THE BURLINGAME B theburlingameb.org
May 1, 2018
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The ODFL trip changed this year due to the water crisis in South Africa. BY SASHA BENKE
Issue 7 Vol. 115
senior spotlight is one last ‘hurrah’ for graduating class ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY LILY PAGE LEFT: Sabrina Schmid puckered at the crowd as she sashayed down the makeshift runway. Cyndi Lauper’s pop smash hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” blared in the background. RIGHT: Students outfitted in metallic garb and sequins shimmied to the tune of “Mamma Mia” by ABBA. From the front: Maggie Murdoff, Meghan Hockridge, Lauren Bingham.
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Two groups from BHS Architecture won PG&E’s zero emissions award. BY ALLIE KENNEDY
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The planned overhaul of the security system never happened. Here’s why.
BY VISHU PRATHIKANTI
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The Bridge Program connects BHS students and ESL students from SMHS through cooking. BY MOYA LIU
BELOW: Senior Spotlight announcer Pablo deTimofeev made an appearance lip-syncing and dancing in full costume to Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”
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Check out our in-depth report of this month’s walkouts and gun control rallies. BY MAGGIE MURDOFF, ALLIE KENNEDY & MADDIE GREENE
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The math “path” at BHS is overly complicated and confusing. BY TEKLA CARLEN
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“[Senior Spotlight] is more geared towards senior bonding and creating good memories, giving them a nice sendoff,” said Kim Gelman, one of two chief organizers. Students performed dances created by professional choreographer Noah Hayden, modeled clothing from local cloth-
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Varsity Baseball is on a winning streak, and looking ahead to CCS. BY SOPHIA GUERRA
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Boys’ lacrosse is gearing up for a strong appearance in PAL Championships. BY PRISCILLA JIN
Randy Williams has been campus safety specialist at Burlingame High School for the past 19 years, and in the district for over 30 years. Unbeknownst to many students, however, is Williams’ unique perspective as a black resident of San Mateo County. Throughout the month of April, Williams talked to multiple classes about his family’s experience in the San Mateo area in hopes of bringing perspective to how our country’s dark history of racism and intolerance touched our local area and affected his experience as a student. Williams started his talk by explaining his family’s role in the migration of African Americans to the Bay Area, particularly San Mateo County. He explained that his paternal grandfather was a chef in Chicago, where his family was based originally. His grandfather decided to open a restaurant in San Mateo and invited black residents from Chicago to come and work at the restaurant. He not only provided them steady jobs
PHOTO BY PRISCILLA JIN
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ABOVE: Claire Beswick, Halle Friedeberg, and Nicole Malik sang Abba’s “Dancing Queen” which transitioned to a “Mamma Mia” group dance number.
Randy Williams talks about his history as a black resident in Burlingame
The Gay-Straight Alliance BY PRISCILLA JIN club is back after two years. Senior Reporter BY LILY PAGE
We followed up with the winners of senior polls from old yearbooks. Here’s where they are now. BY JILLY ROLNICK
iers like Sam Malouf, and sang everything from Ed Sheeran’s passionate “Perfect” to the lonesome ballad “All I want” by Kodaline. “We wanted to start a new tradition at BHS,” said Alli Murdoff, the other principal organizer.
Randy tells his story to Ms. Miller’s American History class. but also offered to pay for down black cheerleader at San Mateo payments on their houses in San High School; his other sister beMateo. His encouragement initi- came the first black homecoming ated one of the first migrations queen. Williams himself contribof African Americans to the San uted greatly to the community as the senior class president at Serra Mateo area. Once this migration started, the High School. Unfortunately, the Williams Williams family, along with several other African American residents, family’s involvement in the combegan to integrate into the San munity was not accepted openly. Mateo community in several ways: In fact, he told students about the Williams’ mother became the first many times he was excluded and black professor at the College of segregated against. “Segregation was alive here, San Mateo; his sister was the first
it wasn’t just in the south,” Williams said. “Black people didn’t live in Burlingame or come to the avenue to shop. We had our own downtown. As kids, I was told not to come to Burlingame Avenue by myself; we had to come with adults. If not, we would have been harrassed.” Williams’ talk opened eyes for many students who have grown up surrounded by the accepting area that the Bay Area has come to be. “I was surprised about how honest [Randy] was about his history with racism in this area,” junior Joe Flood said. “I’m glad that we have grown past that time.” Although much has changed in Burlingame since the times when African Americans had to avoid shopping on the Avenue alone, Williams emphasized that there is still more work to be done. “I believe I treat people the way I want to be treated,” he said. “Living here, there has been change, but it still needs a lot of work. It’s your guys’ generation’s turn to make the change. Change is happening, but it’s happening too slowly. It’s your turn to speed it up.”