This weeks Photo Theme: Food 

Connections

Let the State Test!

Written by: Cecilia Delgadillo 11th

To start this off, you are defined by numbers. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. The oldest example in the book is the good, old state test! NWEA, MAP, and CAASPP were all made to target and define you! Yes, you, the average (or maybe not, depending on how you score) person, are the exact audience for these tests. 

These tests are awesome! They find out how good you are at remembering the lessons from kindergarten, 7th grade, and freshman year that were never taught again, and then measure how good of a student and person you are. Not only does it define you, but it also defines the whole school and district. So please understand when your teachers rush to fit in everything you were “supposed” to learn in 3rd grade in the days leading up to the test. 

The best part, though, is that your grades don’t matter! It doesn’t matter if you are a straight-A student or a straight-C student; the test will define that for you. Whether you are able to score the highest or lowest past grades and scores won't matter at all, just the score you get on a 2-day K–12 subject test. And yes, your teachers will say you are so much more than a “silly little test,” but yet they will still push you to aim for the highest score so that you can look good for future employers! 

So why should we fight the all-defining test when we need it to boost how we, as students, look? Who cares if our teams are placing highest in the leagues or whether our clubs are making great changes to our school and community itself? All we need to do is cram in all the years of subject matter, starting from kindergarten, into 2 weeks of review to find out how good of a school we really are. So as testing season approaches, make sure to put on sunscreen and shine bright on the state tests. Go Wolfpack!

School Update

This Weeks Features!

Why Leap Year?

Written by: Jairus Lagrimas 12th

Every 4 years, including this year of 2024, we experience what is known as a leap year, where an extra day is added onto our calendar, February 29th, totaling 366 days instead of 365. So to our sophomores who were born on the 29th of this February month, happy 4th birthday! But why was the leap year even established in the first place? Who, where, how, and why did this tradition start?

The simple reason is because the Earth does not actually orbit around the sun for exactly 365 days. The rotation of the Earth has no correlation with the time it takes for the Earth to orbit, as in, we cannot accurately predict how long an orbit around the sun takes by just using intervals of 24 hours. 

In reality, the Earth orbits the Sun for 365 days and a quarter of a day. 365 days is 8,760 hours, whereas in actuality, it's roughly 8,766 hours, or 365.24219 days. That extra six hours is a quarter of a day; hence, every four years, we add a year to the calendar because, otherwise, we would be a day off!

Except, we don’t actually have a leap year every 4 years! Around 46 B.C., Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar, which was the basis for today’s modern Gregorian Calendar, which was established in 1582. The Julian Calendar, also 365 days long with an added day every 4 years, was still inaccurate to a miniscule degree. Because 365.24219 is rounded up to a quarter, that means if we do a leap year every 4 years, eventually we’d be cutting too many days off. More precisely, pushing us back 3 days every 400 years. That is why Pope Gregory XIII was commissioned to skip leap years on years that are divisible by 100. But for even more accuracy, if a leap year is divisible by 400, then it isn’t skipped and becomes a leap year.

But why are leap years and accuracy necessary? Accuracy is important to us because of the seasons. If we do not account for the actual time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun, eventually, the months that are meant to be summer occur in winter, and the months that are meant to be spring occur in fall, and vice versa, respectively. So we don’t want to be celebrating Christmas in the summer! (Unless we live in the Southern Hemisphere, like in Australia.)

So why is it called a leap year? What exactly are we leaping over or skipping over when we add an extra day to our calendar? There are seven days in a week, and normally, there are 365 days in a calendar. 365 is not divisible by 7, and therefore, if we start off the year with a Saturday, we start the next year off on Sunday. In other words, the same date between two years next to each other is a day off, where the latter year goes forward by one day. That is why we call a leap year a leap year! If we were to take the same day somewhere this year and find out what day it is next year, for example, if it was Monday, we would skip an entire Tuesday, and the next year’s same date as this year will actually now be a Wednesday.

So I hope this quick fun fact was intriguing to you, and now you understand the importance of a leap year! So what happens if your birthday is in a leap year and it’s a normal 365-day year? You can either celebrate your birthday on the 28th, the first of March, or even both! But be sure to have February 29th as your date of birth in your legal identifications and documents.

