The Samohi (2023-2024) Cycle 1

The Samohi Friday, October 13, 2023 | Santa Monica High School | Volume CXII - Issue I

Griffin Seals (‘24) makes catch at the opening Varsity Football game vs El Segundo, kicking off a successful season for Samo

Cover by Taylor Witt Photo by Manny Lopez

The Samohi

02 October 13, 2023

News

What’s going on around Samo?

Louis Rotgin Staff Writer

Exploration Building and Gold Gym construction update Construction on the Samo campus has gone to plan since both the Gold Gym and the Exploration Building projects began back last year, with both of the buildings having their interior metal bases finished. The buildings are scheduled to be unveiled for use for the 2024-25 school year. The Gold Gym will carry out and improve Samo’s athletics and physical education, bringing top notch facilities for all sports and activities to the campus. The Exploration Building is meant to modernize the campus with its high-tech and durable build in order to enhance the school’s learning environment.

Mental health awareness fair shows activism based clubs in the Innovation Quad On Sept. 13, the Student Wellness Advisory Group (SWAG) held a mental wellness fair in the Innovation Quad, raising awareness for students’ mental health. SWAG is a mental health awareness/wellness club at Samohi determined to raise enough money to support organizations that focus on repairing mental health issues. So far, SWAG has presented their mission on various occasions as well as hosted two mental health wellness fairs. The most recent fair, displaying various awareness clubs and even outside sources, was planned by Sadie Gryczman (’26), president of SWAG. “Samohi students were able to learn about ways they could get involved as well as resources they have access to.”

Climate literacy initiative at Samo Back in 2021, the Team Marine club at Samo founded the Climate Literacy Project. Currently led by Emery Cunningham (’24), the ambitious project is attempting to bring awareness about ongoing climate issues into classrooms at Samo. The founding of the project was inspired by local educational neighbors.

“The Climate Literacy project was inspired by an LAUSD Climate Literacy resolution that is going to reform curriculum throughout the district,” Cunningham said.

Before the club can make more progress they first require approval from district leadership. Although the full curriculum would not be able to be put in place until the next school year, Cunningham is optimistic that the club’s work could begin to pay off in the near future.

“There probably are a few things that could be implemented this school year. Possibly by next semester teachers will be able to implement the projects in their own adaption.”

Dr. Shelton becomes the new SMMUSD superintendent The 2023-24 school year accompanies a change in leadership for the SMMUSD school district, with Dr. Antonio Shelton becoming the new superintendent. Prior to our current principal, Marae Cruce, Dr. Shelton served as principal of Samo for 6 years. He has earned his credentials by spending over 20 years working in the field of education, as well as earning a Bachelor of Arts in history, a Master of Arts in social studies, a Master of Arts in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership.

Voucher for low-income students for e-bikes The Santa Monica City Government plans to begin an income-verified program for e-bike vouchers in the spring of 2024, if the grant application is approved. Three lotteries would take place, where a total of 75 vouchers would be issued for verified low-income households worth up to $2000 for e-bikes and the necessities that the e-bikes require. As adequate funding is achieved, the program plans to increase the number of issued vouchers.

SMMUSD recovers money after counterfeit invesetigation The 2023-24 school year accompanies a change in leadership for the SMMUSD school district, with Dr. Antonio Shelton becoming the new superintendent. Prior to our current principal, Marae Cruce, Dr. Shelton served as principal of Samo for 6 years. He has earned his credentials by spending over 20 years working in the field of education, as well as earning a Bachelor of Arts in history, a Master of Arts in social studies, a Master of Arts in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership.

Editor-in-Chief

The Samohi is a monthly newspaper by, for and about Santa Monica High School students. Our goal is to empower the student body through information. We do not represent the views of the administration or staff. We do not endorse advertisements placed in our paper.

thesamohinews@gmail.com

Hawene Alemayehu

Nika Nazarizadeh

Managing Editor

Sports Editors

Sydney Roker

News Editors

Cleo Topp Matilde Martinez-Navarrete

Sienna Bevan Ryan Kim

Emi Yamashiro-Herget

Centerspread Editor

A&E Editor

Aili Forster

Staff Writers

Opinion Editor

Student Life Editor

Sara Javerbaum

Art Editor

Audrey Strauss Photo Editor

Taylor Witt

Faculty Advisor

Elizabeth Stapleton

Violeta Buitrago, Addie Burns, Sia Kresch, Claire Harrison, Koi Lerner, Manny Lopez, Maggie Marks, Declan Ney, Dalia Puchalt, Louis Rotgin, Liam Sauer, Kamerin Shakir, Olivia Stephansen, Nathan Vasquez

The Samohi October 13, 2023 03

News

The PSAT goes fully digital as of fall 2023

Clare Harrison Staff Writer On Oct. 25, Samo will be administering the PSATs digitally.

After 90 years of testing on paper, the College Board has changed the PSATs to be taken online, marking a huge shift in standardized testing. Through this transition, the PSATs have undergone significant developments in the content, format and the general accessibility. All of these changes are aimed at creating testing that’s friendlier for students and educators.

The PSAT, also known as Preliminary SAT, is a 2-part, multiple-choice standardized test used for preparing students for

their SAT. Testing is divided into a reading and writing section and a math section, students receive a total score between 320-1520. The PSATs are taken by around 3.6 million students ranging from 9th to 11th grade. The PSAT is the only test that can qualify students for the National Merit Scholarship, a program that allows students to earn academic scholarships for university. Although PSATs are not considered in the college admission process, it is an incredibly helpful tool for students to get a sense of what SATs are like and identify what areas they need improvement in.

Many major changes to PSATs can be found throughout this digital transformation. One of the most significant being the shortened duration of the test, digital PSATs are approximately 30 minutes shorter than traditional PSATs, as this new form of testing is adaptive to student responses. It tailors the difficulty of questions depending on how well a student is performing. The reading and writing sections have been reduced to only one

instead of two sections, and is focusing on shorter passages containing only one question. One of the most convenient developments for students is the quicker score responses. Students can expect to receive their scores in a matter of days, instead of weeks.

Changes of less significance are also apparent in this new formatting. There are many tools being made accessible for students to help guide them through their test-taking process. Students are now able to flag down questions to return to later, as well as a countdown clock that can alert them when they are running low on time. In math sections, built-in graphing calculators are made available, along with reference sheets composed of formulas.

These seemingly smaller changes can have a strong impact on students, making testing more efficient.

Given that this is the first year that digital PSATs are being implemented, there is some worry of the complications that could potentially arise and the unreliabil-

ity of computers. When working digitally, issues with technology are always a possibility, if there are extensive issues with the PSATs, it will greatly impact students and staff nationwide. Some concerns that remain with digital testing could be network crashes, computer issues, and ensuring all students are prepared with their laptop or test-taking device.

Samo’s principal, Marae Cruce shares the school’s approach on preventing connection issues during testing.

“We have tech support for every amount of rooms, for every floor and each zone that the PSAT is occurring in. […] We’ve checked our Wi Fi to make sure that it can reach all of the rooms,” Cruce said. “It’s ramped up enough that there is enough bandwidth for everybody to have be on their devices. It can actually support everybody that’s in there to be on two devices, at least. So, we know that we can support everybody being on at the same time.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Increased weather catastrophes in the wake of climate change Aili Forster Centerspread Editor

With Hurricane Hillary hitting California in midAug., recent headlines have brought attention to similar weather and natural disaster reports, often related to or traced back to the effects of climate change. The tropical storm Daniel, which swept across the Mediterranean Sea causing massive flooding in Libya, has killed over 4,000 residents and destroyed entire neighborhoods. Just north-west of Libya, on Sept. 8, Morocco was hit with a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, wiping out rural communities near the city of Marrakesh, and killing at least 3,000 people.

Though Hurricane Hillary effectively damaged land and residential parts of Southern California, the tropical storm fortunately had been weakened when reaching Los Angeles on Aug. 20, causing no casualties in California. Nonetheless, the storm was considered an anomaly as it was the first hurricane to hit California since 1939. Though there is no direct association or evidence between climate change and the hurricane, it is clear that such unpredictable and uncommon weather events are linked to climate change.

The tropical storm which struck Libya on Sept. 10, could be correlated to the effects of climate change similarly to Hillary, as such storms are highly uncommon to Libya’s regular climate. Higher ocean and air temperatures due to global warming also lead to more

water vapor being held and eventually cause an even wetter storm-climate. Contrary to Hurricane Hillary’s milder effects, the tropical storm in Libya triggered a domino-effect of disastrous reactions, beginning with the bursting of two dams in the northeastern city of Derna. The dams had been in vulnerable condition for several years and finally bursted due to the heavy rain, causing massive flooding throughout the city and with it destroying buildings and land. Although weather conditions were the inevitable cause for the flooding, political chaos within Libya played a factor in the poor upkeep of the dams, as well as other infrastructure.

The Morocco earthquake’s epicenter was the mountainous region of Al Haouz outside the city of Marrakesh, which added to the resulting damage as roads built into mountain sides were destroyed or roads were CNN News by Mario Tama / The Samohi blocked off due to fallen rock boulders.

Some cars and houses were partially submerged due to heavy rain, even in Despite rescue and aid efforts in affected areas, there desert areas, such as Cathedral City, California. are several factors hindering full aid and recovery besides the physical barriers and technical difficulty involved in recovery. The city of Derna has been essentially cut off from outside access due to blocked off roads, limiting victims from receiving external aid from various organizations. Morocco, similarly, is faced with the issue of government control on foreign interference and aid. thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Atlantic / The Samohi

Flooding washed throughout the entire city of Derna, Libya, from the seaside/coast to the inland.

CNN News / The Samohi

The historic city center of Marrakesh and mountainous areas experienced greater destruction than the outer modern quarters due to building construction and wear.

Audrey Strauss / The Samohi

thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi

04 October 13, 2023

News

Samo ranks in top 4 percent of schools nationwide Maggie Marks Staff Writer

Samo is ranked in the top 4 percent out of the estimated 18,000 schools across the nation according to U.S. News, as of August 29.

U.S. News ranks high schools on 6 factors of criteria; college readiness, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates. Based on data from 20192022, 69 percent of Samo’s student body has taken at least one AP Exam, and 55 percent have passed one exam. On average, Samo’s subject proficiency exhibited by statewide exams is higher than the state of California by 21.7 percent. Samo’s graduation rate is also high at 97 percent with high rates of subject proficiency, test-taking abilities, and graduation rates, Samo creates strong students.

According to Principle Marae Cruce, Samo students are heavily focused on their passions, which are encouraged by Samo staff and the surrounding community.

“The students are studious with regard to what they are interested in. They are able to pursue and have an opportunity to rigorous curriculum and explore areas that interest them.

They are focused and determined,” Cruce said. “It’s definitely by the community from what the students see success being defined as, but it is also fostered by the teachers. The way that they conduct their class and content and learning and questioning.”

Samo students can explore their interests with an array of classes and electives. Samo thrives with a renowned music department, a prominent theater and visual arts department, and a multitude of sports. Samo students are provided with access to a variety of extracurricular activities that they can partake in. Tess Sloan (’25) is a participant in numerous of the activities Samo offers and said she values the accessibility of Samo.

“We offer so many things and make it available,” Sloan said, “My friends from other schools are so surprised when I tell them I’m taking so many classes because they aren’t allowed to take that many classes.”

Cruce believes that Samo has many additional assets that promote Samo’s ranking, such as the variety of classes students are able to partake in.

“The level of diverse classes we have to offer, the options, the number of advanced placement classes; those are definitely

some of the factors that have us ranking a little higher,” Cruce said. “The culture on campus, whether that is the academic or athletic culture. We have all of our fine arts.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Taylor Witt / The Samohi Isabella Meyers (‘25) [left] and Marley Olmos (‘25) [right] design their bowls during class for Ceramics 1.

Santa Monica City Council explores transportation solutions Olivia Stephansen Staff Writer

Taylor Witt / The Samohi Clara Percuns (’26) uses the bike lane outside of Samo after school on Oct. 9

Transportation plays a significant role in students’ lives at Samo.

