Continued from the Sept. 21 print edition are more ways for students on campus to get involved.
Service Learning
Dami Kim, Social Media Director
Service Learning is an elective class offered during sixth period for students who want to be more involved at school and give back to the community.
Students organize and participate in service projects such as walking on World AIDS Day, donating books to Albion Street School and raising money at the annual Kick for a Cure soccer fundraiser partnered with soccer teams of Beverly Hills High School and Milken Community High School. All of its profits earned from the fundraisers are donated to local charities.
Service Learning Chair Ariel Azhdam joined the class to raise awareness of community involvement.
“Service Learning teaches one how valuable the act of giving back is, a principle that keeps one always grounded and appreciative,” Azhdam said.
Service Learning Adviser Michelle Halimi recommends that anyone who wants to join Service Learning should pay attention to the Norman Bulletin in April to apply for the program.
Peer Counseling
Celine Hakimianpour, Staff writer
The Peer Counseling program allows Beverly students to get guidance from fellow students. The peers are trained on handling peers’ issues helpfully and confidentially.
“It’s an excellent, fun and mostly rewarding program,” peer counselor Madison Weiss said.
In order to enroll in the class, an applicant must submit the application found in the Norman Aid Center. The Peer Counseling program selects eight to 10 juniors and seniors per year. Peer counselors must undergo a semester of learning skills before taking part in the whole “peer-to-peer” process. After students submit their applications, they must receive approval from their guidance counselor and go through an interview process before being selected as a peer counselor.
“What we often look for are traits of a good counselor: a patient person, a good listener, a good speaker and many other characteristics,” peer counselor Zach Fouladian said. “One part of their training is the very stringent rule that their teachers impress on them: to be completely unbiased, as to provide the best possible counseling session.”
The Peer Counseling program hopes to help more troubled peers this year.
ROP Programs
Pasha Farmanara, Web editor-in-chief
ROP: Culinary Arts
Culinary Arts class is entering its fifth year at Beverly. Students who take this class learn all the essentials of cooking, from how to use a knife to all the different cuts of meat. Culinary Arts has the ability to go beyond the classroom because, “it teaches you a life skill. Knowing how to cook is not just a class, it’s something that can last a lifetime,” teacher Darrell Smith said.
Despite only being in existence for five years, the class has already caught the eye of the student body.
“I joined [Culinary Arts] because I thought it’s the most popular elective. Everyone should learn how to cook once in his life,” senior Nicole Davidov said.
Students who want to get involved with the Culinary Arts program can enroll into the Introduction to Culinary Arts class, and then take Advanced Culinary Arts. If students don’t have room on their schedules, they can get involved by joining skillsUSA or the Culinary Club, which Smith hopes to establish by second semester.
ROP: Robotics
Although building robots is a major aspect of Robotics, that is not the only skill one can learn in the class.
“There are a lot of different subgroups in Robotics and each requires different skills. For example there is the build team, programmers, web designers, animators, media producers and business people,” Build Captain Michael Simozar said.
The Robotics team has attended championships two out of the last three years. They have also won many awards at regionals including finalist, gracious professionalism, industrial safety and others.
“There are no requirements to join the team. We accept some freshmen, but we mostly targets sophomores and juniors. We do prefer sophomores because they are younger and will gain more experience by the time they are in their senior year,” Simozar said.
The class meets about three days a week during lunch and after school.
ROP: KBEV
KBEV is a student-operated television station that can be seen on channel six in the city of Beverly Hills. The class has been offered since 1968 and has been broadcasting on television since 1974. Students must take a year of KBEV to enter Telecommunications, the advanced class.
KBEV and Telecommunications both offer students the opportunity to host their own talk show and learn what it is like to run a talk show behind the scenes.
“There are so many positions that make a production occur. We learn how to direct shows, use the cameras, set up audio, edit and speak on cameras. Speaking in front of cameras also translates into speaking in front of class, a skill that we all use,” senior Matthew Dubin said.
Since all material made by KBEV and Telecommunications is broadcasted, the class strives to achieve minimal errors.
“I think I have learned that it is always important to strive for perfection when working in the studio. I re-watch many of the shows we film, and I notice a number of mistakes,” Dubin said.