Teachers Share Funny Break-up Stories

Do you think your break-up was bad? Well some of your teachers might have you beat. Here are some embarrassing/funny/interesting break-up stories from your teachers to make your Valentine’s Day a little brighter.

Mr. Pistacchi: “My high school girlfriend moved to Sacramento but we decided to do the long-distance thing. One day I randomly met a guy who lived in her area and asked if he knew her. He said, ‘I totally do, she’s going out with my best friend!’ D’oh.”

Mrs. Cozort: “My boyfriend I had when I was a sophomore in college wanted to get married. He was the sweetest guy, but I didn’t want to get MARRIED yet! I was only 19! After I said I wasn’t ready to leave school to get married and have kids, he transferred to a neighboring school, was married within a year and had twins a year after that. He now has two sets of twins…thank goodness I didn’t sign up for that!”

Ms. Perryman: “Once I was having trouble breaking up with someone because he’d be so sad that I’d give in. So I asked my sister to drive all the way over from Oakland to meet him and break up with him for me. (So lame, I know.) About one day after that he cried again and I caved again, and my sister was so mad at me. Obviously, he finally realized that this was not a healthy relationship and my sister eventually forgave me.”

Mr. Wang: “I was talking to my best friend in my room about deciding whether or not to break up with my girlfriend and she was listening outside my door. She then burst into the room and yelled, ‘If you want to break up with me, just tell me instead of just talking about it!’ Then she slammed the door and stomped away, leaving my best friend and me wide-eyed and staring at each other in disbelief.”

Ms. Gutto: “This isn’t really a break up story per se. I was out with some friends and out of nowhere, this man swaggered up and stepped between my new friend and me. He pointed at me with four of his fingers and said, ‘You. I’d like to take you out sometime. What’s your name?’ His manner annoyed me and I thought he was really rude to step into a conversation, but I was also slightly amused so I said ‘Laura.’ He said, ‘Ok Lauren, what’s your number?’. I didn’t want to give him my number, but I sensed that he was the persistent type and I really just wanted him to go away. In the end I gave him my sister’s number instead because 1) It wasn’t my number and 2) I thought it was funny. He texted her the next day and she thought it was hilarious as did I. Her fiancée wasn’t so happy.”

Mrs. Rodriguez: “I was dating this boy who lived down the street from me during my senior year of high school. He had a wandering eye, and I was growing very tired of it. We went to Valley Fair to do some shopping and I had driven (he did not have a car). After seeing him check out the tenth girl to pass by us, I said I had to use the restroom. I snuck out an emergency exit door, ran to my car and left him there. About three hours later I saw him pass by my house looking completely defeated. I never spoke to him again!”

As you can see teachers have crazy dating histories. Break-ups happen to everyone, and eventually we will learn to look back and laugh at them just like our teachers have.

Evaluation Information

“I like teacher evaluations because the students get to express their concerns for the class,” says Junior Lynn Kim. “But I never know if what I write is going to make a difference.”

Have you ever wondered, like Lynn, if those end-of-the-semester teacher evaluations do any good? Are your voices, opinions, and suggestions really being heard? The answer is yes: thanks to Vice Principal Ms. Edson, every single multiple choice and comment form is read and reviewed.

Okay, so our voices are heard. But what does this mean in the long run and how can our opinions lead to actual changes in the classroom?

There are two School Administrative Evaluations, or as we students would call them Student Perception Surveys, that are sent out at the end of each semester. As you are all familiar, students take the surveys during each class period. These surveys are then sent to Ms. Doolin, usually by a volunteer who’s dying to waste even more class time and just can’t wait for an opportunity to get out of her seat.

In the hands of Ms. Doolin, all the surveys are scanned and the results generated. There are percentage results for every multiple choice question for every class. She then organizes the opinion sheets as well. Ms. Doolin passes down the surveys to Ms. Edson, who reads through every evaluation and reviews all the data, all while taking notes on areas which call for improvement.

But the process does not stop here. The surveys then take a trip to each of their corresponding department chairs: Math classes go to Ms. Goldau; Science classes go to Mr. Pistacchi, etc. Each department chair reviews each survey just as was done previously by Ms. Edson, and finally pass back the surveys to the individual teachers themselves.

