MUSD requests that residents rent rooms to teachers as housing prices rise
The Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD) has asked resi dents of Milpitas to rent rooms to faculty members because hous ing prices have increased to un affordable levels, according to Su perintendent Cheryl Jordan. The district first proposed the appeal in a school board meeting on Aug. 23, she said.
As of Sept. 11, 2022, 66 families have indicated an interest in pro viding rooms or residential units, Jordan said. However, only one faculty member has shown inter est in renting space through the list of available families sent to them, she said. The human rela tions department sent a Google form to determine the availabil ity of families to offer either a room or a secondary property for rent to educators, she said. Prac tical living wage and affordable housing can be achieved with the combined efforts of the commu nity and the district as a whole,
she said.
“There aren’t a lot of people coming into the teaching pro fession at this point, and I think one of those reasons is feeling unappreciated,” Jordan said.
“What I like about our Milpitas community is that, even through out COVID, we have definitely demonstrated an appreciation for the people in the classrooms and the people supporting those classrooms so that our students can be their best selves.”
Seven staff members left MUSD in 2022 in search of a more af fordable area to live in California, but this number does not repre sent the living situations of the district’s current employees, Jor dan said.
“The district did an initial sur vey to all employees in 2018 re garding their housing situation,” Jordan said. “We discovered there was one person, who was a school psychologist at the time, that shared in the survey that they were couch-surfing because
they couldn’t find a place to rent. … Another longtime MUSD em ployee had initially purchased a small townhome, but because of the pace of housing prices, they missed the opportunity to purchase something larger. And so they are stuck in their one or two-bedroom apartment, even though they now have a grown family,” she added.
As of August 2022, the median sale price of housing in Milpitas is $1.3 million, an 18% increase from the previous year, according to the Realtor real estate compa ny.
“Milpitas used to be the afford able place to go to if you couldn’t afford other areas of Santa Clara County and you wanted to be close to Silicon Valley action,” Jordan said. “Now, the housing crisis has made it difficult for peo ple to afford a place to live in if they haven’t already established themselves in the community be
District plans fencing for school safety
By Anannya BhuskatMUSD has planned and begun the blueprinting of new fencing around the Milpitas High School campus, which will be funded by the money from the Milpitas School Saftey and Classroom Up grade Measure, Assistant Princi pal Jennifer Hutchison said.
The goal is to have fencing around all the schools of the MUSD district, she said. Many schools, including most of the elementary and middle schools, have or are working on their fenc ing, she said. The planning is ex pected to continue and building is set tentatively to start during the summer, she said.
“There was a voting that took place, and part of the finances that were approved were about the safety of the schools. It was then determined by the people who oversee these bond mea sures what that safety would look like - fencing included,” Hutchi son said.
Bond measure AA, which was passed in 2018 with a 71.41% vote, holds $284 million in bond monies for the Milpitas School Safety and Classroom Upgrade Measure, according to the MUSD website. This money was set to be spread across four categories: modernization, overcrowding, safety, and security, the website states.
“Specialists were brought in to look at safety on every campus in the Milpitas Unified School Dis trict,” Hutchison said. “A walk through campus with them has already been done. We talked about various options, and now the (fencing) company is going back and drafting some plans.
We’ll look at those and decide which ones we like … or go back to the drawing board again if none of them work, ” she said.
Although the exact perimeters of fencing have not been deter mined yet, the school is in an ex
ploratory phase of determining what locations and systems will serve best for security, safety, and aesthetic purposes, Hutchison said. The school is looking into different concepts of fencing and considering opening them at dif ferent times depending on the day of the week, Hutchison said. All these factors will be considered when determining the placement of the fencing , she added.
“We want to ensure fewer ac cess points to be able to come into campus, but enough exit points to be able to get off campus and leave it a little open,” Hutchison said.
However, the administration has raised concern on how the school will best use the fencing to provide safety while managing to regulate the flow of car traffic and students walking to and from classes, she said. The logistics are still being worked on, and will be finalized once the blueprint is created, she said.
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Most AP exam scores increase, re turning to pre-pandemic numbers
By Tiffany LieuThe average score and the per centage of students who passed the Advanced Placement (AP) exam at MHS for most AP sub jects were greater in 2022 than 2021, according to data provided by Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison.
While the College Board offered online testing options in 2021, all exams were administered in per son in the 2021-2022 school year, Hutchison said.
“This year, we’re back to where Milpitas has always been,” Hutchison said. “We exceed in most areas, both state and na tional scores.”
Teaching online during the 2020-21 school year came with difficulties that included sharing class material to students and maintaining accountability, AP calculus BC teacher Annie Nguy en said. However, after return ing back in person, the resources from the year online remained useful, Nguyen said.
“One good note about COVID is that I did a lot of the videos on line,” Nguyen said. “So then when we went back to in-person, if a student was absent, I could just
give them that video.”
Similarly, AP United States history teacher Casandra Parada said that it was easier to hold stu dents accountable for completing assignments honestly in person, and that being in the classroom allowed students to better con nect and collaborate.
“Overall, motivation decreased when the students were at home, versus, when they’re in class, they have that camaraderie and they can build those relationships that help motivate each other,” Para da said. “And I can help motivate that person much better than through a computer screen.”
For the 2022-2023 school year, AP exam fees will be due in early November, as required by College Board policies, Hutchison said. In-person digital exams will be offered in seven subject areas for the 2023 AP exams, according to the College Board. However, Hutchison said that MHS would likely not choose this option.
“I want to make sure that Col lege Board has an opportunity to work through the kinks that happen on that platform before we take risks with our test scores and all the students’ hard work to get to that point,” Hutchison said.
Community-oriented performing arts center set to begin construction
By Tiffany Lieu
A performing arts center fund ed by Bond Measure AA is set to be built on the site of the current staff parking lot, according to As sociate Principal Skyler Draeger.
Until the groundbreaking of the performing arts center, staff and students will remain in their original designated lots, Draeger said. Though, it is uncertain ex actly when construction on the center will begin, he added.
“Construction has been affect ed over COVID due to supply
chain as well as availability of workers,” Draeger said. “We will be groundbreaking at some point, hopefully this year for the theater art center.”
According to theater teacher Kaila Schwartz, who was a part of a team in charge of design deci sions, the performing arts center has been in the planning stages for several years, with the need arising from a lack of adequate facilities.
“Anybody who is involved in
As of Sept. 11, 2022, 66 families have indicated interest in providing rooms or residential units for teachers. By Stephen Huang Courtesy of Milpitas Days Inn Sketch of 550-seat theater which will be located inside the to-be-built performing arts center. Courtsey of Milpitas High School websiteDress code increases freedom of expression
At the beginning of the 20222023 school year, teachers and staff informed MHS students of the adjustments and changes to the dress code policy being im plemented.
In my opinion, the dress code allows for far more freedom than ever before seen in pre vious years. For example, the MHS 2015-2016 handbook spe cifically states “clothing that reveals cleavage, belly, back, or underwear disrupts the ed ucational process,” meaning that students were prohibited from wearing garments that expose their midriff or their stomachs.
