Teachers’ before-school routines support mental health, self-care
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Read about why students should strive towards quality over quantity in their extracurriculars
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THEOraclE
by the numbers
• Palo alto Unified: 29 hoUsing Units
• los altos: 24 hoUsing Units
• MoUntain View whisMan: 12 hoUsing Units
foothill-de anza: 12 hoUsing Units
• san Mateo CoUnty sChool dIstRICts: 32 hoUsing Units
Source: County Supervisor Joe Simitian
Santa Clara County, Palo Alto opening local educators’ housing with income-based eligibility this summer, addressing housing crisis
Gwen Domine Forum editor
In the summer of 2025, Palo Alto is set to open an inaugural apartment complex located at 231 Grant Ave. featuring 110 units for educators and their families who meet income requirements. Supervisor Joe Simitian, a longtime Palo Alto resident, is representing the project. Educators within the Los Altos School District, Mountain View Whisman School District, Palo Alto Unified School District, Foothill-De Anza Community College District and San Mateo County school districts are eligible to live in the complex. Mercy Housing and Abode Communities are leading the construction and the planning, funded by a $25 million grant courtesy of Meta’s philanthropy funds, as well as private donors, County of Santa Clara funds and various loans.
Mercy Housing and Abode Communities are both non-profit organizations devoted to developing affordable housing. Mercy Housing, operating for over 35 years, is a more widespread company, operating in 41 states, in contrast to Abode Communities’ more localized focus of California. Abode Communities, founded in 1861, also has a more sustainable project approach, according to their website.
Simitian, the driving force behind the project, was raised in Palo Alto and went to Palo Alto High School. With personal connections to both the city and its local education, he is a supporter of designated teacher housing.
“As a product of (PAUSD), and as someone who had a father who lived in Palo Alto, I went to school at Paly,” he said. “As a former school board member, I’m acutely aware of the fact that having teachers and other school staff live in the communities where they do their work is equitable in so many ways.”
In order to become a resident of this complex, educators must meet the criteria determined by the county and project team. The list of eligibility requirements includes the necessity of having one member of the family be a teacher within a County of Santa Clara or San Mateo public school and a household income between 60% and 140% of the Area Median Income for Santa Clara County. This income range was $76,140 to $177,660 in 2023, according to Abode Communities.
According to Simitian’s office, all participating school districts will have a form of lottery system conducted by Mercy Housing and Abode Communities, but the extent to which each school advertises and reaches out to teachers about the lottery will vary.
The housing availability is split up across districts, with an allotted number of units for each one and one unit reserved for a property manager. PAUSD, which has over 800 teachers, will have 29 units, while the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District will only be granted 12 units. Simitian told Palo Alto Online that the reason PAUSD is allotted more units not only because the project is located in Palo Alto, but also because the district has been involved and showed interest.
Terri Baldwin, President of the Palo Alto Educators Association, has been a longtime advocate for increased teacher housing.
“This complex will help some live closer to work and cut out long commutes,” she wrote in an email. Van Meter Williams Pollack is the architecture firm for the 231 Grant project, advising Cahill Contractors to complete construction. The apartment complex will have a variety of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units – accounting mostly for smaller families in order to provide housing for over 100 teachers. The apartment complex consists of 110 units spaced within two C-shaped buildings connected by an air bridge. The site area is 1.5 acres, and is located near California Avenue, one of Palo Alto’s shopping
Gunn adopts evidence-based grading system, holistic standards emphasize student achievement
Vaani Saxena reporter
Officially introduced to PAUSD this year, teachers and administrators have been implementing Evidence-Based Grading to encourage students to focus on improving their skills over time.
Classes such as chemistry, AP Physics and AP U.S. History are currently using EBG. This grading system uses a scale between one through four to assess students. Scoring a one represents developing proficiency, a two represents approaching proficiency, a three represents meeting proficiency and a four represents exceeding proficiency. Accounting for recency and consistency to determine a student’s grade, grades from recent assessments play a larger role in determining a students grade, while consistency shows that a student has a thorough understanding of the material.
Principal Dr. Wendy Stratton emphasized that the main disadvantage of percentage-based grading is that students are more focused on increasing their percentage than learning and understanding the course’s content. EBG emphasizes not only teacher-to-teacher communication — which is essential to standardizing the grading process across classes — but also studentto-teacher communication — whether that be formal meetings or just asking questions after class.
According to Assistant Principal Kat Catalano, a main goal for EBG is to emphasize the importance of learning, as well as self-accountability.
“(EBG works to) build that sense of student agency,” she said. “The idea is that students know what they know, they know what they need to know and they know where their gaps are. We want students to feel like they have a clear path forward, and I think that’s a really important practice for students who are going to go on to be lifelong learners — to recognize your gaps and figure out what you need to do to close them.”
(EBG works to) build that sense of student agency. The idea that students know what they know, they know what they need to know, and they know where their gaps are.
—Assistant Principal Kat Catalano
on ways to increase their percentage, EBG allows them to demonstrate proficiency in a skill.
“(EBG encourages students to have) targeted conversations with their teachers about what they need to do,” she said. “Not just (trying) to get 15 more points or 2.5 percentage points more — (Having students recognize), ‘I’m “approaching” in this area, can I provide (the teacher) with evidence that I am proficient?’”
EBG has received varying levels of support from parents and students, as evidenced by an anonymous survey sent out by a group of parents to gather students’ opinions. Stratton and other teachers have made a continuous effort to meet with concerned students to address the pushback.
Sophomore Leza Hervy believes that EBG inaccurately represents her knowledge of the material. For example, Hervy’s chemistry class uses EBG, and she has noticed that if she does worse on the more recent test, her grade drops drastically, no matter how well she did on the previous test.
“One of the things I don’t like about (evidence-based grading) is that it is arbitrary,” she said. “The idea of EBG is that you improve over time, but most of the time, if you don’t understand the latest material, you might get a bad grade. Even if, percentage-wise, you should’ve gotten a higher grade (when averaging out the test scores).”
Science Department Instructional Lead Laurie Pennington uses EBG in all her classes and has noticed that it motivates students to understand the material rather than memorize it.
“(EBG) allows opportunities for learners of all levels to show, by the end of the term, that they know what they know, as opposed to having trouble in the beginning and then having to dig themselves out,” she said.
(EBG) allows opportunities for learners of all levels to show by the end of the term that they know what they know, as opposed to having trouble in the beginning and then having to dig themselves out.
Science Department Instructional Lead Laurie Pennington
One thing she disliked with the standard percentagebased system is the difficulty to recover from lower grades — even if a student is capable of getting a higher grade.
“The other issue (with percentage-based grading) is for students who start off on a slower pace or get into a class that’s a little more difficult than they’ve taken before,” she said. “They get a slow start, even though they’re capable of learning at that level.”
One of the things I don’t like about (evidence-based grading) is that it is arbitrary. The idea of EBG is that you improve over time, but most of the time, if you don’t understand the latest material, you might get a bad grade.
Sophomore Leza Hervy
“ ”
Hervy also feels that EBG does not accurately demonstrate a student’s overall grade. In some classes, students are provided with a grade sheet indicating if they met or did not meet the standards, but it does not provide a definitive final letter grade. EBG can cause larger fluctuations in students’ grades, and this inconsistency frustrates Hervy.
“In (EBG), if you get one question wrong, (your score might not meet the standards), and it will heavily impact your grade,” she said.
Despite some students’ negative opinions of EBG, teachers have found it to be a helpful grading system.
Pennington appreciates the way evidence-based grading allows for students to fully comprehend the material and show what they know. EBG has allowed Pennington to make sure students understand the concepts rather than knowing how to use a formula.
“Is it more important that (students) know (force equals mass multiplied by acceleration), or is it more important that (students) know that, ‘If I push on something, it’s going to move’?” she said.
Students, teachers and administrators have varied opinions on EBG, but ultimately, administrators look forward to integrating EBG into the majority of classes. Catalano noted that a possible way to increase the accuracy of grades would be having more data points. Instead of taking fewer bigger assessments, teachers would create more frequent and smaller assessments — highlighting EBG’s goal of improving over time.
“The focus is on the learning,” Stratton said. “They’ll have a chance to talk about that with their teacher and figure out the misconception. (Students will) walk away from a course and from high school having a clear sense of how to push through something that’s challenging.”
Source: Palo Alto Annual Report 2023-24
• replaces the traditional percentage-based grading
• focuses on showing growth and mastery
• utilizes a four-point system, ranging from developing to exceeding expectations
• accounts for both recency and consistency in understanding material
• grades separated into categories that reflect course skills
• clarifies points of necessary improvement and strengths
Stratton finds that, instead of having students focus
THEO RACLE Local community events spread holiday cheer
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Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one.
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Harvest Feast
The annual Harvest Feast, hosted by the Parent Teacher Student Association, occurred during lunch on Nov. 20. Due to forecasted rain, organizers moved the event from the Spangenberg courtyard to the Bow Gym.
Students were served free Thanksgiving meals with a slice of either apple or pumpkin pie for dessert. PTSA members and parent volunteers distributed food and facilitated lines.
The pieing event planned by the Student Executive Council reached its $2000 donation goal, but due to weather conditions, it will be filmed and released as a video.
According to Junior Site Council Representative Deven Sharma, SEC
Sea Scouts Christmas Tree Lot
Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes filled the parking lot of the Middlefield Ballpark on Dec. 1. Sea Scouts’ Christmas Trees, an annual event running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 21, is hosted by the local Sea Scouts and volunteers. This event is a fundraiser for the Scouts and an opportunity for families to purchase a tree for the holiday season.