Sure, they read through all of the surveys, but what do they do about them? Each teacher is required a 30-hour minimum of professional development activity such as teaching workshops each year in order to continue improvement and progress in their teaching skills, and many teachers do even more than the minimum requirement. Teachers also often set goals at the beginning of each school year, whether they be incorporating more technology into their teaching methods or being more clear about extra credit guidelines. Teachers want to do the best they possibly can, and the teacher evaluations help them focus on their individual developmental needs as teachers. In short, the evaluations help teachers become better teachers and help to validate the success they have already achieved as well.

In the fall, these evaluations are copied and kept in the teacher’s personnel file. In the spring, the evaluations are handled the same way, but a copy is not put into their personnel file.

Which evaluations are really considered and which are simply discarded? Every survey is reviewed, but if a student is being particularly harsh or stating concerns that are not concurrent at all with the views of the rest of the class, then they are not taken into consideration. According to Ms. Edson, the staff must see “what the majority is thinking and feeling” to make any just assumptions. However, if the majority of the class expresses a particular issue or concern, then the problem is addressed. The department chair uses the feedback as a focus for each teacher’s development strategy, and the chair may choose to meet with the teacher to discuss methods for improvement or direct the teacher to a certain class or workshop.

So yes, whether your comment is positive or negative, each teacher sees them all. Ms. Goldau confirms, “I do read every single comment.” She also expresses her own method of handing out the evaluations, saying, “I personally like to give the comment forms before the bubble forms because it gets the students writing instead of just sitting there and filling in bubbles.”

Teachers read all the comments, which may make many of you nervous about how anonymous the surveys really are due to the possibility of handwriting detection. However, Pres has begun to do a great deal of the surveys online with Survey Monkey this year. Having the electronic options, students feel more anonymous and therefore are more open to share their opinions without the fear of being tracked back to them.

Junior Alex Sheredy said, “I enjoy the electronic evaluations because I feel more secure and definitely more anonymous, especially in the English department because they see our writing so much. I feel that if you have very recognizable script then the teacher may accumulate a vengeance against you if you give them a bad review.”

Also, with the paper evaluations, administration has found that students view the three open-ended questions as optional, whereas through the electronic versions, the number of comments greatly rose, which means more helpful information to foster improvement.

Having the evaluations online not only allows for more open responses but also saves trees and a valuable amount of time. Paperless evaluations allow for the passing-down process to go from an average of one week with the paper copies to only one day with the electronic data. “The sheer volume of paper not only causes guilt but is also more time consuming to organize, hard to make copies to pass down, and is less time-efficient than doing everything electronically,” said Ms. Edson.

There are some down sides to the electronic versions of the surveys, however. Along with obvious technical complications that may occur, some teachers feel the comments would be less personal. Ms. Goldau notes, “Sometimes my students will draw the hearts, stars or flowers. I enjoy these, but encourage my students to explain the reasoning behind their artwork, especially if they decide on drawing the daggers.”

According to Ms. Edson, the School Administrative Evaluations are “broad brushstrokes on an overwhelming scale” but are focused on listening to the major concerns of the students– not only in order to give the student body a voice, but also to use their feedback to make the staff aware of areas that may need adjustment. After all, we’re all human and there’s always room for improvement.

 

 

 

See You at School, Mom!

“Bye Mom, see you when I get home from school….just kidding, I’ll be seeing you all day.” Though the majority of you do not find yourselves saying this, there are many students who have parents who teach at the same school they attend and are caught in this situation.

For some of you, this may be nearly impossible to comprehend. You might be saying to yourself, “What? You mean, those students have to go to school AND see their mom or dad? Rough life.”

But going to school at the same place where your mom or dad works can have its perks, too.

Have you ever forgotten something at home and wished there was a way to call and ask your parents if they can run it up to you (without breaking the rules and texting them of course)? For students with a parent at their school, all they have to do is take the short walk to their parent’s classroom and simply ask them for the favor.

