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November 30, 2012 • volume Xlv • issue 35430 torrance boulevard, torrance, ca 90503www.bmhs-la.org

bishop moNtgomery high schoolKNIGHT LIFE

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Giving Thanks for Jorge and Frank

Back to Bishop - Part I

Knightlife gives thanks for two of our angels

Did you know nearly 25% of our staff are alumni? Knightlife interviewed some of our teacher alumni to tell of their experiences and why they came back to Bishop.

Written by Samantha Nishimura. Photographed by Yearbook

Written by Kira Coyne, Jackie Nkansah, and Alexander Rodriguez. Photographed by Sabrina Supapkooha and Arionne Thomas

Above (left): Jorge Alvarado, longtime maintenance worker for Bishop Montgomery. (Center) Frank Hernandez, a custodian and maintenance foreman for over 36 years at BMHS. Right: Members of our maintenance staff: (back) Mr. Salguero, Mr. Lopez Santizo, Mr. Hernandez, (front) Mr. Ayala, Mr. Alvarado, Mr. Lopez

Bishop recently mourned the loss of two of its long-time mainte-nance staff members, Jorge Alvarado and Frank Hernandez. Although some of the students, particularly under-classmen, may not have had the op-portunity to have known them and to have completely appreciated the work they contributed around the campus, as one community, we came together to celebrate their lives. Jorge Al-

varado, the maintenance foreman for the last eight years, worked at Bishop since 1997. He suffered for a short time with cancer and passed away on October 6, as the entire Bishop com-munity prayed for him. Mrs. Rodriguez recalls, “Jorge was always so hard-working and honest… He was always there for you when you needed any-thing.” Only a few weeks later, Frank Hernandez, a close friend of Jorge as

Ms. WilliamsQ: What are your favorite memories from your time at BMHS?A: Homecoming week was defi-nitely fun; we used to decorate the halls, which was exciting because everyone would get together. Also, I played sports! Running cross-country and track and being with my teamates was fun. The dances, homecoming and prom, were also very fun.Q: What’s the biggest difference from your time at Bishop and now?A: The uniforms are very different. You guys have way more leeway with shoes because we had to wear solid black or white athletic shoes. I like that you guys get to wear your own choice of shoes because it is a fun way to express yourselves, since you cannot do much with the uniform.Q: What do you miss most about high school and why?(Continued in last column)

Mr. LeeQ: What brought you back to Bishop?A: I was looking for a job, and I knew that Ms. Libbon likes to hire alumni who come back and already know the culture of the school.Q: What are your favorite memories from your high school years?A: Being in the Latin club because we got to go to a Latin convention, called SCRAM in Irvine, which was a lot of fun. I also remember the football games. While I was at Bishop, we won our first game in about 3 years.Q: What are some of the differences between then and now?A: I think that the kids are smarter than they were when I went here. I think the education is a lot harder than when I was in school.Q: What do you miss the most?A: Not having to pay bills… I do miss hanging out with my friends every day.

Ms. GilkerQ: What brought you back to BMHS?A: I came back because I like every-one here and everyone is fun and nice.Q: What is your favorite memory from your high school years?A: Spirit week was the best. It was really exciting because we had all the halls covered in paper decorations… the rally was the best.Q: What is the biggest difference be-tween then and now?A: I guess the teachers are less scary, they weren’t that scary to begin with. Also, I do not have to go through the hallways anymore, I am stationary nowQ: What do you miss the most?A: I miss sitting in the desks be-cause I miss being able to talk to my friends during class. Now they come in while I am teaching.(Continued in last column)

Ms. Williams ContinuedA: I think it is interesting hearing my students sometimes talk about how hard high school is because now after going through college, grad school and working, sometimes I think it would be nice to go back to high school when it was a little more simple.

Ms. Gilker Continued Q: What was your most embarrassing moment?A: During welcome frosh, my sa-rong fell off in front of my crush! Thank God I had shorts underneath! My face literally matched the color of my sarong.Q: What was your favorite class?A: I really liked math because I really liked my teachers. Latin was diffi-cult, but I really liked it.Q: Did you receive any awards?A: Principals Honor Roll consistently.

well as a co-worker, passed away on October 20, after working at Bishop since 1976. Mrs. Galdamez recalls Frank as quiet, but quite the jokester: “I remember that whenever I needed something done in my room, I would ask him if he could fix it, but he would say, ‘Oh I can’t fix that. It’s too difficult.’ And then the next day I would find him fixing whatever I asked him! Whether he was joking or not, he always found a way to fix things.” The sudden loss of two of Bishop’s family members

stunned the entire school, and thus, the Thanksgiving Mass was dedicated to Jorge and Frank. Underlying the solemn atmosphere was a sense of joy and gratitude, as we celebrated their lives and recognized their impact on our school. As we enter the holiday season, once again, we are reminded of all our blessings and the family and friends we love and cherish.

(Continued on page 8.)