Sea Scout Andrew Gold finds joy in supporting buyers on their quest for the perfect tree. He also highlights the value in having the Sea Scouts run the fundraiser.
“I really enjoy helping customers find the trees that they like and getting to see their excitement when they pick out the correct tree,” he said. “(This event) helps (Scouts) get leadership skills and learn how to correctly
manage trees and also how to sell them to customers.”
Customer Rachel Rigo appreciated the event’s seasonal atmosphere.
“It’s wonderful that the Scouts are learning maritime skills, and we want to support that,” she said. “We also think that it’s a really festive environment with lots of friendly people sharing the spirit of Christmas with Palo Alto.”
With candy canes at checkout and winterthemed decorations, this event is rewarding to both the volunteers, who learn useful skills, and the customers, who support the Scouts’ cause.
Nutcracker ‘Sweet’
On Sunday, Dec. 1, parents and children flocked to the Mitchell Park Community Center for the Oakland Fairyland and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s Nutcracker “Sweet.” Returning for its 12th year, the event is a puppet show take on the classic “The Nutcracker,” accompanied by a section of SFCO.
Puppeteers Randall Metz and Rhonda Godwin drafted the play. The two had a strong emotional tie to the performance and community built through rehearsal.
“The Nutcracker is colorful and beautiful,” Godwin said. “It captivates children because there’s constantly something happening.”
Audience member Janet Stromber, who attended the event for the first time, enjoyed having a day out with her granddaughter.
INBOX
“I enjoyed reading it and looking at the statistics, along with the crossword and games.”
—Naama Gotlieb, 10
“I like the variety of articles and how some of the articles are Gunn-specific.”
—LeeAh Ji, 10
“(The writing) was communicated clearly and efficiently, allowing for a more enjoyable read.”
—Sofía Solorio Garrison, 10
partnered with PTSA to coordinate the event.
“(SEC) worked with an outside organization, (PTSA), who handled the logistics of the food,” he said. “SEC handled the decorations, the music, the pie event and the donations. It’s two teams that work on (Harvest Feast).”
As a two-time parent volunteer, Chief Scholarship Officer of the Gunn Foundation Miguel Lopez appreciates that the Harvest Feast helps strengthen the community.
“Coming together as a community, seeing all the other parents pitch in and help each other for the benefit of the students and staff (is my favorite part of the event),” he said.
“I loved it,” she said. “We came here, went to this incredible playground and ate at Ada’s Cafe before the performance.”
SFCO, who hosts free events, worked in collaboration with Fairyland, a children’s amusement park, during the production. Their featured subsection included violin, viola, cello, bass and harp. Throughout his experience, SFCO marketing manager Thomas Kurtz enjoyed working with the Nutcracker “Sweet” staff.
“I really think it brings people together around the holiday season,” he said.
—Written
Melody Lyu
Students line up to enjoy the Harvest Feast food served by parent volunteers.
Volunteers carry trees to cars and assist customers with the selection process.
Adults and children gather at the Mitchell Park Community Center to watch the Nutcracker “Sweet” puppet show.
Ezra Rosenberg
Gwen Domine
by Gwen Domine
—Written by Eanam Maor
—Written by Ezra Rosenberg
New educator-specific housing complex slated to open in Palo Alto this summer
and restaurant districts.
According to the VMWP website, the building will feature eco-friendly aspects, such as the electric vehicle charging stations and photovoltaic panels.
The C-shaped buildings, as well as the plazas, promote connection between residents. The plazas are accessible to the public, allowing residents to build relations with the rest of the community. This plan fosters an environment in which residents can conveniently engage with each other.
PAUSD long-term substitute teacher Julia Jacobsen has lived in Palo Alto since before she began working in the district, a fact which has strengthened her views on the housing program.
“(When) you live in the community, you feel invested in the community in a different way,” she said.
The project, proposed in January of 2018, was a product of many listening sessions and town hall meetings, consisting mostly of teachers. Multiple companies became involved in the project, beginning with Support Teacher Housing and Bay Area Forward — organizations devoted to the betterment of Silicon Valley. The project is estimated to cost around $90 million, a price significantly above the United States average cost of between $38.5 million and $77 million for a 110-unit apartment complex. However, this project is unique in its ownership — the land was already owned by Santa Clara County, previously home to the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender.
Construction for the project began in 2023, in response to the County of Santa Clara’s Request for Proposals, which, according to the proposal, hopes “to create a high-quality educator workforce housing development at a central location in Palo Alto.”
The new housing at 231 Grant Avenue was the solution to many long-standing problems for teachers. The affordability of the complex allows educators that cannot afford the steep prices of Palo Alto real estate to live in the area. Although travel costs may seem like an inconsequential issue to many, they can add up over
time, furthering the wealth gap between educators who live close to their work versus those who commute from farther away. According to Baldwin, there are educators who live as far as Capitola, Morgan Hill and Dublin. These locations can be more than an hour away with traffic, creating a round trip commute that may take over two hours. Capitola, which is 43 miles away from Gunn, would require the use of an average of two gallons of gas. With the current average gas price at $4.427 in the U.S. — according to the American Automobile Association — this trip would cost almost $18 per day. Over a 180-day school year, this would cost $3,240 each year. This value adds a layer of inaccessibility to many teachers, especially those who are saving money for better housing. By creating educator housing, teachers will save thousands of dollars each year on gas prices just by taking a shorter commute to work.
“By definition, time spent commuting is time spent not working with or on behalf of students,” Simitian said. “I mean, folks are not only not on campus, but they can’t be working on their lesson plan or projects.”
By definition, time spent commuting is time spent not working with or on behalf of students. Folks are not only not on campus, but they can be working on their lesson plan or projects.
County Supervisor Joe Simitian
While this project is the first of its kind, Simitian and many others hope it won’t be the last. The County of Santa Clara educator housing project serves as an example for future proposals to improve teachers’ quality of life and cost efficiency.
“My hope is that this is just the beginning, and there is more to come,” Simitian said. “You can’t have great schools without great staff, and you can’t attract and retain great staff if there’s no place for them to call home.”
Photo courtesy of Joe Simitian
Top: County Supervisor Joe Simitian surveys construction of the PAUSD educator housing, located at 231 Grant Ave. Bottom: 3D render of educator housing construction provides an early blueprint of the future complex. The complex will have 110 units, ranging from studio rooms to three-bedroom apartments.
Photo courtesy of Mercy Housing California and Abode Communities
FORUM
Excessive extracurriculars increase student stress, negatively affect academic performance
Yael Gottesman Lifestyle Editor
By comparing themselves to their peers, students often feel pressured to engage in a multitude of extracurricular activities to appear well-rounded and stand out during college applications. The constant pressure regarding extracurriculars leads many students to burden themselves with activities they aren’t truly passionate about. Forcing themselves to partake in a large number of extracurriculars in a short span of time can be detrimental to their mental health, academics and overall well-being. Not only this, but when students don’t fully enjoy what they are doing, it can feel like a chore and cause them to put in minimal effort. Yet, many students fail to realize that the concept of “well-roundedness” could also apply to students who dedicate themselves to fewer activities.
The constant pressure regarding extracurriculars leads many students to burden themselves with activities they aren’t truly passionate about.
Engaging in too many activities at once can overload a student’s schedule, leading to difficulties balancing academics, a social life and extracurriculars. In fact, schoolwork alone can be difficult for students to manage: According to a study conducted from 2018 to 2020 by The Washington Post, high schoolers spend an average of 2.7 hours working on homework each weeknight. With a limited amount of time after school, students must juggle their homework, along with any extracurriculars they participate in. Each respective extracurricular adds on its own time commitment and mandatory activities, such as attending classes or tournaments. This increased number of commitments can lead to a significant reduction in the amount of free time students have.
While students often feel pressured to participate in numerous extracurricular activities to appear wellrounded for college applications, the reality is that balancing these activities with academic responsibilities can be overwhelming. According to a study conducted at the University of Georgia in 2023, too many enrichment activities can have adverse effects on a student, including stress and anxiety. Extraneous activities that students take on to simply fill their applications can take a toll on their mental health, pushing them to their limit and making it even more difficult to manage their work.
“
Extraneous activities that students take on to simply fill their applications can take a toll on their mental health.
Contrary to popular belief, participating in more extracurriculars may not even benefit an applicant. When filling out activity lists or writing supplemental essays, students who excel in a few areas stand out more than a student who has many activities but does not show a genuine investment into them. Admissions officers look for students who have a true passion in their interests, rather than those who simply fill the list of activities. By focusing on fewer extracurriculars, students are also able to better understand their own interests. The less time students spend juggling multiple activities, the more they can focus on developing a passion in one or two fields, an advantage which sets them up for success in college and beyond. This kind of engagement is not only more rewarding, but also allows students to look forward to doing something. Additionally, engaging in a smaller field of study provides better preparation for jobs, as students are able to go more in-depth into a certain topic. Fewer but more meaningful extracurricular activities allows students to grow and curate essential life skills, such as time management, teamwork and leadership. By dedicating themselves to fewer activities, students can take on more responsibility within those activities, whether it’s becoming a leader of a club, organizing an event or pursuing a project. These experiences provide
valuable lessons in communication and collaboration — skills that are highly prized by colleges and future employers alike.
For students to find an interest in the first place, they can begin by exploring a variety of fields and eventually shift their focus towards ones that are the most meaningful to them. What they shouldn’t do, however, is drag the process out and put minimal care into too many extracurriculars. The process of joining so many different classes, sports or teams can stress individuals out and lead to exhaustion, but an initial search to find a few focal extracurriculars can be beneficial.
