Features

After graduating in 2002, alumnus David Lii returned to Saratoga after college to work as both an assistant coach for the varsity football team and an investment analyst in downtown Saratoga.

Junior Ashely Pollack excels in competitive horseback riding: She has won five world championships and two world grand championships in the past 10 years. World championships pit horses from all over the world show against each other in different divisions, while a world grand championship matches the best of world champions in smaller classes with divisions combined.

“There is one dancer in this room whose performance has excelled far above the rest, whose passion and enthusiasm for dance stands out from the rest.”

These were the words of Christian Vincent, of “So You Think You Can Dance Canada,” said this at an LA Dance Magic convention of 1,000 girls last January.

He then pointed to junior Lauren Mather, whose cheeks turned bright red. She was overwhelmed from being singled out in the immense group.

It was the first day of school at Petaluma High School in 1987 All the students were wearing the stylish outfits they had carefully picked the night before—everyone, that is, except a tall senior boy who was wearing a cow costume.

The oddly dressed senior boy was history teacher Matt Torrens, who wore the cow costume as part of his campaign for senior class president. His farm animal get-up succeeded in attracting attention from the students body since shortly after he was elected to the office.

Less than 10 years ago, English teacher Erick Rector had a much different role here than he does today. He was one of the students participating in teachers’ lessons and doing homework. As both a student and a teacher, Rector was recognized as an amusing, funny person, but he was not the popular person he is today among students. In fact, he was the opposite.

Longtime Spanish teacher Arnaldo Rodriguex remembers only happy moments of his high school life in his native Costa Rica. When he thinks back, he recalls blasting music while sprawled around the room with his friends and studying together as they shared the most recent edition of the encyclopedia.

“They were like the technology of back then,” he said. “We would always beg our parents for the latest version [of the encyclopedia].”

When students do poorly in school or just feel less energetic than normal, they usually attribute it to homework, family or outside activities. However, these problems might not always be the cause. In fact, it could just be a case of bad Feng Shui.

Feng Shui, an ancient Chinese practice, is designed to improve one’s life by receiving positive energy. It directly translates to “water-wind” in Chinese and can be used to improve overall health, luck and finances.