Winter 2016
Features
Teacher of the Month: Bianca Bulic
PAGE 5
Lily Williams
After the terms of Edward Steinhauser and Nicole Read ended, there were no instructors left to teach one of the school’s
Managing Editor most popular AP classes: AP U.S. History. Luckily, new teacher Bianca Bulic was more than ready to step in. Bulic is a Southern California local, as well an alum of Whittier High School. She received her bachelor’s degree and teaching credential
at Cal State Long Beach, in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Her job at OCSA is her first bona fide teaching position. Bulic is a self-proclaimed
nerd in many respects, something she is not afraid to talk about in detail.
Q- What’s been the most stressful part of
teaching, something you didn’t expect?
The turnaround on grading. 5 APs is a lot
of essay grading. I want to have essays
back within a week, but that’s often not
the case, unfortunately, so I’m working on
that. The pacing is the other issue. AP US
History is a very fast-paced timeline and
it’s a push until the AP test to get all the
content covered.
Q- Give me a brief rundown of what you
were like in high school.
I was a total band nerd. All of my friends
were in band. We called ourselves the
Band Mafia, and we had kind of a mob
mentality. They were all brass players too,
so we had a brass instrument cult. My
junior year I took 5 APs, which was the limit,
so my schedule was the master schedule
and everyone’s was built around mine, because that was the only schedule I could
have, which is dorky. I think I wore the
same band sweater and pair of jeans every day of high school. I had no evolution
of style. That happened in college. I discovered I was a girl in college, but in high
school, I was just this amorphous, agender
band nerd. That’s what I was.
Q- Do you have any artistic background?
I do! I play the French horn. I’ve played
since I was 11 years old, and I continued
to play all the way through college. It’s
a very difficult instrument, but I play frequently. I went to a Christmas party and
played ‘Greensleeves’ for my friends who
didn’t want to listen. I played it for them
anyway.
Q- If you were to wake up tomorrow, and
be someone else, who would you be?
Maybe I’d be William Lloyd Garrison [the
abolitionist], because he’s sort of perfect. I
[think] you can’t tarnish his record. I would
love to ascend to the status of William
Lloyd Garrison.
Q- If you could commit a crime and get
away with it, what would you do?
Maybe I would go to a museum and take
a painting and give it back to the country
of origin. It would be righteous crime.
Photo courtesy of: Bianca Bulic
Q- What’s the latest show you’ve been binge
watching?
I’ve been binge watching How I Met Your Mother
because it’s really easy to have in the background
while I just do little administrative things that don’t
take a lot of mental engagement.
Q- I know you’re a “Harry Potter” fan, so what Hogwarts house would you be in?
Definitely Gryffindor. But [the Sorting Hat] placed
me in Ravenclaw.
Q- What’s different about teaching at
OCSA vs. teaching at a traditional high
school?
The level of apathy at traditional high
schools is much higher than OCSA’s. The
kids at OCSA all want to be here. That’s
really been such a change, in terms of
motivation and excitement. I love how
talented everyone is. Remember the song
[about the landmark Dred Scott case] I
wrote for you all? [The lyrics are set to the
Adele song “Hello.”] I just gave it to you
and said ‘Sing it!’ and everyone could sing
it. That was really nice.
Student of the Month: Max Yuehara
Justine Bautista
Staff Writer
From “Huckleberry Finn” to “Oliver” to voice overs for the film
“Minions,” 8th grader Max Yuehara (MT) has an extensive repertoire that displays his passion for acting. At around four years
old, Yuehara already knew he was happiest when singing on a stage. Since then,
his interests have expanded and now include dancing and acting.
His most recent work is in “Minions” where he voiced a choir boy. “They give you
things to say or do and there’s so many takes that go into it,” said Yuehara.
With the balancing act of school and the industry, Yuehara still manages to stay
humble and put his best effort into everything he does. Entering his second year,
he said he has found “[OCSA has] given me more experience in the theater industry and it also gives me the busy schedule that I have to deal with too.”
Noah Strattan (ACT), an acquaintance of Yuehara, says “he has a great personality, is really nice, but is also really dedicated to his craft.”
Yuehara values the support system OCSA has given him: “My friends are really
supportive unlike other schools and theater programs where everyone just wants to
be the main lead or climb to the top. It’s more of an ensemble relationship.”
We wish Max continued success in both OCSA and Hollywood!
Q- What types of things do you participate in at OCSA?
A. I mostly do a lot of the Musical Theater stuff like Broadway Bound and I participate in some clubs like the chess club and I did Thespians so that was good too
and other nerdy fanfic clubs.The academics are amazing and the reason I came
here, including the academics was the theater program. I’m, in M&T.
Q- What is your favorite part of your conservatory?
A. I’d say that my favorite part about my conservatory is the environment. Everyone is really supportive.
Q- What would you consider your guilty pleasure?
A. I like board games, actually. That’s a guilty pleasure of mine.
Q- What do you like doing in your free time?
A. I like reading books like Harry Potter and I listen to a lot of music along with my
Musical Theater friends who listen to Hamilton.
Photo