It was not a conventional day for Mission Viejo High School.  Hundreds of people swarmed the campus, all dressed in sharp looking business attire.  They carried brief cases, wore toe squishing shoes, and even brought laptops.  This seemingly odd crowd is made up of students.  More importantly, these people are Model United Nations delegates.

On Saturday, January 15 and Sunday, January 16, Fountain Valley High School\’s MUN club members attended the 28^th annual Mission Viejo High School Model United Nations conference.  They had an option of entering the novice or advanced conference; the novice conference was on Saturday from 8:15 AM-5:00 PM while advanced lasted until Sunday from 8:30 AM-3:30 PM.   The Barons were not called by their names, but represented the country of Spain.  Once they entered the campus, they would be only addressed as Spain.

Model United Nations is a program that simulates United Nations conferences, engaging students in serious international issues such as swine flu or small arms trafficking.  The conference is divided into committees focusing on categorized topics- whether it be health, social, drugs, or warfare.  Students are able to represent ambassadors from any country participating in the United Nations (which has a total of 192 countries).  The students show their country\’s policies by presenting their speech to all delegates or by discussing it with a smaller group of delegates during informal caucuses.  They must cooperate to create resolutions that encompass all aspects of the topic at hand.  There is one ultimate rule of conduct during these conferences: diplomacy.

Samia Syed (\’13) and Emily Lam (\’13) partnered up as dual delegates and Patricia Le (\’13) was a single delegate from the novice conference.  Samia and Emily chose the committee Security Council and negotiated over countries\’ input in Nuclear Iran while Patricia participated in ECOSOC to discuss human trafficking.  Noushin Ahdoot (\’13) and Vicky Nguyen (\’13) attended the advanced committee Interpol to find solutions for bio-terrorism, Israel and Palestine, and the Nigerian oil crisis.

Samia Syed and Emily Lam swiped a research award for their thorough three-page paper on Spain\’s policy concerning Nuclear Iran and Patricia Le took home an Oustanding Delegation award.  The MUN club advisor, David Uribe, happily congratulated the young delegates\’ achievements.  With a successful day at the Mission Viejo High School MUN conference, the delegates could truly refer back to Mr. Uribe\’s words, “MUN is FUN”.

On Saturday December 4th, Fountain Valley High School’s Model United Nations team went to Mira Costa High School for the annual Los Angeles Invitational Model United Nations Conference. This was the first time that FVHS had attended LAIMUN and it was their second conference of the year.

Model United Nations is a great place for students interested in world affairs to understand the complexities of solving some of the world’s great problems. Debate and international cooperation are combined with most importantly, fun. Often, at the end of a conference, delegates feel accomplished once they have reached a compromise and can work together to solve problems. This is a feat that most real UN conferences cannot feasibly accomplish. Although not recommended, rivalries between nations add a little fun to the conference as well. After all, things can get more interesting when Lebanon declares war on Egypt.

Mira Costa High School hosts this conference every year for freshmen and sophomores in MUN. FVHS sent Vicky Nyguen (\’13), Emily Lam (\’13), and Samar Saad (\’14) to represent The Republic of Panama on a variety of topics. Emily Lam spent the day discussing Dengue fever in the World Health Organization while Vicky was engaged in a thrilling and awakening debate about human trafficking.

Fountain Valley showed off our diplomacy skills and engaged in some truly interesting topics, successfully bring home one Commendation Award. Vicky and Emily look forward to the next, more advanced conference at Mission Viejo High School sometime during next year.

The Baron Banner was able to interview some candidates competing for the Mr. Baron pageant at FVHS this Friday. Thang Nguyen answers our questions on why he should be Mr. Baron.

Baron Banner: What made you apply for Mr. Baron?

Thang Nguyen: Well, I didn’t actually apply per-se, it was more like Donald Chan filling out the application all willy-nilly and then getting my signature.

BB: What’s the difference between a man and a boy?

TN: The difference between a man and a boy is a man can take a bullet, and a boy cries at it.

BB: What activities do you participate in?

TN: Academic decathlon, Mu Alpha Theta, FBLA, and I used to be in the chess club.

BB: What would you consider your greatest strength?

TN: My greatest strength is to take a bullet.

BB: And your second?

TN: It would be the ability to adapt to any situation no matter how dire the circumstances.

BB: What motivates you?

TN: Knowing that I am better than at least one person in the world!

BB: What do you think is fashionable to wear?

TN: Have you looked at me? I’m not very fashionable am I? I think what would be fashionable would be black, white, and blue. Any combination of those things is okay.

