fan of Jackson’s presidential style, then Brennan is the right choice, but if you want a fresh change, perhaps one of the other candidates would better suit you.

Caroline Scheil

Caroline, despite being a grade below the other two candidates, feels as though she can make a big impact in the school. When asked why people should vote for her, she said that her leadership qualities and ability to compromise set her ahead of the game. Also, being a grade below Hannah and Brennan protects her from the dreaded Senioritis that will most likely affect the senior candidates. Along with this, the other senior candidates will no doubt be stressing over college applications during the beginning of the school year, but Caroline said that she would stay motivated throughout that time and be dedicated to ASB.

My big question to her was whether or not she felt like an underdog. She said, yes, but she is still up to the challenge. This says something about Caroline’s character. The fact that even though she is afraid of a task, she has the ability to power through it.

Along with her status as an underdog, I wondered if her age would benefit or hinder her ability to lead a cabinet of mostly seniors. She said that it would benefit her, that her experience as a class representative would give a different perspective to the cabinet.

Her downfall, however, could be her optimism. She said that she is very “doe-eyed.” Perhaps this optimism could cloud her judgment to see a situation clearly. But, even if this is the case, her ability to compromise could counteract this, making her a fit choice for President.

Editor: Hannah Hall

Seniors Who Lunch

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By Harlow Berny

Hello! I’d like to share one of Palm Valley School’s older traditions with you, the Senior Lunch! This is a tradition that started six years ago under the (benevolent rule of the Overlord) administration of the former Head of Upper School, Ms. Susie Zachik. Six years ago, the tradition of Senior Lunch was actually Senior Breakfast. It was created to encourage Seniors, who didn’t have a first period class, to come to school on Friday mornings and attend the Friday assembly. It was only four years ago that the tradition became Wednesday Senior Lunch, as Seniors no longer had a free period/study hall for their first period classes.

Throughout this, the Senior families have provided the breakfasts/lunches for the Seniors. Sometimes school administrators, such as Ms. Zachik, Ms. Steinman (current Head of Upper School), and Ms. Rice (current Head of School) would bring food for the first and/or last Senior Lunch. After this, it would be one Senior’s duty to bring lunch for all of the Seniors on one Wednesday of the school year, and this would continue until all of the Seniors have brought a Senior Lunch. In addition to this, the Seniors control the student lounge during a Senior Lunch. While Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshman can come in to get their lunch and heat it up in the microwaves, they are encouraged to eat at the courtyard tables so that Seniors may eat with their fellow Seniors. This is a tradition that should be respected in order to preserve the experience for future Senior classes. Let’s be honest here, it is nice to hang out with your Senior class with the little time you have left before you all go off to different colleges.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Shakespeare Monologue Competition @ Palm Valley: “The Best of the Bard”

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Student reviews compiled by Luke Langlois

On Friday, January 25th, our FANTASTIC Drama Department, in collaboration with the English Department, put on a Shakespeare monologue competition titled “The Best of the Bard” to determine who would move on to the next level of the national English Speaking Union Monologue Competition. For those who have not heard the results of the Palm Valley competition, Leo Milmet took first place, Marianne Capetz took second place, Caroline Scheil took third place–as well as audience’s favorite, and Charles Schnell received the honorable mention. While, inherently, this was a competition, this was also a chance for our dramatic stars to shine individually, and shine they did. In fact, the sharp performances of the drama students inspired the hearts of many students to write a review. Today, the blog presents to you a compilation of a few of these reviews. If you attended the competition, perhaps these reviews can provide you with some details that you missed. Or, if you were unable to attend the competition, these reviews will make sure you’re fully aware of the excellence of our monologue reciters.–Luke

Abridged Review From Claire Jenkins

Shakespeare was a complicated man, whose words are hard to translate into modern-day ideas, but the group of Palm Valley upper school students who took on this task completely mastered it. Overall, out of the around 23 competitors in the competition, not a single one was disappointing. . . . The competitor that stuck out the most to me was Castiel Yu, delivering a monologue using an older and complicated form of his second language. Regardless, he was still able to translate the expressions and passions beautifully. . . .The next competitor that stood out to me was Brennan Nick. Brennan cracks me up, and while I know his monologue was not comedic, his facial expressions got me. He is loud and proud, and I will always admire that about him. . . . Leo Milmet took first place, which he most definitely deserved. I’m sure he will go on to continue dazzling the judges and stealing hearts across the competition.

