Lillian Chen

In general, most if not all students at Saratoga High are perceived to share the beliefs of the Democratic party. However, if one digs a little deeper, republicans can be found among the sea of democrats at SHS.

Leading out a sea of people in club onto the quad, senior Peter Hsieh and senior Stanton Ho awe the audience during Homecoming week on Senior quad day, bursting into a mash of hip-hop choreography. A few minutes later, senior Megan Kao leads a large group of girls dressed in pink with purple stripes, astounding the audience surrounding the quad with her fluid dance choreography.

Junior Neal Singaporia, a member of the yearbook staff, is quite the ladies’ man. So, he said, yearbook is perfect for him.

Within the game Call of Duty, one of the most popular war games on the market, soldiers are shot down as they try to defend their bomb sights from the enemy.

The drama department is currently planning its annual International Thespian Society Conference trip while rehearsing for its spring musical “South Pacific.” Program supporter Cathie Thermond has been substitute teaching drama classes since the beginning of December while usual teacher Karin Babbitt takes a leave of absence until January 9 to recover from hip surgery.

From work permits to scholarship program information, the College and Career Center is a center filled with a vast amount of resources for students.

Freshman Matt Nobles opened the gate and walked up the cobblestone path to the house. He rang the doorbell and prepared himself for his mission. As the door slowly opened, an elderly man appeared. The boy reached inside his pocket and, with a practiced tone, asked, “Can I have something bigger and better than this toothpick?”

Having continuously worked hard on the fall play “Tartuffe,” drama students were very excited for the debut of their work on Oct. 20, 22 and 23.

Having continuously worked hard on the fall play “Tartuffe,” drama students were very excited for the debut of their work on Oct. 20, 22 and 23.

Bright and early Sunday morning is the perfect time to grab some coffee. After rummaging through our houses for coins, we found about 624 pennies. The two of us set out for Starbucks, then Togos, bracing ourselves for the employees to throw fits over our special method of payment.

Amidst hype for the first drama production of the year and a competitive audition for the fall play, the drama club has set aside time to honor one of its most committed supporters.

“Hey guys! Do you like my new clothes?” Although many students would automatically assume this question refers to new fashion at the mall, the latest shirts around campus are made by senior Claire Couch. Couch has started making her own T-shirt designs for her new clothing line, Clouch.

Although many adolescents devote more than a decade to selecting a career, senior Kylie Tseng has wanted to be an artist since she was 6 years old.

Pained by witnessing the tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan in early March, students around school have been holding fundraisers to aid those who were unfortunately victimized in Japan. In one instance, Saratoga’s Key Club, Interact Club, Red Cross Club, Tzu Chi Club, and CSF Club teamed up to create an opportunity drawing for Japan tsunami relief with Apple products as the prizes.

Six students attended a national choir festival called American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in Chicago from March 9-12. Students from all over the country were hand-picked to sing in the choir based on audition tapes sent to the association last fall. Two students were chosen for the national choir, and four other students were invited from Crystal Choir, a Bay Area children’s choir, for a special performance.

Lawyer, writer, software engineer, caterer. Living in Sweden, Italy, Mexico, or Southern California. Walking into a high school reunion is overwhelming, yet undeniably exciting to see the diverse paths former friends and peers have taken after graduating.

Lawyer, writer, software engineer, caterer. Living in Sweden, Italy, Mexico, or Southern California. Walking into a high school reunion is overwhelming, yet undeniably exciting to see the diverse paths former friends and peers have taken after graduating.

Badminton players are seeking to improve on last year’s ranking in the SCVAL league. “This year, I expect Saratoga to finish top three in our league,” said coach John Phung. Phung and Alex Chan, who both coached at Saratoga last season, will be sharing the coaching responsibilities for both the JV and varsity teams.

Arriving on school grounds, many students see a school whose appearance could be improved. Some even go as far to say that the school resembles a “jail.” This is why the buildings and grounds commission is wants to have a mural painted on the back wall of the school on the science building.

One group created a large 3-D display constructed with PVC pipes covered in black trash bags. Another group broke mirrors and other shiny objects into pieces. A third group spray painted an entire refrigerator box black.

As a student at Aragon High School in San Mateo back in the 1970s, Caitlan Sullivan remembers the day congresswoman Jackie Speier came to speak about public safety and risk with her arm in a sling. Having been shot just a few months earlier at an airport tarmac during the 1978 Jim Jones cult investigation in Guyana, Speier had managed to survive by playing dead while bleeding to death. Through Sullivan’s eyes, these actions had deemed Speier as a hero she could look up to.

On a Thursday night, junior Varsha Ramesh looked at her chemistry homework and sighed in frustration. It was the night before her AP Chemistry quiz. Completely confused, Ramesh decided to open up Facebook, but not to write on someone’s wall, browse photos or chat away. Instead, Ramesh clicked on the AP Chem group and opened the group chat and typed, “Did anyone get the right answer to No. 8 on the equilibrium worksheet?” In an instant, five people replied and explained their answers.

The school board is on its way to deciding whether the school should have finals before or after winter break for the school year of 2011-2012, according to school officials.