In the past, MHS prohibited crop tops, low-waisted jeans, or any oth er garments like these that have the potential of expos ing the previously mentioned parts of the body. However, the new guidelines specifically state that “crop tops may be worn, as long as they are able to cover the com plete rib cage,” or the upper half of a person’s torso, which gives students a lot more freedom in what they choose to wear. In ad dition, the dress code has spec ified that students are allowed to wear tank tops and spaghetti straps, unlike past years, when students were dress-coded for doing so.
In addition, MHS’s new policy is far better than other schools’ in the county, whose codes im pose strict rules on their stu dents. For example, Homestead High School’s dress code states that “shorts, skirts, and dress es should be at least mid-thigh length ... shorts, skirts, and dresses should be easily longer than fingertip length,” accord ing to their handbook. Com pared to such stricter codes, the MHS code gives students a better opportunity to feel com fortable in their own skin and their own style with no length limitations except hav ing to “cover the whole buttocks”—a far more reasonable standard.
While some may ar gue that the handbook leaves too much room for interpretation by the school administra tors, I believe that if the dress code was not vague and if it was more subjective, it would de prive students of their freedom to dress how they want and express themselves through their style.
A lack of specification does not mean a lack of improvement in the dress code, as students and staff have a general understand ing of what is allowed or prohib ited.
Although it’s not perfect, the dress code has come a long way to favor students’ choice and freedom of expression.
Single-gender schools perpetuate gender inequality
Today, the concept of sin gle-gender schools may seem foreign or outdated to many Americans. However, the fact that these schools still exist all over the U.S. proves their continued popularity. Propo nents argue that single-gen der schools provide a more tailored and empowering en vironment. Though it is up to individual families to choose what’s best for their chil dren, single-gender schools hinder social development and are inherently unequal.
A worry concerning sin gle-gender schools is that they do not allow students enough mixed-gender inter actions to support their de velopment. According to a study from the University of Hong Kong titled “Students from single-sex schools are more gender-salient and more anxious in mixed-gen der situations: Results from high school and college sam ples,” single-gender school students had fewer friends of different genders and had more anxiety in mixed-gen der situations. Additional analysis of college students revealed that these differ ences continued to exist even after students gradu ated from the single-gender school. It’s true that school is not the only place for stu dents to develop socially, but it is undoubtedly a major way for them to learn how to in teract and connect with a va riety of different people.
Another issue is academic performance. While many in favor of single-gender schools cite data stating that single-gender school students outperform their co-educational counterparts, these statistics do not fac tor in differing socio economic classes of students. Many sin gle-gender schools are private schools, which are generally attended by students from wealthier fam ilies. For example, Bellarmine College
Preparatory, an all-boys school located in San Jose, has a tui tion of $24,890 for the 2022-23 school year, according to the school’s website. With resourc es like money and connections come the better grades and higher aspirations associated with single-gender schools. The academic achievements of sin gle-gender school students are not necessarily a result of their single-gender environment; so cioeconomic factors can often greatly influence their success.
Though, the most significant problem with single-gender schools is that they perpetuate inequality. According to a 2015 study titled “Academic Perfor mance and Single-Sex School ing: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Switzerland” published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Orga nization, these schools can pro vide an environment more free
from gender stereotyping. How ever, they still inherently treat girls and boys as fundamentally different. It is true that there are soci etal differences in the way girls and boys are treated and that these can affect their specific needs, but person alities and abilities are not stratified by gender. Single-gen der schools may ad dress the result of societal differenc es, but they do not address the root of the problem. Additionally, ac cording to a Reuters article ti tled “Trans students: A test of identity for U.S. girls schools,” even with the greater visibility of transgender or gender non conforming students, there are still single-gender schools that are yet to establish policies to best serve these students. Of course, these schools cannot be expected to solve gender in equality single-handedly, but they don’t fight it as effectively as supporters claim.
Ultimately, single-gender schools maintain the idea that there are fundamental differ ences between girls and boys. These schools are remnants of an era when girls and boys were incorrectly believed to be born with different mental capabil ities, interests, and ambitions. Beyond that, they are evidence of a world where complete gen der equality does not exist.
MHS should implement block schedule to bolster learning
“All tops must be long enough to cover the entire rib cage.” I was perplexed by the new dress code. How would administra tors locate the ribcage? How would the rule be enforced? I believe this confusion perpet uates sexist dress code policies and disproportionately affect marginalized students.
Despite the dress code’s gen der-neutral language, its re strictions target female fashion trends. For instance, the code specifies that a “bralette” can’t be worn as outer clothing. Al though crop tops are technical ly allowed, the floating ribs can extend to the navel, which ne gates the statement that crop tops are allowed. Anything at or above the na vel could arguably not cover the “en tire” rib cage. Thus, enforcement of the dress code is left to administrators’ discretion—if they come across some thing they person ally find uncom fortable, the rule gives them free rein to discipline that student.
In 1972, the Wallace v. Ford ruled that clothing for female students that was too tight or too short was and “sugges tive,” which “set a precedent in demonstrating that it is not the article of clothing that is immodest, rather how it looks on the body that is wearing it,” according to a 2017 study about dress codes in California schools, by Jaymie Arns. Dress codes such as ours that aim to create an “appropriate” (read: desexualized) school environ
CONment sexualize the female body by regulating it. According to a report by the National Women’s Law Center, “Because [unclear rules] are open to interpreta tion, they create too much room for unfair enforcement.” The report found that Black girls were 20.8 times more likely to be suspended than white girls because they are viewed as older and more sexual.
Additionally, dress codes dis proportionately impact girls with curvier body types, whose bodies are perceived to be in herently sexual and therefore inappropriate. The rib cage rule will only exacerbate this because ribs are sur rounded by a layer of fat, so people with more fat appear to have wider rib cages.
Finally, while of fensive logos can be corrected by turning clothing inside out, skin exposure target ed by female-coded dress codes is tougher to fix. Arns explains, “Female students cannot take off their dress or shirt and continue to class, so they are removed from class un til they can change.” Thus, the code will predominantly harm girls’ education.
A report by Equality Florida proposes a solution: the code should require that genitals, buttocks, and nipples are cov ered by all students. Such spec ificity leaves no room for error, eliminating the codes’ inequity. MHS must stop regulating girls’ clothing, sexualizing their bod ies, and risk hampering their success through sexist dress regulations.
Over the past few years, and during virtual learning, MHS has tried out many different bell schedules in hopes of finding one that both maxi mizes education time and is beneficial to students in terms of leisure time. However, one type of schedule that has yet to be implemented in-person is a block schedule, in which students have fewer, yet lon ger classes each day, allowing them more time to learn and study the content and materi al in class.
With a block schedule, teachers have more time to set up their lessons, evaluate their methods, and make changes. There would be more time in class to engage with signifi cant topics, creative activi ties, and a variety of activities catered to various learning styles because longer periods of time allow for the comple tion of individual student projects, peer collaboration, and one-on-one work with the teacher. Teachers would also be able to teach a topic with out having to stop and review due to a night’s break, which would aid the students in un derstanding the concepts.
