Why McClymonds needs a mascot

Great tradition: in 1950, Bill Russell tried out for team mascot at McClymonds

(photograph from Oakland Museum collection)

by Anique Gichanga

We need more spirit, pep, and cheer at Mack. And a mascot — a warrior with paint on face, spear in hand and ready to go to war — would hype  up the crowd and encourage more cheering at games.

As we head towards state playoffs, with our boys’ team undefeated with a recent, big win against Fremont, and our girls with the BIG WIN against Skyline, it seems ridiculous not to have a mascot to represent our school’s fighting tradition.

We have a venerable history: Bill Russell tried out for mascot (instead, he made the team) and when an undefeated McClymonds won the state basketball championship in 2008 under Coach Dwight Nathaniel, we had a mascot.

So why is not there one now?

It’s not as though we’d be the only school in the league with a mascot. Oakland Tech has a tacky purple bulldog and its team is 11-14, fourth in the OAL. Fremont has an ugly tiger instead of 10 cheerleaders because they don’t have any.

Mascots can be more amusing than cheerleaders: they get laughs, try stunts that cheerleaders are far too graceful and athletic to try (such as doing push ups, lifting barbells, bizarre dunking  or crazy tumbling). They’ve thrown dollar bills or t-shirts  in audience and have caught on fire.

As for mascot selection, let’s not leave it to the school administration.  Like homecoming queen and king, we should vote for our mascot. It should be a freshman, so they could lead the Warriors to victory over four years.

Valentine’s Day: cupcakes and kisses

by Nicole Funes, photo by Anthony Beron

When Genesis Johnson and Walter Nathaniel, two McClymonds 10th graders, celebrate Valentine’s Day on Friday, they won’t be exchanging balloons bought at school or hearing singing telegrams. They may just kiss quickly in the hallway. Or buy each other $1 homemade cupcakes.

By Monday afternoon, about 10 students had already filled out forms to deliver cupcakes to their valentines at school on Friday, said Colleen Piper, Spanish teacher who advises the student council and is baking cupcakes for Friday.

Daishawn Shannon, 11th grade, sent himself a message with the cupcake he bought. “I wasn’t going to buy any for anybody at this school. Nobody.” In his note, he wrote “I love myself.”

“We may have gotten a late start,” says Alexis Hill,11th grader and a member of the student council that organized the event. “But it’ll be a success.”

The money raised will be donated toward school events; for instance, for prom tickets and college T-shirts for students who work hard, said Piper.

“I’m glad that we’re doing something for school spirit,” said Johnson. Piper added, “Valentine’s offers us a day to make someone smile and share appreciation for others.”

Changes at Mack: More AP Classes, Fewer Suspensions, New Teachers

by Romanalyn Inocencio

Iakiriyya Karimusha,17,  slouches from the weight of her backpack draped on her right shoulder while dragging behind her a gym bag with her basketball gear.

A senior, Karimusha is taking advantage of the AP classes recently offered at McClymonds.  She’s taking AP English, Chemistry, and American Government while taking UC Berkeley’s Calculus class online.  Despite playing on the school’s varsity basketball team as a guard, she has managed to retain a 4.18 GPA.

“Nothing at McClymonds has been challenging to me,” says Karimusha. “But this year, I feel prepared for college, and competitive with the smart kids at Bishop O’Dowd and Berkeley High. I’m in the race now.”

Welcome to the new Mack. McClymonds is trying to change its focus, its approach to discipline and its curriculum. This year, the school has pushed to increase the student body, from 235 to 289, and has recruited 10 new staffers (including three teachers with Teach For America), added six new AP courses and reduced the number of suspensions from 32 last year to 5, relying on restorative justice.

“The biggest change is the focus on the culture, making material relevant, increasing rigor through STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) and literature, and focusing on relationships,” says Dinora Castro, the school’s new assistant principal, who is implementing restorative justice at McClymonds.

Even school security officer Donald Mann sees the positive changes at Mack. Teachers are staying late and helping students. “The new teachers are very enthused and hard workers,” he says.

Take Ronald Delaney, one of the three new teachers from Teach For America who joined the Mack staff  at the beginning of the school year to teach AP American Government, one of six new advanced placement classes offered at McClymonds after years of offering only AP English taught by Dr. LuPaulette Taylor.

Delaney spends extra hours helping to tutor students and wants to “convince them that learning is fun.”

Delaney, born and raised in Long Beach attended community college and transfered to UCLA to obtain his degree in anthropology.

“I’m going to put more responsibility on students,” Delaney said about the challenge of teaching an AP class which had never been offered at the school.

Teaching a new class is not the only problem faced by Delaney.  He has to assimilate to the culture established at McClymonds.

“I have something I have to offer and I care about them,” Delaney said.

Delaney based his class “rules” on the school’s new core beliefs: respect, rigor, resilience, and relationships to tackle the “school to prison” pipeline at the Oakland School Unified District.

Last year, 20 percent of Oakland’s African American male students were suspended. African Americans are three and a half times more likely to be suspended, followed by Latinos. African Americans make up 39 percent of the student population in Oakland schools, yet represent 63 percent of the suspensions, The Los Angeles Times reported.

“Half a million dollars were lost because of suspensions,” Castro said.

Mack’s most famous alumnus: meeting Bill Russell

Umiika Rose:

“It was an honor to meet Bill Russell on Alumni Day. A famous, accomplished McClymonds graduate, who comes back to his neighborhood, his high school, his roots.”

Adios Graffiti Art: Mack Walls Painted White, Grey, Colorless

Adios Graffiti: Mack Painted White, Grey, Bland, Colorless

Its graffiti art gave Mack pizazz. But Wednesday, a crew started painting over the bright orange, blue, green, purple, letters.
Even one teacher sighed, “I really liked the graffiti art. It was colorful, symbolic of school culture.” But McClymonds is preparing for Western Association of Schools and Colleges review of accreditation. WASC criteria passed in 2010  require that schools be “free of graffiti and clean.”

 

****** The lockers still carry graffiti art, as of now.