thelegendonline Features, Uncategorized

PHHS Music Performs at Disneyland

By Sarah Shafaeen

The PHHS music students left for their Disneyland trip last Friday. The trip was meticulously planned and the music students have been working hard to be ready for their performances.

“The Disneyland trip is usually planned by Mr. Ellis and Mrs. Ray. They organize the itinerary and contact the festival organizers. In instrumental council, we also help with the process by filling out paperwork and letting that music students know what’s happening regarding payments and fundraisers,” informs senior Symphony Orchestra member Asher Twu.

Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble performed “Ave Maria” composed by Franz Schubert, “Rumble on the High Plains” composed by Michael Sweeney, “Festivo” composed by Vaclav Nelhybel, the third movement from George Bizet’s Symphony, “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia” composed by Aram Khachaturian, and “Danse Espagnole” composed by Tchaikovsky.

The event is something the music students really look forward to.

“I’m excited to go on this trip because it only happens every two years and it’ll be a fun experience that I’ll be able to share with my friends in my last year of high school. Also, I’m looking forward to eating dole whip again,” states senior Varsity choir member Samuel Dai.

The choir classes will perform the traditional Indonesian song “Hela Rotan”, “Good Night Dear Heart composed by Dan Forrest, and Canticum Novum composed by” Ivo Antognini.

Many students were excited about all the activities and fun events that have been planned.

“We will leave on Thursday for Disneyland and arrive near evening. The performance itself is on Saturday, so we’re going to Disneyland on Friday. We’re also planning to watch the Aladdin musical and we’re visiting a university for an organized lunch one day. On Saturday, after the performance, there is an awards ceremony. We arrive back in San Jose on Sunday in the afternoon,” discloses Asher.

Others were eager to visit Disneyland itself because the park is where they will make long lasting memories.

“I don’t go to Disneyland often so I’m just looking forward to exploring the park with my friends and then performing,” comments senior Wind Ensemble member Neha Kaza.

Many of the students were ready to see all of the hard work and effort put in throughout the year pay off through the performance.

“I’m sure all music students are excited and nervous for the music festival, including myself. The Disneyland trip itself will be fun, but we’ve put in a lot of practice for the performance, so we’re hoping to be able to pull off all the pieces we’re going to be performing. While Disneyland is sort of a reward for performing, the performance itself is exciting. There are four rankings: superior, excellent, good, and needs improvement. We always aim for the superior, and first place if we are competing with other schools,” states Asher.

The Treblemakers, performed “Voice Dance” composed by Greg Jasperse, “Bumblebee” composed by Anders Eroth, and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” composed by Manning Sherwin.

thelegendonline Features, Uncategorized

Red Cross Spring blood drive

By Nghi Nguyen

Red Cross held their biannual blood drive of the year in the library on Fri., March 8. Red Cross collaborated with Vitalant, a nonprofit transfusion medicine organization that provides blood donation opportunities.

“The purpose of this event is to collect as many units of blood as we can in our school, so we can send the blood to others who need blood transfusions,” says Vice President Shannon Liu.

The blood collected from the event goes to the Centers of the Pacific, a nonprofit community based blood center that collects the donations and provides them across the local community.

“Red Cross hopes to have 100 donors. Each pint of blood will be able to save three lives. If we have 100 donors, Red Cross will be able to save 300 lives,” explains Treasurer Isaac Wen.

In the past blood drive that was held in October, Red Cross was able to collect 57 units of blood. Not only would these units of blood be saving about lives, it shows the potential the youth has.

“I think the best part of the blood drive is just being part of the process. Seeing the number of people willing to give some of their time in order to save lives makes me smile. It’s amazing how we are all able to work together to save lives,” states Co-Secretary Lily Do.

