THE DUBLIN SHIELDUpcoming

Events:

10/18- Football @ Alhambra

10/18- Cross Country Meet Rough Rider Invitational

10/19- SAT

10/20-Dublin Wellness Fair/5k Run

10/17-Girls Tennis @ Las Lomas

10/22-Volleyball @ Acalanes

10/25: Football vs Acalanes

10/31-11/1: No School/ Staff Development

11/11: No School Veteran’s Day

11/25-11/29: Thanksgiving Break

Volume 4, Issue 1 8151 Village Parkway, Dublin CA 94568 Friday, October 18, 2013

Final Hours of a Perfect Homecoming WeekBy Karina Guru

What a wonderful way to end homecoming week. After a busy week of rallies, dress up days, lunch time events, and friday night under the lights, the student body at Dublin High all gathered for the popular homecoming dance on Saturday evening. This took place in the cafeteria at 7:30. Not only was there an amazing DJ, but also incredible decorations. Thanks to the leadership class, the night was well planned and coordinated! DHS leadership student Kendall

As the Gael Stadium filled with eager students and parents straight from the homecoming carnival, Mr. Sabranti called out to the stands the names of Dublin Highs amazing football players. This wasn’t just a normal football game, this was Dublin High’s Homecoming game. Sitting in the stands as students cheered and screamed chants, the anticipation was everywhere. Dublin High had a good start the first quarter. Defense forced a three and out on every drive Las Lomas had. Going into the second

By Rose Hanson

Morrissey said she “liked how the songs were easy to dance to.” Based on the crowd the DJ seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping the students entertained. With neon lights, photo booths, and professional pictures, there was so much to look forward to. Junior Daniel Greim said “ev-eryone looked amazing”, girls dressed in every color imaginable, and boys looking their very best, head to toe. With people crowd surfing, and others rocking out to

quarter, defense continued to play well. Although letting up two touchdowns entering the half. The score was now 0-14. As the players got off the field, the band and color guard took center stage. The nominees lined up in gorgeous dresses, accom-panied with proud fathers to walk them down the red carpet laid down across the turf. Finally it was the moment everyone was waiting for. Who would be crowned home-coming queen? As the girls lined up and were handed their boxes, the crowd grew silent. And then

there was one. A single red rose was held up in the air by Haleigh Hawkins. Everyone cheered as she was hugged by her fellow nominees. “Everyone looked so beautiful, it really brought our school togeth-er,” says junior Chandni Gazula. Now with the crowd re-ener-gized, it was time for the Dublin High Gaels to dominate. The of-fense was able to get their rhythm back and put some points on the board. “We were doing well on both

the variety of music, it was a nice way to finish such a chaotic week. Everything worked out, and from what the administration was doing, things ran smoothly. Music wasn’t the only main attraction, but the photo booth also drew many admirers. With kids piling in left and right, the photographer didn’t get a break! The pictures came out so well with boas, hats, and glasses students were waiting in line to take more! For freshman John Brecht his

first homecoming was “a different experience, getting breathalyzed was new!” It is definitely weird coming to the dance not knowing what to expect, but according to him he is excited for next year’s homecoming. From senior Abigail Sweeney, this night being her last, it was so special , “being able to see the class act like a family. We all saw how important this last year is”. Now starts the planning of next years homecoming!

ABOVE:Brittany Nickles, Ana Cruz, Braden Benzien, Elizabeth ChildCredit: Camila Huang

sides of the ball,” said defen-sive corner Maxwell Egbujor. “We could have Capitalized on what we were doing and fix our mistakes.” Luckily, Jabari Jef-ferson was able to score in the fourth quarter. The final score for this year’s homecoming game was 14-30. Even though Dublin High didn’t win, our spirit both on the field and in the stands were strong. And as the last whistle blew everyone in the stands stood, still proud to be a Gael.

Homecoming Game

ABOVE: Maxwell Egbujor blocking for the tackle Credit: Bidjan Aminian

TO THE RIGHT: Couple Danielle Moon and Chris Larsen Cheering on the team at the game.

TO THE RIGHT: Clark Jackman blocking in the defensive line

ABOVE: students enjoying the danceCredit: Camila Huang

Inside this Issue:

More Homecoming Coverage

The Governement Shut Down and You

The History of Halloween

Find us online for more pictures and stories on your

favorite event!

www.thedublinshield.com

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Facebook: thedublinshield

2 The Dublin Shield News2 The Dublin Shield Student Life

Every year at Dublin High School, once the senior class graduates, they must make decisions on their own, which may affect the rest of their lives. Once the seniors graduate, they are mainly given two options, which are either to go and find a job, or head to college. Even though they mainly just have two options, there are still an infi-nite amount of outcomes that may result from either decision. “I actually feel a bit prepared for college” explains Collin Wellman, a senior at Dublin High, “ I have already finished a lot of my college applications, have my standard-ized tests done, and already know what I want to major in.” Preparing for college is not an easy thing. Most students would want to apply to multiple colleges, and doingso, requires a lot of work, espe-cially with all of the other things the students are currently doing, such as extracurriculars, standard-ized tests, even school.

Goals Seniors Face After High SchoolBy Chris Zhao

“I don’t feel very prepared at all,” Winnie Liu, another senior at Dublin High explains, “College applications are just way too frus-trating, and I’ve barely even gotten started on any of them.” Winnie Liu is applying to seventeen differ-ent schools for college. After high school, students can do virtually anything. Students like Jon Ng, another senior at DHS go out and pursue their goals. “I want to go to art school and become an Illustrator,” Ng explains. Once high school is finished, students are given the freedom to pursue anything that they wish. “I’m not too set on what I’ll be doing, but I know it’ll be some kind of field in chemistry, I like chemis-try,” explains Wellman. High school is an opportunity to learn and find out what you possibly would want to do in your future, so, what do you want to do after high school?