What's Your Favorite Class

Written by: Eliana Ramirez Guzman 10th

In a survey that a majority of students took before February break (I’m looking straight at you, juniors and seniors), we asked what their favorite classes were. Here are the results of that very survey (with a little commentary, of course):

1. Freshman Seminar

At number one, we got Freshmen Seminar, a result I wasn’t particularly surprised by seeing as most of the responses I got were from freshmen at a whopping 48.9%, with it being the only other class that you’ll get exercise in besides recess or joining a sports team.

2. English 10 and Ethnic Studies

At number two, we got English 10 and ethnic studies. Now that I think about it, though, a lot of responses were from freshmen and sophomores, but I can personally vouch for both of these classes, seeing as the teachers that teach them are equally as fun as the class itself.

3. Algebra 1 and Geometry

At number three, we got the two best math-related classes you will ever take at KSJC for two reasons: they both have the most relaxed teachers I have ever met (but not too relaxed, mind you, because they were still hella strict) and how surprisingly easy it is to learn in those classes.

4. Biology and Spanish 1

At numero cuatro, we got biology and Spanish 1. I’ve never had the pleasure of actually taking a Spanish 1 class (I miss Ms. Gonzalez from last year's Spanish 2 class), but I assume it's a lot like how biology is taught: super fun and easy to learn, but they have the strictest teachers.

5. Chemistry and English 9

And lastly, at number five, we got Chemistry and English 9. This one was definitely leaning towards the teacher being the reason why so many students picked it as their favorite class because, let's face it, who has never enjoyed being in those two classes ever?

Honestly, a lot of the results from the survey were mainly because of the teachers who taught those classes, but I think that's mainly what makes a class your favorite. (Side Note: Honorable mention to the AP Calculus class as I somehow forgot to add that on the survey. I had my friends double-check the survey, and they said there was no AP Calculus class, I swear.)

KSJC DEMS

Sports!

Spring Sports

Spring is almost here, and coming with it is the beginning of KSJC’s spring sports! With the four options of baseball, softball, boys volleyball, and track and field, To start, the introduction of KSJC’s newest sport, baseball! Coached by Mr. Quintero, he wanted to start a baseball team for the school. With the tryouts over and the team starting to begin to practice, the hope is to show how KSJC can get together a good team and get ready to play! While the team isn’t going to be in an official league, they will be playing friendly matches all season long in hopes of being able to get into a league the following season. Softball is also going to start with tryouts beginning on February 26, the day KSJC comes back to school. Last season, they went 2-6 while playing in a very competitive league, and they are looking to up their record this season and make it into CCS. The team will try to begin practice as soon as possible to get ready for the upcoming season. 

Next is KSJC’s boy's volleyball team, which was introduced last year and wasn’t officially in a league. Even then, they had a bunch of friendly games, which had them end the season 7-4, going on a six-game win streak at the end of the season. This season, they are going to be placed in a league in order to have a chance to make it to the CCS playoffs. With how well they performed last year, they will have a very good chance of making it to CCS. The final sport for KSJC next year will be KSJC’s track and field team, which is one of the biggest and most well-known sports for KSJC. As you can tell (or could tell before the rain took it down) by the wall of our personal school records, KJSC’s track and field is very prestigious. No matter if it is running or throwing, our school has a very good record to show for it. With there being many events that make it to CCS the following year, making it to the track and field team is competitive. KSJC’s Spring Sports are filled with teams that are ready to make a statement this year, either because they are a new team, they have something to prove, or they are here to continue a legacy, they are ready to play!

Written by: Elijah Vasquez 11th

Current World

Poetry 

Life Gives You Lemon

Written by: Charlotte Zeng 10th

Lemon colored dresses with lime colored shoes

Sour are her blessings, she will learn to be sweet

Sun colored dressings, she makes with defeat

Dark colored thoughts, that hide under aprons

Dirty floors that polish themselves with grime

So many loud sounding voices that won’t go away

Their colorful stains will mess and stay our home

She refuses to be clean 

She refuses to be clean

She refuses to be clean

Work but never endure the labor

Feel the germs writhe under your skin, like paper

The crinkle of plastic sealing up your lungs

But lemon colored dresses and lime colored shoes

Will make and be happy

They will pick out the potential that will never learn to grow

Throw it in the trash because there is no need 

For seeds in your lemonade

She refuses to be clean

She refuses to be clean

She refuses to be clean

Build up, build it up

Let the piles of crust build up

Disgust, it will never be cleaned

Wait to wake up, for all of it to be a dream

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