The Bolt - September 2023

BOLT

Middle School Plan a dvanceS with $25 Million FundraiSing eFFort

An architect’s concept drawing of the proposed middle school as seen from the State Route 73 toll road.

By Alia Sajjadian and Mirabelle Jiang

Over the summer, the Sage Hill School Board of Trustees approved the launch of a five year fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $25 million to build a middle school.

Plans for the middle school project include a new cafe, several classrooms, and a larger second gym that could accommodate all students in grades seven to 12 for schoolwide events. The building would be constructed on an athletics practice field between the Lisa Argyros and Family Science Center and D. Diane Anderson Family Humanities Building.

The Sage Hill administration has outlined the goals for creating a middle school as expanding the student population, better preparing students for success in high school and increasing the amount of students with flexible tuition, Head of School Patricia Merz said.

Currently, 14% of students at Sage receive need-based financial aid. However, the middle school’s opening would see 20% of the entire student body on some form of flexible tuition.

Middle school grade levels will consist of 70 students, Merz said. Students from feeder schools such as The Pegasus School, St. Mary’s School and Harbor Day School will be offered deferred enrollment to continue their education at Sage Hill after graduating middle school. However, Merz hopes that the middle school will also “expand access to more families who might have never considered Sage before,” such as families with elementary students from public school districts.

Senior Ryann Langdale said she believes that “students come to Sage to meet a lot of different types of people.” She worries that the introduction of the middle school will limit the diversity of experiences and voices from

incoming freshmen, as the number of open spots in the ninth grade is potentially reduced by half.

Athletic facilities and drop-off zones will be shared between middle and high school students. To mitigate traffic, the two schools will run on separate schedules, with the high school start time being pushed back to 8:30 a.m. Middle schoolers will also only use athletic facilities during the high school’s hours, preventing overcrowding of the space in the evenings.

Current students have also expressed concern that construction noise will be a constant issue during the school year. However, Merz is confident that noise pollution and dust will be minimal.

While it is too soon to gauge what the middle school curriculum will look like, Merz believes that “it will look like Sage, just with younger years” with an emphasis on growth and self-discovery

instead of academics and rigor. She also hopes that the similarity between the two curricula will better prepare middle school students for academic success in ninth through 12th grades at Sage Hill.

“There will be that learning curve that will need to take place,” Merz said, referring to the anticipated divide between the level of preparation of incoming freshman from the middle school versus the students entering from the public school system.

Merz also foresees more opportunities for high schoolers at Sage Hill to demonstrate leadership within the middle school.

Sophomore Tina Tahbaz believes it will be an exciting opportunity for high schoolers to “guide middle schoolers in their preparation for high school and even the future.”

Courtesy of LPA

Reaffirming Affirmative Action

BY PHOEBE PAN

College application season is underway, and one controversial subject remains a major topic of discussion: affirmative action. After longstanding debates surrounding the practice, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn affirmative action in late June. For the first time in decades, race cannot be considered as a factor in the college admissions process, threatening future diversity at public and private universities in the U.S.

Originally introduced in 1961, affirmative action intended to reduce discrimination in job applications based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” This seemingly beneficial concept has been a source of ongoing controversy from white Americans and, unexpectedly, various minority groups — especially Asian Americans, many of whom feel disadvantaged in the college admissions process.

Most recently, the ethicality of affirmative action was brought to the Supreme Court in 2020, as Harvard University was sued for alleged racebased discrimination against Asian American applicants in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. In the context of this case, the reversal of affirmative action may appear to be a “win” for the AAPI community, considering its generally higher levels of academic achievement. However, this decision threatens equal opportunity for Asians and other minorities, especially those of lower socioeconomic status. In reality, conservative opponents of affirmative action benefit most from the ruling, as the plaintiffs took advantage of Asian Americans — using the stories of Asian Americans as “evidence” of unfair admissions practices — to add credibility to their longstanding anti-affirmative-action agenda.

