Octagon 2022-23 Issue 1

Class trips return after 3 years

BY RYAN XU

Following a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sacramento Country Day is resuming its annual weeklong class trips.

“I think it’s great that school trips are back as we didn’t get one in freshman or sophomore year,” junior Julie Tsoi said.

According to a Sept. 6 school email, the trips will take place Oct. 11 to 14.

However, this year is different than past years.

Previously, ninth graders stayed in a hostel in Marin Headlands, kayaking and visiting Alcatraz Is land.

This year, freshmen will go to South Lake Tahoe, where they will learn camping skills and partici pate in team-building activities. They will also learn about environ mental challenges that arose from the Caldor Fire.

Replacing the sophomore campout at Greenhorn Creek Ranch in Quincy, California, is a road trip to visit Owens Valley, Death Valley and the Manzanar National Historic Site.

This year, they will learn about water rights issues regarding the

Paiute tribe as well as the in ternment of Japanese Americans during WWII at Manzanar.

High school English and Spanish teacher Diego Panasiti will super vise the sophomore trip and hopes the experience will be a good learning opportunity.

“I’m a big believer in experien tial education.” Panasiti said. “If we want to learn about westward expansion, we can go where it ac tually happened.”

The junior and senior trip will resume at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.

High School Science Depart ment Chair Kellie Whited will be chaperoning the upperclassmen.

“The Oregon Shakespeare fes tival is important to the financial well being of Ashland,” Whited said. “Being able to give back and support the Shakespeare festival as well as the town is important.”

This year, the students will watch a selection of six performances with works from Shakespeare and other modern playwrights.

The selection — “King John”, “MacBeth”, “The Tempest”, “Con federates”, “Revenge Song” and “Once on this Island” — will be used for discussions and essay re flections after the trip.

Students review new school lunches

This year, the school introduced three new restaurants. Juniors William Holz and Ishaan Sekhon are here to provide their honest opinions on the new op tions. (PAGES 6 - 7)

School enrollment reaches 574 students

BY GARMAN XU

Country Day’s enrollment continues its upward trend, hitting a new Pre-K-12 record for the 2022-23 school year. The school welcomed 110 new students, pushing the total stu dent population at 574, 26 more than last year’s record of 548.

Head of High School Brooke Wells points to the school’s val ues of diversity and inclusion as a factor attracting more fam ilies in recent years.

“We’re really clear as a school who we are. Compassion, cre ativity and really good aca demics are going together,” he said. “Kids come here because they’re safe, and they’re seen and are heard. That allows them to do really well in school.”

Fostering equity and inclu sion are major focuses in devel opment in the school. During the summer, an all-school read of, “The Identity-Conscious Educator” by Liza A. Talusan, explored identity-conscious strategies to improve interac tions within the classroom.

“We spent a lot of time trying to understand how being aware of identity helps kids thrive and

Soccer team rebuilds successfully after heavy senior losses

Despite losing six seniors in the past year, the soccer team continues to lead the league. (PAGE 10)

trying to create space for iden tity to be safe,” Wells said.

The Donohues were one of the new families drawn in by Country Day’s close-knit com munity values. After having a frustrating experience with the San Juan Unified School Dis trict, Julie Donohue wanted to find a tight-knit independent high school that rewards aca demic achievement for her two boys, freshmen Liam and Dylan Donohue. She hopes the school will challenge her kids academ ically.

However, Donohue worried her sons would not be able to adjust to the small class sizes at Country Day. She initially felt that it might be harder to fit in, but was later reassured when they toured the campus.

“I’m really glad that they had a morning where they went to the school and sat in classes and walked around,” she said.

“My boys could immediately see it wasn’t a bunch of cliques.

Everyone seemed really friend ly and inclusive and were hang ing out together, so they felt that they could fit in as well.”

Nonetheless, Donohue would like to see the school size grow

to help with expanding activ ities such as school musicals and sports.

The City of Sacramento has made growth possible by raising Country Day’s enrollment cap from 544 students to 598 stu dents by revising the school’s Conditional Use Permit, which determined the school is com patible with the surrounding community. As a result, the cap for high school has been raised from 144 to 180.

“We are technically in vio lation of the 1996 agreement with the neighborhood, but we have operated in good faith to try to get them to amend those terms,” Head of School Lee Thomsen said. “Most im portantly, we continue to work really hard at improving traffic, parking and all the things that actually impact the neighbors.”

Thomsen said the neighbors and the school have already agreed on plans for installing a traffic light on the intersection between Monroe Street and Latham Drive. As a part of its Conditional Use Permit, Coun try Day has already contributed $150,000 for the construction

BLACK ATTACK On Sept. 16, high schoolers attended Ancil Hoffman, an annual game of capture the flag. Before the game, senior Jacob Chand pro vided a motivational speech to the black team, who defeated the red team for the first time in six years. PHOTO BY ADAM AKINS

PHOTO BY SIMONE DEBERRY

PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Simone DeBerry Garman Xu

ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Adam Akins

Samhita Kumar

NEWS EDITOR Ishaan Sekhon

FEATURE EDITOR Ava Eberhart

SPORTS EDITOR Jacob Chand

A&E/OPINION EDITOR

William Holz

PHOTO EDITORS

Adam Akins

PAGE EDITORS

Andrew Burr Jacob Chand Emily Cook

Simone DeBerry Ava Eberhart Saheb Gulati William Holz Lauren Lu Ishaan Sekhon Garman Xu Garrett Xu

BUSINESS STAFF

William Holz, manager Aaryan Gandhi Saheb Gulati, assistant Garrett Xu

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Samhita Kumar, editor Ava Eberhart, assistant Lauren Lu

REPORTERS

Rehan Afzal Siri Atluri Eesha Dhawan Aaryan Gandhi Daniel Holz Irene Jung Sophia Monasa Anisha Mondal Anika Nadgauda Zema Nasirov Ryan Xu

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rehan Afzal Adam Akins Simone DeBerry Anika Nadgauda Zema Nasirov

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Garman Xu, editor Jacob Chand Simone DeBerry Ava Eberhart Irene Jung Garrett Xu

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

Brynne Barnard-Bahn Lauren Lu Garman Xu

ADVISER Bonnie Stewart

The Octagon is the student-run news paper of Sacramento Country Day high school. The print edition is published eight times a year, and the website is updated regularly. The Octagon is committed to unbiased and compre hensive reporting, serving as a source of reliable information for SCDS students and the school community. The Octa gon will publish all timely and relevant news deemed appropriate by the ed itors-in-chief and adviser. We seek to highlight high-school-related events and spotlight the voices of those with a story to share. Further policies can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below.

Community commemorates Ms. Reynolds

BY SIMONE DEBERRY

Normally, the start of the school year is a time of endless hope and optimism, but this year, the com munity mourns the loss of one of its most dedicated staff members.

