The Bolt December 2021

The

BOLT

December 2021 Volume 22, Issue 3 lightningboltonline.com Sage Hill School 20402 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Coast, CA 92657

Looking Back on Fall Sports Phoebe Pan Wilkins Town Square was decorated with The Lightning fall sports teams have struck the competition this season, with teams from four sports making their marks in the CIF playoffs.

Even with new restrictions and uncertainties because of the pandemic, the Sage’s sports teams have come back as strong as ever, with many new and returning student athletes taking on the tough competition in this year’s CIF-SS Championships. The girls’ varsity tennis team, the Lightning Water Polo team, the Lightning Football team, and both boys’ and girls’ varsity cross country teams competed in this season’s CIF Southern Section Fall Playoffs.

The girls’ varsity tennis team had a great season this fall. Following their impressive wins against teams like Edison and Troy, the varsity team was able to participate in the Division 2 Championships.

Although they were finally defeated by the Trabuco Hills team in their second round playoffs match on November 5, they still had a highly successful season with a 17-4 win/loss ratio. Even though their season was cut short, the tennis team showed impressive effort and dedication this season, so we wish the team luck for even more success next year!

Sage’s water polo team also had a strong season this year, advancing to the CIF-SS Division 5 Playoffs. With two 10-8 wins against Katella and Cypress in the first and second round of the playoffs, the team was a strong contender in the championships.

The team made it all the way to the Quarter Finals, eventually losing to Carpenteria on Saturday, November 6. The team’s performance this season reflects the players’ talent and effort, which will surely lead them to even greater accomplishments in future seasons.

The Lightning Football team also participated in the CIF-SS championships this year. Following a successful yet difficult season, the team was able to make it to the 8-Man Football Division 1 Semifinals. After a tough Round 1 game against Chadwick and a last-minute win during overtime, the football team was able to progress in the Division 1 Championships.

Sage had the chance to host the semifinal game at our very own Raymer Field on the 12th, and the team had an exciting close

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Photos by David Kim | The Bolt

The rest of the football team holds their breath as the game enters its final minute.

Junior Lorelei Jorden and freshman Yasmin Cavner cross the finish line together. game against Cate School, unfortunately losing 16-21. While the football team was not able to advance to the CIF finals, their success in the championships this season reflect the hard work and perseverance of the players.

Sage’s cross country season was highly successful, with both varsity teams advancing to the CIF-SS finals. Girls’ and

“There’s an app for everything else, so why not Sage Hill?”

Junior Sacha Baniassad asks for the ball while on offense during a match.

boys’ JV and varsity teams have all had great accomplishments this fall, coming in the top three overall in most of their meets this year. All cross country teams placed 2nd in their respective categories at the November 6 Mason Park meet, with the varsity teams advancing to the CIF Southern Section Preliminaries at Mt. Sac Antonio College. Following their

strong performance at the Mt. Sac race on November 12, the varsity teams competed in the CIF-SS finals on November 20, ending the season with the girls’ varsity team placing in 9th, and the boys’ varsity coming in 7th for their 3-mile races. The boys’ varsity team ended their season on Saturday, November 27, with a 18th place finish.

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Mrs. Abbate, Director of Communications & Marketing

Editorial, Page 2

Features, Page 3

The Arts, Page 4

Community, Page 6

Backpage, Page 8

2 Editorial The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

A holiday season filled with college applications, finals, and stress for Sage Hill School seniors.

December has officially rolled around. For many people across the country, this time of year usually involves holiday music, feasting, and gatherings with friends and family. However, for many high school seniors (including the editors writing this article), holiday cheer is hard to find as the month ushers in yet another wave of anxiety.

Why so much stress? Unfortunately, the number of reasons can be longer than the traditional Christmas list. For this month specifically, December 1st was a huge deadline for some college applications, and there are plenty more as the month continues on. Furthermore, as finals come around and the semester comes to an end, college decisions for early decision and select early action applications are also being released.

But for seniors, college applications and decisions are only one contributing factor to stress. Senior year in general can be overwhelming, as it involves taking some of the hardest classes Sage Hill has to offer, managing leadership roles in our extracurriculars, balancing our family and social life, and somehow trying to get the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep. It often feels like we are drowning in our responsibilities and do not have time to be a kid anymore.

