Senior Rally Bids Class of 2018 Hearfelt Farewell By Bianca Flores To mark the last rally for the class of 2018, the LAHS gym was converted into the city of Los Angeles on Monday, April 30. ASB organized the rally to bid farewell to the senior class whose time at Los Altos has come to an end. Every year a Senior Rally has been put together by ASB, and this year was no different. They decided to celebrate the graduating class by using an LA theme. The emcees of the rally, Seniors Josie Osborn, Melissa Chadwick, and Maira Rodriguez, took the audience on an adventure around Los Angeles for one last trip before the end of the year. Another special guest was along for the ride and very useful for navigation, Siri. A pre-recorded voice that sounded like Siri was used to take the emcees from location to location, and also to add a bit of humor to the rally. Along the way, the emcees bumped into a few special performances that show-
Emcees Rodriguez, Osborn, and Chadwick, lead the emotional senior class in their final Conquer Chant at the 2018 Senior Rally. Photo by Nicolás Hernández cased senior talent. The seniors brought back their first-place winning dance from this year’s Clash of the Classes rally. They also brought out some seniors from Production Choir to sing “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child.
There were also multiple entertaining videos throughout the rally to reflect senior life, like the Senioritis video, which followed the story of a senior who struggles with the tiredness and lack of motivation that comes at the end of senior year.
There was also a video that featured various seniors and their senior quotes. Some were inspirational, and others were very comedic. Finally, of course, the rally ended with the annual senior slideshow, featuring pictures of seniors through-
out the last four years of high school. The slide show created an emotional atmosphere to the rally, bringing many who were in attendance to tears. The rally ended on a bittersweet note as the class of 2018 performed
the Conqueror Chant for the last time. Soon all the seniors will be graduating and heading on to their new paths in life, but this final Senior Rally reminded them of the well-known phrase: “Once a Conqueror, always a Conqueror.”
dwindled down to its last few days, the May AP testing session included two weeks of on campus AP tests. As the school year ended, many AP students were in a rush to cram in any last minute information to prepare for their AP tests. A passing grade on AP tests can help students acquire college credits which is the reason many work hard
to do so well. In preparation, many teachers have held study sessions for their students, others have held mock AP tests for students to practice for the real AP test. Some of these practices have been during the weekend, meaning both students and teachers have had to come during the weekend to practice for their test.
Senior and AP student Aileen Hernandez commented, “I am thankful our teachers are willing to help us after-hours and hold tutoring sessions to help us out.” Other students have begun reviewing on their own. Senior and AP students Jeremy Tao said, “To prepare I have been doing my homework every single night and
reviewing my AP practice book.” AP practice books are a handy tool for many because they contain information that is easy to follow. Review books also contain tests which make great practice tools. Reviewing for the tests is very important as many AP tests are notoriously difficult—certain tests such as AP European History and
AP Physics 1—have been made famous for their low pass rates and exceptionally low scores. Kevin Ku commented, “I think that students should realize that AP classes and the tests are not for the faint of heart. On that same note, it is always important to push oneself by also taking these types of classes.” The premise for these tests and Advanced Placement programs in general, are for the academically inclined students who strive to push themselves and work hard. Junior Alvin Chen is taking a multitude of challenging AP classes, most noticeably Todd Hedell’s AP Language and Composition and Winnie Gilbert’s AP Calculus AB. Chen said, “These classes made me reevaluate my life and made me manage my time better to get things done on time.” Tao provided some advice for those students who plan to take AP exams, “Take the AP test even if you don’t feel ready, and remember to get plenty of sleep and study.”
Advanced Placement Testing Challenged Stressed Students By Karla Galaviz Douglas Lin It is the nightmares of all Advanced Placement students, yet the one thing they had been preparing for this whole year: the dreaded AP tests. There are 38 AP tests offered by CollegeBoard with our school offering a majority of them here on campus. As the month