Country Day’s Emotional Support Coun selor Patricia Reynolds passed away on Aug. 29.

A former D1 basketball player and lov er of nature, Reynolds joined the Country Day community in January of 2016.

After retiring from the St. John’s School in Houston, Texas, she moved to Sacra mento to begin her new life.

But, in the middle of the year, she no ticed a job posting on Country Day’s web site; the school was in need of a counselor.

In typical Reynolds fashion, she came out of retirement to help.

“She was supposed to only be doing it for a year or so, until either she got tired of it or we found somebody else,” Head of School Lee Thomsen said. “But of course,

she ended up staying for 6 ½ years.”

And so, in the wake of her passing, the community has come together to remem ber both Reynolds and her teachings.

“She was like a little ray of sun,” sopho more Jordyn LaPlaca said. “No matter how well she knew someone, she would always greet them with a smile.”

A constant source of optimism, Reyn olds did not care whether or not she knew a student well. Instead, she simply cared how that person’s day was going.

“Every time I passed her on my way to class, she’d ask me how I was and what I was up to,” junior Kaitlyn Dias said. “She tried to help us in every way possible.”

But the “us” in reference is not just stu dents; it is everyone Reynolds came across.

“It wasn’t part of her job description, but she was always providing behind the scenes help to employees,” Thomsen said.

In fact, when Middle and High School Learning Specialist Tara Adams began working with Reynolds in the spring of 2018, she learned an important piece of

advice: take time for yourself.

“Doing this job, it can burn you out re ally quickly so Ms. Reynolds just kept re minding me to take care of myself and make sure to use my mental health days,” Adams said.

But despite encouraging others to take days off, Reynolds rarely spent a day away from campus. When she underwent hip replacement surgery, she was back in the classroom as soon as the doctor allowed.

Even with a walker in hand, she was un deterred; that was the Reynolds way.

When she stepped on campus, she left all her worries at the door.

“At school, it was always all about the kids,” Adams said, “and I respected that, but it makes me hurt for her. She always wanted to do better for other people, so I just wish we could have gone out of our way to do some of those things for her.”

In Reynolds’ absence, Adams encour ages everyone to remember to treat ev erybody with kindness because you never know what they fail to share.

FOREVER A FRIEND Emotional Support Counselor Patricia Reynolds teaches Social Emotional Learning to a class of middle schoolers. PHOTO BY ARIJIT TRIVEDI

SHE WOULD GIVE OUT CANDY AND SMILES SO FREELY. SHE JUST SEEMED LIKE AN AMAZING PERSON.

LAPLACA

MS. REYNOLDS, THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING A SAFE SPACE FOR ME AT SCHOOL, FOR ALWAYS BRIGHTENING UP MY DAYS AND FOR REMINDING ME THAT I AM LOVED AND CARED FOR. YOU WILL BE DEEPLY MISSED.

JUNIOR IMANI COCHRAN

Enrollment: Country Day community expands on all fronts

(continued from page 1)

of the traffic light but is waiting on the city to finalize the plans.

“The reality is it’ll be whenever the city decides to do it,” Thomsen said. “We’re frustrated by that because I think it’s a dangerous intersection. So the sooner the light goes on, the better, but we also really don’t have any control.”

Meanwhile in the high school, organiz ing class sizes has been a focus, as admin istrators try to optimize the larger class sizes.

Although there are already 168 high school students enrolled this school year, Wells plans to keep the population under the new cap of 180 for the next few years.

He said the high school is intending to enroll 45 students per grade in order to split core classes like English and required

science courses into three sections of 15 students.

High school chemistry teacher Victoria Conner has been teaching at Country Day for seven years but has recently transi tioned from two sections of general chem istry to three.

In doing so, she has found it more diffi cult to account for drop periods and keep different classes working relatively at the same pace. However, it is a challenge that Conner learned to embrace.

“Having smaller classes allows a teach er to give more personalized attention to each student,” she said.

The addition of more teachers, including Diego Panasiti and Alvaro Garcia, helped expand the English and Spanish curricu lum.

The extra faculty allowed Country Day to offer more courses, including English

teacher Jason Hinojosa’s creative writing elective.

To accommodate more students, the maintenance team has made physical changes to the campus.

The former Academic Resource Center was renovated and combined with High School Counselor Alicia Perla’s former of fice, to make one classroom for Panasiti. Outdoor seating has also been increased, with the addition of folding tables and two more green tables to the high school quad.

The art classroom will also need to be expanded, Wells said.

“Art is very full; we have wait lists in that class,” he said. “It’s complicated because we don’t have another art studio.”

Looking forward, Thomsen is evaluating plans to replace the current multipurpose room and middle school L-buildings to ac commodate more classroom space.

Octagon wins awards and grant

BY LAUREN LU

Country Day’s student-run newspa per, The Octagon, earned 21 awards, in cluding a $1,000 grant from the Califor nia News Publishers Association (CNPA) for placing first in General Excellence for high school newspapers.

“If journalists are indeed writers of rough first drafts, we believe it unlikely that historians will attach word ‘rough’ to your conscientious and authentic re porting,” CNPA’s award committee said.

Students also received awards from the National Scholastic Press Associa tion (NSPA).

From CNPA, students received:

General Excellence (online), fourth place (Sanjana Anand, Ethan Monasa, Arijit Trivedi, Arikta Trivedi)

Illustration, first place (Hermione Xian)

Illustration, second place (Dylan Mar golis, Arijit Trivedi)

Sports Action Photo, third place (Kali Wells)

Sports Action Photo, fifth place (Arijit Trivedi)

Feature Photo, second, third and fourth place (Arijit Trivedi)

Feature Photo, fifth place (Arikta Trivedi)

News Photo, second place (Arikta Trivedi)

News Photo, third place (Arijit Trive di)

Profile Story, first place (Rod Azghadi)

Profile Story, third place (Adam Akins)

Profile Story, fourth place (Jacob Chand, Garrett Xu)

Pandemic Coverage, second place (Sanjana Anand, Arikta Trivedi)

Pandemic Coverage, third place (Emi ly Cook, Ishaan Sekhon)

Enterprise News Story or Series, first place (Ethan Monasa, Arijit Trivedi)

Enterprise News Story or Series, sec ond place (Simone DeBerry, Samhita Kumar)

Enterprise News Story or Series, fourth place (Ming Zhu)

Writing, fifth place (Ethan Monasa, Arijit Trivedi)

The NSPA awarded Octagon staffers the following awards.

Newspaper Spread, third place (Sim one DeBerry, Garman Xu)

News Story Writing, third place (Ava Eberhart, Lauren Lu)

News Story Writing, honorable men tion (Simone DeBerry)

Feature Story Writing, honorable mention (Samhita Kumar)

“It would give us some more classrooms and more space, but it would also do things like give the band program their own class room as opposed to being stuck in the MP room,” Thomsen said. “But essentially, we can only go up because of the power lines that are on the fields. We’re not allowed to build anything underneath power lines.”

