The Fall and Rise of the Music Department

Fortuna, California

Emily Smith

In the small town of Fortuna, California, a local high school is working at saving their beloved music department. After the previous teacher resigned, the department was left with no teacher for the 2017-2018 school year.

The current students enrolled in this program were devastated, but never gave up. They not only held fundraisers all summer long, including face painting at the 3rd of July Festival at Newburg  Park, but many meetings to raise awareness to their search for a new teacher.

Senior Amanda Smith has been involved in the music department for all four years of high school, “I’ve been involved since my freshman year when I took music tech, then glee choir sophomore year, for this school year and last my part in the music department is that I’m in Camarada singers” We discussed about how the department lost its teacher,  Amanda says that “She got better job opportunities,  but chose the one closer, so she could visit.”

Since the music meeting at the FUHS Board meeting that took place days before school starting, they have put in substitutes for each branch of music classes. “Currently Mr. Peterson is subbing for choir, Mr. Benbow is subbing for the marching band, and Mr. Helms is subbing for the Jazz Band class” Besides school classes, the band is involved in many things including the homecoming parade, game, and weekly friday night games. Duey stated that subs have been put in place for those events as well. “Mr. Peterson has stepped in to be in control overseeing that and the drum major is writing all the music.” He also confirmed that three applicants had applied for the position, and he had offered the job to one.

“Well, I am optimistic that we will have a music teacher in place during the first week of September.”

Fortuna High Changes Schedule

Fortuna, California

Pauline Willing

The schedule change is this year, in 2017. The students of the Fortuna High started school this year earlier. They decided that the first day of the semester started at the 14th August.

A lot of people have different opinions about the schedule change.

The teacher, Amy Conley thinks very positive about it because the finals, which are very important for the students, are before the winter break. That means that the students can relax in their vacation and have not to study in it.

Another positive aspect is that there is more time to prepare because of the early start  and there also is an early end. The students get graduedet on June 1st.

Amy Conley said, “School should be about preparing kids, this schedule prepares kids better.”

Also there are a few negative things. For example that the elementary school doesn’t change. Fortuna High was the only school that changed. So families which have children who go on different schools started different too.

Tia Graham, the student of the Fortuna High, said it was really negative for her. Her summer break was two weeks shorter. Most of students think the same.

But the decision was clear, 80% of the teachers wanted the schedule.

There’s an Officer on Campus?!

Fortuna, California

Isabella Vonglakhone

This year at Fortuna Union High School many things are changing especially with the new addition of an on campus School Resource Officer, Officer Frank. As Officer Frank states it, “I think it was a shock at first for the students seeing me walk around-but I haven’t had any major negative interactions with the kids, it’s all be positive.” According to Frank,  Fortuna High has been very inviting, and she loves it so far.

She currently holds her main office on Fortuna High’s campus and works with any campus that feeds into Fortuna High. She tells me that she does an array of jobs from going to social functions, helping out with clubs, arresting, giving a positive name to the police force, and serving as a mentor/guidance to those who need it. Fortuna Police Department and County Major Z’s vision for having a School Resource Officer on campus was to help make the schools a more welcoming place to learn by dealing with drugs, truancy, and violence issues.

“Officer Frank brings a positive light,” says Principal Duey.

Officer Frank has always wanted to be in law enforcement. At age twenty-five, she began the police academy after buying a house, a car, and getting settled. She takes after her father who is ex= law enforcement. She says that she loved working with children and thought about becoming a teacher. Becoming a School Resource Office here at Fortuna High ended up being the right fit for her to be able to do the two things that she loves. Fortuna High can’t wait to see the positive affects Officer Frank will have on our campus and the one’s in the Eel River Valley.

Fortuna High Teacher Travels to Oregon to Watch Solar Eclipse

Fortuna, California

By Paige Richardson

On August 21, nearly 12 million people watched the Solar Eclipse that stretched from the Northwest in Oregon to the Southeast in South Carolina using eclipse glasses or welding helmets to protect their eyes.

Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna from Vox News states that the eclipse was visible from all 48 states in the continental United States with a 70-mile-wide sliver of totality for 14 states. The last solar eclipse in the United States was 38 years ago, but since the last coast to coast eclipse it has been 99 years.

Amy Conley, a Fortuna High teacher said, “This was my first total solar eclipse, but it won't be my last. It was so cool. I've always enjoyed astronomy, and took every college course I could. A solar eclipse requires the sun, moon, and earth to line up with the moon directly between the earth and sun.” Conley traveled up to Oregon and watched the eclipse from Black Butte, Oregon; they drove onto a forest service road and watched the show from there.

FAFSA and Placement Tests Change

Fortuna, Ca

Alvretta Huffman

FAFSA starts October 1st, ends March 2nd and changes with placements tests for college. FAFSA is important for people who will attend college. Placement test are mandatory in some colleges in the state of California.

