The Present Dei

By Joshua Papaqui, Staff Writer

The Verbum Dei Engineering Club was founded originally by Carolyn Westdal, Science Department Chair, and Dr. Shanika Bullins, former chemistry teacher and department chair. When the school instituted the Friday Schedule with its co-curricular period, it provided scheduled time for students to be active with clubs.

Westdal thought it was a good idea to start an Engineering Club so that student who were interested in the field of engineering would have an opportunity to explore careers within that field.

The current student leadership of the club is President George Rosales, senior, and Vice President, Joshua Papaqui, senior. These students are in charge of planning activities and projects for the club to work on during the club meeting on Saturday.

“I really enjoy this club; it’s a great club to be a part of and a lot of fun,” said Rosales.

Past activities have included the construction of bridges with Popsicle sticks and research into for specific careers in engineering, the average salaries for these workers, and the degrees and certifications required.

“I love this club because I was able to learn about careers that I was interested in and learn what I didn’t want to pursue,” said senior Jose Fraire.

By Nicolas Cortez and Gerardo Leon, Staff Writers

The “Adopt a Student Program” began in 2012 with a couple called simply “the honorees.” These honorees just wanted a way to donate to a Verbum Dei student and to connect with him. They donated on behalf of a student, and at the student’s graduation, the benefactors revealed that they had been financially supporting the student for the past four years.

When the program first began, benefactors were chosen at random, and some donors were confused about the letters they were receiving from students.  Some were not paying the minimum amount of support.  Now, the Adopt a Student program informs all donors of the program details, and benefactors are matched with incoming freshmen.  The benefactors select to give $5,000 to $10,000 on behalf of a VDHS student.

“The hope is that students stay with the same donor all four years, so the donor can see that student’s growth,” said Michelle Cordova, Mission Advancement Assistant.

The donors receive three assignments annually from the student they sponsor: a personal letter (an English assignment), a Corporate Work Study Program assignment, and a theology assignment. Additionally, there is a meet-and-greet event at the beginning of the year that provides an occasion for students to meet with their benefactors for an hour after school.

“Mission Advancement approached me years ago about the Adopt a Student Program,” said John Stradley, English teacher.  “They wanted each student to produce a handwritten personal correspondence that would serve to introduce the student to a benefactor.”

The letter format for freshmen was devised to offer benefactors some insight into the students’ families, their educational experiences, their hobbies and extra-curricular activities, and their goals, said Stradley.  The letters of the upperclassmen were designed to provide an update on the students’ progress and their aspirations for college.

“The students see the benefactors as important, so they tend to invest themselves in these writings more than they might in other assignments,” said Stradley.

“What donors love is that they can definitely see the students growth from 9th graders to 12th graders,” said Cordova.

Donors often reciprocate and send letters to the students they sponsor; they might recognize a student’s birthday, send a Christmas greeting, and/or wish students good luck on their final examinations.

“One of the things students like about the program is that they are not obligated to support them like their parents, but they do so anyway,” said Cordova.

“The goal is that when students graduate, they understand the importance of the program,” said Cordova.  “[Ideally, our alumni will] adopt students of their own when they become successful.”

Currently the Adopt a Student program has three alumni who are now giving back to Verbum Dei by sponsoring current Verb gentlemen.

The buy-in for prospective sponsors is $10,000, but if a donor is not able to sponsor at that amount but really wants to be a benefactor, a $5,000 buy-in is acceptable.  The education-related expense for each Verb student is estimated to be $18,000.

By Randdy De Paz, Staff Writer

Students are seen inside of the Verbum Dei High School bungalow studying and preparing for tests as a group. The tranquil, quiet, and calm learning environment lets the students focus on their preparation for a test that is soon to come.

The Student Resource Center (SRC)is a on-campus facility that assists students of all grade levels who needs tutoring, and it also provides a quiet environment for study. This area on the campus is accessible to everyone during and after school. The Student Resource Center is located in the bungalow between the 200 Corridor and the school parking lot. The SRC is furnished with many tables and a couple of computers, so students can work on homework or study for upcoming tests.

“I have been inside of the Student Resource Center, and it has a great learning atmosphere,” says sophomore Luis De Paz.  The Student Resource Center has received additional compliments from the students who get the help they need.

Despite this praise, there are still students who have not utilized the services of the Student Resource Center. “I don’t frequently go inside of the Student Resource Center, but I would like to get into the habit of studying there,” said senior Anthony Valentin.

In its first year of operation, the Student Resource Center has not been fully utilized by the student body; however, word is spreading, teachers are requiring select students to frequent the center, and incentives for attendance are being offered.

By Christopher Poz, Profiles and Features Editor

Senior Square at the heart of Verbum Dei has had that designation for about 18 years, but the senior reign over the square seems to be fading away.  Within the past few years or so, the dominion of the seniors over “the Square” has begun to be forgotten, and underclassmen are seen on and about the formerly privileged patch of sod now more than ever.