The Red Cross Spring Blood Drive followed Red Cross’s main mission of alleviating human suffering in the face of human disaster. This event allowed the club to enact change and aid public health.

thelegendonline Features, Uncategorized

Concert Choir workshops with Dr. Benson at SJSU(San Jose State University)

Concert Choir workshops with Dr. Benson at SJSU(San Jose State University)

By Justin Wang

Concert Choir attended a choral workshop at SJSU (San Jose State University) to join is Director of Choral Activities at SJSU, Dr. Jeffrey Benson, and his students on March 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

“He just listened to us, then gave us tips on vocal quality and dynamics to prepare us for performances and make our pieces concert-ready,” said senior Lilly Liu.

Dr. Benson conducted the choral warm-ups and many of his students came in and directed the Concert Choir.

“His warm-ups are really cool, funny; he would have his own students come in, lead up and direct. We get to see different perspectives of people directing. And how they did it, they were all different,” said junior Jeremiah Porda.

Concert Choir practiced the pieces “Canti cum novum”, “Hela Rotane” and “Good Night, Dear Heart.”

“I think he’s very knowledgeable and he gives us a lot of great tips. He reinforces the things that Mr. Ellis says and he helps prepare us for concerts,” said Lily.

This workshop provided unique experiences and a look into the workings of college choir for some Concert Choir students.

“I’m looking forward to performing with college students. It’s going to be cool to see how college choirs work,” said Jeremiah.

Dr. Benson and usually holds workshops with PHHS Concert Choir semi-annually, but in recent years Concert Choir has not been able to meet with Dr. Benson at SJSU.

“Dr. Benson usually visits us like twice a year, but we never really go to SJSU,” said Lilly.

Dr. Benson is a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) according to sjsu.edu, the official SJSU website.

The website also notes that choirs under Dr. Benson’s direction have been invited to perform with notable figures such as the Rolling Stones, Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli.

thelegendonline Features, Uncategorized

Take a Teacher to Lunch

by Devonna Dang

 

CSF will hold its annual Take a Teacher to Lunch at the PHHS Library this Wednesday to recognize all of the talented and dedicated staff on campus. All teachers and staff are invited to this event.

“We want as many teachers to come, because they have all done amazing things for the students at school, so we usually hand-deliver invitations to teachers and staff,” says Co-Publicist Lauren Lin.

CSF provides the main course. This year’s main course is from Jade China and includes Chow Mein, salad and Egg rolls.

The students who volunteer to participate in the event get split up into groups. Each group has a theme and is responsible for providing any decorations, appetizers and desserts. They decorate the meal based from a theme of their own choice.

“These themes are entirely up to them and often people have fun themes like Hawaiian, Disney, etc. The main goal of this event is both to thank our teachers and get to know them outside of a formal environment,” said Tech Chair Jerry Xu.

This tradition has become the heart of CSF, as the club revolves around academics and education.

“My favorite thing about Take a Teacher to Lunch is the fact that this event is a chance to say thank you to your teachers and really get a chance to know your teachers outside of school,” said Co-Secretary Ritika Randhawa.

“I probably don’t say it enough but I do appreciate everything my teachers do. They have all pushed me to be better and didn’t focus on getting only good grades but actually learning and retaining valuable information,” said Lauren.

thelegendonline Features, Uncategorized

Music/ChoirDisneyTrip

By Sarah.Shafaeen

The PHHS music students left for their Disneyland trip last Friday. The trip was meticulously planned and the music students have been working hard to be ready for their performances.

“The Disneyland trip is usually planned by Mr. Ellis and Mrs. Ray. They organize the itinerary and contact the festival organizers. In instrumental council, we also help with the process by filling out paperwork and letting that music students know what’s happening regarding payments and fundraisers,” informs senior Symphony Orchestra member Asher Twu.

Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble performed “Ave Maria” composed by Franz Schubert, “Rumble on the High Plains” composed by Michael Sweeney, “Festivo” composed by Vaclav Nelhybel, the third movement from George Bizet’s Symphony, “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia” composed by Aram Khachaturian and “Danse Espagnole” composed by Tchaikovsky.

The event is something the music students really look forward to.

“I’m excited to go on this trip because it only happens every two years and it’ll be a fun experience that I’ll be able to share with my friends in my last year of highschool. Also, I’m looking forward to eating dole whip again,” states senior Varsity choir member Samuel Dai.

