Sophia Cooper

"Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna think anymore. I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor." These popular lyrics of Lady Gaga's hit song "Telephone," featuring Beyonce, can be found on almost every pop radio station . The infectious beat pumps out of car stereos and iPod speakers alike. The world waited expectantly for months for the music video, anticipated to display Gaga's infamous fashion style and Beyonce's Sasha Fierce influence.

It's never easy to have a team without a coach. This was the situation presented for the girls' lacrosse team until three weeks of season training had passed. Thankfully, three coaches came out of the woodwork and are now in charge of the second-season sport. Head coach Eleni Rodgers, former goalie at UC Santa Cruz, assistant coach and SHS class of '01 grad Lynn Chou, former goalie at UC San Diego, and JV coach Lauren Junker, who played at UC Davis, stepped up to fill the gap.

Six years, 5,117 philanthropy hours, and enough memories to fill a library of scrapbooks came to a close on March 6 as the Saratoga-Los Gatos Chapter of National Charity League (NCL) celebrated their annual Senior Recognition. This year's ceremony, themed "Pearls of Hope," honored 27 girls, 17 from Saratoga High, for their work in the group. "At first I was worried that there would be too many people, but it worked out well," said senior Sammi Lotti. "The dancing was really fun and everyone looked beautiful."

San Francisco Bay: home of the Hyphy movement, Silicon Valley and fault lines threatening massive earthquakes every day. Since kindergarten, we've learned how to duck under a table and cover our heads if the ground starts shaking. We know where to meet our families in case of an emergency and what should be in our emergency-aid kit (canned foods, water bottles and first aid in case you're slacking).

They're in many students' bedrooms. They hide under piles of clothes, sit atop desks, lie in between blankets on beds. No one suspects a thing. That's how the students of Harrington High School in Ardmore, Penn., viewed the school-issues laptops they received freshmen year. That is, until they discovered the school can remotely access the webcams installed in the MacBooks and see what the student is doing.

She's been on varsity soccer for four years. She was the school's fastest 100 meter sprinter as a freshman and remains a top sprinter. She's a head of the Invisible Children club and spends hours working on projects for the leadership class. No, she's not Wonder Woman. She's senior Sarah Guy.

As Valentine's Day approaches, it's easy to get caught up in the wave of finding true love. But I haven't just gotten sucked in by its current, I've been completely smothered by the maelstrom of "The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love."

Thirty thousand feet above the ground, it's close to impossible to have emergency teams respond and arrive as quickly as on the ground, unless they're in a SR-71 Blackbird. So what happens when a terrorist attempts to blow up a plane mid-flight?

Many students came to school Thursday, Nov 12, complaining about how horrible Veterans Day was. The day before, they had homework to do, tests to study for, college applications to fill out. But we don't have Veterans Day as an excuse for students not to have to go to school or catch up on homework. We celebrate it to honor all of those who have served in our military and to thank them for their service. The true meaning of Nov. 11 has sadly gotten lost among the bustle of people's busy lives—even at a time when we're fighting wars in two countries.

Senior cross country runner Karen Wai finished her season strong, placing 96th at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships on Nov. 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno. "I'm pretty happy with my time and that I got a PR," said Wai. That PR (Personal Record) was a speedy 9 seconds faster than her previous time on the 5K course, bringing her final time to 19:48, 6:23 mile pace. "The hills are always evil," said Wai, "and [Woodward Park] was super-dooper crowded. There was a lot of competition, and all the girls went out really strong."

With a perfect combination of warm sun and a cooling breeze, the girls' cross country team attacked the Crystal Springs 2.95 mile course at the Central Coast Section (CCS) finals on Nov. 14. Led by senior Karen Wai, who placed 10th out of 99 runners with a time of 19:26, six out of the seven runners ran personal records, or PRs, on the course. Wai cut her time down 12 seconds, followed shortly by freshman Courtney Schlossareck in 12th with a 31 second PR at 19:36.

In first grade, it was the coolest thing ever. Everyone wanted to join and be a part of it, and you were uncool in the elementary schools if you weren't a member. Now, it's laughed upon and considered dorky to participate in. Oh yes, I'm talking about Girl Scouts.

Saratoga High continued to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a busy weekend of events Oct. 9-10, including a panel discussion and alumni reception.

Covered in dust, sweat, and grime, the girls pushed their way up the last 100 m of the grueling 2.95 miles. The hills had worn them out. The wind had made them cold. But the Crystal Springs course had made them stronger.

Runners sprinted in through the finish line, dripping with sweat and a layer of dust covering their teeth.

