Friday, March 27^th marked the second annual Staff and Alumni football game. Teachers and coaches shared the gridiron with graduating players from the Varsity football team for an energetic match-up.

Last year, the Staff won. “We are the defending champs,” explained Principal Herzfeld, “We have our pride at stake.”

The competition was intense. Neither side gained headway until senior Nyko Gonzales broke the ice with the first touchdown, thrown by quarterback Steven Santana.

The Students maintained the lead into the second half, with Santana shooting another scoring pass to Dylan Itkoff. Itkoff shared his thoughts on the competition, laughing that, “The old guys try.”

The Staff rallied with a score by soccer coach and teacher Jason Smith, passed by Football\’s Head Coach Shipp. Girls\’ soccer coach and teacher Alyson Spencer tied the game scoring a second touchdown in the final minute.

The tie led to a strong finish by the Students in Overtime. Coach Shipp threw an interception, and it was caught by Steven Santana and returned for a score. Santana quickly followed his goal on the next drive with a touchdown pass to senior Hayden Toney.

The Students won 4 touchdowns to 2, despite the valiant efforts of the FVHS Staff. 

California education code mandates that by March 15th teachers must receive notice, or “pink slips,” that they are no longer guaranteed a job because of deep state budget cuts on schools. As of now, 26,590 California teachers have received pink slips. Because March 15^th falls on a Sunday, Friday the 13th has been dubbed ”Pink Friday.”

Fountain Valley High School has, and will continue to be, affected. The layoffs come in the wake of $11.6 billion in California budget cuts to public education. In the Huntington Beach Unified School District alone, 114 teachers may lose their jobs. At FVHS, more than 5 certified teachers and our librarian are in danger of losing their jobs.

The California Teachers Association organized “Pink Friday–Stand Up For Schools” to show solidarity and protest the budget cuts to education and the teacherd layoffs.

Today, teachers, parents, students, and supporters demonstrated throughout California. Locally, educators from Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, and Westminster demonstrated with a march from Ocean View High School to the intersection of Beach and Warner in Huntington Beach. 

The march lasted from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and ended at Lamppost Pizza where free pizza and drinks were served. Pink Friday supporters carried signs such as “Schools Need to Come First” and “You\’re reading this sign because a teacher taught you” and wore pink and black shirts saying: California Spending [on education]: 47^th [in the nation] to protest the pink slips and the cuts to education.  

Public Notices: LOVE LETTERS

Thank you to those who purchased “Love Letters” from the Baron Banner. Your contribution makes our publication possible!

Cindylamchopper <3  Binh the Bunny

Miss Taylor: You are, and always will be The One. –Dr. Poff

Courtney Garrity, I think you are scrumpdiddlyumptious and you are a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious friend. I love you! Mari

All to of my “kids”: Have a great Valentine\’s Day! Make good choices. Mama M.

To Bert without a mustache. I love you so much. You\’re amazing. I can\’t wait until Valentine\’s Day. Love Raychl

To Bert with a mustache— I like you. I\’m so glad I met you, hun. Happy Valentine\’s Day. -Love Anonymous.

Albert Nguyen, age is but a number to me. Swim your way to your heart! –Your most ardent admirer

Trevor & Niles Marquez,
Happy Valentine\’s Day! I love you! –Mom

Madame Jones— Nous vous aimons! Merci beaucoup. Vous êtes très chouette ! – Love votre AP classe, period 3

Rachel Lynn London White: You\’re just amazing. –Andre P.S: I love you more.

I would write you a letter,
But I\’ve got something better.
Love. Happy Valentine\’s Day, Brina.

Mrs. Henderson! Woof Woof (I love you!) Happy Valentine\’s Day! –Love Scout

Boo! Happy Valentine\’s Day, Joseph Pham! Jennie\’s cool. You\’re not. Just kidding. I love you babe. 101107 <3 -Love always, Jennie

Well, I don\’t have a Valentine, so I\’m celebrating S.A.D. – Singles\’ Awareness Day. :] But I guess I\’ll take this opportunity to give a shout out to my cat—I love you!

H.T.H. – you are purely AMAZING! I will never forget “Warner & Magnolia,” cleaning the janitor\’s closet, and almost getting arrested with you. I\’ve had the time of my life with you. <3 L.L

Dearest Ellen Akashi,
You warm my heart.
You\’re as cool as Sweettarts.
I like Sweettarts. *hint hint*
–Love, Casey Odd

I miss you all Baron Banner kids! Hope to be back soon! Love, Amanda

Kara, el amor de mi vida. Tu piel es porcelana. Pero cuando no estás conmigo, siempre pienso en ti. –Tu admirador secreto

Happy Valentine\’s Day from your favorite librarian.

