A1 - Poway Unified School District

The
Mt. Carmel
WWW.MCSUN.ORG
MAKING THE SUN
SHINE ONLINE
High School
WHAT’S
INSIDE
CHELSEA’S LAW
With one of the speediest decisions
on a bill, Chelsea’s law flew to the
governor’s desk in record time. Read
about the signing of Chelsea’s Law
in Balboa Park.
PAGE A3
25
SUN
A
FRIDAY
SEPTEMBER 17, 2010
VOL. 38 NO. 1
9550 CARMEL MOUNTAIN RD., SAN DIEGO, CA 92129
REASONS
TO LOVE
MCHS
COURTESY OF: SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK
QURAN PROTEST
Read about the protest against the
infamous “Burn a Quran Day” started by the pastor from Florida, which
took place on Sept. 11.
PAGE A3
1
SUMMER TRAVELS
Sundevils visit countries all over
the world to volunteer, visit, and
explore.
PAGE A4 & A5
Sundevils have pride. They
show their spirit through
pep rallies, free t-shirts
for everyone on campus
at the beginning of the year, the
Sundevil hand signal (above) and
Red Out Fridays where students
proudly sport their scarlet and
gold, the two official school
colors. No day will pass when
you won’t hear the mantra: It’s
Great to be a Sundevil.”
2
>>Check out Staff Editorial: Why
You should have School Spirit.
PAGE A7
ACTIVITIES
1
Key Club is the largest club at
MC, boasting over 200 members
on a yearly basis. The club offers
service opportunities to Sundevils
looking to serve the community.
AMERICAN
HYPOCRISY
Read one staffer’s opinion on what
Americans don’t realize about their
country.
PAGE A6
CAN MONEY BUY
HAPPINESS?
The SUN staff delves into the ageold question of whether material
wealth and possessions result in
true happiness.
PAGE A8
2
The
Grammy-winning
marching band at MC is the
elective with the greatest number
of students involved. The band has
hosted the Mt. Carmel Tournament of
the Bands on a yearly basis in October
for the past 33 years. Over 30 schools
visit from all around San Diego and
other areas in SoCal.
In 2010, the band was the
declared overall champion at the
Fiesta Bowl National High School
Band Competition, where they took
first place in the parade category
and second place in the field show
competition.
In the same year, the band won
first place with a score of 94.625 out
Athletics play a key part in
school life at the Mount.
The majority of students
will participate in one of the
23 athletics teams at some point
during their four years here. In
addition to having won numerous
League Championships, MC
has garnered 79 California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF)
titles. Sundevils play in the
Palomar League.
3
Over
30
clubs
and
extracurricular activites aside
from athletics are offered
here. Band, drama, choir,
and three major publications:
Horizon Yearbook, Mt. Carmel
SUN Newspaper, and MC SHINE
Anthology, are open for students
to join. Plenty of other clubs
can be found for students to get
involved in, ranging from MC Go
Green to i-Art to Japanimation.
>>Jump to: A Short List of some Clubs
offered at MC.
>>Read about: MC Returns to
Palomar League for 2010-2011.
PAGE B6
PAGE B1
ONLINE
www.mcsun.org
MAKING THE SUN SHINE ONLINE
UPCOMING
The color guard at MC is ranked
in the top 10 teams in the nation
and placed 2nd at an international
tournament in 2007.
Two teachers at MC have won
the Poway Unified School
District Teacher of the Year award
during the past two years. Kris Hizal
was honored during the 2008-2009
school year and Karen Shimer during
the 2009-2010 school year.
1
Adam Lambert
There are 77 teachers at the
school, with a student-toteacher ratio of around 20:1.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
(NO SCHOOL)
SEPT. 24
SEPT. 29
LATE START
OCT. 1
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
APPLICATIONS START
OCT. 1
SAT ADMINISTRATION
OCT. 9
INDEX
NEWS
CENTERSPREAD
OPINIONS
SPORTS
ENTERTAINMENT
FEATURES
A2-A3
A4-A5
A6-A8
B1-B3
B4-B5
B6-B8
3
3
4
Chase Ellison
The school motto, first
proposed by math teacher Joe
McEacheron, is “Reach ‘em with
Relationships, Teach ‘em with Rigor,
Let ‘em Soar with Relevance.” The
originally proposed motto, according
to math teacher Ken Matson, was
“Reach ‘em, Teach ‘em, Cut ‘em
Loose.”