As an Asian American, I feel that AAPI students and families who oppose affirmative action have viewed it from a limited perspective. Rather than establishing a system where “less-deserving” applicants were chosen solely based on their background, affirmative action simply accounted for racial or socioeconomic barriers that may have affected a student’s opportunities in high school. When given the same resources and circumstances, the “less-accomplished” student may have had the ability to match or surpass another applicant’s accomplishments. Affirmative action, in theory, took these differences into account to encourage a more informed comparison between applicants.

When personal feelings are involved, it can be easy to misinterpret the goals of affirmative action. Many Asian Americans viewed affirmative action as an obstacle which unfairly favored “other” minorities in the college admissions process. However, this belief makes a generalization of the Asian American population as a whole, overlooking AAPI groups who do not fit the stereotype of privileged, middle and upper-class East Asians. The idea that affirmative action hurts “Asians” furthers the misconception that Asian Americans are a monolith, overlooking the struggles of marginalized subgroups, be it in terms of ethnicity or socioeconomic status. With the dismantling of affirmative action, underrepresented or under-resourced minorities, including those within the AAPI community, may experience even lower levels of representation on college campuses.

Some opponents of affirmative action believed that the policy undermined the value of merit and personal achievement in the admissions process, supporting a “color-blind” approach instead. However, this perspective presents an inherently privileged view. While “equal” treatment may seem appealing, in reality, this strategy will only further disadvantage minorities by overlooking the two centuries of racial inequality in the U.S. In a country with such deeply rooted racial structures, race and generational socioeconomic consequences must be recognized in order to create a more equitable system. To suddenly ignore race as a defining factor would be negligent, as people of color have historically faced systemic barriers that may shape their current socioeconomic status — and whether they have access to educational opportunities, testing services, extracurricular activities, and other resources that may impact the appeal of a student’s profile. Erasing this essential historical context for differing economic and educational circumstances could bring further inequality to current practices.

Though affirmative action was not a perfect solution, it was a necessary precaution to ensure equal — or somewhat equal — opportunities for people of color. Without this protective policy in place, will private universities continue admitting a diverse group of students? How will underrepresented or under-resourced minorities be affected by this change? The reversal of affirmative action also brings other admissions practices — such as the valuation of legacy status — into question. The aftereffects of this Supreme Court ruling will become clear as class demographics and acceptance data are released for the 2023-2024 application cycle.

Editors-in-Chief

The Bolt is a student newspaper and serves the public forum at Sage Hill School. Its content - news, editorial, opinion, and feature - is protected by Education Code 48907, the state student rights law and the California Constitution which guarantees all citizens the right of freedom of speech and of the press. Opinions expressed do not represent the views or beliefs of Sage Hill School and its administration. The Bolt accepts signed letters to the editors from members of the Sage Hill community which may be posted as comments at lightningboltonline.com, or addressed to Editors-in-Chief Phoebe Pan, Alia Sajjadian, and Anne Chen and put in their mailboxes on campus. These letters may not exceed 150 words or they will be edited for inclusion.

Adviser

Daniel Langhorne

Writers

Priya Bhakta, Maya Desai, Mirabelle Jiang, Jesse Lew, Arya Rawal & Sophia Zhou Photographers Amy Choi, Sarah Huang, Jenny Li & Sophie Wang

Editorial Board Minha Oh, Trinity Chen, Yasmin Dennis, Madeleine Carroll, Ava Eimani, Grace Yan, Grant Franey & Ceyda Shamsai

Phoebe Pan (Bolt), Alia Sajjadian (Bolt) & Anne Chen (Online)

Pride Flag Bans on Wrong side oF History

By Naomi Tran, Brian Yu and Rodin Zarrabi

Every summer, cities across the United States hoist the rainbow flag and host hundreds of parades as thousands of people march together to affirm their identity and acceptance.

The LGBTQ+ flag, created in 1978, symbolizes the community’s love and unity through its vibrant hues. This celebration occurs every June and commemorates the struggles and hardships that the LGBTQ+ community has faced even up to the 21st century. From parades to mourning those who were lost during the battle for LGBTQ+ rights, pride brings millions together internationally to unite as one. Many non-profit organizations such as The Trevor Project use Pride Month as an opportunity to teach the youth about their community’s challenges and history.