Block scheduling also saves teaching time by reducing the amount of passing pe riods. And, When there are
fewer courses in a day, less time is spent on classroom manage ment responsibilities such as taking atten dance and organizing and leading the class.
In addition, be cause they attend fewer classes each day, students will have less daily home work or longer due dates for homework. This arrangement would provide them with more time to study for tests and quizzes and to ded icate themselves to projects.
This schedule would help stu dents in honors or AP class es, where they are often over whelmed with homework and projects that all have similar due dates or testing dates.
In fact, many schools in Santa Clara County have already im plemented block schedules and have seen the benefits for their students. Other schools like Homestead High School, Fre mont High School, and Cuper tino High School follow block schedules and are able to have a school day from 8:30 to 3:05, which is about twenty minutes less than that of MHS.
Schools can also fit in more classes with a mix of block and regular scheduling, meaning
that students would be able to take more classes than they do now or have more free periods to study and do homework. Students could ex plore their interests more thoroughly and find their true pas sions and interests. And, with more class periods throughout the day, students will receive the dou ble benefit of more classes with a shorter school day, which, in the long run, would lead to more time for relaxation, extracurricular activities, high er GPAs, and thus more impres sive college applications. Block scheduling can be im plemented in different ways: on certain days, on all five days having blocks, or even just one day. This sort of transforma tional endeavor needs a purpose that is clearly articulated, a plan for implementation, the direct involvement of school leader ship, and participation from all stakeholders. To get started, stakeholders should create pre sentations about block schedul ing for school and district offi cials. For its extensive benefits for students and teachers, MHS should look into implementing this scheduling change.
Students require more thorough college advising
As September comes to an end, there is one thing that is at the front of many seniors’ minds: college applications. College applications can be overwhelming and confus ing, especially since they can shape your entire future. Even worse, a lot of MHS students, myself included, don’t seem to know where to start.
Before this year started, I didn’t even know I had to make an account to apply to colleges. I was utterly clueless, and I know I’m not the only one.
MHS should teach students how to apply to colleges. Some thing as important and stress ful as college applications should not be something stu dents learn how to do through
intensive Googling. Students should not have to be frantically looking up questions they have at four in the morning because they feel like they know nothing about their future.
This type of thing should be in cluded in the curriculum. When something is laid out and made accessible to everyone, it in creases students’ chances of ap
TIFFANY LIEU Dress code targets, sexualizes, hinders women ANANNYA BHUSKAT RIYA VYAS ANANNYA BHUSKATFROM PAGE 2
plying to college. Some students may not be able to or do not want to overcome the barrier that is starting the application process because they’re just not well enough informed. While many MHS students do go to college, making the application process easier may encourage more to do so. It will make college an achievable feat for students of all backgrounds
While MHS does host college presentations, they are often made for specific universities and are meant to inform stu dents about specific schools. While the workshops MHS currently has are helpful, they just aren’t enough. What stu dents who are interested in col leges need is a workshop that addresses the question: How
do I start applying to college?
This new workshop should be during a time when all students can access it. The workshops MHS holds also ar en’t suitable for all students as these presentations tend to happen during class periods, so if a student cannot attend one of these workshops, they will be just as un aware about how to start applying. An other solution could be recording work shops so students could access them in the future if they’ve forgotten something.
DAVID RENDONThe new solution would also need to be advertised better. Just sending emails out to stu
dents doesn’t work because one email gets lost in a sea of emails. Resources should go beyond emails. They should be clearly labeled on the college and career center website, with links to recommendations on how to make a good application, and explanations on how counselors can help them. Plenty of students are paying for help with college applications. If MHS provided students a strong foundation on how to apply to col leges, it could make it, so college wasn’t just for people willing to pay for help. MHS needs to give its students a hand and push them in the right direction.
EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union
Comphrensive visual, performing arts support
We, The Union, salute MHS for its unwavering support of the visual and performing arts as demonstrated through its fine arts graduation require ment, diverse selection of elec tives, and its plans for a new performing arts center.
First and foremost, the visu al/performing arts graduation requirement ensures that all students—regardless of how STEM focused they are de termined to be—will gain ex perience in some form of art.
Although state law requires visual/performing arts or ca reer technical education (CTE) credits for graduation—which can include computer science and engineering courses—MHS goes a step further by requir ing visual or performing arts specifically. This requirement encourages many students to step outside their comfort zone, embrace topics they may never have otherwise explored, and take steps towards ensuring students become well-rounded, creative, and open-minded citi zens of the world.
Along with the requirement, MHS offers nine different vi sual/performing arts electives, including animation, photo studio, and yearbook. Nine is the greatest number of classes the school offers in any specific
A-F subject and encompasses such a variety that each student is bound to discover at least one visual or performing arts class they can genuinely enjoy. Not only does the catalog include courses catered to students looking to explore different art forms recreationally, but it also includes options for those that have a deeper passion for art.
Unique AP classes, such as AP Art and Design—offered only in 2,045 schools in 2021, ac cording to College Board—and AP Music Theory, offered in 3,116 schools, allow interested students to gain deeper knowl edge of the visual and perform ing arts while developing skills they may later use professional ly. For comparison, over 13,000 schools offer AP Calculus AB, demonstrating the rarity of the visual and performing AP class es that MHS offers. Meanwhile, several studio classes, which have prerequisites of begin ner-level classes, provide op portunities for students to de velop their skills in specific art forms over the course of several years.
The clear passion the stu dent body has for the arts can be seen through the contin ued participation in both the music and theater programs. These students’ interests will
be further supported with the construction of a new perform ing arts center on campus. This center will provide a space for students in a range of classes and electives, such as choir and theater tech. It is commendable not only that school and district administration is making an ef fort to support the arts, but also an effort to support the demon strated interests of its students.
The new building can also serve as a means to introduce new students to the performing arts, and legitimize the value of these activities to more.
Supporting the arts, a Brook ings study found, helps reduce disciplinary infractions, im proves writing scores, and in creases student compassion.
Beyond such improvements in student outcomes, investment in arts programs enriches the school climate by acknowledg ing the inherent value of art and encouraging students to par take in it. Finally, it’s important that MHS supports a diversity of interests, in great contrast to the tech and STEM-centered nature of many schools in Sili con Valley. In a world focused on profit, at a school where many students suffer from pressure to pursue narrow pathways, we commend MHS for supporting students interested in the arts.
EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Union
Call for eco-friendly conservation efforts on campus
MHS is one of the largest schools in the technologically advanced Silicon Valley, and yet, our campus is not up-todate with current societal ef forts to be more eco-friendly. The school has demonstrated that it cares about the environ ment by using solar panels and reclaimed water, but we believe the school can take further ac tion to create a more sustain able campus. Two areas in need of improvement are inefficient lighting and water-intensive vegetation. MHS should replace lighting across campus with LED bulbs (Light-Emitting Di odes), and current vegetation with drought-tolerant land scaping to continue its environ mentally conscious efforts.