2 SPORTS/CLUBS

Warming Up to Winter Athletes

CLUB CORNER - ASL

Get to know these Senior athletes of the Winter seasonWritten and Photographed by Mary Costa, David Locke, and Shannon Lipp

Matthew Harris ’13 portrays himself as an enthusiastic young man as he eagerly talks about his experience playing on the BMHS boys’ soccer team. Matt first became involved in soccer when his parents signed him up for AYSO at the age of four. “I loved running out there,” Matt says about his first impression of the sport. “Scoring felt great,” he added. Matt’s enthusiastic spirit makes him a valuable member of the team, but he holds teamwork and cooperation in high regard. When asked about what he loved best about soccer, he readily answered that he loved the team’s closeness and camara-derie. In addition, Matt asserts that most of his inspiration to excel comes from his team. When asked who in particular push-es him to excel he answered, “My team-mates, Carlos and Jonathan Pascual.” Matt’s schedule presents a certain amount of rigorousness as well, including practices everyday, games on the weekends, and an extensive amount of running and weight-lifting. However, Matt goes out of his way to make sure that his athletic lifestyle does not interfere with school-related matters such as homework and studying. “I usually go into the library at lunch to do home-work,” he says about the actions he takes in accommodating his academic respon-sibilities despite his athletic commitments. When asked about his achievements, he proudly mentions an award he won: “I was Second Team All Del-Rey League one year and a Distinguished Athlete too.” In addition to this prestigious award, Matt also recounts a proud moment of his: “Beating Cathedral in my freshman year,” he said. “It always makes me smile.” Win or lose, Matt always finds a reason to feel good about his sport, and he asserts that he feels most proud “after a good season.” In the future, Matt wishes to continue play-ing soccer in college and leaves his own advice. According to Matt, the best way to become more actively involved in soccer is to simply “start playing.” Harris believes that soccer, as a sport, is special because of the unique conditions it requires of the players: “You have to be conditioned and strong at the same time,” he said. “You can’t just sit in a weight room or just run all day.” As evidenced in his statement, soc-cer is a sport that requires well-rounded players who are dedicated and unwilling to give in easily. In keeping with his pas-sionate personality, Matt lastly states that “soccer is always fun.”

Senior Nella Zegarra ‘13 recalls that her first toy was a soccer ball, and that by the age of three, soccer was already a passion. “When my middle school didn’t offer soccer as a sport, I joined the AYSO Select League,” recalls Nella. “I didn’t have to just play soccer, but also had to find where I was going to play.” Upon arriving at BMHS, Nella had already found herself with over 10 awards and medals, and had determined that her most comfortable and successful position on the field was defense. Despite her pre-vious awards, Nella had to prove herself at BMHS and started out freshmen year on the JV team. With a relentless spirit, Nella continued developing her skills throughout her sophomore year on the JV team. She learned many valuable lessons that are both applied on and off the field. Nella says that “Soccer and its challenges have made me a more patient and appreciative person, and I have become a much better leader.” Junior year not only meant a promotion to upperclassmen for Nella, but it also meant Varsity Soccer. For both her junior and senior years, Nella has played Varsity level soccer for BMHS, contribut-ing to the girl’s advancement to the CIF playoffs. When asked what advice she can give to any younger soccer players here at Bishop, Nella replied, “I always try to keep a positive attitude, and if possible, work your way from the bottom up because the feeling of accomplishment is beyond words.” Nella looks forward to playing soc-cer in college and forging new paths.

Senior Erin Discipulo ‘13 recalls that some of her best memories thus far have been on the soccer field. “As a tod-dler, I loved to kick the soccer ball around the backyard,” says an accomplished Erin, who has played soccer since the age of five. Erin’s family realized and appreciated her love for the game so at five years old, Erin entered the AYSO soccer league, where she learned some of the most “valu-able and priceless” lessons of life. Wanting to continue her soccer career, Erin has played club soccer since sixth grade. For many years, her favorite position had been center and outside midfielder. With countless hours of practice and physical regiments, Erin received “Athlete of the Year” in eighth grade. At Bishop, Erin has not only per-formed at a high standard on and off the field, but she has pushed herself further, doing all she can to achieve greatness. Beginning freshmen year, Erin played forward for the Varsity Team. “It was a challenge to make the Varsity Team,” says Erin, but “It was even more difficult to be a top tier player on the Varsity Team.” Erin achieved greatness even through great struggle, when she scored the most goals on the team during her freshmen year. To achieve this, Erin began dieting, visiting the gym more often, and stayed focused on her goals. During her junior year, Erin wanted to change positions on the field, and undertook the challenging position known as wing. Here, Erin learned how to work as a team, and gained the responsi-bility of leadership both on and off the field. With a continued sense of hard work and high expectations, Erin received the cov-eted “First Team All League” award during her junior year. For her, it was “golden”, and is just another reason why she loves to work hard both in group and solo envi-ronments. “I am keeping an open and clear mind when looking at prospective col-leges,” says Erin. “I am always looking for new challenges, and definitely plan on playing soccer in college.” Erin is both an inspiration for her fellow teammates on and off the field, and loves to help others.