Some may argue that students should be engaged in as many extracurriculars as possible to show that they are “well-rounded.” However, the concept of wellroundedness does not have to be equated with simply doing as much as possible. A student who dedicates a lot of their time into a few activities can show well-roundness by holding different leadership positions in each activity or having well-thought out projects and events in each extracurricular.
The less time students spend juggling multiple activities, the more they can focus on developing a passion in one or two fields, which sets them up for success in college and beyond.
People like putting effort into things they enjoy. They loathe doing tasks they find boring. Instead of dreading a multitude of activities, students should focus on what they truly enjoy and pursue events and activities that relate to it. By narrowing their focus and dedicating themselves to fewer, more meaningful pursuits, they will not only perform better, but also find greater fulfillment in their extracurriculars. Passion creates dedication, and with a clear direction, students can thrive in the areas that matter most to them.
Gunn administrators must focus on proactivity, communication regarding student needs, issues
Kaylee Cheng and Anne Dong Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor
Students’ wellbeing and academic fulfillment are the heartbeat of any educational institution. This truth, although widely agreed upon, can be side-swept and forgotten about in the midst of busy schedules and school politics. Similarly, student feedback gets lost in the shuffle, allowing overlooked problems to snowball into larger issues until administrators need to intervene. To create a truly responsive and supportive educational environment, administrators must do more than simply react when problems arise — they must take a proactive approach in the welfare of their students. Admin need to not only be receptive to student feedback, but also actively seek out student concern, make actionable plans to address these issues and be transparent with the student body throughout this entire process.
To be fair, it is impossible to implement every single piece of student feedback. This strategy is admittedly a slippery slope that, if completely up to the student, might eventually lead to extremely counterintuitive measures like the complete eradication of homework or three-hour lunch breaks. However, addressing student concerns doesn’t mean catering to every demand without consideration. Administrators — who have students’ best interests at heart — are there precisely to make good decisions and often difficult trade-offs to promote general safety, happiness and productive learning. Often, though, this position of power can cause a disconnect with the very body of students admin are vowed to serve.
Typically, the resolution of issues follows a predictable pattern: A contentious topic is introduced to campus, students and parents begin to panic, and if the issue becomes significant enough, the admin attempts to alleviate stress by issuing a statement or doing outreach. A recent instance of this process, a statement addressing Governor Gavin Newsom’s Phone-Free Schools Act letter, only acted as a band-aid solution to deeper concerns that would have benefitted from previous discussion. Even though this approach isn’t inherently bad or stifling to student voices, it is more reactive than proactive. Often, administrators wait for incidents to occur, and then, almost like damage-control, seek out student and community feedback. This reaction, however genuine the intention, is at risk of being perceived as performative
and apathetic by the student population. Instead of letting issues fly under the radar until they become a full-blown crisis, administrators should be more proactive in their approach. Although reactionary measures can help calm a situation in the short-term, intense and stressful circumstances may result in haphazard decisions that do not address the root cause of the issue. A more effective process would begin with recognizing potential problems before they escalate. Taking preventative measures requires the admin to empathize with students and understand their needs through observation and careful consideration of various perspectives. Not only would this method help create long-term solutions that foster a more positive environment, but it would also demonstrate to students that their voices are heard and their opinions are valued.
Although reactionary measures can help calm a situation in the short-term, intense and stressful circumstances may result in haphazard decisions that do not address the root cause of the issue.
Although there is a clear effort made by admin to always make people feel heard and included in the face of rising concern — exemplified in their recent efforts to promote wellness resources, gain student input on the SELF curriculum and do more outreach to make admin more personable to students — creating solutions should not be a one-off event, but instead adapted to changing community opinions. For example, according to a PAUSD Panorama survey conducted in the fall of 202324, 77% of students responded favorably to the topic of Diversity and Inclusion and 61% of students responded favorably to Teacher-Student Relationships. Even though these data points are considered 60-70th percentile and 80-99th percentile respectively compared to other schools in CORE districts, there is still clearly a margin of improvement: A 77% margin of agreement also means there are 23% of students who do not feel like the topic of Diversity and Inclusion is properly addressed. In this scenario, a bottle half-empty mentality is necessary to be a catalyst for constant improvement and acknowledgement of student well-being. Establishing an ongoing process that continues to listen to and address concerns is more effective than temporary solutions made to suppress community pushback.
Even with this shift in approach, only listening and
collecting feedback isn’t enough; administrators must take concrete actions to resolve challenges the school community faces. Although surveys, such as the Panorama survey, are used to collect student opinions on aspects of the school community and learning environment, students are mostly unaware of what their responses are being used for — if at all. If there is a lack of communication between admin and students regarding the purpose and use of collected data, students may assume that their feedback is not valued and stop providing constructive responses. Administrators should give themselves credit for the work they put in for students, and the easiest way to do that is to let students know of their internal improvements and projects. Transparency in decisionmaking processes can make the student body feel more appreciative of their efforts and may encourage smoother communication in the future.
To gain a mutual understanding of how feedback is incorporated into the school environment, the administrators should increase transparency of their efforts to the student body. It is imperative that students are aware of changes made in response to their concerns to build trust and for the administration to gain recognition of the progress they’ve made. Especially when establishing policies that directly impact students, administrators should make an effort to keep them informed about their decisions and the rationale behind them. For instance, students have recently expressed frustration with the school-wide implementation of the Evidence-Based Grading system. Without knowledge of the administration’s motivations and goals in this transition, students are left to speculate, which can lead to confusion and resistance. Being aware of the work done behind the scenes can build a connection between the students and administration and increase the likelihood of future engagement and cooperation.
The administration’s role on campus is largely to create a more positive environment for students to learn. Therefore, it is essential that they actively respond and adapt to the student body’s concerns before they escalate.
A Titan Town Hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 11 during PRIME in the library. The event will allow students to share thoughts on school policies with Gunn administrators and PAUSD School Board members.
Tienming Shao
Does gift-giving create unnecessary pressures?
Yu-Ming Liu Forum Editor
The idea behind gift-giving is simple: An individual gives a small token of appreciation to friends and family as means of spreading love and happiness. However, the nature of gift-giving has changed as time passes, focusing more on materialism instead of thoughtfulness. This evolved form of giftgiving has created a culture where givers are forced to strike a reasonable balance between their finances, the gift’s quality and its message to the recipient.
People often fixate on finding the perfect gift, leading to stress over the effect that a gift will have on the receiver. According to a 2023 study by market research consultancy The Circus, 71% of Americans find themselves anxious about gift shopping, and two in three people find it difficult to find the perfect gift. Choosing a present is meant to be an expression of feeling, but it often leads to a focus on materialistic value rather than love or affection. This quest for perfection can create unnecessary pressures, as givers must put a great deal of effort into guessing the receiver’s preferences in order to decide on the best gift. With so much thought and logic needed to make a final decision, gift-giving can seem like a chore for the holidays. While gift-giving brings unity to communities, it also encourages people to fixate on finding the absolute best gift for another person. After all, disappointing a loved one, especially during the holidays, is very undesirable.
Gift-giving can also impose financial
burdens on people shopping for quality items. When looking at a gift’s worth, many instinctively turn to the price, which is often used as an estimator for how much the giver is willing to invest into the recipient. Unfortunately, this idea can pressure buyers into purchasing more expensive gifts to win the other over. According to a study conducted by the National Retail Federation in 2019, Americans spend an average of $659 on gifts for coworkers, friends and family. This consumption has led to 54% of shoppers feeling financially burdened by the holiday season, according to a survey conducted in 2023 by financial services company Bankrate. The gift-giving season in and of itself is a positive concept, but the price of an item being a metric of comparison is clunky and improper. A gift should matter more when it is of high sentimental value to the recipient, not when it costs more. Evaluating gifts with its monetary value draws attention away from the emotional meaning behind the gift and encourages shoppers to choose the most expensive option.
One could argue that gift-giving is a great way to express love and appreciation. Under the best-case scenario, this would be true, but gift-giving in the current sense is a far cry from its original intentions. Pointing out the flaws of the culture as it stands today also offers a possible pathway to resolve these issues: Focusing on the sentimentality and warmth that a gift brings, rather than how much it costs to buy or what brand it is from, is much more of a win-win for both the giver and the receiver than a mindset that wears out the giver or makes the receiver feel unappreciated.
NO
Vanisha Vig Features Editor
For many people, giving and receiving gifts is a form of love. Birthdays, religious celebrations and other events that call for the exchange of gifts are some of the most celebrated occasions on the calendar.
According to Curious History, gift-giving is one of the oldest human activities, even pre-dating civilization. Whether in the form of an oddly shaped rock, colorful flowers or lavish items, gifts have always been a form of expression — a way to show love and affection.
The experience of gift-giving that many hold close — to give without expecting something in return — helps create mutual benefits, foster closer connections and encourage kindness in the world.
Gift-giving promotes gratitude on both ends. The giver shows their appreciation by taking the time to either choose or make a gift, and the receiver often feels seen, even if the gift is a simple token. Giving to others rather than focusing only on oneself is proven to provide a greater satisfaction.
This idea is demonstrated by the American Psychological Association, where a group of 46 undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia were assigned randomly to an option: Either spend $5 to $20 dollars on themselves or on another person. At the end of the experiment, it was reported that participants who had been randomly assigned to spend money on others expressed greater happiness after the task was completed.