Good bye, Senioritis - Hello, SuccessBy Shreya Mathur

Senior year - the last year of high school. The question for many seniors at Dublin High may be how they intend on spending it - with a strive to continue focusing and pursuing good grades, or by allowing senioritis to grab ahold of them and fall behind as they close their final chapter of high school. Senioritis can be described as that crippling “disease” that often strikes high school students. Lack of studying, dismissive attitude, and repeated absences are all symptoms of this “disease” that generally occur amongst high school seniors just ready to graduate and finish off senior year. This could be due to the fact that once senior year comes along, most required credits have already been fulfilled, and senior year is no longer that important. It is sometimes said that the only cure to senioritis is graduation, however, what can be said about the measures that can be taken to prevent oneself from catching this

“infectious virus”? Camila Huang, senior, said that she planned to stay clear of se-nioritis through means of “prevent-ing procrastination by finishing all of my work ahead,before the due date. By opting to finish assignments well ahead of due dates, and manage time wisely, it is possible to stay clear of catching an early case of senioritis; if students con-tinue to do this, the urge to slack and turn on that lazy mode will slowly vanish. Senior Vivian Li suggested that many can keep themselves and others from receiving senioritis by “motivating each other and maybe [just] count down and [say], if I can just get past that, then it’s good.” By motivating others, all those gears will stay in motion so that every person wants to continue trying to do their best, and know-ing that there is only a small amount of time till high school is over should encourage people to end their senior year strong. “I’m going to make sure I’m more organized and have every-thing put together so that I know how much I have left and what I have to do”, Li said. Although one can assume that because colleges really pay the most attention to sophomore and junior year, and will not care if seniors take a backseat during se-nior year, there are many aspects to this final year that colleges will take a look at during the review

process. All colleges require final grades for accepted students; schools want to make sure that potential students continue current schedules and maintain the level and personal success demon-strated in the application. Some schools will require a written explanation, if grades dip during senior year, that is placed on the student’s permanent record - no one wants to have to write one of those. College acceptances can even be revoked if significantly poor performance is noticed dur-ing senior year. “Senior year is the year to prove that you won’t slack off even when knowing that you’re about to leave high school already. It is a great opportunity to improve your grades”, Huang said. To all the seniors of Dublin High, and even future seniors, keep those grades up and continue to strive for success even though high school will soon come to a close. This may be the last chance to prove to all those colleges that they have indeed made the right decision when it comes to accep-tance - make that everlasting mark and show them what it means to be ready for success.

Teen Advisory Group at Dublin HighBy Grace Li

Credit: Grace Li

Looking for easy volunteer hours? The Dublin Library’s Teen Advisory Group is a great way to show leadership, demonstrate initiative, and fill up those volun-teering requirements as well. The Teen Advisory Group, or T.A.G. for short, holds a forty-five minute meeting every other Mon-day. Teens meet with the advisor, Mary Ayers, to discuss and plan events for people of all ages. Volunteers suggest a wide variety of possible activities, including col-lege essay workshops, SAT prep classes, art contests for teens,

and craft projects for children. Students from Cal High, Quarry Lane, and Dublin High input their ideas in a friendly and accepting environment. “The library’s a great place to get involved,” said Dublin High junior Alicia Tran, who suggested a movie night featuring animated films for children. Other students had similar ideas. Dhanush Patel, a junior from Cal High, said one motive for joining was “you can meet people from different schools.”

Another compelling factor was the ability to accomplish events without the typical restrictions of a high school club. Numerous times, Mrs. Ayers encouraged the group to express any thought or idea without worrying about fundrais-ing. The Friends of the Dublin Library is eager to fund projects done by the Dublin Library to ben-efit the community as a whole. The Teen Advisory Group is open to anyone who wants to join. Email MCAyers@aclibrary.org for more information.

I wonder where this will take me...

Feeling Curious?

3 The Dublin Shield

Class Rivalries: Strong All Year LongBy Erin Bradley

Falling for Fall Being a high school student, as you know is not an easy task. Being a student is a full time job. Going to class for 7 hours, having homework, participating in extra-curricular activities and still trying to manage a social life. The perks of being a high school student are the things that we have been wait-ing for since we were in middle school. Homecoming, Rallies, Football Games, even Club Fairs. Despite this we have some rivalry between the 4 classes. Every year it’s the freshmen vs. sophomores and the juniors vs. the top-dog senior class. Senior, Rose-Marie Ramirez says that she really likes class competitions because it makes her push more to beat the other classes, but sometimes feel like it could get out of hand. There is one week every year, where the classes go head to head to become winners. Where they decorate designated areas based on their chosen theme,in which they creating fun filled skits for an evening rally, and have dress up days for class points: Homecoming Week. This years theme is Disney-land Lands, each class choose one land to represent their class. Every year, everyone comes to-gether as a class to try to win that number one title for Homecoming. “It’s a way to get excited and pumped about the class competi-tion. Because everyone wants to win,” says senior Hannah Bara-kzoy.