Annette, these past months have made me realize that I love you and hope to never lose you. –Your BF, David

Claudia, Nesli, Annie, and Sophia, we\’ve been through so much together since Masuda. I hope we stay friends Forever. Love ya!

Dear Valerie: You make my life miserable, but I would not have it any other way. Love, Kara

From one lover to another, keep me in your heart. I love you, Tiffy! –Vinson

Dearest Kimmie,
So, we wanted to give a secret something away, but I got this ‘cuz I felt bad. -Ellen

Chikapoo! Too many more good times and adventures! -Dustin Vu

Ian Leo, you\’re sooo sweet!
Going out with you would be a treat!
Love your Secret Admirer

Ms. LaFramboise, thanks for everything. Your class was challenging, but very fun. Thanks for all your support and enthusiasm.

Kyle Sugitan, this is for you:
My heart to you is given:
Oh, do give yours to me;
We\’ll lock them up together,
& throw away the key.
- Your Opposite

To the sweetie whom I love so much (don\’t deny it). I haven\’t felt happy like this in awhile. ~ Cutie <3

Aarushi—I\’ll be waiting in New York City!
— J.F.

Good luck in college, Ricky! You were great, and Mock Trial will miss you! And…the Game. — Matthew

Wendy, you are the epitome of the female persona, all in a petite package!
Love, Alan

Valerie, I owe you so much for the things you have done for me, and I will make up the debts. I promise.
— Anonymous

Dear Jaime,
I have twenty words to express my feelings. So, here it is. I love you, always and forever.

Happy Valentine\’s Day Beckaffanayah! I love you! — Sarah Yoo

Julie, I simply cannot put into words how I feel for you. There\’s just not enough words…

NECAS= the best group EVER! All the laughs, sleepover(s), hangouts — it\’s impossible to erase the memories…thru thick & thin — love you guys <3 C.

Hey Kyle, even though I scare you, I hope this Valentine’s Day gives you enough courage to stop running away.

Tim: Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.
Love, Rick

Ms. Ziller, I didn\’t enjoy the subject you taught, but I definitely enjoyed the class and way you taught it. — former student

Peter Nguyen & Sean Goebel,
Hope this brings a smile to your faces. Study hard; don\’t let the squirrels beat ya!

Señor Yarton. No me gusta usted mucho. ¿¿Por qué tocómi ipod?? Usted es loco y no quiero estar en su clase.

El mensaje de arriba no es serio y pensamos que Señor Yarnton es un maestro magnífico. = )

To Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Penhall, admit it already: you guys are like two peas in a pod! = ]

Miles part, I\’ll remember how your random twitching made me smile,a nd your sleeptalking made me laugh. I love you.

Aboo, I hope your Valentine\’s Day is as sweet as you are, because you\’re my sweetheart. –Honey bee

Do you have photos from a FVHS school event that you would like put up, or like a Baron Banner photographer to shoot photos at an event? E-mail baronbanner@fvhs.com, and we will get back to you as soon as possible!

Thank you!

“Objection Your Honor, this question calls for hearsay.”

“Care to explain, counsel?”

“Yes, your honor. This question is not being used for the truth of the matter. It goes to show the motive of the witness which is a possible explanation for the defense\’s theory as to third party culpability.”

This is not the typical dialogue one would expect high school students to engage in, but to about 30 FVHS students, this was much of their lives for the first four months of school.

Since August, the FVHS Mock Trial team has been preparing for its court cases in the Santa Ana Court House against other Orange County high school Mock Trial teams. The Mock Trial participants recreate a real court case. Hours of effort, weekdays and weekends, went into the rigorous mental and physical preparation.

The participants each received a mock case packet. This year, it was an arson case. With the available facts, witness statements, and stipulations, the team went to work committing the facts to memory, creating script outlines, researching outside information, and searching for loop holes to use against the opposing team.

The team split into two groups, defense and prosecution, to argue the two different sides of the arson case. Participants auditioned for different roles ranging from attorney to witness.

FV\’s final result of the season, 3^rd place in Orange County, demonstrated that the long hours of practice and rehearsals were well worth the effort. Although the team started off a little shaky, it rapidly gained momentum. FVHS steadily took down many competitive rival schools and pushed them out of the competition.