The History of Pride

The first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago back in 1970. The gatherings commemorate the Stonewall Uprising, a series of riots in 1969 over police action at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. “Stonewall’’ has since become a symbol of the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights.

Organizers envisioned this as a national celebration of one’s identity. A member of the 1970 New York celebrations reflected that Pride “raise[d] the consciences of [participants] to develop courage, and feelings of dignity and self-worth.” The success of Pride eventually led other cities to adopt their own traditions, all the way to Orange County today. This year’s Pride

parade was held in Santa Ana, for instance. Thus, the celebration of Pride in Orange County has evolved as more groups recognize the economically, politically and socially diverse members of the movement. Today, we see both young and old people attending with pride flags clutched in their hands — a symbol for both the progress and setback of the movement.

What’s Going on in OC?

However, there have been some developments earlier this year that contradicted the successes of past progress for the LGBTQ+ community. For instance, Huntington Beach city councilmember Pat Burns proposed a limitation to what flags can be flown on city property, and the source of much controversy is the proposition to reverse the 2021 decision to fly pride flags in celebration of Pride Month. The council voted 4 to 3 to prohibit people from flying pride flags on Huntington Beach city property. After this event, the Orange County Board of Supervisors followed suit, and in a 3 to 2 vote, banned pride flags from county-owned property such as parks and libraries.

The pride flag is symbolic of the community of transcending individuals fighting for their right to be fully included in American society, and it is important to stand in solidarity. Banning the pride flag undermines the LGTBQ+ community and is itself a misunderstanding of the Pride culture with its legacy steeped in activism. It is an unfortunate act that delays progress and ruins the open-mindedness that we strive to cultivate in our institutions.

While the present may look dim, the fight for freedom of LGTBQ+ rights is historic and present, global and regional, and in spite of setbacks, the many trailblazers for this movement highlight the ongoing fight for equality.

Sage Advocates for Multicultural Education is a leadership group committed to educating our community about diversity, equity, and cultural competence.

CoMiC: UniQUe sage Hill illUstrated By soPHia ZHoU

Richard Morrison | Creative Commons

The pride flag waves during a rally at the U.S. Capitol in 2009.

“The pride flag is symbolic of the community of transcending individuals fighting for their right to be fully included in American society, and it is important to stand in solidarity.”

Lighting Footba LL Rushes to an impR essive sta Rt

By Madeleine Carroll

Going into the season, the Lightning football team had lost a number of valuable players. However, the team didn’t let that stop them and immediately prepared for the upcoming season. After developing new plays, reviewing their strategies and practicing for countless hours, the football team was ready to take on the season.

Their first home game was electric. They played California School for the Deaf (CSDR), a team fresh off a CIF championship. However, with the Sage Hill student section cheering them on, our Lightning football team battled to win 41-6.

“The CSDR game has definitely been the most exciting part of the season so far. The spirit was great and everyone got to play,” said junior running back Dylan Dolotta.

With a record of 2-0, the season was off to a great start. The following week, the football team played Amino Robinson at home. It was another incredible game. With eight touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, the team showed off their talent. Now having a record of 3-0, their hard work was paying off.

The next week, football was on the road against Hesperia Christian. Although they showed endurance and resilience, the team lost with a score of 27-48. The team is working harder than ever now. However, the road to success is not easy. There are a lot of obstacles that the football team is facing.

“It’s been tough with players

playing new and unfamiliar positions and having to deal with injuries,” junior wide receiver Jake Pirnazar said.

The football team has high hopes for the season.

“Our number one goal is definitely to win CIF. We are working every day to make that goal a reality,” Sophomore defensive line Griffin Robinson said.

Last year, the team was able to

Jackie Robinson Charter High Monarchs on Oct. 15 at Ramer Field. advace to the semifinals. This year, they are working to win it all and bring home the trophy for Sage Hill. Lightning football is scheduled for an away game against Chadwick Academy on Oct. 13.

giRLs’ tennis team seRves and smashes

By Ava Eimani

Walking onto the court this season, the girls’ tennis team had lost six valuable seniors who were all doubles starters. Despite this challenge, Coach Whit Kenerson and the team immediately rebounded by planning strategic plays and finding the right chemistry for the new doubles teams.

