The Student News Site of Saratoga High School

The Saratoga Falcon
At the very minimum, active advertising of harmful, addictive substances shouldn’t be constantly exposed to children going to school.
In a bad sign, ever more marijuana shops are popping up near schools
February 14, 2025
The high school Jazz Band performs their set on Jan. 17.
18 musicians accepted into state-wide conference
February 14, 2025
Sunder Pichai remains CEO of Google despite his countless blunders.
Workers lose their jobs when CEOs fail at their jobs
February 14, 2025
Kim performs “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy Overture by Tchaikovsky with the NYO2 orchestra in Dallas on Aug. 6.
Practice takes senior musician to Carnegie Hall and beyond this summer
February 13, 2025
From campus beautification activities, like picking up trash, to quiet homework time.
This year, work-focused Treasure Toga punishment replaced by traditional detention for efficiency
February 11, 2025
Junior Arjun Krish, Class of `23 alumnus Adam Xu and his mentor Dr. Liang Li stand in front of Krish’s lab station in the summer of 2024.
Junior researches for a cure for glaucoma
February 16, 2025
Free Luigi” merchandise has been growing rapidly on online shopping platforms.
Analysis: Luigi Mangione’s case of vigilante justice reflects American glorification of violence
February 15, 2025
Matt Walsh’s brand new documentary reveals the dark side of DEI movements.
‘Am I Racist?’ — mockumentary takes a deep dive into DEI and presents ideas worth considering
February 14, 2025
Senior Michelle Ho poses in her lab coat holding a small flask.
Senior explores genetic underpinnings of arthritis in her research
February 14, 2025
“Nature’s Chance Encounter” along with many others of senior Amy Pan’s paintings adorn the Saratoga Library Group Study Room.
Senior represents nature through texture, visuals, and ambiance through both physical and digital mediums
February 13, 2025
Competitions like the World Cup are popular in both soccer and futsal respectively.
What makes futsal the kicker for soccer players?
February 15, 2025
The seniors pose for a picture after winning 3-1 against Cupertino.
Boys’ soccer qualifies to CCS after 3-1 victory over Cupertino on Senior Night
February 14, 2025
Students utilize the school’s weight room to keep fit during the season and off-season.
Student athletes adapt to avoid “falling off” during the offseason
February 13, 2025
Senior Saatvik Kommareddi spins past a defender at a game on Jan. 18.
Boys’ basketball team suffers first loss but clinches CCS qualification
February 11, 2025
Senior David Kim practices archery at the Stevens Creek County Park Archery Range.
Olympic coverage, social media stars and increasing college scholarship opportunities make archery more popular than ever
February 11, 2025
In large classes, it’s difficult to share my opinions often.
Why class sizes should not exceed 30
February 14, 2025
With the release of more AI language models like Deepseek, we are hopeful to see a future of the industry with more diverse options for users.
Public attention on DeepSeek fuels discussion about AI development
February 14, 2025
The progressive movement reached its peak in 2020, during COVID-19.
The Progressive movement is on the outs
February 12, 2025
2024 electoral map
In a splintered U.S., consecutive two-term presidents may become rare
February 11, 2025
AI Safety is not a joke.
To prevent disastrous outcomes, inherently evil AI growth needs to halt
February 11, 2025
Junior Ishir Ayyagari flexes after an arm workout.
New year, new goals: Three juniors give advice about how to stick to your workout resolutions
February 15, 2025
It’s time to use those cold emailing skills (and your $29.99 monthly LinkedIn Premium subscription) to get LinkedUp.
Top 10: ways to get a valentine next year
February 14, 2025
I practice the guitar in my room during my free time.
This is a PSA to take up a new instrument (in my case, a guitar)
February 14, 2025
Hello.
A letter to my senior year self
February 13, 2025
Some wonderful new year's resolutions that you should try out!
Top 10: New Year’s Resolutions
February 13, 2025

The Saratoga Falcon

The Saratoga Falcon
Bryan Zhao

Bryan Zhao, Entertainment Editor

All content by Bryan Zhao
In a capitalist world, informed journalism takes second priority.

Billionaires should step back from publications they own

Bryan Zhao
January 12, 2025
Casavant’s frequent drop-ins on water polo games and practices brought energy to the team.

Photo or Graphic for: In supporting student athletes, staff members make important connections

Agastya Vitaldevara
December 15, 2024
Students dance to the music in the moshpit on Dec. 7.

Winter Formal at Gilroy Gardens garners positive feedback

Bryan Zhao
December 14, 2024
A few of the bright red prairie sumac leaves against the sky.

My autumn hobby: ‘capturing’ the fall-ing leaves

Bryan Zhao
December 10, 2024
A few of the bright red prairie sumac leaves against the sky.

Films such as Disney’s 2025 Snow White are redundant and unwanted by audiences.

Photo or Graphic for: Hollywood’s dilemma: politics, stereotypes or quality

Alec Guan
December 7, 2024
Photo by Bryan Zhao Freshman Zisu Chen serves cotton candy to a group of students.

Photo or Graphic for: Almost 400 attend Homecoming dance in the quad

Dhatri Iyer
October 31, 2024
In high school, there are tons of homework assignments you have to do.