The school has already begun research ing a renovation but will need to lead a capital campaign in order to fund it. Be cause the school is a nonprofit organi zation, the funds used would have to be separate from the operational costs that sustain the school; otherwise, it would af fect the salaries, expenditures and tuition of the school as a whole.

CROWDED CAMPUS During a break, Country Day students gather around to catch up with friends in the high school quad.

PHOTO BY ADAM AKINS

Face to Facebook

Christopher Arns

Important Facts

Birthday: March 8

SCDS Position: World History 9 and AP U.S. History

Interests: Playing the banjo, gardening, learning trivia and watching Star Wars

By Daniel Holz Wed. Sept. 28 Comment Like

If you recognize Country Day’s new high school history teacher, Christopher Arns, you may have seen him on “Jeop ardy” on July 15.

He didn’t win, but he has brought his knack for trivia to Country Day, along with more than 10 years of teaching ex perience. He is teaching world history and Advanced Place ment U.S. History.

Before coming to Country Day, Arns worked at St. Francis for four years, teaching a com bination of history and English. However, Arns found a greater calling with the Cavaliers.

“I’ve always had my eye on Country Day, even before I went to St. Francis,” Arns said. “I love that it’s an independent school.”

Before committing to edu cation, Arns wanted to be a writer.

“The teacher option won out, so I kind of did more to get a career in teaching,” he said.

He was also a reporter, and the internal struggle was not easy for him.

“I was going back and forth, and eventually I decided I liked teaching because I don’t like interviewing people.”

Arns said he is really im pressed with Country Day stu dents and the school’s mission.

A small, tight-knit communi ty, Country Day reminded Arns of his own education spent at Waldorf schools.

So, unhappy with the restric tions of the Catholic-based St. Francis, Arns decided to make the switch.

“I think previously, while I had many good experiences at St. Francis, I’ve always been wanting to embrace the full aspects of equity, and that’s not exactly something you can do at St. Francis,” he said.

Outside the classroom, Arns is both a gardener and trivia whiz.

“When I was younger, there’d be times where I’d be at home, watching the TV, and I would always think to myself, ‘I could be on the show; I could get these questions right,’” he said in reference to Jeopardy.

When not pursuing trivia, Arns also enjoys playing the banjo and reviewing food, partaking in olive oil and cof fee tasting.

“I’m kind of becoming more and more of a food geek. I re ally am interested in learning the history of food, especially as it relates to colonialism and trade and everything,” Arns said.

In addition to tasting food, Arns likes watching media such as “Star Wars” and “Good Will Hunting”, and enjoys TV shows from other countries, like “Squid Game” and “Borgen.”

Arns is excited to be a part of the Country Day community and is looking forward to the rest of the year.

“I’m looking forward to get ting to know all the students and my colleagues better,” he said. “I’m really excited to do a lot of new things and be in a community that’s comple mentary to a lot of my goals as an educator.”

Jo French Jr.

By Anisha Mondal Wed. Sept. 28 Comment Like

New math teacher Jo French Jr. brings 24 years of teaching experience to Country Day with his furry companion, Fritz. He hopes to grow students’ knowl edge in multiple ways, become closer to loved ones and explore new places.

His passion for math started when he had just finished col lege and searched for a job.

“I was always pretty comfort able with math,” he said. “I spent 10 years after college working in various jobs where math was an asset.”

French had worked as a Man ager of Sales Support and Anal ysis at the Disney Channel where he used math to “analyze the ef fectiveness of various marketing campaigns and model pricing scenarios.”

Then French decided to start teaching high schoolers and be gan searching for a job at the high school he attended.

At first, he applied to be a substitute teacher in Southern California. The school French attended as a child, Flintridge Preparatory School, had a tem porary opening, allowing him to experience teaching in a low er-stakes situation.

Impressed by his performance, the administration offered French his own classroom. He officially began his career as a full-time teacher After observing other teachers in the classroom.

While he enjoyed his job as a math teacher, he missed his family a lot. For three long years, French had been living in Utah where he had found a teaching

job. He felt increasingly “isolat ed” from his family.

To have some company, he adopted his first dog. She was a black labrador named Lady Algebra, a name inspired by his love for math. She made him become a more responsible person, and he always spent time with her. She passed away a few years ago but French still cherishes her memory.

After learning that working at Country Day would bring him closer to his siblings, he was con fident that it was the right place for him.

“I’ve always been very close to my family,” he said, “and now I have a chance to see them more often.”

When French shadowed at Country Day, he was touched by how the community cares for each other and enjoys studying.

“When I came to visit, it was clear that people were glad they were here, and students all seemed like they were interest ed in learning,” French said.

As a teacher, French’s main goal is to engage all his students and allow them to view the world in many different ways.

He aims to create an environ ment where students can ask each other questions and work in groups. This helps students de velop new perspectives, boosts their social skills, and allows them to understand math concepts better.

A student in French’s AP Cal culus AB class, senior Ibrahim MoheyEldin enjoys the interac tive elements of the class.

“It’s very hands-on group learning,” he said. “When one person doesn’t understand, an other group will help that person. We work together as a team.”

French’s communication skills extend far beyond people. A dog lover since birth, French spends most of his time with his dog, Fritz.

Originally, Fritz belonged to French’s parents. After their passing, he gained custody of Fritz and started taking care of him every day. He cherishes Fritz in honor of his parents and keeps their remembrance alive.

French and Fritz have a tight bond that is very evident in the classroom as French has brought Fritz to class every day after the weather cooled down. Together they explore campus and meet new people.

Helping students for seven hours every weekday becomes tiring. To unwind after work, French reaches for a board game.

“I enjoy more puzzle solving games, games that make peo ple communicate,” he said.

As French and his family em barked on different paths when they were younger, his main goal was to seek his education and help others achieve the same.

“I teach a lot of juniors and seniors who are starting to make some very big decisions about their lives,” French said. “And I enjoy helping them move on to the next stage of their life.”

Important Facts

Birthday: Preferred not to answer

SCDS Position: High School Mathematics

Interests: Board games and walking and play ing with his dog, Fritz

Fritz Facts

Breed: Cockapoo

Favorite spot in the classroom: Dog bed, under the desk and his tent

Favorite activities: Going on walks with Mr. French

InfoHome Photos Friends

InfoHome Photos Friends

PHOTOS BY ADAM AKINS AND REHAN AFZAL; GRAPHICS BY EMILY COOK, AVA EBERHART AND SAMHITA KUMAR

Latin and U.S. history teacher James Comer had anything but a relaxing move from El Paso, Tex as, to Sacramento, California, this summer.