We are under an immense amount of pressure. Not only do we have a seemingly never-ending amount of work, but the weight of our unrealistic expectations is crushing us.

With each passing year, college acceptance rates decrease, and the learning environment gets more and more competitive. Sometimes it feels as though no matter what we do, we will never measure up or be the “perfect student.”

No matter how many wins we achieve, it seems as though we are always chasing after the next thing. It is exhausting. We forget to take a moment to celebrate all the work we have put

Xinyi Xie | The Bolt

in and how far we have come (congratulations, we are proud of you!) We often forget that there is no perfect or best student. All we can do is work to be the best version of ourselves and enjoy the little moments along the way because the only thing we have control over is our own actions and mindset.

It is very easy to get lost in the tunnel vision of the first semester, to forget that there is a world beyond college applications and school work. But in just one month, we will be able to enjoy the best part of senior year:

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THE BOLT

he Bolt is a student newspaper and serves the public forum at Sage Hill School. Its content - news, editorial, opinion, and feature - is protected

by Education Code 48907, the state student rights law and the California Constitution which guarantees all citizens the right of freedom of speech and of the press. The Bolt accepts signed letters to the editor from members of the Sage Hill Community which may be posted as comments to our website, lightningboltonline. com, or addressed to editor-in-chiefs Riya Gupta or Sanjana Khurana and put in their mailboxes on campus. These letters may not exceed 150 words or they will be edited for inclusion.

Editors-in-Chief Riya Gupta (Bolt), Sanjana Khurana (Bolt), Xinyi Xie (Online), Courtney Davis (Storm) and Julia Kwon (Storm) Editorial Board Lauren Chung, Isabel Gomez, David Kim, Noe Lee, and Phoebe Pan Adviser Jennifer Kucera Rothman

second semester. There is so much to look forward to in the coming months, including the spring musical, sports games, prom, Spring at Sage, and graduation. Until then, we will keep striving to meet the demands that come with being a high school senior, but at least we will do it together.

Seniors, we believe in you. We are almost at the finish line, and we are going to complete this final stretch together. Stay strong, Class of 2022!

Priya Bhakta Carter Bryant Anne Chen Charlotte Cheng Elizabeth Chen Yasmin Dennis Sabrina Do Izzy De Leon Ava Eimani Nic Eimani Alison Hwang Chloe Lee Fiori Lee Lucy Lee Sophia Lin Anna Lin Max Luer

Igrid Luo Alia Sajjadian Ceyda Shamsai Sophia Sun Sophie Qiu Milan Ramezani Max Razmjoo Shaan Sakraney Karmen Sandhu Zahra Sarwono Elizabeth Wattenberg Eric Xie Roya Yahmai Grace Yan Grace Yang Maggie Zhang Winston Zuo

Features

The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

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Sage Gets Mobile With Phone App Roya Yaghmai Whether we like it or not, our lives revolve around our smartphones and the apps that keep us in touch with friends and family, up to date with everyday tasks, or alert us of important information relating to our communities.

Whether it be texting over iMessage, using the Ring doorbell app to check for packages at the door, or sending your location to a lost friend, our lives are made simpler with apps that do it all. The beginning of the school year means more club meetings, sports practices, and grade-level meetings, so why not create an app

that keeps all your Sage Hill information in one place?

Well, now there is one!

The Sage Hill app is in app stores now! Sage has been working to gather everything you need for school at your fingertips. While the school website does have everything from athletic calendars to grade-level announcements, Sage’s app aims to compile all the news and reminders you search for daily in one spot!

Ms. Abbate, Director of Communications & Marketing at Sage Hill, says that “there’s an app for everything else, so why not Sage Hill?”

The app is simple and will make life at Sage easier.

Students can join different groups, teams, and grade

levels they are involved in, then receive important notifications and reminders in one place. Important documents such as the weekly community email, school handbook, and school year calendar are all accessible on the front page. It also has a faculty and staff directory so you can email your teachers directly from the app.

The app is meant to bring the Sage Hill community virtually closer than ever before. This app is available now in the Apple app store and Google Play store.

Watch out for QR code fliers around campus to scan for a quick and easy download!