From taking the bus to biking there are many different ways students and staff get to and from school. Through the busy roads, and the fight for parking spaces, there is a lot of stress for students to make it to school on time. A related law called the Bike Action Plan Amendment is being proposed by the city of Santa Monica to help bike riders be safer on the road, add poles to separate bike lanes from traffic, and expand the bike lanes Jasmine Talledo (25’) bikes often on the way home from volleyball practice at Samo. This form of transportation can get hectic with the number of people in the bike lanes and the amount of traffic causing accidents and overall stress.

“Bigger bike lanes would help people in the morning because there is a lot of traffic and it can get stressful when there’s a bunch of cars so improving the bike lanes can make it easier and faster,” said Talledo.

Taxis were another main discussion in the council’s meeting.

The popularity of cabs has declined due to a recent shortage, as well as the uprising of Lyft and Uber. The City Council noticed this issue and is trying to turn those into short-term parking zones or bike lane blockages. This could give more accessibility for divers in pick-up zones. Getting rid of the cab zones could cause parking for Samo students and staff to become cheaper if

there are more parking spaces.

Brody Wilkes (’24) the leader of the Urban Design Club shares his thoughts about the transportation matter as he said if the city decided to reduce the amount of parking, people could be forced to pay for parking as spots on the street are removed, becoming more expensive.

“To students who don’t want to pay for parking, this could result in decreased accessibility,” Wilkes said. “But for students who rely on driving, the civic center, SMMUSD office, and Belmar Fields’ parking prices changing, would probably have more of an effect on parking costs overall.¨ Due to requests to have law enforcement give more tickets for big lane infractions of people parking, bike lanes were a secondary topic of the Santa Monica City Council’s meeting on Sept.

12. They are looking to bring more electric scooters and bikes into Santa Monica to reduce the number of cars in the city. This would try to provide more accessible transportation for residents.

Zinnia Weybrigh (’24), a member of the Samo student transportation task force said students need to be notified if changes were made to motivate them to switch their habits.

“Another thing the city could do is work on their public transportation, specifically buses,” Weybright said. “Either expanding bus lanes or increasing the frequency of the buses before and after school. Since, late or completely full buses prevent a lot of students from taking them.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

California Workability1 program widens employment opportunities for special education students at Samo Claire Harrison Staff Writer

Samohi’s WorkAbility 1 is paving the way for typically disadvantaged students to have their place in employment.

Workability 1, a California-funded program, is actively aiming for a more inclusive workplace by creating a space for disabled students to develop vital skills in communication and self-management. WorkAbility1 is working to prepare special-education students with the necessary skills and experience for the workforce. However, Workability1’s impact goes beyond the classroom, not only are they working on employment preparation, but also allowing students to navigate their personal skill sets and empowering them to discover their full potential.

Students work with a variety of hands-on experiences and communicative activities that allow them to get a real sense of what their future jobs could entail. Tasks such as organizing items into bins or shelves or even practicing rolling silverware into a napkin for prospective restaurant employees can be incredibly beneficial. Augmented-Alternative Communication (AAC) is also prevalent in getting a sense of social interaction.

AAC, generally a digital device, allows those who are limited in a speech to express themselves in other forms, like photos and sym-

Taylor Witt / The Samohi The WorkAbility1 students join together and show their pride in uniform outside in the Discovery Quad.

WorkAbility1 is a California-funded program that teaches special-education students some key skills they will need in the workforce.

bols. These methods prepare students for in-person interactions, giving them practical skills to apply to their work.

Samohi’s WorkAbility1 coordinator, Kelly Keith said, students, staff and parents work collectively to determine how a job placement aligns with a student’s interests and skills. Recognizing students’ individuality

and asking them about their preferred work environment can determine the best job for these students.Keith will even contact businesses and request a sample of the work that students would be doing so that they can get an opportunity to practice their tasks and ensure it’s a right fit.

WorkAbility1 gives an environment for

special education students to adapt to new situations. Being in a larger crowd, especially in retail environments, students can feel magnified and uncomfortable. Keith speaks on the program’s influence on combating stereotypes “I think we’re directly attacking that issue by breaking the barriers and the stigmatism of hiding people with disabilities,” Keith said. “We’ve come a long way but there is still that which is somewhat of a shock when you see somebody with more extreme intensive needs.”

Workability1 has gotten connected with a variety of businesses in Santa Monica that are employing their students. Including establishments like TJ Maxx, Animal Kingdom, Earth Wind & Flower, Hilton Hotel and even past employees at the Santa Monica Daily Press. However, Keith said, they are actively looking for more relationships with Santa Monica-based businesses.

“Being a part of the workforce allows others to see capabilities, see the oneness, the sameness that we all have and to be more open-minded, more able to embrace the possibility that this person with extensive needs is productive, useful, and important.

And plays a role in society like everyone else,” Keith said.

thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi October 13, 2023 05

OPINION

Should affirmative action be considered in college admissions?

On June 29, the Supreme Court declared race-based affirmative action unconstitutional, meaning race will no longer be considered in the college admissions process. Two long-standing cases argued by the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFAI) against two universities, Harvard and University of North Carolina, were decided against supporters of affirmative action, changing the future of college admissions in America.

YES

Sienna Bevan News Editor

Amy Chapman, an English teacher at Samo, was incredibly frustrated by the Supreme Court decision to reverse affirmative action. “[...] it did nothing to address the systemic inequities, and the inherent advantages that some students have in the college application process,” Chapman said. “So, if you want to revamp the college application process, to make it equitable and fair, I don’t understand how you can leave things like legacy admissions and admissions based on donations to a college.”

In order to address the lack of racial diversity at higher educational institutions, affirmative action should not have been banned. It is equitable, with the purpose of giving opportunities to disproportionately affected students, and undoing centuries of racism and systemic inequality.

The Supreme Court made a mistake—one that will harm not only colleges and people of color, but also future generations to come.

The Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action in admissions is one that will reverse decades of progress made toward diversifying schools.

Since the 1960s, affirmative action has been in place to drive equality and diversity in schools. Without it, diversity on campuses nationwide could decrease substantially. Affirmative action is an effort to actively offset disadvantages that have been established through centuries of institutional racism. It works to address economic disparities that are often, but not always, correlated with racial disparities.

Maggie Colburn, who teaches history as well as AVID, an academic support program focused on preparing students for college eligibility, believes that applications should factor in socioeconomics in addition to race.

“I think if you really want a diverse population, you need to take into account socioeconomics as well because a lot of the people who are admitted into the top institutions who are people of color tend to come from a higher socioeconomic background,” Colburn said. “So you’re getting diversity of like, say the color of your skin, but not diversity of socioeconomic experiences.”

Though it isn’t technically “equal,” it is fair, giving opportunities to those who have been historically disadvantaged. It may not seem fair to people who are participating in the admissions process in any given year; but looked at in the context of our country’s history, the changes being made today don’t even begin to address the imbalances that were created in the past. There are multi-generational advantages from which some people benefit, whether or not they are aware of them. The job of affirmative action is to assess applicants while taking into consideration the historical disadvantages they have experienced due to race.

For those who want to cry foul over affirmative action, they might want to concern themselves with other persistent imbalances. College admissions throughout history have contained many elements that benefit some groups more than others, including preferences towards Art by Max Kehoe legacy applicants and students with personal connections to people of influence.

NO Liam Sauer Staff Writer

Affirmative action was a system put in place with good intentions. However, it has utterly failed at ending the discriminatory system that it was put in place to erase and has only propagated the same racism it supposedly eradicated from college campuses. Affirmative action judged students solely on societal groupings instead of their individual experiences, and for that reason, it was imperative that it had to end.

Affirmative action began in the US as an extremely promising system. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, essentially every person of color was looked upon poorly in the college admissions process. So, giving minorities the same opportunity to enter college obviously made a lot of sense. Yet, as many proponents of affirmative action would argue, this is not what the system does, or, the policy that the Supreme Court overturned.

The system doesn’t mandate equality but instead seeks to judge individuals even more on their backgrounds. For example, a study at Princeton found that, under affirmative action, the average African American applicant got around a 230-point boost in SAT scores and the average Hispanic American applicant got around a 185-point boost while the average Asian American applicant got roughly a 50-point decrease during admissions.

Under affirmative action, an Asian Student, regardless of whether or not they have a low income, come from a struggling household or experience significant racism, will still be undervalued in college admissions. In a country where hate crimes against Asians, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism,

have increased by 339 percent, how does systematically discriminating against them somehow work towards equality?

The argument that affirmative action is also somehow the only means towards minorities entering college, is unfounded. California, which banned affirmative action in its public schools in 1996, is a prime example of this. Since the ban, UC schools in 2021 had 43 percent of their admittance being Black and Latino students, which during affirmative action prior to 1996, was only 20 percent. California higher education managed this diversity, without boxing in students by their race, but by highlighting other important factors like income, prior schooling, and other environmental aspects of a student’s life.

This all goes to show that affirmative action is not the answer. Black and Latino students are not automatically educationally impeded, and Asians aren’t automatically the “Model Minority”. The solution is a system that doesn’t feed into discrimination, but one in which all students’ complex backgrounds are fully analyzed, and through that colleges make informed decisions on applications. Instead of looking at race, colleges should look at a person. If done properly, like in California Schools, diversity can flourish, without having to highlight the same generalized ideas that should be moved away from.

For instance being Black and Latino students, which during affirmative action prior to 1996, was only 20%. California higher education managed this diversity, without boxing in students by their race, but by highlighting other important factors like income, prior schooling, and other environmental aspects of a student’s life.

Lonely or linked? How technology connects us Violeta Buitrago Staff Writer

A common debate within society is the importance of social media, specifically if the technology we use on a daily basis makes us more lonely. Technology provides us with apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok that have all taken over teenagers and young adults today with almost every Samo student owning one of these apps. So the question is, does technology make us more lonely, or connect us in ways humans have never expected?

Having an electronic device that contains messages and social media apps makes it easy to communicate with people from all over the world such as relatives, friends, or people you simply met online.

It is obvious technology does not make us more lonely. It in fact does the opposite, with the emergence of cellphones and computers people were able to start communicating without having to send letters or standing near the walls of their home phones. Technology is also beneficial to meeting new people. With apps such as Instagram and Tiktok you are able to see almost anyone’s profile and send them a message.

For example, cording to pewresearch.org, around 7/10 Americans say that text messages and group communication platforms help them stay connected to their friends and family. Many people, like Samo student Victor Polo (’24) make friends through social media and online interactions.

“It can be very beneficial because you are connected to lots of things in the world and you are able to learn about other people. For me it is also very good because I am connected to my friends who are not always close to me and live in a different country,” Polo said.

The communication that technology provides us goes deeper than

just being able to talk to friends and family. There are many support groups online available for people who need to express their problems and challenges and may not have people who can relate to them in their circle of friends. This is also a great way to connect with people who have similar interests or struggles which is very good for a person’s mental health.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, people were completely isolated from those they do not live with. Technology made it accessible to communicate with friends and loved ones around the world who were going through the same thing. It also allowed people to hear latest news updates on the current state of the pandemic and other current events happening around the world.

Although some can argue that the use of technology may make people feel more lonely through seeing other people’s lives and comparing it to theirs. It is important to realize that the feeling of loneliness can come from many different outside factors and it is easy to blame technology for those feelings. Whether you are in a classroom or simply trying to connect with loved ones, technology is necessary and helpful.

AP statistics teacher Lance Radford explains its benefits within the classroom and the outside-world, “Technology makes the world more accessible daily. It allows us to communicate and collaborate with access to data output and make informed decisions,” Radford said.

Art by Audrey Strauss

thesamohinews@gmail.com

thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi

06 October 13, 2023

Volunteer hours: an unnecessary expectation

Ryan Kim

News Editor

Unsurprisingly, volunteering is a good deed that benefits the community. In fact, many Samo students spend their free time participating in a wide range of volunteer organizations.

However, should these good acts of service be a requirement within schools? Although volunteering is a noble service that is needed for the optimal success of a community, it should not be forced upon students as a requirement If volunteer work is forced upon students, it would not have that same fulfillment. Being in a position to help out the community requires leadership. If students are being forced into positions of leadership, the passion that is typically poured into volunteering by true leaders vanishes.