Not only has the team rebounded, but they have continually come out victorious and are proud holders of a 9-2 record. Kenerson describes the team’s match against their rivals Northwood High School as a game where each player truly excelled.

“All the singles players won two of three sets and the three doubles teams each won a set,” Kenerson said.

Last year, Northwood beat Sage Hill in the finals of CIF, making this victory extremely well-deserved and a true showcase of the team’s resilience and continuous improvement. The team also faced Cypress High School and worked hard on and off the court to secure a 10-8 victory.

“Ella Wong, sophomore singles star, held on to win her third round match 7-5 which clinched the victory,” Kenerson said.

In that same match, senior Ava Cohen and doubles specialist Ceyda Shamsai had a key win in doubles.

“It was a very close match, and Ava Cohen and I just focused on getting each point,” Shamsai said.

Senior and team captain Arden Stobart is constantly raising the bar on and off the court.

Kenerson describes her as “a wall for the team for years and the best singles player probably ever at Sage.”

“Arden is humble, driven, and extremely passionate about the team’s well-being and success,” junior doubles player Madeleine Carroll said.

Throughout the season, the players have constantly been refining their skills, strategizing and becoming a close-knit team. The team’s talent and work ethic will continue to aid them in their future endeavors, which involve two tournaments being hosted at Sage Hill.

These tournaments, the Lightning Invitational and Lightning Classic, draw exceptional players from all across California and will be the team’s next challenge on their exciting journey to the CIF championship.

Courtesy of Robbie Watson

Lightning football on defense aganist the Amino

Amy Choi | The Bolt

Junior Joy Qu serves in a match against Northwood High School on Oct. 12.

School Life

ex-stanFoRd dean uRges bReak FRom oveRpaRenting

By Jesse Lew

Bestselling author and former Stanford University freshman dean Julie Lythcott-Haims spoke to the school community about how to be and raise adults, topics which are discussed in her books “Your Turn” and “How to Raise an Adult” on Sept. 27.

Her visit to Sage Hill was divided into two parts: a morning talk in the Peter V. Ueberroth Gym where Lythcott-Haims spoke to all students and an evening event largely attended by parents in the Kazu Fukuda Black Box Theater. She advised students to study what they love, not what would please others, and she advised parents to avoid micromanaging or overparenting because doing so stunts the development of agency and resilience in their children.

“Without agency and resilience, a person is more likely to have anxiety and depression and to have less executive function,” Lythcott-Haims said.

Her morning talk was catered to students. Lythcott-Haims spoke about the misery that awaits those who are forced by external pressures to pursue something they are not passionate about. Her anecdotes came from her experience advising students at Stanford University and her own personal experience of starting a career in corporate law because the trade was deemed praiseworthy by society.

“But winning their approval, which I was, had me crying on my back porch because I was so desperately unhappy with the work that I was doing,” Lythcott-Haims said.

She encouraged students not to go by their parents’ or society’s definition of success, but to follow their own passions instead. She left students with a few things to remember: that they inherently matter, they shouldn’t expect perfection, they should think and do for themselves, they should widen their mindset about higher education, they should study what they love, and they must treat others with the dignity and respect every human deserves, which is the essence of good character.

To wrap up the talk, Lythcott-Haims

recognized that parents, including herself, sometimes overstep their boundaries and micromanage the lives of their children, making it much more difficult for their children to follow their passions. To that end, she invited students to encourage their parents to come to her second talk later that night.

Lythcott-Haims began her evening discussion with the parents by defining three different types of overparenting: overprotective, fiercely directive, and helpful to the point of undermining. She spoke to the parents about her time working at Stanford University and described just how mentally unwell and ill-equipped overparented students were.

In her talk, Lythcott-Haims admitted

to and described her mistakes as a parent of her two children, Sawyer and Avery, how it affected them, how she realized her missteps, and how she grew as a mother and as a person by rectifying these unhealthy parental behaviors.

Lythcott-Haims then offered parents some advice on how to better prepare their children for the life ahead of them by avoiding overparenting, saying, “Our job as parents is actually to put ourselves out of the job. Meaning, our kids can one day be okay without us.”

