The Student News Site of Saratoga High School

The Saratoga Falcon
Students studying for physics, math and computer science competitions
Students fuel their academic passions with Olympiad competitions
March 27, 2025
MAP 11 students outside of Warner Bros. Studios
MAP 11 students explore the film wonders of LA
March 27, 2025
Seniors Aria Zhang and Niraali Garg rehearse “The Little Mermaid.”
Featuring a large ensemble, new actors and musical pieces, ‘The Little Mermaid’ classic hopes to garner a larger audience
March 27, 2025
There is one MOSAIC lesson remaining in the 2024-25 school year.
MOSAIC wins county-wide award for student impact
March 24, 2025
Sophomore Eric Liang and his VEX team 2041V pose for a photo after winning a competition
The road less traveled: choosing to do robotics outside of the school’s well-known teams
March 22, 2025
Will students ever fully regain lost ground?
The lasting impact of pandemic learning loss: How COVID-19 reshaped education for a generation
April 1, 2025
The movie mixes elements of action and emotion throughout the story
‘Ne Zha 2’ is a cinematic masterpiece that redefines animation
March 31, 2025
Childhood, wedding and family photos from Bhan and Cai’s booklets.
Students explore family histories through APUSH project
March 31, 2025
The teachers’ preferences range from fantasy to magical realism.
Free-time reads — books your English teachers recommend
March 27, 2025
Carpenter with her co-star Rowan Blanchard on the set of “Girl Meets World.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s slow rise to stardom
March 26, 2025
The beam training area at Gold Star Gymnastics.
Paying it forward for the next generation of gymnasts
March 31, 2025
Bossow wrestles against Bellarmine at Overfelt High on Dec. 6.
Wrestling team shows significant improvement this season
March 27, 2025
Coach Brian Liao talks game strategy with sophomores Andy Lu and Teegan Seid-Pham.
New head badminton coach brings valued guidance for players
March 27, 2025
President Riley Adler demonstrates yoga moves on the March 20 meeting, focused on the benefits of the practice.
Sports Medicine Club strives to teach athletes to be more aware of their body
March 26, 2025
Brennan runs with the ball in a lacrosse game last season against Gunn.
Two paths, one team — siblings’ shared support transcends different sports
March 25, 2025
Mangione’s alleged actions were wrong, but the diagnosis of America’s failing health-care system wasn’t
Mangione’s alleged actions were wrong, but the diagnosis of America’s failing health-care system wasn’t
March 31, 2025
Stay safe.
In a dark time, it’s time to know your rights
March 27, 2025
Starting next school year, more students are able to study at MIT without worrying about tuition.
Educational institutions are wise to offer free tuition to low-income families
March 26, 2025
Nationwide voter turnout since 2002, blue is presidential, yellow is midterm
Sagging voter participation puts democracy at risk
March 22, 2025
Cutting the tree of the Department of Education in half.
DOGE’s cuts for educational programs cause instability and loss of research confidence
March 19, 2025
🤓☝️
The 3 habits of the highly professional presenter
March 31, 2025
Writing the list was hard enough, how am I actually supposed to complete it?
100-word rant: I hate March
March 31, 2025
Shrivastava’s nail designs come in a range of colors and add-ons — she tries to deliver whatever the customer wants.
Friends encourage self-taught and sophomore nail artist to open her own business
March 27, 2025
“Feng Sheng 2” movie poster
‘Feng Sheng 2’: A cinematic showcase worth seeing
March 27, 2025
Teachers can help students by allowing more lenient deadlines and holding tutorial sessions for review.
Lost in translation: the empathy gap between teachers and students
March 27, 2025

The Saratoga Falcon

The Saratoga Falcon
Emily Wu

Emily Wu, School Scope Editor

All content by Emily Wu
The beam training area at Gold Star Gymnastics.

Paying it forward for the next generation of gymnasts

Emily Wu
March 31, 2025
These Asian snacks are my guilty pleasures.

Weee! Asian snacks are my lifeline when trying to stay productive

Emily Wu
March 22, 2025
Students play girl’s flag football during the 2024 Falcon Puff competition.

Could flag football be a school sport next fall?

Emily Wu
March 21, 2025
Sophomore Claire Jung’s award winning self portraits, "A Window's Light" (left) and "The Walk" (right).

25 students recognized in 2025 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

Emily Wu
March 13, 2025
Jinx makes her entrance in the final act of the season.

‘Arcane’ Season 2: A pinnacle of animation, but lacking in storytelling

Emily Wu
February 3, 2025
Senior Timothy Leung performs “Ways of Talking” by Ha Jin and junior Elizabeth Kline performs “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Passion and performance shine at Poetry Out Loud contest

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
January 29, 2025
Like Ohio State’s pooping bear stunt, sometimes crowds at high school games turn to condescending cheering.

