Written By: Isaac Julian, Staff Editor
HIGHLIGHTS: The Spotlight Staff presents some of the best articles that have been published so far this year.
Throughout the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, the Poly Spotlight newspaper has produced many quality articles. Our diverse cast of writers all have a unique angle on each story, many of which are worth revisiting to this day. The editorial staff has picked a handful of articles that they’ve deemed most noteworthy and will highlight them here in the Spotlight Rewind.
In the modern era of journalism, there has been a severe lack of satire. However, as Jonathan Viene believes, there is a crucial need for it to speak on the state of the world. This satirical article pokes fun at recent absurd conspiracy theories, suggesting that a company like FEMA created a machine that produced the hurricanes that targeted Florida and other nearby states. Jonathan points out the blatant misinformation around the whole event, by addressing the weird theories that spawned from online echo chambers. The unique writing style allows for real social commentary while still entertaining the reader.
Proposition 28: A New Chapter in the Visual and Performing Arts
Last year, Owen Weems covered one of the most impactful bills passed for Visual and Performing Arts at the high school level. This was Proposition 28, which would provide substantial funding for VAPA projects at Poly, as well as the rest of California. Poly is set to receive approximately $500,000 every year to keep these programs running, which our staff felt was extremely important to make the students aware of. Despite the numerous delays in allowing the use of this new money, it is now being used for various equipment and staff in programs like choir, band, ceramics, and theater. Read more to find out how much our school is benefiting from laws like these.
A New Era of Misinformation in Politics
As many high school students learn more about the inner workings of the society they live in, it is vitally important to pay attention to what is served to them in the media. My goal with this commentary was to raise awareness of the way most people my age navigate the online news landscape. The internet has become the main source of information for many, but social media and its inherent biases and lack of credibility make it a deep web of misinformation. To intelligently navigate these apps, we must actively look for credible news outlets and more critically think about the information we are told by comparing perspectives to form opinions that are our own.
Fighting Against The Math Allegations
In our newspaper, the primary focus is to cover the most timely issues that directly affect our community at school and Riverside as a whole. However, opinion pieces cannot be neglected! Miles Watts is one staff writer who tends to go in-depth on issues that he is passionate about, one of his highlights being mathematics and its stigma. He believes that math is often misunderstood as boring or too difficult, but rather is a language that shapes the world around us, from nature to art. By pushing past this natural aversion to the subject, Miles believes that we may better connect to our world and its culture.
Access Polywood – Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
One of the newest additions to the newspaper this year is the video articles we produce each year. Connor Julian has pioneered the new format, with his series called “Access Polywood.” In these episodes, he and other Spotlight staff members go around campus to ask students various questions, whether it be something strange or something more timely and relevant. One of the highlights is his “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” video, where he finds out if the football team can answer questions asked on the game show of the same name. This series will always give you a chuckle, and we have a new episode out with this edition, so go check them all out on the Poly Spotlight Channel!
Gladiator II – Opening Week Review
Many of our staff writers like to produce film reviews, but one in particular goes above and beyond when writing them. Reagan Metzger covers new movies and series in nearly every edition, making sure to capture every detail of it. Most recently was her review of Gladiator II, which went over the main plot of the movie, the impressive castings, the early reception, and a comparison to the first film that set the bar of expectation so high. The effort that goes into these is unmatched, so make sure you give her reviews a look on our website.
Thank you to all the Poly Spotlight staff for a great first semester. Here’s to an even better one!