To do this, she insisted that parents show the same amount of love to their children regardless of their grades or test scores, ignore the arbitrary college rankings, teach their children how to live

instead of living for them, and stop hounding their children about their academic performance.

“Don’t make your life about controlling your kids’ life. When you get a life, your kid can get one too,” Lythcott-Haims said.

During a question and answer session, a handful of parents in the audience admitted to making mistakes and asked her for advice on how to change.

“Neither of my kids is doing remotely what I wanted them to do, and I have never been prouder of Avery and Sawyer. I also think they’re proud of me for how I’ve grown and changed to love and accept and support them as they are,” Lythcott-Haims said.

spotLight: kunte bRings gLobaL view to CLassRoom

By Alia Sajjadian

Since joining the Sage Hill faculty in 2013, Dr. Nisha Kunte has stood out because of her diverse course load and the thoughtful perspectives she brings to the classroom. Teaching AP Art History, AP Psychology and Ethnic Studies, she delivers engaging and passionate lectures that challenge her students to understand the broader implications and applications of the content they’re learning.

She tries to fuse her classroom to the outside world. During a day trip to Los Angeles last semester she and her AP Art History students toured the Broad Museum, explored the architecture of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and discussed their observations while enjoying lunch downtown. Even though she has viewed the art in her curriculum countless times, she “never gets bored looking at the art work” and speaking about it with her students. She has designed her other course, Ethnic Studies, a Sage Center Designated Course, in the style of

a college seminar with the intent of challenging her students to think deeply.

For her selfless contributions to the Sage Hill community, Dr. Kunte received the Elizabeth A. Resnick Award in June 2023.

Another one of the reasons she cherishes this class is because it allows her to “think hard about the things that I studied for a long time in school, keep up with current research in the field, and come up with ways to communicate complex ideas to my students.” But some of her most memorable classroom moments come from her AP Psychology classes.

“There’s something about the class that allows for silly tangents, inside jokes, and class bonding,” she said.

Dr. Kunte attended Columbia University where she majored in Asian American Studies. She recalls her two most favorite classes were David Eng’s Queer Diasporas seminar and Gayatri Spivak’s Narratives for Living seminar.

“I never worked so hard to think

about what I was reading,” Dr. Kunte said.

She continued her education at University of Southern California, where she earned a master’s degree and doctorate in American Studies and Ethnicity. In her free time, Dr. Kunte enjoys baking, knitting, drinking tea, and muses that she strives to live her “cottagecore fantasy.” She lists her newest favorite movie as “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” while her legacy favorites include “All About Eve,” “A Room with a View” and “Clueless.” In the future, she would love to visit the ancient city of Petra in present day Jordan and Borobudur Temple in Indonesia, both seem “otherworldly.”

Dr. Kunte encourages Sage Hill students to have a similar sense of appreciation and genuine curiosity for what they are learning and the world around them. Her advice is simple and direct: “Do the reading and then use your brain to think about what you read.”

Julie Lythcott-Haims speaks to the school community during the Sage Center Orientation Assembly on Sept. 27.

Photo Courtesy of Sage Hill School

Dr. Nisha Kunte

Photo by Aidan Chung

Sage Hill School

Freshmen Bond in Big Bear

By Maya Desai

Marking the start of a new adventure, Sage Hill’s freshman class traveled to Big Bear on Sept. 13. Although students were at first unfamiliar with each other, this trip helped them learn about their classmates and grow closer as a class. As light broke through the clouds above Big Bear, conversation arose, snacks were shared, and smiles were cracked. Throughout the three day-retreat, the freshmen focused on team-building.

On the first day after a brief orientation, advisors released students to free time.

“I got to bond with classmates and spend time in nature,” Freshman Ben Ahn said.

Most freshmen agreed that the best conversations and new friendships started during free time. Later that day, students embarked on a night hike that compelled them to stay close and talk amongst each other. At the end of the night in a talent show, students gained courage from their peers and performed

in a display of skill and fun.