Abridged Review From Josh Tyer

I went into the Drama Class’s recent monologue presentation, “A Night with the Bard,” with an idea of what it would be like, but what I got blew my own expectations out of the water! That night, Amanda jumped out to me as someone who had come very far as an actress. I, personally, have acted alongside Amanda for a long time, and after seeing her performance that night I can definitely say that she has blossomed. Her monologue was a perfect fit. . . . What truly surprised me that night were those quiet performers who usually play smaller roles in productions. Aurora Berner, James Zheng, Isabella Goetschel, Elizabeth Chen, and Castiel Yu blew me away. Normally, these people are resigned within themselves in Drama, never truly letting their talent shine through. But when you give someone like James Zheng the stage, he will burst out with a performance of Julius Caesar that will give you chills. All of them took their performances and conquered them. Sometimes the quietest of people have a beautiful talent for acting just waiting to leap out and take hold of the stage.

Abridged Review From Sydney Armor

I am not sure if it was the fact that the competition was not during school hours, or that I had voluntarily chosen to go see it, but I must say that this was without a doubt the best monologue competition I have ever seen at Palm Valley School. Usually, I can choose two or three monologues that really stand out and will undoubtedly win. Here, however, there were about seven or eight that I found amazing. My favorite, however, was Caroline’s monologue. Her delivery was simply perfect, and I actually laughed out loud when she was performing. This is really rare, as I usually don’t find the monologues to be funny (even if they are meant to be). Her overdone facial expressions and little pauses when she was deciding whether she loved or hated a man simply made the entire monologue hilarious, and spectacularly well performed. . . . I also really liked Jake Sonderman’s monologue. He took on a similar persona to the character he played in The Drowsy Chaperone, Aldolpho. He was Aldolpho 2.0 during his monologue. His take on this womanizing, romance-obsessed man is almost perfect. . . .  I don’t regret going to see the monologue competition. It was even worth going back to school on a Friday night.

Abridged Review From Shelby Armor

“Best of the Bard” was truly something to behold. Something about this monologue competition was just fun. When you have an atmosphere of people who truly want to be there, listening to Shakespeare in their free time, you get a different kind of environment; an inspiring environment. . . . I was a personal fan of Caroline’s monologue. I actually loved that monologue so much that I considered choosing it for my monologue way back when. I didn’t think I could pull it off, though, and seeing Caroline do it just made me realize how perfect that monologue was for Caroline. It was cutesy, comedic, and also provided for further thought on the part of the listener. There were also some people that I would have never expected to see performing, who were pouring their hearts out on stage — like Alex Bentley. I loved seeing him perform Macbeth; it was just so different from all of the familiar faces I’ve seen.  All in all, I’m really glad I went. I got to see some truly amazing interpretations of classic Shakespeare monologues, and got to enjoy it in a truly inspiring environment.

Interested in more Shakespeare monologues? Come watch Leo perform–and represent Palm Valley–in the Desert Branch competition next Friday, February 22, at 11 a.m. at Palm Springs High School’s theater. He’ll perform his Shylock again and add a sonnet. If he wins, he moves on to perform in New York City at the Lincoln Center.

Editors: Luke Langlois and A.J. Patencio

My Journey Through Basketball

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By Holden Hartle

My basketball journey began in the fourth grade. In the years leading up to this, some may characterize me as having my “nose glued to the pages of a book.” I wasn’t out to find friends. I was perfectly happy staying in the fantasy world of whatever book I was reading. This all changed in fourth grade.

The basketball season was ready to begin, and that’s all any of the cool kids were talking about. I wanted to sit at their lunch table. I wanted to be their friend. So, I went on to NBA.com and looked at the list of teams. After very minimal amounts of research, I decided that everyone liked the Los Angeles teams, so that would be too obvious. I then stumbled across the Utah Jazz and thought, ‘Hm. I have family in Utah. No one else likes the Utah Jazz. I will start liking the Utah Jazz.” I walked over to the cool kids’ table and took a seat, ready to share my limited knowledge of this completely new sport.