How are UFOs and smart blondes the same? You always hear about them, but never see one! BA-DUM-CHING! Jokes like this give blonds a reputation for being dumb. I hate to break it to you: we’re not.

“Bonjour! Qu’est-ce que vous avez fait ce week-end?” Every sixth period in room 408 starts calm and collectively with Madame Bergkamp leading a discussion of the past weekend or plans for the exciting weekend to come. However, what follows for the next 90 minutes in our French 4 Honors class can never be expected; sometimes we can be found reading magazines, singing French songs, playing vocabulary tag, doing yoga or eating lots and lots of food.

“Class of ’09, so fine.” Their sophomore class shirts said it all. This year’s graduating class will send an amazing 16 seniors to 12 different colleges across the United States to excel in Division I, II and III for eight different sports.

A bright blue Tesla Roadster, worth $110,000, graced SHS with its presence on Wednesday, April 22, to participate in the third annual Alternative Energy and Fuel Faire (AEFF). Organized by the events commissioners junior Sophia Cooper, sophomore Amalie MacGowan, and freshman Mac Hyde and Ryan Evans, AEFF was an opportunity to raise awareness about going “green.” A variety of eco-friendly companies participated, including Tesla, to promote their products.

CCS champ sophomore year, finalist at state the same year. Early in her high school athletic career, spectators could tell that current senior Kiersten Dolbec was going places. To be exact, she’s going to UCSB in the fall on a full scholarship to both play volleyball and do high jump for the Gauchos track team.

Help! I’m drowning! Between junior year classes, extracurricular activities and sports, I honestly don’t know if I’ll survive to see the glorified summer ’09 come around. Just in case I don’t, I’ve made a bucket list of things I want to do before I die from over-stressing myself:

14%; 15%; 18%; 20%; 23%. Those are the percent increases of current high school seniors applying early to Yale University, Northwestern University, Stanford Univeristy, Pomona College and Duke University, respectively.

The U.S. News & World Report recently released their rankings of the Top 100 high schools in the nation. SHS fell eight spots from the 2007 ranking, coming in as 80th of all schools in the United States. The national rankings, however, were based on state-wide standings and students’ college-readiness, gauged by AP test scores and participation ratings, with complete disregard for the actual lived experiences of high schoolers.

Four shirts, three key chains, two sets of matching PJs, two posters: $120. A sweatshirt, a bath set, a loofa, a towel set, a CD of all songs Superman, a bag: $100. A backpack, a costume, a lunch box, a book, one action figure, various tattoos and stickers: $75. My obsession with the world’s first superhero: priceless.

Classes last week were interrupted with a bit of holiday cheer as the SHS Chamber Singers sold their annual Carol Grams to raise money. The tradition to sing holiday grams around school also financially benefits the Chamber Singers. “We do it to raise money for our music accounts since [the choir] goes on a lot of trips. The Chamber Choir is the choir that travels the most,” said choir member senior Sarah Baldwin.

A flock of students triggered serious traffic problems at the top of the quad steps Nov. 13, as French Club hosted their first school-wide event: National French Week Nov. 10-14. The students were there to get crepes being served by the club.

They were so close. After their fifth-place finish in the Division 3 race at the Nov. 15 CCS finals at Toro Park in Salinas, the boys’ cross-country team missed its season goal of qualifying for the state meet by just one spot. The team fell short to Monterey High by only 26 points, 149 to 123. The team was led by senior Alan Menezes, who finished 13th in the 3-mile race with a time of 16:50. Senior Kian Banks followed, finishing 25th in 17:22.

High school dances. Students flock to them, administrators tolerate them and parents are appalled by them. Personally, I love them. It’s always a lot more fun to rock out to “Low” by FloRida with friends than to bop around my room to “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne. But sometimes I wonder if they’re worth all the trouble, especially when girls have it so much harder than guys.

While most sports teams are caught up in the frenzy of end-of-season games, boys’ cross country is taking a different approach. Instead of racing at a slew of meets for league finals, they are racing less to ensure that their bodies are in optimal condition for the races that count.

It’s become an easy source of entertainment. You can access it any place where there are people. It’s guaranteed to bring laughter, shrieks and possibly make you cry. What is it? The side-poke. Being rather spastic, I often fall victim to this personal attack. People have found it entertaining to poke my side and see the resulting tsunami of flailing arms and legs. Even as I’m writing this story, I’m squished between two reporters who are constantly poking me. Thanks, Jordan and Nathan!