Homecoming isn’t the only time of the year when there is rivalry in DHS. Occasionally, there are rallies. This is the time for them just to come together as a school and interact with one another. When classes get to show their spirit and get away from school for a little bit. Junior, Jackie Lloyd says that she likes to stay connected with everyone to make sure that they’re all aware of the activities happening throughout the week, especially if there is a rally. At the end of each rally, there is a class yell, The Victory Chant. This is what the classes get the

ABOVE: In the photo above, someone carves a pumpkin as one of their fall traditions. Credit: Moretti/Viant / gettyimages.com

Imagine taking a nice walk out-side watching the leaves change color and the crisp air buzzing with excitement as you are thinking about homecoming, Halloween, and Thanksgiving break. As of September 21st, that feel-ing meant that fall had arrived. This year, the fall season has many new and exciting things to look forward to. Not only do trends and traditions change every fall season, but our surroundings do as well. The leaves are more vibrant, the weather is cooler, and even the foods we eat are altered by the change in season. At Dublin High School, it is always important that we take note of the opinions of our fellow students and faculty. For many students, fall is their favorite season of the year. Zach Camacho, a senior here at Dublin High, said that he likes wearing “comfortable clothing” during the fall season. Caitlin Carrion, a junior at DHS, said the same. She mentioned cardigans—popular pieces of clothing to wear during the fall to keep warm and still look your best. Aside from the change in clothes, there are also changes in traditions and in the environ-ment. Carrion said that one of the

By Vivien Lithings she was most excited about this year were the fall foods. “Warm cinnabons, hot choco-late, and apple cider”, she stated when talking about her favorite things to enjoy during the fall. At this time of the year, Carrion changes the candles around her house to ones that smell more like cinnamon, to set the mood for fall. Camacho also transitions into the season; he says that he knows it’s fall when “the Starbucks Fall menu comes out”. Not only do students get excited for fall, but the teach-ers do too. Ms. Katie Hermens, a science teacher here at Dublin High, gets especially excited for fall as well. “Pumpkin flavored items”, she declares when she ponders what she considers some of fall’s best attributes. Ms. Hermens knows it’s fall when she gets to look forward to more breaks from to school to spend time with her family. Much like Carrion, Ms. Hermens puts new fall-seasoned type of decora-tions around her house during this time of the year. She also changes what she wears; she knows the seasons have shifted when, “I have to wear capris pants for run-ning instead of shorts”.

Government Shutdown: Does it Matter?By Grace Li

When the government shutdown was first taking place, the whole world had a big laugh. Then they stopped. Wait, the government’s being serious? Social media sites exploded. Yes, the government is being seri-ous. And so should we be, right? The most important question, initially, seemed to be “Does this affect me?” According to Junior Aleia Villan-ueva, “No, not at all.” “I thought it would mean schools would be down, everything public-- libraries, police, fire stations,” said senior Camila Huang. Other Dublin High students had similar responses. The government shutdown, in a very vague, short summary, basically means that all “non-es-

sential” portions of the govern-ment will stop receiving funding. No, the president is still being paid a whopping 400,000 dollar salary. That’s mandatory. So then what is “non-essential”? National parks (ironically, Yosemite’s 123rd anniversary was the first day of the govern-ment shutdown). Museums. Small businesses. Food stamps. Free lunches for financially challenged families. Aside from a field trip or two, nothing really important was hurt, right? Wrong. About 800,000 govern-ment employees stopped getting their paychecks when the govern-ment decided to close their doors. Thankfully, the House decided that these workers be recompen-sated for their lost pay as soon as the government shutdown ends.

However, for the economically disadvantaged that are relying on government funds to stay afloat, this still means trouble. But most of us aren’t economi-cally challenged. If you’re reading this paper, most likely you’re from the Dublin area, a city a bit better off than many. So should we still care? Senior Johnathan Stroh says, “Yes, because it [the govern-ment shutdown] put a bunch of people out of work.” Not only that, but Veteran’s affairs are being hindered as well. Veterans aren’t able to file any disability claims at the moment, with the Veteran’s Affairs offices closed. Sort of like a slap to the face for the ones who have defended our country, some people say. The rest of the world is noticing too. Recently, President Obama cancelled a trip to an Asian Sum-mit, leaving the spotlight for China to take. Other countries have seen this as a sign of a weakening American government at disarray. Currently, the Republicans are advocating for a slow, eventual re-opening of the government, while the Democrats are saying “all or nothing.” Our country is slowly reaching its debt ceiling. A three to four week shutdown estimates at about $55 billion. Whether or not Dublin High students should care about this issue, is up to you.

LEFT: Employees out of work protest the government shut-down.Credit: Cool Revolution

NFL and DHS By Johnathon Stroh

With the start of a new school year at DHS. it also marks the beginning of the start to the 2013 NFL season. Students are excited to watch the 49ers and Raiders play this year and are cheering them on to victory. “I like the 49ers because I like San Francisco,” said Jamie Burke. “I really think it could go either way with the way they have been playing so far.” The 4pers are currently 2-2-0 this season. “I normally don’t go to watch them play.” With school and homework most people can’t find time to make the trip to watch their favorite teams home games. Greg Morgan is a student en-rolled at Valley High School who

ABOVE: Seniors pose after performing at the homecoming rally. Credit: Bidjan Aminian

most excited for, because they can come down from the stands and show how loud they really are. Senior, Kalim Ahari, thinks that class rivalries are fun and gives everyone a chance to show love for their class. Class rivalries aren’t a bad thing just because we’re going against each other. Sometimes, it can ac-tually bring out the best in people, and maybe the worst. But in the end, we’re all a class and as a whole, we’re Dublin High. All in all, it’s just a little friendly competition, and at the end of the day, we’re all still a wonderful school.

comes to DHS for ROP classes. “I dont really watch football but i do like the Raiders,” said Morgan. “The Raiders were the first team i watched, so I just stuck with them as my favorite.” They are currently 2-3-0 this season and are trying to make a comeback. “My friends are all 49ers fans so it’s always awkward being the on Raiders fan when we get together to watch games,” Morgan says. Greg has football parties at his house whenever the Raiders and 49ers play each other. It doesnt matter what team is your favorite, when you watch them play you are cheering for vic-tory and support them no matter how many people are doing the same for the other team.