According to the district elec trician, Joshua Moley, one of the most significant energy consumers are the outdated T8 fluorescent light bulbs used throughout the campus. Their modern counterpart, LED light bulbs, use up to 90% less energy,
according to the U.S. Depart ment of Energy. By replacing fluorescent bulbs with LEDs, our school would not only use less energy for lighting, but it would save on long-term costs.
Although the initial cost of LED light bulbs is greater, the life spans of these bulbs are lon ger than those of fluorescent bulbs. Thus, the school would need to replace them less often, generating less waste. We also wouldn’t have to dispose of flu orescent bulbs, which are clas sified as hazardous waste by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Along with modernizing light ing, we should also renovate the landscaping around campus to be more eco-friendly. MHS wa ters its plants with reclaimed water, which is filtered sewage water, but this is clearly not enough to satisfy the plants’ intensive water needs, as they are dying out in the record high temperatures and leaving be hind barren patches of dirt. For
example, the Green, one of the largest areas of grass on cam pus, is watered regularly but is unable to withstand the harsh ness of the drought and has be come overgrown with weeds.
This represents a larger prob lem: the Bay Area is experienc ing one of its most dire droughts and with global warming, the climate will only continue to render water-intensive vege tation maintenance useless.
There’s no reason to keep our school’s water-intensive vegeta tion when it can be replaced with artificial grass or water-conser vative cacti and succulents that have the same visual appeal.
A source of inspiration is the San Jose City College (SJCC) extension campus across from the school. They house plant life and landscaping that is more suited to hot temperatures, in cluding tanbark, stones, and small bushes. SJCC proves that it is possible for MHS to make eco-friendly renovations in our Milpitas microclimate.
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Mayoral race kicks off in Milpitas, candidates share their priorities, policies
By Riya VyasOla Hassan, CEO of Ola’s Coffee and Tea and Ola’s Financials, ran for city council in 2008 but didn’t get elected, he said. He said his priority as mayor would be bringing science and technology, especial ly space exploration, into MUSD schools.
“There’s so many programs we can actually initiate in Milpitas,” Hassan said. “I am going to be … bringing more students in during summer to learn how to run a busi ness.”
When it comes to housing, Hassan says the city needs to get developers to present houses below the market rate so more families can afford them.
“Everybody just needs a helping hand,” Hassan said. “That’s how to solve home lessness.”
International geologist, engineer, and seated member of the Parks, Rec reation, and Cultural Resources Com mission, Voltaire Soriban Montemayor, said his priori ty as mayor would be housing affordability.
“I always say, vote for those affordable housing projects,” he said. “For me, as much as possible, we don’t want homeless people in Milpi tas … but, we will help. The adjacent cities have never achieved this.”
Regarding education, Mon temayor wants to bring down the high school dropout rate and increase school security, he said.
It would be tough to make changes to the police budget because the police have a strong union, but Hassan does want to incorporate more minorities into the police depart ment, he said.
“I believe in community policing and community participation,” Hassan said. “Police cannot do ev erything for us.”
Hassan wants to support small businesses in their development phases and work with the chamber of commerce to attract more businesses into Milpitas, he said.
“We need to find a way to give a corporate grant to small busi nesses,” Hassan said. “Small business is the fundamental root of the Ameri can economy.”
bigger problems.”
If he is elected as mayor, Montemay or said he wants to change traffic lanes and build bridges to reduce traffic. He also supports the Personal Rapid Transit project (PRT).
“I dream of a PRT go ing uphills. I dream of all (people) cycling, walking upwards. I dream of having … the hills say ‘City of Mil pitas,’” Montemayor said.
Vice Mayor and retired teacher Car men Montano has been involved in lo cal politics since the 1990s, when she started the Sunnyhills Improvement Association to advocate for the neighborhood’s equal treatment, she said. She said her priority as mayor would be reducing crime.
“We need to make sure that we have enough police officers in our city to serve our citizens,” Montano said.
For the unhoused, Mon tano wants to establish a navigation center and a day worker program, she said.
“For the working poor, people that sleep in their cars … I want to create a navigation cen ter,” Montano said. “A place where peo ple can park their car … and sleep there and feel safe.”
Karina Dominguez, crime preven tion specialist for the San Jose Police Department and Milpitas City coun cilmember, wants to move Milpitas in a different di rection, she said.
“I would love to increase civic engagement,” she said. “We could invest in neigh borhood associations … and form collective power to make change.”
If elected, Montano wants to provide free fares on public transportation for high school students, she said.
“That will reduce our carbon foot print on the planet,” she explained.
Additionally, Montano is interested in improving infrastructure and revital izing Main Street, she said. She has taken initiative on that by holding a “Holiday Magic” project there in the past year, she added.
“Main Street is one of our historic areas,” Montano said. “We have to revitalize it economically and … make it a destination where peo ple can go and have fun and eat.”
Montano added that she wanted to reform the Milpitas economy to attract big businesses.
would be placed in businesses or neigh borhoods that have high crime records.”
If elected, Dominguez also wants to make sure people can afford to live in Milpitas, she said. She wants to form a collec tive to help workers become CEOs of their own compa nies, she added.
VOLTAIRE MONTEMAYOR“We will have clear bags … [and] a detector or sensor for metals or [gun powder],” he said. “Then we will avoid
Franco Perez said, if he is elected, he wants to focus on improving the lives of middle- and low-income families. As the owner of the affordable housing com pany, Franco Mobile Homes, Perez has experience work ing with San Jose council members in housing and zoning policies, he said.
“Milpitas has become a city that benefits the wealthy ...[but] forgets to create more benefits for families that are on the edge of being able to afford hous ing,” Perez said. “My focus would really be around cre ating more opportunities in affordable housing.”
Perez wants to prioritize resi dent-owned development, which means
He is also in favor of de veloping Main Street, he said. One example is build ing an auditorium there for people to gather, he said.
“If you have a Santana Row somewhere in Milpitas, then … business will improve,” Montemayor said. “All corners of Milpitas, they need to be developed.”
preventing investors from buying up real-estate and ensuring that people who live in houses can own them, he said.
“You’re not competing against investors that want to buy this piece of real es tate,” Perez said.
In schools, Franco wants to change the way money is allocated, he said.
“We have a lot of funding going towards infrastruc ture versus inside the class rooms,” Perez said.
He also wants to improve pay for teachers, he added.
“We have a lot of teachers that are being forced out because they can’t afford to live here,” he said. “The only teachers that are staying are ones that have a good housing foundation.”
Junior Carreon cares for camels
By David RendonIf you heard that someone worked with exotic animals, you’d likely think they worked at a zoo, but for junior Rylee Carreon this is not the case. While many students tend to get a job working in the service industry, some, like Carreon, get more eccentric jobs.
Carreon works on a large piece of property owned by his mom’s friend. His job consists mainly of manual labor, but the most interesting part of his job is the property’s unique resident, a camel. Carreon de scribed interacting with the camel as one of the best parts of his job.