The moving company that Comer hired lost many of his box es and his bike.

“It was terrible. It didn’t work well at all,” Comer said.

However, once in Sacramento, Comer’s luck turned around, al lowing for a smooth transition into the Country Day community. He is teaching U.S. history and all levels of high school Latin.

“I enjoy working with different levels because it’s not the same thing five times a day,” he said.

When he was a high schooler, Comer took French, only shifting to Latin in college and graduate school.

“Latin was just something I took for fun,” he said.

Consequently, becoming a Latin teacher was somewhat un expected for him. It wasn’t until some of his former students asked him to teach them Latin that he decided to take on the chal lenge.

In addition to Latin, Comer has a strong interest in medieval church history. He earned two de

Teachers

James Comer

By Ava Eberhart Wed. Sept. 28 Comment Like

grees in the study: a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Arts from Arizona State University. So, it comes as no surprise that he de cided to teach history.

“Part of my background in Latin has been reading and translating documents,” he said. “I translated documents for my master’s de gree.”

In 1989, he worked on docu ments that surrounded a mon astery in Great Britain. There, he worked with a charity called Can terbury Archaeological Trust.

“I went over there and worked for several weeks,” he said. “They were doing an archaeological dig, and I was working with them there on the dig, and so I got my hands into it.”

Comer wrote his master’s thesis on the experience.

Besides teaching Latin and U.S. history, Comer dabbles in oth er activities, one being tabletop games.

Right now, his classroom is stocked with many of his favorite games, including Dungeons and Dragons, Pyramids and Fluxx.

With these and others, he has started a tabletop game club at Country Day.

Alvaro Garcia

When not playing tabletop games, Comer can be found birdwatching. He finds it especial ly interesting that birds are the sur viving dinosaurs.

“That fascinated me that dino saurs haven’t died out. They’re still here,” he said.

The avocet, with its long neck and upturned bill, takes its place as Comer’s favorite bird that he’s seen. “They are the symbol of a couple of birdwatcher groups,” he said.

When Comer rode his bike to Country Day on the first day of school, he saw a beautiful flock of birds on a levee in Sacramento.

He had never seen that particu lar bird before, but he later discov ered that they were yellow-eyed magpies, a beautiful species with black, white, blue-green and yel low feathers.

“I was thrilled!” Comer said.

Comer had lived in Rocklin, Yuba City and Hesperia over a nine year period during the early 2000s, and he is glad to have re turned to California.

“California, of course, is a beau tiful place,” he said. “It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever had the chance to live in.”

Important Facts

Birthday: August 5

SCDS Position: Latin and U.S. history

Interests: Tabletop games, medieval church history and birdwatching

SCDS

Interests: Hiking, kayaking, hanging out with his family and

TV with his wife.

By Eesha Dhawan

Wed. Sept. 28

Four years ago, Country Day’s Spanish teacher Alvaro Garcia uprooted his life in Spain, in part, for love.

In 2018, Garcia traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to better his English and pursue a Ph.D. There, he met Dr. Rima Rahal, an an esthesiologist at a hospital near the laboratory where he worked.

They fell in love.

Ultimately, Garcia decided to give up everything, leaving his family and job in his hometown of Grenada, Spain.

“Quitting things is not easy, and being far from family is not easy,” he said.

A year later, in 2019, he mar ried Rahal, and in 2020, he relo cated to Sacramento to pursue his master’s degree in Spanish at California State University, Sacra mento.

He started teaching at Coun try Day during the 2021-2022 school year. He teaches middle and high school Spanish. Gar cia’s favorite part about teach ing Spanish is when students use vocabulary words in Spanish.

“I really like when, at the end of the year, I see a student using Spanish words. That, I think is my goal,” Garcia said.

He said that if people never use the words in Spanish, they will forget them.

A student in Garcia’s class, sophomore Avery LaPlaca, said: “He is very good at teaching because he had to learn English

himself so he knows the learning process.”

He is very willing to help and makes sure you are taking the right steps to get better, LaPlaca said.

Garcia enjoys teaching at Country Day.

“I have freedom. I have real ly nice coworkers. In general, all the Spanish teachers are really good, and really good people also,” Garcia said.

“I would say people and kids are really polite in general. There is a really nice vibe,” he said.

He is also comfortable be cause he knows that other Span ish teachers will assist him if he requires it.

Prior to becoming a Spanish teacher, while he was in Spain, Garcia was immersed in neuro cognitive disorders and speech therapy. He received a bach elor’s and master’s degree in speech therapy from the Univer sity of Granada. He also com pleted three years of Ph.D. re search in autism and childhood development.

“I used to teach physiology. It is totally different. Physiology is how our body reacts to some things or how cells interact be tween cells, neurons, and mus cles,” he said.

For three years, he taught at the University in Granada.

Teaching in Spain was quite different from teaching high school and middle school. He

does feel that teaching at the University was comparable to teaching in the high school at Sacramento Country Day.

In high school, “you guys are more serious. You want to learn. In middle school, they need more play. They need more dy namic classes,” he said.

When Garcia is not at school, he usually hangs out with his wife and studies for his master’s de gree.

“I keep the house in good shape. Don’t have a messy house. It’s another thing that I usually do during the week be cause my wife is working a long shift every day,” Garcia said. “I also like cooking as a hobby, too. If I have time and I feel in the mood, I will cook something that I want or bake.”

Garcia also enjoys spending time outdoors, often on a hike or kayaking.

“Nature in general, I like it,” Garcia said.

Garcia views himself as a laid-back individual. He likes hanging out with Rahal and his bernedoodle, Oso, which means “bear” in Spanish.

They all enjoy TV shows and films on the couch. On week ends, they watch enhanced scifi thrillers.

But, after a long day at work, he, Rahal and Oso relax by watching House Hunters Interna tional or anime together, which is always a good time.

InfoHome Photos Friends

InfoHome Photos Friends

What's New on

As the 2022-23 school year kicks off, teachers reunite, new students the school lunch program has had the chance to start anew after the price. Instead of $7 per meal, lunches this year cost $9.

on the Menu?

students get back together, and old students return with a fresh start. Similarly, many of its less-than-satisfactory meals from last year. Another change,

SANDWICH

Black Forest Smoked Ham Sandwich

Review By William Holz and Ishaan Sekhon. Graph ics by Garman Xu. Pictures from Sourdough & Compa ny, The Old Sphagetti Fac tory and Round Table Pizza

This sandwich tastes like something straight from Subway. It includes lettuce, tomato, American Cheese and Black Forest ham between two pieces of wheat bread, and nothing about it is eye-catching. The flavor of the sandwich was bland and the lettuce was overpowering, just like a Subway sandwich. However, it did come with a good-tasting chocolate chip cookie, so that gives it bonus points.