ABOVE: Dublin football team. Credit: Bidjan Aminian

4 The Dublin Shield Homecoming

Who’s the Fairest of them all?By: Shelby Richmond

Voting for the Homecoming court is one of the most excit-ing parts of Homecoming week. Students get to choose a few of their peers to be nominated to be-come a Prince, Princess, King, or Queen. The nominees are chosen by students specifically writing someone’s name. Each nominee is then voted on to determine the winning boy and girl in each class, but does this process accurately measure who should win? “Always tries to vote for the underdog” because “the most pop-ular person always wins” says Ju-nior Journie Harmelink. Generally, the winners are involved in many extracurricular activities such as clubs and sports. Therefore, those who are active will obviously be

Homecoming King and Queen NomineesBy: Chris Zhao Homecoming is an event celebrated at Dublin High every year. A specific event we do at Dublin is the voting and nomina-tions for the homecoming king, queen, princes and princesses. This year, at Dublin High, the nominees for the king are Jor-dan Garcia, Alex Perea, Andrew Totaro, Zac Maloney, and Chris Zhao. The nominees for queen are Taylor Le, Caitlin Murray, Danicca Kettle, Nani Edmon-son, and Alexis Anderson. The homecoming king is announced during the homecoming rally, which takes place Wednesday, October 9th, and the queen is announced on Friday, October 10th, during the football game. “I really want to see an under-dog win, not just someone who you would expect to win, not someone super popular or any-thing,” explains Garrett Garcia, senior at Dublin High. The winner of king and queen can be anyone, but what it re-ally comes down to the people. People are eligible to vote who they want to become king, queen, princes, and princesses a day before the rally, Tuesday,

Float ProductionBy: Malik Peay

Class rivalries at Dublin High School are battled out through creativity and dedication that then goes into the floats. These floats them represent each graduating class’ theme and are being judged critically by selected teachers who leave their bias views and judge the most creative, organized, and accurate float on Oct, 11 2013. (Seniors: Fantasyland, Juniors: Tomorrowland, Sophomores: Adventureland, Freshmen: Toon-town.) According to tenacious junior, Lucky Sharma, He was involved in the float production to make sure class 15’ gets their float as best as it can be and he has his crosshairs on his rival upper class the seniors, “Seniors watch out!” Sharma claims. Students have some big decision making when judging the competition because the Seniors are graduating and the incoming freshmen are really trying to take

the winners. “Whoever has already won has an advantage over other nominees” Julia Zavala states. Al-though there are people who have been nominated multiple times, there are also winners who have only been nominated once. Simply letting friends know that you want to be nominated goes a long way in winning the crown. “Whoever has already won has an advantage over other nominees” Julia Zavala states. Al-though there are people who have been nominated multiple times, there are also winners who have only been nominated once. Simply letting friends know that you want to be nominated goes a long way in winning the crown.

over! Obviously, Class rivalries are being emitted through the gaunt-lets during homecoming week. “Fun way to get to know your classmates and allows you to be productive.” Jake Minton, Junior at DHS, wants to be involved by participating in vigorous painting and structure production by being a part of float production. Well, Judging is approaching so take your paintbrushes out and ready, set, Paint...your way to the top to allow your float to be colorful, vibrant, and creative by implementing every piece that rep-resents your class’ theme. “My older sister does float and convinced me to do float also, and I want to be involved more but our float isn’t up to par.” Maya Georgallis exclaims, Freshmen at DHS. She is a competitive fresh-men that is being involved in the class rivalries which shows that she has Chutzpah. “Because I Like being involved and also I love

October 8th. “I have no clue about who the king and queen may turn out to be, but I’m excited to find out!” explains Jon Ng, senior at Dublin High. Homecoming nominations and the rally are only just one of the

Dress It UpBy Shreya Mathur

Students at Dublin High School rallied up their school spirit as they prepared for the homecoming dance by dressing up for the vari-ous dress up days all throughout homecoming week, October 7 to October 11. Unbelievable amounts of spirit swept through the Dublin High campus as homecoming week brought about exciting dress up days for each day of the week. Monday brought about superhero day, as many students were able to portray their favorite super-heroes and and express their own power; Patriotic day came about on Tuesday as students expressed national pride in red, white and blue; Wednesday brought about pink day, Thursday was homecoming shirt day, and Friday was Gael force day. In terms of preparation for homecoming, sophomore Anvita Valluru described that by hold-ing dress up days, students are able to get into the school spirit, and build up that excitement and energy that leads up to the home-coming dance or any other special event. Senior Vivian Li described the excitement found in dress up day as “wearing something that’s dif-ferent than what you usually wear, and having everyone wear the same thing.” This allows students to feel

painting, but the Seniors always win because they’re graduating.” Quin Bennett said a Junior at DHS. So you have it here! DHS staff and students have some big decision making when judging the competition because the Seniors are graduating “Fun way to get to know your classmates and allows you to be productive.” Jake Min-ton, Junior at DHS, wants to be in-volved by participating in vigorous painting and structure production by being a part of float production. Well, Judging is approaching so take your paintbrushes out and ready, set, Paint...your way to the top to allow your float to be colorful, vibrant, and creative by implementing every piece that rep-resents your class’ theme.

BELOW: Junior class getting spririted while building the float. Credit: Kaylee Childers

excited that there is a day in the week where they can go out of the box, and come up with amazing outfits to represent each of the days, so it was no surprise that dress up day rallied up so much excitement. Some students will even attempt to go to greater extents in order to prepare a fan-tastic outfit for dress up day. “Today is superhero day, and I went out and bought a superhero shirt - I try to do every single one that I can” Li said, as she de-scribed the outfit she had decided to put together for superhero day. “I love dress up days!” Well, since students enjoy the fact that they are able dress up once in a while, should there be more of them? Absolutely - students, such as Li, said that they loved dress up days and truly wished that they were held more often. Li had also described that she wished dress up day would occur at least once a week, while Valluru said that she would definitely prefer Dublin High to dedicate more days to dressing up. “I would prefer the school to hold more dress up days, because they help raise the school spirit and it is very interesting seeing other people’s creative ways of dressing up” Valluru said. One thing is certain - Dublin High will never be short of school spirit; go Gaels!

amazing things that take place during the homecoming week at Dublin High. Homecoming week also offers a variety of other events that make it so much more amazing!

