The Costa Mesa Athletics Department is issuing a new change this year. The major change this year is the installation of a new sprinkler system that will be installed into Costa Mesa High School's soccer field. This project was started around February and was waiting until the soccer season ended so that they were able to begin without interfering with the sports that needed the field. The soccer field was blocked and closed off to every student by a long fence that circles around it in order to keep people from getting in the way of the workers.

Other than some new sprinklers, the soccer field will also have installed in it a drainage system. This drainage system will be installed the same time as the sprinklers and is said to make the field better by making it more tolerant to the rain. This will allow the field to absorb the water so that there are not any mud puddles lingering around the field and causing any trouble for anyone who happened to walk through the field after some rain.

The new drainage system also provides with it some relief for any students wanting to play sports on the field. "If the field didn't have mud then that would be better cause I wouldn't have to step in mud and get my shoes dirty," said Mike Calderoun. The new drainage would absorb the excess water it receives from rain coming down and then make it so that the grass is dry and and no puddles make a mess for anyone walking on the field. This system helps the sports that use the field as a way to play their games or to practice such as soccer and football.

Athletics has also gained similar benefits in the past, such as equipment for the sports and the weight room that is stationed on the second floor of the gym. A year and a half ago, Costa Mesa Athletics was granted a seventy-thousand dollar loan by Costa Mesa United, which was used to buy equipment for the weight room. "There was a loan of seventy thousand dollars that was used to supply the weight room with new equipment," said Mr. Kiefer, the Boys Athletics Director and P.E Teacher. The loan was also used to provide for the needs of sports, but most of the money was spent on providing for the weight room.

In the future the Atheltics Department may issue some more changes that will be beneficial to students playing sports. With the new drainage and sprinkler systems, the Athletics Department hopes to better the activities of sports by keeping the field a clean and able place for students to play.

Earlier this week, the faculty of the school voted on whether or not there would be a new schedule next year. The plan for a new schedule was shot down by most of the faculty, a topic that had been discussed for the past month. The whole incident about whether or not there will be a new schedule has been talked about for over two years due to the intent to find a schedule that would better suit the students. Mr. Howell, a leading member behind the whole committee, said that there are three areas that are aimed to be covered by administration: student choice, enrichment, and support.

The administration wants high school students to have the ability to take more classes and to not have to sacrifice one for the other. They don’t want kids to have to make a choice on whether to chose AP World History or AP Spanish as the class of 2013 had to last year. Enrichment is another pathway sought after by administration, in that they want to provide classes that would help students in subjects such as math or literacy. Tutorial was an attempt to try to support students by giving them time to balance their needs.

Multiple straw ballots were held to have the faculty members vote on all the schedules that were invented. The schedule that was voted to the top by the faculty members would then be held in another ballot going against the original schedule. As stated in the first paragraph the new schedule was turned down resoundingly.

Among the committee on that was in charge of this whole event was Mr. Piazza, who stated that the schedule change would face many challenges mainly due to the fact that Costa Mesa High School is a mixture of a high school and a middle school. What would work well for high school would not work well for middle school and vice-versa. “The school is an organic complex” was a phrase Mr. Piazza used, which is a perfect analogy because just like a living organism, when something changes in the school, it changes everything around it. Were a new schedule to be placed upon the school, times would have to be set differently for almost every school service. Bus transportation times would have to be changed; school cafeteria staff would have to arrive at different times, as well as almost any other faculty member.

When asked about his opinion, Mr. Piazza answered, “ My opinion is that we have to come together as a school to choose a schedule we feel works best. To tell you the truth I would like block schedule for my classes where I would see them for three times a week so that they can work on projects more. But I don’t think for language or even for music classes that the  students will want to see the teacher everyday for practice. I understand that every teacher has their opinions but in the end we have to decide what would be better for the student, and that schedule will be the one I would vote for.”

What works for the student may not work so well for the teacher because if a schedule was put in place that had students go to one of their classes every other day, the student would spend less time with their teacher, but have the same amount of homework. If a schedule was put in place that allowed for eight periods, not only would there be extra sections that the school would have to worry about, but teachers would have to worry about more classes to govern. For the teachers, there were three meetings in which they were allowed to ask questions.

Mr. Howell said, when asked about his opinion, “I think that if we come up with a schedule that allows us to answer the three questions and not mess up other things that would be great. There is no perfect schedule, every schedule has problems. I have worked on all the schedules that have been proposed so far and none of them are perfect. There is no perfect schedule. But whatever we do choose if it does more to help the kids then I’m fine with it.”