Facebook by any Other Name Alia Sajjadian Recently, a former Facebook employee testified before Congress and delivered a scathing report on Facebook’s internal operations. This whistleblower confirmed that the social media conglomerate (that also comprises Instagram and WhatsApp) specifically tailors its algorithms to extract the most profit from its users, maximize their engagement, and subject them to harmful and even radical content.

This may have given other CEOs

pause and encouraged a moment of self-reflection about what went wrong and how to right the ship. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, however, issued a tone-deaf, simple denial, claiming that the testimony was a “misrepresentation of [their] work and [their] motives.”

He also found this to be the perfect moment to introduce his Metaverse, a new virtual reality forum to experience all aspects of life, from work, to gaming, to social engagements. This begs the question: when did Facebook skew so far from being a user-friendly space

where grandparents posted pictures of their grandchildren, chefs shared prized banana bread recipes, and high-school classmates reconnected with each other, to a platform that systematically promotes radicalized content and allows the spread of misinformation?

One would think this pressing issue would be on the forefront of Zuckerberg’s mind and cause him to reconsider the company’s long term legacy. Ironically, these critical revelations did not cause Facebook to address concerns about its harmful scope and influence on unsus-

pecting users, but rather led it to grasp the opportunity to rebrand the company and infiltrate deeper into its users’ daily lives. The algorithms and the manipulative nature of Facebook should transition quite nicely into this new Metaverse.

Rather than taking one step forward, Zuckerberg seized the opportunity to take three steps back. Putting lipstick on Facebook and calling it Metaverse not only fails to correct its harmful and addictive design, but instead dangerously amplifies it.

Book Review: The Shining Yasmin Dennis

However cliché this may sound, Stephen King’s The Shining is a book sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. Jack Torrance, the protagonist of the novel, is appointed as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, which closes every winter. He, his wife, and their five-year-old son, Danny, are isolated in the hotel once the surrounding roads close because of the snow,

and the Overlook doesn’t seem as appealing as it once had.

Danny begins to notice sinister things that had previously been invisible, and cabin fevertakes its toll. Similar to a soap opera from the 1980s, sabotage, lies, and secrets run rampant and distrust spreads like wildfire. Stephen King stylishly incorporates foreshadows without

revealing too much, resulting in shocking plot twists and unexpected character development.

This novel will have you carefully eyeing the members of your own family and thanking your luck for residing in sunny California where snow will never block the roads.

Movie Review: It Dune-dn’t Serve Anne Chen

Out of the many film adaptations of Frank Herbert’s widely acclaimed 1965 sci-fi novel, the newly released Dune received the bulk of attention. Set in a feudalistic interstellar society 8,000 years into the future, the story follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) on a journey to acquire stewardship over the desert planet of Arrakis.

This monochromatic setting holds valuable possession to the highly-sought resource of spice, which is a key element to interstellar travel. Throughout the story, Paul frequently expe-

riences recurring dreams surrounding a woman named Chani (Zendaya).

Grossing $331.1 million in the box office, a big part of the appeal for the 2021 adaptation of Dune is its fan-favorite cast members: Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. However, despite sizable marketing efforts of maximizing features on these popular actors/actresses, Dune did not live up to many viewers’ expectations. For one, the film’s advertisement excited fans through its heavy focus towards Zendaya’s character, who turned out to only have seven minutes of screen time throughout the entire movie.

For viewers who have not read the novel, the film’s explanatory prologue only skims the surface, providing insufficient information regarding the complex imaginative world within Dune. Due to its lack of context, the film may seem loosely tied together and hard to follow for audiences.

However, the cinematography succeeds in portraying the galaxial desert landscape present in the novel. The setting in the film contains sandy, dry visuals that were compelling in themselves.

Overall, Dune was an ambitious attempt at adapting such a complex and intricate work of literature.

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The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

Showcasing Grace Yan | The Bolt The cast and crew of Clue comes together after a performance.

C(l)ue Me In: Whodunnit?

Elizabeth Chen and Sophia Sun

Whodunnit?! To mark our very first live theatre performance at Sage Hill in almost two years, Mrs. Kildare and her wonderful cast and crew brought their A-game with Clue, a twisted murder mystery.

