Middle College
Spring 2021 Newsletter
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March 29-April 2: Spring Break for CSM and MC
April 5: Fall 2021 WebSchedule Classes posted
April 13: Summer 2021 Registration Begins
April 14: New MC Parent Information Night
April 22: CSM Flex Day (No CSM courses)
April 28: Last day to drop semester-long spring classes with the assurance of a 'W' grade
May 5-21: MC Senior Reflections
May 24-28: College Finals
May 25-26: MC Finals (Juniors)
May 25: Middle College Graduation!
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MC 2021 Graduation
- - - May 25th - - -
location and time TBD
The MC staff is working to create an event that will bring us all together (safely!) to celebrate our 2021 graduates.
Keep an eye out for details -- coming soon!
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...Also coming up is our MC Spring Community Day! April 22nd
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Buy Your Middle College Shirts Today!
Middle College!!!! It's here! Our very own Middle College shirt!!!!
Now is the time to ORDER!!
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Available in short sleeve, long sleeve, and sweatshirt styles
Pricing, sizes, shirt choice and payment details are available on the form.
The order link is OPEN NOW until April 6th!
...you only have 12 days to order your MIDDLE COLLEGE SHIRT!
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MC Effect Chipotle Fundraiser! |
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The Middle College Effect/San Mateo Rotary is hosting a Chipotle Fundraiser! Please come to 1050 Park Pl in San Mateo on Saturday, April 3rd, 5pm- 9pm. 1/3 of the proceeds go to supporting women’s small businesses in Guatemala. Bring your friends and family!
You can order online ahead of time to support the campaign by using CODE: C3V6X97 at checkout. See you there!
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If you cannot come to Chipotle to support us, feel free to donate to our GoFundMe Campaign! Our goal is to reach $2,700 and with the help of San Mateo Rotary our funds can be matched. Thank you so much!
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Middle College Transitions to In-Person Learning |
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On March 17th, Middle College staff arrived on San Mateo Adult School Campus, which would be the home to the MC community for the last two months of the 2020-21 school year. Colleagues enjoyed being all together in the same non-virtual room for the first time in a year. There was much laughter (through masks) and camaraderie! |
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On March 24th, students who had chosen to return to campus arrived to join them. Together, with the students who joined class from home, the Middle College community continues to learn new ways to learn and connect. Hearing the sound of student voices as old friends got together and new friendships were formed was incredibly heartening and made it feel like we are in SPRING on a whole new level. While we all wanted to give out hugs, we had to limit ourselves to elbow bumps. Still, it was wonderful to connect with our students, especially those we had never seen IRL :) |
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Ms. Rohrbach holds class outside |
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Mr. Lance's juniors practice combat choreography... |
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...with a professor of dance at UCSB |
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- Middle College -
What represents SPRING to you?
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Photographers (clockwise from top): Brianna Rubenchek, Charlotte Fenwick, Sammie Morris-Beber, Sydnie Hilliard, Maryem Lahrach, Sam Sarver, Rebecca Reinhardt Mullins,
Leah Naber, Gabby Vilchez, Alyssa Lagarrigue, Ashley Gonzalez
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On February 21st, MC senior Gabby Vilchez stumbled upon a hummingbird nest while on a walk in Pacifica. After that, Gabby and MC senior Sam Sarver visited the nest regularly to check up on and take pictures of the two eggs and the mom. The eggs hatched on March 9th. The mom’s name is Hummus, and the babies are Tizzy (Tzatziki) and Baba (Baba Ganoush). |
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Student Highlight: Alyssa Huie |
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MC senior (and Aragon track star) Alyssa Huie shares with us about one of her favorite things to do: "spring" over hurdles and crossbars
I first joined pole vaulting my freshman year at Aragon because my parents suggested it. I was on the track team in Middle School, but had no experience with the events. I first tried pole vaulting and loved it right away - flying in the air is so fun! - and then I needed a second event. I didn’t want to just run, I wanted something with more pizzazz -- so, running and jumping sounded fun!
