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ENVIORNMENTAL NEWS • 4
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BRAVO MEDICAL MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL | LOS ANGELES, CA | VOL. XII, ISSUE V| WWW.BRAVOWEB.LAUSD.NET| May 8th 2019
It’s Personal By Amanda Rojas A few months ago, the yearbook class of 2019 introduced the “It’s Personal” campaign. The campaign’s goal was to bring understanding to the community and to take a deeper look at who Bravo students are.
Source: Mona RCHS PTSA Website
WASC Frenzy By: Valentina Guevara From the 29th to the 2nd of May, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visited the Bravo campus. The association, comprised of volunteer teachers and administrators, is tasked with accrediting schools. Accreditation requires a 4 day visitation as well as a 2 year preperation process. Accreditiation for schools is mandatory every 6 years, or sometimes even sooner.
as students of Bravo. The responses widened WASC’s understanding of Bravo and were taken into consideration during the accreditation process.
One WASC visitor claimed her favorite program at Bravo to be Dances of the World. Their remarkable choreography and teamwork made them stand out in the eyes of this particular WASC committee member. WASC visitations prove to be a mutual benefit. While accreditation is advantageous to the school, the visitation process is beneficial to WASC as well. A WASC committee members WASC official reveals that aften stepped into classrooms to catch a glimpse of daily life for they are inspired by programs they see at other schools and Bravo students and teachers. implement simialr programs at WASC officials made inquiries to memebers of the student body their homeschools. in regards to their experiences
In light of the campaign, the school entered into a competition focusing on the community of the school. It was recently announced that Bravo won this compeition because of the “It’s Personal” campaign. Bravo participated as 1 of 11 schools to recieve awards. Bravo’s Yearbook class’ project will be officially recognized by the school. They will continue promoting the campaign and hopefully encourage students to join. The project was led by Yearbook’s Brianna Guevara.
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BRAVO
May 2019
Bravo’s Volleyball Team Makes Playoffs By: Dante Merino
Bravo’s Volleyball team qualified for playoffs and played against Birmingham Community Charter High School. The face off took place on April 30, 2019 at the Bravo Gymnasium. The game started at 7 o’clock in the evening. The Bravo Knights were prepared and ready to give it their all. The Vital Signs team asked Izaiah Gali, a team member, to give a statement about how he felt towards the first playoff game. Izaiah answered by sharing, “I feel very confident about the first game. I trust the team and our ability to perform to the best of our abilities when it matter the most. Physically, we have had long practices of conditioning, repetitions and watching what we eat. We prepared mentally by developing our team chemistry and making sure we aren’t afraid to make mistakes in practice.” Unfortunately, our Bravo Knights lost against Birmingham 3 sets to 1. At the end of the day, the team wasn’t happy with the results but they gave it their all and the team has next year to redeem themselves. A defeat isn’t failure but rather a lesson to be learned. On behalf of the Journalism team, we just want to say “Good Job!” Bravo Knights.
Folklorico Showcase By: Andrea Pineda Bravo’s very own Folklorico dance group is hosting a show on Friday, May 3rd! This is the time where these hardworking dancers could show off what they have learned and entertain the students of Bravo. This group has been practicing since the beginning of the year in hopes of putting on a spectacular performance and show what the Folklorico group is really made of. Folklorico is a collective term to describe the traditional dances that originated in Latin America. While watching the show, one can observe how people from different regions of Mexico dance and celebrate their culture. The Folklorico dance is a mixture of rapid feet movement as well as the movement of flowy shirts and costumes covered in lively colors. Baile Folkorico consists of many different dances, ranging from Danza to Banda and sometimes even ballet.
Photo by: Diana Lopez, Vital Signs Staff
Bravo has had the Folklorico dance program for many years now and each year students anticipate the arrival of the annual show where they get to dress up and dance for friends and family. Many alumni from the Folklorico program will attend the show their support for dancers and some will even take part in the show. This year maybe also be the last time some students get to participate in the show because they will later be graduating and heading off to college.
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BRAVO
Bravo Celebrates Earth Week by: Valentina Guevara In celebration of Earth Week, April 22 to April 26, Bravo’s environmental science classes organized a Earth Week, which consisted of themed days. The class posted posters and flyers around the school as well as social media posts to encourage school participation.The schedule was as follows: Monday: Earth Day The class organized for students to wear green. Students were also invited to take a pledge in the school’s lobby to protect the planet by practicing eco-friendly habits such as reducing, reusing, and recycling. Tuesday: Students were invited to wear white for air quality as well as to join the school’s first clothes swap. Here, students could donate their old clothes and swap them for the clothing of their choice. Wednesday: Students wore blue for clean water and healthy ocean awareness. They were also invited to a special screening of the documentary “Straws” in the library from 3:30-5:30. At the event, students met the film’s director and guest speakers. Thursday: Students wore brown for healthy soil and landfill diversion. the environmental studies class collected paper juice and milk cartons in the outside cafeteria to repurpose them as biodegradable planters. Friday: Students were encouraged to wear yellow for reducing use of fossil fuels. The class “harnessed the power of the sun” by planting seeds in the recycled juice and milk cartons.
