October Issue 2022

THE

URLINGAME

At Burlingame, Fong belongs

New principal brings experiences to work

BY ELISE SPENNER Managing Editor

Jennifer Fong has spent the majority of her life feeling out of place. Take, for instance, the 18 years she spent as an introverted Asian child in the predominant ly Black and Latinx neighbor hoods of the Bronx. Or take the years that followed, as she le the Bronx to study biology at Yale University, only to abandon the pre-medicine track to pur sue teaching.

“I think one of the reasons why I really have a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is because I never felt included. Not one day, in my entire child hood,” Fong said.

But now, as Fong embarks on her rst year as Burlingame’s principal, she’s con dent in bringing her whole self to work. Finally, she feels like she belongs.

“I have my career, but then I have my personal life,” Fong said. “I have lived kind of a range in my life, and I feel like at Burlingame I’m bringing it all together.”

At Yale, Fong initially stud ied to become a doctor. But an overtly racist encounter — her adviser insisted she would need help writing her personal state

ment “because English isn’t your rst language” — convinced Fong to pursue teaching.

“I was so upset by it that I le the med school advisor’s o ce and walked down to the teacher credentialing o ce and said, ‘I want to be a teacher,’” Fong said.

At graduation the following year, her mother told Fong that she was very disappointed in her. When she returned to the Bronx and spoke to her high school chemistry teacher — the woman who inspired Fong to be a doctor — she could hear the disappointment in her voice, too.

“It was kind of heartbreak ing,” Fong said. “She became a teacher because at that time women did not have that many options. You could become a secretary or a teacher. You couldn’t become a doctor, you couldn’t become a lawyer.”

But Fong stuck with teaching. For 30 years, it’s all she has done. And whenever Fong taught chemistry — on the east coast or in California — she started each year by recreating her old teach er’s rst lesson.

Eventually, Fong found her self at Mission High School in San Francisco, rst as a teacher and later as an assistant principal.

She took ad vantage of the role, bolstering Advanced Placement course o erings and opening college pathways to students.

As Fong took on leadership positions in the San Francis co Uni ed High School Dis trict, she extended her work to students across the city, help ing them feel prepared and equipped to take the next big leap in their lives.

Burlingame might not need the exact same support, Fong acknowledged. But she’s here to serve, and, more importantly, she’s here to belong and to wel come.

“I didn’t want to end my ca reer working primarily with adults,” Fong said. “You see me at spirit days; I have my Hawai ian lei on. I didn’t feel very in cluded in high school… I didn’t do much in leadership. But now I get to do that, and I love it.”

Jami Weatherson holds a welcome bag that was given to her by leadership students.

District introduces theraputic elective class

is August, the San Mateo Uni ed High School District (SMUHSD) introduced the era peutic Elective Class (TEC), a directed studies class in which students receive both academic guidance and social emotional services.

First-year teacher Jami Weatherson oversees the course, along with wellness counselor Adriana Go mez, whose o ce is adjacent to the classroom. Stu dents involved in the program have Weatherson for one designated period. Nevertheless, the class follows an open-door system, allowing students to drop into the classroom at any time of the day.

Weatherson, who taught similar programs at middle schools for seven years before coming to Burlingame, emphasizes the value of trust in such a class.

“Both Adriana and I have spent a lot of time building relationships with the students,” Weath erson said. “I’ve taken time to sit down with every single one of my students and get to know them better, so they feel comfortable coming in here if they’re having an o day or need me to help them with something.”

PHOTO BY JAKE ROTHSTEIN

PHOTO BY ELLIE NEUMAN

PHOTOS BY THE BURLINGAME B STAFF

Inside competitive rock climbing Cheer welcomes new school year

Crossing updated for electri cation

Editor-in-Chief Jackson Spenner

Managing Editor Elise Spenner

Sports Editor Michelle Moshkovoy

Head Photographer Jake Rothstein

Business Manager Alex Kelly

Social Media Manager Amanda Nolan

Web Designer Arda Inegol

Diversity Coordinator Lizzy Wan

Social Coordinator Kristie Kim

Copy Editors

Sophia Bella Isabel Liu

Senior Reporters

Daria Burnosova

Arshia Chakravartti

Staff Reporters

Theo Au-Yeung

Athena Bostonmaer

Jeannine Chiang

Stefan Couloures

Danny Conway

Sophia Doss

Lauren Gonzalez

Natalie Gyde Joelle Huysmans

Brinda Iyer

Abby Knight Will Kriner Ana Lunaparra

Ellie Neuman

Zachary Newman Sophia Puzon Ruby Rosenquist Zach Shapiro

Teacher Adviser

Melissa Murphy

Policy Statement:

The Burlingame B is a student-run news paper with the role purpose of providing an open forum for student expression. Anything printed represents the opinion of the writer, but not necessarily that of the Burlingame B staff, the administration, or the faculty of Burlingame High School, or anyone affliated with the San Mateo Union High School District. The Burlingame B does not discriminate against race, political oritentation, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Although The Burlingame B will never re fuse to publish guest submission based on the aforementioned factors, we re serve the right to edit or not publish them.

Letters to the Editor

Disagree with the writers? Bring your letters to the room A120 or email them to <theburlingameb@gmail.com>. Let ters may be considered for publica tion. The Burlingame B reserves the right to edit for clarity, length, and ac curacy. We welcome all comments.

Website: www.theburlingameb.org

Phone: (650) 558-2899

Email: theburlingameb@gmail.com

Address: 1 Mangini Way, Burlingame, CA 94010

erapeutic Elective Class

ease Control and Prevention study in March 2022 found that 37% of students reported poor mental health over the pandem ic, and 44% of students felt sad or anxious within the past year, an 8% increase from their 2019 data.

e therapeutic elective class is in A-138, which has been newly furnished with dgets to foster a more therapeutic environment.

BY ISABEL LIU Copy Editor BY ELLIE NEUMAN Sta Reporter

Gomez added that the class fosters a close sense of com munity that breaks down stig ma around mental health and creates trusted, con dential re sources.

“It’s like the Olive Garden: when they’re here, they’re fami ly,” Gomez said. “One of the kids was like, ‘You’re not like an adult though.’ But I am! But not really, it’s like talking to a big sister.”

Previously, this kind of sup port system was only available in select schools, o en forcing students to transfer. e district added the TEC to avoid the add ed stress of transferring on stu dents and their families.

“We were really excited when the decision was made to do this,” vice principal Joshua Knudson said. “Now the stu dents that we love, the students who we have, and the students that we know — we can provide those supports for them at their

home schools.”

e classroom, located in room A-138, is the previous home of the college and ca reer center. Over the summer, Gomez and Weatherson trans formed the space with artwork, fairy lights, dget toys and mini waterfalls, meant to give it more of a therapeutic environment.

By giving the TEC classroom a hospitable feel, Weatherson and Gomez work towards fos tering a safe space for thera py-based wellness. When she looks back on her own adoles cent experience, Gomez believes that this close-knit environment is valuable to struggling high school students.

“I really, really hated high school,” Gomez said. “But if I had a class like this… where it was just like me and a couple other kids, it might have made it a little easier to acclimate to high school.”

On top of the regular high school stressors, students today also face mental health struggles stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. A Centers for Dis

“ e need [for mental health support] has grown exponen tially over the last several years,” Gomez said.“I kind of watched the wellness program build from the ground up. And so to see ev erything go from the way it was before we had wellness built into our district, to now, I keep seeing how the program keeps growing.”

e district-wide reaction to the program has been largely positive. According to Knudson, this is a huge step in de-stigma tizing mental health on campus.

“When we announced it, explained it at a sta meeting, everybody clapped,” Knudson said. “It shows that the school, the district, kind of the commu nity in general, is recognizing that mental health has been stig matized in the past…but this is recognized as a need.”

Although the program has just begun, Weatherson hopes the class will also have a posi tive impact on the entire student body.

“I think just having a thera peutic view on student wellness and mental health—it’s just one step for taking the stigma away from mental health and thera peutic needs,” Weatherson said. “[ is class] gives the message to students that no matter what, whether you’re part of this pro gram or not, that it’s okay to ask for help if they need it.”