Hannah Ford, a senior at Presentation, says, “It is so nice to be able to just ask my mom to get something I have forgotten.” Hannah even tells of times her mom has brought her lunch from Zanotto’s, which I think every Pres girl can agree is a major plus.

Also, let us not forgot the times when we forget that one book or binder we so desperately need to complete our homework, but we discover in the evening that it is still in our locker, in the locked school.

Though majority of us have to scramble on Facebook, searching the list of people online that may have that forgotten item, students with parents who teach at their school do not even have to break a sweat because…THEY HAVE A MASTER KEY. Mrs. Perryman said she had to make quite a few late night runs to Pres to let her daughters pick up the books they forgot.

Certainly there are some drawbacks to having a parent work at your school. Inevitably, every one has heard the line, “How was school today?”

In instances where you have gotten a detention or there was drama in your friend group, you may not always be the first one to voluntarily admit you were called to Ms. Schrader’s office. Imagine your mom already knowing this information you were thoroughly planning to keep a secret.

Sophomore Cassidy Garrett says, “The worst part of having my mom work at Presentation is that she knows everything about me, without me even needing to tell her.”

But Mrs. Collins doesn’t have to worry—Cassidy said overall, she likes that her mom work at the same school she attends. She mainly values her office for the purpose of using it as a “walk-in locker” for her stuff and as a nice place to put Panther down for one of his many naps, since she knows she loves him so much.

Since coworkers often form friendships with each other, these parents often become “besties” with other teachers. This is one thing that both Cassidy and Hannah express as awkward sometimes.

Do not try to deny it, when you see a teacher in public, you try you best to conceal your face in the hopes of avoiding the awkward “Hello” and possible “How are you?” But, as is the case for Cassidy and Hannah, it is a little different when the teacher is over at your house for dinner.

From the teacher’s perspective, having a daughter attend the same school you work at can have its perks too. Mrs. Perryman, who had three daughters attend Pres, said that working in the same environment that her children learn in gave her a new perspective on how many different types of students there are.

Mrs. Ponikvar only expressed positive feelings about having her daughter at Pres. “I enjoyed having her in my class the second semester of her sophomore year because we would have fun acting out scenes from the books in class and having great discussions.”

Having a daughter in class though can present some challenges. Mrs. Perryman said “I felt like I was a lot meaner to my daughters than other students because I was worried about appearing too nice to them.”

To the benefit of her students in class, Mrs. Perryman also said she became a much more understanding teacher. She learned that students do not always lie when they say their computer broke down when they were doing their homework. Since she actually witnessed her daughters experiencing these dreaded misfortunes, she knows they are not just a made-up excuse for not doing a homework assignment.

I think everyone would agree with Cassidy and Hannah, who also said all in all, they like having their mom work at Presentation. Though they both said Presentation becomes a second home as a result of having so many connections to the school, they believe they have it pretty sweet.

 

New Panther Spouses and Babies

Congratulations to the following teachers who got married over the summer.

Ms. McCullough (formerly Ms. Murphy) was married on July 3, 2011 at the Presentation Center in Los Gatos, CA to Casey McCullough, who works at Bellarmine. She said, “We tried to keep things sustainable and local by having my uncles cook our rehearsal dinner, buying flowers from the farmers market and I wore my cousin’s wedding dress!”

Mr. Blightman married Jackie Honma (a math teacher at Quimby Oak Middle School) on July 30 at Clos La Chance Winery in San Martin, CA.

Congratulations to the following teachers who recently had a newborn added to their families!

Mrs. Odell gave birth to her first child, Amber Nicole, on March 4, 2011. She weighed 6 lbs., 2 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

Ms. Livingston had her second child on May 3, 2011. Jack Thomas was 7 lbs., 4 oz. and also 19.5 inches long. She said, “He is a happy baby and smiles all day. His big sister Natalia just loves him and so do we! Our family is complete.”

Athletic trainer Ms. Murphy, added her first child, Aiden Jaxton, to her family on April 13, 2011. He was 6 lbs., 4 oz. and 19 inches. She said, “I am pretty sure once we start to host athletic events here on campus, he will be here often to cheer on our sports team!”