Top 10 homework assignments

Bryan Zhao
October 27, 2024
Huan records shots for his short form content.

Photo or Graphic for: Sophomore photographer’s video edits for football team gain traction on social media

Bill Huang and Debesh Das Sharma
October 23, 2024
Sophomores Alma Garniek and Sia Bharadhwaj performed during the group dance.

Photo or Graphic for: Sophomore quad day thrives with a boost in participation

Adarsh Peruvemba and Ethan Lee
October 20, 2024
Seniors create a mosh pit to celebrate, as their last quad day comes to an end.

Photo or Graphic for: Seniors ends week of Quad Day performances with an energetic display

Seabert Mao and Andrew Gong
October 20, 2024
Sporting green jerseys, Joseph Yu, Elaine Luo, Sophie Qi and Serena Hu went all out for their performance.

Photo or Graphic for: Freshmen pull through despite fewer than 30 participants in their first quad day performance

Madhura Natarajan and Tanvee Tirthapura
October 18, 2024
English teacher Jason Friend holds up money to the song “Money, Money, Money” by ABBA. The homecoming theme for the staff this year was “The Game of Life.”

Photo or Graphic for: Faculty’s quad day guides students through the life-sized version of the “Game of Life”

Renisha Mandal and Rohit Thomas
October 16, 2024
The crevice is widening between the ideologies of America’s two leading parties.

Deepening political divides are fragmenting America

Bryan Zhao
September 26, 2024
Freshman Chloe Zeng dives to narrowly save the ball during a game against Milpitas on Sept. 17.

Photo or Graphic for: Girls’ volleyball starts 1-1 in El Camino

Ashni Pillai and Jeremy Si
September 18, 2024
Junior Nolan Woo introduces his club, League of Programmers, to junior Jack Dong.

This year’s Club Rush features off-beat new clubs and traditional old ones

Seabert Mao and Bryan Zhao
September 13, 2024
Pan Zhanle celebrates following his 100m freestyle win on July 31.

Chinese doping allegations elicit stigma around 2024 Olympic swimmers

Bryan Zhao
September 10, 2024
Star player Brian Le takes a shot at goalie Armon Vuppula

Photo or Graphic for: Promising transfer gives boys’ water polo team newfound hope

Debesh Das Sharma and Mikul Rana
September 9, 2024
The Falcons take a brief water break to regroup and prepare to return to the field.

Photo or Graphic for: Football secures 30-7 win against El Camino in first league game

Linh Do and Vedant Sinha
September 8, 2024
Parent volunteers help serve condiments to the students.

Annual social and spirit-filled events kick off the school year

Andrew Gong and Bryan Zhao
August 24, 2024
Senior Omead Bagherian crowd surfs in the seniors following the popping of the balloons.

Class of ‘24 gets sent off with action-packed rally

Bryan Zhao
May 29, 2024
On April 18, the Deputy Ambassador of the US Robert Wood vetoed a resolution that would have recognized Palestine as a full UN member state.

Permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council: a catastrophic failure

Skyler Mao and Bryan Zhao
May 19, 2024
Senior setters Kali Duvvuri sets the ball as junior middle Ryan Backhus approaches to hit on May 6 against Summit Shasta.

Boys’ volleyball wraps up season with league win and advances to CCS quarterfinals

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
May 19, 2024
Used monitors and desktop stands lay below a tarp in the e-waste bin behind the Physics wing.

IT department works to lessen campus e-waste

Florence Hu and Bryan Zhao
May 15, 2024
Team 95071X executes their H-tier hang with their alliance partner 151T in their division quarterfinals match.

Three Robotics teams compete at VEX World Championships

Bryan Zhao and Florence Hu
May 11, 2024
Some foods garner positive attention, and some garner negative attention.

Top 10 cafeteria delicacies

Bryan Zhao
May 3, 2024
Falcons huddle before the game to talk about strategies.

Boys’ volleyball defeats Los Altos, holding on to top spot in El Camino

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
April 30, 2024
A younger me stares at a paleontologist working at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

My childhood dream job: digging up the secrets of the earth

Bryan Zhao
April 27, 2024
Sophomore Esha Verma snaps the football back as sophomore Samantha Timmons rushes forward.

Amidst delays, sophomores maintain winning streak in annual Falcon Puff Games

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
April 22, 2024
Julian Berkowitz-Sklar takes a short break at a beach house in Koh Samui, Thailand.

Gap-year greatness: Falcon alumnus embarks on a journey of personal discovery and life lessons

Bryan Zhao
April 19, 2024
One of the iconic caricatures of the “Clash Royale” game.

“Clash Royale”: The defining game of my middle school days

Bryan Zhao
April 19, 2024
Sophomore Vedant Padhi runs the 1600m during a home meet against Fremont High on March 7. 

Photo or Graphic for: Track coaching change signals a season of adjustments 

Sunny Cao and Annika Gho
March 19, 2024
Sophomore Eliza Lin keeps score during a match.

Photo or Graphic for: Badminton coach implements stricter practices to hone skills

Sunny Cao and Nika Svizhenko
March 18, 2024
Middle Blocker senior Eric Norris prepares to receive a spike against Los Altos on March 13.

