March 2005 Gusher
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Hunter S. Thompson: “Twins Day” Spring Sports reports Farewell to the and other and Winter Sports original “Gonzo” Spring Fling season wrap-ups, journalist, activities, Sports, Page 7 Entertainment Photo Essay Page 8 Pages 4-5 The Voice of the Wildcats ThThTheee GushGushGusheeerrr Since 1912 Vol. 92, Issue 4 Taft Union High School, 701 Seventh Street, Taft, CA 93268 April 5, 2005 Battle for MockFest rocks auditorium By Christine Dunning “The most enjoyable part Staff Writer was the way all the Mock Rock con- testants supported each other and On March 11, nine groups rooted each other on,” said English of Taft High students gathered to teacher Caroline Schoneweis, who show off their lip-syncing, dancing was one of the Mock Rock judges. and air-guitar skills for Mock Rock Several teachers judged the 2005. performances. The judging was The theme of Mock Rock based one-third on lip-syncing, was Battle for MockFest. Mike one-third on choreography and Dobreski, CAHSEE Tutorial one-third on over all performance. teacher, and librarian Kathy The teachers chosen to McLaughlin teamed up to host, imi- judge were pleased to receive the Seniors Elizabeth Crum, Salina Veerasingham, Megan Coontz, Chtistine Dunning, Julie Willis, tating the very funny and extremely invitation. Malinde Hoffman and Mary Emfinger were awarded second place simply because “girls just wanna dysfunctional Ozzy and Sharon “The best part of being a have fun.” Photo by Ozella Mood/The Derrick Osbourne. judge,” explains Schoneweis, “was The participants of Mock knowing that I would be able to Rock worked hard for many hours watch the whole show. I also had Students protest termination on their skits. “We worked on our inside information that the perfor- choreography for about five hours mances were going to be excep- all together,” said Ronald Connell, tional, which made me even more of some probationary teachers member of “Aerosmith.” excited.” Even with the long hours, All the hard work and ef- By Justina Washington protested, wearing bracelets stat- lowing year. After a lot of thought the entire process of choreography fort from the contestants paid off, Staff Writer ing, “We support our teachers,” and and discussion, they do what they is an enjoyable experience. Salina literally. First place was awarded to some even attended a recent school believe is best for the school. Veerasingham, member of “Cyndi the performers of “Thriller,” who A controversy has erupted board meeting and told board It’s not a pleasant job to Lauper,” noted, “The best part of received $300. over the administration’s decision members how they felt about the make these decisions and inform the experience is making up cre- Second place went to to release some new teachers. situation. (See related story on page teachers of their non-reelection. It’s ative and unique dance moves and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Although it’s hard for stu- 2.) not any easier to receive the notice exploring new boundaries.” Have Fun,” which won $200, with dents to let go of some of their fa- “I was very proud of all the either, as some teachers noted. The audience was ex- third place going to Aerosmith’s vorite teachers, the procedure of students. They stood up for what “I was stunned, dumb- tremely receptive, cheering most “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” along non-reelection of probationary they believe is right,” commented founded and surprised,” said one. performances wildly. Most had with $100. teachers happens annually. There is one released teacher. The fact of teachers not be- their favorite parts of the show. Overall, the Battle for very little students can do to pre- Although students are able ing re-elected isn’t the only thing “The best part of the show was MockFest was an exciting and en- vent it. to exercise their civil rights and that makes students unhappy. They watching ‘Thriller’,” noted Connell. joyable show. Every year some first- or make themselves heard, another would like to be given a reason. second-year teachers are not re- teacher points out that, “They Superintendent Curt elected for the following year; in should do this fully informed about Dubost told the Midway Driller, “We other words, they are “fired.” This the issues and in a positive way.” are not at liberty to give the reason process occurs not only at Taft High During their first two for any non re-election,” and he is but also in high schools all over the years at a school, teachers are on absolutely correct. state of California. probationary status. They are Personnel decisions are Kayla Hillygus According to the California evaluated throughout those two confidential. Only members of the leads her zombies