Fast forward to the middle school years. In the winter of sixth grade, I, along with the cool kids, joined the basketball team. This was my first time ever playing organized basketball. No longer was I just chucking the basketball somewhere towards the basket with no regards for the rules. Now, it was time to actually learn the sport. Needless to say, I was awful. To the best of my knowledge, I didn’t score a single point until eighth grade. I was slowly getting better, but I often panicked on the court, and it resulted in some questionable shot selections.

Despite my inability to score, we won plenty of games. Through sixth and seventh grade, we went undefeated, largely due to the contributions of Jensen Jabara. In seventh grade, we won the championship, and in eighth grade, we took third.  

In all of this, I was slowly learning more about the NBA. My favorite player, legend Carlos Boozer, who I blindly chose in fifth grade, was traded to the Chicago Bulls. Sorry Jazz, but the Bulls became my favorite team–even though I had no connections with Chicago whatsoever.

And that brings us to high school. I joined the team freshman year, and now, thanks to MaxPreps, there is documentation of how bad I was. The team for the 2015-2016 season was led by senior Colin Wessman, our center who was leading a team that was 80% underclassmen. He was our captain, but our scoring was led by junior Michael Ma, who averaged thirteen points per game. Yours truly averaged a staggering two points and three rebounds for the year. As a side note, Ben Snyder, during his freshman year, is listed as only 5’2”. Keep this in mind as the story continues.

My freshman season could not have gone any worse. We lost every single game, and with the exception of one game, we lost every game by ten points or more. During the MaxPreps tournament, in which we played teams that were way better than us, I had the highlight of my career. We were losing by more than 40, so the game clock didn’t stop on a dead ball. The opposing team knocked the ball out of bounds, and with just a few seconds left in the fourth quarter, I yelled at Ben Snyder to inbound the ball. He passed the ball to me and I put up a buzzer beater from the corner and sunk it. Though we still lost that game by 44, this was the first three-pointer I had made in my career.

Sophomore year came, and it could only go up from the previous year. And it did. We won five games in total, three of which were in league. In fact, we won our first two games of the season. Towards the end of the season, we won a double overtime game against Bloomington Christian.

During the MaxPreps tournament, we once again played a team that had no business playing a team as bad as us. During warm-ups, I made every shot (not to brag or anything). The opposing coach noticed this, and every time I got the ball during that game, the opposing coach yelled “Shooter!” And, as you’ll see later, I was no shooter. This became sort of an inside joke among the teammates until my final game as a Firebird.

Our wins were won thanks to the efforts of senior Michael Ma. He averaged sixteen points and almost nine rebounds per game. Ben quickly emerged as the team’s second option, as his points per game jumped from three points per game to nine. It’s also worth noting that not only did Ben’s per game numbers spike, so did his height, as he was now 5’8”. My numbers stayed the same, but I was content with this, considering the success our team experienced.

As junior year came, the team realized that we would lose the scoring of Michael, so we were left looking for someone to take over our team. We found two: Ben Snyder and Daniel Romo. Ben was averaging an unreal eighteen points per game, along with leading the team in rebounds. Daniel was quietly becoming more of an offensive threat on the team as well, which became apparent during the 2017-2018 season.

Our coach during my underclassmen years had said that “We live by the three. We die by the three.” This was especially true in my junior year. When we shot well, our team found success. But when we didn’t, the odds didn’t go in our favor. We won only two games, both of which were hard fought wins against West Shores.

Also during this year, I had my first “big game.” As we were getting blown out by Mesa Grande, late in the fourth quarter, I made a few three-pointers in a row. People were yelling “Shooter!” from the stands. I had this cheesy smile on my face, even though we lost by almost forty.

And that brings us to this year. Originally, I wasn’t going to play basketball for the school. It was too much stress, and I wanted to focus on my academics rather than sports. My senior friends disagreed with my decisions and attempted to persuade me time after time. I was adamant on this up until the first practice. A few days before then, our coach had a meeting with me. He too, attempted to persuade me to join the team. He said that I could be a legitimate third option for the team. I said I would think about it. A few days later, I went to the first practice. Surrounded by my teammates–I knew I couldn’t quit the team, so I didn’t.

