News Briefs

Science Olympiad
The Science Olympiad team has its eye on the prize this competition season. The group attended their first invitational at Polytechnic School on Jan. 28, and landed sixth place overall out of 14 schools. In the Rams’ respective individual events, their Chemistry Lab and Robot Arm teams placed first; their Dynamic Planet and Optics teams placed second; and their Ecology team placed third.
Due to a mistake in reporting their score in the Invasive Species event, the invitational director may move the Rams up to fifth place overall.
This competition marks the first invitational the Rams have attended. It does not determine advancement towards higher-level, official competitions. However, the SciOly team plans to use this experience to prepare for the Los Angeles Regional Competition on March 4 at Occidental College, where seven schools will proceed to the Southern California State Tournament, usually in April.
West Coast College Trip Cancellation
Due to a lack of interested students, College and Career Center Clerk Ms. Amy Sisson has decided to cancel the West Coast College Trip. The trip, which would have been from March 22-25, included stops at popular schools such as University of California Berkeley, UC San Francisco, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and Stanford. The cost of the trip was $990, which included all necessities and transportation. Though the trip was cancelled this year, Ms. Sisson hopes to reschedule the trip in coming years.

French Trip Cancellation
This year the France trip will no longer take place because the tour company was unable to match French teacher Ms. Marie-Françoise Dao Hodang’s desired dates within spring break. Students would have traveled to Paris, Brittany and Normandy for around $3,000. The price covered all transportation and hotel fees, with food only partially covered. Ms. Dao Hodang has previously led the trip five times, and plans to postpone the trip until next year.