Exciting, stressful, full of good times, and hard work – just a few phrases and words that would characterize the CMHS Virtual Enterprise classes’ experience at Oakland Trade Show and San Francisco.

Virtual Enterprise returned March 12th from Oakland and San Francisco with multiple awards, notably first and second place in the Venture Capital competition.

Virtual Enterprise is a Business Academy class for seniors that emulates a business. Similar to real corporations, in each class, there are multiple departments, such as Human Resources, Sales, and Accounting, with a CEO and CFO as their leaders.

This year, there are two companies: 1st Period’s The Great Park Wildlife Center, an animal rescue center that focuses on education and interactivity, and 3rd Period’s Abeille, a humane beekeeping company that produces honey and other bee products.   

Virtual Enterprise students left Friday night, chaperoned by Business Academy coordinators, Michael Sciacca, Cheri Sheldon, and Jennifer Hays. Although they stayed at the Marriott in Oakland, during their free time, the classes had the opportunity to experience the culture of San Francisco.

On Saturday, both classes took the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) from Oakland into San Francisco. They journeyed past Pier 31 and visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. To their surprise, a large group of nudist cyclists biked past both classes around Fisherman’s Wharf.

“I really liked San Fran and I’m very proud of Abeille. However, I definitely could’ve gone without the pack of crazy, naked bikers,” said Renae Andrade, Abeille’s Vice President of Accounting and Business Plan member. 

And later that night, both classes went into preparation mode for competitions the following day.

On Sunday, both The Great Park Wildlife Center and Abeille participated in the oral competitions: Marketing Plan, H.R. Scenario, and Venture Capital. After the first rounds of presentation, Venture Capital teams from both classes discovered that they had advanced to the final round. The other two competitions, however, were based on only one round of presentations, so they didn’t have finals.

After round one, the Virtual Enterprise classes visited Chinatown then returned for Venture Capital to compete in round two. After competition, they took their bus out to San Francisco again to visit the shopping districts, the trolleys, and Ghirardelli Square again.

The next day was the Oakland Trade Show, where virtual companies sold their products to other students for virtual money. Abeille sold honey while The Great Park Wildlife Center sold donations for their animals.

After the trade show, the award ceremony commenced. Awards were given to the top ten companies in each category (results of both classes are at the end). Notably, Abeille won 1st in Best Booth, 2nd in Salesmanship, and 2nd in Marketing Plan. The Great Park Wildlife Center won 1st in Venture Capital.

“It was really great to see our hard work, long hours, and passion for our business translate into success,” said Raquel Friedmann, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Abeille. 

“The trip was an unforgettable experience. It’s amazing seeing what you and your friends can pull off,” said Kyle Picco, Abeille Marketing Associate and member of their Marketing Plan team.  

Overall, Abeille did better in placing than The Great Park Wildlife Center for a majority of the competitions. They placed higher in almost all competitions, besides the Venture Capital competition.

“We did what we could and I’m proud of the effort that we’ve put in throughout the year,” said Cesar Chavez, the CEO of The Great Park Wildlife Center.

 “I’m really proud of our improvement. We placed higher for most of the awards than we did in Bakersfield because we took it as a great learning experience and learned from our mistakes. A true Abeille quality!” said Elena Perez, Abeille’s Vice President of Public Relations and was in charge of their booth.

With the end of this trade show marked the end of Virtual Enterprise for a majority of students, except for both classes’ Business Plan competition teams, who are competing in New York during the week of March 26th. Upon returning home, CMHS Principal Dr. Phil D’Agostino made sure to congratulate the Virtual Enterprise classes on their victories. He and his daughter will also accompany both Business Plan teams to the New York Nationals Competition to support them.

 “Our company did a fantastic job in Oakland. Now the business plan team is ready to dominate in New York,” said Brooke Morrow, the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of The Great Park Wildlife Center.

Abeille (3rd Period Virtual Enterprise)

1st in Best Booth

2nd in Marketing

2nd in Human Resources Scenario

2nd in Salesmanship

3rd place in Venture Capital

5th in Commercial

The Great Park Wildlife Center (1st Period Virtual Enterprise)

1st in Venture Capital

5th in Newsletter

6th in Marketing

7th in Commercial

7th in Human Resources Scenario

9th in Sales Catalog

Costa Mesa students gather to celebrate International Week.