Clue, based on the famous board game, starts off at a New England mansion on a stormy night, where the butler, Mr. Wadsworth, welcomes six mysterious guests. Mr. Boddy, the host, then arrives and informs the guests that they have all been invited for the same reason: blackmail. While handing them each a different weapon, Boddy threatens to expose all of them and suggests they kill Wadsworth because he knows all their secrets. However, a gunshot rings, and Boddy is found dead, placing each guest under suspicion and triggering a cat and mouse game with the killer.

Weeks of practice and preparation were put into creating the polished show we get to see. With two casts, one of the biggest difficulties was having enough time and space to prepare both groups for the stage. Not to mention acting and blocking with a mask on for hours on end.

Despite all these obstacles, however, an incredible production was put on. Having two of the same character allowed cast members to help each other with lines and props. The witty banter between characters kept the audience engaged and laughing the whole time. And each ensemble had wonderful and unique chemistry that kept the show dynamic from beginning to end.

This is junior Joseph Khoury’s first year performing with Sage Hill, as the secretive butler, Wadsworth. On his experience performing this year, Joseph says, “Even with Covid, the show seemed like a typical experience. We looked past the fact that we all had to wear masks, and

helped each other out… there was just a lot of excitement on set in general.”

The glamorous costumes that can be seen on the performers were made

by Michael Fitzpatrick, who created most of the pieces from scratch. Everything from Mrs. Peacock’s striking hat to Mrs. Scarlett’s jeweled bodice brought the show to the next level. With the help of freshman Zabelle Martin, the costumes perfectly encapsulated each character’s distinctive personality. When asked about her favorite costume, she found that “Mrs. Peacock’s outfit was really cool and creative. I really loved the train on the back of the dress.”

Sophomore Zanaida Curic who plays the alluring Miss Scarlett is no stranger to the productions at Sage, as she was also in Lion King, Inherit the Wind, and the One Acts last year. Curic knew from the get go that she wanted the role of Miss Scarlett.

“After getting the callback, I knew I definitely would want the role of Scarlett.

I felt like it differed a lot from the roles I played in the past and really wanted to diversify my portfolio,” Curic said. “I also love that she’s an independent woman and she makes her own decisions. I thought her character was super interesting in the movie and that I could do my own spin on it.”

Clue is freshman Evan Pak’s first time acting in a play. Pak plays the quick-witted but corrupt Professor Plum.

“He’s very different from my personality. He is very smart and arrogant and I don’t think that’s me at all. I think I could have played Colonel Mustard, but I got a completely new perspective from playing Professor Plum.”

If you missed Clue, there is still another chance to see the incredible Sage Hill performers in the upcoming One Acts and spring production, High School Musical!

Grace Yan | The Bolt Senior Saiida Webb and freshman Elizabeth Wattenberg are deep in character in this murder mystery.

The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

the

Element(s): A Captivating Performance

by Sage Hill Dance Sophie Qiu and Anna Lin Before the show, I had the honor of interviewing Ms. Smith, the dance instructor. She spoke to me about how the idea behind the show was collaboration and the elements of dance. “Surprisingly,” she said, “my inspiration came from Art Survey.” Ms. Smith explained how students in Art Survey that took the dance part of the course worked on reflecting how they could incorporate the lessons they learned in dance into their daily lives.

“Just because you don’t dance, doesn’t mean you can’t use aspects or lessons from it to help you in whatever it is you’re interested in.”

On November 13, a peculiarly hot day, I biked my way over to the Sage Hill The-

ater to enjoy a performance by the Sage Hill Synergy Dance Ensemble and Dance IV. Settling down in the plushy theater seats, at 2:00 the lights dimmed, and the show began.

The dance show started with the dance titled “Incompatible | Elements [s],” with quiet eerie music and bright lights illuminating the dancers and their flowy red dresses on stage. Junior Gianna Van den Bosch led the group through an elegant dance, with a solo by sophomore Talia Tse midway through the performance.

Following was “Action [on] Earth,” with a beaty, strong musical ending with dramatic bright lights.

“Air [&] Time,” led by senior Reagan Smith, was portrayed by 5 dancers wearing flowy white dresses. Whispery ethereal music filled the theater, and a gradual

Arts

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Chloe Lee | The Bolt Synergy started off strong with their piece called ‘Air & Time’. crescendo peaked as the dancers whirled around stage, dancing among bright rainbow strobe lights and accompanied by grandiose orchestral music. A gentle decrescendo followed, and the dance ended with the dancers back in their original position on the side of the stage.