Volleyball team starts season with winning preseason record

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
March 15, 2024
Speech and debate wraps up qualifications for Tournament of Champions

Speech and debate wraps up qualifications for Tournament of Champions

Bryan Zhao and Alan Cai
March 15, 2024
Saira Ramakrishnan pitching at the March 6 game against Leland

Photo or Graphic for: Softball players settle in on their season and aim for another CCS appearance

Christina Labban
March 15, 2024
Although there are still comparatively few, the number of Asian-American athletes is on the rise.

What is behind the low Asian-American racial makeup in American sports?

Florence Hu and Bryan Zhao
March 14, 2024
The latest Youth Commission meeting on Jan. 30.

Photo or Graphic for: Saratoga Youth Commission: a vessel for teen voices

Sunny Cao
February 8, 2024
Senior Diego Rocabado playing against Cupertino at an away game on Jan. 24.

Photo or Graphic for: Boys’ soccer struggles to adapt after rough start to season

Mitchell Chen and Christina Labban
February 3, 2024
Senior Zinnerah Ahmed rushes forward to score a layout against Mountain View on Jan. 24.

Photo or Graphic for: Girls’ basketball shows improvement in rebuilding year

Mitchell Chen and Ariel Zhou
February 3, 2024
Senior Bryan Wang brings up the ball against Monta Vista during a match on January 16.

Boys’ basketball: Wang’s buzzer-beating basket caps thrilling win over Monta Vista

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
January 30, 2024
IMG_0977 (1)

Photo or Graphic for: Budding wrestling team gains experience through tournaments, dual meets and college visits

Victoria Lin and Aiden Ye
January 27, 2024
Junior Hilary Gonzalez gains possession of the ball on Jan. 16 during a game against Mountain View.

Photo or Graphic for: After frenzied search, girls’ soccer team finds permanent goalie

Amelia Chang and Ruiyan Zhu
January 27, 2024
Freshman Class President Sina Mohtaj-Khorassani helps set up for the night rally.

Rally Commission aims to inspire more active engagement

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
January 25, 2024
The short-term glimmer in the city covered up its homelessness crisis.

San Francisco undergoes rapid cleanup, attempting to mask troubles within

Bryan Zhao and Florence Hu
January 16, 2024
The weight room has the equipment needed for conditioning and strength training.

Photo or Graphic for: Weight room reopens for all students after school

Grace Lin and Christina Labban
January 8, 2024
Warmuth helps her engineering students with their project.

Photo or Graphic for: Warmuth receives county award in teaching for kickstarting school’s engineering program

Florence Hu
December 15, 2023
Junior point guard Urvi Iyer prepares to take a shot during a team practice game.

Photo or Graphic for: Girls’ basketball adjusts work ethic and play style under new head coach 

Emma Fung
December 11, 2023
Junior Caleb Yu practices drills with senior Bryan Wang during an open gym session in preparation for the season.

Photo or Graphic for: Boys’ basketball teams to participate in winter break tournament in Canada

Daniel Wu
December 2, 2023
Junior Keion Ashjaee-Marshall works towards a cradle hold against sophomore Jayden Kwong.

Photo or Graphic for: New wrestlers work with experienced new coach

Aiden Ye
November 17, 2023
Sophomore Nathan Liu goes for a layup as both junior Daniel Jadali and senior Bryan Wang tail after him during practice.

Boys’ basketball team forged team chemistry in sweltering summer practices

Bill Huang and Bryan Zhao
November 16, 2023
Urvi Iyer dribbles down the court towards teammate Ava Cai.

Photo or Graphic for: Season preview: Guided by new coach, girls’ basketball focuses on shoring up defense

Aiden Ye and Florence Wei
November 16, 2023
Senior Jiah Jung does a simple drill during tryouts.

Photo or Graphic for: Girls’ soccer preview: Spendlove, Oberhauser lead Falcons into a new season

Amelia Chang and Ruiyan Zhu
November 15, 2023
 Sophomore Jack Dong attentively poses an inquisitive question to teacher PJ Yim. 

Flipped classrooms maximize class time for active learning 

Lawson Wang and Bryan Zhao
November 8, 2023
Students fill the student center on a Tuesday night for debate practice.

A new year for speech and debate: new faces, new branches and more hopes for more national tournament bids

Alan Cai and Bryan Zhao
November 8, 2023
Traffic lights glare red as soon as they see me.

Traffic lights: Are they really automated?

Bryan Zhao
November 6, 2023
The winter view of Yosemite covered in a fluffy blanket of snow.

My favorite vacation spot: the glorious — and nearby — Yosemite Valley

Bryan Zhao
November 5, 2023
Junior goalie Lera Polyakova gets ready to block the shot on goal during a home game against Homestead on Sept. 26. 

Photo or Graphic for: 1-loss girls’ water polo celebrates success in league 

Richard Fan
October 21, 2023
Casavant points to a formula detailing the velocity of an object in a circular orbit.

From high tech to high school hallways: Former engineer joins science faculty

Bryan Zhao
October 15, 2023
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