News

Junior Malika Kumar eagerly walked into the entrance of Great America on Mar. 30. But unlike most of the crowd, she wasn’t there for the roller coasters or the water slides. Instead she was there to attend the 2009 Synopsis Science and Technology Championship Award Ceremony. In addition to Kumar, six other science fair participants from Saratoga High were chosen to attend the ceremony.

After several California Music Educators Association (CMEA) evaluations, the Saratoga band and orchestra continue to receive outstanding feedback and maintain a position as having one of the best music departments in the Bay Area.

Starting May 4, 441 students will be taking 919 AP tests at Saratoga, representing a slight increase from last year when 417 students took 905 individual AP Tests, according to College and Career Center personnel Bonnie Sheikh.

This year’s location for junior prom, the Fourth Street Summit Center in downtown San Jose, has received much enthusiasm; however, the price of $80 per person has solicited more conflicted opinions.

Critics of the United States’ education have long cited American students’ failure to compete in mathematics on the international level. Saratoga High’s math club, however, seems to have no problem in this arena.

Since the beginning of February, the math club has been busy with several math contests and competitions. The most recent competition was on Feb. 28 when the club sent two teams of eight people to participate in the Stanford Math Tournament held at Stanford.

The San Jose Convention Center was packed to the brim with colorful tri-fold posters and students displaying homemade robots on March 18 as over 800 students from schools from the Bay Area competed in the Synopsis Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship. Five teams from Saratoga competed in the prestigious competition.

“The Synopsis Science fair is a great opportunity for people who are really interested in science and actually want to do scientific work instead of just reading about it in school,” said junior Dhruv Seshadri. “There are college professors and scientists who talk to you about your project and sometimes even offer you a summer job if they really like what you did. ”

Imagine coming home from school, going online and being able to view all the morning announcements that you might have missed as well as pictures of the recent basketball game all in one streaming video. The next day, you could come home to watch the lecture from your biology class that same day to review the material you had been expected to understand in that short class period.

The new multimedia journalism class starting next fall, headed by video production and media arts teacher Tony Palma, has plans to host a Saratoga High website “channel” that will constantly stream videos. Although this idea is not new, the recent demand from teachers and students for a higher technological level of interaction has made it more necessary.

Several students are facing suspension or expulsion after a recent crackdown on the use and sale of marijuana on campus. The investigation has led to a lot of rumor and worry among students and parents.

The Falcon has finally brought home a Gold Crown – one of the top awards in scholastic journalism.

New classes that are being offered for next year include Japanese 3 Honors, Computer Science AP/A, AP Environmental Science and three new advanced Media Arts Program (MAP) classes: multi-media journalism, advanced digital animation, and filmmaking.