Data Con LA 2020

Keep learning.  The registration fee is $20 only and all student attendees with a valid .edu e-mail can use discount code "STDNT" to receive 50% off.  https://www.dataconla.com/  (From June 25, 2020)

IDEAS Global AI Conference 2020

Keep learning.  This conference is offering free early registration.  I registered and will check out what it has to offer. https://www.joinideas.org/  (June 25, 2020)

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell (Book Read June 2020)

I am a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell.  I will continue to read his work.

(From June 2020)

APU Segerstrom Turtle Pond

Watch the Segerstrom Turtles LIVE

(Click Link Here)

Azusa Pacific University - West Campus

Azusa, California

Math Humor - Aspirin + C

The integral of aspiri is Aspirin plus C.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (Episode 3)

Seeing Colors

E60: Mo Cheeks assists during National Anthem

This is one of my favorite stories that shows the power of human compassion.  In 2003, Head coach Mo Cheeks came to the rescue a young performer during the national anthem in what may have been his greatest assist. (April 2020)

Math Humor - Two Zero Two Four

Bonita Swingin' With The Big Bands 2019

This show brings back great memories I had with these talented students.  I attended this show in 2019.

Video for Sarah's Celebration

I was honored to be asked to upload a message for Sarah for her graduation and birthday celebration.  Her wonderful parents are doing all that they can to celebrate her during this unusual time.  I had the pleasure of having Sarah for three years: Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics. (From 5/22/2020)

2019 Bonita High School Holiday Jazz Concert

“The Word Collector” Reading by the Obamas

Michelle and I want to do our part to give all you parents a break today, so we’re reading “The Word Collector” for @chipublib. It’s a fun book that vividly illustrates the transformative power of words––and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. pic.twitter.com/ADYbL6Dzg4

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 14, 2020

Comedy Sportz 2020 Program

Due to COVID-19, this event was suspended.  On our practice day, Mr. Frederick led me through the role of "Mr. Voice".  He runs an amazing program from Drama to English to Comedy Sportz. 
(From 3/10/2020)

New AP Statistics Text Consideration

Thank you to Mrs. Neal for dropping off a preview copy of one of my favorite Statistics textbooks (on 12/12/2019).  We'll review this version.  The online component called SaplingPlus also seems to serve student learning.  Looking forward to the new adoption.  This publisher, BWF, also stepped up big time during the COVID-19 period by offering students a free version of their online AP Statistics and AP Calculus books.  More recently, we had a Zoom training session on the Sapling application.  It should come in handy as we expect some degree of online instruction during the 2020-21 school year.  (From 5/28/2020)

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (Episode 2)

White Allergies with Matthew McConaughey

Change is the Only Constant - Ben Orlin (Book Read May 2020)

This book captures main concepts of calculus in short chapters with interesting drawings.  As a math learner who has some background in the topic, I appreciate it.  However, I wonder if it would be suitable to those with very little calculus knowledge.  (From 5/31/2020)

Bonita Lip Dub 2020

The full video link is here:  https://bit.ly/LipDup2020.  Thank you to all of the Bearcats that participated.  Miss you all during this extended school closure.  
(Filmed on 2/24/2020)

Barack Obama Congratulations c/o 2020

Congrats to the high school Class of 2020, as well as to the teachers, coaches, and most of all, parents and family who’ve guided you along the way. Thanks for letting me be part of your big day! pic.twitter.com/RjYvHs2BhC

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 17, 2020

Bonita PTSA Teacher Appreciation Banner 2020

I never took for granted all of the kind gestures that were shown to teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.  This year, during school closure, our PTSA decorated the staff lot with this poster.  (From 5/20/2020)

Bonita Yearbook 2019-2020

Subject to Change is the most fitting title for this unique year.  We got through this year together.  In the yearbook, I was fortunate to be featured in two large photographs.  Thank you to the yearbook staff for their hard work in putting together this beautiful book.  In previous years, I would have my students' messages all over the book.  Due to school closure, there are no markings in the yearbook today.  (From 5/21/2020)

Lunch Distribution Volunteer - June 2020

Thanks again to our wonderful teachers of the BUTA team who came out to serve lunch today at the Central Kitchen. We appreciate all of the volunteers who have helped out the last 12 weeks. @WeAreCTA @BonitaFood pic.twitter.com/49h4E3y5UH

— Bonita USD (@BonitaUSD) June 3, 2020

It was a pleasure helping the food department distribute lunch today.  I thank the food service professionals Anthony and Cathy for leading us.  (From 6/3/2020)

Be the Change

Instead of watching TV/movies during this social distancing period, I have been binge reading.  These two books are very topical during this intense social climate. (June 2020)

"One of the greatest social fears for a white person is being told that something that we have said or done is racially problematic...we often respond with anger and denial." (DiAngelo, p.4)

"To understand race relations today, we must push against our conditioning and grapple with how and why racial group memberships matter." (DiAngelo, p.11)

"The racial status quo is comfortable for white people, and we will not move forward in race relations if we remain comfortable." (DiAngelo, p.14)

"Asian Americans like me often feel like we live between two cultures, always viewed as outsiders, never fully fitting into either." (Su, p.153)

"Seeking justice builds in us a willingness to challenge the status quo." (Su, p.161)

"True freedom never comes without costs, relationship, or responsibility." (Su, p.183)

Bonita High School - Virtual Graduation Ceremony 2020

Our virtual graduation went online Monday June 1, 2020 at 7 pm.