“Body [of] Water” was a dance inspired by the element water, as suggested by its name. The dancers danced in pointe shoes, twirling and stepping, all while holding fans with flowing blue and purple silk in their hands. The music had deeper beats, occasionally punctuated with sounds of rainfall or water droplets.

The “Fire = Energy” dance was very much so high-energy, as the dancers ran on stage in all black, holding glittery pom-poms (the very same ones used to cheer on the Lightning Football team).

With a dramatic red backlight and moves inspired by cheerleading, the audience was captivated by the high energy and sharp moves performed by the dancers. “[Too Much] Space” started with the dancers holding plastic panels in front of them. The music was gentle, with a harpsichord quietly tinkling in the background.

As the dancers on stage gained intensity, so did the music, getting louder and louder with a powerful orchestra playing and vocals, ending with a bright flash and a final pose. {Compound Effect} featured all the dancers from both Synergy Dance Ensemble as well as Dance IV, and the entire group worked together beautifully to illustrate how collaboration is key in dancing.

Chloe Lee | The Bolt Using water and silks, Synergy performs their dance called ‘Body of Water’.

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The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

Community

Shadow Days at Sage

With campus reopening to the public to a limited capacity, prospective students have the chance to get a look at Sage up close.

Roya Yaghmai It is that time of year again - shadow day visits are back this fall! This past week, Sage Hill’s front office and campus were flooded with prospective students for the 2022-2023 school year. Freshman shadow day hosts were eager to show their eighth-grade partners around, and applicants could not wait to experience a day in the life of a Sage Hill student.

“After a year-long hiatus from on-campus Shadow Days, the Admissions Team is pleased to have the Shadow Day Program resume for our applicants,” said Mrs. Hanjan, Sage Hill’s Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. She also added that “this optional step in the admissions process allows for applicants to sample daily life at Sage Hill by exposing them to our outstanding academic offerings and vibrant student life.”

Not only does Shadow Day enable these eighth-graders to get a taste of what Sage Hill is truly like, but it gives the freshman hosts a chance to display what they have learned as somewhat-new students at Sage Hill. They get to speak on their experiences in different clubs, at signature Sage Hill events such as town meetings and pep rallies, as well as their workload and experience from class to class.

“Being a shadow day host gave me a whole new perspective of Sage. These students who are touring are the heart of the year of 2026, and it fills me with pride for my school when I contribute to their possible Sage life. “Every shadow student I saw, along with my own, was being included and enjoyed their tour of Sage,”

Eric Xie | The Bolt

Two shadow day students begin their day at Sage with Sr. Izurieta’s Spanish class. says freshman Ben Welford, who had his first shadow day host experience in early November.

It is evident that these freshmen understand the impact they are making in prospective students’ impressions and interest in Sage, which makes for good Sage Hill leaders in the near future.

A typical shadow day experience involves a free lunch courtesy of the school and participation in two classes to get a taste of the typical student schedule.

Some eighth-graders also experience a town meeting, which encapsulates Sage Hill as a close-knit, energetic community.

Shadow days make a lasting impact on prospective students, whether it be from the hands-on science experiments they participated in during chemistry or meeting other eighth-graders and freshmen during lunch. Teachers at Sage Hill also make it a point to get to know these shadows and expose them to as many of their curricular interests as possible

during their brief visit. Conversations between teachers and prospective students make the experience even more personal and engaging, as the eighth graders already begin to feel like a part of the Sage Hill community.

After more than a year of being unable to share Sage Hill’s campus with others due to the pandemic, it is refreshing to see some of the school’s well-known programs, like shadow days, return to normal.

little something you do everyday that no one ever seems to notice, appreciate, and admire? But, you see, there’s never someone or someplace that’s truly blind.

People see more than they let on. Look!

Countless stories: that girl who knows where the elves dance, that boy who’s oblivious to his own genius, that one

shortie in PE class who runs a mile in seven minutes while his older, taller classmates look on and after with wide eyes, panting, in disbelief.

The everyday stories we can only consider tiny miracles.