Matthew Harris Nella Zegarra Niko Flipovich Erin Discipulo

Written by Sojung Kim. Photographed by Angela Francis

Above: Members of the American Sign Language Club smile and sign happily at one of their meetings.

Niko Filipovich ’13, credits his family as well as himself with his success as a BMHS athlete. “My family inspires me more than anything,” Niko remarks as he explains how he first fell in love with basketball at the young age of seven when his father, a basketball agent, gradually introduced him to the sport. “I’ve loved it ever since,” the senior says recounting that memory. With his family’s support, Niko, along with his teammates, now gear up to face the challenges of their upcom-ing season, for which they have been training for months. “I usually work on my game in the summer,” Niko says as he explains his vigorous procedures in his pre-season training regime. “I run in the sand, spend countless hours at the gym putting up shots and working on my ball handling.” Like in any sport, basketball skills rely heavily on maintaining a good sense of balance, which Niko handles relatively well both on and off the court. In addition to excelling in basketball, the senior also does what he can to balance his sport with the responsibilities of school and the demands of his health. “I go home after school or practice and take a nap, them I wake up around 7 PM and eat,” he explains of his healthy habits that keep him rested and well-fed. “Then I finish my homework and study for tests.” While it is to be expected that many players enjoy basketball for the athleticism involved, Niko asserts that there are other rea-sons to love the sport, as well: “I love the creativity involved,” he says. Creativity is not a quality often associated with sports, but Niko’s open-minded personality allows him to see just how such creativity ties in with basketball. He sees how it relates to working well as a team and performing at one’s highest level. When asked about his achievements, instead of presenting a litany of awards, Niko instead recounted a particularly happy phone call. “One of my proudest moments was when the coach of [University of] Hawaii called my house and told me that I had received a scholarship.” With a scholarship secured, Niko looks confidently to the future. “I want to be a starting point guard at the University of Ha-waii,” he says. As a senior, the basketball team’s upcoming season will be Niko’s last one at BMHS, but he leaves his team-mates the best advice he can offer: “Play with no fear.”

Presidents: Lauren White and Katie SantiagoMeeting location: Room 209Meeting time: Mondays during LunchModerator: Ms. St. James

Are you sick and tired of Spanish? French? Cuneiform? Any other language? Well here is a club about an entirely different language: American Sign Language! Bishop Montgomery’s brand new club, American Sign Language Club, ASL for short, opened this year to intro-duce a unique way of communicating. This club promises to provide many opportunities for students to actually learn American Sign Language and

the value of communicating silently. This club’s goal is to let people know how much fun learning Sign Language is, just like learning other languages, such as Spanish and French. It hopes to help people to overcome the unend-ing fear of learning a new language. This year, the club’s focus will mainly be on teaching the basics of sign language by learning to sign parts of songs, bit by bit. This club is plans on becoming one of the mainstream clubs at BMHS by expanding its range of activities this year. Joining American Sign Language Club is a great way to learn to communicate in a whole new way.

3SPORTS/CLUBS

Crossing the Finish Line and Goal Line!

What’s up with these clubs?

Cross Country and Football Finish their Seasons Victoriously

Latin Club attends SCRAM, Surf’s up for Surf Club, and Key Club Rally for Fall

Written by Rose Park. Photographed by Yearbook.

In the last weekend of Oc-tober, the Latin Club, a club com-posed of all Latin classes taught by Mrs. Moreau, attended the Southern California Regional Amici Madness, or SCRAM (Amici means “friends” in Latin). Latin students woke up bright and early that Saturday morn-ing, journeyed over to Loyola High School, and met up with their fellow BMHS students to begin their day at SCRAM. To kick off the day, students had to take two tests in the morning, which were based on a variety of top-ics, such as Roman history and Latin grammar. After the morning exams, off went the students into the Latin fun-world known as SCRAM. At this convention, Latin learners attended various workshops including the Templum Veneris (Temple of Venus) where students learned how to write Roman love letters and make charms. They could also attend a Roman Curses Workshop, where one learned how the Romans prayed to their gods to curse their enemies. Other activi-ties included the Impromptu Roman Rant, where participants made vicious tirades about anything Latin-related. Along with workshops and activities, there were also sports! Some ex-amples are Fugepilam (dodgeball in Latin), the Harry-Potter-based quid-ditch, and reenactments of gladiator battles! The Latin classes all had a fun, leaning experience at SCRAM