A message from our principal Mr. Ritchie:

"Good afternoon Bearcats,

Last night’s virtual graduation was our first and hopefully only one that we will do, but the final product was great. While the entire program was 1 hour and 22minutes long, it took weeks to get this accomplished and I want to say thank you to the people who made it possible. This process started the day after our drive thru cap and gown pickup which was May 19^th. For 6 days, we had two graduates and their families come to the stadium every 10 minutes, where they walked in the processional, then they took their graduation picture along with a family picture. They will each get a free 8x10 of both pictures with their diplomas. After those portraits, they were able to take whatever pictures they wanted to on the field. Julie Pocino recorded each of these students walking into the processional - I really appreciated the time it took to get that video. Joy, Eric and Gene spent 6, eleven hour days getting everything set up to take pictures of our graduates. Those were long hot days, but the pictures were amazing. Thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty. Brian Harrison cut out and painted 2 sets of 3ft 20’s that students and parents took pictures with.  They were so popular that we have had four other schools ask to borrow them for their ceremonies! Thanks to Michelle Okayama, Darren Baumunk, Kelly McGarvey, Vanessa Tilford, Veronica Chiu, Juli Creese, Maggie Parker, Natalie Vega, Grant Guillen, Mandy Mendoza, Ricky Yip and JT McLuckey for spending time at the stadium to help keep this process running smooth. Cameron Barr and his team took amazing pictures and he was able to forward Julie Pocino those pictures for the slide show after each day. Thanks Cameron! Once we finished taking these pictures, Julie had to take each picture and put them in the PowerPoint slide for each student - that was 463 slides that required matching a picture of a graduate with the correct name. This took days and the final product was incredible. Thanks Julie for all your hard work and attention to detail.  Thank you to Matt Mullen, Julie Jaeger, Tim Wes and Mandy Mendoza for reading all of the names - doing this virtually was difficult but it came out amazing! Thanks to Paul Eichen for taking each one of the above components and putting them together for the final product. Editing is very time consuming and we appreciate the time you took to ensure the final product came out the way it did. Thanks for making our first virtual graduation a memorable experience for all of our graduates.

We will miss this senior class and we wish them nothing but success in their future endeavors!"

Bonita Class of 2020 Colleges - Slideshow and Map

Message from ASB Director Ms. Pocino:

Hey Bearcats!

ASB (Margia Adriano and Peyton Littleton) has assembled a slideshow for Bonita’s Class of 2020 that highlights where some of our seniors will be going next year, it is available at: https://bit.ly/bearcatgrads2020  

We also have an interactive map that shows wear our Bearcats will be located next year for college: https://bit.ly/bhs2020map

It looks like the Class of 2020 is headed on to do some amazing things!

Thanks!

One Last D Street Rally Performance for 2019-2020

From Mrs. O'Grady:

Anyone else miss rallies? D Street does! So some of the kids worked with me on making one last “Pep Rally” performance. Enjoy!

(From 5/29/2020)

Bonita Senior Check-Out 2020

I signed up to help with senior check-out on Thursday.  I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see some of my students for potential the last time on campus.  As always, I am blessed by many wonderful relationships at Bonita.  Many students will continue with their education at various four-year universities including Brown, UCLA, Cal Poly Pomona, Chapman, UC Irvine, and USC.  Among many other students, I got to spent a bit of time with A. Zhang and N. Wong, our class valedictorians.  I'm also grateful to work alongside wonderful teachers and staff who gave up their time to help students check out  
(From 5/28/2020 to 6/2/2020).

Dukowsky, Yip, Verti, Wes

Handing out the cancelled Action Night shirts to our seniors

Books are going back to the library

Peaceful and calm by 4 pm on Friday.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

Please watch this wonderful video (under 10 minutes).  I strive to be better teacher who respects and honors a diverse community in the classroom.  This can only be done through education.  Thank you for this conversation Mr. Acho.  (From 6/3/2020)

Desmos Global Art Contest 2020 - Finalists

I admire these young mathematicians/artists.

https://www.desmos.com/art

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/r8kh0zldie

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/m4ov3xwojp

THE PAWSE -- SEASON 5 -- Episode 18

Message from Mr. Eichen (Film Instructor).

Hi everyone,

We knew back in August that this season of The Pawse was going to be special – our 75^th episode came out in March.  The silliness we had planned for turning 75 seems like a distant memory now, as this season will stand out for an entirely new reason.  It won’t stand out because of the global pandemic; it will stand out because the team decided on March 13, with the shutdown beginning, that the show must go on.  And it did.  The team produced 5 episodes, 4 half episodes, and held auditions for next year, completely from home.  As seniors, their raw emotion came out frequently, but they used that as a focus to keep going. 

And so, here we are, Episode 18.  I cannot be more proud of what these kids have accomplished.  We’ve talked a lot over the last few years about words like grit, perseverance, overcoming any obstacle set before us.  The Pawse actually did it though.  It was more than just words; they lived it.  Cole, Sofia, Sarah, Tess, Vanessa, and Omar have shown us that we can do anything.

Until Season 6, Enjoy:  https://youtu.be/vit8kGuzZnU

-Paul

Math and Pandemic

Where countries rank globally in Math vs taking action against pandemic

Countries that have seems to respond quickly:
Singapore-1st in Math rank
Japan- 5th
Hong Kong-2nd
South Korea-7th

Countries that are struggling at the moment:
Italy-30th
Spain’s-32nd
US-40th

Hmmm...

— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) March 27, 2020

Correlation does not imply causation.  It's interesting nonetheless. 
(From 3/27/2020)