LEFT: Jordan Garcia taking out the red rose from his box and win-ning home-coming king. Credit: Bijan Aminian

ABOVE: Students on superhero dress up day Credit: Shreya Mathur

ABOVE: Freshmen Princess nominees open their boxes.Credit: Bidjan Aminian

5 The Dublin ShieldHomecoming

Now you maybe asking what is the S.A.T? “It is a test that provides us opportunities for college”. Ac-cording to Sean Lucas,Junior at Dublin High. The S.A.T means Scholastic Aptitude Test like most students, Lucas says he is going into the test feeling nervous and anxious. To get over this feeling, Lucas says that “Practicing and using the book they give you really helps with the pre-test jitters. “This test is my only way to get into a decent college.” Says Michon Walker a Junior at Dublin High Beside getting into college, what else does this test provide for the students? Walker stated “This gives us students an advantage on how college test and exams are going to be like.” The practice S.A.T will take place on October 19 and well be held in

The S.A.T. and You

By Charles Coaxum

different classes. “He wants more of his friends to sign up for the test so they can get an advantage as well,” said Lucas the S.A.T is mainly focus on the west coast and down south while the A.C.T is focus on east coast colleges. The S.A.T math portion is mainly made up of algebra and geometry. Reading and compre-hension seems to be the main concern of students here at Dublin High. Colleges well even look past certain grades during your high school years if your S.A.T scores are high. “I make my child sign up every year for the practice S.A.T ,we understand at home that this could make or break your chances of getting into colleges,” said one parent.

ABOVE: Guide for the S.A.T CREDIT: Charles Coaxum

What a Beautiful Scene!

Homecoming week would be incomplete without the decorated areas. Last Thursday, Students arrived school early in the morning with balloons, cardboards, mark-ers, tapes, and a lot of school spirit to set up their areas. “I had to wake up at 5 in the morning but I’m glad everything worked out!” exclaims junior stu-dent Alicia Tran. By the time school started, the areas were all done and beautifully made! Each class had their own areas decorated with their own themes. The Freshmen’s area was in front of the Old gym, the Sopho-

mores had their area in front of the little theater, the Juniors had theirs outside the Student Union and last but definitely not least, the Seniors had theirs between the two big trees. “It has been a great week! I loved this year’s school spirit, ev-eryone is just so into the activities and trying to participate as much as they can. This is awesome!” quotes Olivia McKay. The freshmen class’ decoration area had little characters drawn on cardboards placed in front of the old gym, while the sopho-mores made an arc that would

By Camila Huang

ABOVE: The first place “Tomorrowland”, by the Junior class Credit: Camila Huang

Games, food booths, and inflatables. These are the types of features that Dublin offers at their annual homecoming carnival. Every Friday of homecoming week, our city hosts a carnival for not only all our students, but their families and the community. This year, it took place on October 11th by the DHS baseball fields. It is a great way to spend time with friends before the big game but mostly, it is a fun way to raise money for all the clubs that we have here at Dublin High. We had foods like baked goods and popcorn. We also had games like Dunk It and Spin Art Machine, and inflatables like Screamer Slide and Defender Dome. A few days before the carnival, our mayor Tim Sbranti held a meeting with all of our clubs and classes at our school. Here, he held a random drawing for each

Homecoming Carnival

ABOVE: Homecoming King Jordan Garcia, Tatiana Bouri, Jack Nealon sell food at their booth to raise money for their organization as Ana Cruz sips among the crowd. Credit: Viven Li

By Vivien Li

food and/or game booth. Once ev-eryone knew what they were sell-ing or advertising, the proceeds raised in the carnival would all go to each club for their own specific causes, whether it’d be donating to a charity or helping fund a club event.Angie Wang, a senior at Dublin High and the president of Interact Club, said that her club raised over $290 in profit. “I really enjoyed the wide variety of food and dedication all the clubs put in to make the event a success,” she said. One of the best parts of the carnival was not making money, but seeing where that money goes. Interact Club took the money they made from selling Chinese food and churros to purchase solar cookers for refu-gees in Afghanistan. For the years to come, the only thing Wang would change would be to have more people selling drinks.

Matthew Harris, another senior at our school, is the president of Key Club. They raised almost $200, and their primary goal this year is, “to raise more money for Pediatric Trauma Prevention (PTP) and Project Eliminate.” This aims to end materials and neona-tal tetanus around the world. They sold L&L Hawaiian BBQ in order to be able to do this, and it was definitely a huge success. “For the future, I would recom-mend getting more booths for the every-growing number of clubs here at DHS,” Harris said when mentioning what to make even better next year. He tells us that Dublin High is becoming more spirited and involved every year, and this is essentially what really makes our carnival such a nice annual event. As a senior, Harris even con-cluded with, “I’m glad I got to wit-ness this as my last carnival.”

allow people to walk through it and take pictures! The Juniors did a great job decorating their area with some of toy story’s characters drawn on cardboards that would allow students to position their heads in the hole and snap a pic-ture. Seniors decorated their area with their fantastic fantasyland theme using balloons and many disney princesses placed around the two trees. “I think the juniors had the best skit but the seniors definitely had the best decoration area,” says Mr. Parsons.