Public relations director Ms. Pizarro gave birth to Alexander David on July, 3, 2011. He weighed 9 lbs., 2 oz., and was 20 inches long.

Athletic director Ms. Mallison welcomed her first child, Sadera Lyn, who will be called Sadie, on August 3, 2011. Sadie was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Summer Reading Torture

It’s the last week of summer, the sun is out, the beach is calling your name, but you are stuck inside frantically trying to read all three of your summer reading books. This is what has happened to many Pres girls this summer and every summer since 1982.

Even though we are supposed to read our summer reading books at the beginning of the summer, most of us do not. And it’s not because we’re lazy. The few of us who decide to get a head start on reading usually forget most of the content by the time of the test. It teaches us that procrastination is something that we have to do in order to do well on it. This forces us to try to cram our three books into the last few weeks—or sometimes days—of summer.

Many Pres girls just end up going on websites like Sparknotes instead of reading because they are not able to finish reading all three books. We try any way possible to get around reading, instead of actually reading the books like the teachers want us to do. As a result, summer reading does not help with our reading literacy like the English teachers want to happen. Thus, summer reading does not help us at all.

This cramming before school starts adds to our already stressed out lives. Summer is supposed to be a time to relax and rejuvenate before school starts. We should therefore not have to stress about finishing three books and doing well on the test about them. All summer long there is a constant nagging in the back of our brain to finish reading. This makes complete relaxation almost impossible.

Our brother school, Bellarmine, acknowledged this added stress and decided to stop making their boys read books over the summer two years ago. It has improved their students’ summers and made them more productive. “It frees up more time to do more other things academically, like focusing on the SAT’s,” said Greg Kenter, a senior at Bellarmine. “As a football player, it really helps me focus on my football and what I have to do to make my team better and get better personally.”

Presentation needs to follow Bellarmine’s lead and stop forcing us to read summer reading books that adults choose for us. We are just as smart as Bellarmine and so we need to recognize that they had a brilliant idea when they decided to stop summer reading.

Teachers may argue that reading in the summer is a good thing because they want to make sure our reading skills do not diminish in the summer, but we should be able to read what we want. “As a student I didn’t actually really like summer reading,” admits teacher and Presentation alum Mrs. Rosenthal. “And it wasn’t so much that I didn’t like reading, it was the books being chosen for me. Fahrenheit 451 I remember was a book that I struggled though. They weren’t books that I typically enjoyed.”

Most of us are really busy during the school year and are not able to relax with a good book that we actually want to read. The summer is the perfect time for us to read different things that we are interested in and enjoy. Our dreams of reading whatever we want are cut short by the dreaded book list that the English department sends us.

Jennifer DeMedeiros, a junior at Presentation said, “I would rather read other books that I decide to read like more interesting books that appeal to me.”

Bellarmine students are able to read whatever they want and they take advantage of that. Kenter said, “It freed up my time a little bit more, but I kept on reading on my own. I read a book called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

Even worse, when school starts the teachers announce the date that everyone has been waiting for—the summer reading test.

There are always loads of moans and groans throughout the classrooms because every Pres girl knows that the teachers only test their memories for irrelevant details instead of themes and ideas.

Mrs. Rosenthal agreed, “The stress came a week or two before school starts because I’m not a procrastinator so I typically would have tried to read the books between June and the beginning of July. And then I got to August and had to come back to school and I couldn’t remember a lot of details about the books. So even though I did read them, it might’ve appeared as if I hadn’t read them as thoroughly as I actually had because I couldn’t remember things.”

After the test is done, most teachers never do anything interesting with the books so the point of reading them is just to make Presentation look like it is a college prep school. We do not actually learn anything except all the ways to try to get out of reading these books during the summer.

Presentation needs to recognize this issue and stop making us read summer reading books that they choose for us. Summer will be a more enjoyable and relaxing time for everyone and students will read more when this extra stress is gone.

Mag Drive Push Too Hard?