and cannot wait to go back next year! Along with basketball and soccer, Bishop Montgomery’s Surf Club is preparing for an upcoming surf season. Sophomore Surf Club Co-captains Jimmy Grove ‘15 and Natalie di Angelo ‘15 express their enthusiasm over the acquisition of new members to the team. “I’m excited about our upcoming season because we got a lot of new members this year, and hopefully they’ll help us defend our league title,” Co-captain Jimmy Grove says. Though not officially a CIF sport, Surf Club still combines a level of athleticism with a club aspect, adding to surfing’s overall enjoyment. Many students might be wondering why it remains seemingly obscure despite their success and league title, but the surf club maintains its comfortable anonymity by participating in early morning surf meet-ups at the beach to compete against other students in the South Bay. In addition to surfing, the club also participates in beach clean-ups and other beach related activities. “I like this club because we get to surf and I get to see my friends. Surf Club is really special because anyone can join, even if they don’t know how to surf,” says Grove. When asked about what steps the club takes in welcom-ing newcomers to both the club and surfing, Jimmy explained that “we have practices on the weekend where we surf and teach people how to

Written by Mary Grace Costa and Alex Rodriguez. Photographed by Sabrina Supapkooha, Yearbook, and Joseph Ortiz

It started with the summer conditioning: the long hours of weight training and running countless miles. There was only a short, week-long break between summer conditioning and training for the season. These are two of the fall sports: football and cross country. They practice hard daily from the summer months into the school year, and they are some of the first teams to compete in any matches.

One of these sports requiring such hard-training is football. Foot-ball has a large following, it being the most popular sport to watch. Many students, their friends and fam-ily come out to support the football team and have a good time. Conlon McOsker’15 talked about the season, saying: “I thought we were very suc-cessful. I was inspired to try as hard as I could.” Coach Hodgkiss recalled about the team, “Both Varsity and JV had outstanding seasons, led by a great class of seniors. We have many quality young players returning and look forward to a great off-season.” Senior Kyle Kutler ‘13 remarks about the season: “We enjoyed the new coaches that came this year because they really gave us new motivation to go out and win on Friday nights. We were always so close to making the play to stay in the game.” But the team was not too busy to have some great memories, as senior Brian Marafino ‘13 remembers: “I liked how hard ev-eryone worked so they could help the team win, and how the team became like a second family to me. My favorite memories were before every home game in the team room when we blasted loud music.” The boys had a good season this year, Varsity ended

7-3 and JV ended 7-2. Junior Nathan Smith ‘14 looks forward to next sea-son, saying: “This season our team worked very hard, ending the season with a 7-3 record, which is pretty good.” The Varsity team headed into the first round of CIF, and although they lost, they definitely can hold their heads high with the remembrance of an excellent season!

Although cross country has less fans, the team itself makes up for that by being a close-knit group of dedicated individuals. The boys’ Varsity team raced in the CIF Prelims, but they did not qualify for the finals. Senior Michael Hadley ‘13 said about his teammates: “I think we had a really dedicated group of runners who ran their hardest at every race.” The girls Varsity as a team did not qualify for CIF Preliminaries, but senior Dani-elle Shanahan ‘13 raced in the CIF Preliminaries as an individual, and she won her Division IV heat and won the CIF Division IV title. Danielle says about her cross country experi-ence, “It’s fun being a senior because everyone looks up to you and asks for advice. This year was amazing, and my favorite season so far. It’s great achieving goals you have worked on for years in one season.”

The team had a new set of coaches this year; Amy Meehan and Brian Haynes stepped up and led the Knights. Sophomore Natalie Aceves ‘15 says about the team: “As a new member of the cross country team, I really enjoyed the sport. The new coaches and my teammates made this season an enjoyable experience.” The greatest part about the team would have to be the positive memories they

surf.” In the future, the surf club will be participating in more surf meets and beach clean ups, and all are invited to come and join. Almost every year, Key Club attends the Fall Rally, which could be considered as the Olympics of all the Key Clubs. At the Fall Rally, 32 divi-sions, which include a number of clubs from different schools in a region, compete in a competition of spirit. This year’s rally took place at Six Flags Magic Mountain and a portion of proceeds from ticket sales along with auction sales that take place go to the Pediatric Trauma Program. At the rally, divisions must be as spirited as possible. The multiple clubs must do special cheers per each round and also routines for the judges and officers at the event. This year, our Key Cloub division, D19, made it to the top five. However, the loss was not

taken too hard since afterwards, the club members got to go on the rides at Six Flags! Joseph Ortiz’14 said “I enjoyed the rides and seeing all the different divisions and colors filling the park.” Sophomore Sean De La Pena ‘15 added that “The spirit battles were the best part because you could go to a random group and have a cheer off just for fun too see who is louder and more ‘spirited.’” Rally on Key Club!

shared together. Senior Paige Tripp ‘13 says: “Out of the whole cross country season, I would have to say our practices in Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes were my favorite. On the PSAT test day, all of us seniors ran along the beautiful cliffs towards the huge mansions in PV estates. It doesn’t get better than having a view and running

with friends!”Both sports finished with pride

in their steps, they fought their hard-est and played their best. Everyone is rooting for both teams, who we know will have another excellent season next year!