“There’s like a small patch of sand,” Carreon said. “And there’s some instances where he just like rolls back, and then he just plays in the sand like a pig in mud. … I like watching him learn and perform certain tricks. It’s pretty cool. One of the tricks he can do is … shoot
a basketball out of his mouth.”
However, Carreon’s job is not all basketball-playing camels. He also has to deal with the un pleasant tasks that come with camel care.
“I have to essentially scoop the poop of the camel… And then once I’m done… I pour it into recycling bins meant for the poop. I dump it in there and then once I’m done with that area, I go into the stalls [to clean]… and then I have to roll [three bins] up a hill,” Carreon said.
Carreon said that one of the rewarding things about the job is getting to work for some one he sees as a mentor. His employer taught him lessons and showed him what he could achieve with hard work.
“You can’t just leave their homes infested with poop; someone’s got to [clean the poop],” Carreon said. “So it just puts me into that aspect that things seem harder than they look,” he added.
A top priority for Domin guez is public safety, she said. She has experience teaching youth to combat bullying and wants to ex pand such programs.
“I would love to form a crime prevention unit within the Milpi tas Police Department,” she said. “I also want to make sure that we bring in a walking beat of officers. These officers
City councilmember, Anthony Phan, said his priority is ending income in equality by implement ing community workforce agreements. Phan wants high school students to de velop talents for future em ployment.
“The opportunities are endless ... [work experience] can start now,” he added.
With regard to housing, Phan wants to liberalize zoning requirements ... [to] allow for greater invest ments in affordable hous ing, he said. He also wants to reduce transportation emissions, he said.
“We will reduce parking requirements for certain projects to minimize the availability of cars on the road,” he said.
“Minimum wage is no longer in conversation,” Dominguez said. “We need to have a conversation about livable wage.”
Dominguez wants to end the criminalization of homelessness, she said. She does not support the coun ty’s “housing-first” model, and wants to build a “wrap-around” model in which unhoused people learn skills and attend substance abuse pro grams if they need to, she said.
Economically, Phan is interested in attracting large businesses in Milpitas.
“Are there pro-business incentives or are there reg ulatory financial and tax hurdles that businesses have to overcome?” Phan said.
Pham was fined for vio lating the Political Reform Act in 2016 while running for Milpitas City Council, according to The Milpitas Beat— but he said it did not affect his ability to deliver results.
“I know I’m not a perfect candidate,” he said. “What you can expect from me is to always be authentic and true … I assure you that you will always have a seat at the table, and I’ll be receptive to feedback.”
Meet Dela Cruz twins: identical, not so similar
By Stephen HuangWith the start of the 2022-23 school year, mask use is dwin dling and we recognize more and more familiar faces. But there’s one group of people that has always had trouble being recognized, even with their masks off: identical twins.
Seniors Kenneth Dela Cruz and Kendell Dela Cruz are iden tical twins born minutes apart, with the former being older, Kenneth Dela Cruz said. After immigrating to the US at the age of 9, they moved to Milpitas during their freshman year and started their high school jour ney with no one but each other, he said.
“The hardest part about mov ing to [a new] high school is probably having no one to hang out with and leaving old friend ships behind,” Kenneth Dela Cruz said. “With a twin, you always have someone you know besides you, no matter where you go.”
The most frustrating thing about being identical twins is being misidentified as the other, Kendell Dela Cruz said. Even the people that they’ve known for years, including their eight sisters, have trouble distinguishing them, he said.
“We [also] hate it when people compare us with each other,”
Kenneth Dela Cruz said. “Peo ple would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, your twin does this; how come you don’t?’”
Although they are both rel atively the same weight and height and share the same fa cial structure, there are still many ways to distinguish the two, Kenneth Dela Cruz said. Kendell needs to wear glasses while Kenneth’s vision is per fect; Kenneth has a mole on the upper left corner of his mouth, unlike Kendell, he said. But Kendell Dela Cruz thinks there is another way to identify them without relying solely on physi cal attributes.
“I think our personality is our
biggest difference,” Kendell Dela Cruz said. “My personality comes from my own self and it’s altered by my own experiences … but we are both very social.”
The twins spend most of their time together, from working out at the gym and hanging out at the mall to playing sports, Kenneth Dela Cruz said. Both twins plan on majoring in com puter science after graduating, he said. However, Kenneth has a particular interest in archi tecture as a possible minor, he said.
“I don’t think anyone can ex perience the bond that twins have, especially because we’re the same age and are able to do the same things at the same time whereas other siblings usually are not close to each other because of their age gap,” Kenneth Dela Cruz said. “I went to elementary [school] with him, then middle school, then high school, and we plan on going to the same college next year,” he said.
OLA HASSAN CARMEN MONTANO ANTHONY PHAN FRANCO PEREZ KARINA DOMINGUEZJunior wins gold at Taekwondo National Championships, Grand Prix Fi nal
By Stephen HuangJunior Sydney Moon won a gold medal at the 2022 Taekwondo National Championships, Moon said. Hosted by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Com mittee, also known as Team USA, the competition took place in Salt Lake City from July 27-31, at Salt Palace Convention Center, she said.
Moon’s victory is her seventh time winning gold at nationals, she said. In the past, she com peted in the 12-17 age bracket and won the medal for freestyle poomsae team along with four of her teammates, she said. She also competed in freestyle poomsae individuals, freestyle poomsae pairs, and recognized poomsae individuals, she said. According to the British Taekwondo Poomsae Referee Department, poomsae is a “high-performance discipline to music which incorporates all the elements of Taekwondo, in cluding Basics, Kyorugi, Acrobatic action, and tricking,” while spar ring is the traditional “free-form” fighting combat against an oppo nent.
“Freestyle poomsae is fairly new,” Moon said. “It’s a dance of some sort. You choreograph (with your team) and then you perform it … there’s a specific routine you follow and certain requirements you have to meet and then the
judges will score your perfor mance.”
Team USA judges gave Moon and her team’s winning perfor mance a score of 7.50 out of 10, she said. According to the scoring guidelines on the Team USA Tae kwondo website, the score was calculated using Poomsae Pro, a hardware/software system de signed specifically to measure the accuracy and execution of compe tition requirements.
“There are six requirements that are scored,” Moon said. “There’s the flying side kick … then there’s the multiple front kicks in the air, of which you jump, take off, do multiple front kicks, and land. And then there’s the gradi ent which is like spinning kicks for 540-720-900 degrees … And then there’s the sparring sequence… then the basic movements … and then acrobatics, which is graded on how many kicks you do while backflipping.”
Team USA is an organization of talented U.S. athletes that rep resents the country in interna tional sporting competitions, ac cording to the Team USA website.
Athletes who win a gold medal at a Team USA competition increase their chances of being recruited by the national team, which com petes against athletes from other countries all around the world, according to the website.
“The highest competition you
can go to for poomsae is the World Championships,” Moon said. “Al though I’ve already been to the World Championships in 2018, it is a goal of mine to go back.”
