Yes, that's a picture of Economics teacher Brandon Hart inserted into the heart of an iHeartLosAl shirt customized for AP Macro.  Can you say #CST2013? Creativity at its finest!!!

 Ms. Brosius' class wears "Gimme 5, Bro" shirts as they convene right after the exam with their unofficial mascot, Gertrude.  (P.S. No pigs were injured in the taking of this picture.)

Ms. Lindahl has the hastag theme going in her AP Stats class!  #noregretz is her class's motto as they gear up for their AP Statistics Exam and test their best :)

Ms. Ball has her students fitted in special iPhotoLosAl shirts that represent all the work and creativity that goes into her students' portfolios for The College Board that get submitted each and every Spring.  The shirts also help to build up a sense of classroom community!

In what may be the funniest AP study shirt on campus, Mr. Anderson's students are wearing a Beastie Boys-inspired shirt with famous Psychologists on it that reads "Check Your Head."

When I was at UCLA for Undergrad, I remember a day when our English Professor came to class on the Monday after our Midterm Papers were turned in and announced to the whole class that "somebody had cheated."  He didn't say who, and he didn't say how... but he did say that he was willing to accept that person's paper so long as they turned it in by 3pm that same Monday.

That afternoon, he had 80 essays in his mailbox...including mine.

Here's the best part...  At Wednesday's class, our professor announced how many papers he had received that day, and then he revealed the truth:  he was lying about the fact that someone had cheated.

So why did I turn in my paper?  And why did that professor play this cruel trick on us?

I think the answer is that the definition of "cheating" is extremely personal and narrow.  Once we exit the classroom, opportunities to "cheat" or "collaborate" are everywhere.  And one person's understanding of cheating is another person's understanding of learning.

So what can we do at Los Al to help define cheating and collaboration for teachers, students, and families?  

Keep talking.  The more we listen and share, the more our understandings of the issue will come together, and the more unified we can be in addressing cheating, learning, and collaboration in schools.

 

     

Once you hit 300 victories, there's really only one place you can go.

 

John Barnes, head football coach at Los Alamitos High School, will be inducted into the California High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame this summer.  At an annual banquet in Fresno June 15, the association will honor Barnes for his years of leading the Los Alamitos Griffins to more than 300 victories and multiple CIF Championships.

 

Coach has already been named to the Los Alamitos Hall of Fame and the Long Beach Hall of Fame. 

"More important and noteworthy than all of his victories, is the manner in which he has helped to shape the future of thousands of young men," Dr. Kropp, Los Al Superintendent, said.

 

The 5th annual awards night is June 15 at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center at 2233 Ventura in Fresno. The cost is $45 a plate. For more information call 559-268-1000. 

 

Way To Go Coach!

The Los Alamitos High School InvenTeam is one of 16 teams participating across the United States in the Lemelson-MIT Eurekafest 2013.  The teams has received an $8,000+ invention grant to create their invention on water purification.

Come see them show off their invention in the PAC next Monday night before they head off to Cambridge next month!