“Don’t You Forget about Me” prom planning coming to a close May 10, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar Seniors are busy preparing for a prom they're not likely to forget. Or at least that's the hope for the dance, which is themed after the song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from the '80s cult classic movie "The Breakfast Club." It is also scheduled for May 15 at a new location: the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. Bids are currently $103 with an ASB and $105 without. The prices will be raised by $2 or $3 every week and can be purchased now in the activities office until May 7, a week before the actual dance. read more » Saratoga’s Got Talent April 2, 2010 — by Olivia Chock and Saniha Shankar For those who missed out on Saratoga Idol, there's now another chance to see the high school's local talent. The senior class' first annual talent show will be held on Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 p.m. in the McAfee Center. On March 31, the senior class held auditions for the show. Prospective participants included singers, dancers, impersonators and many more. "There were about 20 acts that came to try out so I was pretty happy with the results overall," said senior Chelsea Sabella. "For the show we probably have around 15 acts." read more » Debate team offers guidance to younger kids February 24, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Forty Redwood Middle Schools got their first taste of speech and debate at the high school level Jan. 24 at a short camp organized by speech and debate captain Varun Parmar —the first such meeting that has occurred in many years. The camp included an overview of high school speech and debate, an explanation of the events available and an introduction to public speaking. read more » Mock trial season comes to a close February 22, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar As the courtroom bailiff swore in the witnesses one by one, each team member was put on the spot to see if their three months of hard work would pay off. On Feb. 2, 4, 9 and 11, the mock trial team competed in the county competition held at the Santa Clara Courthouse. read more » Cart Creations spice up lunch menu February 22, 2010 — by Lillian Chen and Saniha Shankar 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. read more » Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Saratoga’s Got Talent April 2, 2010 — by Olivia Chock and Saniha Shankar For those who missed out on Saratoga Idol, there's now another chance to see the high school's local talent. The senior class' first annual talent show will be held on Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 p.m. in the McAfee Center. On March 31, the senior class held auditions for the show. Prospective participants included singers, dancers, impersonators and many more. "There were about 20 acts that came to try out so I was pretty happy with the results overall," said senior Chelsea Sabella. "For the show we probably have around 15 acts." read more » Debate team offers guidance to younger kids February 24, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Forty Redwood Middle Schools got their first taste of speech and debate at the high school level Jan. 24 at a short camp organized by speech and debate captain Varun Parmar —the first such meeting that has occurred in many years. The camp included an overview of high school speech and debate, an explanation of the events available and an introduction to public speaking. read more » Mock trial season comes to a close February 22, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar As the courtroom bailiff swore in the witnesses one by one, each team member was put on the spot to see if their three months of hard work would pay off. On Feb. 2, 4, 9 and 11, the mock trial team competed in the county competition held at the Santa Clara Courthouse. read more » Cart Creations spice up lunch menu February 22, 2010 — by Lillian Chen and Saniha Shankar 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. read more » Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Debate team offers guidance to younger kids February 24, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Forty Redwood Middle Schools got their first taste of speech and debate at the high school level Jan. 24 at a short camp organized by speech and debate captain Varun Parmar —the first such meeting that has occurred in many years. The camp included an overview of high school speech and debate, an explanation of the events available and an introduction to public speaking. read more » Mock trial season comes to a close February 22, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar As the courtroom bailiff swore in the witnesses one by one, each team member was put on the spot to see if their three months of hard work would pay off. On Feb. 2, 4, 9 and 11, the mock trial team competed in the county competition held at the Santa Clara Courthouse. read more » Cart Creations spice up lunch menu February 22, 2010 — by Lillian Chen and Saniha Shankar 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. read more » Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock trial season comes to a close February 22, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar As the courtroom bailiff swore in the witnesses one by one, each team member was put on the spot to see if their three months of hard work would pay off. On Feb. 2, 4, 9 and 11, the mock trial team competed in the county competition held at the Santa Clara Courthouse. read more » Cart Creations spice up lunch menu February 22, 2010 — by Lillian Chen and Saniha Shankar 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. read more » Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Cart Creations spice up lunch menu February 22, 2010 — by Lillian Chen and Saniha Shankar 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. read more » Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Proposed schedule that would end first semester before winter break seems to be popular February 6, 2010 — by Saniha Shankar In recent years, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Terra Linda, Pioneer, Leland High and other nearby schools have all decided to end their first semester before winter break. Now after years of complaints from students and parents alike, it looks as if the idea has become more of a possibility here, though many hurdles remain before Saratoga and Los Gatos High Schools can make this switch. read more » 2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