Students rushed toward the cafeteria on Friday to experience Costa Mesa High’s annual International Week celebration. A majority of Mesa’s clubs were in attendance, but the cultural clubs were the ones with the strongest presence. Each cultural club sold something from their culture. For example, the Latino Culture Club sold carne asada tacos, rice, and chips and salsa. Pacific Islander Club sold fried chicken, macaroni salad, Hawaiian salad, egg rolls, and white rice. Even with the flutter of activity, many clubs reported smaller sales than the last Club Rush in December. Treasurer of Asian Club, Michael Nguyen said that the sales were smaller than last time. Vice President of the Latino Culture Club, Nakita Rico, stated that the sales were “not as great as we like it to be, but we are learning.” Contrary to the trend, Gamers’ Club had been doing well with their bacon-wrapped hot dogs. “They’ve been selling out every time,” Richard Carmody said. The B.S.U., or Black Student Union, also made its debut. The club was officially started this January and drew a rather large following of 20 members. The club sold barbecue ribs from the Newport Rib Company, corn bread, pasta, macaroni salad, and soda. Secretary of B.S.U., Justin Valesquez, said, “I think it’s a good beginning for a new club.”  The event was faced with a mix reaction. President of Asian Club, Peter Chau, had a positive opinion of the event saying, “It was legend....wait for it...dary!” While Daniel Lawrence, a Sophomore, said, “I enjoyed it, but I don't think there was enough clubs this time...not enough variety.” While the event seemed successful for some, it seems that this Club Rush needs more support if it is going to become truly successful.

Photos by Nicole Stanborough

MESA Club students participated in a MESA Tournament that was held at Chapman University on Saturday, March 10th. The participants entered many contraptions designed to complete different tasks, such as being able to fly, or using a mousetrap to propel their creation up a ramp. A total of six students also entered the MESA Competition in order to test out their intelligence in math by solving problems ranging from geometry to solving calculus.

In the Balsa Wood Glider category, two students, Geoff Fulkerson and Kage Kistler, worked as a team. Both Geoff and Kage had the objective of making a glider that would be able to stay in the air for as long as possible when launched, before finally hitting the ground. When the results were given out, their glider ranked first place in the category, giving Costa Mesa's MESA Club a victory over the other schools.

Another student , Jesus Lopez, entered a project into the Balsa Wood Airplane Category, which is slightly different than the Balsa Wood Gliders. While the Balsa Wood Gliders needed to be launched using a launcher, Jesus' plane had to be hand thrown and equipped with a propeller, which is supposed to help the plane cut through the air. In the end, Jesus' plane made it into the top three winners, scoring third place in the competition. "Coming in third place with several other competitors, I think I did pretty good," said Jesus Lopez. The judges, however, docked points off of Jesus' plane after he wasn't able to produce an accurate drawing of his project. "I would have come in second, maybe even first if I had drawn my airplane and accurately measured it," explained Jesus," but I'm glad I came in third place."

In the Mousetrap Car Category, students had to construct a vehicle that would be able to move once the trap is set. Depending on the car made, the objective would differ. Valarie Keller and Jessica Vera entered a Mousetrap Car into the Accuracy portion, in which their Mousetrap Car would have to stop at a specific point and line up with a dot marked on the car itself. Their car managed to pull off third place in the Accuracy Portion giving Costa Mesa another win. Quan Nguyen's mission was to construct a Mousetrap car that would be able to move up a ramp. He won first place in his category, giving MESA a major win in the tournament. The last winner in the Mousetrap Category goes to Joseph Rouintree, who won first place in the Mousetrap Car Design portion. "I feel bad for the other competitors that spent time designing their cars," said Joseph, "I just walked in my room and grabbed a random Kinex Car I had built years ago, then strapped a mousetrap to it."

Competitors in Team Mathquest were able to obtain wins when they managed to outsmart competitors, both in Geometry and Calculus. The Geometry Team, Leo Doan, Sophie Nguyen, and Serena Ozonur, pulled off second place in their category while the Calculus Team, Tam Le, Matthew Morgan, and Quan Nguyen managed to snag third place. Last but not least, Raquel Friedmann and Tam Le competed in the Eggdrop Category and took fourth place.

The MESA Club accumulated many wins this time and are proud of the accomplishment. "I feel the MESA Competition went really really well and I thought the students did a great job and worked really hard, even the ones that didn't win," replied Mr. Poveda, one of the coordinators of the MESA Club. Twelve of the MESA students would be competing once again in the regionals, which starts in the month April. "I am really proud of the students," said Mr. Poveda, "I think they did an amazing job."

