The Specialty Advisories of DMHS By: Lydia Kim and Mariana Flores
Hello Suns! Welcome to this new school year. As we walk through the new semester, there are a lot of opportunities for you to explore your interests or hobbies at our school. Some of these opportunities are through joining one of the many specialty advisories. Out of the several advisories to choose from, all of these homerooms can bring out a student’s creativity, leadership, and passions which help shape our school. With no further hesitation, let's get to know the first specialty advisory.
Are you interested in researching topics, writing, photographing, or even learning more about the school? Then you should consider joining Helios, our school’s newspaper or the new Helios club. The specialty advisory and club are open to anyone, and the person in charge of this advisory is Ms. Zomer. We asked her a few questions about herself and Helios.
Speaker 1: Hello, Ms. Zomer, first we’re going to ask you some personal questions. What are your hobbies and what do you like to do outside of school?
Ms. Zomer: I like to golf, play the ukulele, sing, hike, and bike ride. I also like to spend time with my 11 year old son and take him to his favorite activities.
Speaker 2: Why did you choose to make the newspaper homeroom and what made you get an interest in journalism?
Ms. Zomer: I actually inherited this class. When I first started teaching at DMHS 8 years ago, there was a business teacher who was in charge of Helios. We were really good friends and he wanted me to take it over when he retired. I jumped at the opportunity and was very excited to do so because I felt that as an English teacher that I could definitely help with the writing aspect. Additionally, I've always been interested in journalism (I wrote for my junior high school’s newspaper!) because I think it's really important for everyone to access journalism, free speech and credible media.
Speaker 2: Can you tell us about what the newspaper homeroom does?
Ms. Zomer: Newspaper home room has many different teams. We have a layout team, art and photography team, writing team, editing team and marketing team and we all work together as one big machine that all do our part to create the newspaper product. Our marketing team is in charge of all of our fundraising, outreach, PR and advertising and the rest of the teams work really hard to create a finished product that we can give out to the school community.
Speaker 2: What are your goals for this year and how do you intend on accomplishing them?
Ms. Zomer: Our goal as the Helios this year is to have more printed editions of the newspaper. We had one printed edition last year that turned out beautifully and we hope to build on that accomplishment this year. We also hope to produce more editions this year.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
If Helios isn’t right for you, don’t worry! There is another homeroom that may catch your attention. This is the yearbook advisory: students will be working around the school and capturing pictures of the school's major events. This homeroom is led by Mr. Lara. Here are the questions from our interview with him.
Speaker 1: Hello, Mr. Lara, we’re going to ask you some personal questions. What are your hobbies and what do you like to do outside of school?
Mr. Lara: Outside of school, I train Brazilian jiu jitsu and I love surfing.
Speaker 2: Why did you decide to make the yearbook homeroom and what can you tell us? Why do you teach photography?
Mr. Lara: So prior to being a teacher, I was a professional video producer. So my background is video production photography, graphic design, motion design, and media production.
Speaker 2: Can you tell us about what the yearbook homeroom does?
Mr. Lara: Yearbook documents the school year through photojournalism. We document the school year through words, anything and everything that happens on campus.
Speaker 2: What are your goals for this year and how do you intend on accomplishing them?
Mr. Lara: My goal is just to get the yearbook done. We’ll do it by any means possible but it usually requires just a lot of hard work.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
If you are a person who loves to argue and enjoy giving your opinion on global subjects, then look no further than our debate advisory. This advisory is led by Mr. Chao and Ms. Depaolo and anyone is welcome to join. If you are interested, here is an interview with Mr. Chao to get to know this advisory better.
Speaker 2: What are some of your hobbies?
Mr. Chao: Coaching volleyball with the JV girls team, running, and doing math.
Speaker 2: Why did you decide to make the debate homeroom?
Mr. Chao: Ms. Depaolo and I have been doing that since 2010. So, we've been running the program for a really long time, and we felt like the students could spend more time learning if they had in class time to do it.
Speaker 2: Next question. Do you have any special relationship with debate?
Mr. Chao: I've been doing it for 13 years now, since 2010. So a lot of time has been invested to develop the program and to help students to have a passion for debate and proceed to do debate in college.
Speaker 2: Can you tell us what you do in debate?
Mr. Chao: We research the topic for each year. This year’s topic is for the federal government to have changes to social welfare programs such as Social Security basic income. The students research those topics, and they develop their arguments to convince people to do it.
Speaker 2: What are your goals for this year?
Mr. Chao: The goals for this year is the same every year: for the students to have levels of success. Also for some students, levels of success means winning, so either winning the city championship or the national championship.
Speaker 2: Thank you for your time.
If these advisories haven’t piqued your interest, there is another advisory that takes care of our school’s events. If you want to develop leadership skills, organize events, or be involved with our schools, look no further than our ASB advisory. This advisory isn’t like any other; there are several steps you have to take to join but don’t be discouraged! If you are interested in getting to know about ASB, here is an interview with the teacher.
Speaker 1: What is your name?
Mr. Al: My name is Mr. Albortante or you may know me as Mr. Al.
Speaker 2: How does it feel to be the new ASB teacher?
Mr. Al: Being the new ASB advisor involves a mixture of feelings such as excitement, pride, and stress. There's so much to be excited about with upcoming events, and seeing the school community grow. However, as an introvert, it's also stressful having to engage with more people on a daily basis. For this reason, I feel extremely proud of the wonderful set of leaders that exist in ASB. Shout out to Ms. Wang for developing that throughout the years!
Speaker 2: Can you tell us about the ASB homeroom? What do you do?
Mr. Al: ASB is separated into two sections, as a 4th period and as a homeroom. In 4th period, the students take turns leading the class in managing time to prepare for events. This includes brainstorming ideas for upcoming events, forming committees, and completing paperwork. In the homeroom, the stakes are less high, and it's often used as time to finish tying loose ends from 4th period. During major events, the homeroom is used to begin setting up for those events. ASB is proud to continue providing engaging events for all students.
Speaker 2: What are your goals for this year and how do you intend on accomplishing them? Also, should we be looking forward to new future events?
Mr. Al: Our goal this year is to make all events inclusive and accessible to everyone! We intend on accomplishing this by being more thoughtful on pricing for events, and collaborating more with other organizations such as Educare. For now, look forward to the events setup by each class year, the ending to Hispanic Heritage Month, and of course, our DMHS yearly tradition of MORP and Harvest Fest. Keep up with ASB events through Instagram @dmhs.asb AND the Schoology group! Speaker 2: Thank you for your time.
Hopefully these specialty advisories have caught your attention! Each of them provide great opportunities to share and expand your creativity, all in different ways.