My favorite thing about it is that feeling of getting over the crossbar. Everyone has their different methods of getting over the crossbar -- there’s the traditional way, and everyone has their own little thing to make it theirs. My teammates call mine “The Acrobat” because I kind of fold my back like archway instead of turning over the bar. So it’s not very proper, but it gets the job done.
Since I spend a lot of time with the track community, I feel like I’ve become more outgoing as a person. I used to be more introverted, but being a part of this team I feel like I can be my goofy self. Some recent "high"lights of my track career -- last week, we had a mini Aragon track meet, and I placed 1st in the 100. I raced against the fastest girl on the team and could see her out of the corner of my eye the whole time. The highest I’ve done in the pole vault is 8’6” on the crossbar (and I’m tied for top three of all time at Aragon). I’m going for 9ft next, and then hopefully 9’6” by the end of the year. Eeeeks!
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Spring through the lenses of Literature and History |
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[in Just-]
by E.E. Cummings
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
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Spring has been a season of resilience and revolution in our country's past. Here is a [non-exhaustive] list of some of our nation's noteworthy events compiled by our social science teachers:
MARCH
1857 - New York City garment workers protest against working conditions, low wages, and for equal rights for women, an event that is commemorated annually as International Women's Day.
1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs the law abolishing slavery in Washington, D.C., paving the way for the Emancipation Proclamation
1898 - The Supreme Court issues a landmark decision in US vs. Wong Kim Ark, holding that children born in the US, even to parents not eligible to become citizens, were nonetheless citizens themselves under the 14th amendment
1955 - Claudette Colvin refuses to give up her seat in Montgomery, AL
1964 - Indigenous rights activists, led by the National Indian Youth Council, protest the denial of treaty rights at the Puyallup River Fish-in
1965 - "Bloody Sunday" - A peaceful march led by future Congressman John Lewis from Selma to Montgomery, AL, ends at the Pettis Bridge when police attack the protestors.
1978 - San Francisco passes the Human Rights Ordinance, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations in the private sector
APRIL
1775 - Quakers in Philadelphia form the first abolitionist organization
1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs the law abolishing slavery in Washington, D.C., paving the way for the Emancipation Proclamation
1963 - MLK issues his Letter from Birmingham Jail
1968 - The Indian Civil Rights Act grants tribes many of the rights provided to others under the Bill of Rights
1969 - The Rainbow Coalition is founded by Fred Hampton
MAY
1851 - Sojourner Truth delivers her "Ain't I a Woman" speech to the Women's Convention in Akron, OH
1886 - The Haymarket Affair in Chicago begins with a general strike that demanded an eight-hour work day
1894 - The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike in the United States, after which President Cleveland declared "Labor Day" a national holiday
1961 - The first Freedom Ride leaves Washington, D.C.
1967 - Black Panthers Protest the Mulford Act at the CA State Capital
1968 - MLK organizes the Poor People's March
1975 - 15,000 Chinatown community members unite in NYC to demand an end to discrimination in employment, housing, education, health, and all other social services for all minorities and working people
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About Asian American Hate by Laurie Tang
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I remember learning about the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Sandbox Riots in Rohrbach’s, researching the AAPI movement in the 60’s in Letke’s, and deep-diving into Critical Race Theory in Redgate’s. We, at Middle College, are so lucky to have these events and so many others taught in our curriculum, so that we are educated about actual US history-- the majority of students across the country, specifically AAPI (Asian American-Pacific Islander) students, never had the chance to even hear about Asian hate outside of the Japanese internment camps in WWII. Then what? We go on with our lives, believing that hate against us is minimal or even extinct. However, it is merely suppressed.
Just yesterday, a man drove through a protest rally and shouted a slew of racist profanities at them. Just last week, a Korean shop owner in Texas was beaten up in her own store. And the day before, eight victims, including six Asian women, were massacred in their own spas in Atlanta. In the police statement regarding the shooter in Atlanta, the captain simply claimed that the shooter was “having a bad day”, and that he wanted to blow off steam for his sex addiction; the department hesitates to call it a hate crime. His “bad day” led to the deaths of eight people and a wave of fear across the entire AAPI community.
