Teachers aren’t the only ones who have to apply for their jobs next year — so does Principal Daniel Hurst.

Hurst was the principal at College Preparatory & Architec-ture Academy since it became small school in 2003. Since the beginning of this school year, he has been the principal of all three schools and has been busy planning for the new school.

Hurst says that about a month and a half ago, a district official told him he had to go through a community selection process if he wanted to be the principal of the school formed in July when CPAA, Media Academy and Mandela Acad-emy officially merge.

Hurst put his application in.“I feel that I’m committed to

the school changing to be great. I believe I can make that hap-pen,” Hurst said.

Principal search underway

When the lunch bell rings, many hungry students have one question on their minds: vendors or no vendors?

The food vendors have had trouble selling their nachos, burgers, hot dogs and other favorites to Fremont students recently. Some days they are at the back gate; some days they are not.

That’s because the city is cracking down on food vendors for not following policies about how food is sold to students.

“Oakland has an ordinance which states that vendors are not allowed to sell food within 500 feet of schools. This ordinance is being enforced,” said Jennifer LeBarre, Oakland Unified School District's director of nutrition services.

Also, soda and junk food are not allowed to be sold on school property, according to the school district's Wellness Policy.

On Feb. 6, school board member Noel Gallo came to Fremont to watch what was happening at the gates during lunch time. He was joined by LeBarre and food service field supervisor Sherry Carpenter. By the next week, the vendors had disappeared.

Since then, one vendor has moved his truck across the street and sometimes runs food back and forth to students at the gate.

Besides breaking the school district’s policy on junk food sold to students, selling food through school gates “looks bad for the school,” said Principal Daniel Hurst.

March 19, 2012 Volume 51, Issue 4

inside

– page 4

softball season staRtsWith new math teacher as softball coach, team eyes OAL championship

Fremont teachers must reapply forlonger hours, days

food PatRol Sherry Carpenter (left) and Jennifer LeBarre of Oakland Unfiied School District Nutrition Services and school board member Noel Gallo watch vendors sell food through the Ygnacio Street gate during lunch on Feb. 6. A few days later, vendors were told not to sell food to students.

photo by Fernanda Lopez

see TEACHERS page 2

see SELECT page 2

laura d. lem Sports Editor

If the committee chooses someone else, Hurst said, “I will understand.”

Whoever is the new principal will have a big job as soon as they step in — deciding who will be the teachers for the new school. The district has decided to create “Teachers on Special Assignment” positions for all Fremont teachers next year and extend their year by 18 days.

The interviews for the teach-ers cannot start until the new principal is put into place.

A principal selection com-mittee — made up of teachers, students, staff members, parents and community members — has been meeting since early Febru-ary to prepare for interview-ing and choosing a leader. The committee was expected to hold interviews on March 15 and make a recom-mendation to Superintendent

Media College Preparatory High School, Oakland, CA

School officials have been working with Nutrition Services to have more options for students instead of just school lunch.

"We are working to get vendors on the campus during lunch so that students have more options,” said Vice Principal Sarah Mazzotta. “We have also been working to ensure that vendors are not selling through the gates during class."

LeBarre also said she is trying to find a way to work with vendors, but that they would have to provide their recipes to the district to prove the food meets federal nutri-tion guidelines. She said only the vendor who sells fruit cups has done that.

Hurst said the vendors also have to show proper city licenses and permits and show proof of liability insurance to sell food.

Students were outraged to see that the vendors weren't in the back of the school.

“I feel hella bad because we got to eat this nasty cafeteria lunch,” said Media Acad-emy junior Jayvon Landry. “The cafeteria doesn’t have the food we want, plus we ain’t got off campus lunch.”

In response to such complaints, cafeteria manager Lawana Wyatt says she wouldn't feed students food she wouldn't eat herself.

“I put love into the food I make,” says Wyatt.

In an e-mail to the Green & Gold, LeB-arre said she wants students to form a focus group to give feedback on the meal program.

