Back To School

La Vista takes a look at the back-to-school events at Costa, including assemblies, new schedules, and freshman orientation.

Complied by Elizabeth Goldman/Editor-In-Chief, Sofia Williams/Managing Editor, Jenna Walter/Executive Theme Editor, Charlotte Levy/Theme Editor, Reese Felt/Photo Manager

Assemblies

Mira Costa hosted a Beginning of the Year Assembly Day on Aug. 31 to educate students on healthy relationships, diversity and inclusion, schoolwide respect, and Costa spirit. After third period, students attended three assemblies, followed by lunch and the final fourth assembly afterward. The Field Day “We are Costa” Assembly took place at Waller Stadium to celebrate Costa school spirit. In the main gymnasium, an assembly educated students on the signs of healthy relationships and how to form them. The Diversity and Inclusion panel in the small theater and cafeteria showcased student voices and experiences. School Resource Officer Donovan Torres and vice principals Jessica Lubs and Amanda Vavao demonstrated school-appropriate behavior in the auditorium during te Mustangs Expect Respect assembly.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Diversity and Inclusion Assembly was held in both the small theater and cafeteria, highlighting student panelists who spoke about their personal experiences at Costa and within the community.

Students who either volunteered or were chosen to participate in the assembly started preparing over the summer. They met every Tuesday to work on their speeches by answering four guiding questions. According to student speaker senior Dayana Horta-Ramirez, teachers Daniel Cashman and Alan Zeoli, as well as school psychologist Janet Allen, planned and organized to help the students find their voices. 

“We had about five or six staff members, with about 12 students, who helped them get started on voice tone, clarity, eye contact, the microphone, and how to answer [the guiding] questions,” Allen said. 

Students shared vulnerable stories, many of which were about fellow students. Horta-Ramirez even considered dropping out of the panel because of how difficult she felt it might be to open up to her peers, yet she ended up finding it very therapeutic, according to Horta-Ramirez. She also noticed that the audience was engaged and not on its phones. 

“I think [the assembly was effective], seeing the response that I received when I finished speaking and went home,” student speaker sophomore Eva Asiddao said. “I had 80 text messages, 25 direct messages on Instagram, and three or four emails from teachers, peers and [other] people who reached out because they felt touched by what I said.”

Mustangs Expect Respect

The Schoolwide Expectations Assembly took place in the Costa Auditorium and featured a presentation by vice principals Amanda Vavao and Jessica Lubs as well as School Resource Officer Donovan Torres. 

Vavao and Lubs spoke about general school rules along with Costa’s ethics policy. Complimenting their presentations was a slideshow including additional videos from History teacher Ian Uhalt regarding self advocacy and Costa librarian Jennifer Forier about the different types of plagiarism. 

“I think [this assembly] was a fantastic way [to begin the year],” Torres said. “This assembly allowed us to set the groundwork, set the expectations, set goals, and get everyone on board. We made a clear connection to the student body that we haven’t been able to do the last couple of years.” 

Torres spoke about bicycle safety and vandalism, but also touched on cyberbullying and the importance of students leaving a responsible digital footprint. 

“Granted, my topics were not necessarily the most fun topics to talk about, but I had a lot of students coming up after the assembly and the days following telling me that what [I] said was thought-provoking and made [them] want to make good choices,” Torres said. “I hadn’t heard that in the last three years, and that is ultimately what my goal is in this position: to steer and guide young minds down the best path possible.” 

We Are Costa

ASB President senior Reece Riley and senior Link Leader Brent Torres led the “We Are Costa” assembly at Waller Stadium, encouraging student bonding through fun games and activities. 

According to ASB officer junior Kyra Ahrens, the assembly was interactive and engaging for students. Activities included rock painting, temporary tattoos, and photo walls with “Melvin” the Mustang. 

“I spoke at all four of the involvement assemblies at the stadium, and my favorite part was definitely walking around [and] talking to different students,” Riley said. “I had such a great time getting to know some new faces here on campus.”

Students played and competed in games such as cornhole, Jenga, and Spikeball. Every student was given a stamp sheet upon entry to the stadium, and ASB and Link leaders gave students a stamp as they participated in activities. Completed stamp sheets were turned in as raffle tickets, and students could win Costa merchandise and other prizes.

“I do believe the assemblies were effective in sharing our values with the students,” Riley said. “I hope students are more eager to get involved.”

Healthy Relationships

The Healthy Relationships Assembly took place both in the Pavilion gym and the Main gym featuring guest speakers Joan Jenkins, Emory Chen, Ben Hant, and Lucy Nickerson.

