News in Brief
Mural, new turf, and pool deck vandalized
On the night of Monday, Nov. 10, the football field and pool deck were vandalized with obscene symbols and statements. The vandals also defecated on the field.
“It was bad and disgusting, they wrote symbols all over our field,” Jaden Allen, sophomore, said.
Allen saw the field before the school’s maintenance crew had a chance to clean it up. He was appalled by the symbols and the feces he saw on the field.
Principal Joshua Eby said the vandalism was first reported on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at which point the mess on the field was cleaned up by members of the maintenance crew. The spray paint was removed the next day.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department said that the vandals remain unknown but an investigation is currently taking place.
Measure I school bond passes, representatives elected
In the Nov. 4 election, Measure I, a school bond for the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), passed by a large margin of 65.28%.
The bond extends the current tax rate of $32.70 for every $100,000 of assessed property value for the next 20 years to raise money for CVUSD schools. To ensure taxpayers are aware of where their money is going, CVUSD has outlined a faculty needs analysis and technology plan, which states that the funds from Measure I will be spent directly on improving school safety and repairing school facilities, as well as upgrading labs and classrooms. The district has also assured taxpayers that “Measure I will not be used to fund existing staff salaries, benefits, pensions, or to increase school administration.”
Jeff Baarstad, CVUSD superintendent, has promised that the district “will move forward to make sure the funds (from Measure I) are spent effectively … and with full transparency.”
Along with the passing of Measure I, a number of new representatives for the area were elected. New member John Andersen was elected to the CVUSD school board. Thousand Oaks City Council Member Jacqui Irwin was elected to the California State Assembly, defeating opponent Rob McCoy. Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley was reelected in a close race against State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell.
“Interstellar” integrated into classroom learning
Christopher Nolan’s science fiction movie “Interstellar” is an integral part of the computer science principles class. Using an application created by Google called “Interstellar for Educators”, computer science teacher Richard Kick was able to use the film as a teaching tool. Some topics that appear in the movie, such as recursive drawing and binary code, are explained in Google’s curriculum in the context of “Interstellar”. After completing the science and math curriculum from the program, Kick’s computer science principles class had the opportunity to view a private screening of “Interstellar” on Nov. 13. Kick hopes that teachers of all subjects take the opportunity to implement “Interstellar” into their curriculum.