Furthermore, requiring volunteer hours can create trouble in a student’s time management. The hefty workload of students does not allow for much free time, and the little time granted to students should not have to be filled with volunteer hours.

Instead of forcing students to volunteer at unfamiliar places, it’s more beneficial to allow them to focus on their academics and extracurricular activities that they find more purposeful and meaningful. If a student doesn’t have the free time to go the extra mile to help out, it should not be forced upon them.

However, choosing to volunteer by choice provides students with a sense of accomplishment and allows them to make a difference in their community. Students feel prepared enough to volunteer and find something they want to volunteer in.

For example, the National Honor Society requires 30 hours of volunteer service and it’s acknowledged that you accomplish that amount of hours and you get recognition for it.

Yada Taepanicharoen (’25) currently has more than 70 hours

of volunteering hours. She started volunteering as a freshman during the summer ever since she found out about Summer Adventure, a summer camp where she worked alongside teachers and faculty. Taepanicharoen said schools should not require volunteer hours but should be encouraged.

“I think requiring it just makes [one] less inclined to actually do volunteering for the joy of it and more for like, ‘Oh, I’m obligated to volunteer,’” Taepanicharoen said. “Requiring volunteering hours just adds to the workload students have already.”

H House Principal Tristan Komlos said mandating volunteer hours will make students feel like it’s a requirement which ruins the benefit volunteering brings to you and the community.

“I think there has to be a little bit of an incentive for students because the reason it’s not mandated here is because so much service comes through our clubs, which are student-driven.

Teachers do not drive clubs, students do,” Komlos said. “I think that we also opened the door for students that aren’t interested in clubs or national honor society by saying that they can earn attendance obligations through volunteer service within our smaller community.”

Samo doesn’t require students to volunteer because the school provides various opportunities such as Peer tutoring which allows students to clear up absences while teaching other students about any topic. Moreover, clubs such as Heal the Bay focus on getting volunteer hours while helping their community and others like Legado Latino have the sole purpose of raising money to give back to their community. This makes volunteering so much more fulfilling and worthwhile as you can decide to volunteer at clubs that match your interests.

Volunteering can bring many opportunities to showcase

Out with the old, in with the new: dress codes and their place in schools

Opinion

your abilities and interests but should be optional to receive those benefits. If you’re forced to volunteer, it wouldn’t be as beneficial as if you decided to volunteer as you would feel more motivated and inspired to help your community.

“I know it sounds really cliche, but to experience things outside of school requirements, experiencing the real world with its interactions and you can gain so many new perspectives from that,” Taepanicharoen said.

Ryan Kim / The Samohi Delmoris Chavarria (‘24) volunteers as a tutor, helping students such as Daphne Lopez (‘26) with math through peer tutoring. thesamohinews@gmail.com

Fruit Salad by Dalia Puchalt

Dalia Puchalt Staff Writer

At Samo, many students use the way that they dress to express themselves. Self-expression is an excellent way to build confidence and lets adolescents explore their personal style and identity. Additionally, fashion is a manifestation of art and an excellent way to showcase creativity.

It’s no secret that there’s been a lot of discourse on the subject, so many other high schools have hopped on the trend and eradicated dress codes once and for all. Many schools like Pali High have stopped tyrannizing their students’ wardrobes, so why can’t Samo pull the plug?

Apart from limiting self-expression, many students, like Lila Sencio (’24), agree that dress codes are severely outdated on the feminist front and think that they carry chauvinist connotations.

“Dress codes tend to be directed towards girls, causing them to feel signaled out and objectified. If a girl can’t wear a tank top, then a guy should be told to pull up his pants,” Sencio said.

The prohibition of low-cut shirts, showing of the abdomen and shorts above fingertips are all vetoes that target trends in girls’ fashion specifically. At a time when female students are at their most emotionally malleable, dress codes spur feelings of insecurity and bouts of self-criticism.

On the other side of the fence, teenage boys are blissfully oblivious to these mental repercussions. When confronted about his experiences with the dress code, Oscar Vaughan-Verk (’25) found that he’d never had to worry about dress code policies.

“I’ve never been dress-coded in my life, or had to worry about it at all,” Vaughn-Verk said.

“I’ve seen a ton of my male friends walk around shirtless and not get dress coded or anything.”

A dress code may have been slightly more permissible in middle school, as younger students may not have yet developed a sense of what is and isn’t appropriate to wear in different contexts. But on this campus, most Samo students agree that they are old enough to dictate their own appearances.

“High schoolers are at the age where they should be mature enough to decide what’s appropriate for school and what’s not,” Sencio said.

“Just wear what makes you comfortable.”

Art by Audrey Strauss

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The Samohi October 13, 2023

Student life Homecoming 2023: Dancing under the stars Max Kehoe Staff Writer

Homecoming 2023 was a star-studded event. The dance, which was held the night of Oct. 7, was flooded with smiles and laughter throughout the cafeteria and Innovation Quad.

The atmosphere was busy, with hundreds of Samo students in attendance. The dance floor between the cafeteria and the Discovery Building stairs was the focal point of Homecoming. Songs such as “Starships”

by Nicki Minaj were so beloved by students that their dancing caused the ground to literally shake. There were several food options, such as pizza, creamsicles and slushies. It was also full of great photo opportunities, including a 360-degree camera and several caricature artists. With plenty of room to converse, eat and dance the night away it was the perfect night. Student Charlie Llorente (’27) provided her point of view during the dance.

“It’s fun spending time with my friends and seeing them dressed up,” Llorente said. “The decorations are actually amazing.”

The Samo Vikings’ Instagram posted Homecoming proposals leading up to the dance itself. Most of these proposals included one student asking out their friend

Taylor Witt / The Samohi

Katie Sievers (’24) and Sage Hightower (’24) take a break from the dance floor in the Samo cafeteria during the Homecoming dance.

or partner by creating a clever and unique sign and filming the other person’s reaction. On the Instagram account, many Homecoming proposals that were featured this year and in years past were of queer relationships. While some schools and districts in other states and areas may be averse to displaying queer students, the Samo Instagram account includes a diverse set of student perspectives.

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Other schools aren’t always as open as Samo. Many states across the US are allowing more and more homophobic bills and ideologies to become normalized.

There has been an overwhelming amount of rejection against LGBTQ people recently, especially queer youth.

High schools are reverting to no longer being safe spaces for queer students in areas such as Texas and Arizona, forcing teens to hide their true selves. Even high schools trying to support their LGBTQIA+ student body have faced negative backlash when doing so.

For example, according to NBC news, a Kansas City Oak Park High School student Tristan Young faced immense judgment after tweeting about being appointed Homecoming Queen. She received many hateful comments such as tweets accusing her of pushing the agenda that men are better than women. School is rapidly becoming a dangerous and fearful space for queer students in red states and areas. However, students such as Frances Aguilar (’26) advocate that Samo provides a safe space.

“I always am surrounded by support and love here at Samo,” Aguilar said. “Because there are so many LGBTQ+ resources and students, I never feel uncomfortable to be who I am.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Meet the starry 2023 Homecoming Court As schools all over host their annual Homecoming dance, many long standing traditions accompany it such as a football game, spirit week and Homecoming court. Each year, Samo seniors get a chance to be nominated as Homecoming King or Queen to celebrate school spirit and show their involvement at Samo. This year, nominees were presented at the Pep Rally on Friday, Oct. 6 and will come together once again on Friday, Oct. 13 at the Homecoming football game for the winners to be announced. As people cast their votes, the nominees share their thoughts and reactions on their elections to Homecoming Court.

Cleo Topp

Sports Editor

Aili Forster / The Samohi

“I was honestly surprised when I got nominated. I hope to represent young black scholars... and all things positive here at Samo.”

–Zoe Alexander (’24)

Manny Lopez / The Samohi

“If you’re going for something, you might as well win. Whatever happens, happens.”

–Jayden Montanez (’24)

Kara Best / Contributor

“I immediately told my mom. She was in Hoco Court every year of high school. I also want to go into politics so I like any opportunity to campaign.”

–Kara Best (’24)

Sydney Roker / The Samohi

“I was pretty happy. It was cool because my brother did it last year.”

–Luke Hecht (’24)

Aili Forster / The Samohi

“I was with my friends and we were... celebrating, jumping up and down. I was really happy, I didn’t know I was going to get nominated.”

–Thaice Clark (’24)

Aili Forster / The Samohi

“It was definitely interesting.

Never thought of it happening because it’s not something I’m thinking about. But I was surprised and it was unexpected.”

–Griffin Seals (’24)

Aili Forster / The Samohi

“My first reaction was: ‘Oh, wow.

Thank you, freshman boys.’ Sad that Hope Hamilton and I didn’t win together.”

–Maxine Grossman (’24)

Josh Tang / Contributor

“I wasn’t planning on it, but it kind of all just happened. It’s kind of cool, though.”

–Josh Tang (’24)

Mary Wondwossen / Contributor

“I just said ‘Oh.’ I was really excited, though.”

– Mary Wondwossen (’24)

Sydney Roker / The Samohi

“My honest reaction was: ‘Bruh.’

But I’m thankful for all of the people in theatre, choir and engineering, and all of my classmates and friends who voted for me.”

–Justin Xu (’24)

From left to right: Kara Best, Josh Tang, Jayden Montanez, Mary Wondwosset, Zoe Alexander, Luke Hecht, Griffin Seals, Thaice Clark, Maxine Grossman and Justin Xu at the Homecoming Pep Rally.

Art by Audrey Strauss vikingssamohi / Contributor

thesamohinews@gmail.com

Top 6 Markets to Bookmark in LA

Sia Kresh & Addie Burns One of Los Angeles’ biggest draws is its sunny weather, which allows outdoor markets and events to thrive almost all year long.

Staff Writer

Whether rain or shine, farmers markets’ line the streets of different neighborhoods weekly, and flea markets pop-up every weekend throughout Los Angeles. The Samohi has created a list of some of the best markets in Los Angeles that should be bookmarked for any LA local or visitor!

Santa Monica Airport Antique Market: The Santa Monica Airport Antique Market has anything ranging from Victorian to mid-century furniture, and a wide range of art from around the world. Vendors from all over southern California come to sell their unique collections such as Marilyn Cosentino, who shares her Native American and Central American jewelry, as well as rugs and belts. The market has a 5-10 dollar entry fee but is dog friendly and provides free on-site parking. It is located at 3223 Donald Douglas Loop S, and takes place on the first and fourth Sunday of every month between 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Silverlake Flea Market: The Silverlake Flea Market is open every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and every Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There are a myriad of 90s and y2k vintage items to be found at this flea market including clothes, handmade gems, art pieces, rare vinyl’s, collectibles and much much more. Though definitely catered to a more Gen Z crowd, the market is both dog friendly and kid friendly.

Mar Vista Farmers Market: The Mar Vista Farmers Market is a year round farmers market located on Venice Blvd. and is open every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Mar Vista Farmers Market features all types of vendors from all over California, often accumulating over 100 vendors. All sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables, grass fed meats and cheese, locally caught wild seafood, fresh squeezed juices, plant-based foods, hand-made pastas and organic chocolate can be found at this farmers market. There are also lots of prepared food items at this market, making it a perfect lunch spot after shopping.

Brentwood Farmers Market: Open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday, the Brentwood Farmers Market is a great place to find a variety of fresh produce and treats. Located on Gretna Green Way between San Vicente and Montana, this farmers market presents a variety of seasonal fruits and veggies, as well as an assortment of prepared foods. The market also hosts vendors selling ready-made foods such as Rawsome Morsels, which sells healthy pastries and sweets; perfect as a quick snack.

Grand Central Market: The Grand Central Market first opened in Oct. 1917 in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and has been around ever since. Home to around 40 vendors, Grand Central Market illustrates the best ingredients, chefs and entrepreneurs in California. Grand Central Market is home to many different cuisines, from Italian to Chinese to Salvadorian. There are also many delis, bakeries, ice cream shops, bars, seafood markets, as well as juice and coffee shops. Open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, Grand Central Market is definitely a must visit spot in LA.

Smorgasburg LA Market: Smorgasburg is one of the largest outdoor food and vendor markets in the country, with locations in New York, Jersey City, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto. Smorgasburg L.A is family friendly and has free entry.

