Sierra Smith

Last year at the “Every 15 Minutes” assembly, presenters tried to convey the importance of not drinking while driving.  During the “Speak Up for Change” week in January, guest speaker Scott Backovich used jokes and catch-phrases to emphasize how critical it is to help others.

Are you looking for a new local place to grab a bite to eat?

The senior class has made a significant effort to lower prom bids this year through a variety of fundraisers.

On March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the West Valley College Theater, Los Gatos Ballet held its annual Youth Choreography Showcase in which young dancers perform student-choreographed pieces.  

“Hi Holly, uh, you don’t really know me, and I’ve got mono, buuut, I hear you don’t have a date to the Homecoming dance.  Would you like to go with me?” physics teacher Kirk Davis, then a 16-year-old junior, stammered into the phone in 1974. 

After five seasons, sci-fi thriller “Fringe” is coming to a dramatic end.

Teachers, counselors and administrators attended a lunchtime meeting in English teacher Natasha Ritchie’s classroom last month to brainstorm ways to lessen the burden of letters of recommendation on teachers.

During the spring semester, many seniors often begin to feel disappointed after receiving college rejection letters. 

The girls’ volleyball team’s successful season ended on Nov. 10 in a disappointing second CCS match against Sacred Heart Cathedral High, the No. 2 seed in Division 3, in San Francisco. 

Most current seniors are familiar—perhaps more than they would like to be—with the Common Application, a universal online application used by over 450 colleges and universities across the nation.

 On Nov. 9 — the day of the Los Gatos game — the varsity football team served pasta, garlic bread and salad to both cheer teams in the dance room as a thank you for their support during the season through the “Guardian Angels” program.

 The History Bowl team, composed of 13 students from all grades, is scheduled to host a tournament at Saratoga High on Dec. 2 in various classrooms that have yet to be determined. 

The view out an airplane window, a young girl holding her nose in a pool, a pair of glasses on the kitchen table—everyday objects become works of art on senior Kristen Zung’s Tumblr photo blog.

“I want to tee up first,” junior Sachi Verma said enthusiastically as we walked down the dirt path single file to the first tee at the Saratoga Country Club.

After a month of preseason games, the girls’ volleyball players have refined their skills and teamwork. However, players say they have yet to learn how to perform to the best of their abilities when it matters.

For seniors Hannah Johnson and Kyle Dozier, winning Homecoming king and queen is more than a walk across the football field and a convertible ride around the track.

In a 40-minute performance that featured 10 dances, the class of 2013 certainly impressed in their “Pirates of the Caribbean”-themed quest to find the “fountain of school spirit” during their quad day performance on Oct. 12.

After a month of preseason games, the girls’ volleyball players have refined their skills and teamwork.

Imagine eating lunch at Togo’s with some friends when your phone buzzes with a text message from Saratoga High.  The message alerts you that the school is going into lockdown because of a suspicious person on campus.  What do you do?

Generally speaking, parents have a huge influence on their children’s day to day lives.  They have a say in what their children eat, when they eat, what classes they take, what TV shows they watch and when they watch them.

“M&M’s peanut butter candies are a favorite, as are Reese’s cups,” said Paul Robinson, the school’s new principal.  “I also love chocolate chip cookies. These are the reasons I ride a bike and play basketball.”

Having lost only one player from last season, much of the team has had at least one season of varsity experience.

School officials began searching for a new principal as soon as current principal Jeff Anderson announced in January that he would be taking a new position at the district office.   

World history teacher Jeffrey Scott and chemistry teacher Kathy Nakamatsu talk about their travels across the globe. 

A nun was strip searched after being arrested for trespassing during an antiwar demonstration. Men and women have also been subject to strip searches after arrests for driving with a noisy muffler, failing to use a turn signal and riding a bicycle without an audible bell.

The editors-in-chief for next year’s Falcon will be juniors Deborah Soung and Jackie Gu, who say they are excited to get to work.

From March 21 to 23, 11 juniors got a crash course in the world of business at an event called the Enterprise Leadership Conference.