Veggie Sandwich

This sandwich is just above average with a little extra love. Sourdough and Co’s veggie sandwich op tion creates a food triad, containing a veggie sandwich, with a classic tomato and lettuce combo, a bag of chips and a chocolate chip cookie. There’s nothing special or unique about it, unfortunately. Its taste? You’ll get through it, but you won’t hate it or love it.

PASTA

Ravioli With Tomato Sauce

This year, the Spaghetti Factory has introduced a new ravioli dish. Compared to last year, the portions this year are much larger, so students get their money’s worth. Even though I’m not a ravioli fan, the warm, al dente pasta stuffed with a thick spinach and cheese filling made the ravioli both satisfying and delicious. To top it off, the chunky tomato sauce gave it a hint of sweetness, perfectly complement ing the pasta.

Mac and Cheese

The age-old classic with countless variations makes its appearance at Country Day every Tuesday. Last year Noodles & Co. went for a yellow mac with no cheese and a small salad on the side. But the Old Spaghetti Factory has given students actual mac and cheese in larger proportions, already providing an appetizing appearance. However, a single bite will deliver a near tasteless sting to the mouth. Although an improvement and satiable, it is unworthy of the price jump.

PIZZA

Veggie Pizza

Vegetarians rejoice! A new addition to the pizza menu. Fun to look at and wonderful to eat. The warm pizza, coupled with the many toppings, such as artichoke hearts, tomatoes and quality cheese are sure to make you smile all throughout lunchtime.

Combo Pizza

The combo pizza from Round Table is leagues better than last year’s. It’s the same size but the quality has been significantly improved because it’s actually warm, and the cheese and the toppings are much more flavorful. The combo pizza comes with sausage, peppers, olives, onions, pepperoni and mush rooms.

“Tampon Tampering” by Brynne Barnard-Bahn

EDITORIAL: Make menstrual products free and easily accessible!

Whether you’ve forgot ten your sanitary pads at home, your locker stash of tampons has run out or you’ve simply been caught off-guard by your body’s timing, you may be one of the many menstruating Country Day students who have had a day when they’ve needed access to menstrual products.

Senior Liz Cook is one of these students. On a recent day when she needed these supplies, she asked friends for help—her typi cal plan for incidents like these.

“I walk around until I find someone who has them,” she said. If that doesn’t pan out, she will check with Head of Physical Education Michelle Myers or an other female teacher.

The one place Cook didn’t look? The menstrual product dispenser in the women’s bath room.

“I knew it wasn’t going to have anything in it,” she said. “It’s pret ty unreliable.”

While this machine says it provides pads and tampons for a quarter, it has disappointed many students who end up los ing their quarters.

Unfortunately, this is not a new problem.

“I don’t know that it’s ever been stocked,” Head of Mainte nance Jay Holman said.

Instead, students can visit

Head of Physical Education Mi chelle Myers, or other faculty members on campus, for men strual supplies, Holman said.

The totality of the circum stances, however, reveals that this is not a workable solution.

First, it relies entirely on stu dents feeling comfortable asking teachers for menstrual supplies.

Students who don’t know their teachers well, don’t want to discuss menstrual products with others or simply can’t find a teacher and are left without op tions under this plan.

“I feel comfortable with it, but I can definitely tell why some people wouldn’t,” Cook said.

“Also, I’m more inclined to talk to someone my own age — it’s a very stigmatized, taboo subject, which it shouldn’t be, but it is.”

Even if someone is able to ask Myers, there is little way for them to know that this is an option.

There are no signs in the student restrooms alerting students to visit female teachers. The only way to learn about this option is through word-of-mouth.

In fact, it’s only meant to be a last resort. Myers only holds onto “a small supply of pads and tam pons” if the bathroom dispenser is broken.

Other teachers, such as High School Dean of Student Life Pa tricia Jacobsen, also have sup plies in their rooms. However,

Jacobsen realizes the system is faulty.

“It’s not like we get a notifica tion on our phones saying, ‘hey, by the way, today you’re going to start your period,’” Jacobsen said. “Girls shouldn’t have to go to the bathroom, realize what’s going and then have to go look around for something. By then, the damage is already done.”

Not only is this not an effective plan, it’s also not what other high schools do.

All California public schools have far more thorough offer ings than Country Day in this area.

California’s Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 requires pub lic schools serving middle or high school students to “stock the school’s restrooms with an ade quate supply of free menstrual products.”

By law, public schools in Cal ifornia have to stock all wom en’s restrooms and at least one men’s restroom and keep them stocked at all times starting this school year, according to the legislation approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 8, 2021.

Country Day, in compari son, does not have a menstrual product dispenser in any men’s restroom on campus. The dis pensers in the women’s student restroom are not stocked with menstrual products, and there

are no machines in the faculty restrooms. There’s not even a defined plan to supply students.

Quite simply, we can do bet ter than this. If masks and hand sanitizer can be provided at no cost to students in every single classroom, then the same should be done for menstrual supplies.

These supplies are as essential a health product as masks or other COVID-19 personal pro tective equipment and provide substantial benefit.

Research shows that students “lacking access to menstru al products experience higher rates of absences and are less able to focus and engage in the classroom,” according to the Menstrual Equality Act of 2021.

According to a study pub lished in Obstetrics and Gyne cology in February 2019, period supplies are a “basic necessity” that many cannot access, often due to the cost barrier.

After supplying these vital products, the California bill notes that schools in New York saw a marked increase in attendance after menstrual supplies were made available.

These benefits can also be bought at a minimal cost.

A simple Amazon search re veals that period products can be bought in bulk for as low as $0.04 per unit, with packs of 162 sanitary pads available for $7.99.

If this cost cannot be ab sorbed, then stocking the vend ing machine would lead to a measurable profit per unit — the machine would pay for itself and more.

However, there are simple steps that can be taken to make menstrual products accessible for all students.

The dispenser in the women’s restroom should be kept regular ly stocked and in working con dition. A similar dispenser should be considered for the men’s re stroom as well.

When these machines run out, a dedicated plan should be set in place to restock them.

“That would be good that the school establishes some sort of a tree so we know where to go so that the students know,” Myers said.

For example, supplies could be left in a centralized location like the front office or in a gen der-neutral restroom.

Regardless of the details, stu dents and faculty should both be kept aware of the plan in order to maintain transparency, equity and inclusion. Everyone should have access to menstrual supplies.

By just placing a box of supplies in each restroom for anyone to use, all students would be able to access an important product, improving students’ lives.

MY ANGLE:

If I could go back in time...

BY SIMONE DEBERRY

In August 2019, I joined the crowd of other freshmen girls. With a smile on my face, I thought I knew it all.