The LA location is open every Thursday and Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., at The Row in downtown. With nearly 100 stands and small businesses present, Smorgasburg is a large shopping scene and is filled with exquisite foods. thesamohinews@gmail.com

HOTLB: Favorite LA Childhood Memories From the magical American Girl Doll store in The Grove to Bowlmor Bowling Alley where many birthdays were spent, there are some spots which are quintessential to the classic LA childhood. As high schoolers grow up and mature, certain memories tend to be forgotten while some remain distinctly in their minds. The Samohi asked students to recall their fondest memories while growing up in LA.

Kamerin Shakir Staff Writer

Around

Maggie Marks & Violeta Buitr Staff Writer

brate the range of cuisines in LA

Darya restaurant: Darya restaurant is a charmin on Santa Monica Blvd. that ser foods. Darya has gained severa “2022 best of the Southland by delicious meals that include a sian appetizers, they also have days. Darya offers event cateri tarian options.

Bangkok West Thai: Bangkok West Thai is located st., and offers a wide range of c Chinese dishes. Although the livery, the classic interior at Ban in-person dining atmosphere. their green curry and mango st menu options for anyone, and i

Awash Ethiopian: Bangkok West Thai is located st., and offers a wide range of c Chinese dishes. Although the livery, the classic interior at Ban in-person dining atmosphere. their green curry and mango st menu options for anyone, and i

Sunny Blue: Sunny Blue is a family-owned in Omusubi, or rice-balls. As th restaurant in America, the rest ite among Santa Monica reside lunch food that includes any wrapped in rice, and wrapped o offers some more traditional fil so-ume, and also more original miso-beef. With two locations, o st. in Santa Monica, Sunny Blue

Street Tacos: Bangkok West Thai is located st., and offers a wide range of c Chinese dishes. Although the livery, the classic interior at Ban in-person dining atmosphere. their green curry and mango st menu options for anyone, and i Kamerin Shakir / The Samohi

Kennedy Mitchell (’24): “My favorite childhood memory in LA was visiting World on Wheels every Sunday. The good music, the feeling of skating with your friends, and forgetting everything around you – that was the best part. It gave me a chance to bond with my community, and that sense of togetherness was truly special,” Mitchell said.

Kamerin Shakir / The Samohi

Jaylen Hazaert (’25): “One of my favorite childhood memories would have to be going to a concert with my dad. The best one was My Chemical Romance at the Kia Forum. I’ve been going to music festivals and concerts since before I could speak and I grew up around music,” Hazaert said.

Kamerin Shakir / The Samohi

Demaurie Williams (’27): “My favorite childhood memory was the Santa Monica ice cream truck that passed school everyday at 4:00. All my friends and neighbors would line up to get a sweet treat in the hot summer sun. Even though other kids would try other ice creams or get crazy candies, I always got vanilla ice cream with a waffle cone,” Williams said.

Kamerin Shakir / The Samohi

Solonia Allen (’26): “One of my favorite childhood memories was eating at 26 Beach, a restaurant I’ve been going to since I was 10. It is located in Marina Del Rey and is all about the vibes and divine food. I really recommend the warm peach french toast,” Allen said. thesamohinews@gmail.com

Woon Kitchen: Initially starting as a family-ru has gained wide recognition fo homestyle Chinese menu. Lo Park, the restaurant’s recipes a “Mama Fong”. The menu is sim ing that every item on the men Shanghainese and Cantonese fl rant’s comforting atmosphere, W for tofu fishcakes, beef noodles

The Perfect Daytrip

Nika Nazarizadeh With the weekend right around the corner, it’s the perfect time for me to take you out on an LA day

trip. Get your bag ready with sunscreen, a book, your wallet and maybe a portable charger to make sure you have enough battery for all the pictures we’re going to take. With so much to do in LA, you can trust that it’s going to be a fun time. But, if you still don’t trust me, let me break down the itinerary for you.

Opinion Editor

1. We are going to start out our day bright and early at Blueys Santa Monica, a local chic cafe that has such good vibes it might even outweigh the food. The sweet squash pancakes are a must, along with a matcha americano. If you are craving a more healthy option, you could go for an acai bowl or smoothie. Nonetheless, we will chat about school and how excited we are for our day as we chow down our food.

d the world (in LA)

2. After fueling up on pancakes, we will hop into the car and drive down the Pacific Coast Highway until we hit Malibu beach. After gazing off at the glistening water for the 25-minute car ride, we are going to set our towels down and jump into the ocean. We can swim and bodysurf; and once we have completely exhausted ourselves, we can lay out in the warm sun and read while we get a quick tan.

rago From Los Angeles natives to those who have just moved to the city, there are end-

less unique spots—especially restaurants— to explore. L.A. is a vast and diverse city with an abundance of different cultures present in the food scene. To celeA, The Samohi has gathered a list of the best food spots from a variety of cultures!

ng restaurant located in West LA rves a variety of authentic Persian al awards for their food including y the LA times”. Along with their variety of kebabs, soups and pere live music on Fridays and Saturing and take-out, as well as vegeVia darya.com / Contributor

d at Santa Monica Blvd. and 6th classic Thai foods, as well as some restaurant offers takeout and dengkok West Thai makes for a great From their authentic pad thai to ticky rice, Bangkok West Thai has is very local to Samo.

3. While watching the ocean waves and surfers, we will take in the Malibu breeze with the perfect post-beach meal at the Malibu Farm cafe, the most perfect lunch spot. I’ll order the Peach and Burrata salad, and you’re going to get the Lobster roll. But don’t worry, we can share.

Violeta Buitrago / The Samohi

4. But the fun won’t stop there, with our sandy toes back in the car, we will make our way over to Montana Ave. in Santa Monica, where we will visit the classic “Aero” movie theater for a relaxing way to unwind after the beach. You can choose the movie, as long as I get to choose our snack, which will of course be popcorn.

d at Santa Monica Blvd. and 6th classic Thai foods, as well as some restaurant offers takeout and dengkok West Thai makes for a great From their authentic pad thai to ticky rice, Bangkok West Thai has is very local to Samo.

d Japanese restaurant specializing he first “made-to-order” Omusubi taurant has become a local favorents. Omusubi is a classic Japanese fillings such as meat or furikake, once more in seaweed. Sunny Blue llings such as tuna-mayo and shiflavors like ginger-pork-curry and one in Culver city and one on Main e is the ideal afternoon snack spot!

Via tripadvisor.com / Contributor

Violeta Buitrago / The Samohi

d at Santa Monica Blvd. and 6th classic Thai foods, as well as some restaurant offers takeout and dengkok West Thai makes for a great From their authentic pad thai to ticky rice, Bangkok West Thai has is very local to Samo.

Maggie Marks / The Samohi

run pop-up shop, Woon Kitchen for their charming restaurant and ocated near Silverlake and Echo are an ode to the owner’s mother, mple yet carefully curated, ensurnu is delectable, with influences of flavors. In addition to the restauWoon Kitchen is an excellent spot s, fried rice and much more.

5. If the popcorn didn’t fill you too much, The Butcher’s Daughter in Venice definitely will. The all-vegetarian bohemian restaurant has a full menu of delicious options, so it should be easy to find a meal. It may be tempting, but hold off on the dessert menu, as we are going to make our way down Abbot Kinney to Salt and Straw to cool down and rank their unique yet delectable ice cream flavors.

6.To end the night off, we’ll hit Top Of The World, a beautiful lookout spot in the heart of Pacific Palisades. With our blanket laid out, we will lay and admire the long Pacific Ocean ahead us and hunt for stars in the sky. The perfect way to end the perfect day.

Nika Nazarizadeh / Contributor

thesamohinews@gmail.com Woon Kitchen / Contributor

All Art by Audrey Strauss

The Samohi

10 October 13, 2023

Student Life

CLASSIFIEDS Season of stress: fall college happenings Manny Lopez

Declan Ney

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Samo students, are you looking for a job?

Working can help you get a feel for some of the college duties or jobs beyond school.

These roles, encompassing various areas of interest, can be applied to at any time and they run during school and summer.

AGENT TRAINING PROGRAM (United Talent Agency, Los Angeles) Exposes the Interns to a wide variety of business practices in the field of entertainment. The interns receive formal instruction on the fundamentals of the talent agency business and how to work within it. The interns will be able to work cross-departmentally on projects and research addressing client and business needs.

Call: +1 (310) 273-6700

CHAPTER EXCELLENCE INTERN (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, Los Angeles) Reaching and inspiring Jewish teens during the school year with 600 teen-led local chapters and over 100 weekend retreats along with a plethora of summer experiences including Israel visits, global travel programs and leadership camps. Work as a strong and inclusive team.

Email: pwr@bbyo.org

CORPORATE PARTNER INTERNSHIP (TGR LIVE, Pacific Palisades) Experience various assignments in warehouse operations, fleet, transportation and sales. Work closely with experience professionals who will guide and mentor interns throughout the internship, facilitating career growth and development within their particular interest.

Email: help@tgrfoundation.org

The school year is only a couple of months old, but the work for the Class of 2024 started long before August. It’s that time of year when seniors across the country are swamped with the tasks of submitting their Common App and other applications to a select number of colleges. The fall semester can be an extremely stressful time for seniors, especially the ones still figuring out where to apply, including Samo’s Project-Based Learning Pathway student Vera Silva (‘24).

“So far, it can be a little overwhelming and it can be difficult to write all of the essays,” Silva said. “My advice to future graduating classes is to spend your free time writing a bunch of rough drafts for your personal statement.”

Fortunately, there are several events taking place on Samo’s campus aimed at combating that stress. There are many district representatives from

Highly experienced dog and equestrian trainer seeking a long-term, temporary, part-time or full-time assistant/intern or to complete community service hours for high school students. The job entails training to help clients as well as assisting in conducting classes and private lessons.

Call: (310) 636-4606

FASHION PR INTERN (CLD PR, Los Angeles) Specializes in celebrity and media seeding, designing and creating clothes for stars. Help garner placements on celebrities and in editorial sections of magazines that use freelance stylists, do pick-ups/drops with merchandise, bag up items, assist stylists while in the showroom, merchandise and maintain the aesthetics of the showrooms and gather images.

Email: info@cldstylehouse.com

thesamohinews@gmail.com

Art by Audrey Strauss

the kids and finding out what their passions are.”

Samo seniors aren’t the only class that’s getting into the college frenzy.

This Oct., the freshman, sophomore and junior classes will be taking the PSAT, a test that is the precursor to the SAT. The PSAT is also used to determine which students will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship via test scores. PBL student Eli Rishe (’25) plans on taking the SAT multiple times over the coming months in hopes of achieving better scores each time.

“I’m planning on taking the SAT about three times and I’m hoping to get a score over 1500 by the last test,” Rishe said. “I’m nervous about the SAT because of the magnitude of the test but I would definitely say that I’ve done a lot of work preparing for it.”

“We’re very fortunate to be aided by Naviance with scheduling all of the college visits,” Honda said. “My favorite part of this process is working with

thesamohinews@gmail.com

Lights, camera, karaoke night Liam Sauer Staff Writer

Samohi Karaoke Night began on a brightly illuminated stage, full of anxious, excited and chattering students. The event, hosted by the Running with Speakers Club, may have been one of the most fun and liberating events to be had on the Samo campus so far this year.

Along with showcasing talented students, the karaoke event came with an open, judgment- free environment, full of dancing, singing and truly joyful participants.

Running with Speakers Secretary Sabrina Glasser (’26) explained the goal behind the event and the mission behind the club.

“Essentially, Art by Max Kehoe

DOG TRAINER ASSISTANT (Zoom Room, Los Angeles)

colleges that will be visiting the Samo College and Career Center in the coming weeks including Dartmouth, Vanderbilt and LMU among others. More colleges visited Samo for the annual College Fair on Oct. 12, an event coordinated by Samo’s college counselors, including Julie Honda.

we’re a club that basically takes care of all the technical side of school events and assemblies,” Glasser said. “Our goal is to create a very extroverted space where people are willing to get into events and party and have a good time.”