Throughout the next day, students participated in the Amazing Race, zip lines, advisory banners, and puzzles.

SAME co-president Isabella Palacio led a project organized by the multicultural student group.

“They enjoyed and learned about different topics,” Palacio said. These activities brought advisories closer together as they had to work through problems, communicate solutions, and encourage one another. As a culmination of the advisors’ efforts, each freshman advisory presented their banner at nightime, and English teacher Boyd Jorden’s advisory won first place. The energy of every advisory brought a unique aspect of the Class of 2027 to the table.

“The retreat allowed me to get away from the busy school atmosphere, clear my mind, and make friends,” Freshman Samuel Jinhal said.

Big Bear brought an exciting beginning to the next four years for the Class of 2027.

sophomores roll into second Year

By Arya Rawal

After a switch from an on-campus pool party to a roller-skating activity, Sage Hill’s annual sophomore retreat kicked off at the Holiday Skate Center on Sept. 13. Student leadership and sophomore staff representatives initially planned to host the retreat at the Sage Hill aquatics center, but ultimately decided against it due to safety concerns about swimming without lifeguard supervision. Some students intially expressed discontent or hesitancy after hearing about this change, but many others were relieved or excited after hearing the news.

“I was really happy with the choice of roller-skating because it was easier to approach others and start conversations,” Amber Wang said.

During the roller-skating event, students coordinate their outfits to match the 80s-themed costume contest. Some common themes included neon shirts, coordinated colors, and floral prints. The Rothman-Deckers advisory wore shiny tutus over leggings or shorts, accessorizing with matching fishnet gloves.

“I had mixed feelings after seeing that we were going to have the pool party at eight in the morning,” Sophomore Aurora Li, who was worried about chilly weather. However, she found the roller skating experience to be “fun and very engaging” although “the next day, her whole body was sore and her knees hurt.”

Many students shared her sentiment, as they struggled to balance on the rink and continued to fall, but energy levels were boosted by participating in games such as limbo and Red Light, Green Light. The students’ favorite game tended to be an activity in which a dice was thrown in the middle of the rink. Student were eliminated if the dice landed on a assigned number. The last students standing won passes for free drinks and snacks. Sophomore Co-Chair Ella Wong noted that this experience was overall a very successful endeavor, as she was able to talk to many new people.

“Our grade definitely got closer throughout our time spent on the rink,” Wong said.

Junior r etreat : Jumping into the semester

By Grace Yan

Juniors quite literally jumped into the “hardest year of high school” during their retreat at Skyzone Trampoline Park on Sept 13. The park, a traditional retreat location in years past, had been completely reserved for the Sage Hill students’ special day. Upon entering the indoor location, the juniors were greeted with a thrilling sight: trampolines lined the walls and floors, foam pits arranged around the park, and a variety of other looming attractions awaited.

After putting down their items and pulling on special trampoline socks, many students bounded for the main trampoline squares, relishing in the joy of defying gravity — or laughing as their friends succumbed to it. Others explored the different areas of the park, from the zipline to the obstacle course. Some acrobatic students — such as competitive gymnast and junior Maddie Chao — wowed a crowd of onlookers by performing graceful backflips and aerial twists on a bouncy platform. Athletic friend groups engaged in dodgeball battles in opposing

groups of four, the trampolines adding an extra fierceness to their competitive spirits. Adjacent to the dodgeball court, students organized a dueling ring around the X-Beam pit, cheering as their fellow students knocked each other off the balance beam with padded lances.

Junior Melody Yu reminisced on her past experience with trampoline parks versus this one.

“This entire trip was very nostalgic for me, since I remember going to trampoline parks as a kid and having a lot of fun. I haven’t been to one in so long since I’m always busy and I’ve gotten a lot less athletic, so this trip was very special,” she said.

“I think it was a good change of pace,” junior Oneal Wang said. “Honestly, it’s pretty refreshing to fail at something that’s not academics for once.”

Retreat was a reminder that there’s more to high school than just academics. The juniors have set the bar high for an unforgettable year, and this retreat is just the beginning of their exciting journey.

Arya Rawal | The Bolt Sophomores pose for a photo in 80s-inspired outfits at the Holiday Skate Center.