BB: What are some traits an ideal Baron should posses?

TN: He should be intellectual. He should be strong. He should take a bullet.

BB: Good luck in the competition!

TN: I don’t need luck!

On April 15-18, the FVHS Future Business Leaders of America Chapter attended the annual State Leadership Conference, held this year at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. From participating in workshops to competitions, members learned more about the American enterprise system. It was the chapter\’s first time at the state conference in two years.

Several members received awards. Co-President Mina Pham-Tran (\’10), senior Shary Nguyen, and sophomore Lai Pham placed third in Banking and Financial Systems; Co-President Donald Chan (\’10) placed fifth in Marketing and tenth in Help Desk; senior Albert Lai placed sixth in Economics; and senior Henry Trinh placed sixth in Impromptu Speaking.

Mina Pham-Tran said, “We were a little shaky just coming back from Spring Break, but we pulled through.” Henry Trinh said, “The competition was nice and friendly. I haven’t had so much fun in a speech competition in a long time.”

At the Fountain Valley City Council Meeting on April 20, the city honored several FBLA members for their performances at the state conference. The FBLA chapter is currently planning several fundraisers, such as a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament and a dine-out at Rubio\’s, to help offset the cost of the conferences.

The banking team and Donald Chan both qualified for the National Leadership Conference to be held this July in Nashville, Tennessee and are planning to attend.

March 18, 2010

By Michelle Doan, Design Manager

Theater Students before the competition

Carpe Pulpitum, seize the stage—the slogan served as this year\’s slogan for the Fullerton College Theatre Festival which was held between Friday, March 12 and Saturday, March 13. High school drama programs from all over Southern California, including our own, attended this enormous event to compete for awards and stage experience in acting, improv, Tech Olympics, make-up design, and musical theatre.

The special guest host was Dante Bosco, voice actor for the character Zuko in the Nickelodeon television show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. At the opening ceremony, he spoke about his previous experience in high school theatre in Southern California, but many of the students were overwhelmed to see the voice of Zuko in person.

“I couldn\’t concentrate on what anyone was saying,” said Melissa Jean (\’12), “I was paying too much attention on Dante\’s voice and amazed that he played Zuko. All I wanted him to say was, ‘Uncle,\’ and my life would be complete.”

After the opening ceremony, students were separated into their respective groups and assigned rooms at scheduled times for their performances. FVHS Advanced Drama, supervised by department director Eva White, competed in the Contemporary Humorous Monologues or Scenes, Contemporary Dramatic Monologues or Scenes, Classical Humorous Monologues or Scenes, Classical Dramatic Monologues or Scenes, and Theatre Games (improv) categories.

Of the performances, only one—Emily Fitzpatrick\’s (\’11)—was able to make it to the final round. She presented a classical humorous monologue as Helena from A Midsummer Night\’s Dream by William Shakespeare, a play which our Theater Department had put on not too long ago. Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick was not able to place, but she did make to the top ten in this highly competitive section of the festival.

Although they did not win any awards, Baron Drama students were encouraged to compete again because of the many trophies handed to competing schools. It was their first time attending the Fullerton College Theatre Festival, and they plan to attend the festival again next year.

“These festivals serve as a learning experience for all of us,” said co-department director Crystal Jerabek, “After gaining experience at Fullerton, we just need to get more motivation and energy to make sure we have what it takes to win awards at the next festival.”

Tickets to Fullerton College\’s musical theatre production of the Broadway play, RENT, were given out to fifteen members from each school on the nights following the festival. After a long weekend, RENT served as a relaxing ending to their trip.

“The performance was really good,” said Alexandra Peters (\’10), who wishes to pursue her dream to perform in Broadway, “But the person who sang as Maureen could have (sung) her part in ‘Take Me or Leave It\’ a lot stronger,”

FVHS Advanced Drama will be attending their next festival at Long Beach in April. There, the department hopes to perform stronger, and with more confidence.

Teeming with surf fans, BMX spectators, and fashion enthusiasts, the Huntington Beach pier was flooded with spectators cheering on their high school in the Walk the Walk Hurley fashion show on Friday, July 24^th

Supporters with foam fingers, t-shirts, and pom-poms strove to win the $10,000 grand prize for the most creative, energetic, and fashionable high school on the runway.

Amanda Hsu (\’10) says, “I helped out with last minute preparations the day before the actual competition. It was amazing to see the amount of work that goes into just five or ten minutes on the runway. Just being part of the behind the scenes crew for one day was exhausting.”