At the height of the BLM protests, the entire country was saying the names of Breanna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery, among others; the activism, even performative, lasted for months, with hashtags trending everyday and black screens littering my feed on Instagram. I specifically remember thinking to myself, “If I was put in the receiving position of those black squares, I would punch someone.” Then it happened:
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I did punch a couple people.
This is all I’ve seen on my timeline about Asian American hate. There are a few tweets of resources scattered about, but the movement died out on the internet in about a week. The one time I, and millions of others, are finally heard, we’re only allowed to speak for a second, and then suppressed once more. Not only is it harmful to the safety of AAPI, but to our reputation as well: it continues to perpetuate the model minority myth and silence us under that pretense. Can anyone reading this even name two of the victims from the Atlanta shootings?
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If you can’t, here they are for your reference:
Xiaojie Tan, 49
Daoyou Feng, 44
Hyun Jung Grant, 51
Suncha Kim, 69
Soon Chung Park, 74
Yong Ae Yue, 63
Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, 33
Paul Andre Michels, 54
Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, was shot as well, but is still “alive and fighting for his life," his wife lamented.
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Hyun Jung Grant and her two sons: |
It’s infuriating that my friends and I are afraid even to go thrifting on Haight Street or eat out at Japantown without getting shoved, shouted at, or mocked. Every Asian American/ Pacific Islander I know has experienced racism targeted at them, including myself. Yet no one else hears any of it; those sentiments never leave the AAPI community. Even here at Middle College, many are naive to the microaggressions we experience daily, and even contribute to them; the wellest-meaning intentions do not equate to kindness.
I could go on and on about the topic, but this supposed blurb would turn into an entire essay. So for now, here are some resources:
Articles:
Youtube videos:
Resources:
As students, teachers, and parents who live in the state with the highest Asian American/ Pacific Islander population in the country, it is especially urgent that the issue spreads to protect our rights and to defend our safety. This is yet another result of white supremacy, and AAPI are not the only minority to experience something like this. I urge you to at least utilize the resources I’ve offered you and consider your stance and platform in sharing the issue at hand.
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Before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck. I have walked in the early spring through fields that will suck your boots off, a world so wet and woeful it makes you yearn for the return of ice. But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created.
Though spring begins slowly and tentatively, it grows with a tenacity that never fails to touch me. The smallest and most tender shoots insist on having their way, coming up through ground that looked, only a few weeks earlier, as if it would never grow anything again. The crocuses and snowdrops do not bloom for long. But their mere appearance, however brief, is always a harbinger of hope, and compelling headline and from those small beginnings, hope grows at a geometric rate. The days get longer, the winds get warmer, and the world grows green again.
In my own life, as my winters segue into spring, I not only find it hard to cope with mud but hard to credit the small harbingers of larger life to come, hard to hope until the outcome is secure. Spring teaches me to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility: for the intuitive hunch that may turn into a larger insight, for the glance or touch that may thaw a frozen relationship, for the stranger’s act of kindness that makes the world seem hospitable again.
Late spring is potlatch time in the natural world, a great giveaway of blooming beyond all necessity and reason – done, it would appear, for no reason other than the sheer joy of it. The gift of life, which seemed to be withdrawn in winter, has been given once again, and nature, rather than hoarding it, gives it all away. There is another paradox here, known in all the wisdom traditions: if you receive a gift, you keep it alive not by clinging to it but by passing it along.
From autumn’s profligate seedings to the great spring giveaway, nature teaches a steady lesson: if we want to save our lives, we cannot cling to them but must spend them with abandon. When we are obsessed with bottom lines and productivity, with efficiency of time and motion, with the rational relation of means and ends, with projecting reasonable goals and making a beeline toward them, it seems unlikely that our work will ever bear full fruit, unlikely that we will ever know the fullness of spring in our lives.
