The Brave News

by Emilio Ceja and Matthew Ruiz

Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Hispanic Holiday that is celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd. Every year this event is celebrated throughout Mexico, some parts of Central America and some parts of the United States, including our own community at St. John Bosco High School, which celebrated the event last Wednesday in the quad. 

The Mexican Culture believes the Dia De Los Muertos to be a time of remembrance and honor to their loved ones who have passed. They also believe the spirits of those who have passed return to be with their families. The way families remember their loved ones is by making a shrine or altar that contains pictures of who has passed, with their favorite foods, flowers, candles and other mementos that represents the deceased.

There are many ways cities celebrate Dia De Los Muertos from concerts, festivals, parades and food trucks. In Mexico, there are a lot of cities that have big celebrations or fiestas to celebrate the holiday. In the United States, some well-known cities that celebrate this holiday are Los Angeles, San Diego, El Paso and New York City. These cities host large parades to highlight celebrations.

At Bosco, the Spanish Honors Society hosts our annual Dia De Los Muertos Fiesta, which offers many different activities for the students, their friends and families. The event had food, music, altars and snacks and desserts being sold by clubs from around Bosco.

A major part of the fiesta were the altar displays that were put together by the Bosco community. These altars displayed loved ones who had passed away and, in Mexican tradition, featured the deceased favorite foods, candles and skulls to show reverence and respect.

The Spanish classes at Bosco each put together an altar with each student bringing in at least one picture of a loved one that passed away. Not only did the Spanish classes make altars, but the Latino Heritage Club (i.e. the “Compa” Club) and the Spanish Honors Society each made an altar of their own.

The atmosphere of the Dia de Los Muertos was one of happiness and cheer. With music being played in the background, many got up to dance. The event hosted a mariachi who played songs from the Disney movie Coco along with junior Travien Sears playing “Recuerdame” another famous song from the Disney movie on the saxophone.

Students enjoyed the event and most stayed throughout the entire evening to enjoy all the festivities.

For both Bosco and St. Joseph’s students, such as junior Mariana Covarrubias, who attended with her family, Dia De Los Muertos allowed for a combined experience of culture and togetherness.

“I enjoyed the altars with all of the pictures on them, and the Mariachi got my entire family up to dance,” said Mariana.

Isaac Rutz, a senior at ,attended the event to support his friends and had some of his family members that had passed away displayed at the altars that were set up.

“I felt that the Dia De Los Muertos festival was a beautiful time in which the Bosco and Joseph’s community could come together to remember those we lost. The altars, food and dance were all amazing,” said Rutz.

The fiesta had a large turnout, with many enjoying the tacos and burritos that were for sale well into the night. Along with the sale of tacos and burritos, multiple clubs including the Spanish Honors Society, The French Club, and the “Compa” Club sold other deserts, like nutella croissants, snacks, like Nachos, and drinks, like aguas frescas. The inclusion of a face painting station also allowed for kids to enjoy the fiesta along with their parents.

A chance to enjoy the company of family and friends and the ability to share culture with others is what the annual Dia de Los Muertos Fiesta is about at St. John Bosco High School.

by Lucas Garrison, Sports Editor, and Isaiah Holm

The time is here for the most anticipated high school football game of the year, as the Bosco Braves take on the “team in red.” However, the height of the competition seems like it won’t be taking place on the gridiron, but online and at the box office. 

Yes, this game not only sold out in less than 24 hours, but it is now facing problems of scalping of tickets, security and space.

Although the game selling out in less than 24 hours could be a story in itself, with so much going on as a result of the fast sell-out, we need to cover it all.

Let us start by taking a look at the scalping of tickets and tailgating spaces. Let me remind you that the tickets were released on Saturday morning, but the following Tuesday morning had someone reselling a ticket for $200. No one has ever heard of this before; this is a straight-up high school game that is having tickets being sold at the same price that several NFL teams sell their tickets. Later that afternoon, when this had been made public, someone posted a ticket pack of 5 tickets for $1500. High school games have never had tickets sell at this high index.

When Brave News insider Isaiah Holm went on the hunt to ask administration and the football coaching staff of what they thought of these high ticket prices, all answers were the same.

“Surprised? No. What do you expect? These are two powerhouse teams on and off the field. People wanna see it; they wanna be apart of it. The pack of five is what $300 dollars per ticket, how much is a Laker ticket? Yeah, this is crazy for us and for them, but I’ve only paid top dollar for only one game in my life and that was a playoff baseball game,” said offensive coordinator Stephen Lo.

In addition to game tickets, the Braves host their own tailgate for parents and faculty. The other tailgate area take place in front of the pool in the parking lot. The big news surrounding the two tailgating spots was that they both sold out in a matter of hours along with game tickets.

“At the tailgate I have in the quad, there are over 500 people expected to show up. Now yes, there is going to be a mix of Mater Dei parents with Bosco parents, which I think is great. It’s awesome how they want to put themselves in our atmosphere, and it’s a great way to kick off the evening before the game. That’s what Bosco is about at the end of the day: the family,” said Ms. Amy Krisch, Director of Alumni Development and Special Events.

