PSAT proctor problems, life behind handlebars, a wrestler in heels: This week from HS Insider

Oct. 16, 2015 3:45 PM PT

Every week we bring you a roundup of student stories from High School Insider. Students from more than 100 Southern California schools contribute to High School Insider and post their stories on latimes.com. If you – or your students – have stories to tell and would like to participate, check out this link for all the details.

An unfair PSAT proctor? Know your rights!: "Today, I took the PSAT and faced questions about cookies, raising wolf-pups, and fish farming. The bizarre topics, I could deal with–those were the least of my problems,” writes Cassandra Hsiao (Orange County School of the Arts). She reports that her proctor was not respecting the rules of the PSAT by cutting time short, not clearly delineating time and disturbing students with a phone that rang twice. Hsiao challenges her proctor, and shares the official PSAT regulations so other students can do the same.
What you need to know about the new SAT: The College Board will introduce changes to the SAT this school year. Sinjin Serrano (Foothill Technology) breaks down what to expect with a detailed infographic.
Teens of L.A.: A female wrestler with a passion for heels: "As a wrestler, I bring fashion into sports," says Kelly Sidney, a junior at Mira Costa. "I think, in one year, I had eight different pairs of wrestling shoes. And all of their laces were pink and I would put like beads on the laces and string them through. I even made myself my own singlet with my name on it and everything."
Life behind bars… Handlebars: With Uber and GPS, why bike? "Your mind will also be whipped away from your life because you can finally see the beauty within the chaos that is Los Angeles.” Not only that, you can get fit. That’s what happened to Chris Koo (L.A. River). He weighed more than 200 pounds, and his after-school activity consisted mostly of playing Xbox past midnight. Then he started biking. Getting healthier is an added bonus, but Koo says he bikes for the pure joy: "It’s an escape from your life and for a while you can say that it is a time when your mind and your body are connected to everything around you."

California

Daniela Gerson

Daniela Gerson was a community engagement editor at the Los Angeles Times. She left in 2016. As a journalist and educator, her work focuses on multiethnic communities and innovations in participatory media. She was previously the director of the Civic Engagement and Journalism Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School. Gerson was the founding editor of Alhambra Source, a research-based site investigating how local news can foster civic engagement. She also developed Reporter Corps, a program to train young adults to report on their own communities. Gerson has contributed to the Financial Times Magazine, the New York Times, PRI’s The World, Der Spiegel, WNYC, and was a staff immigration reporter for the New York Sun. Daniela is the recipient of Alexander von Humboldt and Arthur F. Burns fellowships. A graduate of Brown University and USC Annenberg, she speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and can get by in German and Hebrew.

PSAT proctor problems, life behind handlebars, a wrestler in heels: This week from HS Insider

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