The choir classes will perform the traditional Indonesian song “Hela Rotan,” “Good Night Dear Heart” composed by Dan Forrest and “Canticum Novum” composed by Ivo Antognini.

Many students were excited about all the activities and fun events that have been planned.

“We will leave on Thursday for Disneyland and arrive near evening. The performance itself is on Saturday, so we’re going to Disneyland on Friday. We’re also planning to watch the Aladdin musical and we’re visiting a university for an organized lunch one day. On Saturday, after the performance, there is an awards ceremony. We arrive back in San Jose on Sunday in the afternoon,” discloses Asher.

Others were eager to visit Disneyland itself because the park is where they will make long lasting memories.

“I don’t go to Disneyland often so I’m just looking forward to exploring the park with my friends and then performing,” comments senior Wind Ensemble member Neha Kaza.

Many of the students were ready to see all of the hard work and effort put in throughout the year pay off through the performance.

“I’m sure all music students are excited and nervous for the music festival, including myself. The Disneyland trip itself will be fun, but we’ve put in a lot of practice for the performance, so we’re hoping to be able to pull off all the pieces we’re going to be performing. While Disneyland is sort of a reward for performing, the performance itself is exciting. There are four rankings: superior, excellent, good, and needs improvement. We always aim for the superior, and first place if we are competing with other schools,” states Asher.

The Treblemakers, performed “Voice Dance” composed by Greg Jasperse, “Bumblebee” composed by Anders Eroth and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” composed by Manning Sherwin.

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thelegendonline Sports

Girls Soccer

By Christine Do

 

The Girls’ Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity soccer teams have kicked off this year’s season strong.

“We started off good. Overall, I think we’re in a two to one right now. We’re starting kind of slow because we’re still getting used to being put into new teams but we’ll get better over time,” said Varsity Forward Emilet Ramirez.

As always, with new captains and new teams, the season is definitely different for the players.

“You have to be a good role model and have good execution for game plans. As a captain, it is important to guide the team and have the ability to empower others,” said JV Captain Mahik Kaur.

Despite not being the most experienced, the girls have built on their skills since day one of tryouts in Nov. of last year. The soccer players have practice on the days they don’t have games so essentially, they’re always practicing and learning. With more training, the girls are able to work on their skills and build stronger bonds with each other.

“We’re not the best with skills but we’re good with working together and improving,” said JV Goalie Gurkiran Braich.

This year was the first year that the soccer teams have had a preseason tournament, where the teams played three games as practice for players to evaluate themselves and to see which areas they lack in.

In their first few practices, the girls focused on the mistakes they made during preseason. With the turf under reconstruction, this year’s practices were always held at different locations, and thus occasionally being cancelled. Like any team, there is always room for improvement.

“I think we need to work on talking more on the field to be able to improve in our games,” stated Ramirez.

As a team, the most important factor during a game is communication. Players have to know where their teammates are. If in possession of the ball, the aim is to pass it to the other players and get it safely into the goal.

“Every time the team loses a player, it is hard for them to lift that weight and to balance each other out,” said JV Left Defender Ishika Pol.

“I think we need to work on talking more on the field to be able to improve in our games,” stated Ramirez.

The girls are continuing to work on their skills as the season progresses. The next game will be next Wednesday at Santa Teresa High School, so come support the girls as the season comes to an end!

thelegendonline News

The good, bad and ugly of 2018

By Sophia Xiao

 

Winter Olympics

For the first time, South Korea hosted the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Overall, Team USA had a disappointing Olympics, ending in fourth place. However, Team USA did have momentous victories: Women’s Hockey beat out Canada for their first gold medal in 20 years, Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall won USA’s first ever gold medal in cross country skiing and Skip John Shuster led his team to USA’s first-ever gold medal in curling. Despite military tensions, North Korea participated at the games. North and South Korea marched under a unified flag at the opening ceremony and formed several joint teams including skiing and women’s hockey.