The assembly began with an introduction about the components of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Jenkins then spoke about the negative effects of sexting, bullying, and abusive relationships. 

“It’s very important to take care of yourself and know that you have the power to be able to say no to things that are absolutely ridiculous,” said Jenkins. “I understand if something seems necessary at the time, but sometimes the consequences can be dire.”

During the second part of the assembly, Director of Youth Services at Beach Cities Health Emory Chen spoke about the negative effects of stress on teens, both academically and socially. His presentation focused on how to reduce stress and ensure that teens feel safe in their communities.

“[In my presentation], I discussed some of the modern arguments for a positive view of human nature and how that should guide the way we form relationships,” said Hant. “[English teacher Diana Sieker and I] wanted to present a balanced, positive message to emphasize the importance of relationships with others.”

New Schedule

Starting this year, Costa has implemented a new bell schedule to comply with state law and ensure that students maintain productive and healthy habits throughout the school day.

According to the New York Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that required schools in California to begin no later than 8:30 a.m. The 2022-23 school year is the first year that this law will be enforced.

“I like the new schedule better as it allows more time for sleep in the morning, although it does have the downside of getting home later, cutting into homework time,” said junior Rylee Tretiak.

While first period starts at 8:30 a.m., students still have the option to take a zero period, which now begins at 7:30 a.m. Additionally, sixth period now ends at 3:19 p.m., rather than at 2:55 p.m. 

“My favorite aspect [of the new schedule] is zero period starting later as I feel I am more able to process the information given in [my zero period] class,” said Tretiak.

In addition to the change in start and end times, Costa changed its bell schedule. This year, office hours will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with one hour each day, instead of Wednesdays with two hours. On both Tuesdays and Thursdays, office hours will run from 10:18 a.m. to 11:13 a.m. without homeroom, and 10:23 a.m. to 11:13 a.m. with homeroom on some days, depending on the week. 

“I like the new office hours schedule better than the last one, but I find office hours with homeroom confusing,” said junior Sarah Dobbins. “I feel like it makes the schedule too complicated.”

Office hours on Tuesdays are reserved for English, History, Visual/Performing Arts, or Foreign Language departments. Office hours on Thursdays are used for students to visit teachers in Math, Science, Special Education, and Physical Education.

“I like the office hours schedule because it separates our days, but sometimes it can be annoying because you can’t see all your teachers in one day,” said junior Caroline Cryer.

According to Tretiak, the new schedule increases productivity because there is less time after school to work on homework. This allows her to use office hours and after-school time more efficiently, and results in more hours of sleep overall.

“The new schedule increases my productivity, as it makes it so there is less time to work on homework after school,” said Tretiak. “It allows less time for procrastination.”

Freshman Orientation

On Aug. 19, the incoming class of 2026 came to Costa for its freshman orientation, which included bonding activities with Link Crew, a campus tour, and registration. 

Costa’s Link Crew program, run by English teacher Maddie Hutchinson, had been preparing for orientation since the beginning of August. According to junior Link Leader Mckenzie Krauch, the leaders attended a five-hour training class to prepare for orientation. 

“We stepped into the shoes of a freshman, and Ms. Hutch role-played as a Link Crew leader,”  Krauch said. “She showed us what we were supposed to do during freshman orientation.” 

Hutchinson contributed much of her time over the summer to planning and training Link leaders. However, once orientation began, the Link leaders were each fully in charge of a group of freshmen. 

“A lot goes into planning–from determining the day’s agenda to training Link leaders on how to lead activities to organizing freshmen into groups,”  Hutchinson said,  “I usually spend about 70 hours over the summer completing work leading up to orientation.”

At 9 a.m., the freshmen arrived in the main gym and were separated into their Link Crew groups to listen to speeches from Principal Dr. Karina Gerger and Link leaders and to play ice breaker games. 

“My favorite speech was from Annie Xu,” freshman Ella Mulllins said. “I really liked her story on how she moved here from Arkansas.”

According to junior Link Leader Josie McCalla, all leaders were given a yearlong partner to complete the classroom information with. At training, all leaders and their partner had about an hour to go over their campus tour and get to know each other. 

“In the classroom, my partner Shea [Steggell] and I felt pretty prepared and relaxed,” McCalla said. “I really felt like breaking off into the groups was better for the day as a whole, as we could talk without having to yell over others and get to know each other as equals.” 

The campus tour immediately followed the classroom portion of orientation. The leaders guided their freshmen throughout the school, providing a detailed explanation of the school buildings and the Mustang Mall. 

“My favorite part about orientation was the tour of the school,” McCalla said. “I feel like telling the freshmen things about each building beyond the basics really made the difference, or at least it would have if I were in their position.”