Based on that, wrote LeBarre, "we can make changes to what is being served."

Meela Weela

celebratesSt. Patrick's

Vendor Gate

City pulls plug on food vendors

sCienCe standaRds at staKe?Proposed legislation could lower high school science requirements in California high schools

– page 2

PRom in 'PaRis' Committee decides on prom colors, double theme

Janae Rushing& Jorray Hart

Staff Writers

Katelyn bauzon News Editor

The district says it is a chance to strengthen Fremont High School and give added support to children, while the teachers union says the plan violates its members contract and will hurt students.

It is called the Acceler-ated TSA plan and it requires all teachers to be selected as “Teachers on Special Assign-ment” to continue to work at Fremont. Castlemont and Mc-Clymonds High Schools also will be included in the plan.

Those selected to work at Fremont must agree to work 18 extra days during the summer and 30 minutes extra every day, time for which they will be paid.

Oakland Education Asso-ciation leaders who showed up to a March 6 meeting led by Superintendent Tony Smith for

Fremont teachers were furious.“This is a real low point in

this relationship,” said OEA President Betty Olson-Jones as she described the way the district had come up with a plan without talking about it with the union first.

The union has filed a griev-ance over what it says is an “unfair labor practice.”

But Smith told teachers he had the power to create the TSA positions.

“I had to do what I thought was right for kids,” Smith said.

Teachers at Fremont con-ducted their own survey to see how eductors felt about the change. Responses were diverse and there was no majority for or against it.

About 38 percent of teachers answered that they thought that the TSA plan would improve students’ experience at Fremont.

– page 4

– page 4

California may lower the number of required high school science classes next school year at a time when the country has more sci-

ence jobs available and fewer Americans educated to fill them.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to lower the high school graduation require-ment for science from two years to one year in the 2012-2013 state budget to save the state $200 million a year. How-ever, it is unclear how the money will be saved.

Even if the graduation requirements are lowered, students who want to go to a California State University or University of California campus would still need to take at least one biological science class and one physical science class.

Many Fremont Federation of High School educators do not believe lowering the requirements would benefit students.

“High school should prepare students for college,” said Sarah Mazzotta, who worked as an engineer and then a science teacher before becoming assistant princi-pal of Media Academy. “Students need to be encouraged to take as many math and science classes because the high-paying jobs are in math and science.”

According to the New York Times, a

Gov. Brown proposes science cuts as money saverGloria "Jack" Mejia-Cuellar

Multimedia Editor

from page 1TEACHERS: Union calls TSA 'unfair labor practice'

conducting chEMistry chemistry teacher giel Muller helps Media Academy junior nazario Matias conduct electricity with batteries on March 2. california is considering reducing science requirements to graduate high school from two years to one year.

photo by Pearl Joy Balagot

One teacher also addressed student need over teacher job security.

“It is not right to hold teachers' interest before our children's best interest at Fre-mont. OEA should see this TSA position as a support, not an attack. We will have a job regardless because they need us,” replied the teacher.

If teachers choose not to apply for the new teaching positions or are not selected but still want to work as teachers, they will be placed at a different OUSD school, according to contractual rules.

The TSA contract teachers sign would be good for one year (11 months). By March 15 each year, the district would choose which contracts to renew.

Teachers are now able to apply for the jobs on EdJoin.com and will start interviewing as soon as the Fremont High School principal is named.

Matthew Duffy, the district's school transformation leader, explained the new positions to teachers in a Feb. 23 e-mail.

“These new TSA postions symbolize our commitment to create a high quality school with high quality teachers that can significantly accelerate student learning, strengthen school culture and actively

partner with fami-lies," he wrote.

But Richard Yacco, a Media Academy broadcast teacher, doesn't think the TSA contracts are necessary.

“It's wrong be-cause [the district] can conquer the same goals by extending the [regular teachers']

contract," he said. "This seems like it's not in the best interest of the students."

Some teachers believe that these new TSA positions are good for both educa-tors and students.