It is safe to say that most students at our school truly love Pres. It is also safe to say they would make some changes to the school if they could. Where does the money come from to make these changes? The ever-popular magazine drive.  Though girls love to read magazines, selling them is an entirely different story if your homeroom teacher is mag drive crazy. Some teachers go to such great lengths to make their students sell mags that they wind up scaring the girls off. Intense mag drive teachers, (or should I say Mag Maniacs,) are too harsh on students and make Pres girls dread the fundraiser rather than enjoy it.

I understand first-hand that not all students are willing to cooperate with magazine drive, but for the most part, I believe that students truly try their best.  It is completely unnecessary to take extreme measures in order to get Pres girls to sell mags. Different teachers use different approaches to become top homeroom and get his or her students to sell, sell sell!

One popular tactic some homeroom teachers use is the contract. Students sign a paper saying they promise to sell a certain amount of magazines. I think this is the farthest a tactic should go. Anything beyond committing oneself to a contract seems ridiculous and almost wrong. Being bound to a contract will get magazines sold and will not threaten the students.

Some Mag Maniacs choose to take privileges away from students, such as not being allowed to eat in homeroom, if they do not sell a certain amount of magazines. This policy seems rather unfair, since homeroom is generally the only class students are allowed to eat in. Not only does it single out a student, but it takes away a universal right that Presentation has established. Having privileges taken away does not directly relate to magazine drive and therefore should not be included in influencing students to sell magazines.

The worst and final tactic used by some homeroom teachers is to call students out and neglect them in class. When students do not bring in the goal amount of money, teachers will go to extreme measures to make them regret it. Some students recall feeling humiliated by the teacher and became rather uncomfortable for the rest of the year in homeroom. Other students are embarrassed to feel called out during the homeroom period for not bringing in their orders. It is unrealistic that every girl will bring in the amount of magazine orders they promised to, and that does not make them a bad person whom deserves ridicule. Such threats, I believe, should be against the rules of magazine drive so that students do not feel pressured and scared, but rather excited and willing.

In the end, the whole point of the drive is to motivate students to raise money for our school. In the past few years, motivation has been completely out ruled by harsh techniques that the thought of mag drive makes students sick. They should be happy to compete in a healthy way to raise the most money, instead of scared that her homeroom teacher will punish her. The bottom line about teenage girls is the nicer one is to them, but more they will cooperate. The more ruthless one is to them, the more they will neglect there responsibilities. If Mag Maniacs agree to soften their strategies, our school will raise much more money and be happy to do so.

Pres Students Give Advice to Teachers

As some of you may know, we have many new parents among the Presentation High School faculty. Because of their hard work and dedication in educating us, we Pres girls are returning the favor by sharing some of our own advice on what not to say or do to their kids. Trust us, teachers; we know what we’re talking about. Here is what some girls had to say:

“Don’t keep your kid on a child leash. It’s creepy.”

– Kelsey Klosterman, 2012

“Don’t pinch their cheeks on the first day of school.”

– Tiffanie Obilor, 2013

“If they’re not bleeding, they’re fine.”

– Hali Martin, 2012

“Don’t yell at your kids in front of their friends, like if they miss curfew. It’s embarrassing for them and awkward for the friends.”

– Jennifer Fields, 2011

“It’s okay to leave your kid at school after school. There will be stuff for them to do. There’s no need to pick them up right at 2:40.”

– Jocelyn Bailey, 2011

“Don’t force them to sign up for classes, like dance classes and stuff, that they don’t want to do.”

– Carolyn DiLoreto, 2014

“No wooden spoons!”

– Caitlin Stockwell, 2012

“Please. You aren’t supposed to actually get an answer when you ask your kids how their day was.”

– Bianka Mariles, 2013

“Dads! Learn how to brush your daughters’ hair. They will kick and scream if you brush it wrong. Start from the bottom and go up.”

– Shannon Foster, 2012

“Don’t give your kids embarrassing nicknames… those come back to haunt them.”

– Juliann Larese, 2012

Baby Boom

 

Maya Claire Horan

Maya Claire Horan was born on February 2, 2010 at 6:30 pm. She weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. Ms. Teresi says, “Her name is a combination of unique and traditional – Maya was a friend from college whose name I loved. Claire is for my paternal grandmother who was a spunky matriarch.” Though Maya may someday express traits inherited from generations long past, Ms. Teresi happily says, “She’s a little of both me and Jack – my eyes, Jack’s lips – and she’s huge, so that’s both of us.” Maya is Ms. Teresi’s first child. “She moves constantly and likes to keep us on our toes – literally, she likes to be walked around the house, the neighborhood, the mall. She’s really observant – she’d rather look at everything around her than snuggle.”

