 BLACK AND GOLD AFFAIRE
Did you know that the Peninsula High Athletic Booster Club (ABC) raises over $200,000 per year for our athletes? This is 20% of the nearly one million dollars needed annually to support our athletic program. On March 18 at 6PM the Athletic Booster Club will hold its largest fundraising effort of the year, "A Black & Gold Affaire" at the Palos Verdes Golf Club. Please come and support our athletes while bidding on wonderful silent and live auctions items, enjoying a delicious dinner, and watching the Parade of Senior Athletes! I look forward to seeing you at the Black and Gold! Purchase your tickets on the Athletic Booster Club website
PEN AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE ADDS WE INITIATIVE
 The Peninsula High School Environmental Science AP Program has been selected to participate in the new College Board AP with WE Initiative. Environmental Science teacher Ben Smith applied to the program in early January. Ben's experience teaching the course (Peninsula HS was one of the first schools in the country to offer ENV SCI AP starting in the 1996 pilot year) and prior community / outdoor service learning endeavors with his students were factors in our selection.
By combining the academic challenge and rigor of Advanced Placement® with WE's education and citizenship model, AP with WE Service creates an opportunity for students to further consider their classroom work and how it applies to the real world, while working closely with their peers to address social issues.
Students who participate in service learning within the WE framework apply their academic learning to real-life settings and situations by being active in meaningful community-based service. In addition, they work on problems that build on and reinforce academic learning, making it even more relevant, while enhancing their leadership and social skills, analytic ability, sense of stewardship, and civic responsibility.
The incorporation of hands-on fieldservice-learning projects is something that Peninsula High School Environmental Science AP students have been involved in since the course began, with projects ranging from restorative field work at Ballona Wetlands, PVP Land Conservancy Preserves, local beaches, and Joshua Tree National Park.
The AP with WE Service component will provide an empowering opportunity for Environmental Science AP students at Peninsula to become leaders and agents of change.
https://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/initiatives/ap-we-service/how-it-works
PEN HIGH WELCOMES STUDENTS FROM JAPAN 
On Wednesday, March 8, Peninsula High will welcome fifteen students and two teachers from Toyama Daiichi High School (Ichi-ko) in Toyama City, Japan. This is our second time hosting our guests from Ichi-ko. Ten Pen High students and two teachers also visited Ichi-ko during the summer of 2016, and we are so happy that our friendship continues to blossom. During their nine-day stay, Ichi-ko students will visit Pen High classrooms, participate in World Language Week, take field trips to LACMA with Japanese 3/3H/4 and AP classes, and share the Japanese culture through special presentations in the Japanese classrooms. Special thanks to the following host families; Ethan Chuang, Asher Ewing, Sara Fang, Anna Farias, Timothy Hanson, Sabrina Harnois, Monique Jurado, Tyler Kawana, Angel Liu, Kara Makishi, Katie & Scott Mitani, Shayan Saadat, TJ Sebenick, Victoria Tsai, Katie Zhan, Dr. Dan Fichtner, and Mr. Jeffrey Mirosavich. I know this will lead to lifelong friendships and mutual cultural understanding among everyone involved.
ASB ELECTIONS THIS WEDNESDAY
We are on a special Election Assembly schedule this Wednesday for our ASB Elections. Students will view the election speeches during 3rd period and then vote. Good luck to all of the candidates!
APPLY FOR ASB! 
Students may still apply to be an ASB Appointed Officer. Appointed Officers help plan many of our schools events, including Homecoming, Pep Rallies, Class Competitions, Walk for Life, Willenberg, Prom, Winter Formal, and much, much more! Applications are due March 16! There are many positions for which students may apply, including: Commissioners of Spirit, Commissioners of Internal Relations, Treasurer, Secretary, Commissioner of Community Service, Commissioners of Publicity, Commissioners of Sound, Commissioners of Clubs, ZooKeepers, Commissioners of Technology, Commissioners of Art, and Historians. There are full job descriptions in the ASB Application. Click here to download the application.
SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTION 
Congratulations to the following Spanish 3 Honors students for their induction into the Spanish National Honor Society on March 1st! Arela Albino, Eva Albino, Ryan Alimento, Audrey Bogosian, Sarah Borovic, Christine Cervana, Jonathan Fang, Emily Flores, Melody Haratian, Katherine He, Halee Kemper, Charley Kim, Liana Korotzer, Jacqueline Lara, Victoria Shepard, Mary Sweetnam, Emily Wang, and Tara Weiman.
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New Spanish Honor Society Inductees
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WORLD LANGUAGE WEEK BEGINS THIS FRIDAY
WORLD LANGUAGE WEEK - MARCH 10 - 17, 2017
We are fortunate to offer 7 World Languages at Peninsula: Chinese, French, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Spanish. Peninsula will be celebrating World Language Week starting Friday, March 10th through Friday, March 17th. There will be cultural performances and activities every day at lunch in the amphitheater. The students of the World Language classes are anxious and excited to share their chosen languages of study with everyone. Please join us at lunch as we celebrate diversity and cultural awareness. The schedule for World Language Week is as follows:
Friday, March 10 - French
1. French 1: Mardi Gras parade
2. French 2: dancing to "Cette année-là" by M. Pokora
3. French 3: dancing to "Ella elle l'a" by Kate Ryan
4. French 3: dancing to "Danse" by TAL
5. French AP: singing "La vie en rose" (Edith Piaf) by Austin Kelly, Himari Shimizu, accompanied by Robert Hu playing the violin
Monday, March 13 - Japanese
1. Japanese 3/3H & 4: Panel Cheer
2. Japanese 2: PPAP
3. Japanese 2: Festival Dance "Little Tokyo Ondo"
4. Japanese Guests from Toyama Daiichi High School - Dance (pop music)
5. Martial art performance (Kendo)
6. Volunteer (friends of Japanese program): Koi (love) Dance
Tuesday, March 14 - Chinese
1. Chinese 1: Dancing hip hop to "Sorry, I Did Not Speak Chinese Well"
2. Chinese 2: Performing on the Chinese drums
3. Chinese 3&3H 0 Period: Performing Kung Fu Fan
4. Chinese 3&3H 4th Period: Dancing to "Adore"
5. Chinese 4&AP: Dancing to "Kung Fu Panda"
Wednesday, March 15 - Latin
1. All Latin classes: Singing "O Fortuna" in Greco-Roman costumes, while selected Latin 2 students perform a pantomime to a very abridged Aeneid!
2. Various Latin levels sing and play traditional Greco-Roman instruments in traditional chant style to invoke the gods
3. AP Latin & 3H: Rap and sing a commentary to the Trojan War
4. AP Latin & 3H: Rap Battle #1 - exciting renditions of monologues from Vergil's Aeneid to answer the question: Who truly stirs the heart and imagination with its tale of heroes, gods, and deeds?
5. Various Latin levels: Rap Battle #2 - students argue and summarize the worth of gods, heroes, and authors
Thursday, March 16th = Korean
1. Korean 1: Modern Drum, K-Pop Dance (1 group)
2. Korean 2: Traditional Percussion Performance, K-Pop Dance, Korean Martial Art (Taekwondo), and Traditional Fan Dance
Friday, March 17th = Spanish
1. Spanish 1 = Singing "La Bamba" (Zambrano, Kawagoe, & Valerio)
2. Spanish 2 = Dancing to "Limbo" by Daddy Yankee (Edwards & Madunich)
3. Spanish 3 & 3MCR = Dancing to "El payaso del rodeo" (Edwards & Kawagoe)
4. Latin Student Union = Dancing bachata to "Mirazán de Ser" by Los Reyes
5. Spanish 3H= Dancing & singing to Sofia by Alvaro Soler (Madunich)
6. Spanish 3 = Dancing cumbia to "Boom Boom" by Kumbia Kings (Zambrano)
7. Spanish 4 = Dancing salsa to "Abre que voy" by Manuel Enríquez (Valerio)
SHANNON HEARN WINS ZONE IN LIONS SPEECH CONTEST
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Senior Shannon Hearn is congratulated by Mr. Ray Honda.
