In recent weeks, Southeast Asia has been rocked by two calamitous natural disasters. A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province of China, on May 12, toppling buildings and schools throughout the province and even shaking buildings in Beijing 932 miles away. To date, experts estimate that the earthquake has killed 55,000 people. Meanwhile, just eight days before, a cyclone struck Myanmar, previously known as Burma. Reports have the death toll nearing 134,000.
In an effort to raise student awareness for the benefits of driving a hybrid car, the Events Commission held the annual Hybrid Faire in the quad on April 30. Head Commissioner Hayes Hyde, who organized the event last ear, worked with the rest of the Events Commission to bring the Hybrid Faire back for its second year. The Faire shows how students can maintain the environment’s health while also saving money on gas.
Three 1993 alumni, Steve Adams, Zach Gill and Dan Lebowitz, formed Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) when they were students in Redwood Middle School. Since then, they have come as far as a record label and a Song of the Year nomination for their song Maria for the Jammy Awards, a play on the popular Grammy awards show.
While the Grammys recognize mainstream music artists, the Jammy Awards recognizes “jam bands,” or groups of artists associated with live, improvisational music.
After a week of interviews from May 19-23, all the commissions excluding Events and Benefit have been finalized. Events and Benefit commission will undergo a different selection process.
This year, the selection process changed so that application slips had to be filled out beforehand and students came in on their own to be interviewed. The changes were made to quicken the selection process and make a smoother transition into next year.
AP Music Theory teacher and Choir Director Jim Yowell was recently named the District Teacher of the Year for 2008-2009.
“I feel very fortunate to [have been] selected this year,” said Yowell. “All teachers have their own special talents and deserve to be honored. This great recognition is rather humbling and means a lot because other teachers are complimenting you.”
While most students were spending their recent weeks cramming for AP exams, studying for SATs and preparing for CCS qualifiers, four students were halfway around the world searching for a deeper understanding of their Jewish faith.
The students, seniors Gabe Essner, Nicole Sabes and Rachel Sabes and junior Hana Pruzansky joined 10,000 Jewish students across the globe in a life-changing two-week experience called March of the Living. They ventured to Poland and Israel on April 28 to witness the remnants of the Holocaust, and they came back with a stronger sense of identity.
With the end of the year approaching, many changes are being made in preparation for next year. These include the retirement of assistant principal Gail Wasserman, another English teacher being hired and Child Psychology teacher Jill McFarlen, World History teacher Chuck Newport and guidance office staff member Becky Allen retiring.
After having taught at Saratoga for 11 years, math teacher and department head Mike Navrides is leaving to fill an opening at Los Gatos High. Despite the change of location, Navrides will continue to teach the same subjects, AP Statistics and Algebra 2.
“People were very shocked when I told them,” said Navrides. “But after they recovered from the initial shock, the department and school were very understanding and supportive, which I am very grateful for.”
Though most people know of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and the current genocide in Darfur, few know the extent of crimes against humanity that have occurred since and that are still continuing on today.
To raise awareness for these incidents, history teacher Mike Davey’s World History classes gave five-minute presentations detailing 12 different instances of mass ethnicity-based murder, some more publicly known than others.
Checkmate! The chess team is once again on top as it won first place for the fourth straight year at the CalChess State Scholastic Championships held May 17-18.