Graceland

So I ask myself: Why is the school board even bothering with such a trivial matter? Aren't there more important issues which should be addressed? But since there are those who feel that this issue is in need of attention, let's consider the facts.

The Webster's College Dictionary definition of "foreign" is as follows: pertaining to or derived from another country or nation, belonging to or coming from another place. That, my friend, is precisely what these languages are to San Mateo students.

The primary language of the areas bound by the district is English. The majority of students enrolled in the district speak English as their first language. To them, any other language, be it French, Chinese or Spanish is indeed foreign. We are all well aware that these languages are spoken in other countries around the world. However that does not change the fact that these languages are foreign to the students they are being taught to.

Of all the languages taught, English is perhaps, ironically, the most "world" language, spoken in more places, by more people. In the European Union countries (other than Britain and Ireland) 92 percent of high school students study English. To them, presumably, English would be the "foreign" language and could correctly be referred to as such without giving offense, not to me certainly.

Suggestions to end this nomenclature crisis? Why not just have a Languages Department?

Then, this new department could include English along with all the others. Certainly English is a language class we take from childhood in our endless quest to read it, write it, spell it, punctuate it and rhyme it. This would mean merging two departments and leaving a fight for the chairmanship position - or chairperson position - or chair - but there would be no further issue of up-to-date-ness.

Finally, those who primarily speak a "world" language and want to learn English now take English as a second language, "ESL." Why not just start offering FSL: French as a second language. Or SSL: Spanish as a second language. At least then we'd have some consistency in the system.

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Out and About: Fifteen athletic members of the Foster City Youth Activities Commission members were spotted over the weekend outside their normal realm. Where were they, you ask? The sporty teen commissioners were running side-by-side at the annual San Francisco Bay to Breakers bright and early Sunday morning.

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Wow. They sure treat us advanced placement government students well at Aragon High School. During the AP test last Wednesday morning, seniors arrived at school to find a nice heart-warming surprise (and I'm not talking about food, although AP government teacher Scott Silton had a fine array of cream cheeses to appease the appetites of his starving seniors' stomachs.)

On top of all that, though, we AP students were lucky enough to have an Aragon celebrity give us our tests that fateful morning.

So who could this mystery proctor be that I speak so highly of? Former Aragon principal Ann Rarden.

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I always like to mention whenever I see teens putting forth valiant journalistic efforts. Recently, I discovered the San Mateo main library teen lounge newsletter, "Lounge Lizard," a small but informative publication used to notify teen visitors of what's in stock.

In the most recent issue, San Mateo High School student Megan Chiu wrote a book review for "Chobis," a manga (Japanese animated cartoon) series. For mystery and suspense fans, a recommendation list offered book titles for some summertime reading, among them, "The Deep End of Fear" by Elizabeth Chandler and "Hex" by Rhiannon Lassiter. Aragon High School student Bernice Yau designed the wonderful new Lounge Lizard masthead.

For those interested in reading or writing for the Lounge Lizard, contact Donna Mandel at dmandel@cityofsanmateo.org or call her at 522-7813. The temporary library is located at 1100 Park Place in San Mateo.

Grace Kallis is a senior at Aragon High School. Her column, Graceland, highlights news from this area's high schools and other activities around town. It appears every Tuesday. If you have some news you'd like to send Grace's way, e-mail her at grace@smdailyjournal.com.