Field Regulations
Strict regulations on access to the field and court boundaries by students and visitors during games are now enforced by Athletic Director Ms. Sarah Penalora.
“I believe that sidelines for every sport should be relegated to coaches and players, they take the first priority because they’re involved in the contest,” Ms. Penalora said. “Extra people are fine to be there as long as they don’t interfere. We need to be more vigilant about who’s at our games, who’s close to our players. We should not take a risk when it comes to the safety of our students and staff.”
Adults who need to be at games such as student volunteers, trainers, coaches and assistant coaches have gone through a process, including fingerprinting, to be there.
Former coaches and staff members are also allowed to be in the far corner of the endzone to observe with a better view as a courtesy to former faculty.
For authorized students, principally from Yearbook, Rampage and Sports Medicine, there are fewer restrictions compared to the procedures the adults need to go through. Advisers or editors of Rampage or Yearbook provide a list of names of the permitted students for Ms.Penalora before the game by a day or so.
“It’s really about knowing which individuals are close to our student athletes, including the cheerleaders. For example, I don’t want people I don’t know to be close to our cheerleaders,” Ms. Penalora said. “I want to make sure at least whoever’s there has been is accounted for. We want to make a home atmosphere, but not at the risk of safety to our kids.”
Yoga Class
Ms. Alexis Heere Godinez, a certified yoga teacher from Loyola Marymount University’s Yoga and the Healing Sciences program, offers free yoga classes every Thursday during Rams in the Senate Room. The classes are open to any students on campus.
“I was dealing with anxiety issues and yoga helped me calm down a lot,” Ms. Heere said, “I started to experience a more calm way of being. I really [felt] a lot of the benefits of yoga and I just wanted to keep going.”
Research from the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows students who took yoga classes instead of regular PE classes performed better academically.
The American Osteopathic Association cites yoga as a way to help with flexibility, lengthening muscles, building core strength, better sleep and balancing out the immune system.
“[I’ve seen tension] and pressure on students that [resulted] in really high anxiety,” Ms. Heere said. “I want to give students options. Yoga is for anybody, anybody can do yoga. People think that maybe it’s not for them, they might be nervous about what it is and what they would do even though they could use it [and] relax.”
The closest yoga studio, Santa Anita Hot Yoga Studio, is about three miles away and costs $20 for the single class plan. However, the yoga sessions offered at the high school are free.
Ms. Heere plans to continue teaching yoga for as long as she is able to. She hopes that the experience will stay with them and be a tool for them to use in the future.
“The beauty of yoga [is that] there’s no judgement, it’s a judgement-free zone,” Ms. Heere said. “If people want to practice that’s great, let’s practice! If they don’t that’s okay and it’s just not the time. Come practice with me every Thursday at 12 o’clock at RAMS, even if it’s just for 15 minutes, you’ll see what the benefits are.”