Parkland shooting

On Feb. 14, a gunman open fired on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 and injuring 14 more. It is the deadliest mass shooting at a US high school in history. Afterwards, student survivors demanded legislative action to prevent mass shootings and gun violence. In March, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which raised the minimum age for buying rifles to 21, among other gun control reforms.

Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal

In March, Facebook became embroiled in yet another major political scandal when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica acquired the private Facebook data of up to 87 million users and used it to help elect Donald Trump. Facebook’s stock price tanked, and the scandal prompted calls for increased ethical standards and privacy regulation of social media companies.

Border Children: Immigrant families in crisis

In April, the Trump administration implemented the “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which included separating children from their guardians at the border. Following tremendous public opposition and nationwide protests, Trump signed an executive order in June suspending the policy indefinitely. A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that thousands of children were taken from their families without a system of keeping track of the separated children or specific plans to reunite them.

Royal wedding

The world watched as Prince Harry and retired American actress Meghan Markle spoke their vows in May. Around 29 million people in the US watched the wedding on TV, surpassing the 26 million who watched the 2011 wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton. In the UK, TV viewership was about 18 million people.

Puerto Rico without electricity for 11 months

Hurricane Maria wrought catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico and Dominica back in Sept. 2017, causing massive flooding, lack of running water and other resources and the worst blackout in US history. Maria’s official death toll was originally 67, but was revised to 2,975 after studies revealed the full impact of the storm, accounting for the thousands who were unable to receive medical care due to the blackout. As late as June 2018, about seven thousand homes and businesses were still without power. Total losses from the hurricane are estimated at upwards of $91 billion.

Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing

After Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, multiple women who knew Kavanaugh in high school and college came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including professor of psychology Christine Blasey Ford, who testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in September. While the Senate ultimately voted to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination, the hearings inspired women’s-rights advocates and survivors of rape and sexual assault to speak more openly against sexual assault.

Hurricane Michael and Florence

Hurricane Florence caused the deaths of over 55 people and severe freshwater flooding and at least $17.9 billion of damages in the Carolinas in September. Shortly after, Hurricane Michael struck the southern US with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, one of the strongest hurricanes in US history. At least 60 deaths have been attributed to Michael, including 45 in the US and 15 more in Central America.

Global Trade War

The trade war between Trump and China continues into 2019, with the total US tariffs applied exclusively to China at $250 billion, and the total Chinese tariffs applied exclusively to the US at $110 billion. Hoping to fix the “longtime abuse of the broken international system and unfair practices,” Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines in January, then steel and aluminum for all countries but Australia and Argentina. China, EU, Canada, India and Mexico have all implemented retaliatory tariffs.

thelegendonline News

Track Renovations

By Henry Zheng

Both the track and football field are to be completed this upcoming April.

The track renovations started in December, and will go along with the newly completed science buildings as they have many new exciting features that we should look forward to.

“At both end zones of the field we will have the school name at one side and the word PIRATES at the other. This is a new feature we’re looking forward to,” said Bond Program Director Julio Lucas.

Students can look forward to a more detailed football pitch. In addition to the new “PIRATES” addition, there will be new markings as well as synthetic black turf outlining the whole field.

The new turf will not only serve aesthetic purposes, but also as an economic investment for the school.

“Typically, synthetic turf needs to be replaced every 10-12 years,” stated Mr. Lucas.

From new markings to new turf and an addition of  “PIRATES” labeled on each end-zone, the field will be completely different from before.

Sadly, one crucial aspect is to be left out: bleachers.

“We are not (renovating) the bleachers as (a) part of this project. We are scheduled for replacement of the turf field that is in place now,” explained Mr. Lucas.

As for the track, the words “Piedmont Hills Pirates” is to be displayed in the middle of the grid lines, as well as a new straight-away that will overlap with the already existing left side of the track. There will also be new long jump runways on the track’s right side.

After many years, the worn down pink-red track surface itself is also expected to change.

“We’ve been addressing the track surface at the same time as we go through the process,” adds Mr. Lucas.

As for equipment, we can also expect to see new hurdles, which is particularly good news for senior athlete An Truong, who plans to experiment and try out hurdles this year.