Courtesy of Aaron Soffa Freshman Mika He attempts to grab an envelope with the help of Advisory members during a team-building exercise at Cedar Lake Camp.

Grace Yan | The Bolt Juniors Tony Tan and Brian Yu (right) battle in a SkyJoust match at Skyzone Trampoline Park.

tHe suN rises oN seNior year at Cedar lake Camp

By Yasmin Dennis

After arriving at their respective buses at a painful 6:45 a.m., seniors made the trip to Cedar Lake Camp for the second time in the past two years. Feelings of déjà vu crept in as the seniors made their way from their rooms to the amphitheater — where they participated in a talent show their sophomore year — for an overview of their plans for the day.

The seniors spent their day in Big Bear alternating between team-bonding activities with their advisories and climbing the ropes course. That night, after dinner and free time, students gathered by the bonfire for s’mores. Trivia and an advisory karaoke competition served as entertainment for the evening, and friendly competition and Disney tunes filled the night air.

“I loved spending time with my friends climbing rocks and walking around the camp, but I also had so much fun doing the ropes course and getting closer with my advisory,” senior Grace Kao said.

The following morning, after stopping by the cafeteria to wake themselves with coffee and hot chocolate, the seniors made their way to a nearby lookout point to enjoy the sunrise as a class. Marking the beginning of their last year together, the sunrise was a bittersweet moment for the seniors. After enjoying exceptionally delicious cinnamon rolls, the class packed up their belongings and began the drive back to school.

Many seniors, like Arietta Goshtasby, spent nearly an entire week at Cedar Lake Camp guiding the freshmen as SAME members and Peer Counselors.

“As a SAME member, I’ve been assigned a freshman advisory every year,” Arietta said.

“This year was especially meaningful as it allowed me to look back on the past four years, not only through my leadership role in the freshman advisory, but also through my own activities in senior retreat.”

Hollywood’s H alt Nears a Close as HistoriC writers’ strike subsides

By Anne Chen

Summer blockbusters like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” took Hollywood by storm, but so did the 148-day-long Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. After a longstanding union strike that put Hollywood on pause with major productions like “Stranger Things” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” shutting down, studios are finalizing deals with writers that would conclude one of the industry’s longest strikes.

WGA members went on strike in May when contracts with film and television studios expired. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — an association that includes big industry players like Warner Bros. and Netflix — failed to renew revised contracts with the WGA, causing an upsurge in calls for fair wages, streaming residuals, and protections against artificial intelligence.

The strike gained further momentum when Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined in July. Florence Pugh, Adam Sandler and other A-list actors hit the picket lines alongside screenwriters, forming a double strike against major Hollywood studios that suspended production all summer. Both groups share a firm opposition against changes like diminished residu-

al payments which would complicate the lives of writers and actors, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck. Additionally, the rapid rise of AI in the past year has raised concerns about algorithms mimicking creative professionals’ likeness and intellectual property, provoking strikers to advocate for guidelines to safeguard jobs.

This past summer, viewers may not have noticed a drastic change in their streaming activities as they continued to enjoy new TV content like “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Since many productions banked a great supply of entertainment from prior months or even years, average viewers have not felt the strikes’ true gravity.

Nevertheless, Hollywood entered its dark days. The rollback of production has run entertainment dry, and the strikes have inflicted a hemorrhaging of at least 17,000 industry jobs, according to an August report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, final deals are underway to close the contract negotiations, led by the executives of Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, Netflix and NBCUniversal. A week of bargaining in late September established details for a new tentative contract, covering fresh ground, like AI provisions. Responding to pressures from

the guilds, studios are largely meeting demands for workers’ benefits and compensation. The WGA’s 11,000 members must still ratify the new contract Looking forward, it’s expected

that productions will gradually return and recover from the summer of strikes, meaning that fall TV may experience further delay before reaching viewers’ screens. Viewers can anticipate

new seasons

Courtesy of Marcus Yoo

Seniors sit with friends and enjoy the sunrise during the 12th Grade Retreat in Big Bear.