Tiny Miracles: A Compilation of Tiny Stories

Grace Yan

You see her? She’s that one girl who curls up in the library and sees fairy lights instead of books, a sort of wonder that manifests as loneliness in her blue eyes— blue and wise like a deep well, filled with memories and stories, restless and yearning, but just as trapped as the mind that jails them. She’s the one who brightens at every Jewish surname in a roster, and aces every Chinese test, every Latin quiz, and studies Hebrew in her spare time.

That boy. That shortie in PE class who runs a mile in seven minutes but can’t reach the upper half of a vending machine without standing on his toes. That small but strong one with a last name that people can’t pronounce, the one who loves being in New York, the place with giant needles that tower over everyone and everything, watching, learning.

That nobody in the corner. That game addict who has the talent of apologizing or saying “you’re welcome” as easily, as sincerely, as he laughs. The one hidden genius who cowers behind a computer monitor all day. There’s his friend who excels in chemistry and despises Shakespeare, and his other friend who loves to

study war.

Those two classmates with identical hazel eyes who sit next to each other with their curly heads bent together over test grades, and occupy themselves with a suffocating schedule so they won’t have any time to cry, to feel a need to breathe.

The one on the left who feels impossibly inferior to the world, and the one on the right with no emotional intelligence. See? See her ask him if she’s too annoying?

Always following him around? See him shake his head in fleeting comfort and return to his notebook? Watch them grow apart.

That big kid playing basketball during lunch. He plays to play, and laughs heartily at every point, won or lost. He who says “good one!” or “nice game!” over and over until it rings in your head like a siren, and you can’t help but wonder how he has so much energy to give, to spend on others, like charity. He’s wealthy, you realize, and yet his clothes come from TJ Maxx. He’s the one that tells you “you’re so awesome!” when you score well on a quiz you studied hours for. He’s the one that did just slightly worse than you but doesn’t even know how to study.

And you, who are you? What’s the

David Kim | The Bolt

Town Meeting is a staple of Sage Hill culture.

Community

The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

Moving Forward Together

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Several service learning groups collaborate to make a greater impact for the Skyview School.

Photo Courtesy of Ingrid Luo

After a fun morning with the Students for Service service-learning, the Give Back service-learning group distributes meals to the Skyview students.

Ingrid Luo On the first Wednesday of every month, Sage Hill students work on their Service Learning projects. The Service Learning program here at Sage Hill offers a wide range of activities for the students to build valuable skills and help out in their communities.

At the Skyview School, a K-8 school for homeless children, multiple Service-Learning groups across grade levels come together to combine their efforts and passion for volunteering. Before the ninth graders report to Skyview, the Future Leaders Service-Learning team provides them with some context of their rotation destination, as well as some tips on how to interact with the students. When the

ninth-graders arrive at Skyview, they lead the Skyview students through the day’s constructive games, such as building a bridge out of q-tips.

Ninth-grader Breany Trujillo says, “Working with the Skyview students was amazing and eye-opening.”

Jack Johnston, a member of the Future Leaders Service-Learning group, says that the best part of spending time with the students at Skyview is “the feeling that you are making a difference for the bettering of your community,” as well as seeing “how much fun the students have!”

By lunchtime, members of the Give Back team, who have previously attended the Skyview Graduation Caravan to celebrate the students’ transitions from eighth-grade to high school, arrive to serve hot and nutritious meals from

Bracken’s Kitchen, one of Sage Hill’s community partners. After a day of learning and fun, everyone gets a delicious meal to regain energy. Recharging at lunch gives the students — Sage Hill and Skyview alike — the stamina to play at the nearby playground or compete in a game of Capture the Flag.

When time is up and Sage Hill students must return to campus, the Future Leaders members and ninth-graders head back to school, while the Give Back group returns utensils or any remaining food to Bracken’s Kitchen.

The activities and meals at Skyview vary each month, but they are all aimed at giving the Skyview students an enjoyable time. Through leadership, creativity, and compassion, our students experience some valuable lessons too!

“Each time is a new adventure, and there are so many moving parts that planning takes quite an effort. I’m always so encouraged by how positive everyone is when planning together for these trips. It’s amazing how high the level of engagement becomes when the creative juices get flowing and we all work together to make a really fun and memorable day,” says Mr. Vadeboncoeur, one of the teachers in charge of the Skyview rotation. “The sky is the limit in terms of upping our commitment to collaboration, both in terms of application and effect.

By opening ourselves up to others and remaining vulnerable, we grow exponentially as people. I would say through working with others, there is nothing we can’t achieve.”