Tears from Whitney’s Houston’s best friend, dripping down her face as Kyra Philips, reporter for CNN, tries to keep the story on the track she wants. This is how High School Journalism Day began at USC for The Equestrian staff.

Two weeks ago, eight members ofThe Equestrian made their way to the USC to learn all they needed to in order to lead the staff.

Maria Diaz, Jen Melendez, Brett Bermudez, Stephanie Rand, Mckenna Patton, Maya Lee-Lopez, Kelsey Armstrong, and Nakita Rico, all chauffeured by Mr. Abuel, took off in a district van to LA and could not wait to experience the simple, yet exciting event.

Many posted the event on Facebook as typical teenagers do in order to share the excitement of the day.

The day began with keynote speakers, CNN’s Kyra Phillips and reporter Anh Doh of the Nguoi Viet Daily News. Each woman shared their experiences and wisdom in the field of journalism, and shared the most important aspects of journalism.

“Character is very important, people remember people,” stated Anh Doh. Phillips and Doh continued to repeat this message over and over again. They continued to stress that you always should remain personable and build relationships when growing as a journalist. Phillips connected this to her video clip of the interview with Whitney Houston’s best friend a gospel singer, by explaining how if she were to just think like a journalist and try to ignore her tears and emotion by going directly to the next question, the interview would not have been nearly as valuable.

The Equestrian staff then split, with each member with their own schedule of three sessions they would attend next. They consisted of New Multimedia (New tech tools), Media Ethics, Editors Roundtable, Know Your Rights, Public Relations, and Sports reporting as well as Layout and Design.

Each session had a range of information for each student to learn and work into making it conform to the needs of The Equestrian website and the Journalism staff in general.

New media taught the editors and soon-to-be editors just how much media is available to them for free, and just how much it can add to the website or newspaper of their school to make it unique and more interactive. With additions like polls, live broadcast screenings, and ways to make the school news website an application, the possibilities for media improvement seemed great.

Media ethics taught how important it was to know “how the sausage gets made”; or in other words, how things get done and how they work. It kept in mind the key mission of all reporters: to give a voice and empower those that do not have very much power by “seeking the truth and reporting it”. The speaker made sure all reporters keep in mind the consequences of their actions and their work, and remembering to minimize harm to not only yourself and your position, but also those who you are choosing to write about. With horrific examples like a girl being raped, children being taken away from their disheartened parents in body bags, and a young child posing in front of an aborted fetus, he vividly explained the seriousness of pictures and articles and how drastically they can affect people.

The most significant session for the future of The Equestrian and any developments that may occur was the Editors Roundtable, in which a few editors from the staff this year participated in a discussion with fellow editors and Editor-in-Chiefs from other high schools about what they could do better and how they were doing well.

Many of the staff had their own personal favorite part of the day including Mckenna Patton and Brett Bermudez. "My favorite part was most definitely the 'know your rights' session because the lady spoke with such a passion for journalism and freedom of speech for her students it was just inspirational. She was like the Mrs. Sheldon of Journalism. I know if I end up like her one day I'd consider myself a success," mentioned Patton about one of her scheduled sessions, while Bermudez commented on the passion that surrounded everyone at the event, "It was really interesting to see how many people really ARE interested in Journalism, you could tell that the speakers and panels knew what they were talking about and [the event] gave a lot of insight on writing and reporting."

All in all this field trip, though seemingly small and not incredibly fancy, made the staff of The Equestrian realize how fortunate we are to have each other and how great it is to be able to do all that we do with success and while growing relationships.

Everyone is entranced by the magic of the performing arts; watching talented individuals grace a stage or expertly work their way around a musical instrument is spellbinding. But what about the magic that puts all of that together?

On Thursday, March 1st, a group of CMHS/MS students studying the various disciplines of the arts programs were able to learn what really goes on behind the scenes of the performing arts at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Joined by two other schools, the trip was a unique experience put together by the Segerstrom Education Department and a program called Vital Links.

Joined by chaperones Mr. Lindfors and Mrs. Gilboe, the students were split into separate groups of about 10 and traveled from station to station, learning various aspects of the technology of stage production. Aided by volunteers who talked to them about each area on such subjects as lighting, sound, and backstage technology, the students were also able to view the areas of Center and see things a normal theater goer wouldn’t have normally seen.