But, in the three years since then, I have matured, evolved and most of all learned. So, with only one year of high school left, I share with you the lessons I wish I’d known as an underclassman.

Reflect on your goals.

When I entered high school, I was blinded by prestige. Every decision I made was dictated by what I thought a college application reader wanted to see. But as I tried to live my life by the Ivy League standard, I began to won der, “what next?”

What were my goals after attending said universities? By whose standards would I live next?

I found that in my pursuit of a mean ingful, happy life, I had fallen into a trap. And as I began to reflect on my decisions, I discovered that I would not find long-term happiness in chasing

the next minor achievement. Instead, I would find meaning in incorporating my preexisting passions into my day-today life.

With this information in the forefront of my mind, I began to research, write and teach, pursuing and cultivating my passion for sociology.

Now, my experience might not be yours.

I cannot tell you what would bring you joy, nor can I tell you the perfect way to live your life. However, I can encourage you to try to discover it for yourself.

Before acting impulsively, take a mo ment to question your motivations. If after some thought, you still deem your decision right, then by all means, con tinue. I just find that in my experience, that moment of thought has made all the difference.

Explore your options.

Try out that new club that sparked your interest. Pick up that new sport you always wanted to play. Volunteer with

that organization you’ve heard so much about. As underclassmen at a new school, the opportunities are endless.

Your first two years of high school, par ticularly your first, are really meant to be a time of exploration. They function much like a trial period, a time for you to dis cover what brings meaning into your life.

But, perhaps you are much like I was; you think you already know what you want to dedicate yourself to.

Well, I still encourage you to step out side that box you’ve created for your self, for in my experience, it was the activities I least expected to enjoy that have stuck with me to my senior year.

Don’t be afraid to let something go.

If you listen to my first word of advice, you might find yourself in an activity that you do not enjoy.

For me, that activity was Mock Trial. After joining, I quickly realized that it was not the in-depth law analysis I pre viously thought it to be.

So, when re-registration rolled around, I found myself in a difficult position. Do I

stick with it to fulfill some imaginary quo ta for the number of extracurriculars I must have, or do I drop it and pursue something that aligns more closely with my interests?

To those of you who find the answer obvious, I commend you. As hard as it is to admit, this decision was one I strug gled to make. I feared that without Mock Trial, I would be deemed a quit ter, a failure in the eyes of those around me. But, when I did eventually decide to quit, I found that no one cared.

As I prepare to apply to colleges, I do sometimes wish I had one more extra curricular, some final accomplishment to really wow the college admissions readers. And still, I realize that my me diocre performance as a mock trial wit ness would not be that.

And so, to you underclassmen, I en courage you to really pursue the activ ities that bring you joy and understand that dropping an extracurricular does not make you a failure. Instead, it pro vides you with a meaningful opportu nity to dedicate yourself further to the ones you really love.

MY ANGLE: WLW shows unjustly cancelled by multiple streaming services

BY EMILY COOK

I’ve identified as a lesbian since soph omore year, and seeing characters in the TV shows I watch that identify simi larly to me is very important to me. After all, TV show characters should be relat able — it’s what makes them so memo rable. Why else would people become attached to them?

Streaming services this year, howev er, have been canceling TV shows with lesbian leads. Lesbians, and especially lesbian protagonists, in popular media are already so rare, so the cancellation of these shows is particularly frustrating.

Three TV shows that I watched and enjoyed were “First Kill” from Netflix, “The Wilds” from Amazon Prime and “Batwoman” from The CW. All three of these shows have queer female leads and were canceled unjustly in 2022.

“First Kill” tells the story of high school students Juliette and Calliope, a lega cy vampire and a monster hunter, who inevitably fall in love à la “Romeo and Juliet,” as their families try to keep them apart.

Honestly, this show’s mix of sci-fi, fan tasy and lesbians was simply perfect.

Still, according to What’s on Netflix, despite garnering 30.34 million views in the first three days, the show was can celled on Aug. 2, 2022, nearly 2 months after its release.

So, given that it got so many views, why was it canceled?

One reason is that viewership was not enough to justify the expense of writing and filming a second season, accord ing to an Aug. 2 Variety article.

Another reason was most likely be cause of its poor ratings. Critics scored the vampire drama only 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, 31% less than its average au dience rating.

This doesn’t add up. The only party at fault for low viewership was Netflix. This was exactly the kind of show I wanted to watch, but the only reason I found out about the show was through fanmade TikToks. If Netflix had marketed better, maybe the show would have reached the benchmark amount of views Netflix wanted..

As for “The Wilds,” if anyone has read “Lord of the Flies” but thought it had too many teenage boys, this show is for you. “The Wilds” is a TV show about a group of teen girls who must survive on a de serted island after their plane crashes.

They’re all kind of a mess, and emo tions tend to run wild, but the show pro vided the action and mystery I sought. Not knowing what was really going on behind the scenes on the island was thrilling, leaving me speculating for hours. In addition to the plot, two char acters in the show, Toni, the hot-tem pered lesbian of the group, and Shelby, a Christian-raised pageant girl, devel oped a relationship in the first season. These two were a highly anticipated pair since they were teased throughout the first few episodes of the show and I was ecstatic when they finally kissed.

“The Wilds” was also canceled be cause its second season didn’t get enough views, according to a July 28 Deadline article.

Amassing an 84% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the TV show’s first

season was a wild success and got re newed just a week after its release on Dec. 11, 2020.

Unfortunately, the hype gained from its first season didn’t carry into its sec ond season, likely because of the 1 1/2year gap between releases.

Despite the low viewing numbers, it still had a large and passionate fan base. Those who were still rooting for the show’s lesbian couple, Toni and Shelby, were left on a cliffhanger.

With ratings above 80% by both critics and the audience according to Rotten Tomato, the show shouldn’t have been canceled; “The Wilds” had a lot more to give and explore. Now, with no hope for a Season Three, they will be forever abandoned on the island.

Lastly, “Batwoman’’ follows Kate Kane, cousin of Bruce Wayne aka Bat man, who becomes Batwoman in his absence during its first season. During the TV show’s second and third sea sons, the narrative shifts to focus on for mer convict Ryan Wilder as she protects Gotham City in the role of Batwoman.

Now, what’s better than regular les bians? Crime-fighting, superhero lesbi ans.

Kate Kane and Ryan Wilder satisfy both of these aspects and starting in the second season, Wilder enters into a relationship with her childhood friend, Angelique.

For the last show on my list, “Bat woman,” the reason for its cancellation wasn’t because of ratings, viewership, or production cost. It’s because The CW has been bought by CBS Entertain ment Group and Warner Bros who own

the network 50-50 percent respective ly, and the network had to make some tough decisions, according to an Aug. 15, 2022 article published by The Holly wood Reporter.

However, “Batwoman” is both en gaging and popular, and should have been given the extra attention and funding needed to create a new sea son.