As a result of the study, the APA suggested that gift-giving contributes positively to an individual’s psychological workings, stating that an act of generosity creates a greater interaction between two parts of the brain: One responsible for processing social information and the other for feeling pleasure. According to APA, when giving a gift, one experiences “feel-good feelings” through the release of
oxytocin from the brain. Unlike the temporary rush of dopamine released from the feeling of winning an award or the lottery, oxytocin is known to fuel longer lasting feelings of reward and happiness.
From another perspective, giving is one of the tenets of many religions. Engraved in several holy scriptures, it can be interpreted in many forms, including receiving good karma, practicing worship and showing gratitude. Many also associate giving with helping and supporting others, suggesting that exchanging gifts may carry a similar weight, kindling feelings of warmth and kinship.
One concern for gift givers lies in the cost of purchasing gifts. The financial aspect of buying items may intimidate many wellwishers. However, these pressures may be unnecessary. In a Vistaprint survey conducted in 2019 by OnePoll, which was taken by 2000 Americans, 62% of respondents preferred a homemade or heartfelt personalized gift over something generic and store-bought. Sixtysix percent of all participants also shared that they would remember a homemade gift much longer, and 40% said that they would try to keep and treasure it forever.
It is likely that much of the anxieties surrounding gift-giving are based on a giver’s own personal expectations and worries. The statistics show that gift-giving does not have to be lavish or extreme. It can be as simple as turning an everyday hobby — such as knitting, painting or baking — into a form that someone else will treasure.
Gifting doesn’t have to follow the most popular social media trend or become a show of extravagance. Instead, it can be in any form one chooses. It can involve acquaintances and co-workers, or just a few close friends. Just as love is expressed in different ways, gifting is another voice from the heart, allowing individuals to express themselves in ways where words may fail. While it is easy to get swept away by smaller worries, it is important to see gift-giving for what it is — a positive part of human society that continues to promote love and kindness.
Graphics by Jesse Li
‘Mass Trauma is created by humans’:
Content warning: The following article contains graphic descriptions of violence, mention of war and sensitive historical events.
Sylvie
Nguyen News Editor
When sophomore Uyen Chanthery, a Vietnamese-American, was eight, her mother revealed what it was like growing up in Vietnam during the Vietnam War with a father who was incarcerated in a labor and re-education camp. Chanthery’s family are victims of post-war trauma. On April 30, 1975, after the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam surrendered and the Northern Vietnamese Army renamed the capital to Ho Chi Minh City.
“When I was eight, my mom told me that she saw floating dead bodies of refugees who tried to escape to America on the beach when she was younger,” Chanthery said. “I can’t even imagine how my mom felt. My ông ngoại (grandfather) was a South Vietnamese soldier who spent eight years captured and was sent to camp. As a result, my mom didn’t see her father until she was seven.”
Chanthery is among many individuals living with the burden of intergenerational trauma, which occurs when the effects of a traumatic experience are passed from one generation to the next. Specifically, she is a victim of epigenetic trauma — a form of toxic stress during childhood that can affect an individual’s mood, reactions, health and susceptibility to conditions by switching genes “on” or “off,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This can manifest in various ways, including cultural trauma, where collective historical events like colonization, war or displacement can affect the identity and behavior of an entire community.
“
Mass trauma is actually created by humans. It’s just so much more painful and harder to recover from when you feel like somebody else is creating these situations and circumstances.
— Executive Behavioral Health Medical Director Dr. Tiffany Ho
The Oracle digs deep into intergenerational trauma causes and ”
Growing up in the Bay Area with three generations under one roof, Chanthery didn’t think much of the effects of her family’s political refugee history. As a younger child, she didn’t understand that she was a victim of epigenetic trauma. Instead, she attributed her mother’s intense focus on education, her grandfather’s stoic character and her difficult childhood as the experience of a typical second-generation daughter of a refugee parent.
“For them, education is the way to a better life,” she said. “Especially when you’re a refugee, (education) is the ticket to your future. When I was younger, it really affected me. I was an active student but lost many of my friends from my old school in the process. I felt like they didn’t really understand me.”
Chanthery’s experience constitutes a common analogy of intergenerational trauma, as described by the mental health organization, Sandstone Care. That is, just as a tree “remembers” the cut of an ax and grows with the cut mark, future generations can carry the scars of generational trauma even if they did not experience it firsthand, explained psychology teacher Warren Collier.
“Even if someone hasn’t experienced the initial blowback of trauma first-hand, they may be more prone to emotional struggles because of them being predisposed to it through things like DNA,” he said.
root causes
According to the National Institute of Health’s research in February, more than two out of three adolescents in the nation experience trauma by the age of 16. Exposure to trauma in early life is linked to a range of negative mental health outcomes, including intergenerational trauma.
The origin of intergenerational trauma effects was introduced through behavioral descriptions — such as worry that parental traumas would be repeated, traumatic nightmares and hypervigilance — of Holocaust survivors’ children and later Vietnam War veterans’ children. Studies have now broadened to the history of other ethnic groups. For history teacher and Social Emotional Learning and Functionality Program
‘The Joy Luck Club’: Immigration trauma gives rise to culture clashes, expectations
“The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tang is a story about four immigrant mothers from China and their second generation Asian-American daughters. The story follows two main timelines: one is of their daughters which take place in San Francisco, California, and the other is of their mothers’ childhoods which mostly takes place in China. It follows the characters through their lives, navigating their complicated mother-daughter relationship, cultural struggles and personal growth. The mothers try to preserve their Chinese heritage and make sure that their daughters receive every opportunity, especially the ones they never had. However, the mothers’ intentions are not communicated well to their daughters, causing conflict within their relationship, issues of self worth and confusion about identity. The unresolved struggles and trauma from their mothers’ life in China are passed down to their daughters through their expectations, cultural clashes and communication barriers. The story captures the lives of several mothers who immigrate in order to create a new life for their daughters which differs from the negative aspects that filled theirs. In doing so, they pass down a series of intergenerational trauma from their lives in China to their daughters in America, foreshadowing their own experiences they attempted to erase.
‘It Ends with Us’: Domestic future abuse, affects relationship
“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover is a popular young adult
The novel revolves around the life of Lily Bloom, a young woman man and falls in love. Due to Lily’s past, however, her story isn’t a simple “happy ever after.” Issues of abuse arise within their relationship, for the character to identify and act on these issues, especially because domestic abuse during her childhood. Similar to Lily, her love interest, also experienced abuse as a child. The domestic issues in the lives causes trauma and affects how they act and react, influencing their However, the chain of trauma is broken by Lily Bloom when she another person is not worth passing down this trauma to her future
The novel depicts the idea that unhealthy relationships and scars that impact the lives of individuals who experience or are damage that this type of trauma can have on an individual and the feasibility of breaking the chain of intergenerational trauma.
Graphic by Michael Lu
humans’: A generational influence
and experiences, highlighting expert-based prevention strategies
traumatic state across generations. This phenomenon can occur when stressors such as injury, oppression, poverty and other adverse experiences faced by previous generations “Mass trauma is created by humans,” Ho said. “It’s just so much more painful and harder to recover from when you feel like somebody else is creating these situations and NIH research reveals that traumatic experiences disproportionately affect minority youths. Despite the higher incidence of trauma exposure, minority youths are less likely to access medical and mental healthcare. These conditions are compounded with other structural inequities and the need for more
the emotional experience
The impacts of this form of psychological trauma can range from physical and mental health problems to social and emotional difficulties. Collier explains that the severity of effects from trauma varies. However, certain behaviors may not feel like a product of trauma. Still, behaviors such as emotional avoidance, hypervigilance or perfectionism often create patterns that continue in the family.
If left unaddressed, these patterns can negatively shape family dynamics and parenting styles across generations.
“(For example), some parents suffer through famine in their home country,” he said. “They grow up in a situation where food is very scarce. They may develop a habit of ‘We need to gather and hoard resources as often as possible and save food.’ This becomes a pattern in how they raise their children like ‘Don’t waste your food.’ This stressor becomes a habit or culture with the way those children (will) interact with resources and purchases (in the future).”
Ho explains that intergenerational trauma can feel different across demographics, individuals and generations. It can make a person have a hard time trusting others, feel very hopeless about the future, or cause them to experience feelings of anxiety and depression. For older generations, acknowledging and addressing trauma has often been met with reluctance. Ho is working to shift this by confronting the “rigidity and lack of creativity” that often accompany traditional
“When there are mental health issues from trauma, (older generations) may lose their confidence, faith and the ability to take care of their family,” she said.
“They feel powerless with other people in the mainstream
Domestic trauma impacts relationship dynamics
adult novel that was published in 2016. woman and entrepreneur who meets a isn’t a generic “love at first sight” with relationship, and it is difficult because she was exposed to interest, Ryle Kincaid, had lives of these two individuals their relationship dynamics. she decides that her love for future child. abuse can cause emotional exposed to it. Despite the their life, the novel highlights trauma.
community. Sometimes, they get angry and take it out on their own family members. I think that what they don’t realize is the intangible impact it may have on their kids and their grandkids to seek therapy.”
“There are more counselors in schools than ever before who specialize in mental health,” Ho noted. “However, students in high-stress schools often don’t have the means to access these resources, even if they are struggling with trauma or stress. When they return home, they face parents who are dealing with trauma themselves, making it hard to receive the emotional support they need. It’s like the oxygen mask (on an airplane) analogy — parents need to first care for themselves before they can fully support their children.”
“
For my grandparents, they find some sort of healing from me doing this. It’s like a form of resilience to keep teaching the language, to keep teaching the history. Their story is heard, and they feel like they came here (to the US) when there’s progress and there’s purpose because there’s a whole entire community built on a singular event that affected a lot of people.