Moon practices with her team mates at a dojang called Sacra mento Taekwondo Club, since all her teammates already prac tice there, she said. She drives for hours every weekend to train there, but when she is unable to, she goes to the local tricking gym. Like her father, Moon is a certi fied black belt and has been doing taekwondo ever since the age of seven.
Previously, Moon also partici pated in the 2022 Grand Prix Fi nal (GPF) on Sept. 16-20 in North Carolina, where she won another gold medal in freestyle poomsae team, she said. The GPF serves as a qualifier for the Olympics, ac cording to the Olympic website. However, the Olympics only holds events for taekwondo sparring, not poomsae, Moon said.
“Sparring has never really been my thing,” Moon said. “I enjoy poomsae a lot, especially because you get to train with your team mates versus when you train by yourself, which is just boring … It’s not something I’m forced to do. If anything, I feel like I’m forcing my parents to keep me in it because they want me to try and focus on other things, but taekwondo is a very top priority of mine.”
Cheer team begins 2023 season with out sports status, with new coaches
By Tiffany LieuCheerleading will not be count ed as an official sport at MHS this school year as sideline cheer is not recognized as a sport by the California Interscholastic Fed eration (CIF), Athletics Director Joanna Butcher said in an email.
While the athletics depart ment is still overseeing physicals and paperwork for the cheer leading team, only competitive sport cheer is counted towards a school’s number of Title IX teams, according to Butcher. She added that the team hopes to compete next school year.
“Sideline cheer has never been a CIF sport,” Butcher said in an email. “We didn’t find coaches un til right as the season started this year, so they have not been certi fied for competitive cheer.”
MUSD elementary school teachers Leslie Singh and Mae cy Williams decided to coach the cheerleading team after hearing of the open coaching positions for
this school year, Singh said. Wil liams, who was a part of the MHS cheerleading team for several years when she was in high school, was approached about the posi tion, and Singh, who had a back ground in dance, agreed to join as a coach as well, Singh added.
“We kind of got thrown into it,” Singh said. “[But] it’s definitely something that’s more enjoyable to explore together.”
In contrast to the blue and gold squads from last year, the team is now simply divided into varsity and junior varsity, Williams said.
Despite various changes to the team, the coaches still saw high participation at tryouts, she add ed.
“I’m excited to see everything they accomplish this year,” Singh said. “I look forward to watching them all grow.”
The team will start off by prac ticing basic, “T.O.-level” stunts, but they may eventually perform more advanced maneuvers, Singh said. The coaches are taking it
step-by-step, and their current priorities are to allow the cheer leaders to perform routines and to develop a strong bond between the members of the team, Wil liams said.
“Something I am very much looking forward to is, after COVID and everything, trying to remem ber what it means to be on a team — just coming together and trying to create a community between these girls,” Singh said.
Senior Felicity Alvarado, who has been on the team since her sophomore year and is one of the three cheerleading team cap tains, echoed this sentiment. She said that although the team started the season late this year, she was looking forward to cheer ing alongside her teammates at sporting events and spreading school spirit to the campus.
“I’m excited mostly for building more relationships with the peo ple on my team,” Alvarado said. “Cheer is like a second family to me.”
Girls golf gets green light
By David RendonFor the first time in school his tory, MHS has its very own girls golf team, according to Athletics Director and coach of the girl’s golf team Joanna Butcher. The team is playing in the current fall season and the boys’ team will be playing in the spring, Butcher said.
The team has long been in de velopment; PE teacher Brett Burns, has been interested in creating the team for many years, Butcher said. Part of the issue had been getting enough players in terested, she added.
“If you don’t fill all … of those spots, your team has to take an automatic 90, so it’s considered a phantom golfer,” Butcher said.
“The question was (if we) could get the numbers to six. So this year we actually started off with three, and thus I had to send out an email searching and trying to entice others that have never played golf before,” she added
The team now has a total of seven players, with three experi enced players and four beginners, Butcher said. It was so difficult to find players for the team because of the sport’s unique nature, she said. Golf can be an expensive sport because of the equipment you have to buy, but the team has found luck in getting donations for the team to use, she said.
“Cordevalle does some grants for youth golf teams, and so some of the funding is coming that way,” Butcher said. “There’s a lot more fundraising or looking for
grant writing, and I did actually put in a grant with Cordevalle and crossed my fingers hoping that they will grant some. Regardless, the costs will be covered by the athletic department.”
The change from having a coed team to having a boys team and a girls team has been a positive one, junior Kayla Sung said. Sung has been playing golf competitively since middle school and has been on the golf team since her fresh man year, she said.
“It feels very different,” Sung said. “ It’s definitely less competi tive. I feel a lot more comfortable. I did have a few guy friends on the coed team. But it definitely was very stressful trying to get a spot playing in the matches. I definite ly like the girls’ team a lot better. Some of the guys just would not talk to some of the girls, and … it didn’t feel like as much of a fam ily as it was. And I think just the whole less-competitiveness of this new girls team is obviously a more comfortable environment for everyone,” she said.
Sung said she believes that MHS should have a girl’s golf team next year and that she sees a bright future for the team. And it seems that Sung is not alone in this be lief.
“The only way it would go away is if there was zero interest,” Butcher said. “This season we had three; we were prepared to go with three. We figured that if we could get someone that could shoot an 80, that’s 10 strokes bet ter than a phantom player and someone might have fun.”
Sydney Moon prepares for her poomsae performance at the Taekwondo National Championships. Courtesy of Sydney Moon The girls’ varsity and junior varsity cheerleading teams pose in uniform with Tony the Trojan on a Friday before the home football game. Courtesy of Tammy Le Tiffany Lieu | The UnionTime to ‘BeReal’: spontaneous, candid way in order to make social media less toxic
By Anannya Bhuskat“It’s time to BeReal! Get in the picture!” You might have heard such phrases around campus this year and had no idea what people were talking about. BeReal is the newest social media app that has tak en over Generation Z. The app was first released over two years ago, but it has only just begun to acquire popularity.
Users get a daily reminder to upload a snapshot of their present surroundings within two minutes at an unspecified time. The app then recom mends users write a brief sum mary of what they are doing at that exact time, not to wait for the aesthetic portion of their day or to search through their camera roll for an image they like. Each BeReal post features two photographs; the reverse camera captures a picture of the user while he or she takes a picture of their surroundings or vice versa. Users can’t see their friends’ posts unless they have posted them that day.
Of course, there is potential
to be inauthentic on this app.
Taking a picture late, not post ing at the given time, or chang ing the way you look for a pho to are all ways that people can fake their pictures. However, if users post their pictures af ter the two-minute notifica tion is sent, they can still only take one picture, and it will be posted as “late” on the app, defeating the purpose of being authentic.
Regardless, BeReal users never have to worry about fil ters or photo edits and can post pictures carefree, since no user is allowed to or can digitally change the way they look on the app.