Working with Glasser was a dedicated tech team that operated a great sound system, a unique array of lights and a monitor to read off lyrics.

Along with this thought-out event run by the club was an extremely supportive and engaged audience. Multiple times, students would hop on stage to join songs with people they didn’t even know. Listeners took part in cheering, clapping along with the songs and encouraging every person who went on stage.

Clint Lovett (’25), who participated in singing Life is a Highway, Wagon Wheel and Enter Sandman on stage, gave a statement which encapsulated the whole event.

“Even if you can’t sing, it’s a really fun time,” Lovett said. “You feel free to be yourself in

that environment. It was just really fun. Go if you want to have a good time, you’ll never forget it.”

The Running with Speakers Club meets every Tuesday at room B206, and would love to have more participants to put on additional events like this for Samo.

Liam Sauer / The Samohi

Students sing along to Justin Bieber’s “Baby“ in front of a captive audience at the Samohi Karaoke Night thesamohinews@gmail.com

Pep rally kicks off Homecoming festivities Violeta Buitrago Staff Writer

On October 6, as students entered the Greek Theatre filled with excitement for the second pep rally of the year, they were greeted by an atmosphere filled with star decorations and lively music. This rally was hosted in order to get ready for Homecoming and celebrate those nominated for Homecoming Royalty. To kick off the festivities, the Samo Chamber Choir performed the National Anthem. Shortly after, Samo Cheer had their lively performance with many tricks to a mashup of different rap songs by Kendrick Lemar including “Kings Dead” and “m.A.A.d City.”

The junior and senior classes then competed in a soccer match with the participants wearing inflatable orbs, with juniors taking the win. To follow, the Samo Golden Poms performed an intricate dance to “Desperado” by Rihanna and other songs, an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Student Isabel Hudson (’24) shared her thoughts on the event, “I really enjoyed the rally,” Hudson said.

“I particularly enjoyed Cheer and Pom’s performances and how I got to celebrate my school with my friends.”

Next, hosts Jade Furukawa (’24) and Mira Wagabaza (’24) announced the sports

teams. Girls’ Flag Football and Boys’ Football had an energetic dance battle, with the Viking mascot also dancing against the two teams. The Greenies, Samo’s water polo and swim team, ran out painted all green, making the crowd go wild.

As students had been anticipating, the Homecoming Court was introduced to

Martin Ledford / contributor

Homecoming Court nominees Kara Best (’24) and Josh Tang (’24) wave to the audience from a podium at the Oct. 6 pep rally

Samo students for the first time. Each pair walked out of the inflatable Viking mascot

with the audience showing their support for those nominated.

One of the last activities of the rally included the teacher lip sync battle where different teachers performed a routine to a song and students were able to rate each performance. The battle was kicked off by a performance to “Dance the Night Away”

by Dua Lipa from the “Barbie” movie soundtrack and consisted of Samo teacher Jason Daglis on roller skates with lots of confetti. Every teacher had an energetic performance, making it enjoyable for all of the audience.

As some noticed, the scheduling for the pep rally was different this year with the rally being a kickoff event and the homecoming football game as the culmination.

This was due to scheduling conflicts that needed to be worked around while still giving students their full week of celebration.

Overall, pep rallies are an amazing way to build school spirit amongst students. Principal Marae Cruce shares the importance of schoolwide events.

“It’s an opportunity to build community and celebrate together,” Cruce said. “We have a lot of amazing things going on on campus and it’s a chance for all of us to celebrate one another.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi October 13, 2023 11

Arts and Entertainment “GUTS”: Album of the year or anticlimatic?

Claire Harrison Staff Writer

On Sept. 8, singer-songwriter and actress Olivia Rodrigo published her latest pop-rock album “GUTS”.

Rodrigo’s previous release and debut album, “SOUR”, was incredibly well received and secured her place in the pop world. Two years and three months later, fans have eagerly awaited her new music. In her new release, Rodrigo explores the theme of vulnerability and growth through her embittered, angsty melodies, which resonates with her teenage demographic.

Rodrigo expresses recent feelings of growth and self navigation, with tracks like “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” captivating the insecurity and confusion that come with being a teenager. Rodrigo sings of the universal feeling of social embarrassment and humiliation, singing “Every time I step outside, it’s social suicide.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Rodrigo shares how her experience with newfound adulthood inspired her songwriting process.

“This album encapsulates growing up and figuring yourself out in the world, and the awkwardness of that.

I feel myself growing leaps and bounds,” Rodrigo said.

“Lacy”, the fourth track, takes a different approach, shying away from her typical indie rock and opening

with a much more gentle sound of acoustic guitar and soft vocals. This track, arguably the album’s best, touches on the feelings of near obsession and jealousy, and attempting to understand and control these irrational thoughts but simply being consumed by envy.

Since her last release two years ago, Rodrigo has made undeniable improvements in her vocals, production and writing, creating lyrics specific to herself and her experiences in a thoughtful and witty manner. However, “GUTS” presents itself as uninspired.

There are intense similarities from the cover art to the general style and sound, making it seem almost as an extension of “SOUR”, rather than entirely new and original material. Listeners are left with a feeling of vacancy, as this album has been highly anticipated. Yet, they are given a highly repetitive sequel to her previous album.

As both fans and critics discuss worldwide, there is some debate whether Rodrigo is copying styles of other well-respected artists, and even bordering plagiarism.

People claim Rodrigo has used melodies of artists such as Taylor Swift, Paramore and Elvis Costello, borrowing from songs like “Cruel Summer”, “Pump It Up”, and “Misery’s Business.” Rodrigo denied plagiarism claims, stating that they were attempts to “discredit any young woman’s work” (PAPER Magazine).

While many fans are satisfied with “GUTS”, others feel the album is unoriginal and forgettable, lacking experimental aspects. Regardless, Rodrigo made strides in improving the quality of her work and will undoubtedly have success with this new release. Given her young age, and relative newness to the music industry, Rodrigo is still discovering her music style and fans are awaiting to see how her music will develop in the years to come.

Larissa Hoffman / Billboard

thesamohinews@gmail.com

Hollywood on hold until SAG-AFTRA strikes end Dalia Puchalt Staff Writer

On May 2, the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) closed their laptops, put down their pens and went on strike. Two short months later, an irritated Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined the writers for the first time since 1960.

Now, as of Sept. 27, the WGA finally reached a definitive agreement with Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) and are close to resuming their writing of the movies and TV shows that Samo students treasure.

Going into the strikes, both organizations began their negotiations with comparable requests. A large concern was the unsavory state of both writers’ and performers’ streaming residuals. With the rise of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, the way that people are consuming content has changed immensely. Entertainment workers argue that because the primary method of content distribution has shifted this dramatically, their compensation should reflect that.

Additional striking demands include higher wages, mandatory staffing of TV writing rooms and job protections against artificial intelligence.

Beyond the ban on actively taking on new projects and

jobs, strike guidelines strictly prohibit the promotion of already completed work. This means no movie premiers, no social media, no award shows and no interviews. The longer the strike, the more the industry suffers as a whole.

With Hollywood right next door, many Samo students unfortunately feel the impact of these strikes firsthand. They remind us that striking can carry extensive consequences, both financial and emotional. Audrey Enbom (’24) is one of many Samo students with parents in the entertainment industry who was happy to hear the news of the first strike ending.

“For the majority of the strike, my parents really had no idea of how much longer it was going to last and were constantly worried about when

they would return to work. Truthfully, they hated it,” Enbom said.

Members of SAG-AFTRA have yet to cease their negotiations. The union continues to advocate for its workers’ interests while attempting to compromise with their corporate employers. SAG-AFTRA commented on their current situation in an interview for TIME Magazine.

“Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand,” SAG-AFTRA said.

Although the specific issues that they combat may vary, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are emblematic of universal issues that can be applied to nearly all working environments. Hopefully, the entire entertainment industry’s best and brightest will finally get the compensation they deserve— and get their shows back on our TVs while they’re at it!

Art by Audrey Strauss

thesamohinews@gmail.com

“The Bear” season two and the path to healing

Audrey Strauss Art Editor

Warning: This article contains spoilers Season one of FX’s “The Bear” ended with a joyous discovery of $300,000 hidden in tomato cans, and it seemed like the show with 99% positive ranking from Rotten Tomatoes couldn’t get much better than it already was. With episodes that were consistently as heart-wrenching as they were heart-pounding, every character and their struggles with working in an up-and-coming sandwich spot in Chicago felt incredibly relatable and real. With the second season releasing on June 22 and going straight to Hulu, it’s a must watch for anyone looking for an enticing, moving, and impeccably written show.

“The Bear” / Hulu

In this new season, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and the uniquely interesting team that he works with embark on a challenging journey to transform their struggling deli, “The Beef,” into a high-end dining spot named “The Bear.” Picking up from where the last season ended, an emotionally fragile Carmy begins to let himself try to be “normal”, starting a romantic relationship, having priorities outside of work, and generally finding an identity outside of the stressed and obsessive chef he’s used to being defined as. With the first season of the show being so focused on Carmy’s struggles with his brother’s recent suicide as he tried to look after the restaurant he left him, this season follows those themes of loss masterfully and shows that healing isn’t linear--And can’t be done just by distracting yourself.

Season two of “The Bear” tells the story of a team more than just the story of Carmy. Multiple episodes were devoted to other characters in the cast, such as “Honeydew” that showed the team’s pastry chef training in Copenhagen while grappling with his mother’s bedridden state. Another episode, “Forks” follows Carmy’s deadbeat and short fused ‘cousin’ (his deceased brother’s best friend,) Richie, as he trains in a high-end restaurant and gains respect for himself and the craftsmanship that goes into the service industry. Apart from just these solo-shot episodes, this season generally takes characters out of the context of just the kitchen at “The Bear” and into scenarios that reveal more about who the characters really are, for better or for worse.

The standout episode of the season was easily “Fishes”.

It was the longest episode of the show, coming in at one hour and six minutes, instead of the usual ~30 minute run time. Depicting an overwhelming Christmas dinner in the Berzatto household, one that happened in years past, the episode provides juxtaposition back and forth between the family’s strong bond and their undeniable mental health issues, and the toxicity that brews from that. This episode, in addition to having the same typically impressive cast it always does, features cameos from well-beloved actors like Jamie Lee Curtis and John Mulaney that really make the script come to life. Along with “Fishes”, the final episode of the season is a finale so well-crafted that it’s able to make up for having to wait a year for the next season to release.

Even though it’s not as flashy as “Fishes”, with cameos, new sets and objectively devastating lines, this culmination of the show so far brings Carmy’s self-destructive tendencies to light, proving that his inability to be content isn’t about his career, friends, family, or anything else. It’s about him.

In this captivating second season, viewers were plunged into a story that was deeper than just a tale of culinary success. Balancing complex themes of loss, healing, and resilience, the show’s masterful cast, script, and visuals came together better than before and outdid any expectations the first season might have set up. “The Bear” tells a relatable story of the long and hard path to self-discovery and acceptance, one that’s far from over, and will only continue to be developed in the highly anticipated future seasons. thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi

12 October 13, 2023

Arts & Entertainment

“Sex Education” season four comes to a finish Max Kehoe Staff Writer

Warning: This article contains spoilers The fourth season of “Sex Education” brought the hilarious comedy full of lustful British teens to a close. The seasons have strung the audience along a sex-filled extravaganza that captures both the ridiculously extreme situation and real-life issues; it’s full of awkwardly relatable moments and heartfelt scenes. We see each character grow into themselves throughout the series, fulfilling the potential that fans of the show have seen since the very beginning. By the finale, we see protagonist Otis Melbourne (Asa Butterfield) go from an introverted virgin to a full-on heartbreaker, and co-star Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) transform from a self-sabotaging loner to an astounding writer and caring friend. Something that the show does beautifully is delve into the flaws and shortcomings of modern teenagers while also highlighting how the adults in our lives have room to grow and change with and

“Sex Education” via Netflix / Cosmopolitan

because of their children. This final season ties a bow on the genuine gift that is “Sex Education”.

