Dear Editor, 

In the opinion article I read, Editor-in-Chief Laurinne Eugenio addressed the constant struggle of having to choose between sleep and finishing a deadline assignment. In this piece, I felt as though she touched upon a very prevalent issue amongst students. While she used a personal anecdote when addressing said problem, her situation can be applicable to any student that has had to choose whether to have a good night’s rest or finish an assignment. This article was concise and overall painted a very clear picture as well as a clear problem and solution. It made me take a look at my own prioritizations in terms of school work verus my own mental health. Thank you for this thought provoking piece and I appreciate the light it shed on this aspect of mental health. 

Sincerely, Anahi Marquezsilvia

Dear Editor,

In the recent Feature’s piece “Just give it a chance”  by Madison Knudson argues, “a block schedule will enable teachers to achieve a better level of understanding of the course work” However, I disagree with this sentiment that a block schedule will be beneficial to student learning. Even though I will not be affected by this policy, I don’t think two-hour blocks will help increase student learning as I have personally witnessed the inordinate amount of wasted time classes have with current one-hour periods. Knudson further argues that “Many students may be reluctant to transfer to a block schedule because it will be a new experience for them.” I have taken dual-enrollment classes that have 2-hour long meetings and have seen that class time is rarely ever entirely productive. Class is often cut a few minutes short due to how draining two-hours of undivided attention can be. I find it hard to believe that teachers at Bonita are ready to teach two-hour blocks productively, without a complete overhaul of their current curriculum. I feel the execution will create even more wasted time that would benefit students more if this time was just cut from the school day altogether.

Sincerely, Xavier Millian

Dear Editor,

I recently read an article on The Crusader website titled “New classes added to course selection for 2022-23 school year.” Essentially, the article talks about the new classes that are being offered next year at BVH. Many of these classes were added due to the suggestions of teachers like Mr. Szakovits and Ms. Marriott as they want the chance to teach about topics they find interesting with the intent that students would also take these classes. I appreciate this article as it demonstrates the effort teachers are putting into making these classes into a reality and a platform for students who are unsure about which classes to take for the next school year. Hearing about classes such as Biology Forensics makes me really intrigued about what the class entails since the article provides a small glimpse into the class curriculum. Unfortunately, as a senior, I would not have the opportunity to take the class but I do hope that the lowerclassmen choose the class with the intent to learn about forensic science. Additionally, these new classes allow students to explore what they truly want to study later on which is an important thing, especially in high school. Overall, I enjoyed reading this article and hope that The Crusader can continue to produce quality articles such as this one.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez

Dear Editor,

I am pleased to see that Yealin Lee has brought Grad Nite at Disneyland to the attention of BVH students. Although I do appreciate the way in which she explains the specificities of Grad Night, I believe there are so lacking areas in organizing the event. Lee mentioned that Task Force is willing to make accommodations for students who are having financial issues, however this was not advertised nor was it mentioned in the Google Form survey sent out to the senior class. Being that this event is the one of the first events after being in quarantine due to COVID-19, I believe prices for grad night should be at an all-time low. There are many different financial factors that COVID-19 has caused that should be taken into account. It is not fair for students to have lost a year of school and not be able to participate in senior activities because they cannot afford it. I hope that more students are able to attend this event as the senior class has already lost so much.

Sincerely, Taya-Simone

Dear Editor, 

I wanted to thank Madison Almodovar after reading the Crusader‘s “Confined to the Grind”. I finally feel represented within the Crusader‘s work. As an IB Diploma Candidate, I must say that I feel represented in this piece of The Crusader because I felt that I have been “Confined to the Grind”. The IB Diploma demands rigorous amounts of work and there have been times that I feel like no one else can relate. This article has taught me otherwise in the sense that all students struggle to balance their school work with their life outside of the classroom and is a common experience among all high school students. I believe being general in this segment is extremely important because it creates a sense of relatability for students across BVH. The part in this segment that I agreed most with is when “Samantha Radocchia mentioned that people who are overworked feel as though what they produce will never be enough”. I personally have related to this and know that many others have. Because I find this segment to be so important, I believe this topic should be explored more in school. Although a great segment, I have not heard many other students talk about this issue so I believe that the people of The Crusader should make this topic be heard more.

Sincerely, Manuel Ovadia

Dear Editor,

I found Madison Almodovar’s article “Confined to the grind” very interesting.  I find myself agreeing with her statements on the toxicity of grind culture.  Due to the fact that I am an IB student, I consistently am working on new tasks and assimilating to grind culture. However, I do disagree that every outcome of grind culture is inherently bad, but I believe that there is a healthier side, where the work you do is done in a healthy manner even if it is continuous. Ultimately I find myself struggling to decide whether or not I believe grind culture is one that should stay. Thank you for an enlightening read.