It sometimes seems that there is no entity more ubiquitous in the lives of students than the College Board, the giant that runs the SAT, SAT subject tests and AP exams. Now, in a surprising rule change effective this year, the College Board is trying to prevent the inevitable.

First offense: zero on the assignment, referral and parent contact. Second offense: loss of points or grade for assignment doubled, referral and parent contact, Saturday school. Third offense: dropped from the class with an “F” grade, five-day suspension, possibility of referral to an alternative educational placement. At first glance, the penalties for cheating on a test or other “assessment activity” may seem like reasonable disciplines, but are they enough? The continuing struggle with cheating suggests that more precautions need to be taken to ensure academic integrity.

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service)

With memories of winter break and first semester finals fading fast, many students have forgotten the stress that plagued them as they crammed before each day of finals. The break was not as stress-free as it was purported to be.

With memories of winter break and first semester finals fading fast, many students have forgotten the stress that plagued them as they crammed before each day of finals. The break was not as stress-free as it was purported to be, and added an even more frantic week before it. Even though many teachers had been forced to cut down the material taught, there was still little time to study.

A constant buzz of activity almost always occupies Room 303, filled with students transcribing interviews, doing layout and typing up articles for the Falcon newspaper or the Talisman yearbook.

Shaya Pourani arrived on the first day of school with a little more confidence than a typical freshman. With his schedule memorized and expectations already set for the year, he was well prepared to start high school. As his fifth-period geometry teacher, Julie Scola, took attendance, Pourani heard the question he had been expecting to hear since he got arrived on campus: “Are you Tina’s brother?” Shaya, like many students on campus, was not the first child in his family to attend the school. His sister, junior Tina Pourani, had Scola when she took geometry two years ago.

On Nov. 11, mother Stacy Conner walked into her 10-year-old daughter Ashlynn’s bedroom to find that she had committed suicide after suffering from bullying at her elementary school for years.

It’s 9 p.m. on a Tuesday. Most of the school’s 1,392 students have gone home, as have most of the school’s 70 teachers. But in room 408 history teacher Jeff Scott is working with 18 eager members of the mock trial team. They have already been practicing hard for two and a half hours to perfect their performances before their first competition in January.

With the field marching band season at a close, members of the Color Guard are preparing for the next chapter of the year: the Winter Guard season, in which the unit competes by itself in an indoor setting.

Despite a few tough losses as of Oct. 24, the girls’ volleyball team demonstrates great potential and determination. What viewers can’t see from the scoreboard is the effort the players put into every game.

Anyone attending a field hockey home game this season may be in for a eye-opening sight: boys running across the field in Speedos.

“Go fish!” junior Miguel Bismonte shouted.

Laughter and smiles fill the room as dice roll across the board. Four players, assuming the roles of settlers, battle it out to build and develop settlements, cities and roads as they attempt to settle the fictional island of Catan.

Volunteering is not only beneficial to others but also to those who volunteer. Through integrating morals with volunteering, individuals are able to improve themselves and grow as people. Junior Maggy Liu, for example, is the vice-president of the Tzu Chi club, a volunteer organization and charity, which has been gaining traction on campus. Tzu Chi, Chinese for compassion and relief, is rooted in moral education as well as volunteering. These ideals are discussed during meetings and carried out through community service.

Interview, write, revise. Interview, write, revise. Week after week, this process is repeated as it becomes a rhythm in the life of a student reporter. Yet, contrary to what one might believe, newspaper is much more than bi-monthly cycles of monotony.

The girls’ volleyball team has some ground to regain this year after being bumped down from the De Anza league to the the less competitive El Camino league.

Tests and quizzes: 90 percent. Participation: 5 percent. Homework: 5 percent. Junior Ramya Swami stared at her AP Biology syllabus the first day of school in dread, realizing that this year, performance on quizzes and tests was going to be more important than ever before. This was not only the case in biology; practically every other class on her schedule had placed a significant weight on test scores.

Excited and eager for high school, 390 freshmen started the school year a little early on Aug. 19, for freshmen orientation. One hundred fifteen maroon-clad Link Crew leaders led their respective groups of freshmen through the school’s hallways to familiarize the freshmen with the school during orientation.