Above: Natalie di Angelo’15 catch-es a wave at a Surf Club practice one early morning.

Above: Members from Key Club show their spirit after a cheerful, long day after the Fall Rally.

Above: Hannah Ortiz’15 smiles happily as she sits on a perch outside Loyala High School as she attends SCRAM.

Above: The Varsity football team cheer and lift up their helmets after a long, tough game.

Above (left): Mrs. Meehan hands out contestant numbers to the Girls Cross Country team at a competition. (Right): Senior Konrad Rahill runs on a track at a competition hoping to stay ahead of his competitors.

4 ENTERTAINMENT/OPINION

Barack Four More

The AMA’s Minister a Mass of Music (and Yawns)

Thanksgiving ‘Comedy’

Democrat Barack Obama wins re-election as President of the United States

Above: Erin Jamison ‘13 and Christine Marshall ‘13 conduct some internet research about our re-elected president, Barack Obama.

Above: Maddie Cano’15 smiles alongside, Lady Antebellum frontwoman, Hilary Scott at the 40th American Music Awards at Staples Center

Written by Alex Rodriguez

Written by Jesse Seale. Photographed by Shannon Lipp

Artistically Crafted by Kira Coyne and Jackie Nkansah

After months of presidential polls percentage, debates, elec-tion ads, campaigns, and rallies, the American people have decided and re-elected Barack Obama as Presi-dent of the United States of America. He defeated Republican challenger Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with electoral votes of 303-206. The only state that did not come out with the number of votes on Election night was Florida, which remained undecid-ed for a number of hours. News media from around the world were surprised to see the results that gave President Obama the win since it was a very close race, where mere single per-centages separated the candidates. Though there were mixed emotions on both sides because of the strong views of voters, America is glad that election season is finally over. Elec-tion 2012, the most expensive election

Forty years ago, the first ever American Music Awards were held to compete against the Grammys, which just switched to a new network. During those four decades since the creation of the AMAs, legendary artists like Mi-chael Jackson and Whitney Houston won numerous awards at the AMAs for their outstanding music and won because of the votes of the public. Four decades later the 40th American Music Awards were held November 18 at Staples Center. The American Music Awards should be changed to American Music Performances since nearly twenty performances and a mere seven to nine awards are squeezed into a three hour broad-cast. The ceremony consisted of a rather bland and dull night with some occasional shocks with the winners and a few gasp-worthy moments and performances. Performers included Usher, newcomers Carly Rae Jep-sen and The Wanted, Kelly Clarkson, Ke$ha, No Doubt, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park, P!nk, Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Stevie

ever, will go down in history not only in America, but around the whole world for all its memorable and intense mo-ments. Former Governor Mitt Rom-ney and Republican Paul Ryan congratulated President Obama in Boston on his win for a second term as President of the United States. President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were in Chicago celebrating with hundreds of thousands of people as they were watching the election polls on the monitors. Not only was it a big night for President Obama, it was also a big night for both sides; Democrats won majority of the Senate and Republicans won majority of the House of Congress. World leaders from the Great Britain to Japan also congratulated President Obama’s re-election victory.

Wonder paying tribute to Dick Clark, Swizz Beats, Carrie Underwood, and a bombastic, energetic finale from “Gangnam Style” rapper PSY and MC Hammer. The definite standout, which made the whole ceremony worth watching was P!nk, who recre-ated the music video of her latest single, “Try,” where she metaphorically dances and fights out her problems in love. In her very physically demanding perfomance, she remained practically perfect with her vocals. Sophomore Maddie Cano ‘15, who attended the AMAs said: “You could tell she was singing and she wasn’t out of breath or breathing hard. It was flawless.” The big winner at the AMAs was Justin Bieber, who won all the categories he was nominated in, including the prized Artist of the Year, Other notable winners include: Carly Rae Jepsen (Best New Artist), Nicki Minaj (Favorite Hip-hop/Rap Artist and Album), and TobyMac (Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist).

5ENTERTAINMENT/OPINION

“Shaken, Not Wrecked”Written and Photographed by Shannon Lipp

Above: Junior Leah Rae Muñoz eagerly anticipates viewing Wreck-It Ralph at the AMC theater.