Mara Pistacchi

Mara Pistacchi was born on February 4, 2010. Her name is a diamond in the rough as Mr. Pistacchi says, “For her name, I needed a girl’s name that wouldn’t remind me of anyone I’ve taught; after 10 years at Pres that’s a tall order. I’ve never met a Mara before and we both liked the name so there you go!” Mara is also Mr. Pistacchi’s first child. He says of the experience, “Being a father is awesome, every day is a new adventure and Mara is a really sweet baby.”

Thomas Vincent Cafazza

Thomas Vincent Cafazza was born on Tuesday, March 30, and weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces. While Ms. Cafazza notes that there are many stories to be shared about her new baby boy, she describes one of her favorites: “when I was changing his diaper (probably the 100th of the day) Thomas peed, pooped and threw up all at the same time. It was a wonderful experience!”

Mia Elisabeth Pizarro

Mia Elisabeth Pizarro was born on Sunday, October 25, at 6:50 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces, and she was 20 inches long. She loves broccoli, the ABC song and sucking on her own toes, and she can’t wait to take chemistry with her good friend Mr. Wang.

Carlos Craig Cobarrubias

Carlos Craig Cobarrubias was born on Monday, April 12, at about 5 a.m. He was 21 inches and weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces. Mr. Cobarrubias notes how he wishes he could spend more time with his new baby boy, but the time he has had with his son has been eventful. Describing one day when he was changing Carlos’s diaper, Mr. Cobarrubias talked about how unpredictable babies can be – just in the time that Mr. Cobarrubias went to grab a fresh diaper, Carlos had peed all over himself. “The poor little guy!” Mr. Cobarrubias said.

Nelson Garcia-Rodriguez

Nelson Gracia-Rodiriguez came into the world on January 31, 17 days after his sister’s birthday, after a long wait of 15 hours of labor. Mrs. Rodriguez says of her second child, “He likes when I sing to him and will respond with a cute smile. His favorite song is ‘Where is Thumbkin.’” Nelson began his first music class at 10 weeks old with his sister and “Teacher Sean’s Music Factory.” Otherwise, he enjoys walks to the park and laughs when the wind blows in the trees.

Hugh John O’Byrne

Hugh John O’Byrne was born on Wednesday, February 24, at 2:14 a.m., weighing 8 pounds and 11 ounces and just a touch over 21 inches long. While Ms. O’Byrne claims that he promises to be a big boy, she claims that being a good boy will be a whole other story!

Less Stress, No Mess

By now, we know that too much stress is bad for our health and that we need to reduce stress in our daily lives. But how? Students, teachers, and parents all contribute to significant amount of stress in students’ lives. Here are some ways our community as a whole, not just students, can reduce stress in schools.

Teachers

Teachers may want to consider having meetings every month or so to coordinate better on major assignments so they’re not all due the same day. Maybe switching off each unit between the departments would help space out and even the assignments all due in the week so that students aren’t trying to cram it all in.

Another thing teachers can reconsider is the fact that sometimes we don’t need to have a test, paper and a project all in one unit. Maybe reconsidering and switching off between unit exams and large research papers each unit would reduce the amount of stress each student goes through. Remember: most students also have six other classes that they need to worry about too!

An easy adjustment, but a huge difference, could be reducing the number of problems in math and reducing the number of book pages needed to be read in English classes. Reading more than four chapters in a book each night is unrealistic, and this only results in the students feeling like they are forced to use websites like Spark Notes. For math teachers, sometimes there may be only a few problems for homework, but some problems can more than ten minutes, and each problem takes up half a page! Especially if a student is struggling in a certain area, homework will take twice as long because of the constant referral to notes and the time it take to get through homework. If teachers remembered the time spent on each problem on each assignment, or the amount of time it actually takes to get through huge novels, it might be a good idea to ease up. Pres girls have six, sometimes seven classes to keep up with and the stress levels we all have cannot be contained.