Many years ago, the seniors took great care of the Square and they took pride in it being only for seniors.

“Seniors claimed it, and it became a tradition of ‘No one but seniors get this spot,’ ” said Jeff Bonino-Britsch, Vice President of Operations.

According to Bonino-Britsch, the Square would get violent sometimes as seniors exerted their dominance over the square.

“People got thrown out of there,” said Bonino-Britsch, “backpacks were thrown in to see if [underclassmen would] go get them.”

“The slogan for Verbum Dei used to be ‘Only the strongest shall survive,’ ” said Bonino-Britsch.  However, Bonino-Britsch likes the idea of the square becoming more available to lower classmen as well.

“Now I think it’s a brotherhood,” said Bonino-Britsch.

In more recent years, the tradition of the Senior Square has been taken less seriously, and it does not appear to be in full swing anymore.

“I feel like the Senior Square wasn’t taken as seriously, or it didn’t have the respect that they told us it had,” said Angel Soto, Verbum Dei alumnus.  “It became a thing where anyone was really allowed to be on the Square.”

To this day, the seniors are not as pleased with the Square as they thought they would have been.  However, this may be at the fault of the senior class.  Few seniors enforce the tradition, so not much is done to lower classmen who walk on the Square.

“Back in the day, [freshmen] used to physically get removed by the seniors, and we had to stop them because there were a lot of people who ended up getting hurt,” said Christopher Clarkston, who served as Campus Security prior to VDHS contracting with a security firm.

Now, it’s kind of hard to give a JUG to underclassmen for being on the Square when [the seniors] allow it.  [Seniors] invite underclassmen, so we don’t know who can, and who can’t, so it’s hard to enforce it, said Clarkston.

The Senior Square is a tradition that seems to be fading away, but it may be the senior class who lets this happen.

By Khalid Nelms, Staff Writer

The Black Student Union, one of many clubs at the Verb, is , which is composed of students from all grade levels. The Black Student Union (BSU) promotes activities of interest for the student body and is also a cultural benefit, as well as educational benefit, for every student.

The BSU strives to unite and to educate students about their African American heritage, but it also hosts dances, promotes educational events like the Black College Expo, and invites students to go on college trips. The moderators for the Black Student Union are Paul Hosch, Antoinette Bowie and Jensen Fluellen. These professionals strive to expose Verb gentlemen to the college life and how to live life as young black men in America.

The Black Student Union has been a part of Verb’s clubs for decades.

“To my knowledge the Black Student Union was established prior to my return to Verbum Dei,” said Fluellen.  “I am unaware of its exact establishment. I will venture to say that BSU started as an opportunity for those interested in learning more about their culture or a different perspective.”

As an Alum of Verbum Dei, Fluellen is motivated to be a better role model for the young men who need a sort of big brother and to those who want to learn about their culture.

“After the departure of a colleague I was assisting, I felt it was important to the existence of the club to step up and moderate the club,” said Fluellen.  “I feel there is value in having cultural clubs on campus.”

For example, said Fluellen, a high school’s BSU is an opportunity to expose students to a college-like student life. If a Verb student chooses to go to a large university (that is not an Historically Black College or University), the hope is to minimize some anxiety that might be felt.  The student is aware of a resource to seek out to make the campus smaller, to make friends faster, to get involved on campus, to enrich other students’ experience, or to be a guide to other students who share same cultural interests, says Fluellen.

Of course, Verb students have to choose a club, and it is important for them to realize how to learn about how the world sees them, said Fluellen, but BSU has continually gained followers throughout the years.

“The importance of BSU is to provide a space to address some of the cultural challenges: misappropriation in society of African American/Black culture and social  problems [and to recognize] high points, reflect on history and provide adaptive insight for others. In addition, [BSU] provides resources to guide students to and through college,”said Fluellen.

The Associated Student Body usually promotes all club events or events that students request for Verb, but BSU promotes its own  events as well, such as the popular “Jersey’s and Js Dance” last year.

“Open honesty,” said Fluellen.  “I think is important. I asked students to come to meetings; they did, and most never left.”

“BSU provides opportunities for outings such as the San Diego State College Conference that members attended,” said Fluellen.

The meetings can be impactful at times, especially when addressing things that happen to young black men of our age, said Fluellen.

“I speak with the executive board about items they want to address and collectively [we]rank importance. We encourage the members to think critically when making a decision on an event and to have a sound ‘why?’ said Fluellen.  ” ‘What is the goal?’ and ‘How does it align with a topic, concern, or situation?’ ”  Events are member-planned and executed, thoughts from the moderators are given, but we oversee; we try to allow the leaders that have taken the reins to lead,” says Fluellen.