Knightlife reviews two popular movies: the family friendly Wreck-It Ralph and the much-anticipated Skyfall

With family oriented holidays drawing ever closer, many family movies are being released in theatres. Disney•Pixar’s Wreck-It Ralph proves to be the perfect film for everyone this holiday season with hundreds of video game references for the gamers, romance for the hopeless sentimen-tals, amazing animation and beautiful background design for the art geeks, and adorable characters for the little kids. Wreck-It Ralph follows the title character and his journey to win a medal so that he can become a hero, and not just the bad guy who destroys everything. By doing so, Ralph aban-dons his game (going Turbo as the characters call it), leaving the other characters in his game in a state of chaos. Ralph jumps into two games, Hero’s Duty and Sugar Rush, where he meets Sgt. Calhoun and Vanellope von Schweetz, respectively. Trailing behind him is Fix-It Felix, Jr. (resem-bling a certain plumber who did not make it into the film), who is left trying to clean up the mess Ralph leaves behind. The film is rated PG due to some of the violence seen in the game, so it might be a tad bit fright-ening for smaller children but more engrossing for the older kids who have come to believe that Disney is all fluff. The references to some of the older arcade video games and some very subtle adult humor attracts an older generation to the theatre while not

detracting from the fact that the film is aimed at children. The magnificent artwork put into the design enhances the well thought out plot, which makes Wreck-It Ralph a must-see movie for all ages. As the newest installment of the James Bond series, Skyfall follows an aging cast as they fight against a cyber terrorist with a vendetta against M (the head of the British secret ser-vice). The film opens with 007 faking his death, but he is forced to return once chaos arises at MI6. While trying to return to service, Bond discovers his worst enemy: time. Bond’s age, as well as many other characters’, plays a crucial role in the film as oth-ers continually bring up the idea that the agent is past his prime and that it might be time for 007 to retire. The film is action-packed and filled with twists. Although Skyfall left you at the edge of your seat 100% of the time, the movie did get a bit cheesy with its references to past Bond movies. The introduction, how-ever, was especially well executed, as it gives subtle hints of what is to come by revealing several images with important significance in the film. In addition, the movie also has a terrific soundtrack, featuring Adele’s song “Skyfall.” Overall, the film proves enjoy-able to all audiences, whether they are new to the 007 series or have seen every movie prior to it.

6 STUDENT LIFE

Stuffed on Thanksgiving

To Sleep or Not to Sleep

Foreign Students in a Foreign Culture

Students enjoy their 5-day weekend with a variety of ways to relax and catch up with family.Written by Aimee Myers; Photographed by Ephram West

Top: A poll revelaing some of the Thanksgiving break activities of our students... Seems like the majority took it easy and relaxed at home.Bottom, left to right: Lauren White, Carly Curry, Milanne Izawa, and Isabella Leslie enjoying their extra day off at the Ice Chalet in Palos Verdes.

Written by Jasmine Shin and Yidan Yuan; Photographed by Yidan Yuan

Just before Christmas va-cation, the students here at Bishop Montgomery look forward to Thanks-giving Break to alleviate the stress that comes with the academic life. They are given a few days off from school to catch up with friends, spend time with family, visit new places, and enjoy the feast that is Thanksgiving dinner. Sophomore Alan Zaragoza ‘15 says, “Over Thanksgiving, I spent my days with my family and girlfriend because I’m thankful for both.” A few students even extended their holiday celebra-tions to take up several days, like sophomore Kimberly Serrano ‘15, who says of her Thanksgiving traditions: “Every Thanksgiving we hold a family grand reunion (my mom’s side) at my aunt’s house. We combine traditional American Thanksgiving dinner food with some Filipino food. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we start shop-ping for Christmas gifts. Weekend is spent setting up our Christmas tree and decorations!” Other students, however, decided to spend time outside the South Bay. Bishop stu-dents’ travel plans included destina-tions such as Six Flags, Yosemite, and even San Francisco. Sophomore Entonyous Bernaba ‘15 is one of

As a country of immigrants and an international pivot, America welcomes more and more immigrants who come here to study, work, or live. Every year, Bishop itself welcomes new Knights from other countries, who have travelled thousands of miles to

many students who travel with their family for Thanksgiving. He says of his fun-filled vacation, “My family and I went to Lake Elsinore, and we had a bonfire and roasted our turkeys. We stayed all night and told stories, and made s’mores. We had games, family against another family. It’s kind of like a family reunion. We do this every year.” Some have annual traditions for the holiday season, like junior Claire Thatcher ‘14, whose family eats at the Marmalade Cafe in El Segundo every Thanksgiving. Thanks to the Bishop’s holiday, many of us take advantage of the extra day of break to spend time relaxing with friends. Sophomores Milanne Izawa ‘15, Lauren While ‘15, Carly Curry ‘15, and Isabella Leslie ‘15 decided to go ice-skating Monday afternoon just to spend a little more time with friends. Thanksgiving is a reminder to be grateful for what God has given us, and with the time we have to spend with our loved ones in honor of this holiday, it’s clear that we can be thankful for many wonderful people, places, and opportunities!

set foot in America and into a com-pletely different environment and com-munity. Starting anew is always enchanting but also challenging. The most difficult problems are the difference in culture and language.

Above, left to right: Ryan Teng, Haeyoon Seo, Jessica Quenda, three exchange students here at BMHS.