This year was my big year of improvement. I averaged seven points, seven rebounds, and two assists per game–the best stat line of my career. There was a stretch of four games where I averaged over twelve points per game, one of which was my career high sixteen points against Desert Chapel. Though these numbers aren’t impressive from most basketball player’s standpoints, they were to me. This was a big accomplishment for me.

Ben was now 6’1,” and the tallest person on the team. If you don’t count the games he didn’t play, he averaged nineteen points per game, had five twenty-point games and one thirty-point game, which allowed him to lead the league in scoring. Daniel led the league in assists. But, there is someone else I want to highlight: Asher Mai. Though Asher struggled with confidence, his senior year was his best year by far. He had his first game in which he scored more than ten points, and three games where he grabbed more than ten rebounds.

I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to play with these players. I started out just wanting to be like the cool kids to becoming an average high-school basketball player. And, throughout this process, I saw the development of my classmates, who have exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Go See It.

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By Makena Behnke

In Palm Valley’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, we see quick changes, strong voices, and monkeys. The main character, Janet, played by both Marianne Capetz and Kaiya Treash, is portrayed as a bodacious movie star who retires into marriage. Charles Schnell plays Janet’s fiance, Robert. Robert is totally lovestruck by his gorgeous girl. Every musical number (and there are a lot) causes very powerful and strong emotions, especially the “Aldolpho” number. Jake Sonderman plays “lady killer” Aldolpho who accidentally seduces Jackson Dean, the Chaperone. The storyline goes many different ways and adds to the comedy (look out for the irony coming from Leo Milmet). Taking place in the 1920s, I’m confident in saying the hair and makeup of the play are definitely important aspects of the show. Back then, thin and dark brows, pouty heart lips, and perfectly pinned and slicked back hair was the most popular look. Every character is perfectly put together; outfits are colorful; and attitudes are sickly sweet. Our dear Janet, while in conflict with herself, sings a lovely song about her love for a monkey. Everyone in the cast executes the music perfectly. There is a range of different characters–from the ditsy Kitty, played by Caroline Scheil, to dramatic Marianne and Kaiya’s Janet. I highly recommend The Drowsy Chaperone to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and/or chills when grand musical numbers occur.

 

Editor: Holden Hartle

 

2018 Palm Valley School Pride

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By AJ Patencio

On November 4th, Palm Springs held its 32nd annual Palm Springs Pride Parade, and the PVS Gender Sexuality Acceptance (GSA) Club was there to represent our loving community. We were put in spot 79 and given a banner with a colorful take on the Palm Valley Firebird logo. I was one of the GSA members who joined them, and it was an amazing experience to march through the streets while surrounded by my friends. I’m glad to have experienced it in my senior year before I go off to college. However, it’s not my first time participating in the Safe Schools march at the Palm Springs Pride Parade.

During my freshman year, before PVS had a GSA club, I was one of the only openly gay students in the Upper School. Our English teacher at the time, Mr. Griffin, had talked with the advisor for Palm Spring High School’s GSA club and received permission to send any of our students who wanted to participate in the Pride Parade with them. He handed out flyers, but I was the one student from our school who actually went. I was dropped off near the parade and had to walk alone to meet with the PSHS group, and I knew none of them. I was an alone 14 year old surrounded by people I didn’t know in a loud and crowded place. It was a memorable experience, but not in a good way.

This year was different. I’m 17 now. I was with friends and people I knew and trusted. I was never alone and  always easy to find, as I had a giant rainbow umbrella that unintentionally attacked anyone who got too close. We had school GSA shirts and many rainbow-colored tattoos. I learned of a certain teacher’s habit of putting empty gift cards in his wallet. I ate greasy pizza with my friends as we laughed at a cringy pamphlet. I met enthusiastic parents that were proud of what their kids were doing. I got to have an amazing experience that I won’t forget. I felt happy with who I am, and I’m glad that others will be able to experience this in the future.