“It’s not shameful to seek help,” she said. “Just like you’d seek medical treatment for a broken leg, it’s essential to address mental health needs. Evidence-based practices being implemented in school districts and healthcare settings are helping make it easier for families to seek support, ultimately healing trauma across generations.”
Besides one traumatic event, generational trauma can also happen in families who display a pattern of abuse or have experienced prolonged, complex trauma from situations of economic instability or domestic conflict.
Healing trauma survivors and their children can be approached with traumainformed education and careful self-reflection. For Howard, teaching history has always been a part of her work as an educator, but it also includes a social-emotional learning component. She structures the curriculum to explore the personal and collective legacies that shape her students’ identities.
“As a history teacher, I try to bring the voices of people into the classroom,” she said. “There will be moments where I’m not the expert (of) what it means to live in that identity. Rather than a lecture, I try to bring in the primary sources from people because, with intergenerational trauma, their voices were often suppressed by government policy or social understandings. From an SEL perspective, it’s helpful to think about the patterns in our family, and what is helping us and what may not be serving us.”
Though Chanthery doesn’t have all of the answers, her road to recovery is to ensure that her refugee family is recognizing their horrific and heroic journey to the U.S., learning from the past, building on the present and wholeheartedly moving forward.
“My main outlet is being a teacher’s assistant at a Vietnamese school and teaching Vietnamese,” she said. “For my grandparents, they find some sort of healing from me doing this. It’s like a form of resilience to keep teaching the language and to keep teaching the history. Their story is heard, and they feel like they came here (to the U.S.) when there’s progress and purpose because there’s a whole entire community built on a singular event that affected a lot of people.”
For access to resources, please visit the Early Intervention Clinic at https:// www.eiclinic.org or the Santa Clara County Public Health Free Help and Healing Resources at https://publichealth.santaclaracounty.gov/healthinformation/safe-and-healthy-communities/violence-free-communities/ help-and-healing
‘The Hate U Give’: Collective trauma showcases themes of race, violence
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas is a novel about 16-year old African American Starr Carter. She witnesses police violence and racism numerous times within her life, and the story focuses on her experience after witnessing the shooting of her friend, Khalil. However, the focus of the story is about more than the trauma that one event causes. It displays the damage caused by systematic issues that flow through generations of certain communities. This is especially clear through how Starr leads two separate lives. One of them is at her mostly white private school on one side of town, while the other is in her neighborhood and family life that is in a predominantly black neighborhood. In an attempt to shield Starr and her brothers from the negative experiences many in her neighborhood go through, her parents send them to a wealthier public school in hope of breaking this collective intergenerational trauma. The story highlights the struggles which her friends and family face due to racism and injustice — something that her white friends and boyfriend don’t understand or acknowledge.
— Compiled by Eanam Maor
Sophomore Uyen Chanthery
Healing in santa clara county
Graphics by Jennifer Li
FEATURES 10
New Year’s Celebrations hold personal, cultural
Sophomore Omer Horowitz: Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year, a tradition that dates back to around 200 A.D. and is celebrated by Jewish families and communities today in ways similar to its historical practices. Although its origins aren’t known, the holiday is still a fundamental marker of the Jewish calendar, which is based on moon cycles of the given year. In fact, Rosh Hashanah directly translates to “head of the year.”
Throughout Jewish history, symbols that are analogous with Rosh Hashanah are mentioned. According to sophomore Omer Horowitz, some important symbols are fish heads and pomegranates.
“Fish heads and fish in general are very important with Rosh Hashanah because we see them as a good luck symbol,” Horowitz said. “There’s also pomegranates. That’s a very important symbol of Rosh Hashanah because it is thought to
have a certain amount of seeds that directly correspond to the amount of Blessings in the Torah.”
Other symbols include sweet foods such as apples, honey and etrog — a type of lemon.
“There are four fruits and plants that are thought of to be very sweet and very fortune telling in the Jewish religion, and if you bring them and eat them, that means you will have a very sweet and very good New Year,” Horowitz said.
For Horowitz, the tradition of eating sweet fruits has a special meaning to him and how he has developed to appreciate the holiday overtime.
“In Rosh Hashanah, my family eats apples and honey,” Horowitz said. “That’s like the staple food, and I never liked apples. Until two years ago, when I ate a very specific kind of apple, and I really liked it. Now I’m addicted to apples and honey.”
In addition to his newfound love for apples, Horowitz has also developed a new perspective on the meaning of Rosh Hashanah itself. As he’s grown older and learned more about why and how the holiday is celebrated, he’s been able to appreciate it more. “I see it more as a ceremony that says, ‘Hey, we survived the full year, look at us, let’s have another great year,’”
Horowitz said. “I think (that perspective) is really important to every culture.”
For Horowitz’s family, Rosh Hashanah preparation starts early — up to two weeks in advance. The family buys food that abides by kosher rules, and, of course, sweet foods like apples and pomegranate. During the day of the celebration, Jewish families in the community gather and say prayers, eat and talk.
“We invite a few families every year,” Horowitz said. “It’s seen as a formal gathering. It’s like a party. Then, we sit down and say all the prayers that you say in a normal meal. We say a special prayer, which pretty much just translates to may we bless this year and have a good year. And we just talk for a long time, and that’s how we celebrate it.”
Being surrounded by family and friends and reflecting on the year and the new one to come is a very meaningful tradition for Horowitz.
“To me, it’s a very special chance to just get together with my family and have a sweet, genuine moment, because that’s the point of the holiday,” Horowitz said. “Reconnecting, resetting, and starting fresh.”
—Written by Claire Jittipun
Freshman Shrishti Sinha: Diwali
Each year, freshman Shrishti Sinha looks forward to Diwali, the Hindu new year’s celebration. Her house fills with friends and family and transforms into an explosion of color and music.
According to Sinha, the holiday comes from the religious epic “Ramayana,” or Rama’s Journey, that many children are taught. The general story follows King Rama and his wife Sita, who rule the Kingdom of Ayodhya. When Sita is kidnapped by the demon Ravana, King Rama faces various trials before successfully returning with Sita to their home kingdom. Each religion and region of India has an unique version of this story, impacting the way and day they are celebrated.
“In Northern India, they celebrate (King Rama’s) return, but in Southern India, they celebrate the day that he defeated the demon,” she said. “Also, in Western India, it is the day that one of the main gods sent another king to rule the underworld. There’s a lot of regional differences in the story, but it’s really interesting how the different stories influence traditions.”
Diwali follows the Hindu lunisolar calendar, meaning that it lands on a different Gregorian day
each year. While the celebration lasts six days in India — with different traditions associated with each day — families in America usually celebrate everything on one day. While Sinha’s family doesn’t participate in buying gold to honor Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, and creating “rangoli,” colorful designs made with powder pigments on the floor, they do clean and light “diyas,” clay lamps, around the house.
“The name of the festival (translates to) ‘row of lights,’ so Indians light clay lamps and candles in and outside their homes,” she said. “This is supposed to represent the inner light to protect our homes from spiritual darkness. They’re also just really pretty.”
During large gatherings, family and friends connect while enjoying a spread of traditional Indian foods, including many desserts.
“There’s a type of sweets called ‘gulab jamun’ that’s fried cottage cheese soaked in syrup,” Sinha said. “It has always been a staple for celebrations.”
Sinha, who has many relatives living in India, sometimes travels across the world to celebrate Diwali, noting the differences between celebrations in the United States and in the festival’s native country.
“I don’t want to call it ‘Indian Christmas,’ but it has the same value (as Christmas) for everyone in India,” she said. “All the shops and offices close, and people have huge celebrations. It’s still important for people who move to the U.S., but it’s a lot simpler.”
Even though the celebrations aren’t as grand in the U.S., the universal traditions are an important way for Sinha to stay in touch with her culture and relatives.
“My favorite part is definitely the lights and firecrackers because it’s really exciting and it connects me back to the people in India, since I don’t go back often but everyone does (them),” she said. “It reminds me of two years ago when we were in India and we launched firecrackers off of our roof.”
—Written by Ya-An Xue
Ya-An Xue
Ya-An Xue
Meaning, connect communities through traditions
Sophomore Iana Kibardina: Gregorian New Year
Action-packed scenes from “The Maze Runner” light up sophomore Iana Kibardina’s face as she passes the time next to her sister, waiting for the clock to hit midnight — Jan. 1.
“We like to watch movies and we tend to rewatch ‘The Maze Runner,” she said. “It’s usually just my sister and I since my parents fall asleep. We don’t take it as seriously, but we stay up and pass the time.”
The Gregorian calendar, originally invented in and adopted by Catholic countries, has spread across the world, connecting the majority of countries with a common form of time-keeping. While the calendar is followed by many cultures, each with their own unique traditions. Kibardina highlights the ubiquitous quality of the holiday and the ways it may fit into different lives in comparison to other new years events.
“A lot of other holidays have a backstory and it’s more like celebrating a (historical) event, but (the Gregorian New Year) is celebrating something that everyone gets to experience,” she said. “It’s not like it just happened in America, such as July Fourth — everyone gets to celebrate.”
While the string of classic winter holidays are celebrated by over 85% of America, Kibardina’s family doesn’t celebrate many holidays. As a result, New Year’s serves as a culmination of festivities. Specifically, each year, Kibardina spends the first half of winter
break traveling before coming home to celebrate with family.
“We visit our cousins sometimes, and we celebrate with them,” she said. “The tradition for our family’s culture is that we don’t celebrate Christmas, but we celebrate New Year and that’s when we get our presents.”