Dancing, cheering, and having the best class spirit are all parts of Homecoming week, but before we can get to the celebrations of Homecoming, there’s a lot of preparation that goes into every-thing, especially the class skits. “There needs to be a lot of people and ideas, we need to choreograph the dances with the music, the DJ. and we need par-ents to help with costumes,” says junior Karina Gurusiddaiah. The class skits are always a fun thing to watch because each class makes fun of the other classes and everyone just lets loose with craziness. This year the Home-coming theme is revolved around Disney (Seniors: Fantasyland, Juniors: Tomorrowland, Sopho-mores: Adventureland, Freshman: ToonTown) and you can be sure to expect some weird skits. “My favorite part of this year’s

skit is the lightsaber battle,” says junior, Calvin Loebrich. Most students, except freshmen, have been in the skits before and they came back because of the great experiences they had. ”I’ve been doing the skits since freshman year. It brings class unity every year,” Senior Kendra Clingerman tells us. Knowing how hard students work to put these skits together is awesome because it shows how much leadership students have to create a script and dance all on their own. What you may not know is even though there are teacher advisors for each class, the students are the main ones making the decisions about the practices and the performance. The dancing, practices, and the hard work all show how much spirit each class has. Make your class the best at Dublin High!

Pumping Up Homecoming Spirit with SkitsBy Paraskevi Constantinides

6 The Dublin Shield

Free candy? Crazy costumes? Cold weather? Pumpkin patches? Mazes? That would be the sound of a new month. With fall starting off to chilly weather and chaos with homecoming, there are so many opportunities to explore new activities within around the city. Having summer finally end, students are always wondering what to do. If you’re willing to drive, it’s never too early to visit the Pumpkin Patch! Mazes, candy, carnival games and rides, what isn’t there to look forward to? One close by is Moore’s Pumpkin Patch. It’s a perfect place to bring friends or family, going on carnival games or hay rides. Towards the end of the month comes Halloween, the holiday that’s meant for dressing up and eating candy. Don’t forget to wear your costumes to school, but be sure they are appropriate. To end the month on a good note, visit Great America’s show for their Halloween Haunt, students in the past have had such an amazing night. Junior Isabel Bomfim said “It was an amazing night, it was even more special to go with my friends”. Throughout the month of October don’t forget about the football games. It’s a great way to show spirit, and there is nothing better than support-ing Dublin High. If that doesn’t appeal

October Events

Trick or Treat, It’s Almost Halloween!

Halloween: Then And Now

Trick or Treat! It’s that special time of the year once again, and no, it’s not Christ-mas. It’s Halloween! The one day a year where everyone can go all out and get into character, literally. The one night kids look forward to because it’s the one time they have an excuse to eat all the candy they can fit in their belly. But for high schoolers, it’s not just the candy or costumes anymore. Teenagers nowadays love to go Trick or Treating in groups with their friends and just walk around town until they can’t walk any-more. Senior, Faith Ablao, says that she loves to go to Dublin Ranch because there are some houses that give out full size candies. Although Halloween is mainly for kids, people at DHS have more interesting costumes now, compared to when they were little because of the new shows and movies that come out. Halloween also gives people the chance to express themselves and not being judged based off of their look. Senior Jalen Lockett says that

to you, enter in a 5k Halloween run/ walk, it’s a perfect way to start off the holiday weekend, a popular run is the Pleasanton Rotary Spirit 5k! Not only do students celebrate Halloween, but our own Dublin High teacher, Mrs. McGinley says her children “already had their costumes picked,and are going to take them trick-or-treating”. Assistant Principal, Kara Holthe has quite a busy month coming up! ‘’Supporting a golf tourna-

ment in my husbands name, Peter Holthe, to raise money for cancer awareness, with 150 people attend-ing. And then a Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre which also raises money for individu-als with disabilities,’’ Ms. Holthe says. Seems that everyone is pretty busy for the rest of the month, so make sure to stay safe and have a fabulous beginning to fall!

By Karina Gurusiddaiah

“Trick or Treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!” Halloween is near and people are getting ready for the best time of the year. Free candy, Jack O’lanterns, Scary and funny cos-tumes, and even parties. Hallow-een is the only time you get your teeth to sink into delicious candy of all kind. People will be dressing up in scary and funny costumes as they will get their whole bucket filled with delicious candy. People invite families and friends over to just hang out on Halloween night. For some others, they stay home and make haunted houses in the front of their house, like Nathan Fisher, a junior. “I’m setting up a Haunted House in front of my house,” Fisher said. Not everyone celebrates Hallow-een, because of maybe religious reasons or they don’t like Hal-loween in general, so instead they stay at home like Joonie Jong. “I’m gonna have an anti-Hallow-een,” Jong, a Junior, said. “I don’t celebrate Halloween.” The most interesting things to do on Halloween is the parties. Many people will have a party during Halloween night and its a great

By Naveed Shaikh

By Erin Bradley

By Naveed Shaikh

his favorite costume of all time was Batman, because that was his favorite superhero as a kid With kids these days, they only go trick or treating, and then go home to bask in their lump some of candy in their bag. That isn’t how the students at DHS do things on Halloween Night. De-pending on if it is a school night or not, there are certain events that go on throughout Dublin. Whether it be a Haunted House, or even a party. Even though Dublin is kind of a small town, there is always something happening. “My plans for halloween don’t break my night. As long as I’m with my friends, I’m okay with anything,” Junior, Caitlin Carrion says. Not everyone goes out for halloween, nor does going out re-ally affect their Halloween. Not everyone celebrates the holidays the same. Some go all out, and some just treat it as an average day. Halloween can be scary, sweet, boring, or even superstitial. You may never know what the spirits have in store for you.