2006 SHS alumnus wins Rhodes Scholarship—the 4th grad to win in 10 years December 15, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Christine Tseng Henry Barmeier, a senior at Princeton University and 2006 SHS alumnus, was recently named one of the 32 Rhodes Scholars in the U.S. for this year. Barmeier becomes the fourth Saratoga High graduate to be honored as a Rhodes Scholar, joining the ranks of former honorees Ankur Luther (Class of '99), who went to UC Berkeley, Betsy Masiello (Class of '99), who went to Wellesley and Chelsea Purvis, (Class of '01) who is currently attending Yale Law School. read more » As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
As college application season ends, 72 seniors await early decisions from their dream schools December 4, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Olivia Chock As the holidays approach, some seniors are looking forward to all the usual traditions—trees with colorful lights, gingerbread cookies with warm milk, red-nosed reindeer and a much-awaited envelope in the mail with a college admission decision. read more » More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
More light needs to be shined in recommendation process November 4, 2009 — by Staff editorial: Anoop Galivanche, Saniha Shankar, Uttara Sivaram, Abhi Venkataramana and Jason Wu Applying to colleges and anxiously waiting for a reply at one's mailbox is hard enough without being blindfolded. The content of recommendation letters has been kept under lock and key—so much so that they have become a thing of mystery and anxiety to seniors. The current system is understandable—if not to students at least to teachers. It prevents kids (or their parents) from taking up arms to go to their teacher's house, knocking on their front door and demanding a recommendation letter more complimentary to their college repertoire. read more » Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock trial team selected October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhi Venkataramana Twenty hopeful students nervously sat in history teacher Margarita Morrelle's room on Oct. 13 waiting to be called in by mock trial head coach Dr. Hugh Roberts to try out for roles on this year's team. For tryouts, each student had to act out the role of a prosecution attorney, defense attorney and witness based on an evidence packet that had been given out earlier. Roberts posted the team's line-up Oct. 16, and the 17 members went straight to work the next Tuesday. read more » Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate: Novice tournament yields promising results October 30, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana After a month of practicing, the speech and debate team officially started the season by competing at the first league tournaments of the year. The team competed at the Novice Individual Events Tournament hosted at Los Gatos on Oct. 24 and the Fall Student-Congress tournament hosted at San Lorenzo High School on Oct. 27. At the San Lorenzo Student-Congress Tournament, co-captain Keerti Shukla placed second place. read more » Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Celebratory breakfast hosted for National Merit Scholars October 21, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar This year, the school boasted 79 seniors who scored high enough on the PSAT last year to be named commended, semifinalists and finalists for National Merit Scholarships. read more » School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
School’s API score climbs by 5 points October 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Mac Hyde After going up by a remarkable 25 points in API scores last year, administrators, teachers and students were happy to hear that the school's 2009 score has increased by another 5 points to 933. read more » Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate starts coming together September 16, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Abhishek Venkataramana While most clubs wait until after Club Day to get started, the speech and debate team has already been hard at work over the summer preparing for its season, which begins Sept. 25 with the Robert Garcia Tournament at St. Francis High School. read more » Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Seniors to take finals early May 12, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar For seniors, Life is good. Most have picked a college, started searching for dorms, and planned their senior trips. And, for the first time, they will be taking their finals a week earlier than the rest of the school. Seniors will all take their finals the week of June 1st —before the official finals week. The school made this decision based on the fact that seniors are in a much different atmosphere than the rest of the students this time of year. read more » Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Torrens’ class takes new approaches March 19, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar Drivers going by Big Basin in downtown Saratoga two weeks ago saw a huge group of students who may have looked like tourists being led by a tour guide. It turned out history teacher Matt Torrens’ AP US history class was off to downtown Saratoga. The entire class walked at the beginning of class and stopped at the World War I monument near Starbucks. Once there, students listened to Torrens as he went through the history of how the war veterans named on the monument died. Students were surprised to learn that all of these people lived in Saratoga and went to war and were honored through this monument. “I’ve never done anything like this before so it was really cool,” said junior Karen Wai. “School becomes a drag when you have to do the same thing over and over again, so it was nice to have a break and do something different.” read more » Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Saratoga becomes “Distinguished” March 18, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Kavya Nagarajan For the first time in many years, the