Sincerely, Samantha Bianes

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the Opinion article titled “Confined to the grind” by Madison Almodovar. As soon as I saw the headline, I knew immediately that I wanted to read the article. I had a very clear idea of what the article was going to be about by just reading the headline and the multimedia created by Stephanie Lomeli really solidified my idea. I enjoyed the article, as I found it extremely relatable, especially the part about students being focused on performance rather than absorbing the material. Oftentimes, I find that this is the case within my own friend group as well. Instead of focusing on the information required for a test, students are already filled with worry about the test score they are going to receive, seeing that high test scores are the definition of success for many. However, after reaching the end of the article, I have a new mindset, that “success is not solely limited to the end result; taking time through a process of achieving success proves to be much more efficient.” Overall, wonderfully written article, I’m sure it reached many other people!

Sincerely, Jaime Jazo

Dear Editor, 

The article, “Matcha Culture” written by Opinion Editor Grace Na has been one of my favorite articles lately! I really appreciate this article, especially the amount of valuable information given. As a matcha lover, I admire seeing more people take an appreciation for matcha, especially an article getting approved for the school’s newspaper! The amount of anecdotes and information given about matcha is truly admirable and I have been sharing this article with as many of my friends as possible in order to get them to try matcha. Additionally, getting to hear others people’s experience with matcha and their reasoning for venturing out to try something new is always refreshing. Matcha Culture has definitely grown over the past few years and whilst I take it as an alternative to coffee it is incredibly interesting to know that other people take it for their health and appearance. I firmly believe articles about arts and cultures are so incredibly entertaining and important to the everyday student; it gets you thinking about current student culture and either encourages participation or reflection. Whilst I am an avid matcha drinker, I’ve never made a connection on the surging popularity of matcha with boba! I can definitely see the connection and thank the author for adding this statement to the piece. There’s nothing more important to being involved in our community and culture than being informed and open-minded. 

Sincerely, Ingrid Alcantara

Dear Editor,

Carina Muniz’s recent column ‘’Burst the Bubble’ was an opinion that I could appreciate. I found the narration of her conversation with a neighbor that she otherwise would have dismissed or not given much thought to as very wholesome. Carina brought up the idea that we often forget the value and wisdom others have, too wrapped up in our own lives to notice. I agree, while I am good at hearing the people close to me, when it comes to a random person walking on the street or my neighbors I have a lack of interest in who they are. However, I’m not sure that I think it’s necessary to get the life story out of everyone you could potentially have a conversation with. While conversations with strangers can be a beautiful thing, there is also value in the anonymity of not knowing everyone. That being said, maybe next time I’m taking my dog on a walk I will be more open to having more lengthy conversations with my neighbors.

Sincerely, Camille de la Cruz

Dear Editor

I read the article “New classes added to course selection for 2022-23 school year” by Arts & Culture Copy Editor, Destiny Avila Ramirez. This article was very insightful on the new courses that will be added next school year and although I won’t be able to experience them, for I am graduating this year, I think that the students who are going to be attending will enjoy reading this. Ramirez does a great job implementing direct quotes from Dr. Del Rosario, Ms. Marriott, and Mr. Szakovits to provide more depth into the addition of these courses as well as their passion for student learning. I also thought that the large quote in the middle of the article was very impactful because it creates this strong message that urges students to join those courses. One thing I would suggest to include to further explore this topic is student input because these new courses are for them and their learning experience, so knowing how some students feel towards these courses will provide a new perspective to this piece.

Thank you for your time, Aubrey Valdez

Dear Editor,

I found “We are running out of time” by Alexa Vazquez, to be insightful and interesting in regards to how students in our community are helping the fight against climate change. I was not aware of the Y4S program until reading this article, and I think it will be a great addition to the other programs at Bonita. The publication of this article will bring more awareness to climate change through Bonita Vista’s student community and possibly inspire students to look into the Y4S program. By showing how students from Otay Ranch and Hilltop High have contributed to solving the issue of climate change, hopefully this will inspire students at Bonita to help their own communities in solving large or small scale problems important to them. As always, the Crusader is written unbiased and very informative and I found myself very interested in the article’s content. This article was interesting in regards to how it mentioned how other schools, as well as Bonita are approaching climate change.

Isabella Scarda

Dear Editor,

Madison Knudson’s article “Just give it a chance” claims that teachers believe that there will be many positives as well as drawbacks to the new block scheduling that will be taking place starting the 2022-2023 school year; she also states how many students as well as parents were not in favor. Knudson supports her argument with data from a vote that was conducted on February 11, 2022 where 68-38 was the final vote in favor for the new block schedule. She also supports the students point of view in a poll taken at BVHS on February 2, 2022 with 909 students who participated, with their opinion on if they were in support of block schedule for the 2022-2023 school year, with 41% strongly disagreeing. I believe that the introduction of a block schedule has more positives than negatives and that it will be good for the students. This is because with a large allotted time in class, students will be able to ask more questions and be more attentive to what they are learning about. With only having 3 classes a day and more time in the classrooms, students will not only be more engaged, but also be able to better organize their time.  I believe that in the long run, the block schedule will allow students to better manage their time and have an overall better mental health state despite what many students currently believe.

Sarah Sanchez