ABOVE: Pumpkin patch. Credit: churl on Flickr

Trick or treating, costume par-ties, and visiting haunted houses. Dressing up for Halloween brings kids dreams to life. Halloween is also known as All Hallows Eve-ning, but also called All Hallows’ Eve. Halloween is celebrated on the night of October 31st. The origin of Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic Festival called Samhain, pronounced as ‘Sah’win’. The festival was cel-ebrated at the end of the harvest season and was the time to stock up on supplies and prepare for the cold winter. In the Gaelic culture, the Gaels believed that the liv-ing and the dead would overlap and the deceased would start chaos and destruction. Most of the Gaelic festivals involved bonfires to attract insects which leaded to attracting bats in the area. “I don’t believe in all that creepy stuff, but I do think it’s a very fun time to go to strangers houses, dress like you never would in public, and ask for questionable candy,” Kayla Crandell, a Junior,

way to meet people and chill out while you have fun. Some haven’t decide whether they want to go to a party or not, like Junior Adam Agostino. “Might go to a Halloween party, not sure,” Agostino said. As Halloween gets near, young-er kids want to go out with their older siblings. Peter Clark, junior, wants to take his siblings out for Halloween. “I’m taking my siblings for trick-or-treating,” Clark said. Halloween comes once a year and already people have deci-sions to make of what they are going to be doing. So, what will you be doing for Halloween? Have you decided yet? Theres a lot of other things you could do like go to the Halloween Haunt in Great America, which will return on September 27, 2013. You could also tell scary stories around a campfire in the middle of a haunted forest. You can do anything on Halloween night because there are endless options you can make. Go eat candy, or scare people at your own Haunted House, but try to do something on Halloween and just have fun!

explains her reason about Hal-loween. Costumes were worn on the night and were imitations of the evil spirits of the dead. The cos-tumes the Gaels wore then are the same as they are now. “Halloween costumes haven’t changed much,” Aaron Lin, a Freshmen, said. Trick-or-treating is where kids go from house to house in their costumes and asking for treats from the homeowners by asking “Trick-or-treat?” The “trick” part of the Trick-or-treating is a threat to play a trick on the homeowners property. Trick-or-treating is one of the main tradition of Halloween. “I think the purpose of trick-or-treating is to get candy. The candy symbolizes how we can respect the dead by giving something back.” Ganchana Tontiwanttanan, a Senior, and Christian Bariuan, a Junior, explains what they think the purpose of trick-or-treating is about.

“I think trick-or-treating has evolved for an older crowd now. All of my friends, including myself, still trick-or-treat and we’re all 17.” Brayden Benzien, a Senior, says. Halloween has spread all over the world, not just the U.S. but even United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada have gotten the influ-ence from American culture. In some states in the U.S. like Iowa and Massachusetts know trick-or-treating as “Beggars Night”. “Beggars Night” referring to how children go from door to door beg-ging for treats on Halloween night. The pumpkins with the mon-strous carved face are know as jack-o-lanterns. The jack-o-lan-terns were originally used to scare off the evil spirits. One person who thinks that the jack-o-lanterns are creepy is Peter Shin, a Junior. “Looks like an evil monster, in-timidating scary face it makes with the pumpkin head. It looks creepy because it looks like it will kill you,” Shin says.

ABOVE: A skeleton hanging on a bicycle to scare off evil spirits. Credit: Naveed Shaikh

ABOVE: A house decorated with scary graves and gravestones to show the spirit of Halloween. Credit: Naveed Shaikh

7 The Dublin ShieldOpinion

Broaden Your Vocabulary: Why It’s Dumb to Say GayBy Hannah Balboni “That’s so gay.” If you use this as an insult, then you are saying something that has the potential to deeply hurt people, whether that is your intention or not. You are implicitly describing an entire group of human beings. There’s a difference between ac-ceptance and tolerance. To most, there’s nothing more homophobic than the saying, “that’s so gay.“ Research shows that homosex-ual students who heard the phrase frequently were more likely to feel isolated and experience poor appetite, headaches and stress. Some were even so stressed, that over time, they were put into a deep depression. That party over the weekend wasn’t gay, your friend’s new hair

Coal. Under pressure it can become a diamond, but does this concept apply to students? At Dublin High School many of the students here are taking honors and advanced placement classes, but how does one juggle school, extracurricular activities, and a social life? “It definitely has challenged me as a student,” says junior Ryan Elazegui. “I feel like there is pressure to do well in school as well as athletics, there are only so many hours in a day.” Ryan brings up a good point; however there are kids who are staying up way into the early hours of the next day to finish the homework given.

“I got to bed at around 2:30 in the morning, then wake up at 6 to get ready for school,” says an anonymous source. After inter-viewing many other students we found a trend. Almost all of the students taking these honors and AP classes were getting less than the recommended eight hours of sleep. “I really recommend taking the honors classes,” suggested Mercedes Latu. “Just be ready to study and prepare for the work.” Wiser words have never yet been said. But the question still rings here at Dublin high, are these classes more negative than positive? Sure, classes that

By Rose HansonKids under Stress Driving Safety Tips

By Menisha Sohal There are many dangers out in the world, but often you cannot prevent them from happening. However, one thing you can do is to be cautious and not do any-thing to put yourself in dangerous situations. Car accidents are one of the leading rates for deaths in America. Driving needs to be take more seriously. Especially for teens. Not even a full month of school has passed and dublin high has had its fair share of accidents in the parking lot, before school, after school, and at lunch time. Here is a couple tips to help keep the road safe and the students out of harms way:

1. Do not text and drive: This is the main reason for the major-ity of car accidents. Keep your phone on silent and don’t even try to check your messages. It can wait. There is nothing that is so important that you need to check your phone on the spot. Youre not only putting yourself in danger, but your passengers and anyone else on the road.

2. Passengers should not distract the driver: If you’re driving with passengers that tend to be loud and very interactive with you, tell them to calm down and not be a distraction. If you take your eyes off the road for a split second to talk to them you can get into a serious accident. Before you get in the car make sure your passenger understands that something they do can have a huge effect on your driving. “I got into an accident because I looked over at my passenger who was goofing off and I ended up rear ending another student,” Senior Hannah Lundberg says.