Due to an unfortunate series of events in the finale of season three, Moordale Secondary is forced to close because of a lack of funding. This leads to the majority of the cast beginning their senior year at Cavendish Sixth Form College, an overwhelmingly progressive school that the majority of the characters aren’t used to. This change in scenery brings on new challenges and new faces to an already spectacular lineup of characters such as Roman (Felix Mufti) and O (Thaddea Graham).

The final episodes of “Sex Education” served as a turning point for two beloved sidekicks, Aimee Gibbs (Aimee Lou Wood) and Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa).

The endearingly whimsical personality of Aimee’s character makes her a superb match to Maeve’s more grunge nature, though Aimee’s character doesn’t get explored until later seasons. However, in season two, her seemingly ditzy and unbothered personality is altered when she is sexually assaulted on a bus, causing Aimee to revert into herself, and affecting her mental health, self-esteem and personal relationships. In season four, however, we start to see Aimee blossom into her old self through art. She channels the agony and dehumanization she braved into her photography, each photo a declaration and proof that she is healing and growing from what happened to her. Aimee’s story paints an accurate display of not only how sexual assault can affect those afflicted (especially teenagers), but also how recovery is possible, though the process of healing doesn’t have to be linear to be rewarded.

In season four, Eric finds a new group of friends at Cavendish who seem to understand him more than Otis, his right-

hand man. This newfound relatability to his friends causes him to reflect on his relationship with God, community and sexuality. Eric’s journey during the final season of “Sex Education” exposed an aspect of being queer that usually isn’t touched upon. Queer religious people are often forced to choose to leave behind the communities that they cherish or be forced to stay in the closet. As pressures for Eric to be baptized rise, Eric grapples with the fact that the more he expresses his gay identity, the more he feels he is betraying God. Throughout the exploration of Eric’s dilemma, the audience is transported into his ethereal visions full of intercorrelated signs from God that appear in his day-to-day that lead him to believe that he shouldn’t have to hide who he is.

The final season seemed to take on a much more serious note, likely due to the sense of finality that this season had compared to seasons prior. Though previous seasons did discuss heavier topics such as abortion and sexual assault, the majority of the conflicts were usually presented in a more light-hearted, digestible manner. With previous seasons featuring alien porn and hysterically inappropriate musical theater performances, the lack of playfulness throughout the season is needed due to the topics this season covers but was sorely missed by the fans. This season was angled more towards the somber truths of where Britain and countries all over the world are faulting at the moment, specifically on issues of transgender rights, suicidal ideation and accessibility (or lack thereof).

“Sex Education” was a priceless experience. It was a joy to watch and will be sorely missed by fans everywhere.

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Samo Orchestras’ first concert of the year was (movie) magical Taylor Witt Photo Editor

With dim and colorful lights, nostalgic film scores, a dramatic piano, Samo’s Orchestra Movie Music Magic concert on Oct. 6 was a hit among all ages. Celebrating 120 years of performances at Samo, the orchestra played to inspire a new generation with timeless songs from the movies we all love. Sinfonia, Intermezzo, Philharmonic, and Symphony Orchestra’s performance blew away the audience with their annual fall fundraiser Pops concert.

Starting off strong, a costume parade featuring elementry-aged students served as a precursor to the concert and the upcoming spooky season. Even those performing on stage were dressed up in costumes from famous movies. Orchestra director Jason Aiello sees these concerts as an opportunity to inspire younger students to pursue the music programs their school offers.

“For our fall fundraisers we always want to do something that’s like a hook, not just something that our students will enjoy but something that’s enticing for middle school, elementary and young families to come,” Aiello said.

With over 300 students in Samo’s orchestra program, it’s safe to say that these attempts of recruitment have proved successful, funding the future for musical education. For their first concert of the year, Samo’s orchestra

was excited to show off their talents.

Moving melodies from cinematic masterpieces were accompanied by spliced footage from the original films.

Sinfonia and Intermezzo Orchestra prepared the audience for an eventful evening of classic film scores including music from Corpse Bride, Shrek and The Greatest Showman. The Philharmonic Orchestra played a beautiful rendition of My Neighbor Totoro, Forrest Gump’s

Main Title “Feather Theme” and an orchestral suite from Beauty and the Beast.

Eva Machtinger (’25) a player in the Philharmonic group recalls the impressive execution of the Beauty and the Beast suite.

“I was pretty worried about the faster sections in Beauty and the Beast. This was pretty similar to our past performances but Beauty and the Best definitely felt more difficult to pull together than the pieces we begun the year with so it was more rewarding when we pulled it off,” Machtinger said.

After a brief intermission, the concert resumed with the highest orchestra, Symphony, performing longer and more intricate pieces from Aladdin, Howl’s Moving Castle and a suite from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; including Hedwig’s Theme, Nimbus 2000 and Harry’s Wonderous World. These recognizable pieces transported the audience into the movies themselves.

The performance truly ended with a bang as streamer cannons splashed the stage and audience, creating an unmatched feeling of excitement. Orchestra Directors Jason Aiello and Jim Wang are eager to see what the students have to offer this year.

Taylor Witt / The Samohi

Confetti streamers showered the adience after Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of iconic “Harry Potter “melodies

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Biblical ballads: a review of Mitski’s latest album Emi Yamashiro-Hergert Student Life Editor

Cosmic. To concisely summarize the seventh and newest album of singer/songwriter Mitsuki Miyawaki, professionally known as Mitski, borders on impossible, but this word most accurately captures its magnitude and nuance. The album, released Sept. 15 and titled “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” takes on a slower and more mature tone than its predecessors. With varied recurring motifs such as religion and nature, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” evokes the impression throughout its half-hour duration that Mitski is singing up to the heavens.

Mitski is well-known among many adolescent audiences as a maker of “sad girl music.” However appealing her songs may be to angsty youth, they express a certain emotional depth relevant to audiences of all ages that is difficult to find in today’s music culture. As songs of all genres are increasingly geared toward online audiences, artists focus on building their music around a 30-second snippet that can be isolated as audio for a TikTok or Instagram reel. Unprecedented to Mitski, her hit songs such as “Nobody” and “Washing Machine Heart” became just that around 2018 when her album “Be the Cowboy” was released. Rather than chasing this type of social media fame, “The Land is

Inhospitable and So Are We” catches Mitski in a period of quiet and gentle introspection. Melancholy, yes, but with an ultimate note of warmth.

The album opens with the acoustic “Bug Like an Angel,” which gives the opening image of its narrator looking up through the bottom of a glass at a bug that, framed by the sky, looks like an angel. Mitski goes on to explore this theme of religion and religious suffering through the lens of alcoholism. From the perspective of someone drunk and at rock bottom, Mitski asks the question: is suffering meaningful because it was created by God for a reason? Or does God intend the hurt it makes?

“When I’m bent over, wishing it was over… I try to remember the wrath of the devil / Was also given him by God,” Mitski sings.

However, the heavens are also utilized as a metaphor for love. With the track “Star,” Mitski provides the comparison of an old romance to the light of a dying star — something that has long since ended but still can be remembered as a guiding light. Similarly, “Heaven” captures this celestial tone with the narrator’s claim that being with her lover is comparable to being in heaven.

Even as Mitski gazes at the sky, she ties her spiritual and mental worlds to the physical with songs such as “My Love Mine All Mine,” a standout track on the album with streams

in the tens of millions. In this soft, lyrical ballad, the protagonist pleads with the moon to allow her to keep something permanent of herself behind on Earth when she eventually dies — in this case, the love she possesses. Mitski, in a behind-the-song YouTube video, expressed her value of love.

“To love is the best thing I ever did in my life, better than any song I’ve ever written, better than any achievement by far,” Mitski said.

Here’s to hoping she keeps looking skyward.

Mitski / Youtube

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The Samohi October 13, 2023 13

Sports

Flag football: A throw towards equality Sia Kresch Staff Writer

With the new addition of Girl’s Flag Football to Samo’s athletics, a few questions arise. Does flag football as a girls’ sport here at Samo convey a message of feminism? Or does it showcase the different standards between men and women’s sports? While some people may believe the latter, the incorporation of flag football for girls displays a stronger sense of feminism.

Not only is every new women’s sport a chance to represent women and female athletes before an existing crowd, but flag football in particular also gives women the opportunity to play in a sport that is growing in popularity and becoming widespread. In most of the sports world, there is an inequality between men’s and women’s sports. In general, the men tend to get better referees, more pay and more media attention. The inclusion of girl’s flag football, however, gives Samo athletes a chance to represent fem-

inism in the sports world. Varsity player Kalea Oshidari (’26) who plays the position of slot, one of the wide receivers on the team, believes that this latest addition does a good job of supporting women in sports.

“I think it represents feminism, not just because of the support from the faculty and staff, but also the number of girls that came out to try out for the team,” Oshidari said.

This act of support creates a strong sense of community for the players as well as the supporters. The excitement of those to try out and be included in a rising sport for women showcases the want for more representation of women within sports and at Samo, and the willingness to create this change. Although this is only the team’s first year in existence, 50 girls came to try out for the team, which only holds 24 spots.

Adding options for women is not the only way people have tried to increase women’s role in the sports world. Similar acts of feminism have been seen back in 2019, when the entire Women’s National Soccer Team bonded together to fight for equal pay. They stood up for the fact that they were getting paid less than the men’s team, despite winning more games. Fans everywhere, especially women, supported this movement, demonstrating a strong wave of feminism. It also created a very strong sense of community worldwide, that is seen and valued within flag football at Samo as well.

Team Captain Isabella Sanchez (’24) has noticed some of the inequalities between

men and women’s sports, particularly with the difference between men’s football and women’s flag football.

“My initial reaction was, why can’t we be offered regular football?” Sanchez said. “However, I also believe that flag football has enough of the traditional elements to draw in the football watching crowd, but is different enough to draw in a new crowd,” Sanchez very much values having equality between men’s sports and womens sports, from things such as rules to priority of fields.

This question that she poses seems to have no clear answer; women are just as capable of tackle football Nathan Vasquez / The Samohi as men, and if it is only Jayla Johnson-Lake (’25) dodges through defenders Daisy Meza (’25) against other women too, and Chloe Sanders (’26) at practice as they prepare for the final games why is it limited to flag and of the first official season for girls’ flag football at Samo. not tackle football? Nonetheless, she also sees the sense of feminism and community, and benefits of having a girl’s flag football team. This mix of old crowd looking to the future, they should conand new crowd that she talks about has tinue to gain just as much priority as any built up the community around flag foot- boy’s football team.

With wide support from the communiball, and even helped expand it at Samo ty behind them and positive results thus and around the world. far, the girls’ flag football team and their The team was also recently featured on coach, Ramsey Lambert, are excited for an Good Day LA Fox, receiving recognition impressive first season. from the community for the introduc“So far every practice we’ve been getting tion of flag football to Samo. The segment touched on the development of a female better and better, so our goal is to continue identity in the sports world and the rise that and then take that into the games too,” of flag football as an option for female Lambert said. “So from one game whether student athletes around the country. The we win or lose, we can outperform how we team expresses their excitement for the did in the last game and then hopefully put ability to play flag football this year, de- some wins together along the way, cause spite not having the option in the past, and it’s fun when you win!” how they look to this new opportunity as a positive change in the community.

Girls’ flag football represents a strong

Art by Audrey Strauss

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Sexual harassment highlighted in the sports world Koi Lerner Staff Writer

Sexual harassment is unfortunately still a very prevalent issue to this day. By definition, it is non consensual sexual remarks or physical advances in a professional or social situation, including catcalls, non consensual photos, inappropriate touches and even discussing sexual stories and fantasies. Regardless of gender identity, millions of people suffer through this every year. According to Huffpost, someone from suffers sexual harassment every 92 seconds in the U.S. alone. This adds up to over 570 people every day.

Sexualization is very prevalent in sports. In fact, in a study done by Springerlink, an online database of science journals, over 54 percent of the elite athletes they surveyed had suffered some form of sexual violence during their life time — around 21 percent were a severe incident. There are many reasons why athletes might be sexualized. Some claim it’s because of the outfits, many which are tight and some might even say skimpy. Others might attribute it to their athletic body types — many being thinner or muscular. In general, the culmination of these two reasons — along with many others — cause athletes to be more sexualized and more likely to be harassed.

Student athlete for the Girls’ Golf Team, Ophelia Harvey (’27) has something to say about this issue.