In its 6^th round, the FVHS Mock Trial team was presented with a surprise. Going into the court room, the team does not specifically know which school they are arguing against. They can only guess from the list of names of the schools that have not been eliminated. FVHS went up against Santa Margarita Gold High School, the rival school that had defeated FVHS last year in elimination rounds. This year however, Santa Margarita Gold got their own surprise when FVHS came back with a smashing victory, a win that catapulted FV into the semi-finals.

FV was eliminated in the semi-finals round to Woodbridge, one of the strongest Mock Trial team in the county, and the eventual winner in the year\’s competition.  Despite the loss, FV\’s 3^rd place Orange County win is already considered impressive and one of the best in FVHS Mock Trial history.

“Well, the season started off a little shaky, but we pulled through and it turned out to be one of the best seasons I have ever seen,” says team captain Richard Ludlow, senior. “In our final match, we ended up losing to the Orange County champions, but not without taking down a number of our competitive rivals in the process.”

“This season was a lot of work, but it definitely paid off when we got to the semi-finals. 3^rd place out of about 40 teams in Orange County is not bad at all,” says sophomore Tyler Palsulich. 

Having come this far, the Mock Trial team has more confidence than ever to keep its standing as one of the top Orange County teams.

“I\’m very proud of my Mock Trial kids,” says Mrs. Ziegler, English teacher. “Especially after seeing them put so much effort and time into this competition, it was very exciting seeing them in action. Mock Trial is one of the best extracurriculars to participate here at FVHS—if not the best.”

By Neslihan Yilmaz, Business manager

Out of the years of chaotic and seemingly disorganized construction work at FVHS, what most students feel has affected them the most is not the loud noise or leaky ceilings, but the extreme air conditioning.

Currently, the temperatures in classrooms are controlled via computer. While many people think the school\’s maintenance team would have complete control over it, the new AC system is mostly in the hands of EMCOR, the company that installed it. What controls the teachers have do not work.

The temperature and reactions to the almost uncontrollable AC system are at two ends of the spectrum.

“It\’s either really hot or really cold. It\’s the extreme of one or the other,” says business teacher Ms. Emerson.

Students and teachers are worried that the extreme variations in temperatures may affect students negatively and make it difficult to pay attention.

“It contributes to sicknesses, which in turn is detrimental to our learning environment,” says senior Michael Kimura.

Many students have different preferences ranging from slightly colder to slightly warmer, but most find the current classroom temperatures to be outside the range of their desired “climate.”

“Most of the time, it\’s freezing inside and very hot outside. If you could average the two temperatures, it would be perfect,” says senior Sophia Lam.

“Look at these goose bumps,” points out senior Kevin Truong as he describes the extreme cold he endures during class every day. “I wear a jacket only for my classes.”

Some believe that classroom temperature control should be left in the hands of the teachers, like it was prior to the new and “updated” system.

“It sure would be nice if they trusted teachers enough to control their own room temperature,” says English teacher Mrs. Palmer. “Apparently, we are not qualified.”

Some others feel that the cold, which is the more common environment, benefits the students.

“I think it\’s fantastic; it stays nice and cool and keeps everyone awake. When people shiver, it\’s an automatic response and keeps students moving and alert, versus when it\’s warm and everyone is relaxed,” says Spanish teacher Mr. Yarnton

Despite the variety of opinions regarding this issue, not much can be done. Teachers are advised to report temperature complaints to maintenance if they arise.

“I have faith that someday it will all work as designed,” says Principal Chris Herzfeld.

For the time being however, students will have be like senior Kevin Troung, and bring those jackets to school just to wear in their chilly classrooms.

By Rachel McMillen Sports editor

This was all due to Edison\’s loss to Esperanza at about 9:30 p.m. If Edison had won, they would have taken sole possession of the Sunset League Title. However, because they lost, their record was brought down to 3-2, the same as Los Al, Esperanza, Newport Harbor, and us.

The title, therefore, will go to all five teams.

Also, because of their loss and this five-way tie, names were drawn from a hat to determine who would be going to the playoffs and in which seeded spots. If Edison had won, they won have taken the number one seed, we would have taken the number two seed, and Newport Harbor would have taken the number three seed.

Only three teams from each league are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Your seed determines the team you play first. Teams seeded first will play easier teams seeded third. Teams seeded second will play other teams seeded second.

Going into the Edison Esperanza game, Fountain Valley was actually hoping for an Edison win. Though this would have kept us from being named champs, we would have had a definite spot in the playoffs.