In addition, there are no real influencers on BeReal. Instead of recommending people to add other users based on loca tion, age, or common interests that they may share, the app encourages you to “friend” people whose information al ready exists on your phone. Adding a friend on BeReal, as opposed to a follow on In stagram, involves two-way contact and is reminiscent of
the early days of the internet, when it was used as a network for friends and family and not taken over by clout-chasing and advertising algorithms.
Another part of what makes BeReal so great is that it is not addicting like other social medias, such as Tiktok, Insta gram, or Snapchat. Because a BeReal can only be posted once each day, it allows people to keep in contact with each other without getting distracted and spending hours on social me dia platforms, as there is not much content to view, and no advertisements or influencers either.
BeReal reminds us that beau ty can be found in the simplest joys and time of life as well as the candid moments of our ev eryday lives. Instagram, Face book, and similar social media platforms have taught us to as pire for a bright, polished rep resentation of the perfect life, whereas BeReal takes away the toxicity of social media and al lows its users to express them selves the way they authenti cally are.
‘Never Have I Ever’ season 3 brings predictable, yet enjoyable storyline
RATING:
By Anannya Bhuskat
The third season of Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever,” which debuted on August 12, 2022, possesses the same deftness as the first seasons in portraying Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her experiences and lifestyle as an Indian American teenager.
The first episode begins with Devi, a nerdy, book-smart In dian girl, dating the most pop ular jock at her high school, Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet). Devi learns to deal with the gossip and rumors being spread about her as she grows and starts to find herself.
Compared to other shows about teens, “Never Have I Ever” does an excellent job with its relationships. The pro tagonist has a significant love interest with whom she has a passionate and soulmate-like relationship; additionally, this show holds friendship, family, and love to the same level of importance.
The show presented accurate representations of the Hindu religion. Although the show does enforce certain stereo types about Indians, it does a great job of representing India through portrayals of various Hindu holidays and traditions, such as the festivals of Golu and Ganesh pooja.
However, the show empha sizes many of Devi’s problems
as arising because of her Indi an heritage such as keeping her relationship a secret, having to do well in school, and being threatened by another Indi an girl who she views as com petition rather than a friend. Although Devi is a three-di mensional character and has a bigger personality than just “being Indian,” this part of her identity is not really cele brated, but rather just used to mock Indian people and their differences in culture and life style.
However, the show’s pop cul ture references and appeal to the current generation are not diminished by the intricacy of the topics of culture, relation ships, and religion. This season continues the show’s tradition of including jokes that are pop ular with the current young generation. Terrible punch lines demonstrate the show’s commitment to comedy, and though sometimes embarrass ing, the awkward humor serves to ease the tension between the characters and provides comedic relief. Of course, ten nis legend John McEnroe is back to narrate the series in most episodes and provide an accurate, funny analysis.
This season concludes on a high note, and with a cliffhang er, with Devi having a terrific senior year for her last season and emerging from this series as a stronger, more fully-de veloped young adult, leaving viewers with high anticipation for the next season.
Fast-growing franchises satisfy sweet tooth
By Angelina BarnesFranchises quickly gain and lose popularity over time as buyers decide which brands are good enough to go back to; however, some dessert busi nesses have recently caught many buyers’ interest. Two of these trendy stores that have been recently plastered all over local food blogs are Crum bl Cookies, which recently opened a store in Milpitas, and Nothing Bundt Cakes, both of which offer their customers a large variety of baked goods.
Crumbl Cookies have defi nitely taken the concept of cookies to a new level. Crum bl started off simple when they first opened in 2017, only serving chocolate chip cook ies for delivery and takeout, but they’ve since grown into a larger establishment with a huge assortment of cookies. The store itself has a large, open layout, with the kitchen conveniently located right be hind the counter for curious customers to watch the baking process.
Crumbl serves two staple cookies year-round: the Milk Chocolate Chip and Chilled Sugar cookie, while other fla vors are rotated every week. Some of their rotating flavors include Cinnamon Swirl, Cos
mic Brownie, Oatmeal Raisin, and other seasonal varieties. I really liked this added element of surprise; this rotation allows customers the opportunity to continually try new flavors, which adds to the overall ap peal of this brand.
I decided to review the orig inal Milk Chocolate Chip in addition to one of the flavors of the week, Brownie Batter. The cookies were reasonably priced, considering the size of each cookie and the variety in terms of flavors, and the boxes come in sets of four, six, and 12 cookies. The boxes of four sell for about $11, while six cookies go for around $16 and twelve go for around $26.
The texture of the cookies is extremely soft and chewy, and the flavors match their titles to a tee. The Milk Chocolate Chip includes mildly sweet chunks of chocolate, which I really appreciated since most storebought cookies often neglect to include milk chocolate and use dark chocolate as a substitute.
The Brownie Batter cookie had the taste of a brownie with the texture of a cookie; the one downside, however, was that they were a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but overall, I re ally enjoyed the experience.
While the Crumbl Cookies were extremely good, my fa
vorite out of all the desserts I tried were from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Bundt cakes, known for being baked in a distinct donut-shaped pan, are not as common or popular as cookies. Nothing Bundt Cakes serves a large variety of baked goods that appeal to a wide audience. The shop offers both full-size and miniature bundt cakes, and they come in many differ ent flavors, including Cinna mon Swirl, White Chocolate, and Pineapple Upside Down. I personally favor fruity flavors, so for my first time trying a bundt cake, I ordered a min iature version of the Lemon Raspberry for around $5. I was pleasantly surprised; the cake was airy and light, and the tart raspberry puree was balanced well with the sweetness of the frosting.
Overall, I was happy with both purchases, and I found myself wanting to try more fla vors from both Crumbl Cook ies and Nothing Bundt Cakes. I would definitely recommend both fast-growing franchises to anyone with a major sweet tooth, or just someone that oc casionally enjoys tasty baked goods. By being both accessi ble and affordable, these pas tries can serve as both a treat for yourself and a gift for your loved ones.
Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is at her therapy ses sion in season three of the Netflix original, “Never Have I Ever”. COURTESY OF NETFLIX RUBY BUI | THE UNION The Crumbl Cookies store at Pacific Commons in Fremont City sells a variety of baked goods to customers. ANGELINA BARNES | THE UNIONState senate candidate Wahab visits MHS
By Anannya BhuskatAisha Wahab, a candidate for California state senator, spoke at the MHS on Wednesday, Sep. 21, 2022, Environmental Soci ety (Esoicety) club advisor Glen Barrett said. Wahab discussed the importance of representation in politics, climate change, and health care, he added.
About 70 students showed up to the event and about twice as many arrived during homeroom in order to listen to Wahab, who is currently a Hayward city coun cilmember, Barrett said. Many came of their own will, but some were encouraged and brought by their homeroom teachers to watch Wahab speak, he added.
“I brought my entire 5th period class to watch, and did not give them an option to opt out,” math teacher Ben Pang said. “I want my students to hear her prob lem-solving thought process and
also hear her story of how she came to where she is now. Also, not many students get the oppor tunity to see or meet ‘behind the stage’ people such as a campaign manager,” he added.