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Shannon Hearn has won at the Zone level in the Lions Speech Contest. The event was held at the main branch of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Library this past Wednesday. This is the 80th year of this high school speech competition sponsored by the Lions Clubs in California and Nevada. Shannon's winning speech addressed the topic "Is The Right to Privacy A Threat to Our National Security?" After winning the local contest hosted by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Lions Club, and then the Zone Level, which included speakers representing four other local Lions Clubs, Shannon now moves on to the Region competition which will take place in three weeks. Good luck, Shannon.
LINK CREW SESSIONS FOR FUTURE LEADERS
PVPHS's Link Crew program is looking for enthusiastic, committed, kind, and diligent students to join our leadership family! Current sophomores and juniors may apply. The next informational lunch will take place on MONDAY, MARCH 13th in P103!
Please note this is a change from the original date. All interested students who didn't attend the first session should come learn all about this leadership program and pick up an application on Monday the 13th
FUTURE LEADERS CONFERENCE AND LUNCH
For the second time this year, Link Crew invited thirty freshmen to attend the 4th period Link Crew class, where students participated in numerous leader-led activities and got to learn more about the "behind-the-scenes" work that Link Crew Leaders do to orchestrate events. Freshmen also provided valuable feedback to current leaders on enhancing our organization's effectiveness. Special thanks to Link Crew Leaders Clara Deley, John Galdones, Matt Kymn, Nathan Pereira, and Ryan Steybe for planning and executing such a fun and informative event; additional Future Leader Conferences are planned for the rest of this year, so if you're a member of the Class of 2020 and receive an invitation in the coming months, we hope you'll join us!
SPEECH AND DEBATE UPDATE
In the last two weeks, Peninsula debaters attended two tournaments.
At the Cal Invitational at UC Berkeley, the team of Lauren Kong and Shivani Jain was the only Peninsula Public Forum team to advance to triple octos. In Policy Debate, Julian Anderson and Kevin Sun advanced to triple octos and Ishan Guar and Natasha Tieu advanced to dubs. Raam Tambe and Jerry Wang were the Champions of both the Round Robin and the Cal Invitational for Policy Debate. Jerry was 3rd and Raam was 5th for speaker awards. With their consistent success, Jerry and Raam are now officially the #1 ranking Policy debate team in the United States.
Last weekend, Peninsula Debaters also attended the Narbonne League tournament.
In Public Forum, Catherine Kim and Judy Dominguez placed 9th; Jay Majmudar and Samal Senaratna placed 8th;
Sarah Geist and Madeline Oehler placed 4th; and Alisa Hathaway and Irene Zhen placed 3rd.
The Peninsula Speech and Debate Team also scored major successes in the last League Tournament for IE speakers:
- Jessica Brunnenmeyer placed 3rd in Oratorical Interpretation and won a Bronze Medal in Original Oratory.
- Emily Eaton won a Silver Medal in Original Oratory and Bronze Medal in Oratorical Interpretation.
- Rena Koyama placed 3rd in Oratorical Interpretation.
- Sunny Sciaroni placed 1st in Thematic Interpretation.
- Shannon Hearn placed 1st in Original Advocacy and won a silver medal in Oratorical Interpretation.
- Hans Khoe won a bronze medal in Original Advocacy and Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Cassandra Diviak won a silver medal in Oratorical Interpretation.
 MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS
- Concert Band will perform this Sunday afternoon, March 5th, at 1:30 PM, Music in the Garden, at the South Coast Botanic Garden.
- Jazz Bands will perform Saturday, March 11th, Esperanza HS Jazz Festival at Esperanza High School.
- Winter Color Guard will compete March 19th, at Azusa High School.
- Music Boosters will meet Monday night, March 20th, in the Band Room at 7:00 PM.
- Jazz Band Concert with special guest, Sammy Miller and the Congregation will be Tuesday evening, March 21st, in the Kelly Johnson Fieldhouse, at 7:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased online at
- The Orchestras will perform on Thursday, March 23rd, at the Bellflower Orchestra Festival.
- Friday, March 24th, Midwinter Choir Concert will be held at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, 7:30 PM
- Thursday, March 30th, Mr. Doctor will travel to New York with PVPHS Choir students to perform at the WorldStrides Choir Festival.
