Sweeya Raj

When looking for good ice cream sandwiches, reporters determine that CREAM is better than Icebox.

On Sept. 16, Scott Nelson replaced substitute teacher Erik Axelsson as the temporary Psychology and AP Government/Economics teacher while regular teacher Hana Chen is on maternity leave.

When students decide on what classes to take in the spring, many decisions are made with the mindset that they can sign up for difficult classes and just drop them later if the workload seems overwhelming, causing unnecessary inconveniences.  

A passion for soccer that began when senior Lauren Plesse was 4 years old recently resulted in an athletic scholarship in the sport to UC San Diego.

Junior Nina Harris and her sister Sonia Harris accompanied their father, the chair of pediatrics at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, to Guatemala to observe a program that Stanford professor of child health and health research Dr. Paul Wise created. The program, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, builds hospitals and provides better medical care to Guatemalans.

The Oxford University, a cappella group Out of the Blue (OOTB), led a workshop for the students in the school’s choir program.

This year’s ASB presidential election was conducted online, instead of with traditional paper ballots, with junior Aakash Thumaty being elected as ASB president with a margin of 4 votes (357 to 353) over current ASB vice president Luke Salin. The switch to online voting was made by the Elections Commission.  

When I was actually faced with finding my own prom dress, I dreaded the addition of yet another responsibility tacked onto the craziness of junior year.

Seniors Anjali Manghnani and Deepti Kannan qualified to the national speech and debate tournament during the national qualifying tournament at Bellarmine High School on March 20-22.

Senior Rohit Rao started working at the NASA AMES research lab in September and has been going to the lab three to four times a week.

This year, juniors Aakash Thumaty and Spencer Yen and other representatives from nearby schools helped to host the Bay Area’s second annual High School Hackathon. Members of Saratoga’s WiSTEM and AppDev clubs also attended the event.

Reporters pretend to be employees at Target for a day.

On Oct. 11, hackers tapped into a third-party app called SnapSaved and leaked about 100,000 photos and videos from SnapChat users. Users were appalled and outraged by the leak, but in reality, this kind of breach was inevitable.

The speech and debate team competed successfully in the annual Dempsey-Cronin Memorial Invitational at Santa Clara University from Nov. 21-23.  

Sophomore Derek Chen discusses participating in recreational parkour and speed running.

The girls’ golf team played its final league game on Oct. 28 at the St. Teresa Golf Course, placing fifth in the SCVAL league and ending the season with an 8-6 record. The Falcons didn’t advance to CCS as a team, but junior Carrie Chen made it to CCS individually.

Golf team ends season on a high note as they win 5th in the SCVAL league. 

The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) has awarded Saratoga’s speech and debate team as being in the top 10 percent in the nation.

A girls’ golf team that features two sophomores and one freshman among its starters is having impressive results early on, with a 2-1 record as of Sept. 19.

New captains and coaches were announced during the speech and debate team’s first meeting on Sept. 17. Since English teacher Erick Rector stepped down from leading the program, Chris Harris, who coached Lincoln Douglas debate and extemporaneous speech last year, is now the new head coach, and he is winning support from returning members.

Over the years, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to fix the daily parking lot traffic. This year, Leadership plans on taking a new approach to help solve the riddle of too many cars in one place at one time.

A handful of students had the chance to tell school board members how disappointed they were by history teacher Jim Chin’s departure from the school at a meeting on June 3.  

The Saratoga library will begin its annual online summer reading program for teenagers on June 1 to encourage them to read in their spare time.  

The band OneRepublic, whose original genre was rock, made songs such as “All We Are” and “Apologize.”  Lately, they have started to transition into pop music, as shown in their latest album “Native” with songs like “Counting Stars” and “If I Lose Myself.” Fans who once appreciated One Republic’s original rock style are disappointed by their newer, more mainstream pop music.        

The Mechanical Science and Engineering Team (M-SET) robotics team finished 13th out of 50 teams and ended with a record of 8-6-0 in the Colorado Regional tournament from April 3-5 in Denver.  