Wahab touched upon the dif ficulties of her childhood as she elaborated on her journey through our nation’s foster care system as well as how it led her to prioritize both affordable hous ing and homeowner protection, senior and Esociety secretary Andrew Yoon said.
“I think that students are a key part of making change and im pacting where we live, all across the world,” Barrett said. “This is especially true here – and in cludes supporting candidates that represent the awesome di versity of California, the Bay Area, and Milpitas in particular.
Students can have a huge impact on elections and our community
in general, even if they are not old enough to vote,” he said.
Because Wahab is from an im migrant family, like Pang, her speech was extremely relatable as she addressed problems and con cerns that are often overlooked otherwise, Pang said. He believes that the solutions she proposes to problems in our society are sound, and will work to make most people happy, he added.
“She is well spoken and pas sionate in what she believes in. This was a once in a lifetime op portunity because she is a coun sel person who has power in mak ing decisions that affect our lives in some way, shape, and form,” Pang said.
ESociety organized the event with Leftward Coalition club, Model United Nations, Muslim Student Association, and the UNICEF club on campus, Barrett said.
Arts center plans roll out
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any clubs or … in the theater or music programs knows that the fight for space is a pretty big one,” Schwartz said. “The music program has way outgrown the current theater, and the current theater is not meeting the needs of the theater program either — nor is it meeting the needs of the school.”
The center would support class es on campus by providing music rooms and a place to host theater design tech shops, Schwartz said. She added that the center would overall be divided into a theater and music wing, with many facili ties to support both programs.
“We will also have, not just a black box theater, but also a mainstage theater, so there can
be multiple programming,” Schwartz said. “The new building will allow us to have a lobby, in door ticket sales with an outdoor window, indoor concession sales, bathrooms inside the building so that you don’t have to go out side and around the corner in the dark.”
Beyond solving spacing and scheduling issues, Schwartz also said that the center’s support for the arts would provide a benefit to the community as a whole.
“The performing arts allow us to tap into what it really means to be human and allow us to com municate with each other on lev els that draw people together in stead of pulling them apart,” she said.
Interim, associate principals take lead after reorganization
By Riya VyasInterim Principal Felton Ow ens is serving as a placeholder for principal as the district con tinues its search for a permanent replacement, Associate Principal Skyler Draeger said. The associ ate principal is a title that was re instated by the district this year, Draeger added.
Owens worked as a special ed ucation teacher, vice principal, director of student services, and in several other administrative positions at different schools, be fore retiring a few years ago, Ow ens said.
“I’ve maintained a relation ship with the school districts in the area,” Owens said. “I and a few other administrators remain available to work with districts during periods when they might be looking for an administrator.”
This school year, Draeger’s po sition changed from Assistant Principal to Associate Principal, he said. The associate principal is the second person down from the principal, whose main job is to support the principal, he ex plained.
“The move allows for a clearer chain of command,” Draeger said in a follow-up email.
Draeger, along with the other administrators, is taking on a larger share of responsibilities, he added.
Residents offer to rent housing to teachers
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fore,” she said.
One reason MUSD had difficul ty attracting new teachers and retaining current ones is due to set salary schedules, Associate Principal Skyler Draeger said.
Because educators’ salaries are based on their years of service and units past their bachelor’s degree, it is not tenable for firstyear teachers to move to live in an expensive city like Milpitas, Draeger said.
“It’s hard for younger teachers to buy into this housing market when you’re looking at rental costs nowadays,” Draeger said. “If a one-bedroom apartment is going for about $3000 a month or so, that’s too much for their sala ry to be able to qualify,” he added.
The school board had been looking for solutions to the teach er housing issue since Jordan became Interim Superintendent in 2016, Jordan said. Through a
company called Goldbar Build ers, their first solution was to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in local homeowners’ yards to provide a cheap alterna tive to workforce housing—hous ing that lies in between affordable and luxury prices—but the pro gram turned out to be infeasible, she explained. In 2017, the school board began working with Land ed Home Loans, a company that provides a loan of up to $120,000 in downpayment for first-time homebuyers, and in 2021, the district performed a survey in conjunction with Digital Curren cy Group (DCG) to determine a budget plan for the distribution of city assets, which brought work force housing to the center of at tention, she said.
“We also worked with the Sili con Valley Community Founda tion to hold a discussion at Ran cho middle school,” Jordan said.
“About 20 teachers, community members, and classified support
staff met and discussed this issue of housing and what we’re going to do about it.”
The teacher housing issue in Milpitas has made national headlines, as news media, such as Cable News Network (CNN), The Washington Post, and Na tional Public Radio (NPR), have used Milpitas to demonstrate the housing crisis that has dominat ed the real estate market for de cades, Jordan said.
“We definitely did not expect this situation to blow up, but I think one of the reasons is the timing, … especially since the news media is usually looking for something tied into the start of school,” Jordan said. “The other is that when people think of hous ing shortages, it seems like some thing not everyone experiences. However, we are talking about educators, and because people have their children in school, it feels like more of a direct connec tion to them.”
“I have more to do with the overall systems that run the school. Probably less to do with individual student populations than I did in the past,” Draeger explained. “Predominantly, I work on master schedule, curric ulum, professional development, facilities, athletics.”
The associate principal position existed at MHS for many years until eventually being removed, but the district reorganized the administration to bring the posi tion back this year, Draeger said.
“(The district) realized that the load on the principal is quite large at a site like this,” Draeger said.
“It would make a lot of sense to do another reorganization and bring back that role.”
Since his stay as interim princi pal will be short, Owens wants to keep things stable at Milpitas and enhance, rather than change, its culture, he said. His main priority is school safety, he added.
“I have nightmares sometimes when I hear about things that happen at schools,” he said. “You might often see me out on cam pus. … I try to talk to students and see how they’re feeling. … There might be a student who might be in distress, sometimes the stu dent might be having a bad day, so I will go over and assist those students.”
Owens also visits classrooms to make sure things are function ing properly, he said. Some of his other responsibilities include working with administrators to address unusual circumstances, such as the recent heat wave in September, and prepare for un foreseen tragedies.
“First thing we did Monday morning (Sep. 5, 2022) was, we met as a team with the adminis trators and tried to make some adjustments to facilities … mak ing sure the lights were on, mak ing sure power is not going out,” Owens said.
As a retired educator, Owens is limited in how long he can work at MHS without legally coming out of retirement, Draeger said.
“The State Department of Edu cation feels that … there’s people who are trained to be adminis trators that might be looking for a job, and it’s not right that I [as a retired educator] would take a job away,” Owens said. ”I couldn’t be here the whole year.”.
So far, Owens has enjoyed the ‘heterogeneity,’ school spirit, and camaraderie at MHS, he said.
“I like it when there’s one school in a city or a town,” Owens said. “They tend to have more school spirit,” he said. “This school is very well supported by the com munity. Go Trojans!”
Students The officers of the Esociety pose with state senate candidate Wahab after her panel on Wednesday, Sep. 21. Courtesy of the environmental society