By Linda Ha and Fatima Salcedo

Rancho Mirage High School opens September 2013, starting its first year with a total of 800 students consisting of freshman and sophomores.

Rancho Mirage High School is on track to open for the 2013 school year.

The blueprint of the school was created after The Board of Education and senior administrators toured several existing high schools in Southern California. “Lakeside High School in Lake Elsinore was chosen as a prototype that fit the requirements the district staff was looking for,” said PSUSD Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Lisa Howell. “The prototype high school focuses on three strands of the career technical classes: culinary, media performing arts, and transportation repair. PSUSD received grants for this career technical pathways and incorporated the facility needs into the design of the school. Rancho Mirage High School is approximately 60% complete.”

Howell said that RMHS was built to alleviate the overcrowding of CCHS, and since the operational budgets are provided to schools based upon the number of students, the budget of CCHS will be reduced by the number of students leaving CCHS to attend RMHS. Projections indicate that after the fourth year, CCHS, RMHS, and PSHS will have in similar enrollments, which means a fairly equitable distribution of dollars will occur based upon enrollment.

Aside from the cost of the additional staff for the new school, Rancho Mirage High School is definitely going to open. “The positions will be advertised,” said PSUSD communication manager Joan Boiko. “Teachers who are interested in working at the new high school  will need to go through the interview process.”

Rancho Mirage High School will be represented by the colors maroon, columbia blue, and silver, and their mascot will be the Rattlesnakes.

Sports will be part of their extra curriculum activities, and they will be participating in the Desert Valley League.

 By Jazmin Orozco

At Cathedral City High School, students started their Advance Placement (AP) exams last week. Students are tested on what they have learned in their AP classes, and those that score three or higher on a scale of six receive college credit for that class.

Brenda Garcia has a full academic plate at CCHS. Photo by Margarita Arechiga.

“AP Classes are a tremendous amount of work,”  said  John McCarthy, who is currently teaching one class of AP history. “On any given night, my students can expect a large reading assignment which is usually followed by a quiz the next day. Students are tested regularly. There is more work than we can fit into the eight months we have to prepare, so we meet regularly before and after school and even on the weekends sometimes.”

Hard work is a common theme among both those who teach it and the students who take the A.P. test in the spring.

“Having AP classes is definitely challenging,” said Brenda Garcia, a junior at CCHS. Her schedule includes AP environment, AP U.S. History, AP psychology, and AP Spanish, although she’s not taking AP Spanish as a class, instead, just taking the AP test. “It’s a lot of work and there is a lot of time one must put into it. AP classes come with a lot of pressure. You don’t only have those classes to think about and worry about. We also have our regular CP classes that also consist of work and testing.”

Garcia is taking four AP exams. The AP exams have brought her the most pressure this year. She started working an after school job in November. It’s even harder for her now, because she is working and going to school. “At times I only want to focus on my AP classes, but CPs are also as important. The ideal rule is that APs must come with two hours of homework each night and, although that’s not always the case, one thing for sure is we never get homework for less than one hour.”

With AP exams students feel pressures from all sides: teachers, administrators, parents, and themselves. The importance of AP exams have been stressed upon them all year, but the reality did not hit them until two weeks before the exam. The pressure comes from the fear of failing. Although AP classes are not easy, it’s important for them to do well and get into a competitive college.

“Taking an AP class and doing well in it looks good in your transcripts and can help you get into college,” said McCarthy. ”If you pass the exam, any of the UCs, Cal States and junior colleges in California will give you credit for two semesters of US History.  So by passing the AP exam, you can save yourself a lot of time and a lot of money in the future.  As far as helping you in life…that’s up to you.  No test can do that.”

There are between 300,000 and 400,000 students that take the AP US exam nationally.  Of  those students, about half of them will fail.  History teacher Steve Conklin and McCarthy’s students usually are around or above the national average.  The AP US class is a college level seminar course.  The last time CCHS juniors were in a US history class was in eighth grade.  So essentially, they are making the jump from eighth grade to college.  Many are initially shell-shocked by the amount of work and the high level of reading, writing and comprehension that is required to just keep up; however, many are able to adapt and excel.

“When I went to take both of my AP exams, I was stuck in a room for four to five hours,” said junior Jennifer Ramirez. “Having AP classes is really hard.”

Students will find out their AP exams scores in July. “I get so nervous about their scores,” said McCarthy. “I know that they work so hard, and it breaks my heart when it doesn’t plan out.  I really want my students to succeed.” McCarthy is constantly looking at the clock and wondering where his students are in the exam and how they are doing. ” The scores are released, I will be able to log on to the College Board website and check their scores.” Students will receive their scores in the mail and  online as well.

If you’re an incoming AP student next school year, here is some advice from McCarthy: be honest with yourself about your abilities, be in class everyday, make sure that your extra-curriculars will not interfere with the class, and understand the only reason to take the class is to prepare for the test. The AP class is a test-prep class; in many ways you can get a better education from the CP class. AP classes are always racing against the clock, leaving no time for projects, videos, fun stuff, etc. You should always do your own work. in the end , you will be the one who takes your exam. An AP class is just like anything in life: you will get out of it what you put into it.

By Janette Segoviano, Devin Mcquinn, and Ithzeel Salas

Regional occupation program (ROP) business students at Cathedral City High School will be selling 72 hour emergency kits during the month of May as their final exam project.

For just $24 including tax, students will be selling a cub survival car kit that includes an insulated bag containing food, water, first aid supplies, and other essentials to help a single person survive in a car or elsewhere for up to three days.

They will also sell a 72 hour emergency pack for two people for just $77 and a personal Seychelles water filtration bottle for $29 that is designed to provide up to 100 gallons of drinking water  free of harmful organisms such as giardina, escherichia coli, and staphylococcus.

All food and water pouches are U.S. Coast Guard approved, have a five year shelf life, and can also withstand temperatures from negative 22 degrees F. to 149 degrees F. The Seychelles water filtration system is the same one used by the U.S. Navy Seals

The public is invited to email orders to Pat EL Sharei, ROP Entrepreneurship Instructor, at pelsharei@psusd.us, or pick up an order from Cathedral City High School lobby between 8 am and 3 pm Mondays-Fridays on or before May 25th. Students will fill orders within one week and cash or checks will be accepted for payment.