Professionals talked to students about the acoustics of the theaters and how the science of it aids the audience’s perception of the performance and creates a more magical effect. Lighting, they learned, was also essential to performers because it creates a mood based on the subject of the performance, and it aids performers in their act.

Students also went to the loading dock, and were able to see the equipment and work that goes into supplementing a performance. They were also able to learn about dressing rooms and props, and how vital it is for everything to be in its right place. Also backstage were ropes and weights used to hold the curtain and perform set changes.

Aside from the larger theater, students also visited the Samueli Theater, where more quiet and intimate musical performances are held, and the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. They were able to see the structures of these theaters, such as the adjustable opening on walls to adjust the acoustics, and a massive organ which took a year to install, and the architecture of the building itself.

“It was incredible to just see it, and I could imagine the sweet, powerful sound the organ could make!” sophomore Abby To said.

After the tour was over, all of the tour guides and groups met in the organ room. As each tour guide gave their testimony of personal experience within the area of the arts, students realized that there was more to performing than what goes on onstage.

This field trip proved especially helpful to students who love the performing arts, but decided the onstage limelight was not for them.

Overall, the trip was well-received by the students and was a very unique and entertaining experience.

On February 16, the CMHS Make-A-Wish Club was awarded a plaque from the Make-A-Wish Foundation for earning four thousand dollars and granting their seventeenth wish.

A representative from the Make-A-Wish Foundation came to Costa Mesa High School in order to give the Make-A-Wish Club the plaque. According to the representative, Costa Mesa High School has earned more money within the school year than some schools combined.

The most recent wish maker is a seven year old boy named Anthony* from Moreno Valley, California. Due to his constant treatments for his leukemia, Anthony found his room to be his most special place. Consequently, he asked the Make-A-Wish Foundation to redecorate his room to the theme of his favorite Disney move, Cars.


Make-A-Wish is a club that aims to raise thousands of dollars in order to grand a wish for a child with a life-threatening disease. 

The club has over 20 members and is headed by Mr. Howell. Every member participates in raising money through collecting donations at Beacon Bay Carwash on weekends, selling food at club rush, and selling the ever-popular lollipops. 

Through these fundraising methods, the Make-A-Wish Club is able to raise thousands of dollars within the school year.The plaque, with a picture of Anthony, can be found in the Main Office for everyone to see.


*Last name not included for confidentiality  

Last Friday March 2nd, the Environmental and Marine Academy (EMA) held a "Lights Off" event to help save energy. The event was intended to save energy by having teachers turn off the lights in their classroom for the day. However, most teachers did not participate.  

Sarah Thompson, a member of EMA, said about the Lights Off event: “It was supposed to be a special day where all the teachers turned off the lights to help save energy”. 

Why did EMA decided to do this? 

“Because our school uses so much energy and the lights are the biggest problem and we don’t all need them on because most classrooms have windows.”  

Why do you think teachers didn’t turn off the lights? 

“Well it seemed like we had a lot of substitutes on Friday and I guess the teachers needed the lights to teach.”  

Do you think it was fair that a lot of teachers left on their lights? 

“I can understand why teachers wouldn’t want to turn off their lights because they have a class to teach, but it was only one day they could have turned them off for even 5 minutes.” 

I asked students, “What did you expect the event Lights Off to be like? Did you expect teachers to turn off their lights?" 

“I expected that some of the teachers to but not all,” said freshman Ethan McTague. 

Costa Mesa High School sophomores gathered for a class event at Chuck E. Cheese's on the first Friday of March from 5pm to 8pm. The event consisted of playing games, eating pizza, taking pictures, and playing on the jungle gym ten feet off the ground.

Something many people don’t know about Chuck E. Cheese's is that you have to be over 18 to get in, or at least with an adult. So I bet you're wondering, how did the 8 sophomores in attendance get into Chuck E. Cheese's? High school English teacher Mrs. Hays and her two little rascals attended as chaperones.

Many of the high schoolers that attended just played games the whole time and left early, but only after playing games with Mrs. Hays’ kids and claiming their prizes; things like noise putty, sticky hands, and cotton candy.

In regards to the amount of people at the event, sophomore class president Sophie Harriman responded with “the turnout wasn’t ideal, but I think we all had a lot of fun! Anyone who likes video games and winning would like to go, even if it’s Chuck E. Cheese’s. I know I am going to ask more people about the events, and try to diversify the crowd we get.”

Also, when asked for any final comments about the event, Sophie Harriman also said, “it was super fun to hang out with everyone and win all those tickets! I hope more people go to the next class event!”