HVAC delays stall teachers’ relief

BY ALEX KELLY Business Manager

Over the summer, construc tion took place in the A-Building to install a new heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system. However, maintenance had to wait for a few crucial parts, de laying progress in some rooms. During the recent heat wave, al though 56 of the 60 classrooms and o ces bene ted from the new system, the four remaining rooms lacked air conditioning.

English teacher Mary Dhyne occupied one of the un nished rooms, and the lack of air con ditioning posed a challenge to learning.

“So you’re tired a er lunch and then with the heat it’s de nitely kind of hard to get moving and motivated,” Dhyne said.

Despite the district’s e orts to complete the construction before the start of the school year, pandemic-related supply chain issues slowed the process, according to assistant principal Dominic Bigue. But despite the hurdles, Burlingame now has 30 classrooms and 30 o ces with cooling — and that’s an accom plishment, Bigue said.

“ is building was built in the late 30s, and it’s kind of mi raculous that they’re nally able

to have AC in it,” Bigue said. “It’s something that the teach ers have wanted here for many, many years before I showed up. We realize it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than it was.”

Last year, the lack of ltra tion became a pressing concern given the spread of COVID-19. To combat the accumulation of COVID-19 particles in their classrooms, several teachers were forced to use noisy and dis tracting high-e ciency particu late air lters.

“It was really loud,” Riley said. “It made teaching in a mask much more di cult. I generally tried to keep it o when I was lecturing or when we were do ing student presentations. And then we would turn it on during group work where kids could kind of yell to each other over

the noise of the lter.”

Some teachers went farther, keeping their windows open on cold mornings or during rain to properly lter the classroom.

But now, a large tube on classroom ceilings lters in and out air and manages tempera ture. e new HVAC improves the air circulation and ltration, and now teachers can easily regulate temperatures in their classroom. Michelle Riley, who teaches yearbook and social sci ence classes, credits the change with helping students remain focused during the recent heat wave.

“[HVAC] was instrumental in that kids were able to sit in this room and still think because they weren’t boiling like we did in the past,” Riley said.

PHOTO BY ELLIE NEUMAN

Behind the scenes: cafeteria sta makes lunch for 1,000 students

meals for students.

Even before the pandemic, the cafeteria served a wide vari ety of meals, o ering around 17 di erent lunch options and nine options for brunch. Retaining these options amid increased demand for meals put a strain on the district’s food suppliers, forcing the cafeteria to adapt while still providing the same variety of meals.

ute shi

BY JAKE ROTHSTEIN Head Photographer

As lunch starts, students rush to get into lines to enter their seven-digit student ID and grab their free lunch. But behind ev ery fruit cup, sandwich, pasta or burger, there is more work than initially meets the eye.

At 5 a.m., far before the sun rises, cafeteria manager Vicki Ottoboni is already in the caf eteria preparing meals for the day, turning on the warmers, boiling water or making rice to feed anywhere from 950 to 1,200 students a day — all while listening to the morning radio. In Ottoboni’s nine years at Bur lingame, the cafeteria has never been so busy.

“When I started here at Bur lingame, and up until Covid, we were maybe making 250 to 300 meals a day total [for] brunch and lunch,” Ottoboni said. “Now we’re making 1,000 plus per day, so that’s a huge change.”

Due to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) universal meal pro gram, snacks and lunches have been available for all public school students free of charge since 2020. Although the na tionwide program is set to ex pire on June 30, 2023, return ing to a meal service solely for food-secure students, California will allocate $650 million per year to continue providing free

World Animal Day

World animal day is rec ognized internationally as a day to support ani mal welfare. It is a time of action where people advocate and donate for animal rights.

Sputnik

e Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s rst arti cial satellite. (1957)

“Right now, we’ve got a short age, so we can’t get mu n mix to make mu ns. So they sent me mu ns that are prepackaged,” said Ottoboni. “Last year [there was a shortage of] containers that you actually put all the food in. So every day, the kids were like, ‘oh, it’s in a di erent con tainer’...it’s just a constant battle.”