Food is also a significant part of Kibardina’s celebrations. The menu her family enjoys together includes many well-loved items such as herring under a fur coat, olivier salad, caviar, tangerines and vinaigrette salad, to name a few.
Aside from celebration, the flip of the calendar also represents flipping to a blank slate, allowing for growth and reflection. Although Kibardina enjoys the idea of self-improvement, she has noticed the ineffectiveness of unrealistic, in-the-moment resolutions.
“I like to think that I’m doing something, but sometimes I’ll start doing it and I don’t necessarily finish,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people have high expectations for themselves and
they don’t have the motivation to follow up on it later. They’ll start off really strong and when February comes around, they can’t continue.”
Nevertheless, many, including Kibardina, utilize this time to manifest academic or personal aspirations for the future. Looking to the future, Kibardina allows herself to reset, reflect and explore new opportunities.
“I think it’s good that every time when New Year comes around, everyone gets to start fresh,” she said. “With school, the new semester comes around and you get to just restart. You’re able to leave the past behind and try new things. You can talk about the past year and think about the next year on how you can work on yourself that year.”
Junior Hongming Chen: Lunar New
As a child, junior Hongming Chen listened intently, as his elder relayed a story. Long ago in Ancient China, a mythical beast lurked under the sea. Although it cloistered itself for most of the year, it would come out annually on the final day of the Lunar New Year to inflict its wrath on villages, devouring children and animals alike. On that day every year, the village people would shut their farm gates tightly to protect their livestock and flee to the mountains to avoid being eaten. They soon found out that the beast, known as Nian, feared loud noises, bright lights and the color red. Armed with this knowledge, the villagers began using firecrackers, lanterns and red decorations to drive it away. They would bang drums and gongs, hang red banners over their doors and light long strings of firecrackers to ward off the creature, ensuring the village’s safety for another year. This practice soon spread across the land, giving rise to many of the Lunar New Year traditions seen today.
Stories like these are passed down from generation to generation in Chinese families, keeping the cultural significance of the Lunar New Year alive. For junior Hongming Chen, the celebration, due to its popularity
Year
throughout his home country, has been present in all phases of his life.
“I was born in China and lived there for 13 years before moving to Singapore and then America,” he said. “I’ve celebrated New Year every year, so I’ve memorized all the traditions and story.”
Lunar New Year makes up a vital part of Chen’s connection to culture and family, due to the popular tradition of hosting a large family reunion. Chen’s earliest memories from the Lunar New Year are spending time with his family in China.
“There was a lot of food there,” he said. “When I was around six, we would go out and see the fireworks and then watch TV.”
Since living in America for three years, while Chen has visited a few workshops and parades, he misses the prominent, universal feeling of celebrating Lunar New Year in China.
“In China, you can almost feel the new year coming,” he said. “There’s absolutely more celebration in China (than in the U.S.).”
Even so, the practices that Chen’s family observe still hold strong, and he looks forward to them every
year. Some traditions include putting up elaborate red paper cuttings and watching the Spring Festival Gala. Known as “Chunwan,” the gala is a televised variety show featuring music, dance, comedy and acrobatics. For many families, it is an necessary tradition that brings everyone together.
“(On) the very first day of the new year, my whole family will go to the temple to (pray) for the next year’s fortunes,” he said. “Last year, I woke up at 4 a.m. just to watch (China’s Spring Festival Gala) on TV.”
Many people unfamiliar with the Lunar New Year might expect the largest celebrations to occur in more populated areas, but Chen begs to differ.
“(Around Lunar New Year), you get to a really big city and not really feel like they’re celebrating, but if you go to the countryside, it’s more festive,” he said. “China has the second largest population, but every Chinese New Year, most of the people will drive back to their countryside and celebrate with their (extended) family. It puts a lot of focus on how families work together.”
Graphics by Chaewon Lee
—Written by Roy Lao
—Reporting by Kaylee Cheng. Written by Vanisha Vig and Ya-An Xue
Roy Lao
Kaylee Cheng
Before 9 a.m.: Early morning routines prepare teachers physically, mentally for School Day
English teacher Diane Ichikawa
It’s 5:30 a.m., the sky still a dusky blue-gray, the world outside is silent and serene, and English teacher Diane Ichikawa is awake and ready to start her morning routine. Waking up early is natural for her, so she fills her morning hours with grounding activities to create enjoyable and fulfilling mornings.
Most, if not all, of her mornings start with a prayer to her parents and ancestors at her Butsudan, a home altar important in Japanese Buddhism, where she gives a daily offering and converses with her elders before going about the rest of her day.
From there, Ichikawa’s morning diverges into two options. On Wednesday and Friday mornings, she has English department meetings and can’t fit in a longer morning activity. On these days, she savors the extra time in bed with Moxie, her gray tabby cat.
“I’ll wake up and I’ll just lie in bed for a little bit, or maybe I’ll read,” she said. “I’ll have a slower morning (and) cuddle with my cat a little longer. She’s cute. She’s a little bit of a stinker, but she’s cute.”
On other mornings, Ichikawa kicks off the day with a walk at the Stanford Dish, a routine she began this year to increase her daily movement and capitalize on the good weather before school.
“On the days that I get to go for a walk at the Dish, it’s really nice because I tend to see some of the same people, and it’s almost like there’s this little community,” she said. “(We) get to have these bitesized conversations, little by little, day by day. It’s really a nice connection.”
These short and sweet interactions are an integral part of her mornings, helping her start her day on the right foot. On one special day, after six
months of crossing paths with one walker, they stopped to talk and introduced themselves.
“After a few more exchanges, we figured out that I taught his son back in 2007, so I got to reconnect with his son and just catch up,” she said. “(I found) out that he’s married and living in Spain with two children — It’s lovely. There are these really great little connections that you can have even at seven in the morning.”
Whether it’s tea or coffee with an apple or a slice of toast for breakfast, Ichikawa puts on a stylish outfit — set out the night before — and gets ready for the school day. The smoothness and serenity of her mornings come from enjoying these simple moments.
“As I was getting started with the walk at the Dish, it was really beautiful to be able to see the first rays of the sun coming up over the hills,” she said. “There’s definitely some tranquility in that. I often listen to either a podcast or a book as I’m walking, but for the first bits of it, especially when the sun is just coming up, it’s really nice to experience the quiet. And you know, you might see a coyote or a deer cross your path. It was just really nice to have some silence and peace.”
—Written by Violet Tivol
Math teacher Daniel Hahn
Waking up at 6 a.m., math teacher Daniel Hahn typically has a busy schedule in the morning. Specifically, he attends a Pilates class before school to prepare himself physically and mentally for the day ahead and to build the energy needed to teach advanced math to multiple classes every day.
Pilates, which is a dynamic type of body exercise, combines strength, stability and flexibility to create a mind-body connection. Because it’s a popular rehabilitation technique, Hahn first began Pilates around four years ago while recovering from a ruptured Achilles and injured back from lifting weights. At this time, his son was two months old, and when Hahn came across a Pilates ad with dads crawling with their infant children on the ground, he decided to sign up at a Pilates studio. Surprisingly, he found that his back pain had improved with Pilates.
In the mornings, Hahn puts his items for the day into his gym bag along with a change of clothes, school supplies and lunch. After leaving his home by 6:40 a.m., Hahn goes to his Pilates class from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., and then heads to school to teach.
At his studio, Hahn does multiple types of exercises that focus on training his core strength and flexibility. He uses a machine called a reformer apparatus that has springs and other appliances attached that aid him in his movements.
“We’re just doing a variety of exercises, like pushing, pulling, squats
“There’s a chair with springs on it and a TRX (Total Resistance Exercise) strap, but the main (equipment) is the reformer.”
Hahn appreciates his wife for taking care of their son in the morning while he attends Pilates class.
“A lot of the time, as I’m waking up, (my son) is also waking up,” he said. “I do my own thing and my wife is the one that cooks him breakfast and takes him to school, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Hahn finds that waking up early for Pilates class and exercising in the morning has improved his general quality of life. He also has rebounded physically after his injuries and improved his strength.
“It puts me in a better mood, and if nothing else, I feel accomplished,” he said. “It gives me more energy, and I’m (also) glad that my back doesn’t hurt as much. I’m not as physically strong as when I lifted weights, but I definitely see results. I’m a lot more flexible, and I feel like my core is stronger and lost a little bit of weight.”
In order to make progress physically, it is also important to stay consistent. Hahn has used this mantra for his Pilates classes for four consecutive years, making sure to attend every day to stay in shape.
“As long as I go consistently, I don’t get sore, but if I take a big gap, then I start, I get sore again. So it’s a lot more painful if I stop and start,” he said. “It’s also just my personality to go every day, (because if) I went two or three times a week, then on a Tuesday, I (would think), ‘Oh, I could just do it on Wednesday.’ I’ll just push it off, and then I’ll start being inconsistent.”
—Written by Yu-Ming Liu
Fridge and letters by Elise Hu and notes by Sarah Xie
English teacher Diane Ichikawa captures the sunrise landscape at the Stanford Dish, a popular Palo Alto hiking destination.
Courtesy of Diane Ichikawa
Courtesy of The Olympian
Math teacher Daniel Hahn performs a side plank, a common exercise that helps strengthen the core.
Courtesy of Daniel Hahn
‘Winter Arc’ offers chance to start fitness goals
Millions of people around the world wake up on New Year’s Day with the same intention: to begin working towards their New Year’s resolution. Some people might establish the goal of becoming a nicer person, scoring a job promotion or simply learning something new. However, those who have participated in the “Winter Arc” social media trend will begin their new year with a feeling of confidence, knowing that they have already accomplished something in the past three months.