Editor: Holden Hartle

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR GRADE (NOT CLICKBAIT)

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By Luke Langlois

Hello to all of my student friends. Today, I am here to introduce a handy-dandy tool, www.calculatemygrade.com. Grades are a mystical thing, and, honestly, who knows how to calculate it. Well, the answer is simple. It’s the internet. There are a billion-gazillion grade calculators online. The problem with all of these grade calculators is that they do not adapt to your individual situation. Most of the time, grade calculators are made for specific schools or systems, and they will not adapt to your grading situation. This website adapts to you. It lets you enter your own assignment, the weight of this assignment, and the grade you received on this assignment. This helps you figure out what you need to do grade-wise. Do I need to get a 100% on the next test? How many homework assignments do I need to offset the 5.3% I just received on this test? Well, for those who of us who love their grades, this is the tool. Here is a brief-ish set of instructions.  

When you open up the website, you will see three options: “My overall course grade,” “What grade I need to get on the final exam to get an A, B, C or D,” and “What my new GPA will be after this semester.” Depending on your situation, you’ll pick what you need to pick. For me, the “My Overall Course Grade” option is the best. I have frequently used this option to find out what grade I need on a specific assignment to be where I want to be. So, for the purpose of this post, we’ll dive into that.

After selecting this option and pressing “next,” you will be hit with “is your final grade calculated with points or percentages?” You select how your teacher calculates the grade. For example, I know Ms. Zachik calculates her grades based on points and how many points you receive, so for her class, you’d select points. Most other classes are based on percentage, so for most cases you’d choose that, unless you know your teacher bases their class on points.

After selecting the grading system, you’ll be prompted to enter the quantity of assignments. If you have had two tests, enter two tests. This is pretty self-explanatory. If you want to know what you need on your next assignment to get your grade up to a certain point, add an extra assignment so you can add the hypothetical grade. If you have no assignments for a specific category, enter nothing or a “0.”

After this, you’ll be asked to enter how much each grade is worth. For this, you’ll need to find the syllabus for your class and find out what each assignment is worth.  IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to divide the weight of the category into how many assignments of that category you have had. That was confusing. If your tests are worth 60% of your grade, and you’ve had 3 tests, enter each one as 20% (which is the 60% divided by 3 if you have no idea where that number came from). As another example, if you have 7 homework assignments and those homework assignments are worth 10%, divide that 10 by 7. You’d get 1.4%, and each of the 7 homework assignments is worth 1.4% of your grade. If you enter each of the 7 grades as weighted by 10%, each homework assignment is going to be weighted as 10%, rather than the entire category as 10%. This is important for each assignment category.

Finally, you’ll be asked to enter what grade your assignment received. So, do that. The most handy part about this section is to enter a hypothetical grade for an upcoming assignment. As an example, say I had a 24% in AP Biology, what grade will I need on the next test to raise my grade to an A. Well, in the earlier processes I would add an extra test so I could now enter a hypothetical grade for said test. Then, I would enter in some grades to see if they’d raise me up to the grade I want. After you do this, you should hopefully get a grade that resembles something reasonable. In the case of wanting to raise my grade from 24% to 93, I would need a 300% on my next test. I would recommend entering your actual grades first to see if you’re doing the whole process correctly.

So, in conclusion, this website, www.calculatemygrade.com, will be most useful to you if you are a grade freak. If you’re not, you might keep it in the back of your head for when the final exams come around. Enjoy calculating!  

 

*Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this, but I will welcome any revenue.

Editor: Holden Hartle

Mock Trial: EXPLAINED!

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By Luke Langlois, The Mock Trial Guy

Whether it be through assembly announcements, student chatter, or blog posts, I’m sure you’ve heard of Mock Trial. As the new season approaches, I’d like to answer the following question: what exactly is Mock Trial? As a member of the Mock Trial team, I am obliged to write this post so more people appreciate us and the extracurricular in general.

At its heart, Mock Trial is a mock trial. Each year, a criminal case is written by the higher-ups of the program. The case is built to be flexible, so that it can be argued in favor of the defense or the prosecution with no intentional bias. The case is the center of all Mock Trial matches. A match is comprised of two teams (schools). One team is the defense; one team is the prosecution. In one Mock Trial season, teams compete in four different matches, two as the defense and two as the prosecution. If a team makes the playoffs, they are part of the “elite 8” and play some extra matches, depending on how well they do. Here’s a little known fact: last year’s Palm Valley Mock Trial team was the best in the Coachella Valley, and we placed #9 out of 27 in the Riverside County (one spot out of a playoff berth).