Athletic director outlines the fine line between cheering and trash talking

Emily Wu
January 28, 2025
With over 480 recommendation letters written for the Class of 2025, teachers face an exhausting task with minimal compensation each fall.

Photo or Graphic for: For teachers, writing college recommendation letters requires time and effort

Renisha Mandal
January 28, 2025
If all of our icks culminated into one man, this is what he would look like.

Top 10: Icks

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
January 18, 2025
Christmas music is fine no matter what season you’re in.

Photo or Graphic for: Christmas music can be played, shamelessly, any time of the year

Skyler Mao
December 13, 2024
By both popular and electoral vote, Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States.

Photo or Graphic for: Why a second Trump presidency won’t be the end of democracy

Adarsh Peruvemba
December 13, 2024
Free time is a blessing.

My 2024 Winter Bucket List: I’ll do all the things I’ve wanted to do but never got to

Emily Wu
December 13, 2024
In recent years, an increasing number of students have applied early to college.

Photo or Graphic for: Class of ’25 sees an increased number of early college applicants

Caleb Yu and Skyler Mao
December 13, 2024
Having fun in the snow is one of my favorite holiday pastimes.

Photo or Graphic for: Snow will always be an essential part of the holiday season

Seabert Mao
December 13, 2024
Private California colleges will end the practice of legacy admissions by Sept. 1, 2025.

California’s legacy admissions ban indicates growing trend toward equal opportunity

Emily Wu
December 5, 2024
Sometimes your sibling buzzes around you like an annoying fly you can’t get rid of.

Photo or Graphic for: Top 10 ways to annoy your sibling

Seabert Mao and Skyler Mao
October 28, 2024

Music therapy class helps CBI students with self-expression and communication

Emily Wu
October 28, 2024
In high school, there are tons of homework assignments you have to do.

Photo or Graphic for: Top 10 homework assignments

Bryan Zhao
October 27, 2024
The cozy, and a little squishy, home for my Squishmallows.

Squishmallows: the lovable series that overtook my bed

Emily Wu
October 27, 2024
Judges receive rubrics to score each performance out of 160 possible points.

How are Homecoming performances ranked?

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
October 20, 2024
The crevice is widening between the ideologies of America’s two leading parties.

Photo or Graphic for: Deepening political divides are fragmenting America

Bryan Zhao
September 26, 2024
History classes rely on using reliable sources when discussing political events.

Photo or Graphic for: When politics intrude into the classroom

Evangelina Stepanchenko and Tanvee Tirthapura
September 26, 2024
Keeping a balanced schedule can be hard in a 24-hour day.

Facing 11th grade: my new lifestyle for the new year

Emily Wu
September 19, 2024
This so called “trendy” sport leaves the rest of the racquetball community in quite the pickle.

Photo or Graphic for: A plea to pickleballers from a ticked off tennis player

Alec Guan
September 19, 2024
Casavant derives Newton’s second law to the class.

Photo or Graphic for: A survival guide to AP Physics 1 and 2

Renisha Mandal
September 19, 2024
Junior Thalea Charton passes the ball during an after-school practice.

Season preview: Girls’ water polo tries to stay afloat with only 8 players

Emily Wu and Nika Svizhenko
September 19, 2024
Our conversation with ChatGPT.

Photo or Graphic for: Can an AI chatbot be your new best friend?

Sunny Cao and William Norwood
September 18, 2024
Under the 90 degrees heat, this table is like a furnace to sit on.

100-word rant: Why are shaded lunch tables so hard to find?

Emily Wu
September 16, 2024
Amanda Lupoli fills out a Venn diagram with input from students in her 6th period AP U.S. History class.

Photo or Graphic for: New history teacher emphasizes instilling critical thinking skills

Amy Miao
September 15, 2024
English teacher Amy Keys makes masks as part of a Día de los Muertos workshop in Oaxaca.

Veteran teachers return to the classroom after taking leaves last year

Emily Wu
September 15, 2024
Kyleen Liao and Naveed Kasnavi are the Class of `24 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively

Class of ‘24 valedictorian and salutatorian announced

Emily Wu
June 4, 2024
tyler be like

Journalism and English 9 MAP teacher receives Teacher of the Year award

Emily Wu
May 17, 2024
Junior Sarah Lim prepares to hit a ball in front of her, towards a projector-screen golf simulator.

Technology in Sports: Athletes using  recent advancements to improve their skills

Emily Wu
May 21, 2024
Different things make different people happy.

Taking Toga’s Temperature: What does happiness mean to you? 

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
May 17, 2024
I felt a thump when stopping at the traffic light.

My ups and downs as a new driver

Emily Wu
May 15, 2024
Emily, Shirina and Amy hold up the finished tanghulu while sugary water drips onto the floor.