Ryan Wilder, a Black lesbian super hero, was one of a kind; there are few superheroes of color, let alone those who are also LGBTQ+, in shows such as these. Wilder’s presence, along with the action-packed fight scenes and stellar choreography, makes “Batwoman” a clear choice for continuation.

While these shows are great on their own, the representation they offer is even more important, which is the rea son these cancellations are so infuriat ing.

There are extremely few shows with lesbian protagonists and to portray authentic representation and explore these characters beyond damaging stereotypes is extremely important. It’s disheartening to see a TV show with a lesbian lead get canceled one or two seasons after I’ve already bonded with the cast and characters.

Alas, fans only hold so much power in the film industry, and it is ultimately up to the streaming service to decide whether a TV show is worth continuing.

I just wish they wouldn’t base the ma jority of their decision on cost or critics, and instead on the passion of the fans, whose hearts and screens yearn for just one more season.

bringing back the gold

Country Day soccer team recovers from senior players’ departure, aims high for the 2022 season after winning league championships last year

The soccer field is set. Senior RJ Vargo slips on his Blue Nike Mercurials. Stepping on the pitch pridefully, he strides across the white lines for his final year as a Country Day soccer player.

However, this year, warm-ups look a little different — as the memory of Country Day’s 17-1 record and section championship from 2021-22 was carried away with last year’s seniors.

The shoes of the six departed seniors — Arjit Trivedi, Miles Morrow, Ethan Monasa, Malek Owaidat, Nihal Gulati and most notably, California’s goal leader, Arjin Claire — needed to be filled.

Out of the six, four played com petitive club soccer, raising the question of whether Country Day could repeat last year’s al most perfect season.

RJ’s answer? Undoubted ly, but not without a little work.

Boasting a current re cord of 5-2-1 as of Sept. 24, 2022, RJ does not bother himself with the regular season record.

“Frankly, we could lose a majority of our games pre-playoffs, and it wouldn’t matter that much,” he said.

“Obviously there’s that competitive spirit that pushes you to win every game, but in re ality, the only game that matters is the champion ship.”

According to sophomore Henry Wilson, they are well on their way to achieving that final goal.

“This year’s seniors have really stepped up,” Wilson said.

“Even though some positions have changed, no one has complained be cause they realize what it takes to win.”

Both RJ and Wilson said that senior Tonye Jack has taken on a leadership role this year.

Jack switched from right back to center back, natu rally becoming the focal point of the team’s defense.

Jack has had to learn to hold a line, direct defensive play and man-mark. Jack is naturally predispositioned to make offensive plays and reigning this in has been a challenge.

Even though it’s been a major change to Jack’s playing style, he said last year’s center back, Ethan Monasa, pre pared him well.

“Watching him have command over the field was like nothing else,” Jack said. “He was a player that was always talking, and that’s something I try to replicate in my game.”

With Jack controlling the back, midfielder Vargo can di rect the majority of his attention to offense.

With these two working to make up for the loss of talent, Head Coach Matt Vargo has few doubts that the team can become back to back champions.

middle school team and all of their high school years.

Yet, due to the school’s small size, RJ said the team’s positive chemistry has not changed much.

Coach Vargo attributes this to the team’s high morale,

“Everyone just wants to have a good time,” coach Vargo said. “When someone scores a goal, we all cheer — but more importantly, if someone messes up, no one is dragging them down.”

Coach Vargo said that even though the team is undefeated, the season has still been difficult.

“Arjin is impossible to replace because he scored 37 goals, which is almost two goals a game. Naturally, it’s been hard to find ways to score,” he said. “And the literal strength we had on our backline was impeccable, so it’s been hard to combat ways to change that.”

One of the most important processes that has contributed to coach Vargo’s success through out the soccer season this year, is his and his team’s flexibility.

Constantly mov ing players around, he never sticks to a set roster. An example of this is when Country Day plays stronger teams, they become more defen sively-minded, shifting RJ back to center defensive mid or center back to ensure a stable back five to limit opposing teams’

For weaker teams, coach Vargo makes constant changes and substitutions to en sure not only everyone gets a chance to play, but everyone is also comfortable playing at every

“The great thing about school sports is that it’s unlike anything else,” he said. “Every four years a new group comes in, and even though we had really strong players leave us, we have new ones that continue to grow and mature over time.”

So, despite the loss of talent, the most difficult challenge remains maintaining chemistry on the field.

For RJ and many other players, last year’s seniors had played with them throughout club teams, Country Day’s

Doing this has not only contributed to the team’s cur rent success, but in coach Vargo’s mind, will help Country Day’s team in the future continue to put trophies in their case.

“We already do a lot of technical practice to get guys ready to play all over,” he said. “Mix that with more and more years of experience and maturing and we have an ex tremely bright four years ahead of us.”

The team’s current goal? Winning another section championship.

STORY BY JACOB CHAND; PHOTOS BY ANIKA NADGAUDA AND ZEMA NASIROV; GRAPHICS BY LAUREN LU

The Final Verdict

“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” guilty of shallow writing

Enter “She-Hulk,” the latest let-down in Marvel Stu dios’ series of one-off shows.

The show centers on attorney Jennifer Walters, who gains the Hulk powers of her superpowered cousin, Bruce Banner, the Hulk, during a freak car ac cident.

After the opening incident, Walters stays with Banner to adjust to her newfound powers. Instead of being a humbling and adverse experience for Walters, the scene presents her as arrogant and whiny.

Although her character is marred by sub-par CGI, Wal ters seems to grasp her powers extremely quickly — al most too quickly. Somehow, she’s better than the original Hulk within days. Banner’s Hulk transformation gives way to a feral alter ego with an eye for destruction, whereas Walters merely becomes larger, supermodel-esque and retains full control of her faculties.

What ever happened to character development?

By presenting Walters, who begins to go by She-Hulk, as infallible, the audience is unable to empathize with her supposed struggles.

This especially comes into play when Walters squab bles with Banner over training, claiming she is “infinitely

better” at managing anger compared to Banner. Keep in mind that Banner is someone who has lost loved ones and put his life on the line for the fate of the world. So how does Walters keeping her temper at work make her so special? This scenario of telling rather than showing repeats itself ad nauseam throughout the six episodes published thus far.

Later on in the show, Walters resumes lawyering in the courtroom while dealing with her newfound, Hulk-sized spotlight.

This spotlight, however, is free of any true challenge. Most dilemmas, such as finding a good date or winning a court case, are solved in an episode or less.

Throughout all the cringeworthy, tropey humor and the painfully shallow writing remains the ever-present theme of female empowerment. Walters is a “#girlboss” who is strong enough to tackle all her challenges unfazed.

However, that’s the only way Walters is ever present ed. The writers refuse to give her any meaningful devel opment or character beyond this one trait.