Misunderstanding of the context often hinders these students’ ability to com-municate and understand completely. A sophomore who has only been here for four months finds it difficult to comprehend teachers’ lectures, and homework with its high-level vocabu-lary proves only one of the many chal-lenges she faces. However, exchange students try their best to overcome the disad-vantages they have. Junior Ryan Teng ‘15, from Indonesia, states, “If you really… force yourself to use English, you will find that you can enhance your skill easily. I often watch TV in English, not my mother language, to practice my listening skills.” Aside from the culture shock and difficulty adapt-ing, there are also numerous things to enjoy while studying abroad, like sports and clubs. Jessica Quenda ‘14 maintains, “If you asked me whether I wanted to go back last year, I would have told you that I seriously yearn to go back, but now I want to say that I prefer to stay here.” Jiu Jung adds, “The advantage of studying abroad in

America is being able to do non-edu-cational activities such as participating in sports, going to dances, football games … in or outside school.” In addition, the education sys-tem and standards of America contrast sharply with many other countries. In Indonesia, a student might have more than ten subjects to study. As for Korea, Ryan, Jessica, and Caleb Kim reveal that students devote most of their time to school, in a manner which isn’t seen in America. “In Korea we stay at school for about 11 hours a day, but here you just need to have six periods, and then you are done!” Sophomore Caleb Kim ‘15 says with a smile of relief. For exchange students, it is difficult to grow accustomed to a new environment after leaving their homes and losing connections from their old friends; however, they still came to America with hopes to experience a bigger world, fully aware of the hard-ships they would face. International students, welcome to Bishop! We are so glad to have you here.

Written by Andrew Beimel and Alex Rodriguez; Photographed by Arionne Thomas

Above: Robert Young and Sharon Chang nod off over their schoolwork early one morning in the Bishop library.

Falling asleep in class, poorer grades on tests, and not giving your all in sports all stem from one thing everyone has gone through: sleep deprivation. According to kidshealth.org, teens need eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep every day, which seems like a joke to most BMHS students, due to the rigor-ous classes, extracurricular activi-ties, sports, and of course, the all too addictive social media. McAfee, which conducted a study in June 2012, claims that teens spend a daily average of five hours on the internet. Taking into account about nine hours of sleep and the time we spend at school, extracurriculars, and relax-ation, we are left with three to four hours of homework, which for many,

especially Honors students, is not enough. Deficiencies in sleep impair the mind by slowing brain activity, which affects the mood and not sur-prisingly, the ability to pay attention. Sophomore Mark Loera ‘15 adds, “I get around 4 to 6 hours of sleep every night… To get more sleep, I would stop procrastinating, which is impos-sible.” However, some BMHS stu-dents remain sleep privileged. Senior Zachary Hart ‘13 says, “I get 8 hours. I finish homework by 9 but go to bed at 10. It’s like an internal clock that tells me when to go to bed.” Some may scoff, but lack of sleep is a curable thing! Through time management and avoidance of procrastination, we can all achieve our much-needed eight and half hours.

7THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

8 STUDENT LIFE

Teacher Alumni continued

Trippin Out!

KNIGHTLIFE STAFFThe Knightlife newspaper is published by the Knightlife Club of Bishop Montgomery High School, 5430 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503.

Opinions expressed in this paper are not a reflection of those of Bishop Montgomery High School.

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Editors-in-Chief: Samantha Nishimura, Alexander Rodriguez

Section Editors:Front Page: Shannon Lipp, Mary Grace CostaSports / Clubs: Alexander Horejsi, Alexander RayEntertainment / Opinion: Kira Coyne, Jackie NkansahStudent Life: Michael SeoBack Page: Sojung Kim

Staff Writers: Sojung Kim, Samantha Nishimura, Alexander Rodriguez, Aimee Myers, Kira Coyne, Shan-non Lipp, Mary Grace Costa, Lauren Hall, David Locke, Yidan Yuan, Hee Shin, Rose Park, Alexander Horejsi, Alexander Ray, Sabrina Supapkooha, Michael Seo, Andrew Beimel, Peter Mitchell, Claire Park, Lourdes Lidzbarski, Kassandra Madrigal, Manaka SatoStaff Artists: Kira Coyne, Jackie Nkansah, Lauren Hall Staff Photographers: Arionne Thomas, Kayla Wilkins, Andrew Beimel, Stephanie Nwaiwu, Jesse Seale, Angela Francis, Excalibur Yearbook Staff

Advisor: Mr. HongProofreaders: Mr. Marafino, Ms. Vigon-MorffiPublisher: Ms. Libbon