Students

Listen to Music—Play your favorite song and sing along. This is a great way to relieve your stress. Just start blasting Lady GaGa and dance along like nobody is watching. Dancing pumps up the amount of endorphins in your brain, causing you to feel good. Who would feel angry after listening to Bad Romance?

Go for a Walk—This allows you to have some relaxing alone-time away from the stress of daily life. It gives you exercise and time to clear your mind and think about what is bothering you; the fresh air will make you feel more relaxed. So the next time you are free during collaboration, take a walk by yourself or with a group of friends. Either way, you’d be away from school and stress for at least an hour.

Time management— Use your planner to keep track of all of your homework assignments. As you finish each assignment, you feel accomplished when you check them off. And you know what work needs to be done.

Do your work earlier rather than later. Many kids stay up until odd hours trying to do their homework. Try to get it done earlier, or maybe use your free period or collaboration time. The later you do you work, the shorter your attention span becomes. Doing homework in the morning is actually more efficient because you are alert and awake rather than sleepy.

Sleep—Our speaker said that teenagers need nine hours of sleep. This is really hard, considering how much homework we get at Pres (half-an-hour homework policy? Really?). But this goes along with managing your time better. Do not let your homework pile up. Sort out your priorities—what is more important: checking your Facebook or studying? This way, you won’t waste your time with activities that are less important, and you’ll have more time to sleep.

Take breaks—Schedule short breaks throughout your day to reduce stress. Stretch, read a book, call a friend, or go for a walk. This refreshes your mind and will give you a break from constant studying. This can be the time you check your Facebook; but make sure to get back to doing your homework soon!

Think positively—You need to be optimistic. Focusing on the negative will only bring you down. Do not think about that Econ paper you have to write or how you failed that Pre-Calc test. Instead, try to focus on what you have finished so far. Tackle each assignment one at a time and think about how efficient you are with managing your time.

Parents

Students stress themselves out enough on their own with the constant worry of college. Now, even freshmen in high school are beginning to feel the pressure of having perfect grades all four years. Parents, do not typically help the problem either. The constant talk about college at home makes students feel even more pressure than they already do, which is detrimental to student health because the home should be a stress-free environment. “I know parents who have straight A students that constantly check Parent Connect every day,” said junior Jennifer O’Brien. “The students feel that they need to try harder when they have enough stress already.” Also, parents need to understand that where their daughter attends college is unrelated to their success as a parent. “College should be a decision based on personal interest and success, not parent interest and success,” said O’Brien. Overall, limiting the amount of conversation time spent discussing college is a great way parents can help their children be less stressed and enjoy high school.

Discussing college on a regular basis isn’t the only thing parents discuss too much; the same goes for grades. There are many parents who regularly, even daily, check Parent Connect. “My mother checks Parent Connect almost every day. Having one bad grade or missing assignment can determine if I am allowed to go out that weekend,” said senior Cece Franchi. Living in this world of constant stress and punishment will result in students losing confidence and being unhappy with their academic and social lives. It is important that parents recognize that this academic monitoring of their daughter is not helpful in the end.

Another factor of parent-related stress is competition. Students typically aim to be their best and when a student has the lowest grades among their friends, it can create lots of stress in the form of unspoken competition between friends. Parents add to this type of stress by comparing their child to other students. “I haven’t personally experienced this at home, but attending Presentation has allowed me to see the stress this kind of comparison can put on friendships and none of it is healthy,” said senior Lauren Lane. “It is sad to see because it makes students feel so insecure about themselves.” This competition and insecurity is something extremely harmful to the well-being of students that can easily be avoided. Not comparing their daughter to other students is a step in the right direction that parents can take in order to reduce their child’s stress.

One extremely significant way that parents can limit the stress their daughter feels during high school is to let their child have the freedom to make her own choices with college and careers. Otherwise, parents can cause immense amounts of stress on students. “Stress is definitely caused by the topic of careers. Not necessarily meaning what a student wants to do with their life, but what they are forced into doing because it makes money,” said O’Brien. “Parents focus too much on what pays well and therefore force their child into that field.”