Photo Courtesy of Ingrid Luo

The Give Back Service-Learning group is ready to serve hot and nutritious meals to the Skyview students.

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Backpage

The Bolt December 2021 Sage Hill School

Native American Heritage Month S.A.M.E. Corner Feature

Riley Robinson and Anyssa Dang

Malila Hollow, Sage Hill’s accompanist for the choir program, presented at the Multicultural Symposium in 2020 about indigenous people and their culture. Her presentation, called the Impact of Colonialism on Indigenous Families, describes “the insight into current issues faced by native American communities by speaking about how colonial structures of reservations, boarding schools, and continual land and resource struggles have broken families, erased culture, and cut ties to the language.” Due to the necessity to honor the influence Native Americans have had on the advancement of our Nation, in the 1990s, President George H. W. Bush declared the month of November as National American Indian Heritage Month, now referred to as Native American Heritage Month. It is important to recognize the significance of this month since Native Americans have shaped the United States’s history and should be celebrated by all Americans.

Ms. Hollow says that the importance of celebrating Native American Heritage Month has to do with raising awareness since many Americans don’t even know about it. Through raising awareness, we can embrace the culture and history of the people who have shaped the land we stand on today and shed light on the fact that they are the smallest population in the United States. Ms. Hollow states that individually, she celebrates this month with just subtle differences in her everyday life. This includes an extra smudging, a different meal, or putting up something in her home to recognize the importance of this month. An important part of Native American Heritage Month is having nonindigeonous people be allies to the indigenous community and raise awareness. There are several ways to do this, Ms. Hollow says. Being aware of the education system’s influence on Native American Heritage Month is extremely important since it speaks on what history books don’t always tell, so we must take it upon ourselves to learn the full history of indigenous populations’ land and culture. Having the courage to step up and for native people from marginalized com-

Photo Courtesy of Sage Hill School Prior to construction, Sage Hill founders joined with the Elders of the Acjachemen Nation of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians – the original inhabitants of the land that became Orange County – to perform a blessing ceremony.

munities allows individuals to be more open about their own worldview and as allies help bridge cultural differences or misunderstandings in surrounding communities as they take a stand against what misinformation is spread throughout this historical month.

More specific ways you can be an ally to indigenous populations during Native American Heritage Month include listening to indigenous artists and musicians, like Rae Garzoda and Artson, as well as buying from an indigenous business, for example, beaders, jewelry makers, and more on Etsy.

However, it is important that when you buy indigenous, you make sure that the product is not appropriating the culture. Knowing the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation makes all the difference when it comes to buying indigenous.

Ms. Hollow also explains that one of the most important parts of supporting the native American communities is by raising your own voice in regards to racism and microaggressions towards Native Americans. She brought up

the recently viral video of a racist teacher mocking Native Americans to teach a math lesson. Obviously, the video was extremely upsetting to anyone who had seen it, but it reminds allies to come together to provide support during difficult scenarios where it may be hard for one person to stand up against a systemic problem. What many new students may not know about the land Sage Hill was built on, is that Sage is on unseated Acjachemen land. By acknowledging the base of what this school is built on, we can learn how to celebrate the history of this land.

When it comes to resources for allies and nonnatives to look into to learn more about indigenous culture, Ms. Hollow states there are IHS (Indian Health Services), land acknowledgement opportunities, and specifically researching the Acjachemen Nation since that is the land Sage is built on.

As Native American Heritage grows in popularity throughout the years, raising awareness, buying indigenous, connecting with the culture, and educating yourself about the significance of the

month, allows you to become a true ally and able to embrace the beauty of native culture!

S.A.M.E is a leadership group committed to educating our community about the importance of diversity, equity, and cultural competence. Through conversations and educational initiatives, S.A.M.E. hopes to foster an even more inclusive Sage Hill community. Throughout the year, students in S.A.M.E. attend diversity trainings, lead open discussions on current events, oversee workshops in the annual Multicultural Symposium, and celebrate the different cultures and identities found at Sage Hill.

The Hamoui Family Sage Center is the hub for innovative and experiential teaching and learning within and beyond the Sage Hill Campus. The Sage Center empowers students to become agents of change by learning about, experiencing, and engaging with local and global communities.