Starting Oct. 1 and lasting until Jan. 1, the threemonth period in which participants begin their Winter Arc is treated as a time of discipline and consistency. A viral trend on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, the Winter Arc is essentially a method to form old-fashioned habits such as sleeping more, eating healthier and becoming more fit. There is no specific regimen participants must adhere to, as
individuals choose their own paths to accomplish their goals.
Sports medicine teacher Dr. Stacey Kofman emphasizes taking small steps towards completing a larger goal.
“Set a goal that you can accomplish a little bit at a time,” she said. “Move that goal a little bit more down the road each time, so you can stay in your workout. You see the benefits and realize that ‘this is good for me to build these healthy habits.’”
Kofman highlights some of the many physical benefits of waking up early and exercising in the morning when partaking in the Winter Arc trend such as increased oxygen concentration levels.
“Getting your exercise first thing in the morning gets more oxygen to your brain,” she said. “You wake up and you’re more refreshed, (so) you’re actually able
to concentrate better in school.”
However, the pitfall of this trend is its lack of consistency. Kofman highlights that abrupt changes from this highly active and healthy lifestyle after three months can be damaging to the body.
“If you stop working out, you lose all your gains,” she said. “You fluctuate. You go up and down all the time, and it’s worse for you than if you stayed steady.”
Kofman emphasizes the importance of continuing to engage in healthy activities after the Winter Arc. Although the trend doesn’t last a lifetime, it could be a first step towards a lasting journey of fitness.
“Fitness is lifelong,” Kofman said. “It’s not supposed to be three months out of a year. It’s a lifelong activity.”
—Written by Ezra Rosenberg
Holiday lights ignite winter festivity, joy
Ever since the ancient times, people have depended on the sun as a source of light for work, crop-growing and timekeeping. As a result, many cultures celebrated the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — through lights and fire, symbols of their hope for longer days.
Now, as the winter months roll around, many families dig through their closets or reach into the back of a cupboard in preparation for the holiday season. In many neighborhoods, families pull out colorful strands of Christmas lights to decorate their rooftops and trees. For junior Eda Ertas, who begins decorating and putting up their tree right after Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations are an important part of the holiday festivities.
In addition to Christmas season decorations, Indian families can be seen filling their homes with lights for Diwali — the Hindu new year which translates to “row of lights.” According to junior Jaanvi Tadipatri, the holiday is meant to bring prosperity through warding off the darkness. Her family lights clay lamps called “diyas” around the house and sets off fireworks.
eternal flame in the Great Temple of Jerusalem burning was running low. By a miracle, the oil, which should have only lasted one night, kept the holy flame lit for eight days. Now, Jewish families light one candle on the “hanukkiah,” or nine-branched calendrum, for eight days to symbolize the original story.
“It’s all about finding light in the dark and protecting against spirits, so we light diyas and fireworks,” she said. “When I was younger and was living in San Jose, we had a backyard, and we’d always play with fireworks. It’s really cool because you can move them around and draw patterns of light in the sky.”
“The lights remind me of childhood and bring me a sense of nostalgia,” she said. “Especially for teenagers, Christmas lights just help remind us of how awesome Christmas was during childhood.”
A specific place that Ertas enjoys visiting is Christmas Tree Lane located on Fulton St. in Old Palo Alto. Since 1940, the neighborhood has organized elaborate decorations, lighting up the street in the evening and attracting many residents to take a stroll through.
“A decent amount of people in my neighborhood celebrate, but I wish they did more,” she said. “There’s a street in Old Palo Alto where they go all out with (decorations like) wooden sleds and blow-up people which is really cool to visit.”
Because the holiday originally comes from a religious epic in the Hindu religion, some families set up candles around altars called “puja” to pray to gods for fortune. Even for those who aren’t as religious, having Diwali decorations honors both traditions and culture.
“There’s a lot of Indian stores that sell decorations during October and November for the Indian festival season,” Tadipatri said. “They sell a lot of things pertaining to the festivals that help people celebrate because people like to buy new lamps each year.”
Holiday lights can carry a mix of both personal memories and religious or historical meaning. For freshman Sam Bergmann, celebrating Hanukkah — the Yiddish phrase for “festival of lights” — allows for family connection and Jewish traditions. Hanukkah follows a Jewish myth where the oil supply to keep the
“We take turns lighting by using the ‘shamash,’ which is the head candle, to light the other eight candles,” he said. “My mom’s a cantor, (someone who leads prayers and songs), so we pray after lighting the hanukkiah.”
Other than lighting the hanukkiah and praying, Bergmann’s family also creates hanukkiah’s together in their two home kilns for decoration and gifts for friends. Similarly to Diwali, Hanukkah, and its origin story, represent the triumph of light over darkness, and goodness over evil.
“Since it’s in winter and takes place around the darkest day of the year, it represents bringing the light into the darkness,” Bergmann said. “For me, being in the kitchen lighting candles when it’s completely dark, saying prayers and eating good food is a series of memories that are really fun.”
—Written by Ya-An Xue
Azuki Radhakrishnan
STAGE TO SCREEN: ‘WICKED’ ADAPTATION DEFIES GRAVITY, EXPECTATIONS
The movie “Wicked,” adapted from the classic musical, premiered in movie theaters on Nov. 22 in the United States. This film was directed by Jon Chu, starring actresses Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. The sequel is planned to be released in November 2025.
Adapting musicals into movies isn’t a new concept. In fact, many classics have already been tried and tested. Some well-known ones include “Les Misérables,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” According to theater teacher Kristen Lo, the movie adaptation provides audiences with a greater access to the musical theater world.
“I appreciate all forms of musicals or plays that go to some form of film, because it gives access to a wider community,” she said. “People who can’t pay $200 for a ticket to go see ‘Wicked’ on Broadway will be able to see ‘Wicked’ in a movie theater or stream (it) at home.”
Originally, the idea of a film version was pitched and approved in 2012, with an initial planned release in December 2019. After various delays, the directors announced a Nov. 27 release date for the first installment. However, the film was released on Nov. 22, five days
earlier than originally planned.
The plot of the “Wicked” movie adaptation is based on Gregory Maguires’ 1995 novel “Wicked,” characters from L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and, of course, Steven Schwartz’s Broadway musical, “Wicked.” The story takes place in the Land of Oz before continuing through Dorothy’s visit to Kansas. It tells the story of two Shiz University students, Elphaba and Glinda, and their unlikely friendship, ultimately leading up to how they became the iconic Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.
The main difference between the movie adaptation and the musical format is the component of live audiences, which can be a vital factor in an actor’s performance. According to Lo, the format of a prerecorded movie and lack of an audience can impact an actor’s technique.
“If you are acting in Spangenberg, you have to be so much bigger (because) you are trying to throw back 900 seats and be that big with your emotions and character,” she said. “But, in film, you’ll have a camera six inches from your face, and it can record the littlest eyebrow raise. Acting on a stage has to be so much bigger.”
Theater student sophomore Elena Arocha also emphasizes the differences between the live audience and film format.
“There is definitely an advantage when it comes to filming and the audience’s experience, because (the audience) see the actors head-on,” she said. “In the movie, we’ll be seeing multiple camera angles and in-depth emotion conveyed.”
—Written by Charlotte Qian
STAFFERS RECOMMEND CLASSIC HOLIDAY MOVIES FOR COZY WINTER BREAK
‘Cool Runnings’
Jamaica, a country known for its tropical climate, is rarely associated with the Winter Olympics. Yet, in the 1993 film “Cool Runnings,” viewers are treated to the — loosely true — story of the Jamaican bobsled team and their improbable journey to a debut at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. From a ragtag group of men who have never seen snow to Olympic medal contenders, the team must overcome mockery, cultural barriers and their own inexperience to prove that they belong on the world stage.
The film provides a deeper reflection on national pride, perseverance, joy and proving expectations wrong. As the team pushes forward in the face of adversity, it resonates with any viewer who has ever chased a dream that felt tantalizingly out of reach. Although the team ends up crashing on the course, their show of determination garners worldwide respect. The emphasis on unity in its snowy setting captures the holiday spirit, even if it’s not explicitly a holiday movie. Its lasting charm lies in its message: Success isn’t always measured by medals, but by the courage it takes to get in the race.
‘Home Alone’
No movie says “holiday mischief” quite like “Home Alone” (1990), the classic that has kept children and adults entertained for nearly 35 years. Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), a rebellious eight-year-old with a knack for creativity, is accidentally left behind by his family when they head to Paris to celebrate Christmas. Initially thrilled by his freedom in an empty house, it turns sour when two avaricious burglars, Harry and Marvin, target his home. Determined to protect himself and his family’s residence, Kevin sets up an outrageous plethora of traps, resulting a slapstick comedy film.
“Home Alone” brings a flood of nostalgia. As we watch Kevin take his family for granted, we are reminded to better appreciate our loved ones. Watching Kevin not only make it out of a harrowing experience but also become closer to his family in the process strikes a chord in anyone who has ever realized how much those small, seemingly but not insignificant moments mattered. “Home Alone”’s lasting charm lies not just in its childish humor, but in its reminder of what truly makes the holidays special.
—Written by Roy Lao
‘It’s
“It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) is a timeless Christmas movie. George Bailey (James Stuart), faces challenges in his adult life and is on the brink of giving up on his community of Bedford Falls. As he gets drunk on Christmas Eve, an angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), appears and shows him his worth. With his lifelong dedication to good deeds, Bailey realizes how much he truly did for his community.