Last year, students from Bay University — a school for stu dents 18 to 22 years old with moderate-to-severe disabilities — helped with meal prepara tion. roughout the year, two or three Bay University students came in once a week to assist Ottoboni. e students started by learning basic skills, such as using the dishwasher, and then moved on to helping with other tasks, such as serving food be hind the counter.

e cafeteria doesn’t only employ Bay University students; they hire students from all across campus. Students who work in the cafeteria are dismissed from class ve minutes before lunch starts, giving them time to get to the cafeteria to work a 15-min

“Most of the time, I’m on the register where students enter their numbers,” said sophomore Ryan Wang, who works in the cafeteria. “It is fairly easy be cause I only need to press two buttons [on the screen] for ev ery student because lunch is free now. You have to miss like half of the lunch, so you don’t really have time to nish your lunch… but you get paid well, so I think that’s worth it.”

As of late, the cafeteria has added paid items such as chips and water that students can buy alongside a free meal. ey plan on adding more in the near fu ture.

“ e federal government did a snack program, and that’s why you would get your chips for free in addition to your brunch, and they’ve dropped that program,” said Ottoboni. “ e big thing is that kids or parents need to put money on their account so that they have money to buy the snacks.”

Currently, Ottoboni is searching for more students to work in the cafeteria.

“We’re always looking for students. Last year, we lost a few because of them graduating, and we’re a little short this year,” said Ottoboni. “We’re always hiring. We’ll hire 15. We’ll hire 20 kids. It doesn’t matter. It’s just whoev er wants to work. We’re willing to have them work, and it’s super easy. It’s not a hard job at all.”

Aimee Malcolm hears you

BY JACKSON SPENNER Editor-in-Chief

It’s been years since new assistant principal Ai mee Malcolm graduated from high school, but she still remembers the day in vivid detail: donning her cap and gown, walking across the makeshi stage, earning her diploma — it could very well have been yesterday.

“I can visualize being there and seeing it… the happiness, the celebratory vibe,” Malcolm said, when I spoke to her a er school on a Monday af ternoon.

But if graduation day was the happiest moment of Malcolm’s teenage years, deciding what to do af terward was the hardest.

Unlike many of Malcolm’s peers, her parents didn’t attend college, so she had little insight into the application process. Plus, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do; she loved photography and art, but she also loved reading and writing. Fortunate ly, Malcolm found role models and mentors in the teachers and sta at her school.

“[I think] having that teacher to connect with — an adult on campus – is so important,” Malcolm said. “I think back to the experiences where I was able to build relationships with teachers who were able to help guide me and think about what path I would take in the future.”

A er graduating from California Baptist Uni versity with a bachelor’s degree in English lan guage and literature, Malcolm taught Advanced Placement English Language and Composition at urgood Marshall Academic High School. In 2015, she received her master’s degree in educa tional leadership and administration, prompting her to pursue an administrative position at Tenny son High School in Hayward.

Six years later, Malcolm took on a district-wide role in Hayward, creating a new literacy plan and English Language Arts curriculum — both of which were adopted within a year. But she quickly realized she didn’t want to spend her career behind a desk.

“While that assignment was really ful lling in many ways, I preferred my experience of working with students,” Malcolm said. “[I had] interned in San Mateo Union High School District while I was getting my master’s and admin credential at Cap puccino. I really enjoyed the experience, and I felt the district was very responsive to student, sta and family needs.”

SIHT DAY IN HIST YRO

by Sophia Bella

Luckily, a position was open in the district: Bur lingame’s assistant principal. Now, as she sets foot on a brand new campus in a brand new city, Mal colm tries to recreate the same level of guidance and attention she received in high school. When I asked her how she wanted students to feel, she em phasized three key words: seen, heard and valued.

“I think that we as human beings do our best when we feel seen, heard and valued,” Malcolm said. “We can thrive, and we can set goals, and we can meet those goals if we feel like we’re part of the community that values who we are.”

Malcolm probably won’t walk across another graduation stage in her lifetime. But rest assured that she wouldn’t miss a student’s graduation for the world. She’ll be there, cheering for each and ev ery Panther as they receive their diploma. And, she hopes, a er four years at 1 Mangini Way, they will feel seen, heard and valued.

Aimee Malcolm smiles in her A-Building o ce a er school on Monday, Sept. 12.

PHOTO BY JACKSON SPENNER

Ayudha Puja Ayudha Puja is the ninth night of Navratri, a festival with great cultural and spiritual signi cance in the Hindu religion.

