Features

GET READY FOR PROM WITHOUT PUTTING A HOLE IN YOUR WALLET

By: Jael Bryant

A wedding dress store that sells prom dresses and accessories for affordable prices!Photo by: fiirstquarterfinace.com

  Prom is coming up and it can really put a strain on families, especially if one isn’t too well off. Some people think that they shouldn’t go to prom because it is too expensive, and while that may be true, there are many reasons why going to prom is the best decision one can make for their high school years.

  Prom is something that many teenagers looks forward to when going to high school. We are shown our whole lives, --from upperclassmen, movies, television shows, and social media, that prom is the “best night of our lives.” It’s the night when we get all made up in fancy dresses, and luxurious suits. The girls go out and get their hair, makeup, and nails done; the guys go out with their bros to get sized for their suits and get fresh cuts so they can look spicy for their dates. It’s the one night of the year when the whole class comes together and has a night of fun.

  No student should have to miss out on this experience, no matter the reason. There are multiple ways one can go to prom without breaking your wallet. One resource that students can look into the Princess Project, a program that provides prom dress giveaways. For sixteen years, the Princess Project has collected prom dresses and accessories from various individual donors and organizations. All one has to do is go to their website: www.princessprojectsf.org and reserve your spot on the various available dates starting in March to April.

  If you still think the Princess Project isn't really for you, the best way to save money for prom is to start looking for dresses about three months ahead, meaning now would be a great time to start looking.

  Another way to get affordable dresses is to talk to previous seniors or juniors who went to prom the year before. Sometimes students sell their dresses, so just ask!

  As for hair and makeup, things can get a little tricky. Getting your hair and makeup done at places like Sephora, MAC, or the hair salon can be really pricey. I think that the best way to truly learn how to perfect these types of things is to just practice. By this I mean looking up Youtube videos of your favorite looks and going to your nearby drugstore to get some cheap makeup. The more you practice, the better your get at it! And who knows, we might just have a future Youtube makeup artist on our hands at Lincoln.

  Prom also isn’t just for girls, it’s for the guys too! Suits and tuxedos can be especially pricey around this time, and whether you’re buying or renting your outfits, I would definitely suggest trying second hand and consignment stores like The Goodwill, garage, yard, and estate sales. Any of these can be easy pickups for a one night suit use.

  Prom should be an event that everyone dreams of going to, don’t let high prices stop your dreams from coming true.

NINTH GRADE TEACHER SPREADS GRATITUDE WITH A THANK YOU CARD WORKSHOP

By: Nikko Dul

An example of a thank you letter written by the students.Photo by: Christine Eng

LINCOLN STUDENT SWAMPED WITH SUCCESS AFTER RECENT CLOTHING DROP

  Christine Eng, a ninth grade English teacher at Lincoln, was inspired by a thank you card saleswoman named Susan to assign her students thank you cards to write. After Susan retired from working at a card store, she began a workshop teaching people how to make heartfelt thank you letters to spread gratitude. Eng had her come into her class as a guest speaker to talk to her class about how even though these cards may just be pieces of paper, they hold a lot of meaning. When the class set out to work, they wrote cards that thanked their parents,friends, bus drivers, baristas, and even complete strangers. Eng graded her students’ cards not by artistic abilities nor how neat the penmanship was but by how meaningful the writing was.

  While the students drew and made their own cards, Eng and Susan began noticing how creative the kids were getting in the process. Madison Lew, one of Eng’s students, said the workshop was great for her and she really learned the meaning behind a handwritten card.

  “I could take away how thank you cards are can have a big impact in both the writer of the card and the receiver.” says Lew.

  Lew wrote a card to her mother. While making the card, she learned to go with the flow let her creativity flow. She learned that writing in this way made for a more sincere card.

  Something that Eng would like to see be taken away from this experience is that taking a break from using your phones and writing a handwritten letter has more of a meaning behind it and will spread more gratitude in your life. Writing a handwritten card also helps improve your ability to correspond through emails or just basic life skills such as showing kindness.

By:Urban Tedeski

Michelle Villaneuva playing live at The Prophets drop event. Photo By: Urban Tedeski

  On February 23rd, Josson Belluschi held an event that he called a “Drop Concert” for his brand, The Prophet. Previously known as “Woezs”, The Prophet is an art collective and clothing brand co-founded by Josson Belluschi and Julian Ca. Belluschi brought all kinds of musical talent together to perform at The SF Mime Troupe HQ and celebrate his most recent clothing drop. Although the event was supposed to be a place for everyone to pick up clothes and have a good time, there was one small problem; they didn’t have any clothing to hand out.

  Belluschi and the team behind The Prophet had only predicted to receive 20 or 30 orders at the maximum, but after announcing their new clothing line “Infinite” on their Instagram page, they soon realized they had severely underestimated themselves. The Prophet had received over 80 orders in the first two weeks, and did not have the materials to keep up with them.

  One of the big reasons for this was their recent growth on social media. Within a month, The Prophet’s Instagram went from about 120 followers to over 400, a much bigger audience since their last drop, when they still called themselves “Woezs”. Belluschi acknowledges that growth, adding “We have made a lot of connections with different influencers all over San Francisco. People who really support us; artists, Musicians, a lot of people like that.” He also pointed out that several of these artists had a decent sized following on Instagram, which helped them with their substantial growth on the platform. “We shout them out and they shout us out, a kind of back and forth thing… that helps us grow our audiences together”.