school has become a California Distinguished School again. “I’ve always known that Saratoga High is a distinguished and special school,” said principal Jeff Anderson, “so I decided that it was about time that we got an official recognition of it.” read more » Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock Trial season comes to a close March 10, 2009 — by Pia Mishra and Saniha Shankar Sophomore Navneet Ramesh’s hands trembled as he stood to give his pre-trial motion. With his one motion, the entire course of the trial could be changed. The Santa Clara County judge called for him to start, and he pushed in his chair, and began to argue. Intense moments like this were what students took away from the mock trial season. read more » Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate competes at State Qualifiers March 10, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar Junior Varun Parmar recently made it to States at the Congress qualifiers at Harker on March 7. Junior Saniha Shankar made it as first alternate. read more » Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock Trial competes in Santa Clara competition February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar All dressed and ready to go, the Mock Trial team met up in front of the Santa Clara Superior Court Office in Downtown San Jose on Feb. 5 to compete in the annual Santa Clara County Mock Trial Competition. read more » Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate competes at Stanford February 12, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana and Saniha Shankar As the speech and debate season comes to a close with only two tournaments left before the State Qualifying Tournament in early March, the team competed at the prestigious Stanford University Tournament on Feb. 6-9, squared off with hundreds of the nation’s best debaters and speakers. read more » Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock Trial competes at first scrimmage January 23, 2009 — by Abhishek Venkataramana, Saniha Shankar After three months of practicing, the Mock Trial team competed in its first scrimmage against another school on Jan. 17 at the league tournament hosted in the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The tournament gave the prosecution and defense teams a chance to practice their cases against other teams while being judged by lawyers and Mock Trial coaches from other schools. read more » Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Seniors change Facebook names to avoid college check-ups January 22, 2009 — by Saniha Shankar and Brian Tsai If you’re looking for senior Sandeep Chandrasekhar on Facebook, try typing in his new name Deep Deep Mustafa Muhammad. A rumor that colleges and universities will check Facebook profiles and use the information to make admissions decisions has caused several seniors to change their Facebook names to make it harder for colleges to find them. read more » Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Freshmen thrive in speech and debate January 22, 2009 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team has come along way since the beginning of the year. With steady coaches and a more bonded team, the newer members have been able to achieve impressive records in varsity tournaments. read more » Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Novices shine at Milpitas Tournament December 12, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. “I really thought all my practice finally paid off," said Lindholm. "It was also really nice to have the support of the whole team during the final rounds." read more » Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate: Novices shine at Milpitas tournament December 5, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Emily Chen With the season in full swing, the speech and debate team competed in the two-day league tournament at Milpitas High School on Nov.15 and 16th. All Individual events took place on Saturday. The competition was stiff, but sophomore Soorya Rangan broke to semi-finals in Impromptu and Sophomore Keeti Shukla advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemporaneous. Sophomore Vance Lindholm took fifth place in National Extemporaneous speech. read more » Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Page releases third CD November 21, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar English teacher Paul Page has recently released his third CD, a collection of piano music called “Autumn Sequence.” “The music on this CD is sort of a hybrid classical, which means that although the music is contemporary, it is based on classical models,” said Page. read more » GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
GATE program undergoes changes November 20, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Most students have been unaware of the fact that they are part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, which provides funding for education opportunities for individuals identified as gifted and talented. This year, however, the program will change and not everyone will be considered gifted and talented. read more » Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock elections draw parallel to real elections November 18, 2008 — by Synthia Ling and Saniha Shankar Whether it was to ease the feelings of students wanting to be part of the election or to see how they would vote, mock elections were held in many junior and senior social studies classrooms with Democrat President-Elect Barack Obama winning the presidency. read more » Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Speech and debate team kicks off season October 21, 2008 — by Emily Chen and Saniha Shankar The speech and debate team started off the new year with a league tournament at Gunn High School on Oct. 11. The events offered were Public Forum and Parliamentary debate. “Even though nobody went undefeated, it was a really good learning experience for everybody, especially the novices,” said senior Parliamentary co-captain Emily Chen. “I know that we’ll be able to take what we learned here and do even better at the next tournament.” read more » Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Mock Trial team holds tryouts for 2008 season October 16, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Twenty-four students all sat nervously waiting for their names to be called, with witnesses in mind and questions in hand. On the night of Oct. 14, Mock Trial tryouts were held in Bill Peck’s room to determine which 18 would make up the 2008 team. The team will consist of six trial attorneys, two pre-trial attorneys, 8 witnesses, a bailiff and a count clerk. read more » New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