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Celebrating the Spring Equinox |
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Across the world, the transition into spring offers communities a chance to turns towards renewal, balance, community, and growth in celebration of a new season. |
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Nowruz marks the beginning of the Persian New Year, which begins on the spring Equinox and celebrates the rebirth of nature. Celebrated by more than 300 million people all around the world, Nowruz means the affirmation of life in harmony with nature, awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labour and natural cycles of renewal, and a solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life.
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As the sun goes down in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, MX, seven triangular shadows begin appearing on the north side of the Kukulcán pyramid, marking the start of spring. Theses shadows resemble the body of a snake, symbolizing the descent of Kukulcán god that comes to the ground to fertilize it for the upcoming harvest sea.
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Shunbun no Hi 春分の日 is a national holiday in Japan to welcome the spring. It is meant as a way to appreciate the natural blooming after the winter. Japanese buddhists visit the graves of family members to clean, replace flowers, and leave offerings for their ancestors.
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The festival of Holi in India marks the arrival of Spring. Also sometimes called as the “festival of love,” celebrators splash brilliantly colored dyes powders on each other and unite together to forget all resentments, turning instead towards love and gratitude.
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A significant characteristic of celebrating the spring equinox, or Chunfen 春分, is balance. On this day, as the sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 0 degrees (the equator); the duration of daytime and nighttime of the whole planet is approximately equal to each other. Children paint and balance eggs to symbolize this balance.
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Every Spring Equinox, Druids and Pagans in the UK gather at neolithic Stonehenge to see the sun rise over the stones. A time of renewal in both nature and the home, these rituals aim to remove any old or negative energies accumulated over the dark, heavy winter months, preparing the way for the positive growing energy of spring and summer.
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What will you do this Spring break? |
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Our Top 5 Picks:
I will live underground probably
Maybe LA to go see UCLA and USC
I will probably be a counselor for an online coding camp
Take care of my mental health
Hawaii!!
Runners Up:
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Perhaps going to visit Monterey
Food and boba and kdramas :D
Nope - just Reading Fanfiction, Playing Video Games, Watch Youtube and rinse and repeat
Sleeping in
Might participate in another design competition
Baking
Visit family
I am going to my grandmother's house after she gets her vaccine
I'm going to Zion with my family
Haven't thought that far yet
Probably just going to chill at home
It'll be nice to have that break when it comes up
I'm just planning to go to the beach with friends
Staying home
My plans for spring break are to (safely) go on a trip with my family
Exercise
I'm gonna sleep forever and play some video games with my brother
Visit colleges if possible
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Hopefully doing a road trip with one of my friends
Eat soup and sleep
No plans but to stay home and stay safe
Maybe going to Florida to look at houses or moving into a new house there
My 17th birthday!
Hopefully taking a trip with the family (Disneyland, Hawaii, road trip, etc. we are still planning!)
Probably going out with the family
idk we might go to lake Tahoe
Watching anime, playing games
Staying home
I might go to L.A
Probably will go to the beach.
I might visit my sister in MA
Santa Cruz for my birthday to go hiking and also try some restaurants with my family
Hopefully staying home so that the pandemic can settle down
Read a book
sleep?
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Have a folder and notebook for each separate class. |
Make your bed first and take out the little things last. |
Re-do your room and throw out the random crap you find |
YouTube new ways to organize your closet ex: Color, size, type of clothing |
Clean your desks/workplaces |
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Purge!! Go through all your stuff and get rid of everything you don't want or use often |
If you dread cleaning, play music, it always keeps me motivated to do even the most boring of chores. |
Get rid of everything you don't need. |
Keep the window open to get the fresh air and change scents to fit the season to feel better |
Always make sure your bed is made in your room before cleaning because it makes the biggest difference |
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Don't get attached to material items |
Throw away anything from last year that you aren't using, saves you from hoarding stacks of papers. |
Play some music of put a movie or tv show on. The hardest part about cleaning is getting the motivation to start, so finding ways to make it a bit more enjoyable for yourself is helpful. |
For organization in general if it takes 60 seconds to put away do it now rather than putting it off because the little things pile up |
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Chicken Picatta
By: Hannah Levine
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Ingredients and supplies needed:
- 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
- Salt and pepper
- All-purpose flour, for dredging
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (or white wine)
- 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions:
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.
- Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in the same manner.
- Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.
- Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock (or wine), and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning.
- Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove chicken to platter. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the sauce and whisk vigorously.
- Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.
- Enjoy your yummy chicken piccata!!
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Quinoa Asparagus Salad (aka Spring Tabouli)
By: Hannah Levine
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Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa (dry)
- 1 1/2 cup water
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Pinch salt
- 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups shelled fresh English peas (available at Trader Joes) or substitute shelled edamame, radishes, cucumber, snow peas, or even spring greens
- 3 scallions – thinly sliced at a diagonal
- ½ cup fresh dill (2 x .5 ounces packages) chopped (or sub-Italian parsley)
- ½ cup Italian parsley, more to taste.
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1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted (optional, or sub other nut or seed)
Dressing:
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1/3 cup olive oil
- zest from 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice ( 1–2 lemons)
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1/2–1 teaspoon kosher salt
- pepper to taste
Optional garnishes- crumbled goat cheese or feta, sliced avocado, sunflower sprouts or pea shoots, flower petals- chive blossoms are nice.
Instructions:
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Rinse the quinoa and place it in a pot with the water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and allow it to simmer on low heat for 12-15 minutes. Turn off heat, and let sit covered for 5 -10 minutes, then uncover, fluff with a fork and let it cool.
- While the quinoa is cooking, blanch the peas and asparagus in salted boiling water for just a few minutes, until bright and tender. Rinse under cold water.
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Place the cooled quinoa and blanched veggies in a bowl. Add the scallions, dill, and almonds and give a toss. Add the oil, lemon zest and lemon juice, and salt, pepper, and stir again.
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Taste, adjust salt and lemon, adding more if you like. If you are making this ahead, be sure to taste before serving as flavors will mellow – so I’ll usually add a little more salt and lemon.
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Serve with optional avocado, feta, goat cheese, sunflower sprouts.
- Enjoy your super fresh Spring Tabouli!!
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Apple Sharlotka (Russian Apple Cake)
By: Lauren Pravdin
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Ingredients:
6 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp (pinch) baking powder
1 lb (2 med/large) Granny Smith apples
Powdered sugar to dust the finished cake
Instructions:
- Butter a pan
- Preheat Oven to 340˚F.
- Peel and core apples, cut into small pieces.
- Using an electric stand mixer, beat 6 eggs with 1 cup sugar on high speed for 6 minutes until thick and fluffy.
- Whisk together 1 1/3 cups flour with a pinch of baking powder.
- Sift the flour into the foamy egg mixture in three increments, folding it in with a spatula to combine between each addition.
- Fold in the diced apples (reserving 1/2 cup diced apples), just until combined and transfer batter to a greased baking pan.
- Sprinkle the top with reserved apples and bake at 340˚F for 1 hour. The top will be golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes then you can slide a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen it from the pan.
- Once cake is near room temp, dust with powdered sugar and serve!!
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Dear Middle College,
It’s crazy that there are only less than two months left of school... that the seniors are going to be graduates so soon and the juniors are going to be seniors. We have some really fun things coming up, like community day and Middle College shirts that you can buy (make sure you lookout for the form and order one to show your support -- they are really nice shirts too!). Things are starting to look better -- there is in-person school now! Even though it’s not the same, it’s still good to have an option to go in person if you prefer that. Remember to look on the bright side of things and just know that things get better -- this pandemic is a very good example of that. It’s been really tough for so many people, and it’s not the way that any of us saw school going, but it has improved for the better; San Mateo is now in orange when we used to be in purple! And we're sure that things will continue to get better -- they already are!
Have a great Spring Break everyone, and BE SAFE!
--The Team at the MC Newsletter
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Editor in Chief: Hannah Levine |
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Co-editor in Chief: Lawrence Kupfer |
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Managing Editor: Justin Lai |
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