“Being a track athlete, I want this done as soon as possible so I can be out running with my teammates at our home runway,” stated Truong.

However, many athletes are concerned over whether the track will be done in time for the season.

“Forreal, (we’re) not really going to have any home meets,” stated senior Tim Wang.

With construction workers working harder than ever as this will be the second major project completed this school,

we must remember to be grateful.

thelegendonline Fun Page

The integral hobbies of a math teacher

 

 

By Lawrence Pei

 

Aside from teaching calculus, math teacher Joselito Sevilla has hobbies such as watching movies as well as interesting stories to tell, such as the time where he lived in a haunted house.

 

“I’m a huge Robin Williams fan and I have many posters in my classroom for movies in which he acted in the film,” said Mr. Sevilla.

 

According to his wife, he watches TV and drags her into watching with him.

 

“Sometimes I base my test questions off of the TV shows that I watch the day or night before.” admitted Mr. Sevilla

 

Furthermore, he claims that his children often question his musical taste because he himself even admits that he is still stuck in the 80’s. Some of his favorite songs include “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and “Cry in the Wind” by Clan of Xymox.

 

Aside from being a huge movie fan, Mr. Sevilla also states that he believed that he previously lived in a haunted house alongside Mr. and Ms. Mac when they lived together.

 

We were all dating so we had a lot of fun parties and got to know one another really well.

 

“In fact she even helped me and my wife when we first started teaching 20 some years ago,” said Mr. Sevilla.

 

“We lived in constant terror, sometimes it felt like a there was a hand on your chest as you slept and sounds of footsteps coming your way. Sometimes, you have no clue how you ended up somewhere when you woke up from the night before,” said Mr. Sevilla.

 

He began his career in teaching math to students here at PHHS, he said that it was not completely out of a love for the subject although it has grown on him ever since. Rather an incapability to succeed in Med School that ultimately caused him to transition into teaching with a math major and a teaching degree.

 

According to him, his jokes and style just come up naturally and that he believes that, due to his cold humor, allows students to reciprocate to his lessons better. Furthermore, he believes that someone who would want to take calculus should study hard and they will be fine.

 

Mr Sevilla stated that he loved every part of his job: helping students out, working with his wife, making friends and most of all doing something he loves to do.

 

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thelegendonline Features

Girl Scout Valentine Event

 

By Devonna Dang

 

PXM (Paradox Motions) will be performing at the LDHB (Lien Doan Hoa Binh, pack 745) Venture Crew’s Valentine event at 1919 Montgomery Rd. next Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. LDHB Venture Crew is holding this event to fund raise for their troop.

“(This dinner) will support the traveling expenses for LDHB’s high school students to visit colleges in southern California,” says senior Brenda Nguyen.

The evening will include entertainment such as dancing, fine dining, capturing memories and a wine auction.

PXM’s dance set will be comprised of 2 songs. They will be dancing to include “Big Bank” by YG, which was choreographed by junior Michelle Nguyen, junior Brian Tran and President Kristina Bellon. They will also be dancing to “Every Kind of Way” by H.E.R. which was choreographed by junior Brian Tran.

“The process usually starts with finding a song you really like, and sort of hearing different parts to it that you normally wouldn’t hear. From there, you start trying out new things and put specific movements to specific beats or lyrics,” says Brian.

They’ve been practicing and preparing for this set since Oct. every Tues. and Thurs. from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Altogether, their performance is three to four minutes long.

Many have joined PXM with no prior experience and it has proved to serve as a creative outlet.

“I got into dancing because I heard about it and was interested and wanted to try something new,” says Michelle.

“Dance started out as a hobby and a way to have fun with friends, but it soon became one of my stress relievers, a form of self-expression, and a way to grow my creativity,” says Kristina. “I find that dance provides a safe space for people in the community to come together and freely express themselves any way they’d like.”

The song genres that PXM mainly dance to are Hip Hop and R&B. Throughout the year, they have learned around eight dance pieces and performed around three times each month.