However, despite not getting our wish, we ended up better off. The coaches met directly after the game at Edison high school (the most central location) to draw for the seeded spots. Esperanza drew the number one spot, we drew the number two spot, and Los Al drew the number three spot.

Note you did not hear me mention Edison drawing any one of the top three seeds. That is because, due to karma I would like to believe, Edison did not get into the playoffs!

We are going in the same seed we would have been in if they had won, but we now get to share the Sunset League Title and have the satisfaction of knowing that, while they have the bell, Edison has officially ended their season and has no chance of becoming CIF Champions.

Lady Luck was definitely looking down on the Barons tonight and the rest of Orange County should be afraid. Next week the Barons are returning with a newly recovered quarterback, a new school record, and a lot of vengeance. They aren\’t going to leave anything to chance anymore.

This article is part of Baron Banner Now, a continuously up to date page on the Baron Banner Online. Editing takes place as the action occurs.

1969: EHS: 21 v. FVHS: 20 1970 EHS: 28 v. FVHS: 6 1971 EHS: 20 v. FVHS: 6 1972 EHS: 26 v. FVHS: 7 1973: EHS: 24 v. FVHS: 28 1974: EHS: 0 v. FVHS: 0 1975: EHS: 19 v. FVHS: 6 1976: EHS: 13 v. FVHS: 3 1977: EHS: 3 v. FVHS: 6 1978: EHS: 10 v. FVHS: 8 1979: EHS: 35 v. FVHS: 7 1980: EHS: 15 v. FVHS: 14 1981: EHS: 24 v. FVHS: 13 1982: EHS: 17 v. FVHS: 3 1983: EHS: 7 v. FVHS: 17 1984: EHS: 10 v. FVHS: 11 1985: EHS: 24 v. FVHS: 12 1986: EHS: 3 v. FVHS: 0 1987: EHS: 13 v. FVHS: 14 1988: EHS: 21 v. FVHS: 28

1989: EHS: 28 v. FVHS: 25 1990: EHS: 26 v. FVHS: 6 1991: EHS: 14 v. FVHS: 7 1992: EHS: 22 v. FVHS: 20 1993: EHS: 27 v. FVHS: 14 1994: EHS: 42 v. FVHS: 22 1995: EHS: 22 v. FVHS: 27 1996: EHS: 12 v. FVHS: 35 1997: EHS: 17 v. FVHS: 19 1998: EHS: 28 v. FVHS:42 1999: EHS: 21 v. FVHS: 35 2000: EHS: 16 v. FVHS: 3 2001: EHS: 19 v. FVHS: 10 2002: EHS: 16 v. FVHS: 28 2003: EHS: 22 v. FVHS: 8 2004: EHS: 20 v. FVHS: 21 2005: EHS: 34 v. FVHS: 0  2006: EHS: 31 v. FVHS: 9 2007: EHS: 22 v. FVHS: 13  2008: EHS: 14 v. FVHS: 7

Who do you predict will win the Bell game?

-Curious George

Now George,

I\’ve been researching and investigating this topic for quite some time now. It seems as though Edison has been beating us for, oh just the last *cough* three*cough* years.  

However, my crystal ball tells me that there\’s going to be a positive change. I\’m just not too clear on whether it\’s going to be them or us.

-Kiley

Dear Kiley,

What the heck is a Charger anyway?

-Mr. Baron

Dear Mr. Baron,

A Charger, according to Wikipedia, is: a device used to put energy into a secondary cell or rechargable battery by forcing an electric current through it.

-Kiley

Dear Kiley,

How did this whole rivalry start anyway?

- Iwannaknowmyhistory

Well Iwannaknow,

It goes a little something like this:

Once upon a time in Fountain Valley the Mighty Barons were the rulers in the land. But on one gloomy day in 1969 a group of savage monsters came tromping into the “nice place to live.” They were known as the Edison Chargers.

Ugly, booger green, and terrifically smelly, the Chargers challenged the Noble Barons in a Football Game for a train bell. The Barons did not want to fight, but felt it that if their neighbors wanted a nice game of football, they might as well give it to them. They also decided to let the Chargers win the first game just for courtesy\’s sake.

But the smelly savages took advantage.

“We won!” the Chargers cheered after the short game.

“But we let you win.”

“No, we won!”

The Barons were deep in their sorrow and full of rage. From then made a pact to never let the unfriendly Chargers win another game again.

Thus began the greatest rivalry in history.

-Kiley

Disclaimer: “Ask Kiley” columns have the accuracy of a magic 8 ball.