For second year, school hosts virtual electives night for incoming freshmen

February 8, 2022 — by Carolyn Wang
Students helped advertise programs to middle school students and families

The school hosted a virtual electives night on Jan. 31 for incoming ninth grade families, featuring parent boosters, extracurricular/co-curricular activities, athletic presentations and elective informational sessions. After a two-part welcome session, incoming families had a chance to participate in five 10-minute elective sessions, where students and teachers answered questions related to their respective programs.

Media Arts Program leadership creative director junior Samika Agrawal looked forward to talking about the interactive learning in MAP classrooms, from debates and trials to group projects and stations.

“A lot of people believe that it’s extra work, but it’s a lot more fun than it sounds.” Agrawal said. “I was excited to talk to parents and students and advocate for MAP.” 

In the main session, a Zoom-bombing incident occurred in which inappropriate chat messages were sent by multiple people, but administrators quickly resolved the situation; according to assistant principal Matt Torrens, there were five separate instances of Zoom bombing during the event.

Overall, turnout for this electives night was comparable to last year’s virtual electives night, said Torrens, with a total of 120-140 families joining the general session. 

Recordings of various elective sessions are currently available for families who missed the event.

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Carolyn Wang
Carolyn Wang, Class of ‘23, is an Editor-in-Chief of the Saratoga Falcon for the 2022-23 school year. Previously, she was the School Scope Editor between 2021-22 and an Assistant Graphics Editor, Layout Artist and Reporter between 2020-21. Over her three years on staff, she has covered stories ranging from inflation's effects on senior citizens to the current state of the journalism industry, anti-vaccine protests, the history of Saratoga's principals, Cross Country and Track & Field beats, and other local and schoolwide news. She's been recognized for her journalism work by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California and Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Outside of the J-Room, Carolyn enjoys all-things music, running and Disney-related.