Teachers Association Legal Ser- years. They are watched closely to administration and the board of to first place in vices, “Probationary teachers may make sure they possess certain trustees have access to such infor- the Battle for be dismissed for any or no reason, teaching and classroom manage- mation. As a result, others are left MockFest with any time prior to March 15 of the ment skills. to try to figure out why a particu- Michael Jackson’s second year of service.” Sometime before March 15 lar teacher was non-reelected, and “Thriller.” Photo Disappointment and anger of the second year the administra- rumors are the result. by Stacy Schultz/ have arisen because of the dismissal tion discusses which teachers won’t It’s sometimes hard to ac- The Derrick of certain teachers. Students have be re-elected (rehired) for the fol- cept but it’s legal and common. TUHS meets state goals Parents, staff and students express in 2004 STAR testing opinions at emotional board meeting The state department of 66 percent of California high By Cherokee Ingram a team and achieved their goals in dation to teachers who would re- education released on March 15 schools met the API growth tar- and Courtney Glendening “their eyes.” sign rather than fight their non-re- the results of last year’s STAR get, and only 48 percent met all Staff Writers “I feel that Coach Ruybal election. and CAHSEE tests. Scores from subgroup growth targets. has brought out the best in the kids “The board has the oppor- the two tests are combined to cre- Schools are ranked from The TUHS Board of Trust- on the team,” Chitwood added. tunity to step in temporarily, then ate a school’s API (Academic Per- 1 to 10 (10 being best) compared ees meeting on the evening Febru- The meeting then became when things cool off, step away,” formance Index). The scale runs to all other schools in the state. ary 22 was unusually eventful. The more solemn. The majority of the explained Kopp. from 200-1000, and the state has They are also compared to all chanting of “Out With Dubost,” spectators were waiting to speak English teacher Kevin set a goal of 800 for all schools. “similar schools” in the state and “Save Our Teachers!” could be about the “pink-slipped teachers.” Hughes recognized the positive Taft’s API for 2004 was (based on class size, percentage heard near the campus. Sherie Wolosz, statistics academics, athletics and clubs at 621, an increase of 46 from the of students who are English lan- These chants came from a and advanced algebra teacher, ex- Taft High. previous year’s 585. The goal for guage learners, ethnicity and so- group of approximately 30 TUHS plained that she felt she was very He also referred to a list of TUHS in this year’s testing, cioeconomic status, etc.). TUHS students picketing, taking action to skilled, but that she was not trained issues. One was that the adminis- which begins April 12, is 630. was ranked in group 3 in the express their opinions. for the advanced courses she was tration seemed to be willing to let Taft ranked sixth among statewide comparison and group The meeting was held in assigned to teach. go of older teachers or reassign 21 Kern County high schools, be- 1 (the lowest) in the “similar the IRC because of the large turn- “I leave knowing I gave them. Second, Hughes agreed with hind Stockdale (737), Tehachapi schools”category. out, which included concerned par- 110% of myself,” said Wolosz. Kopp on the staff morale concerns. (700), Liberty (689), Centennial However, many schools ents, teachers and students. Board The students clearly fa- After the discussion of the (648) and Kern Valley (640). in the “similar schools” category president Janice Ashley called the vored keeping English teacher Sara teacher “terminations” was over, The increase in Taft’s API (such as Ridgeview, Santa Bar- meeting to order shortly after 7 p.m. Pauga. Junior Franciso Topete read the meeting was once again back to is “a reflection of the progress bara, Oxnard, and Palm Springs Without delay, the public a letter to the board written by a a relatively tension-free mood. students are making and the hard high schools) don’t have much filled out cards listing the com- concerned student, a touching When the meeting re- work that teachers, the board, the in common with TUHS. Also, ments, suggestions and speeches speech for the “non-reelected” En- sumed, FFA advisor Teresa Taylor administration and the staff are Taft’s API appears to be in the they wished to make during the glish teacher and friend. proposed a school farm consisting doing to improve student learn- middle of the range of scores. meeting. Several people spoke of Topete also added, “She of portable barns and pens for the ing and help them achieve to The remaining local high issues that worried them.