So, just like any competition, there are winners and there are losers. Here’s a bit of a twist. The winner of the verdict in court will not necessarily be the winner of the match. The judge of the trial determines the verdict in court, while the scoring attorneys are the ones who determine the winner of the match. The winner of the competition is the team with the higher number of total points. Each competing member of the team is scored according to how effective they are at their job. For example, part of a prosecution or defense attorney’s score would be based on one of their cross examinations. The score would be gauged by how well they can tear down the witness, and therefore the opposing argument, during the cross examination. Part of a witness’s score would be based on how well they can defend against the opposing attorney’s attempt to tear down their evidence. The winner is determined by the cumulative number of points earned by each member. Mock Trial teams are not told who wins and who loses in the courthouse. The total score and results of the match are released a day or two after the trial. If you ever hear a Mock Trial member screaming “THE SCORE’S OUT!!!!” this is why.

I briefly mentioned scoring attorneys last paragraph. What is a scoring attorney? A scorer is an actual attorney. In Mock Trial, the officials aren’t just any old referees (no offense referees).  The scoring attorneys ARE attorneys. The judge IS a judge. This is definitely one of the best parts of Mock Trial. It gives it some authenticity. When playing varsity basketball, unless you are LeBron James Jr, you aren’t talking with LeBron after the game. After a Mock Trial match, you are welcome to speak to the scoring attorneys. In fact, the scoring attorneys would approach me after a match more often than not.

Each person plays a role. Now, I know what you’re thinking. What kind of role am I talking about? Is it a theater role? Is it role-ing the dice? Surprise! It’s neither. A Mock Trial participant can compete as an attorney, witness, bailiff, or clerk. I’ll start with explaining the positions of the clerk and bailiff. A bailiff keeps the order in a court of law and is responsible for swearing in witnesses. The clerk is the timekeeper of the competition, making sure teams are each given an equal amount of time to present their case. The defense team provides the bailiff, and the prosecution provides the clerk. Attorneys can either be pretrial, defense, or prosecution. A pretrial attorney argues over the pretrial motion, which is usually an argument over an interpretation of the law. Last year, the argument was over whether or not a piece of GPS evidence was collected lawfully or if it was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Defense and prosecution attorneys are in charge of conducting the trial and, of course, doing it in a way that favors their side. The tasks of defense and prosecution attorneys include the following: opening statements, closing statements, and examinations of witnesses. That leads me to the final role, WITNESSES!

Each team brings the witnesses that contribute evidence to their side of the argument. It would be an ill-advised move to call a witness from the other team to the witness stand, to say the least. A witness can find their information from their witness statement in the case packet, the lovely packet that holds all the information on the case for the season. The witness statement encompasses what a witness knows. A witness is responsible for knowing the information in their witness statement; they should know what they should and should not say in order to help their team. In a mock trial, a witness is not a person who simply says that they saw something happen. A witness can be an expert medical analyst who is brought in to explain the wounds found on a victim, the defendant,  or someone who simply believes they saw something happen. Nevertheless, witnesses make or break every Mock Trial match. Every role in Mock Trial is important, and each competitor has the ability to swing the match to their favor.

Finally, I’ll give a brief rundown of what actually goes on during a match. The teams are ushered in the courtroom and wait for the judge. Introductions are done, and then everyone moves to their proper seat position in the courtroom. Before the case presentations begin, the pretrial motion is argued. The judges give their rulings on the pretrial motion. Then, the prosecution gives its opening statement, and the defense may give its opening statement. After the opening statements, the prosecution presents its case. Cases are presented in the form of questioning your own team’s witnesses in the direct examinations. After a prosecuting attorney finishes the direct examination of a witness, the defense has the chance to conduct a cross examination on the same witness. Once the prosecution presents all its evidence, calls up all of its witnesses, or runs out of time, its case is rested and the defense gets to present its case. The process is the same. They call witnesses, conduct direct examinations, and the prosecution will cross examine the witnesses of the defense. After both arguments have been fully presented, the closing statements are given, which is pretty self-explanatory. After the closing statements, the judge calls the verdict, the court is adjourned, and the mock trial teams begin to look back at their performance.  

That just about covers the basics of a match. Now, you may find it easier to follow what’s going on with our team and what any of the jargon means. If there are any questions that are floating around in your noggin, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll probably answer.

 

Editor: Bella Bier