Republic of Mexico ree years a er win ning independence from Spanish control, Mexico is established as a re public, adopting a new constitution. (1824)

Siu Yuen prepares pasta before school to prepare for Burlingame lunch.

PHOTO BY JAKE ROTHSTEIN

Students line up to get a snack during brunch. e school o ers breakfast items such as bagels and yogurt parfaits.

PHOTO BY JAKE ROTHSTEIN

Noa Kliger: competitive rock climber and puzzle solver

BY MICHELLE MOSHKOVOY Sports Editor

and stopped playing soccer.

“I needed something else,”

Kliger said.

An old harness from her cousin would help her discover that next athletic challenge.

“I was like, ‘I guess I should use it,’ and I still have that har ness. I still use it from when I was little,” Kliger said. “[My cousin] had done [rock climb ing] competitively way before I started.”

Kliger, a transfer student from Los Angeles, currently practices at a gym called Move ment in Belmont. Before com ing to Burlingame, she trained at Cli s of Id, a gym in Culver City. Cli s of Id will always be Kliger’s “home gym” and her teammates there will always be a “family,” she said.

“

Scaling up a 15-foot boulder ing wall, hanging onto an over hang with her bare ngertips and all while a timer unmer cifully ticks — for junior Noa Kliger, who has competed in rock climbing since age 11, the scenario is all too familiar.

Kliger picked up rock climb ing a er she le her swim team

ese people will be in my life for a very long time,” Kliger said. “Climbing just connects people so much. You could go climbing anywhere in the world and just be with them and know that you’re going to have some thing to talk about. e sport is such a community because ev eryone is so supportive [of] each

BEST AND WORST

other and so kind.”

While there are club teams in competitive rock climbing, which nurtures an encouraging atmosphere, it is an individual sport. e three main types of climbing are sports climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. In simple terms, sports climbing uses a rope, bouldering uses no rope and is close to the ground, and in speed climbing the climb er completes the route as fast as they can.

In each discipline, con testants are allotted a certain amount of time, granted one to two attempts and awarded points based on their nishing positions. e heights of climb ing walls range from 15 feet to 50 feet.

“ ere’s a lot of fear in climb ing — there’s a fear of falling. Even though I say I enjoy it, which I do… it’s still scary,” Klig er said. “ ere’s a fear of getting hurt or injured, which could af fect the climbing season…and no one wants to get hurt.”

Competitive rock climbing is an intensely physical sport, both in its risks and demands. It’s a

fullbody exercise that builds both cardiovascular strength and muscle mass. However, scaling up a rock wall (known as a “problem”) also requires im mense mental focus and deter mination.

“It’s a puzzle, and that’s what makes it so fun,” Kliger said. “You have to think about each sequence. Everything you do matters on the wall, like how your hands are positioned, how your body is positioned, your legs, your feet — sometimes your feet have to be pointed a little more…it’s about solving it.”

Kliger has competed in local, regional and divisional competi tions; earlier this year, she trav eled to San Diego for a boulder ing divisional and to Arizona for a sports climbing divisional.

Kliger o en places in the top 10 of her region, and credits her growth to a philosophy of cele brating and building upon little victories.

“If I’m being transparent, when I rst started climbing, my goal at the competition was not to get last place. e story goes I got second to last place, and that

was a big deal because it was like, ‘I didn’t get last!’ and we cele brated that,”’ Kliger said. “ ere are always new benchmarks whether it’s in placing, di erent techniques or strength.”

In an e ort to extend her experiences to others, Kliger founded the Rock Climbing club this year. Participants learn climbing techniques and poten tially climb a er school.

“I’m really hoping that people will join along and more than anything is to build a communi ty with climbing at BHS,” Kilger said.

Although Kliger’s rock climb ing journey began with a handme-down harness, the sport is now a crucial part of her iden tity.

“You’re going to trust that it will work even though some times it’s hard to let go of the fact that there’s not a [score in crease] that will make you grow as a climber,” Kliger said. “It’s de nitely given me a lot of con dence in myself and knowing it’ll get better. I don’t know, it’s my favorite thing in the world.”