The film’s Christmas theme appears in the second half of the film, where Bailey faces financial ruin on Christmas Eve when the greedy villain, Potter, steals his money and puts him on the verge of bankruptcy. Feeling like a failure after being unable to fulfill his dream to travel the world, he reaches an all-time low. However, his angel, Clarence ,saves him by showing what would have happened to Bedford Falls if he had not existed. In the end, Bailey receives his money back from all of the people that he has helped, conveying the message that finding space for others and how doing good churns ripples across one’s community. Overall, I love this movie as a vintage classic, a heart-warmer and an inspiring story.
“Die Hard” (1998) is a Christmas-action classic, featuring New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis), who attends a Christmas party to see his estranged wife in Los Angeles. However, when German terrorists seize the building, McClane, with just a pistol, must rescue the hostages.
Having watched my fair share of action movies, “Die Hard” manages to stand out with its holiday season setting. Throughout the movie, Christmas trees and decorations fill the backdrop of fistfights and shootouts, tying a special bow on top. No matter what anyone else says, the Christmas memorabilia and party setting is enough for me to see it as a traditional movie for the holidays. I tense up whenever I see a fight break out on the roof of the 40-story Nakatomi Plaza, and the gruesome fight scenes — while perhaps gory and not suited for those with weak stomachs — are more than just your average choreographed fistfight: Most of them include an unexpected, special twist within. Overall, “Die Hard” is a movie that can certainly be enjoyed as a holiday special, just maybe not with the family.
—Written by Yu-Ming Liu
a Wonderful Life’ ‘Die Hard’
Photo illustration by Sarah Xie and photos courtesy of wickedmovie.com
Graphics by Rin Sanami
—Written by Roy Lao
—Written by Yu-Ming Liu
Photos by Naomi Wang
The Oracle presents: December mini crossword combo
1. Norway’s capital 5. “__ the night before Christmas...” 6. __ Christmas, song by 2D
Lift 8. Commedia dell’ __ 1. Different
Singer Taylor
Foamy espresso
Carbohydrate suffix
Huh-
ACROSS DOWN —Crossword by Gwen Domine
1. Relaxing retreat
Winter garment
Eras Tour closing song
Signed
Blue
ACROSS DOWN
1. CAT and MRI 2. Big winter coat 3. __ and dangerous 4. Hit the slopes
Short-lived craze
—Crossword by Roy Lao
ACROSS DOWN —Crossword by Vaani Saxena
Medical pro who works on police cases
1. 1962 pres. 2. Key and __ 6. Steak when it’s redder in the middle 7. Hand-raiser in class, for example 8. Not no
1. Dolts
2. Run away
3. Warriors coach Steve 4. “__ tell!” 5. “At __, soldier!” ACROSS DOWN —Crossword by Yu-Ming Liu
1. Charged atom
Combative, in gamer slang
Hid away
“__ by any other name” —Juliet
Old English epic: __wulf
Icy home
Minerals buried in other rock
Lymph __
Moby Dick captain
2000 presidential candidate Al ACROSS DOWN —Crossword by Ezra Rosenberg
1. White winter coat
5. With 1A, a unique, fleeting crystal 6. Under the __ 7. Tour de France section 8. Sub station
1. Blank __
2. Tennis star Rafael 3. Giraffe cousin with striped legs 4. “__ Off to See the Wizard” 5. Mertz, Flintstone, or Astaire
ACROSS DOWN —Crossword by Violet Tivol
Double or nothing: Multi-sport athletes glean physical, personal benefits
Although unexpected, many NFL players incorporate ballet into their training regime to improve their footwork and agility. This is not an unheard of phenomenon. According to the Sports Institute, athletes who played multiple sports in adolescence are less prone to burnout and injuries from overuse. At Gunn, over half of the students compete in at least one sport. With participation continuing to rise, student athletes have begun to explore additional sports.
Tennis — with its demand for stamina and hand-eye coordination — proves to be a heavy time commitment for players. Outside of tennis season, junior Mary Yu and senior Mia Saad lead a second life in the spring season, participating in the badminton and swimming teams, respectively.
Although their second sports differ in environment and technique, both students find that their tennis performance is enhanced by the additional activity.
Participating in tennis and badminton aided Yu in the challenging aspects of both. Her stamina from long tennis matches allow her to remain energetic throughout fast-paced badminton matches, and her hitting technique from badminton helps her volley in tennis. However, practicing two racket sports at the same time can often pose difficulties.
“I snap too much wrist when I come back from badminton, and that sometimes hurts in tennis because the impact is too much,” she said.
On the other hand, Saad’s sports share little similarity in gameplay, but their individualism helps her improve cardio conditioning andbuild a strong mentality.
“(They) really help me with the mental aspect of (playing sports), constantly pushing yourself to your limit and being able to do the best you can do,” she said.
Yu also notices that playing a second sport allows her to redirect her attention when she might be feeling burnt out, frustrated or discouraged by her performance in the other sports.
“When I’m not enjoying tennis or I hit a bad shot, I just think, ‘Well, if I was playing badminton right now, I would ace the other player,’” she said. “So whenever I don’t find enjoyment in one sport, I look forward to playing the other one.”
In contrast, sophomore William Nevels, who plays baseball and runs in cross country, views his sports as mostly independent of one another.
“In terms of running, you’re just trying to get the best pace you can,” he said. “But in baseball, you’re playing more for a team, so hopefully your team can add on to (your efforts).”
While both involve intense physical activity, each sport targets different muscle groups during exercise.
“Running will help me when I’m on the base path, but upper body is never used in running, (whereas) baseball (requires) a lot of upper body,” he said. Yu, Saad and Nevels have played multiple sports since their freshman or sophomore year. In contrast, girls varsity lacrosse captain senior Sophia Howell only recently began her second sport, flag football, but already sees overlaps in skills.
“Even though there’s not necessarily a huge crossover between the actual sports, there’s a huge crossover between the people that play the sports,” she said. “You have to be driven to play both.”
For all student athletes, balancing sport seasons with academic pressures is challenging. Many treat the winter as a rest season, taking the time to focus on schoolwork or off-season training. Howell, who takes college courses at Foothill as a dual-enrollment student, believes that her discipline is what has allowed her to succeed in academics despite her commitment to multiple sports.
“(The time commitment) forces you to reassess what adds value to your life and cut out the things that don’t,” she said. “I find that when I’m playing a sport, I almost don’t have time to scroll. I take care of myself and take some down time, but you have to plan out your day and understand that your study time really has to be study time. You can’t procrastinate.”
Saad finds that she, perhaps counterintuitively, is more productive during her sports seasons.
“Being physically active all the time helps me relieve tension and stress,” she said. “So when I can go study, I can focus.”
Participating in sports is also a way for students to find community. Yu realizes that she might prefer the environment of one sport than the other, but that doesn’t make her dislike playing either. Instead, she is grateful for all of the close friends she has made.
“Tennis was a fall sport, and by joining a fall sport, (I found my) community,” she said. “I have my best friends from freshman year of tennis together, but (I) just don’t have that in spring sport.”
—Written by Vanisha Vig
Graphics by Sarah Xie
Fall sports in review: gunn achieves season victories, five teams advance to CCS post-season tournaments
Girls Golf
The girls golf team had a swinging success, winning nine out of 12 games and placing second in their league.
Practices heavily emphasized improving short game skills such as putting and chipping. This allowed the team to stand out, according to junior Zoe Bransi, who is also pleased with the team’s recovery and improvement throughout the season.
“It was a little rough when we went to tryouts because a lot of us hadn’t practiced over the summer,” she said. “(However), I think we were able to hit well and putt well by the time the season ended.”
For the first time since 1971, the varsity football team charged to the post-season with an undefeated league record of 8-0, taking the top spot in the Lake League.
According to JV fullback and middle linebacker sophomore Connor Harrington, hard work before and during the season contributed to the team’s success.
“We did significantly better than past seasons and had a higher level of discipline in conditioning,” he said. “I’m happy with everything we’ve done. We really improved in all areas. Whether it was conditioning or how we performed, we made great progress.”
The boys cross country team has fostered a competitive yet healthy environment, where each member strives for personal growth while encouraging the success of others.
Despite several team hardships , the team’s camaraderie and dedication motivated runners to push through difficult practices, such as freshman Tarun Nikhil.
“Despite (sickness), people still showed up everyday to train as hard as they could,” he said. “We pushed each other to the limit during practice and helped each other with the smaller things like getting enough sleep or maintaining iron levels and good nutrition.”
Boys Water Polo boys football
The boys water polo team made a significant splash this season, finishing fourth place with a league record of 6-6. Despite losing six seniors last year, the team rebounded with new players. The seasoned players honed their specific skills, creating waves of headway and success.
Varsity player junior Andersen Tanriverdi was proud of the progress the team has made over the season.
“I can confidently say we are way better than we were at the start of the season,” he said. “We all know our strengths and weaknesses, (how) to balance them (and) work together in games.”
girls cross country
From pushing each other at meets to organizing team bonding events, the girls cross country team has built a strong foundation together, propelling them to success. Sophomore Chloe Wu is grateful for the friendships cross country has brought her.
“The team has been such a core part of my social life,” she said. “There’s a certain vulnerability to running. Once you see your teammates in such extreme physical pain out there on the course, you know they see you in a similar state too. From there, bonding is inevitable.”
Boys Cross Country
—Compiled by Vaani Saxena
Courtesy of Sam Zeng
Albert Zhang
Jocelyn Lu
Jocelyn Lu
Albert Zhang