“The benefits are our role(s) on cam-pus would be more clearly defined.” said Mikel Calderon, a permanent substitute teacher on campus.

On the other hand, 46 percent of teachers support the union’s decision to challenge the TSA plan.

“I am concerned that this is just a ploy to destroy the power of the union," one teacher responded on the survey.

Nearly 64 percent of the teachers said they plan to apply for TSA jobs. Mean-while, 19 percent said they will not apply for a TSA position and 17 percent are undecided. Forty-eight Fremont teachers took the anonymous survey.

Under the plan, teachers have to apply for the new positions if they decide they want to continue working at Fremont. They will also have to interview.

Teachers who said they would ap-ply for the TSA jobs have a variety of reasons.

“I am committed to staying with Fre-mont High for the sake of the kids," one teacher wrote on the survey. "I have come to love so many of the students here, and I feel it is my duty to them to stay and support their education.”

Ed Holohan is a Media Academy re-source specialist who says he wants what is best for the students, but is against the plan.

“The district should go about it a different way. I think they’re breaking the law. It’s not fair,” said Ho-lohan, who has been teaching at Fremont for 20 years. He is undecided on whether he will apply for a TSA job.

Some students who learned about the plan see some advantages it might have.

“It’s a great idea because some of these teachers don’t care about the students or what we do, they just want they money,” said Media Academy junior Darnell Waters.

mathematics and computer science major makes $98,000 a year on average while a psychology major makes $29,000 a year.

If the proposal is approved, school districts will still have the option of of-fering more than one high school science course.

Mazzotta said she does not believe Oakland Unified School District would lower the science requirement if the state budget proposal is passed.

“The district has made the right call in the past few years,” said Mazzotta. “They are moving in the right direction, so I don’t think they will take away second-year science classes.”

Still, College Preparatory & Archi-tecture Academy science teacher Editha Soliman is worried that if graduation requirements are lowered, students will be discouraged from taking more than one science class.

“They won’t meet A-G [requirements], and they will have less chances of get-ting into UCs and CSUs,” said Soliman. “Some students just fulfill the [gradu-ation] requirements, but other students want to go farther.”

Media Academy sophomore Luis Elias believes that if the graduation require-ments were lowered “students would take just one science class.”

Stephanie Quiñonez, a senior at CPAA, agrees with Elias.

“It’s a bad idea,” Quiñonez said. “They’ll only take one because they will say, ‘What’s the point?’ — unless they really like science.”

Quiñonez said students should still be required to take two science classes.

“When you take two, you get better prepared for when you go to college,” Quiñonez said.

Soliman believes science classes are vital to students’ education.

“They need science because it is also a math class,” said Soliman. “It’s a venue for students to practice math skills and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.”

The governor will update his budget proposal in May.

2 News March 19, 2012Green & Gold

"These new TsA positions symbolize our commitment to create a high quality school."

— Matthew DuffyOUsD

school transformation leader

In his e-mail, Duffy wrote that the new TSA position is “founded on the belief that teachers need significant time to plan, work, collaborate and even teach in service of their students.”

Mandela Academy junior Nick Ross believes who the school hires for the jobs will make all the difference.

“If the people who are new that are hired are from the community, they have [our] best interest. People outside don't know what we been through, so they can't relate," he said.

Under the plan, the application process for teachers will be shorter than when they first applied to become district teachers. They will still need to fill out an application through an online system called EdJoin, but it will not involve uploading letters of recommendation or getting college transcripts. They will have interviews starting in April.

The survey revealed that many teach-ers have worries about the selection process.

“I am concerned that the selection pro-cess will not rely on good criteria. I have not really been observed by [administra-tion] in three years, and test scores don't capture my job,” said one teacher.

SELECT: students included from page 1

Tony Smith. A final decision, which must be approved by the Oakland Unified School District board, is expected by the end of the month.

Mandela science teacher Khanh Nguyen feels honored to be one of the three teachers on the committee.