Celebrities on the judging panel included Bob Hurley, Rosemary Brantley of Otis College, actors Wilmer Valderrama, Scott Eastwood, Adam Gregory, former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz, and SVP of Hurley Design John Cherpas.

Lincoln High School of San Diego won the judges over and took home the check. FVHS senior Hans Dose, however, won “best original male outfit design” for the entirely original outfit he designed.

The judges were impressed after FVHS\’s performance as Bob Hurley exclaimed, “Great energy and awesome props!”

“Although our school didn’t leave as the champions, we certainly put up a good fight. It was great to see how many people came to the event to cheer on our fellow Barons,” says Hsu.

Performances during and after the show perfected the day for Orange County fashion and surf celebrants. Skater/rapper Jayne Deaux jump-started the show with a lively performance, while hip-hop artist Murs kept the crowd going in between competing schools, and Shwayze and Cisco ended the night with 5 original songs including “Rich Girls”, “Corona and Lime”, and “Buzzin\’.” The pair was the highlight of the day for many of the spectators.

All who attended had a memorable time even though FVHS did not bring home the check.

The FV Percussion Team has had an exciting past two weeks performing in two major events.  

Two weeks ago, the FV Percussion Team headed off to Green Oak High School in Temecula and performed “sdrawkcab” (backwards) in the SCPA (Southern California Percussions Alliance) finals. There, the team played and marched several parts of the show in reverse.  

Barons placed a remarkable 3^rd in the competition out of the many southern Californian high schools.  

The team credits much of its victory to intense practice. Their weekly Wednesday practices were from 5:30-9:00 and their Friday ones from 2:00-6:00. In this season alone, the team\’s practice hours totaled over 200.  

Last weekend, FV Percussion also competed in the WGI world championships in Dayton, Ohio. Several teams from across the country and the world, including a Japanese team, competed. 

FVHS placed 4^th overall, while King Phillips HS from Massachusetts placed 3^rd, Trumbull HS from Connecticut took 2^nd, and Pacifica HS from Garden Grove took 1^st.  

Andrew Neeld (‘10) adds, “It was really fun because we knew a lot of other kids from drum line and we got to see each other out of state and represent Southern California.”

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. 

On February 27, 2009, the Fountain Valley Science Olympiad team competed against 19 other Southern Californian high schools, such as University High School and Northwood High School, at Golden West College in an all day regional event. Barons participated in 15 different events that ranged from lab sciences to engineering based events.  

Junior Duke Lee describes the event as “a competition set in an intense atmosphere,” especially with national champs Troy High School among the competitors. 

This year\’s events were Cell Biology, Dynamic Planet, Forensics, Disease Detectives, Chemistry Lab, Health Science, Physics Lab, Herpetology, Fossils, Astronomy, and Write it, Do it. 

Science Olympiad offers students a chance to explore different fields of science other than what is already offered school. Many students involved have shown particular interest in the engineering events by either participating in the construction of the devices or by watching the events in action. Engineering events require students to build the devices within specific limitations while acquiring an understanding of the topic tested.  

Electric Vehicle participant Calvin Nguyen (‘09) says, “Electric Vehicle was great! There\’s nothing better than building an electric vehicle that can only go in a straight line for a certain distance.”  

Although the engineering events are considered to be more fun and interesting than lab sciences, they present a difficult task and take considerable amounts of time.  

Elevated Bridge participant Easton Morris (‘11) said, “The engineering events were a challenge of mind, but mostly spirit. The Elevated Bridge took two days to build!” 

Other team members participated in events which required more studying and less hands-on work, such as Health Science and Dynamic Planet. In order to prepare for such events, members studied for months to become experts in their events.  

Dynamic Planet, an earth science event which focused on earthquakes and volcanoes, could only be described by participant Kevin Truong (‘09) as “harder than Yarnton\’s tests.” 

The whole day, however, was not spent taking science tests and testing self-built apparatuses. Once all 15 events were over, participants attended the Science Quiz Bowl a Jeopardy-esque competition which was a potpourri of science topics ranging from chemistry to oceanography. The Barons, for a second year in a row, were matched against national champions Troy in the first round. Though victorious in the first round, Barons lost against Villa Park in the next round.  

Sophomore Zap Kenefick describes the day as, “excruciatingly enthralling,” with its mix of fun, competition, and cheesy science jokes. 

Fountain Valley\’s Science Olympiad team placed 3^rd in Cell Biology, 3^rd in Chemistry Lab, 4^th in Health Science and 6^th in Egg-O-Naut. Unfortunately, the Barons placed 10^th overall and will not be advancing to the state finals at Cal State Long Beach on April 18.