In order to gain first hand knowledge of other religions, Ms. St. James’ two Religions of the World classes took a field trip to the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple and the King Fahad Mosque. At the Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, the students not only expanded their knowledge of the Buddhist practices but also their pal-ettes. “I thought the food was great,” shares Senior David Nelson ‘13. “It might be because I’m used to Asian food.” Senior Everett Nelson ‘13 jok-ingly adds, “I just wish there was more bacon in the food.” The two seniors also reflected on the appearance and location of the temple, with David stating, “I liked the view from the top of the temple. It was beautiful,” and Everett inputting, “The architecture was really interesting. You really don’t see [the Asian styled buildings] that often.” After their tour at Hsi Lai finished, the students hopped back

on the bus and travelled to Culver City to visit the King Fahad Mosque. After the girls covered their heads and everyone took off their shoes (as a sign of respect), the students engaged in a question and answer session with their tour guide about Islam. “The mosque was definitely a different environment than I expected; it was peaceful and quaint,” describes Senior Christian Bowdre ‘13. “I have a better understanding of the Muslim people now.” Christian’s description of his experience fully encompasses the ob-jective of the field trip. Ms. St. James further explains why she takes her classes to different places of worship: “The students are exposed to other world philosophies, cultures, and ways of life. The outing helps them appreci-ate diversity and other religions. It also helps them understand themselves and their own faith better.”

Written by Lauren Hall, Mary Grace Costa, and Shannon Lipp; Photographed by Erin Jamison

Above: Senior Parth Ahir in front of the beautiful Hsi Lai Temple.

Mrs. MeehanQ: Were there any rules or policies you disliked or found irritating? Why?A: We were not allowed to tie our sweatshirts around our waists. I thought that was dumb because our uniform skirts would blow up if it was windy and our sweatshirts kept our skirts down.Q: Most embarrassing moment? Favorite class?A: Freshman year I slid on overflowed toilet water outside the 2nd building boys’ bathroom when I was running to class. I fell on my hip and sprayed water all around and on me while my classmates watched from room 205. On top of hurting myself and getting soaked with toilet water, I was late to class.A: I loved all my English classes, probably because Mrs. Skelley was not my teacher. I also loved my Pre-Cal class senior year. Our teacher would have us do cheers about how much we loved math. Whenever we spelled out Pre-Cal, I was the hyphen. Q: Did you receive any awards? A: I got an award for Algebra 2 when I was a junior. A few years after that, Math & I had a messy break-up, and now it’s awkward every time we’re together.

Q: Any funny or interesting stories?A: I think the funniest thing that ever happened was student appreciation day my Junior year. Ms.Libbon got on the PA and told us that we were all to go to an emergency meeting in the gym. When we got to the gym, it turned out the faculty had planned a whole assembly of skits and lip-synchs for us. From dancing nuns to performing pop-stars, it was a lot like the faculty talent show we put on last year. Seeing the faculty make fools of themselves for my benefit and to show the students how much they liked us really meant something to me. Q: Did you get any violations at your time here? If so, for what?A: I got one violation in my 4 years at Bishop from Ms.Traxler. As a sophomore I arrived at the home-coming dance WITHOUT MY ID! She was one of the activities directors at the time and on Monday my violation arrived. I still got to go into the dance though (they said without your ID you would be sent home!) I almost received a few other violations but was able to get my brother (Mr.Roehl) who worked here at the time to write me late passes.

Q: What brought you back or why did you come back to Bishop?A: I have always felt a sense of welcoming and community at Bishop, which sets it apart from a lot of other places I have experienced. When I decided to teach high school, Bishop seemed like a great fit.Q: What are the biggest differences you have noticed between then and now?A: The biggest difference would have to be the technology available to the teachers. When I was in high school, teachers were just making the transi-tion from chalkboards to whiteboards. Now, I feel blessed to be able to teach using the SmartBoard.Q: Did you receive any awards?A: I won Student of the Semester during my junior year, and I received a few baseball awards.Q: What do you miss most about high school? Why?A: I miss being able to see my friends and class-mates everyday. Now, all my friends are working, and they all have different schedules, so it’s tough to get together.

Q: What are your favorite memories? A: My favorite memories of my high school years are memories of hanging out with friends, going to the dances, having fun while learning with the teachers, going to and participating in sports, break-dancing with my crew. You know, all the normal stuff a high-school student experiences.Q: What are the biggest differences you have noticed since then and now?A: Students these days feel a need to grow up a lot faster than we did. They are also more technologi-cally advanced than we were, probably because we only had the abacus and a few rocks to use. Q: What do you think makes you different from the Dean you had and the Dean you are now?A: This is a question I’m going to have to guess on because I was never in the Dean’s office (wink, wink), but I don’t think there is much of a difference because basically the responsibilities of a Dean have not changed.Q: Most embarrassing moment/Any funny stories?A: Many stories but none I would like to share. Let’s just say one story involved a bonfire, nails, and pain…lots of pain.

Mrs. Walle Mr. Skelley Mr. Flores

Question CornerNow that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is right around the corner! We asked around to find out:What do you most look forward to at Christmas and

why?

Yoshi Nogimura ‘13: “The presents, because I’m excited about what I’m getting.”

Kasey Fisher ‘13: “ Spending time with family and eating Christmas goodies because I like to eat.”

Sarra Beauzil ‘13: “Spending time with family and friends and seeing people’s faces when they open gifts.”

Brad Kwesele ‘13: “Presents and be-ing with everyone because I like to get stuff.”