“[It] is a rare opportunity to be able to choose your boss,” said Nguyen.

Students also have a voice in choos-ing a principal. Daisy White, the newly elected Fremont Federation student body president, is on the selection committee.

“I am looking for a principal who always put enough effort into the students and who is willing to grow some gray/white hairs,” said White, a junior at Man-dela Academy.

Parents on the committee say they want a principal who shows he or she cares about students.

“I wish my child’s schools [had] sup-port and gets to be a better school,” said Alejandra Baez, whose daughter attends CPAA. “[I want] a principal who cares for the kids.”

MoBiLiZing tEAchErs oakland Education Association President Betty olson-Jones speaks to Fremont Federation teachers on March 2 about the district's plan to create teachers on special Assignment positions and eliminate all regular teaching jobs.

photo by Pearl Joy Balagot

OpiniOn

"i would like Fremont to encourage some type of writing class where students could express themselves."

Luis Arroyo Media senior

Tiger Talk!

Unfair for some, but overall TSA plan goodgreen & goldthe

The Green & Gold is a vehicle of student freedom of expression and a public forum for the Fremont Federation of High Schools community.

We welcome feedback about our content and would also like to hear ideas you have for future coverage.

Our staff reserves the right to edit for language and space.

Letters or guest opinion col-umns may be dropped off to B-3 or to Lisa Shafer's mailbox in the main office.

please let us know what you think about our paper or give us suggestions on what we can do better.

EDiTOR-in-CHiEFKim Mejia-Cuellar

nEWS EDiTORSDiego GarciaKatelyn Bauzon, assistant

FEATURES EDiTORSAleanna SantosFernanda Lopez, assistant

HEALTH EDiTORSAraceli RamosShantel Berry, assistant

OpiniOn EDiTORSArnice St. RemyRuliver Santos, assistant

SpORTS EDiTORSLaura LemAlondra Alvarado

pHOTO EDiTORSpearl Joy BalagotTiffany Sanders

MULTiMEDiA EDiTOR Gloria 'Jack' Mejia-Cuellar

ART DiRECTORJameela Rougeau

WRiTERSJuan AguilarKenay AndersonYuliana EstradaDevonyei FrazierJorray HartSherry MunguiaAdrian nelsonMartin OrtizJose RodriguezKemish Q. RosalesJanae RushingJafeth SantosAlex TorisAlejandro Vasquez

ADViSERLisa Shafer

Janelle NicholsMandela senior

Asma KhalifaMandela teacher

Kammielyn BauzonMedia freshman

3

EDiTORiAL

T eachers who want to remain at Fremont High School next

year must apply for newly created “Teachers on Spe-cial Assignment” positions.

If they get the job, teach-ers will have to put in 18 extra days of work in the summer and an extra 30 minutes each day. They will be paid for the additional workload.

This major change is not only happening at Fremont; it is also occurring at Cas-tlemont and McCylmonds. These three schools, Superintendent Tony Smith says, have students who need the most attention.

Although this plan will mean teachers may spend less time with their fami-lies and do more work at school, the staff of the Green & Gold believes the extra work time can benefit students in many ways.

The school is trying to figure out the best way to use the extra work time. Some of the ideas teach-ers have come up with are to add office hours, give seniors extra help in the

"i'd like Fremont to offer more graphic design and a yearbook class."

"A dance class because we need some fun, and a lot of people like to dance."

Ovaladi MoalaCPAA sophomore

"i would like them to offer drum classes because we students like to make beats."

Which electives would you like Fremont to offer next year?

"Fitness classes and boxing class because people need to be active and healthy."

March 19, 2012Green & Gold

February comic strip, music column appreciatedI just read your Weela Meela comic strip in

the February Green & Gold and thought it was very funny. I would like to see more comics in the paper. It made me want to look at the newspaper and read the stories and look at the photographs that you do. I think Jameela Rougeau did a good job on the comic, and I hope to see more of them.