The viral sweet treat tanghulu: Is it worth all the hype?

Shirina Cao, Jessica Li, Amy Miao, and Emily Wu
May 10, 2024
English and Map 10 teacher Marcos Cortez surfs in the Santa Cruz shoreline.

Surfing in Santa Cruz: Junior and English teacher find relaxation riding waves

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
March 29, 2024
Self-portrait finals projects (Caleb Yu left, Franky Zheng top right, Vivienne Brooks bottom right).

Roaming campus with a purpose, Digital Photography students hone skills that can be used for a lifetime

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
March 27, 2024
The 14 smurfs that are the pride and joy of my childhood. 

In fevered pursuit of Happy Meal Smurfs: a quest for the ages

Emily Wu
March 26, 2024
Fluffy socks: the cute and comfy essential for winter wear

Fluffy socks: the cute and comfy essential for winter wear

Emily Wu
March 26, 2024
The dramatic difference in body type between Ursula and Ariel indirectly villainizes certain “undesirable” features.

Disney dysmorphia: How a beloved childhood franchise instills unrealistic beauty standards and gender bias

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
March 21, 2024
Social media can shorten students’ attention span and hinder their academic performance.

Photo or Graphic for: Down the online rabbit hole: Students find social media to be detrimental to academic performance

Richard Fan and Alec Guan
March 3, 2024
Crafting club members thread elastic string through beads to make friendship bracelets on Oct. 26.

Crafting club provides haven for relaxation

Sasha Prasad and Emily Wu
February 8, 2024
Junior Angie Chen tells her story of body dysmorphia at the Speak Up for Change assembly on Jan. 26. 

Speak Up for Change assembly: Students and staff discuss healing by seeking help, body dysmorphia, pursuing passions

Mitchell Chen, Andrew Lin, and Emily Wu
January 27, 2024
New Wellness Center coordinator Thea Widmer works at a desk and checks in with students as they arrive on Nov. 27. 

Wellness Center reopens under new coordinator

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
December 7, 2023
Junior Rani Khanna tweezes metal pieces together for a batch of earrings over Thanksgiving break. 

Friends pool talents to create jewelry-making non-profit

Emily Wu
December 7, 2023
Members sit in a line with a buzzer system for practice on Nov. 29 in room 1011, Chemistry teacher Kathy Nakamatsu’s classroom.

Science Bowl, seeking a repeat of recent successes, adjusts to loss of graduated seniors

Sasha Prasad and Emily Wu
December 5, 2023
Selina Chen anchors at “Maroc TV”, Mohammed V University’s TV Station in Rabat, Morocco.

In her gap year, alumna becomes reporter in Morocco and learns real-world lessons

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
December 4, 2023
Substitute teacher Siddhartha Punj explains key coding vocabulary during an AP Computer Science lesson on Nov. 27.

Long-term substitute AP Computer Science teacher hired

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
December 3, 2023
Students unload boxes of cookie dough into the music building for distribution on Nov. 13.

Music Boosters cookie dough fundraiser raises $10k+

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
December 3, 2023
Cis-gender men overshadow women as they enthusiastically wave resumes at recruiters.

Cis-gender men crashing the 2023 Grace Hopper Conference serves as a dangerous reminder of the tech industry’s gender imbalance

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
December 1, 2023
Sofia Hoffman and Elisa Pattullo work on glazing their decorative coil pot on Oct. 11.

Ceramics gives students creative freedom and hopes to recover from recent loss of interest

Shirina Cao and Emily Wu
November 6, 2023
Naveed Kasnavi holds binder clips to mark 2 inches above table as sophomores Samvrith Bandi (left) and Akash Gupta (right) arm wrestle during a club meeting on Oct. 19.

Arm Wrestling Club seeks to boost popularity of the unconventional sport

Sasha Prasad and Emily Wu
November 6, 2023
SHS’s website has received a clean new look as the school wifi gets a major overhaul.

Photo or Graphic for: Major updates made to WiFi system and school website

Derek Liang and Eric Shi
October 21, 2023
Sophia Tsives (back row, left) poses with her team after winning bronze at the World Championships.

Sophomore wins bronze with national team at the 2023 Artistic Swimming World Championships

Amy Miao and Emily Wu
October 18, 2023
Tamashiro provides a therapy session to a student in the ASSIST program.

New ASSIST therapist provides support to struggling students

Natalie Chua and Emily Wu
September 29, 2023
The club plans to donate projects made by members to homeless shelters and hospitals, helping the community while also spreading the art of knitting.

Knit For Needs supports community through shelter donations

Sasha Prasad and Emily Wu
September 29, 2023
Wu clings onto the wall while warming up for the day’s climb.

Photo or Graphic for: English teacher rocks at rock climbing

George Huang
December 1, 2022
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