3. Follow all the rules and regulations for driving: This should be the easiest and most basic tip of all, follow the rules. Dont speed and make risky ma-neuvers. There is a reason that laws are enforced, for safety and to ensure that everyone is being responsible. when you had your permit you made sure to follow every rule so that when you took the driving test you’d be use to following the rules. Dont let good habits like that go to waste.

4. Don’t fidget with the gadgets in the car: You may be tempted to turn on the heater or mess with the radio but doing that means your not paying attention to the road. if you have a pas-senger in the car have them do all that for you. And if you don’t, before you drive set everything in the car so that while driving you don’t need to change settings.

5. Don’t drink and drive: Considering the fact that no student is 21, drinking shouldn’t even be a problem. But for the people that do drink regardless of the law, don’t drive. Have a DD(Designated Driver) if you know you will be drinking. Not only is it highly illegal but beyond dangerous and just plain dumb. Drinking and driving is just asking to get into an accident. And if you end up killing someone your life is basically over. Cherish your youth and don’t put the bright future you have in risk over something so avoidable. “Not only does getting into an accident have a financial and emotional effect on you but I got into so much trouble with my parents and I now have to pay about $700 to fix the damaged,” Lundberg says.

challenge students is great. But with the constant lack of sleep and pressure to get a 4.0 GPA could we be destroying our students future? Think about it Dublin High, I know I will. To those taking these classes, if you are feeling stressed don’t be afraid to ask for help. Dublin High offers many tutoring resources so you have many options to choose from. Whether your schedule is packed with one of the many more difficult classes offered here at Dublin high or thinking about signing up for one next year, keep your head high and pencils poised and don’t forget to shine like the diamond you are.

ABOVE: Two girls setting a bad example on what no to do while driving Credit: Menisha Sohal

ABOVE: Students early in the morning finishing homework in the library. Credit: Rose Hanson

By Tristan Whitley Do you think you’re good at managing your time? Some students answer they are because they maintain good grades and have a job. Having a job takes a lot of responsibility especially while attending school. So why do some people at school have jobs? According to Austin Sergi, Var-sity Football Player, Senior, and employee at Buffalo Wild Wings. “It’s stressful because I have school and football Monday through Friday. Then I work on the weekends all day so I don’t ever have time to relax, and when I do I

am doing homework,” says Sergi. Although the stress may build up on Austin he is working to save money for after graduation, and to pay for his motorcycle. “Sometimes having a job is pretty hard, but other times it can be easy,” says Justin Victoria, a senior at DHS works his spare time at Safeway. He works to have money and save up. Jake Bye, a DHS senior, is currently working at the All The Perks, a coffee shop in Dublin. According to Jake working isn’t that difficult, if you’re good with

Students with jobsmanagement. He says it’s like playing a sport. “I work because I enjoy having money and spending it,” says Jake. It seems like the common thing between all three DHS students’, is that they all do it just for the money. Taking on a job is a lot of responsibility. Jake Bye missed the football game on October 4th, who we all was the game against Dougherty Valley. Though he wishes he could have be there to watch Dublin, and hang out with friends, he prefers the paycheck.

ABOVE: The main reason students have jobs is to fill their pockets with money. Credit: Tristan Whitley

cut is not so gay, your homework assignment is not so gay. That party, his haircut, your homework are not happy nor homosexual. Using the phrase “that’s so gay” effects the gay kid in the room or the kid with homosexual family members and friends, it puts a negative connotation on the gay community. It puts a negative connotation on someones being, being gay is not a good enough reason to feel like your life is not worth living. I get it, we’re teenagers; it’s like diarrhea of the mouth, we have no filter but we really must learn the impact of our voices. So next time I only hope that you think before you speak.

8 The Dublin Shield Friday, October 18, 2013

ELITE OFSAN RAMON/ FALL 2013 /

TEST DATEINFORMATION

HOW TO REGISTER

WINTER BOOT CAMP

October 5

November 2

December 7

October 16 or 19

Reasoning / Subjects

PSAT

Enrollment in our program is on a first-come, first-served basis. Register early to avoid the late rush and to secure a place in the appropriate class. Each student must take a freediagnostic test and meet with a director before being placed in the appropriate class.

The Winter Boot Camp will meet for 8 days in 2 weeks. Each day students takea full-length practice exam and attend 4.5 hours of test review and lectures in Critical Reading, Math, and Writing.

Winter Break (2 weeks + 2 weekends)Dec. 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31Jan. 2, 3, 11, 18

9:00 AM — 6:00 PM

3160 CROW CANYON ROAD, SUITE 190

SAN RAMON, CA 94583

+925 830 9200

*A $50 non-refundable registration fee is charged for first-time students.

Tuition:$1400 / 2 weeks

*Register and pay in full by 12/7 for $100 discount

Homecoming Winners

FreshmenPrince MaxUretaPrincess MadelineNobida

sophomoresPrince DJSweeneyPrincess JackieArmas

JuniorsPrince SobhonKhairyPrincess KarinaGuru

seniorsKing JordanGarciaQueen HaleighHawkins

The Dublin Shield Staff

Editor in Chief Layout Editor Menisha Sohal Rose Hanson

Assistant Editor in Chief Opinion Editor Karina Guru Naveed Shaikh

Online Editor Student Life Editor Vivien Li Erin Bradley Shreya Mathur Liliana Wong

Social Media Manager News Editor Hannah Balboni Grace Li

Distribution Manager Entertainment Editor Malik Peay Tristan Whitley

Photo Editior Sports Editor Chris Zhao Paraskevi Constantinides Camila Huang Johnathan Stroh

Advisor Copy EditorsBidjan Aminian Shelby Richmond Charles Coaxum