MODEL UNITED NATIONS AT GEORGETOWN
Over 3,500 delegates from 190+ high schools all over the nation and 19 countries including China, Mexico, UK and Denmark came together in Washington, DC for the North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference (NAIMUN) hosted by Georgetown University. The Washington Hilton was buzzing from February 16th to February 19th, with delegates participating in 39 innovative committees.
Student Delegates were challenged to come up with unique and creative ways to resolve international problems. Some committees were assigned more specific tasks in Board Rooms, Councils and NSA & CIA committees. Students participated in the "Uber Board of Directors Committee" and established tribal governance in the unique, "Iroquoi Confederacy Committee." Obstacles & crises were created to challenge students as members of the "British House of Commons Committee" and the underlying international crime in the "INTERPOL Committee." Some delegates were even challenged by unique "crisis committees" called on after committee hours to effectively solve the pending crises! In addition, Georgetown held numerous activities, ranging from a "Hilltop Madness Social" with performances from choral and dance groups to the traditional delegate dance. Our delegates got a chance to tour the Capitol and see a session of Congress as well as many of the historical monuments of the city.
A special thank you goes out to Peninsula MUN Alum, Bethan Saunders who is now a Senior at Georgetown and Executive Director of the NAIMUN Conference. Bethan was able to discuss opportunities for students wishing to go to Georgetown and pursuing internships and careers in the Global Arena.
Following are the awards won at the NAIMUN Conference:
Commendation Award:
Ashley Zoeckler
Honorable Mention Award:
Samal Senaratna
Best Delegate/Gavel Winner:
Julianna Yonis
This weekend, Peninsula High MUN is at Berkeley.
Many Panther alumni are very involved in the Berkeley program.
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Emily Yan (Pen alum & BMUN Secretariat this year) and Lindsey Sugimoto (Pen alum & 1st Year law at Bolt) with Dr. Dimitriou
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CONGRATULATIONS VARSITY DANCE SOLOISTS
PEN Varsity Dancers had two successful competitions in the past two weeks. At the Claremont Festival of Champions at Claremont High School on February 18th, Ione Ogawa won 1st place in 10th grade solos, Emily Komatsu took 2nd, and Ailey Suzuki took 3rd. Aimee Tan took 2nd place in 11th grade solos.
At the West High Spirit Day on February 24, our dancers took home the most trophies of any school. Here is the rundown (placement in different categories)
FIRST PLACE
Robin Hollingsworth
Ronia Waltl
Aimee Tan
Ione Ogawa
SECOND PLACE
Nikki Swearengin
Andrew Bauer
Tara Weiman
Ailey Suzuki
Lani Hollingsworth
THIRD PLACE
Alyssa Yeh
Kelly Van Boxtel
FOURTH PLACE
Alice Li
FIFTH PLACE
Liana Korotzer
SIXTH PLACE
Hallie King
COED CHOREO UPDATE
COED Choreo has been having a great competition season so far! Below are highlights from the last two competitions.
USA Classic at Fountain Valley
1st place- Small Hip-Hop
2nd place- Coed Dance & Large Hip-Hop
3rd place- All-Male
Spirit Day at West High
2nd place- Large Hip-Hop, Medium All-Female, Small Hip-Hop, Coed Dance and Small All-Male.
Serena Nuber took home 5th in the Drill Down
The team has been working hard in practice and is on the road to Championships at USA Nationals!
DRAMA GALA
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the annual Drama Gala. Thank you to the Drama Boosters for coordinating this wonderful event that showcases our talented students. The Lemonade Stand was the perfect setting for a fabulous dinner catered by the Depot and yummy desserts made by Mr. Barri. After dinner, our talented students performed for all those in attendance. The audience was also treated to a sampling of Comedy Sportz and enjoyed a scene from the Music Man which will open on March 17.
On a personal note, thank you to the Drama Boosters for acknowledging my love of theatre and support for our Peninsula High Drama program. Receiving the Peny Award was truly an honor. I am so proud of our incredible drama program under the direction of Pen grad, Seth Cohen.
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NATIONAL SCIENCE OCEAN BOWL COMPETITION