That’s what I truly believe will sum up this weekend, FAMILY, whether or not the Braves beat the “team in red,” these two schools have so much respect for one another that they are a family. But like any family, they fight, and both are gonna treat us all to a show that will definitely be worth the price of admission.

 

by Jonathan Gonzalez and Tim Levine, Executive Editor

Schoology, an internet-based learning program for grades K-12 where students can communicate with teachers, find the school calendar and, of course, see their grades, was launched this semester to mixed reviews.

A lot of Bosco parents are extremely involved with their son’s academic lives, and most of the Bosco community may be familiar with our school’s old system called Moodle. However, Vice Principal Edgar Salmingo ensured that Schoology was a practical and beneficial shift. Bosco has advanced its technology so their platforms are better equipped for students.

“Schoology is better at syncing with PowerSchool with grades–seeing your class, seeing when your homework is due. And it shows you what you have to do for homework that week,” said Mr. Salmingo.

Students around campus are already noticing the benefits of the change. Junior Ben Hill believes that Schoology will decrease the stress and pressure he previously felt.

“Using Schoology now for personal use just for the students gives us less stress and pressure felt on from out parents since they no longer get notifications of our grades as were the ones who have to be dependable on our grades at our own pace,” said Hill.

Teachers also feel that it is easier to put Powerpoints, Ed puzzles, notes, homework, tests/ quizzes, etc; on Schoology. However, Schoology is also just a learning tool and it will not be able to replace PowerSchool. Mr. Salmingo believes that there is still a place for Powerschool and that it will still be needed going forward.

“PowerSchool is good for information with grades/ GPA or transcript, Schoology is strictly just for learning purposes, schedules, and communication between students and teachers. It’s also great with linking to the students Google accounts,” said Mr. Salmingo.

Some of the students who have been used to the old system of Powerschool and Moodle such as juniors and seniors seem to be finding the transition difficult as it is a completely new system that they are not used to. Senior Andrew Serrano believes that Schoology is more complex, however still finds the transition to be a good idea.

“I dislike Schoology in terms of its complexity and how to use it, but do not hate the idea of switching to a better system,” said Serrano.

Andrew Serrano also thinks that the transition could have been handled better and a formal seminar introducing the platform would have been beneficial.

“We students weren’t given a seminar on how to use Schoology or at least have the teachers explain it to us,” said Serrano.

He also did give some good feedback with Schoology. He likes the fact that we can see “percentages of tests, homework, projects, and classwork.”

While some of the Juniors and Seniors are having difficulty and concerns about Schoology, many freshmen who only know Schoology believe that it is a great platform.

“It is an awesome system with grades, homework, and our school schedules,” said freshman Victor Murillo

Murillo loves all the different functions Schoology serves and appreciates the new calendar system.

“I love that you can also check whether your teacher is coming to class or not on different days and that on the calendar you can see what colleges are coming to our campus to talk to us,” said Murillo.

The new system of Schoology doesn’t yet seem to be a perfect match with all of St. John Bosco but with all of the functions it has to offer and the clean interface, it seems to make the teachers’ jobs much easier.

Mr. Fernando who has been a big face at Bosco, being part of the Dean’s staff and now a full-time English teacher, is also getting adjusted to Schoology and time to get to know what Schoology is all about. He believes that it is the right transition, as it creates an easier and more convenient interface for teachers to work with.

“I don’t think it’s easy to compare PowerSchool and Schoology but I do think Schoology is a lot better than Moodle for its interface and ease of constructing classes for students,” said Mr. Fernando.

Parents of students at St. John Bosco also believe that Schoology can be very beneficial for students as well as for them. Freshman Joshua Gonzalez’s mother Ana Gonzalez likes how informative Schoology is.

“Schoology compared to PowerSchool is a lot more informative on the updates it gives out and also how we can see what’s going on at Bosco and I can see what’s upcoming assignments my son has coming up and anything he has late,” said Mrs. Gonzalez

Mrs.Gonzalez also does not have the Schoology app, as she believes it will give her son more personal responsibility and will not make him feel as stressed.

“I don’t have the app Schoology to be able to give my son the responsibility of being a young adult and having to do his schoolwork without me having to constantly remind him like how I have done with my other son. I can tell it gave my older son a lot more stress and was always worrying about grades,” said Mrs. Gonzales

Mrs. Dolphin, a known figure at St. John Bosco, has some thoughts on Schoology not only as a teacher but as a parent as well, her twin boys class of 2019 Myles and Isaiah dolphin both currently attend Brown University. She believes that Powerschool’s interface is more friendly for checking grades, as a lot of parents are not educated on how to use Schoology.

“As a parent, I liked PowerSchool because checking my sons’ grades was a lot easier than Schoology. A lot of the parents of sophomore class to the senior class don’t know how to use Schoology,” said Mrs. Dolphin.

She also believes that while it can be seen as more complicated, it does help provide students with a more stress-free environment.

“Schoology is a lot more effective. Also, it is a lot more stress-free and indicative then PowerSchool, and it gives students more ownership of their grades,” said Mrs. Dolphin.

Schoology has taken its share of criticism in replacing Moodle. Schoology gives the students less anxiety and allows them to focus on school and not worry so much about their grades being shown to their parents day in and day out.