Photo by: Anabella Ruiz, Vital Signs Satff
May 2019
Source: Instagram @envirobravo S.A.A.M Week at Bravo By: Valentina Guevara The East Los Angeles Women’s Center hosted a S.A.A.M week. The week began with Denimn day, and students wore denimn clothes in support of rape awareness. The week followed with Myth and Facts day where student representatives gathered in booths at the outside cafeteria and debunked common myths and replaced them with facts. The week ended with Self-care day, where students were given the opportunity to spin the prize wheel and win a variety of ELAWC merch. The crew also posted various statistics around the Bravo campus.
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ENVIRONMENT
2019 Earth Day: Climate Change By:Dante Merino
This year Earth Day landed on April 22nd. The Earth Day holiday is used to commemorate the environment and protection of the Earth. The annual celebration commenced in 1970 and it has stuck around ever since. This year, environmental protection and issues were heavily publicized on social media. As our world population grows, so do our carbon emissions, pollution levels, and deforestation levels. It’s becoming such an inevitable problem that organizations have began to use social media to spread awareness and influencers such as artists, actors, and celebrities have began to help spread awareness as well. Rapper Lil Dicky released a collaborative project called “Earth” that had appearances/features from people such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Halsey, Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Lil Yachty, Bad Bunny, and many more. This musical project mentioned plenty of reasons of why we should love the Earth and how we need to quickly do something to save ig. It also touches on issues such as Global Warming and Climate change. All the earnings from the song are being donated to the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation which will then be distributed to various charities fighting climate change. All of
Ocean Trash Plan By: Damian Marin
May 2019
these artists have reposted and announced their collaborative song and its intentions all over their instagrams, twitters, and other social media. Organizations have also started to gain traction through social media. These organizations are willing to plant a certain amount of trees back into the earth’s ground if their posts get millions of views and social media users have started to come together as a n “e-community” to share the video. Tons of users have reposted and encouraged their friends to watch and like the organizations’ videos to plant as many trees as possible. Trees are essential to the environment since they regulate carbon dioxide levels in the air. This Earth Day, one repost can lower carbon emissions and reinstate trees back into the world. Photo (left):
“Lil Dicky Project Earth”
reveal four monumental anchors. These were, Slat said, key to the concept. They would hang hundreds of metres deep, where the currents are much slower than In May, 2017, a twenty-two-year-old at the top, insuring that the system moved Dutch entrepreneur named Boyan Slat more slowly than the trash, rather than unveiled a contraption that he believed would rid the oceans of plastic.The Plan is just drifting around with it. At regular intervals, Slat explained, a ship finally in action. would transport the trash back to land, where it would be recycled. Some of it The mechanism that Slat revealed in would be turned into plastic products Utrecht was surprisingly simple. It was a (sunglasses, phone cases, chairs), which two-thousand-foot floating plastic boom, the Ocean Cleanup could sell to generate attached to a geotextile skirt that would for more systems. He expressed extend about ten feet beneath the ocean’s revenue the hope that, by 2020, there would be surface. The boom and the skirt would sixty devices in the gyre; in five years, he together create an artificial coastline said, they would have removed half of its that would accumulate flotsam riding trash. By 2040, Slat promised, he could the gyre’s currents, eventually forming clear ninety per cent of the trash from the a sort of shoreline of concentrated trash. North Pacific gyre. Onstage, Slat gave a signal, and a black curtain behind him fell from the ceiling to
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BRAVO NEWS
5 May 2019
VOL. XII, ISSUE V
NATIONAL Joe Biden Presidency
By: Diana Lopez Former Vice President Joe Biden kicked voff his 2020 presidential campaign in Pittsburgh, telling constituents he is running to “restore the soul” of the nation. Joe Biden is running. The former vice president will make his candidacy official with a video announcement next Wednesday, according to people familiar with the discussions who have been told about them by top aides. He’s wanted this since he was first elected to the Senate, in 1972, and he’s decided that he isn’t too old, isn’t too out of sync with the current energy in the Democratic Party, and certainly wasn’t going to be chased out by the women who accused him of making them feel uncomfortable or demeaned because of how he’d touched them. Biden’s campaign will, at its core, argue that the response to Donald Trump requires an experienced, calm hand to help America take a deep breath and figure out a way to get back on track. The primary, Biden believes, will be easier than some might think; He sees a clear path down the middle of the party, especially with Bernie Sanders occupying a solid 20 percent of the progressive base, and most of the other candidates fighting for the rest. And the announcement comes at a moment when many in the party have become anxious about Sanders’s strength, with some beginning to wonder whether Biden might be the only sure counterweight to stop him from getting the nomination. Photo (left) source: National Review Magazine U.S Measles Outbreak By: Damian Marin Since January 2019, over 700 reported cases of measles have been reported in 22 states. Vaccination has occurred in most of the affected areas. Sixty people have been hospitalized, and the case numbers continue to climb. The current measles outbreak is linked to parents who have chosen not to vaccinate their children against this highly contagious disease. James Goodson, a senior measles scientist at the CDC, says” the U.S. outbreaks are being driven by a surge in measles globally.” The World Health Organization reported over 112,000 measles cases in the first quarter of 2019. This is up more than 300% compared to 2018. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, states that the measles outbreak is “alarming” and a “global crisis.” According to James Goodson,”When we see large measles outbreaks in countries that are common destinations for U.S. travelers, like we’re seeing this year”, “that’s when we often see the largest number of measles cases in the U.S.” That’s because of the nature of the virus. “The only reservoir for the measles virus is people,” Goodson says. “So the only way
you’re going to get measles is if you come in contact with somebody who’s infected with measles.” Epidemiologists say that to stop the spread of the virus, 95% of people need to be either vaccinated or immune to measles because they already had the disease. In 2000, the WHO launched a campaign to attack measles on a global scale, with the target of getting 90% of children vaccinated before their first birthday. The WHO at that point wasn’t even talking about “eradicating” measles; the goal was simply to “control” it.