FAFSA is a program for students who live in the United States and would like to apply for financial aid. Placement test help students see what classes they need to take that suits them. Application dates for FAFSA now starts October 1st and end March 2nd. It’s first come, first serve for money, so applications need to go in before March 2nd if the students would like to be selected. If the applications are turned in after the 2nd, there is no guarantee that they will be funded in FAFSA or the amount, according to Coley Gaines from TRIO.

Seniors graduating in 2018 will no longer take the English Placement Test (EPT) or Entry Level Mathematics exam (ELM) and will instead have to rely on the Early Assessment Program test taken last spring or SAT scores to be placed in college-level classes. The placement test are for students who live in California, when they apply for college and need to know what classes they need to take.

Ms. Conley, an English teacher at Fortuna High, knows a lot about the FAFSA program and placement tests. “Fafsa gets students money for scholarships and grants you don't have to pay back.” She thinks it will help many students for future funding for college, and the longer a student waits they get less money when they apply.

An Earlier Schedule Leads to Missing Days for Fair for Some Students

Fortuna, CA

By Caitlin Garfield

The Humboldt County Fair is a very popular event that takes place in late August every year. The Fair Grounds are in Ferndale, California, and people from all over Northern California visit to see the interesting new attractions each year.

Members of local FFA and 4-H groups present animals and plants to judges and try to get awards. Most of these members are ages 19 and below, they attend school, which normally starts the week after the fair occurs. This year Fortuna Union High School started their school year the week before the County fair. Many members feel stressed about this and also have to miss school.

The advisors of the Fortuna FFA, Lindsey Kleiner and Hannah Lovfald, are both teachers at Fortuna High, they are busy at fair which lead to substitutes being hired by the school which costs the school money and creates a less efficient teaching environment.

When asked if she thought beginning school earlier was a good or bad thing, Kleiner stated, “I think it’s a cool idea to start early and have testing early too, but it does complicate things. Miss Lovfald and I have to stay at the fair to keep an eye on everyone’s animals while they are at school. People are also getting stressed about missing their zero period to come to our daily morning meetings.”

Mrs. Kleiner is very optimistic about this, and she is intrigued to see if the new schedule will improve the school’s outcome. After the week is over, the idea will have either been great or awful, and it is in the school’s hands to decide whether or not it should happen again next year.

JV Volleyball gets a new coach

Fortuna, California

By Hannah Driscoll

Mckenzie Emmons is a sophomore at Fortuna High School and is starting the year off playing JV Volleyball. Emmons says, “I’ve played Volleyball ever since the 7th grade, it has been one of my favorite sports and I always make a bunch of new friends doing it, also it keeps me very busy and in shape for the next sport.”

During her years of play Emmons realized volleyball takes a lot of teamwork and communication. Emmons play the position of setter and right side hitter, also in Volleyball you really have to keep an eye out of what’s going on she says.

In 2016, Patty Smith coach a total of 17 games for the JV Volleyball , this year they will be starting with a brand new coach. Emmons thinks they will do pretty well this year.

From Germany to Fortuna: FUHS’ Foreign Exchange Program

Fortuna, California
By Liana Hetticher

Senior foreign exchange students, from left, Miisa Maki and Pauline Willing. Not pictured Marta Majo-Dafouce

Fortuna Union High School has offered a Foreign Exchange Program for quite some time. “It’s been in existence since I worked here and attended in the 90’s,” says Fortuna High principal Mr. Clint Duey.

The advantages of this program is exposing students to new environments, cultures, and gives them a chance to learn new things through the students and staff at Fortuna High. The expenses are self-funded, meaning that each student has to come up with the money for a plane ticket into the country, but the program is sponsored by the Rotary Club.

Pauline Willing, from Germany, is one of our three foreign exchange students here at FUHS for the 2017-2018 school year. In Germany, Pauline’s school is known as a Realschule, it holds 10 grades and it has the same students in every class. Their schedules change day to day. Pauline came to this school to see another country and it’s culture. Although, she has been learning English since the 5th grade, moving here has helped her overcome the language barrier as she learns more of the language every day. Her favorite class at FUHS is the fitness and flexibility offered by Coach Lynch.

“I am really happy with my decision to come here. In this short time, I learned a lot and I’m without my family so it's all my own decision, which is really cool," explains Pauline when asked about her decision in coming to America.

Marta Majo-Dafauce

By Tanner Baum

Fortuna High Senior Marta Majo-Dafauce is a foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain. She is not yet a fluent speaker in English, but she wants to grow in her abilities. Marta just joined the program for the exchange students this year. She was able to become a foreign exchange student because of the Fortuna Rotary Club.

She became an exchange student for her parents; they want her to become a good English speaker. Marta comes from Madrid, Spain which is all the way across the Atlantic. She said that it is hotter in Madrid during the summer, but it also snows in the winter.

Marta’s school in Spain was a lot different than our local school. She said, “In Madrid our school work is a lot harder.” At her school, all the rules seem more strict. In her school they have a uniform to wear to school everyday, and they go to school from 9:00 to 5:00.