What drives teachers insane? Students who have bad penmanship, leave class early and don’t read directions on assignments. But of all the misread instructions and the scrawled handwriting upon wrinkled sheets of paper, many teachers’ biggest pet peeve is grade grubbing: Students asking teachers to give them more points on an assignment or a test unnecessarily and in a pestering way.

As students arrived to school on Monday morning donned in red, white and blue clothing, they prepared for a week of spirit and excitement. 'Merica Monday kicked off the beginning of the annual Spring Fling Week, which took place during the week of March 24-28.

Have you ever heard your parents lecture you about your upcoming summer plans, or why that extracurricular would look amazing on a college application? It almost feels some parents are the ones trying to get accepted into college, not their children.Some parents are overly obsessed with college and need to understand that this college pressure can cause more harm than good in students. This constant college craze needs to stop, before high school becomes a rigorous experience aimed only at getting accepted into the best colleges.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation will be able to make more ailing children's dreams come true after $8,000 was raised during the Benefit Fashion Show held on March 29 in the Small Gym. 

Sophomore Nina Nelson shook with nervousness as she walked into her first audition to face the casting directors for the prime-time television show “NCIS.”

It’s that time of the year: Colleges are accepting or rejecting seniors, leading to joy for some and disappointment for others. 

Have you ever heard your parents lecture you about your upcoming summer plans, or why that extracurricular would look amazing on a college application? It almost feels some parents are the ones trying to get accepted into college, not their children.

Last year, senior Danielle Henao took a deep breath and prepared to step out onto the runway in San Francisco. She could see the blinding camera lights flashing incessantly even from behind the curtains as she checked one last time in the mirror to make sure her professional makeup, blonde hair and short, tight dress were perfect. She was the last model to perform at Bay Area fashion week, an annual event that stretches from October to November, and a huge honor. It had to be perfect.  

From Jan. 24-26, seniors Robert Eng and Matthew Lee and sophomores Aakash Thumaty and Spencer Yen participated in the Hacktech Hackathon at Cal Tech, an event in which students programmed nonstop for three days to create a project, like an app or game.

This year’s Jazz Cabaret, to be held on March 1, promises the traditional night of singing and swing dancing, along with creative new additions to the jazz lineup. The event will be held in the Large Gym at 7 p.m.

“Tilt your head down a little, and look slightly to the left. Okay, now relax … relax a little more. Now, smile! You look great!” freshman Nimisha Devanagondi says with a grin as she snaps a photo of her friend, freshman Rachel Zhang.

With the holiday season just around the corner, students are starting their own fundraisers at school to give back to their community and help those in need.

I stepped down from my car onto the hard cement ground, wincing as a small pebble jabbed into the bottom of my foot. My fuzzy purple socks were warm, but still thin and could not protect me from the jagged ground. I suddenly regretted my decision to spend the day with no shoes on and cursed myself for being curious and wanting to try a “social experiment.”

Rally commissioners are looking to include more games in a holiday-themed rally scheduled for Dec. 6.

While a mere 150 students showed up to the Back-to-School dance in August, at least 1,000 students from local schools enjoyed a wild night at the Masquerade Mixer at the Chinese Performing Arts Center on Oct. 19, a dance organized by students and free from the restrictions of a “boring” school dance that prohibits freaking.

For the first time last year, Grad Night was held off campus at Great America. Despite many positive reviews, Grad Night is moving back on campus this year after a majority vote from the current parents of seniors, according to principal Paul Robinson and Grad Night organizer Sushama Thakker. 

Kathy Nakamatsu was inspired early on to be a chemistry teacher by her own high school chemistry teacher Kathryn Hardy at Willow Glen High. Although Nakamatsu admitted she did not initially succeed in the class, she nonetheless developed a love for the subject and set her mind to follow her former teacher’s footsteps.  

The field hockey team lost 3-1 to Cupertino on Oct. 22, making its overall record 1-7-2.

After early successes in October, the 90 members on the speech and debate team are diligently preparing for the upcoming novice, league and Santa Clara University (SCU) tournaments in November under the guidance of new leaders.

Students should not rely on tissue boxes and other school supplies for extra credit to bail them out anymore. 

Senior Jennie Werner is easy to spot in a field hockey game or practice.