New Facebook layout confuses teens October 15, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Tim Rollinson Disaster struck. Susie Q logged onto to her Facebook account and looked aimlessly for her usual sidebar and updates. But there it was, horrifying and permanent. In plain view, this new layout stared back plain, dull and bumper sticker-less. September 2008: The new Facebook was officially made mandatory for all users. The old adage goes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” but it seems Facebook employees disagree. They changed the very functional website to a new, difficult to navigate format. read more » Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Don’t mess with Texas: guns in school October 13, 2008 — by Shannon Galvin and Saniha Shankar The days of teachers holding rulers and sending students to a corner with a dunce cap have long passed. Some teachers at a 110-student school in Harrold, Texas, have upgraded to a rather unusual technique: carrying guns. The idea sounds crazy at first but has some merit at a school like this. read more » Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Saratoga experiences 25-point API score increase September 22, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar and Andy Tsao Saratoga High has historically been one of the highest ranked public high schools in California in terms of Academic Performance Index or API scores. This year, the school had a record 25-point increase in its API score, going from 903 in 2007 to 928 in 2008, outperforming rival schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista to become one of the top three schools in the Bay Area and the top performer in the Santa Clara County. The school’s API scores have been dropping in the past couple of years, which makes this increase much more remarkable. read more » English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
English teacher steps up as Speech and Debate Head Coach September 17, 2008 — by Abhishek Venkatarmana and Saniha Shankar This year, English teacher Erick Rector has stepped up to coach the speech and debate team in hopes of bringing much needed stability to the program. read more » School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
School now using video cameras in parking lots, football field. September 15, 2008 — by Vijay Menon and Saniha Shankar When students walk into the school’s parking lot, they see a familiar scene of cars and students with backpacks. What they may not realize is that they are being watched over by something unprecedented—video cameras. For the first time at Saratoga High, video cameras are recording what goes on in the front and back parking lot, football field and swimming pool. Administrators said they took this step based on recommendations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation last year. read more » Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Exaggeration on college applications preventable May 29, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar Akash Maharaj enrolled at Yale University in 2007. One year and a $32,000 scholarship later, the college found his application to be entirely false; Maharaj had not only lied about his previous educational background, but he had also forged his grade point average and transcripts. Although not all the information was published, Maharaj had gotten into trouble with the school, and while checking through his transcripts they discovered that most of these transcripts were forged. According to the New York Times, Maharaj is currently being threatened with expulsion from Yale University and will be on trial for larceny and forgery. Although his circumstance may be an extreme example of the results of extensive academic pressure, the trend of exaggerating upon college applications is a growing problem among students. Applicants often feel the need to exaggerate accomplishments because they believe their real achievements do not hold enough merit. read more » STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
STAR affects community and student future May 19, 2008 — by Saniha Shankar It was that time of year again; Extra sleep, almost no homework, and no regular classes. No, not summertime, but STAR Testing. STAR, also known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, is a statewide test given to all students between the second grade and their junior year in high school. Students in elementary and middle school test on English, Language Arts and Mathematics, while high school students cover English and math along with a section related to their current science course, sophomores and juniors take a history star test as well. To most students, STAR meant taking an easy test and going home early to enjoy a few days without any homework. What most students do not know, however, is that STAR testing can affect their future, perhaps to nearly the same degree as other standardized tests administered during their high school career. read more » Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Bombay in the Bay celebrates Indian culture April 4, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar This story was originally published in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon After years of performing crowded dances on the tiny stage at Argonaut Elementary School, the Indian Cultural Awareness Club, will shift its venue for the annual “Friends and Family Night” to the McAfee Center, for the first time. This year’s “Bombay in the Bay” will be held tomorrow at 6. read more » Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »
Court of dreams: Basketball coach Mike Davey plans for full outdoor court April 3, 2008 — by Aditi Jayaraman and Saniha Shankar If basketball coach Mike Davey has his way, his team and others will be able to play year-round on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor basketball court. read more »