With all the hustle and bustle of college applications for seniors, two girls spent their summers getting a taste of what college life would be like. Seniors Parisa Mirzadegan and Erika Guldner attended classes this past summer at the University of Southern California and the Rhode Island School of Design.

"We work ours off to kick yours." This was the clever phrase at the bottom of the swim team's customized sweatshirts from the previous school year. Numerous teams have come up with witty phrases or customized nicknames for sweatshirts or shirts that they wear for team spirit for their particular sport.

This year 22 lucky students got to spend the last six days of their spring break with history teachers Matt Torrens and Kim Anzalone on a Wild Wild West trip to Utah where they jeeped, rappelled, hiked, biked, and did various fun outdoor activities. Open to all juniors and seniors, this history trip was organized by Torrens for the fourth time, allowing students to visit a Japanese Relocation Camp, touch a piece of B-52 that carried a nuclear bomb and crashed, look at 500-year-old Native American petroglyphs, see dinosaur footprints and participate in fun outdoor activities.

A series of alumni speakers were invited to the school's College and Career Center during their spring breaks recently to describe their college experiences. The College and Career Center coordinator, Bonnie Sheikh, called the visits "a great opportunity for [students] to talk to alumni" and gain "a practical perspective." Sheikh brought in speakers by asking PTSO parents if they had older kids who would be willing to speak and also sending messages through the online program Naviance.

In the normally tame world of high school badminton, a rowdy crowd of players gathers around a single court. The crowd erupts in cheering and applause after each point. With lightning-fast reflexes, sophomore Jeffrey Kuo blocks an impossibly fast smash from his opponent, Gunn High School's Charlie Yang. With flawless footwork, Yang makes it to the net for a cross-court net drop. But it's too late. Anticipating the shot, Kuo storms to the net, and with a flick of his wrist the birdie strikes the floor. Kuo clenches his fist in satisfaction—the match is over.

Morning announcements were being concluded May 22, and most students in Kelly Frangieh's math class were listening as a string of numbers were called in a drawing for new MacBook computers. With his ticket in front of him, senior Grant Thomas realized his number was called. Thomas jumped up and yelled that he won. The rest of the math class stared in awe, thinking he was playing around. But Thomas knew better as he ran down to the office to pick up his prize.

Freshman Cody Cai discovered the art of CWalking, which is short for Crip Walk, in 2008 after coming across a video of it on popular video sharing website YouTube. Cai has been Cwalking for over a year and three months now and is still motivated and inspired by the numerous Cwalkers that create and post videos on YouTube. Cwalking can be best described as a dance that involves mostly the heels and balls of one's feet where the dancer moves from side to side.

Returning from February break, students were surprised by new lunch offerings called "cart creations." Starting this past Monday, themed cuisine carts for each week replaced the old, traditional lunch lines, with the results that a newer, more personalized lunch menu is now being offered.

Tonio Galoic raises his hand, confused about the English words he has never learned that stare back at him. Teacher Sara Tseng walks over and spends time with Galoic, helping him to comprehend what he is reading. Galoic is a foreign exchange student from Croatia who is learning English and one of 15 students taking Tseng's English Language Development class, or ELD. The class focuses on developing students' English reading, speaking and writing skills.

First introduced to last year's sophomore class, the Media Arts Program, or MAP, has grown to include three engaging new electives for second-year Media Arts students: advanced animation and two video production classes: filmmaking and multimedia journalism.

Junior Karthik Annaamalai first learned about the DECA club from some friends at Monta Vista High School. Inspired by Monta Vista High’s huge DECA program, Annaamalai believed DECA would be a great club to start here. With the help of juniors Harshil Sahai, Pia Mishra, Cassie Tran and friends at Monta Vista, Annaamalai worked to add DECA (which is in fact not an acronym) as an official club this past October. DECA helps students who have an interest in business, managing, marketing and entrepreneurship can gain more experience in the business world.

They stealthily tip-toe to their neighbors’ door step on Christmas Eve, making sure nobody spots them in the act. Being as silent as they can, they drop off the secret gift in front of the door, ring the doorbell and scurry away as quickly as they can. The neighbors excitedly open the gift, but to their surprise, the elderly man and his son find a spoon. A round, silver spoon.

The bell rings at the end of lunch on a typical block day. Instead of rushing to their afternoon classes hoping they won't be tardy, sophomore Onie Wongkham and junior Dennis Rosenthal head out to the front of the school to wait for a bus to take them to San Jose for their three-hour afternoon class. As part of a county program called the Central County Occupational Center, or CCOC, they spend the rest of the day taking career-oriented classes and earning credits for them. Wongkham and Rosenthal make up the only two students from Saratoga High in this program.

Saratoga High School students, trapped in a competitive environment that excels in academics, are under constant pressure to get ahead. For everyone from the many students who take geometry during the summer before freshman year to those who go through intense tutoring, the goal is the same: to get through as much math that they can, as quickly as they can.

With the beginning of the new academic year, several changes in the world language department have occurred. For the first time in two years, the school is offering French 1 while Japanese 1 has been cut. Laura Lizundia is currently teaching the beginning French course and is excited to introduce new students to the Francophone world. “It’s great to be teaching [French 1] again,” said Lizundia. “Although I have to start all over again and refresh myself through the curriculum, it will be very good for me and my students.”