Teachers, parents, and students: please take these suggestions to heart. Stress is a result of many different factors—peer pressure, parent pressure, teachers’ expectations, college. To effectively address the problem of stress in schools, a global solution is necessary. Parents and teachers both need to realize that we are all part of the problem, and we all need to be part of the solution.

Undercover Teachers

Ms. Collins

Presentation Career: 25 years

Why She Returns to Pres: First, the students, and also because there are lots of different jobs and areas at Pres you can be involved in, so teachers aren’t always doing the same thing. Ms. Collins has done an array of things such as being a CI moderator, teacher, and a counselor.

Before Pres: The only other place she has ever taught was Independence High School, where she taught for a year.

Advice For Us Pres Girls: Not to take high school so seriously. It feels big while we’re here, but if we make it a job we won’t enjoy it and it doesn’t matter where we go to college as long as it’s a good fit.

Random Fact: Not many people know that she was an administrator for 9 years when it was just her, Ms. Miller and Ms. Hernandez.

Ms. Kissane

Presentation Career:  29 years, but retiring this year

Why She Returns to Pres: The students.

Before Pres: She taught for a year at St. Lawrence Academy.  Before that she taught in Smithfield, Rhode Island and Edison, New Jersey with Ms. Renner’s uncle.

Pres Changes Over the Years: When she first came here, student enrollment was in the 400s. There was also no gym, no pool, no CLC, and no theater.

Advice for Us Pres Girls: Don’t get too wrapped up in Facebook and other things.  Expand and experience the other things in life and find your calling.

Random Fact: She didn’t want to become a teacher when she went to college. However, her father was paying for her college and wanted her to take courses in education, and being the obedient daughter she was, she complied and found that she really enjoyed it.

Ms. Lagana

Presentation Career: 26 years

Why She Returns to Pres: Her passion for the subject she teaches, her love for the students and her belief in the school’s philosophy keep her coming back.

Before Pres: She started her teaching career at Sacred Heart Prep and went on to teach at Santa Teresa High School, Harker Academy, and finally Pres.

Pres Changes Over the Years: When she attended Pres, the only two sports were volleyball and softball. Because there wasn’t a gym, heir gym classes were held outdoors on the parking lot pavement.  They wore one-piece polyester gym suits that they had to iron and starch themselves.

Advice for Us Pres Girls: There are so many opportunities to be involved in so many different things, so when plan your schedules carefully and learn to balance things.

Random Fact: She holds a current EMT certificate with Santa Clara County, as well lifeguard and CPR instructor certifications.

Mrs. Newton

Presentation Career: 27 years

Why She Returns to Pres: She finds joy in watching students grow and succeed.  They always thank her for teaching them how to type.

Before Pres: Mrs. Newton and her husband owned a hardware store in Balboa, CA.  She originally hoped to major in music yet changed to a business major. She later became a community college teacher and taught at San Jose State University for four years.

Pres Changes Over the Years: Skirts have gotten shorter.  Current Pres students are smarter and more flexible than in the past. They are inquisitive, opinionated, and on the cutting edge.

Advice For Us Pres Girls: Focus in school, spend time learning, travel and become more global. She also recommends taking the class Women and Money.

Random Fact:  Long before she became a teacher at Pres, Mrs. Newton raced cars and loved spending time speeding down raceways.

Ms. Ray

Presentation Career: 30 years

Why She Returns to Pres: The fun students, creative opportunities, and great staff keep Ms. Ray returning to Pres each year.

Before Pres: She was a black jack dealer at Harrah’s in Tahoe where she attended pit school.

Pres Changes Over the Years: The students are similar. They are lively, outspoken, and fun loving, but fragmented.

Random Fact: Teaching at Pres was her first job out of graduate school. She obtained her undergraduate degree at Scripps College and Pomona and her graduate degree at Stanford. She has also traveled extensively and enjoyed her experiences across the globe. Five generations of her family members have grown up in Lake Tahoe, and she has many ancestral stories about the early pioneers and settlement of the west.

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