Letters to the Editors Vital Signs Staff Letters to the editors concerning any topic relevant to Vital Signs are welcomed. Please refrain from using vulgar or disrespectful language. Letters should be brief and may be edited to maximize space and heighten clarity. Letters may be anonymous or signed by the author. Please send letters to: bravovitalsigns@gmail.com or Drop them off in Mr. R. Rodriguez’s mailbox/Room 312
David Uribe Diana Lopez Amanda Rojas Dante Merino Andrea Pineda Damian Marin Valentina Guevara
Editorial Matter Opinions expressed in Vital Signs belong to the writer. They do not reflect the opinions of the Journalism staff or those of Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School.
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ENTERTAINMENT
May 2019
Game of Thrones! By: David Uribe
The highly anticipated 3rd episode of Game of Thrones, titled “The Long Night”, came to HBO on April 28, 2019 and fans were extremely excited about it! Game of Thrones completed what is arguably its biggest and most expansive plotline in “The Long Night,” the third episode of the show’s six-episode Season 8. Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, with just about every living major character left in Westeros, met the Night King, the White Walkers, and the army of the dead in a final showdown. If the White Walkers won, they’d completely destroy Westeros--so just about everybody (except Cersei Lannister and her forces) arrayed to defeat them. Along with the humans, Daenerys’s dragons Drogon and Rhaegal joined the fight. There was another long-missing ally joined the battle: Ghost, Jon’s direwolf, who hasn’t had much screen time in the last few years. But what happened to him when he (once again) went missing in the middle of Episode 3? We’ve been wondering what the deal is with Ghost for quite a while. He last had any real screentime back in Season 6, when Melisandre resurrected Jon from the dead. He basically vanished after that, on account of the effort and cost of animating the direwolves being actually pretty high. But we saw him briefly return in Season 8’s second episode, establishing that the pup was hanging around Winterfell with Jon. And finally, we saw him get into the action at the start of the Battle of Winterfell. Ghost charges into the fight with Daenerys’s Dothraki screamers and Jorah Mormont, who lead the battle against the army of the dead. Slowly, however, we realize the Dothraki are completely overmatched, and only a few horses and Jorah Mormont seem to survive the attack. Ghost isn’t among the survivors who we see come fleeing back to Winterfell--so what happened to the direwolf? Avengers: Endgame Review! By: David Uribe
played by Robert Downey Jr, or Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, met their demise. Though the saddest moment for me Marvel Studios’ 22nd installment in the Marvel was when Captain America, played by Chris Evans, finally got the dance he’s been hoping Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Endgame, hit for ever since his first solo movie. The movie theaters on April 26, 2019 and the result was also set up much for what was to come in the incredible. Marvel Cinematic Universe. Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Spider-Man are all set for Arguably one of, if not, the most anticipated sequels. Thor going on with the Guardians of movie of 2019, Endgame broke many boxthe Galaxy could give way for Thor to be apart office records this past weekend. The movie of the third installment of the Guardians of the brought in $350 million domestically, being Galaxy. Either way, Avengers: Endgame is a only in America and brought in $1.2 billion phenomenon, and many can agree that worldwide. This is the fastest movie to ever hit cultural it is one of the best comic-book movies of all $1 billion. It now holds the record for biggest time! box office weekend, breaking that of the previous holder, Avengers: Infinity War. To say that this movie was huge is an understatement. Photo There was even a hashtag online, (right) #DontSpoiltheEndgame, in order for others not to spoil the movie. This buzz granted more to see the movie the weekend it came out so that they can know what happens and not succumb to the spoilers. Fans around the world, including myself, agree that this movie was simply amazing. This movie has been built for the last 11 years and fans definitely left the theater with different emotions, but one is for sure being satisfied. SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t read! From my personal view and others I’ve asked, Avengers: Endgame was a movie with so much emotion and made most of us cry. The movie had many sad moments such as when Ant-man, played by Paul Rudd, reunited with his daughter, or when Iron Man,
source:US Weekly