  The Prophet is also getting help from sponsorships. Belluschi stated that “One of Lowell’s dance teams are sponsoring us… they placed an order for a batch of 15 hoodies.” They also have plans for sponsorships with other influencers and artists with very big followings on Social Media. One of which is with a rapper who calls himself 24KGoldn. He is very popular around the Bay Area and could greatly increase their presence in popular culture and on social media.

  Although The Prophet is gaining lots of traction right now, it is very common for trends like this to become a passing fad. Julian Carrerio commented on this concern and defended his brand. “The way we’re going about it isn’t the same as a lot of streetwear brands and music groups.” Carrerio puts an emphasis on networking, and spreading their brand by word of mouth with big influencers. “We’re going to bring on as many people as possible… host art galleries, film screenings, dance performances; host our artist and musician friends.”

  Belluschi and Carrerio cleary have bigger plans than just clothes for The Prophet. They want to emphasize that their brand is an Art Collective that is open to all artists. They want to leave their mark in every medium of art they can collaborate with, and help artists who are just starting out. So whether or not their brand is a success, they are bound to leave their mark somewhere.

LINCOLN BUSINESS ACADEMY CLASS WAS 2RD PLACE IN THE NFTE COMPETITION

By: Scott Wu

 

 

  “We hope possibly in the future with proper funding.The NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) is a non-profit organization that provides training and education programs for entrepreneurship to low-income urban communities. This organization does occasional competitions, with cash prizes that goes towards scholarships and school funding. Out of the 20+ ideas from the 11th and 12th graders in the business academy, only one idea made it to the top three of the NFTE challenge, and were in for the run of the $2,500 prize that would go towards their business or college expenses.
  The “Drone Lifesaver”, was the idea created by Elizabeth Gogolisyna, Vicki Chen and Gloria Chen that got them the 2nd place ranking. The “Drone Lifesaver” would be a machine with night vision cameras that are connected to a system which searches for victims during natural disasters.
  “It was exciting and surprising to find out that we were placed second, especially since we are the only group to place in San Francisco in a worldwide competition with many other ideas”, stated Vicki Chen. When asked if it was expected to get this high of a ranking, they responded with a quick no.
  This life drone would help civilians and contact the police when they are discovered. The group decided to make the drone because they thought it would be beneficial towards the police to “efficiently search for and identify missing victims.”
  “The biggest problem was victims being missing from natural disasters. The drone would go into collapsed buildings and try to locate any possible bodies”, said Gogolisyna. The NFTE profile of the project states it would have a “flexible size”, making this a possible reality in the fre the Drone Lifesaver could be a real thing, with help from the government,” said Vicki Chen.

  According to the project, the Drone Lifesaver will have a team that monitors social media to notify users about missing people. This will help the process of finding missing people a lot faster if it gains traction.

THE BSU STARTS LINCOLN’S FIRST BLACK HISTORY SPIRIT WEEK

By: Laila Boston

Photo By: Laila Boston

 

 

  Black History Month has celebrated great historical figures of the past and present for generations. In accordance, the BSU (Black Student Union) decided to pioneer a Spirit Week here at Lincoln to not only celebrate Black History Month, but to include other cultures and ethnicities in the celebration as well. The Spirit Week’s days were titled “A Day of Protest”, “Living Portraits Day”, “African Swag Day”, “Professional Excellence Day”, and “Black Panther Party for Self Defense Day”. On Monday, “A Day of Protest”, the Lincoln community dressed in solidarity with a protest or movement aimed at fighting for the rights of Black people. Sadly, not too many people dressed up on Monday, maybe because they did not know who to dress up as. If more people had dressed up, some examples of people they could have dressed as are Martin Luther King Jr. or Colin Kaepernick. On Tuesday, “Living Portraits Day”, there was a lot more participation, and lots of people in the Lincoln community dressed as an African or African American from history whose life and achievements embody values and qualities that they believe should be uplifted. Ms. Roque was a participant and dressed as James Baldwin.

  She stated, “I never listened to a lot of stories about people of color, and he [Baldwin] got super popularized because of this, but also because he speaks on other people’s stories that are less talked about.”

  On Wednesday came “African Swag Day”, where participants wore their flyest African attire, showcasing the influences of African and Black culture on ideas of beauty and style. Koairea McFadden dressed in a dashiki, which is a colorful garment worn in West Africa by both men and women. McFadden’s dashiki is a blend of many traditions with a chic twist that has traditional prints and can still be worn as street clothing.

  Thursday, “Professional Excellence Day”, was sadly not participated in much.

  However, there was great participation in the “Black Panther Party for Self Defense Day. Some people think that as much as 75% of the Lincoln staff and students dressed in black in celebration and solidarity, although it may have not been for the Spirit Day, as a lot of people just like wearing black.

  Even though there was more participation in some Spirit Days than others, Lincoln’s first-ever Black History Month Spirit Week was overall successful, full of celebrations, community building, educational activities, and togetherness.

  The Black History Month Spirit Week was created so that the school’s African American community could not only participate, but invite other cultures to participate and showcase what Black history month means to them. The leader and creator Christian Flag stated, “ A lot of what people experience on a day to day basis is influenced by Black culture, and people sometimes seem to be unaware or unconscious of that. So by highlighting it, people are really able to recognize the positive and great contributions of Black people to society.”