Courtesy of Ishmael Daro | Creative Commons A SAG-AFTRA picketer’s sign on a New York picket line during the 2023 Hollywood strike.

new reality shows like “The Golden Bachelor” releasing soon, while

of “Abbot Elementary and Grey’s Anatomy” hold back from networks.

Sage Hill School

Community

Meet the New Leaders of studeNt CouNCiL

By Grant Franey

Senior Max Razmjoo and junior Fiori Lee lead this year’s Student Council as the President and Vice President, respectively. The Student Council at Sage Hill plays a crucial role in planning student events and cultivating the school’s culture. Both Razmjoo and Lee are proud to represent Sage Hill as student leaders, and they plan to use their skills to benefit the school community throughout the coming year.

Razmjoo has been involved in Student Council since his freshman year. He had been a grade-level cochair for three years before being elected to the top job.

“I just wanted to be a representative for my classmates and to make the school a better place. That is what we do through planning our events and programs. It is all about the students and representing the students,” Razmjoo said.

For the past few years, a senior has held the role of vice president. As a junior, Lee feels honored to take on this role and excited to begin her journey in Student Council.

“I feel a sense of responsibility to set a good example so that other juniors shoot for the stars like I did. I want people to believe in themselves and know that they can do whatever they want to do,” said Lee.

Student Council meets weekly to develop ideas and plans for the year. This year’s student leaders already have exciting ambitions that they hope to pursue in the coming year.

“We are focusing on making Sage a more spirited place,” Razmjoo said. “We want to get people more connected when it comes to town meeting games, the Sage Cup,

and planning events. We want to increase the role that students play in the decisions we make… Anyone can come up to us and tell us if they have a suggestion or idea about anything that we are doing.”

“I want to make sure the entire student body feels represented.

And I want to plan exciting and fun events for people that they can enjoy,” Lee said.

In addition to helping support the Sage Hill community, being a Student Council member has taught students like Razmjoo valuable life lessons about leadership.

“I have learned that leadership requires lots of dedication, lots of hard work, and lots of collaboration…The best thing we can do as student leaders is take everybody’s perspectives into account and try to create a school that’s inclusive and accepting of all,” Razmjoo said.

sage hiLL weLCoMes New LearNiNg speCiaLists

By Riley Robinson

April Leavenworth considers herself to be a “lifelong learner.”

She was hired by Sage Hill this summer and is one of the two new learning specialists this year, along with Lance Hollandsworth.

Since her arrival at Sage Hill, Leavenworth has helped students adjust to their schedules and supports them throughout all grade levels. Leavenworth also oversees testing accommodations for students with learning differences. Since starting in July, she has settled and is grateful to meet all the new students and faculty members.

Leavenworth earned her bachelor’s degree from Emerson College in writing and publishing and then her master’s degree from the University of Bridgeport in her home state of Connecticut. She went on to get her advanced graduate degree from UC Riverside in educational therapy. Now, she is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational psychology at Wichita State University, where she goes to campus once a semester for workshops and takes synchronous online classes in her hybrid program. Even though she loves to learn, she

is looking forward to completing her doctorate in the next two years.

Before Sage Hill, Leavenworth taught English for five years in a middle school setting and then became a certified educational therapist. Her previous job was at an all-boys boarding school in Virginia called Blue Ridge School.

“I really valued the relationships that I developed with her students when I was teaching English,” Leavenworth said. This prompted her to look for more opportunities to build relationships with students and be helpful for them on a personal level.

“When you work in public schools, you have so many students in a class who have learning plans or accommodations, and it can be hard when you’re teaching 80 students a day to really cater to those needs, so I wanted to make that shift,” Leavenworth said.

Leavenworth said that the coolest fact about her was that she worked for the Boston Bruins. She loves to hike and even hiked through the Grand Canyon by herself. She also enjoys spending time with her three rescue pets: two cats and a dog.

Courtesy of Sage Hill School

Learning specialist Lance Hollandsworth and lead learning specialist April Leavenworth started at Sage Hill in July 2023.

Courtesy of Sage Hill School

Student Council President Max Razmjoo ‘24 (left) and Vice President Fiori Lee ‘25 (right)