Darianna Figueroa, Media Academy, 9th

Music does help students focusI agree with the fact that students focus bet-

ter when listening to music. I like the fact that

there are more students out there who concen-trate better with music. Also, teachers don’t understand why we need to listen to music. Freshmen will get the education they need and will focus. The upperclassmen might want to move along faster because, with music, con-centrating might be easier for them.

It’s also better for freshman teachers so they can just worry about their freshmen and what they don’t understand.

Kammielyn Bauzon, Media Academy, 9th

I just read Sherry Munguia’s column about music in the February issue and thought it was great.

I really agree that music does help students concentrate and reduce stress. Music motivates me to work because I am listening but also thinking while I write. It’s also very soothing because you’re not hearing all the drama in class while working and listening to music.

Teachers need to give students a chance to listen to music. I understand that music shouldn’t be allowed while teachers are teach-ing, but it should be allowed during a test or independent work.

Teachers might be amazed at how much more work we get done when working with music in our ears.

Bryanna Saechao, Media Academy, 9th

summer with their personal statements and take stu-dents on college field trips. Other teachers believe more time will help them plan bet-ter lessons and projects for students.

We interviewed some stu-dents to find out what they want from their teachers in these 18 extra days. Some want teachers to help plan clubs or find volunteer work for students

“Teachers should help students with low credits so that they have enough to graduate," says Media fresh-man Darianna Figuerora.

The opportunities to help more students one-on-one are great.

But the plan has a serious obstacle.

The Oakland Education Association, the teachers union, has filed a grievance and some teachers say they would be willing to go on strike to prevent the TSA plan from going into effect.

Opponents say that Smith is trying to use the plan to get rid of older teachers and that the district has broken the teachers contract.

There are valid arguments that the process is demean-ing to the most senior teach-ers at the school, some of

whom have worked here for 30 years and are still do-ing stellar work. We agree teachers with such records probably shouldn’t have to reapply for positions they have earned.

However, to make it fair to all teachers, every teacher must go through the same process.

In a survey done by teachers after the plan was announced, 25 percent of Fremont teachers said they did not think the plan would improve students' experi-ence and 20 percent said they would not apply for the

TSA jobs.Principal Daniel Hurst

said that the redesigned Fremont High needs to be a place "in which all the fac-ulty work together and want to be there."

The Green & Gold feels the union should not fight the TSA plan because it is a way for the district to select teachers who actually want the job. Teachers who are not committed to the longer hours or the plan will be relocated to other district schools.

In the end, the plan will benefit the students.

Wants more comic strips

ed

4 features March 19, 2012Green & Gold

'Wellness champion' takes maternity leave

alondra alvaradoStaff Writer

after rain delays, softball seasonscheduled to start today at 4 p.m.

The softball team has added a math teacher to its coaching staff, multiplying the belief that this year's Tigers can bring home more victories.

Media Academy math teacher Joanna Brownson has joined Noil Angelo, the leader of Fremont’s School Safety Of-ficers, in coaching the team.

“Having Ms. B as the softball coach is a great opportunity for all of us because she has previous softball experiences," said Media Academy junior Arnice St. Remy. “By her and Angelo working together, I believe we can win.”

Angelo has been coaching the soft-ball team for four years. He previously coached Fremont’s baseball team for 13 years.

Angelo said that one day he was train-ing with the girls when Brownson men-

tioned she used to play softball in college and would love to help out.

Brownson has been playing softball for more than 20 years, since she was 6 years old. She coached three years at Bartram High School in Philadelphia, Pa. She also played softball at Wesleyan University.

“I’m excited, we have a lot of po-tential. A lot of girls working hard. I’m proud of them,” said Brownson.

Brownson said that she hopes to gain better relationships with girls who are her students and other students from other schools.

The team consists of 15 players. Practices are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 3:45 p.m. and Wednesdays at 2 p.m. All home games will be played at Allendale Park, which the Tigers will share with the Oakland High School Wildcats.

The Fremont softball team has never won a Oakland Athletic League champi-onship, but this year they are aiming to improve so that they might win it.