The memory of singing “D: I won’t do drugs” is still fresh in many students’ mind from the fifth grade DARE classes, taught by Santa Clara County Police Deputy Dan Cutforth. After missing his tall, bald head around school all these years, students will be seeing Cutforth a lot more after his recent appointment as Saratoga’s School Resource Officer (SRO).

They are one step closer to success. Three of the top seven runners on the boys’ cross country team raced at the 5K Clovis Invitational in Fresno on Oct. 11. This was their only chance to become familiar with the state meet course before the actual race on Nov. 29. Senior co-captain Alan Menezes led the group, placing 139th overall out of over 1,300 racers. Among the 11 CCS teams that attended, Menezes placed 12th with a time of 16:24, boding well for CCS finals when the top 10 runners go to the state championships. Senior co-captain

They are one step closer to success. Three of the top seven runners on the boys’ cross country team raced at the 5K Clovis Invitational in Fresno on Oct. 11. This was their only chance to become familiar with the state meet course before the actual race on Nov. 29.

Four boys’ varsity Division III teams make the big meet, the one that really counts. The CIF state championships. Saratoga is currently ranked fifth. Move up one spot and they’ll be in.

Switching schools means leaving behind best friends and hoping to find a place to fit in, a difficult task with the presence of high school cliques. Moving to a different country presents its own problems of language, culture and a general uncertainty of a new place.

People say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Military leaders throughout history have used this tactic to control adversaries and make it harder for them to attack. I, however, completely disagree. My enemies should be as far away from me as possible, preferably in Antarctica where they’ll freeze to death. After all, the only birds that can survive there are penguins. And they can’t make aerial dives at you.

Switching schools means leaving behind best friends and hoping to find a place to fit in, a difficult task with the presence of high school cliques. Moving to a different country presents its own problems of language, culture and a general uncertainty of a new place. Yet for senior Kaisa Yli-nokri and sophomore Charles Main, this initial dilemma of a new school and a new continent evaporated quickly with the help of their fluent English. Coming from Finland and China, respectively, both were welcomed into SHS life.

For many students, attending a four-year college is the epitome of education. For alumnus Michael Nguyen, however, it just wasn’t enough. Nguyen, currently a freshman at UC San Diego, has decided to take on a greater project during his high school career in order to benefit orphans in Tanzania.

School rallies are often the highlight of a student’s week: the loud music, crazy dances and home-made costumes add some spirit to a stressful time. And yet, SHS rallies don’t always live up to their potential. Since the rallies are usually held during Friday tutorials, academic conflicts force to skip them because of academic conflicts to make up tests or labs – or they just need to study.

For many students, attending a four-year college is the epitome of education. For alumnus Michael Nguyen, however, it just wasn’t enough. Nguyen, currently a freshman at UC San Diego, has decided to take on a greater project during his high school career in order to benefit orphans in Tanzania.

As eight runners approach the starting line for the 400m run, seven hunch down to get in their blocks while one stays upright. Some may see this as a surefire way to lose, yet senior Mike Marshall is ranked third in CCS in the 400m with an amazing time of 49.48.

Nicole Sabes has been an asset to Saratoga High athletics for the past four years, participating on the varsity softball, soccer, field hockey and track teams. But with a looming graduation date, the superstar is getting ready to fly away from the Falcon nest and run for University of California Santa Barbara on the school’s prestigious track team.

Senior Ryan Hinshaw is one of the few athletes who have been on varsity teams since freshman year. He has gone above the norm, becoming one of Saratoga’s top swimmers. He is ranked 11th nationally in the 1500m freestyle swim with a time of 16:07.23, a ranking he earned at the Speedo Junior Nationals last August. As a result of his amazing skill in long distance swimming, he has signed with Indiana University for next year.

As eight runners approach the starting line for the 400m run, seven hunch down to get in their blocks while one stays upright. Some may see this as a surefire way to lose, yet senior Mike Marshall is ranked third in CCS in the 400m with an amazing time of 49.48.

As spring leads to summer, many students are using next week’s spring break and the week following for travel. The Wild Wild West history trip will take place over spring break, followed by two school trips for conferences. Additionally, many seniors will use the time to visit colleges. Wild Wild West A group of 21 students left today with history teacher Matt Torrens for Southeastern Utah to participate in a history-filled trip based on the Wild West.

This story was originally published in the April 4 edition of The Saratoga Falcon PR: running slang for a personal record. Typically, PRs occur when athletes are gearing up for their end-of-season finishes. This year, however, the PRs have been rolling in at the meets, including the Hampton Phillips meet at San Jose City College on March 29.