“I believe that female athletes get sexualized because they are being watched and judged constantly and people believe that women are not as good or as capable as men, and that is a horrible way to view women in and out of sports,” Harvey says.

On August 28, a sexual harassment case arose in professional womens soccer when sexual harassment allegations were charged after Jenni Hermoso, a player for the Spanish Women’s National Soccer Team and the Mexican club Pachuca, was sexually harassed. The perpetrator was Luis Rubiales, the now former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, who had forcibly kissed Hermoso after the team won against England in the Women’s World Cup Final. He stepped down after being suspended from his work after all 23 players of the

Spain women’s team, as well as some men on the male team, boycotted due to the incident. Hermoso spoke on Twitter about how she felt a few days after the kiss.

“I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part.” Hermoso said.

This is not an isolated incident. In 2016, the US Women’s Gymnastics Team suffered from a sexual harassment case as well. Rachael Denhollander, an ex-gymnast, filed a report against Larry Nassar, the team’s doctor. After the report was filed, over 265 women came forward and claimed that Nassar had assaulted them as well. Nassar had been assaulting women for nearly 14 years under the pretense of giving medical treatment. Many of his victims were minors. He is now in prison serving multiple offenses. In a statement for the court in her lawsuit against Nassar, Denhollander answers her famous question, “How much is a little girl worth”.

“I submit to you that these children are worth everything.

Worth every protection the law can offer. Worth the maximum sentence.” Denhollander said.

Athletes struggle with the spotlight and the scrutiny of society. When people are viewed to be perfect, they tend to become more dehumanized, which makes people like Nassar or Rubiales feel as if they can sexually assault or harass them without feeling truly guilty. Although few incidents get to be as high profile as these two, this issue is far too common in the sports world, and it won’t change unless sport federations make definite strides against this behavior.

But, change is still on the horizon. Hermoso and the girl’s soccer team continue their boycott, hoping to get “real structure changes”. Many soccer teams, both male and female, showed support for Hermoso at their matches — by holding shirts, wearing wristbands or carrying banners with ‘Contigo Jenni’, which translates to ‘With you Jenni’, written on them.

This is not the first time the sports world has come together to support a victim. In fact, it happened even with Denhollander and her case against Nassar. During the case, a standing ovation was held after her introduction in Frankfort, as well as a

few comments from Sen. Wil Schroder — who said that Denhollander is the voice for the people. In her memoir, “What Is a Girl Worth?”, Denhollander describes what she is facing for the future.

“So much work remains.” Denhollander said. “So much evil to fight. So much healing to reach for. So many wounded to love.”

Wikimedia Commons / Contributor

Jenni Hermoso plays against Wolfsburg for Barcelona on June 3 to win the Women’s Championship League finals to earn the team the title for the second time in the years. thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi

14 October 13, 2023

Sports

Samo introduces new sports medicine class and club

Gracie Mason-Firth / Contributor

Marcus Tambago (’24) [right] wraps Isaiah Fernandez’s (‘26) wrist [left]. The club focuses a lot on taping and hands-on practice.

Addie Burns Staff Writer

Samo has introduced a new sports medicine class and sports medicine club this year, which will give students an opportunity to advance in the field, either with a career in mind or just for fun. In case a student doesn’t have room in their schedule to

take the class during the school day, they can still get involved by joining the club, which meets every Tuesday during lunch.

Sports medicine focuses on physical fitness as well as the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports. There are loads of jobs in the field, such as a physical therapist, orthopedic nurse, kinesiotherapist, sports

psychologist and an athletic trainer. Daniel Tran, Samo’s athletic trainer and the new advisor of both the class and club, discusses their benefit.

“I think it is important because students can explore the field of athletic training and medicine and see if this is a career that they would like to pursue in the future,” Tran said.

The sports medicine class introduces students to the field of athletic training and medicine.

So far this year, the class has discussed various emergency procedures such as first aid, CPR and AED. A large portion of the class is hands-on wrist, thumb and ankle taping. This class was created to provide an on-the-job athletic training experience for students and give them opportunities to apply everything learned in the class into real life situations.

The sports medicine club is very similar to the class. Students learn all about various sports or activity-related injuries and how to treat them, especially focusing on taping. During the club meetings, students get to practice taping on each other. Sports Medicine Club President Brandon Valdovinos (’24) goes further into detail.

“By joining the class or the club you can learn how to tape and how athletic trainers work,” Valdovinos said. “It is a really fun club to be a part of.”

The introduction of the sports medicine class and the sports medicine club provide opportunities for Samo students to try something new in the athletic world. Samo students who are thinking about a career in sports medicine, or even if they’re just

to learn more, can benefit from these new additions.

“You should join the club if you want to go into the medical field as a career,” Valdovinos said. “It is a really good way to start up.

It’s [also] a really fun club if you want to be connected more to sports and working more with sports.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Gracie Mason-Firth / Contributor

Piper Forsyth (‘25) [right] wraps Bella Santiago’s (‘25) wrist [left]. Students can join the sports medicine class or join the club if their schedule doesn’t allow it, which meets Tuesdays at lunch.

From novels to kneeSamo welcomes new pads: Meet Pete Barraza cheer coach Lavel Butler Olivia Stephansen

Manny Lopez & Sia Kersch

This year, Pete Barraza became the new head coach of Samo’s Boys’ Varsity Volleyball team and the coach of JV Girls’ Volleyball. He is also the AP English Literature teacher and a 10th grade English teacher. Barraza works at Punahou Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the summer, where he has past experience as a volleyball coach and has worked in the English Department. He was an outside hitter in high school and has coached both boys and girls for about 10 years at the JV and varsity levels. Barraza discusses his goals for the volleyball season.

“My hope is that the student athletes have a successful season measured by the cultivation of skills, game IQ and the kind of team dynamics that foster healthy and meaningful competition,” Barraza said.

Barraza tries to be realistic about what he can achieve in scheduling around his teaching and coaching jobs, plus the time consuming job of being a dad to his 7-year-old son. While he has learned how to manage his time to make sure he keeps up with reading for in class discussions, he has found a lot of crossover as a teacher and a coach.

“Being an educator in the classroom

This cheer season brings a new head coach for the team: Lavel Butler. He did cheerleading back in highschool, where his team grappled to have good support.

This inspired him to give back to schools and teams in similar situations.

“When I was in high school we weren’t that great and so I always wanted to excel in programs to make sure we could perform at the highest level,” Butler said.

Butler cheered for 11 years before deciding to become a coach. Previously, he has coached for All Star Cheer, a cheer company, and Pop Warner, as well as for many other schools. He also got the opportunity to be one of the cheerleaders in the cheering section in Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off ” music video. He spent 72 hours working long days, and even got to meet Swift. Butler describes how this experience helped his coaching.

“This was an amazing experience, definitely one for the books,” Butler said. “I learned a lot about professionalism and how to adjust to last minute changes, which taught me how to become a better coach.”

Butler’s coaching style has remained consistent from team to team. His core values are very central to him and his coaching.

He loves the idea of progression and development as key factors in creating a strong team, he and incorporates his core values with a strict but fun approach, creating a hardworking and well connected environment.

“I describe my style as militant, definitely very detailed… [and I like to get to know my team first,]” Butler said. “[I want to make sure] that nobody is using their ego and everyone [is being] themselves authentically, no matter what [their] background is. You can take anybody off the street and make them a cheerleader, but somebody who wants to excel themselves is gonna make themselves a better cheer-

Staff Writer

Staff Writers

Pete Barraza / Contributor

Pete Barraza, the new Boys’ Varisty Volleyball and JV Girls’ Volleyball coach, played in high school himself. Here, he is pictured spiking a ball in a grass tournament.

Pete Barraza / Contributor

allows me to transfer that mentality of teaching onto the volleyball court,” Barraza said. “I’m fortunate that several of the varsity members are current students in my AP Literature course, allowing for an ongoing conversation around both volleyball and academics.”

Barraza is thankful for the coaches and mentors around him, namely Liane Sato, the head coach of the Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team, and Rick Toon, his mentor at the Punahou Academy in Honolulu. He reflects on the JV girls’ season as it comes to an end, after which he will be able to dedicate more time to the Boys’ Varsity team.

“I’m pleased with the way the girls have enjoyed and trusted each other’s role and space on and off the court,” Barraza said.

“It’s been a pleasure working with the girls this fall, and I’m excited for my new role as head coach of the varsity boys team this coming spring…” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Manny Lopez / The Samohi

Lavel Butler cheered at West Hollywood High School when he was still in school. He decided to become a coach after 11 years of cheering, and he has been coaching for eight years since.

leader.”

Butler says he chose to coach at Samo because of the school spirit and his connections with previous coaches and cheerleaders. Seeing Samo at competitions drove him to apply when he saw an opening. He plans on building chemistry between the team and then taking that connection into competitions.

Butler has only been here for a couple weeks and has already seen growth throughout the team. He will strive towards his idea of progression during the rest of the season, and he hopes to bring the team back into competitions next year.

“I love seeing them progress and how they can go from 0-100,” Butler said.

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The Samohi October 13, 2023 15

Sports

Girls’ golf on par with their goals Sydney Roker

Managing Editor

Samo’s Girls’ Golf team is looking to continue their upward trajectory in the remainder of the 2023 season. Despite a winless 2022 season, Head Coach Roshni Mejia was able to close the team’s loss gap from 2021 by 60 strokes. However, in just the second game of the 2023 season the team’s winless streak was broken. The (SCORE) victory on Sept. 14 against Redondo Union marked a monumental win for a program built from the ground up with very few players. For the 12-player team led by Cash Henton (’25), Frances Aguilar (’26), Kara Best (’24) and Aubrey Hayes (’24), who Mejia cited as the team’s “core four” veteran players, the victory was a long time coming.

“We were so happy [after the win],” Aguilar said. “We were all jumping around and hugging each other in the parking lot.”

Yet, the team’s path to success has not been a straight line. As recently as two years ago, Mejia and her team were having to forfeit

matches due to their lack of players. Despite a comparably larger team size in 2023, they remain at somewhat of an inherent disadvantage compared to their competitors. While many of the schools Samo competes against have golf courses available right on their school campuses, Samo’s home course is the Penmar Golf Course, meaning that nearly every day the team must travel two miles to practice. In addition to the team’s lack of a true home course, their roster is stacked with players entirely new to the game of golf.

“We have a lot of new girls, so just teaching them the games, the rules, the etiquette. That can be challenging,” Mejia said.

The youth of the team coupled with the loss of two of the team’s top senior players from 2022 has led players including Henton, Aguilar, Best and Hayes to have a more significant role on and off the course.

“We’ve been helping out the newer girls by giving them tips to help improve their swings, ways to keep their heads in the game, and to make sure they know that whatever happens, we’re proud of them either way,” Aguilar said.

Girls’ tennis rallies for a win Addie Burns Staff Writer

Samo’s Varsity Girls’ Tennis team started their season in late August. Their first match was against West Torrance, which they won 10-8. Head Coach Shaun Simone is ready to lead his team along with captains Samantha Posell (’24) and Ava Waterstone (’24) into this 2023 season.

According to Coach Simone, one of the main goals for his team is to qualify for the CIF Team Tournament every year.

In order to do so, they must gain an overall win percentage of at least .500.

“This season the Girls Tennis team is off to a tremendous start, going 5-1 in the first four weeks of the season,” Simone said.

Coach Simone praises Avey Thompson (’25) for leading the team at first singles, as well as Allison Gee (’25) for leading at second singles. Ava Brara (’27) also earned her spot in the varsity line-up at third singles this season. On the doubles end, Varsity Girls’ Tennis also has a very strong and reli-

Addie Burns / The Samohi

Daniella Rosenberger (’24) serves a ball in a home match against Peninsula High School on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Samo lost this game 17-1 but had a rematch on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Roshni Mejia/ Contributor

Girls’ golf team and two coaches pose for a celebratory photo after winning their competition on Sept. 14 against Redondo Union.

As of Oct. 9, the team has a 1-7 record, however Mejia’s start of the season goal to win a match and decrease the team’s loss gap has proved successfu l thus far. thesamohinews@gmail.com

able first doubles team, according to Simone, of Co-Captain Samantha Posell (’24) and Liza Snisarenko (’24).