Biology
teacher
Tore
Blickfeldt has been compared
to David Hasselhoff in appearance.
Track and Field is the sport
with the greatest number of
athletes, with a roster of about 240
students last year.
3
HISTORY
1
Notable
MC
alumni
include Eric Chavez, 3rd
baseman for the Oakland A’s,
Emmy-winning director Mark
Risley, Duke Preston of the Dallas
Cowboys, Robyn Villanueva of
the Chicago Bulls, volleyball
player John Hyden, and American
Idol semifinalist Adam Lambert,
who visited the school in 2008.
2
The most people ever in
attendence at a football game
was when MC first faced Westview
in 2002. There were purportedly
11,107 people in attendance at the
time. The actual capacity of the
stadium falls at 11,000 seats, making
it one of the largest on-campus high
school stadiums in the state of
California. In 2007, the Drum Corps
International quarterfinals was
hosted in the staduium.
4
Graduate Ken James holds
the CIF rushing record of 436
yards in football.
5
The boys volleyball team
is ranked among the top 25
teams in the nation.
6
Softball
has
maintained
four straight years of CIF
championships, starting in 2007.
MC is the second oldest
school in the district,
founded in 1987. The oldest is
Poway High.
3
Biology teacher Gail Miller is
a state champion in wrestling
and is a graduate from MC. He was
recognized as Athlete of the Year in
1992.
5
2
4
EVENTS 2
LATE START
The senior class, Class
of 2011, has never lost to
Westview in a football game. The
wrestling team has also never lost to
Westview.
3
TEACHERS
1
5
MC is the most diverse
high school in the district,
with the highest percentage
of minority students in
every category when compared
to RB, Westview, and Poway.
According to the Registrar,
40.5% of students are Asian
(including Filipino), 6.2% of
students are African-American,
and 15.6% of students are
Hispanic.
Students can enjoy the
diversity and multicultural nature
of MC through interactions with
students of many ethnicities.
ATHLETICS
1
of 100 in the Hawaii Invitational Band
Review. They have also played in the
Rose Parade three times.
Two honor societies for
students who accel in academic
and community service participation,
National Honor Society (NHS) and
California Scholarship Federation
(CSF), offer disctintions to graduates
who are members.
Two-year members of NHS are
the first students to graduate, and
recieve sashes and special markings
on their diplomas. Three-year CSF
members also obtain sashes and also
gain cords and special marks in their
dimplomas.
Both groups are exclusive, highlypriveleged organizations with selective
GPA and service requirements.
4
Class offerings at MC
are plentiful. Beside core
curriculars like math,
English, history, and
science, many electives can be
taken.
Woodshop,
photography,
auto mechanics, drawing and
painting, ceramics, and computer
graphic arts programs offer fun
alternatives to stressful academic
classes. With 18 AP Courses
ranging from Calculus to Physics
to English Literature, overachieving Sundevils can also
challenge themselves.
(as seen in “The Tooth Fairy”)
Current student senior
Chase Ellison is a
professional actor and has been
in movies such as “The Tooth
Fairy.”
4
The movie “Bring It On”
was partially filmed on
campus. The boys’ locker room
was used as a setting in the film.
5
5
Hasselhoff
Blickfeldt
MC has won the California
Distinguished
School
Award three times, in the years
1985, 1999, and 2005. The school
has also won the National Blue
Ribbon Award twice, in the years
1989 and 2000, which is an award
by the federal government granted
to high-performing schools.
FACTS BY:
DENNIS SUN // EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ISAIAH BRUCE, BRADEN BUCKEL,
MICHAEL CLOGSTON, ALEXA MAUZYLEWIS, MARISSA MOREY, DAVID PU,
SEAN WOOD // STAFF WRITERS
PHOTOS BY:
PEP RALLY PHOTOS
LINDSAY ALDER // PHOTOGRAPHER
HEADSHOTS
BRITTANY SMITH // WEB EDITOR
CHASE ELLISON PHOTO
PROVIDED BY // CHASEELLISON.NET