To be clear, representations of strong female charac ters are important. However, they require the charac ters in question to be real people. She-Hulk had poten

tial; she could have been a woman triumphing against meaningful challenges, with both external and internal strength.

Instead, Walters is a cardboard cutout of the stereo types of a strong female character. The writers took no time to examine what a woman would really experience as She-Hulk, or what her perception of the world would look like.

These flaws, buried at the heart of the narrative, are irredeemable.

Rather than telling a powerful story about Hulking through the glass ceiling and the earth-shattering reality of being a superhero, “She-Hulk” prioritizes weak, easy payoffs at the expense of what really counts.

“Extraordinary Attorney Woo” is an extraordinary watch

I was hanging out at night after dinner with my friends when one of them sud denly got a call from her mother. What ever her mom was saying, it was clearly important — as this all went on, my friend suddenly became upset.

Her voice became hurried as she shril ly exclaimed, “No, no, don’t do that!” to her mom before she eventually hung up. “What’s the matter?” I asked. It turned out to be Netflix’s new K-drama, “Extraor dinary Attorney Woo.” My friend’s mom had planned on watching an episode of the show without her.

After seeing the show in Netflix’s Top 10, having clips all over my YouTube recom mended page and receiving many rave reviews from my friends, I finally decided to give the show a trial run. Was it really all that everyone had made it out to be?

The answer was a resounding yes.

After watching the first episode, I was immediately hooked.

The drama revolves around new law yer Woo Young Woo, who is just starting out at Hanbada Law Firm. Woo is not your typical lawyer; she is on the autism spec trum.

Because of her diagnosis, Woo strug gles to find a job, despite her stellar cre dentials. Woo’s coworkers are initially skeptical of her abilities, but soon realize that she has an extraordinary talent for law. This is caused in part by her also hav ing savant syndrome, an extremely rare symptom of autism that enables her to have a genius intellect. With each new episode, Woo grapples with new law cas es, family drama, workplace difficulties and romance.

I became attached to main charac ter Woo, played by Park Eun-bin, and her charming quirks, from her love of palindromes and whales to her way of sometimes taking things a bit too literally and even to her particularity about her seaweed rolls, which she always wanted organized and prepared in a specific, fa miliar way.

Observing Woo’s inventive case-solv ing processes in each new episode only gave me more reason to root for her success. When all hope is lost for a small village battling government-sanctioned construction, she suddenly remembers a specific rule that she is able to use to their

advantage in the context of the case.

The cases also present unique perspec tives on different types of people and situations, which are not always morally black or white, and it’s intriguing to view their social commentaries on South Kore an culture. My personal favorite case so far is The Pied Piper, which can be seen in episode nine. I found myself rooting for the leader of the self-started “chil dren’s-liberation movement” who was arrested for kidnapping children. I even got emotional at the end of his case after picturing his perspective.

The popularity of “Extraordinary Attor ney Woo” has increased autism aware ness in South Korea, another benefit of the show. However, it’s important to re member that Woo is not intended to be a representative for autism.

The drama also depicts other autistic individuals, who behave differently from Woo, but it would make their representa tion of autism even better if more types of autism were shown. It poses the concern that main characters with autism are only represented in a genius light in media. Despite this issue, “Extraordinary Attor

ney Woo Young Woo” is a stellar show. Its captivating multi-faceted plot and en dearing cast of characters is sure to grab interest. The show is definitely worth giv ing a try, but be warned: it’s easy to get hooked on.

SHE HULK REVIEW BY SAHEB GULATI; EXTRAORDINARY WOO REVIEW BY SIRI ATLURI; GRAPHICS BY GARRETT XU; PHOTOS FROM DISNEY PLUS, MARVEL STU DIOS, ENA AND NETFLIX

STUDENT STEREOS

AN OCTAGON-MADE PLAYLIST

You don’t even have to know music to know Ye. Common ly known as Kanye West, he has been one of the world’s most influential musicians for longer than most SCDS students have been alive.

From his early releases like “The College Dropout,” “Late Registration” and “Graduation,” to his most recent albums like “Don da” and “Kids See Ghosts,” there are literally over one hundred songs that I would recommend. In corporating angelic choir tones and harsh electron ic noises, Ye’s music offers an immersive storytelling experience like no other. Because it’s almost impos sible to select a few par ticular songs of his to rec ommend, listening to his full albums is necessary.

My favorite albums of his are “Yeezus,” “Gradua tion,” “MBDTF” and “Ye.” All of these have variety within themselves and have so much to offer.

Adding to the Hip-Hop and Rap genre is Daniel Dumile, known as MF DOOM. Al though slightly less popular than Ye, he’s still regarded as one of the most influ ential artists of all time.

DOOM released most of his music in the late ’90s and early 2000s, but after his death in 2020, he became more popular than ever.

Some of my personal fa vorites also happen to be some of his most popular. For example, “Meat Grind er.” With an elaborate beat and hypnotic flow, a gen uine masterpiece is created.

Two of my other favorite songs of his are “Accordion” and “Rapp Snitch Knishes.”

The latter happens to be his most famous song, but that is definitely for a rea son; it is one of his best.

Often considered a true lyrical genius and “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper,” I think it is easy to appreciate the skill in every component of his music.

If none of these artists appealed to you because of the genres, Mac De Marco might be for you. DeMarco offers many dif ferent forms of indie rock that can align with any mood that you may be feeling. From his use of ethereal synth in “Cham ber of Reflection” to guitar solos in “Freaking out the Neighborhood,” each song offers something different. One of the main appeals of DeMarco’s music is that no matter how you are feel ing or what you are doing, his music will always feel fitting for the situation. This is displayed in one of his most popular albums, “This Old Dog.” For a more uplifting, groovy and clean-guitar driven beat on this album, I’d recom mend “One Another .” If you’re looking for a slow, late night jam, “On the Level,” “For the First Time” and “Moonlight on the Riv er” are the songs for you.

One of the most popular artists among high school ers is Indie/R&B singer Steve Lacy. Although he has had a large following for many years, he recently just experienced a recent boom in popularity due to multi ple songs of his blowing up on TikTok. His most popu lar song, “Bad Habit,” has just recently accumulated nearly 200 million streams in the three months fol lowing its release in June. However, this isn’t Lacy’s first time with a major hit, as he accumulated mil lions of streams on songs including “C U Girl,” “In frunami” and “Dark Red.”

I think Steve Lacy brings something to the table for all music listeners, merg ing old - school R&B with a touch of modern funk and neo-soul. With his passionate voice and elite guitar skills, it’s no wonder why Lacy is taking over the game.

WRITTEN BY; ANDREW BURR

DESIGNED BY; JACOB CHAND

YE

MF DOOM

MAC DEMARCO STEVE LACY