Fremont Federation students soon will be seeing less of the campus “Wellness Cham-pion.”

This is because Katie Ri-emer, the Tiger Clinic health educator, is 37 weeks pregnant and starts her mater-nity leave this week.

Riemer’s official position is the health educator of the Tiger Clinic, but she also is the Wellness Champion under a $50,000 five-year Health and Wellness grant from the SD Betchel Jr. Foundation.

Under that grant, Riemer has facili-tated the Youth Wellness Advisory Board and initiated projects such as the wellness murals in the cafeteria. The grant will continue for three more years.

Riemer, who has worked at the Tiger Clinic for seven years, also counsels stu-dents one-on-one on health and wellness issues and visits classrooms.

Riemer’s key responsibilities at Fremont are helping students, whether they need help being safe, sex education, nutrition, or information on drug and alcohol use. She also created the Youth Wellness Advisory Board and has worked

extensively with Media Academy fresh-men on food journals and nutrition.

Under Riemer's guidance, the Ad-visory Board initiated the Grab n’ Go Breakfast program and has worked to improve it.

“It’s going to be sad when she [Ri-emer] leaves, but she will be back pretty soon,” said Media Academy junior Jenny Saechao.

Riemer also has mixed feelings.“I’m excited to be having a baby, but I

am also sad to be missing out on exciting things,” she said.

Students are happy for her but con-cerned about who will take her place when she is gone.

Diana Rosales, the clinic health educa-tor and medical assistant, will take over Riemer’s clinical position while she is on

araceli ramosHealth Editor

Photo by Pearl Joy Balagot

PERFECTPITCH Joanna Brownson, the new assistant softball coach, helps CPAA freshman Shaena Tyre with her pitching form during practice on March 12. The first game is scheduled for today at 4 p.m. at Allendale Park.

maternity leave. Rosales said she is “very excited to be helping more students.”

Riemer has hired her intern, Evelyn Moua, to help facilitate the Advisory Board during her maternity leave and also next year.

The Advisory Board is a program sup-ported by La Clinica in which students try to make Fremont a healthier place by improving vital resources for students.

One of the board members is Charlie-sha Edwards, a College Preparatory & Architecture Academy junior. She called Riemer a “wonderful facilitator.”

“We [the Advisory Board] can’t wait for her to get back next school year,” Edwards said.

Brownson joins Angelo to coach girls softball

"I’m excited...but I am also sad to be missing out on exciting things.”

– Katie riemer,tiger Clinic Health educator

“This year we just want to have fun and get better. If we lose, we just work harder to get better for the next game,” said player Shantel Berry.

College Preparatory & Architecture Academy junior Sandra Muniz, who has

been playing on the team for the past three years, is the team’s leading captain.

“We have a lot of team spirit and untapped potential,” said Muniz.

The first game is today against Cast-lemont at Allendale Park at 4 p.m.

Photo by Pearl Joy Balagot

BABy on THE WAy Katie Riemer, who has been a health educator for seven years, is on maternity leave.

The Fremont prom committee has come up with a double theme for the event — Night in Paris/Masquerade.

Having two themes for this event is highly unusual. In fact, nobody can remember a prom with two themes.

Masquerade masks will be option-al for those who want to wear them to the April 28 prom at the Concord Hilton. The prom committee will order Parisian decorations, including a replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Another detail that is set is the col-ors. Students voted on peach, cream and gold in a campus wide ballot us-ing four computers in the cafeteria.

The prom committee, made up of juniors and seniors from all three academies, also announced that parking at the Concord Hilton will be free.

A few details that still need to be worked out are the background for the photographs and the invitations.

The prom committee is looking for people to donate their Christmas lights to help decorate.

Donations can be taken to the Den and given to Leadership teacher Nidya Baez.

Visit www.mediagreenandgold.com for more information about prom.

— Devonyei Frazier

Prom theme chosen

MEELA WEELA Jameela rougeau / Art Director