On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 78 students spent three hours volunteering on campus for a variety of charity organizations.

As I surround myself with the various college applications, one question seems to appear on every one.

Who inspires you the most?

My first thought is Batman, with that catchy jingle and amazing batmobile. However, upon further contemplation I have reached my final conclusion, my mom.

Before you call me out on how cliché my response is, take a moment to see why exactly my mom can be credited with such an honor.

During lunch on Sept. 3, several long lines full of hungry, boisterous students wound their way through the noisy quad. Each line led to several large, colorful bins filled with water bottles and tables covered in red plastic, where about 100 PTSO volunteers served free barbeque to eager students and staff.

When sophomore Shivani Chadha showed up at the Small Gym on Jan. 31, she and about 140 other students didn't know what to expect from two professional dancers who had been hired to teach them to dance "properly." After instruction and practice, she left with a better knowledge of dances like Merengue and foxy.

On Monday, Jan. 18, the school held its first annual Martin Luther King Jr. community service day. Ninety-seven students and 30 adult volunteers attended an event sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO).

The different activities included preparing food for a local charity, creating care packages for soldiers overseas, making cards for seniors and participating in a Quad cleanup and a beach cleanup trip.

Parents Sudha Sreenivasan and Dory Albert organized the service day with help from many other parents.

In an effort to raise more funds in a tough year for the school's budget, the Saratoga Sports Boosters are holding their annual Holiday Boutique on Dec. 5 in the little gym.

It was 6:00 in the morning on morning on May 11 and PTSO Co-president Carolyn Doles was fixing breakfast for teacher appreciation week in the staff lounge when she received a call from superintendent Cary Matsuoka. Matsuoka told Doles she has been given the award of Volunteer of the Year.

“He seemed to think the award was most befitting at that point, since when he called to tell me, here I was volunteering at SHS that very moment!” said Doles.

The school will hold its first Challenge Day in two years on March 17. The diversity program challenges students to “become better people” and forces them to address issues such as stereotypes, cliques and tolerance, according to assistant principal Karen Hyde.

As the school year eases in, the Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) has had to make important decisions that affect the whole school’s education programs. Grant requests for the 2008-2009 school year added to more than $47,000. While all grant requests were taken into consideration, the PTSO was only able to fund $29,000 toward staff and student grants, with some help from the school’s supplies fund.

In picking which programs to fund, PTSO members particularly focused on “seeing the number of students that will benefit from a specific grant, educational value for the students and what tools a teacher may use to evaluate effectiveness of the grant material,” according to PTSO co-president Shinku Sharma.