So far this season, the Vikings have played seven home matches. They beat West Torrance 10-8, beat Venice 17-1, beat El Segundo 14-4, lost 17-1 to Peninsula, lost 11-7 to Redondo, lost 9-9 (77-75) to Culver City, and lost 16-2 against Mira Costa.

Star doubles player and captain, Ava Waterstone (’24), shares her thoughts on this new season.

“I am super excited for the season,” Waterstone said. “We are rolling into the league season looking really strong. Our main goal this season is to make it to the CIF playoffs.”

The Samo Girls’ Tennis Team is ready to work hard during this new season, and to hopefully continue their winning streak even further into the season. Their next home match will be against Palos Verdes on Thursday Oct. 19.

“Every student-athlete on the Girls Tennis team is hardworking and eager to win. With that attitude, I’m sure we will have a successful season,” Simone said.

Boys’ waterpolo starts season on a high Maggie Marks Staff Writer

Samo’s Boys’ Varsity Water Polo is making a strong comeback in the first half of their season, improving from their rough run in their 2022-2023 season. So far, the Water Polo team has started this year already with 13 wins and six losses as of Monday, Oct, 9. Head Coach Matthew Flanders is hopeful for the new season and is looking forward to seeing his players excel.

“We are a little up and down right now, we are trying to find ourselves a bit,” Flanders said. “We have a lot of talented kids, so hopefully we can figure it out.”

One of the varsity team captains, Pablo Clark (’24), was satisfied with their game on Sept. 6 after their earlier games had not returned the same success. This year, they are focusing on rebuilding their communication in the water and as a team as pre-

vious plays have been hindered by a lack of communication.

“We haven’t been working as a team as much, but this game really showed our improvement during practice,” Clark said.

About halfway through their season, the Varsity team have won all of their five home games. In the home game on Sept.

6, the game started out a bit slowly, but through teamwork and enhanced communication, they improved by the second half.

“The starting game was very slow, and we had to get a fire lit under us to get going, but once we got going it went pretty well,” Flanders said. “I think the first quadrant was kind of weak for us, and we built from there. Once they started playing, there was no contest.”

As they go further into their season, their opposing teams become more difficult as they get into higher ranks. Varsity player

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Joaquin Auger (’24) wants Samo to keep their winning successes, and ensure that both rotations of players are strong.

“I want to win the next two games at least, because they are the better teams. I want us to be able to consistently switch from the A squad to the B squad and not see a performance decrease.” Auger said.

Maggie Marks/ The Samohi This year, the Varsity play- Darragh Flanders (’24) throws the ball at the goal to score in the ers have the shared goal of game against Brentwood on Sept. 6 which Samo won 15-5. making CIF. Last year they time we missed in like 15 years, so it was failed to meet the criteria to enter CIF, and kind of disappointing.” Flanders said. “Our their season ended. All the players are ea- goal is always to finish in the top three and ger to get their redemption, beat the teams qualify for CIF. I think both of those are they lost in the previous season, and get attainable.” back at CIF. “We missed CIF last year. It was the first

Girls’ volleyball bumps up the intensity

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Koi Lerner Staff Writer

The previous 2022-2023 season of Girl’s Varsity Volleyball ended with them fourth in the Bay League, allowing them to advance to CIF where, in the first round, they lost their game 0-3 against Chaminade High School. The season ended with 11 wins and 13 losses. Head Coach Liane Sato voiced her thoughts.

“Last season was fine, we’re looking to regroup and rebuild on last season,” Sato said.

The team is ready to start the new fall season, having already played the first match on Sep. 5th. The team won 3-0 in a game against Beverly Hills. Through the season they lost 0-3 against Mira Costa, Redondo Union, West, Chaminade and Palos Verdes; also losing 0-2 to Torrance, Bishop Gordon, Long Beach Poly, Clovis West, Aliso Niguel and Woodrow Wilson. They also lost 1-3 to Redondo Union and 1-2 to Eagle Rock. However, they have won 3-0 against Peninsula, Culver City and Beverly Hills; won 3-1 against Peninsula and Culver City; and won against Peninsula again in a 3-2 final score. Samo Girls Volleyball also won 2-0 against Poly, Wiseburn da-vinci, Mammoth, West Covina, Carson, Loara, WDVHS, Don

Taylor Witt/ The Samohi

Anastasia Rho (’24) spikes a ball over Peninsula High School’s defense at Samo’s senior night home game.

Lugo and SMA; and won 2-1 against Burroughs and WDVHS. Varsity athlete, Bibi Peterson (’24) spoke about the season they’ve had so far.

“I think our season so far has been really fun. I love my teammates, I love the girls, and we played super hard and I’m super proud.” Peterson said.

This year, Sato says the players are all on the same page, which she says will help improve the team. She also says that the team is ready to grow together as a program because this year they are continuing to compete in the Bay League. Cherish Henley (’24) speaks on the way she’s played this season.

“I feel like I’ve gone that extra mile because I couldn’t do that mile last year, and I’m still running.” Henley said.

Sato claims that the players to look for this season are the ones who just joined, that watching them will be very exciting. Another player to look for is Emerson Werger (’24), who successfully got six aces during the first game this season. thesamohinews@gmail.com

The Samohi

16 October 13, 2023

Sports

Samo football kicks-off with a historic start to the season

Declan Ney Staff Writer

Despite all of the doubters from last year’s 2-8 campaign and despite losing 14 players to last year’s graduating class, this year’s iteration of Samo varsity football is nothing like past Vikings teams. They have established a winning culture and are taking the community and the Bay League by storm.

The Vikings are off to a strong start to their season at 6-1, which is the best start Samo has had

since their 3-0 start in 2011. So far this season, Samo has beaten Calabasas, El Segundo, West Torrance, Sylmar, Hueneme, and Peninsula while accumulating a point differential of +75 thanks to their potent offense and suffocating defense. Much of the credit for this year’s success goes to Head Coach Carter Paysinger, who has established a winning culture both on and off the field.

“We expect to be a playoff team, and do really well in both the preseason and in our league season,” Paysinger said. “This

Manny Lopez / The Samohi

Quarterback Wyatt Brown (’26) sends a pass in Samo’s game versus El Segundo High School on Aug. 25. Samo won that game 36-20.

year we’ve had a full off-season [and] worked hard… We’re in a completely different spot than we were a year ago.”

As of Oct. 8, Samo’s defense has only given up 110 points on the year, largely due to the constant pressure generated by their front seven. Linebacker/running back Caden McCallum (’24) is the team’s leading tackler averaging 6.3 tackles per game, defensive end Jayden Montanez (’24) has registered 2.5 sacks so far this season and strong safety Charles Cravings (’25) has made his mark in the secondary with seven interceptions. The offense hasn’t been kept out of the party either.

McCallum has amassed 113 rushing yards per game and 12 touchdowns on the season and wide receiver Griffin Seals (’24) is delivering standout performances every week while averaging 95 yards per game. Paysinger comments on the team’s leaders this year and how they’ve adapted to their respective roles.

“Sophomores and juniors that played varsity last year are falling right into those [leadership] roles,” Coach Paysinger said.

“Many of those guys were leaders last year, so it’s been an easy transition for them this year.”

Samo has been able to overcome adversity all season long. From the relentless trash talk of other

Manny Lopez / The Samohi

[From left to right] Caden McCallum (’24), Samuel Reynoso (’25), Wyatt Brown (’26) and Jayden Montanez (’24) line up against El Segundo High School’s defense during their Aug. 25 game. Samo ended up winning 36-20.

high schools on social media to being 40-point underdogs going into their first game against Calabasas, they have proven that this is an entirely different team while acquiring the nickname “Newmohi” in the process. It is a testament to the coaching staff and their relationships with the leaders of the Vikings. Seals gave his thoughts on the season so far to the Samo Sports Blog after the Vikings’ win over El Segundo.

“We’re really happy that we’re doing well so far, but just like

Kobe said, the job’s not finished,” Seals said. “We just gotta keep going, we gotta keep pushing, gotta get better every day and every week and we gotta play the opponent regardless of who it is.”

“Sophomores and Juniors that played varsity last year are falling right into those roles,” Coach Paysinger said. “And many of those guys were leaders last year, so it’s been an easy transition for them this year.” thesamohinews@gmail.com

Girls’ flag football team is the newest ball to catch Nathan Vasquez Staff Writer

This year, the CIF-Southern Section voted on adding Girls’ Flag Football as a sanctioned sport for the fall 2023-24 season. Ramsey Lambert, who was the strength and conditioning coach, is now the head coach of Samo’s new flag football team. As of October 8, Samo has an overall record of 12-3 while also being undefeated in league at 4-0.

Samo has both a JV and a varsity squad, as they gained a lot of interest from girls who wanted to play this year. The team trained the entire summer, learning the rules, formations and basics of the sport. Flag football is played

in a 7v7 style with one player snapping the ball on offense who also is allowed to run routes as well. Only one player is allowed on defense to rush the quarterback, but the rusher has to wait a certain amount of time to rush.

Lambert discusses the team’s development.

“So far every practice we’ve been getting better and better, so our goal is to continue that and then take that into the games too,” Lambert said. “So from one game whether we win or lose, we can outperform how we did in the last game and then hopefully put some wins together along the way, cause it’s fun when you win!”

Co-Captain Isabella Sanchez

(‘24) has also noticed the team’s rapid progression.

“It’s actually crazy, like, most of us didn’t even know how to throw a football or run any type of route, and the change has honestly been astronomical,” Sanchez said. “Most people just look like completely different players.”

Sanchez has high expectations for the rest of season.

“I’m most excited to just see how our team develops and try to get as many wins as possible,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully [we] go undefeated.”

Nathan Vasquez / The Samohi

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A teammate tackles Kalea Oshidari (’26) in a practice session after school. Samo Flag Football is off to an undefeated 4-0 start in league.

Cross country season off to a fast start

Ryan Kim

News Editor

The Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams have high expectations going into this season. Last year, for the first time in Samo’s history, the girls’ team made it to CIF Finals, advancing to the state meet and finishing 11th in Division I. Maeko Gross (’26), a runner on the team, said she was excited and shocked after making it to the state for the first time in Samo’s history.

“I remember how proud we were when we all finished the race,” Gross said. “It felt great, it was something I didn’t really expect so it was so rewarding after all our hard work.”

Head Coach Tania Fischer and the varsity teams traveled to Mammoth Lakes this summer for an altitude training camp to hone their fitness and bond. The group went on challenging runs every day for five days, sometimes doubling up and running twice a day. Gross felt that the team became closer than ever, dipping into ice-cold lakes to cool down and holding a bake-off. Fischer is optimistic for this season after the sudden bonding.

“Our team is very close, and since they have to train so much they really get to know each other and rely on each other,” Fischer said.

Cross country commenced their fall season with the Cool Breeze Invitational on Sept. 2. Phoebe Benun (’25), the number one runner on girls’ varsity, came in 3rd place in a race of around 200. Boys’ Varsity Team Captains Brody Wilkes (’24), David Ervin (’24) and Nico Lombard (’24) feel hopeful as they focus on making sure the team stays healthy and recovers from that first race.

“We’re determined that we’re going to change things up,” Ervin said. “We got a lot of new freshmen this year and we’re really excited just to see everybody. So we’ll just see what we’re working with as the season progresses.”

On Sept. 15 and 16, the team ran in the 42nd Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. Woodbridge is one of the largest high school cross country meets in the nation, and well over 10,000 athletes ran there over those two days.

Benun broke a school record with her race, running 3 miles in 16 minutes and 54 seconds, the fastest in Samo’s history.

After Woodbridge, Fischer comments on her hopes for the rest of the season.

“My goal this season is to have my varsity teams thrive and keep healthy so that they can run their best,” Fischer said. “I would like my girls to go back to state and place higher than they did last year.”

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Katja Snyder / Contributor

Ariella Castillo (’27) [left] and Lila Beal (’27) [right] lead a pack in a co-ed freshman race at Palos Verdes High School’s infamous 2-mile meet.The freshman girls’ and boys’ team went on to win first place overall.