PANTHERS IN ACTION

Sports statistician Tyler Jamieson’s triumphant story etched into Burlingame athletic historyof BURLINGAME

Sankar Prathikanti

BY ZACH SHAPIRO Sta Reporter

ere are no barriers for Tyler Jamieson, a 2002 Burlin game graduate with Asperger’s syndrome who has passionately served Burlingame’s baseball, basketball and football pro grams for almost two decades as statistician and announcer.

Kaylee Hwang

“My favorite thing about BHS so far is biology class.”

Everything Jamieson does has a personal touch. Although his developmental disorder has created a number of struggles in his life, it has also helped him discover what he can o er to the world of sports.

Eli Wright

“My favorite thing is meeting people. I’ve met a lot of new people at this school.”

“I hate P.E. because of running.”

Gina Saccuman

“My favorite thing is the posi tive, spirited environment.”

“ e school lunch line because it takes up a lot of time.”

Daniel Perez

“I’ve got to say, my love of sports has to be tied to my nat ural disability, which is the au tism spectrum disorder,” Jamie son said.

Jamieson was drawn to stat-keeping a er discovering his excellence in math, a trait commonly associated with the disorder. He combined his abil ity with a love for baseball and got into stat-keeping for the Hillsborough Little League.

“Mathematics and intelli gence of numbers — that’s a bo nus side of the day on the autism spectrum,” Jamieson said. inking back to his early days collecting sports stats, a grinning Jamieson recalled be ing ushered into Burlingame’s program over 20 years ago. Rich Sciutto, longtime retired baseball coach and Jamieson’s friend, was rst to approach him, initially hiring him to work for the freshman team and later varsity in 2001.

Today, Jamieson uses a so

ware program called StatCrew to e ciently immerse himself in the games he watches. Without fail, he can recount any Burlin game playo run from the past twenty years, and he travels with the baseball team for their away games.

“He’s, in a lot of ways, a Bur lingame historian,” athletic di rector John Philipopoulos said.

Players, parents and coaches alike recognize the dedication Jamieson brings to the table. His announcing at Burlingame base ball home games has become a hallmark of the program.

“He does a lot of things that maybe we don’t have the re sources to implement or the time to do,” Philipopoulos said. “His services are invaluable.”

In 2018, Jamieson’s e orts were acknowledged before his biggest fans: at a home base ball game, he was inducted into the Burlingame athletics hall of fame.

“ at’s the icing on my career cake,” Jamieson said.

Proud of his accomplish ment, he irted with the idea of retirement from his stat-keeping and announcing duties, retreat ing to his other job as an usher with the San Francisco Giants. However, especially a er the isolation of the COVID-19 pan demic, Jamieson decided to stay.

“I was going stir crazy with the no sports,” Jamieson said.

More excited than ever to get back into the game, Jamieson returned alongside the baseball program in the spring of 2021, and was on the sideline for varsity basketball’s triumphant Central Coast Section Division III championship in early 2022.

“Just the love, passion and commitment that he’s shown for the school in the athletic depart ment and to establish himself as a pillar in our community, I think it’s a great success story,” Philipopoulos said.

Kliger attempts a granite rock bouldering problem at Black Mountain, a premier boulde ring locale in the San Jacinto Mountains.

PHOTO BY ZACH SHAPIRO

Tyler Jamieson, Burlingame sports’ statistician and announcer, hold up ve of his 10 total championship rings. He has been a part of every Burlingame championship since 1999.

“ e benches are too small. ere are not enough seats.”

“I like my classes, speci cally Spanish.”

“My least favorite is P.E.”

“I like the long passing periods.”

“My least favorite thing is the swimming unit.”

PHOTO

Erik Bennett: college, calculus, leadership and more

BY DANNY CONWAY Sta Reporter

Erik Bennett, Burlingame’s co-chair of the math depart ment and activities director, is a man of many hats. is sum mer, he le his long-time post as as senior class cabinet ad viser to take on the even larger responsibility of leading leader ship — while still leaving room to teach calculus.

Bennett is also, literally, a man of many hats, which he can be seen wearing while racing around campus for his various roles. His favorite?

e classic bucket hat, for thorough protection from the sun.

Bennett started his career in education in 1990, teach ing math at Creekside Middle School until 2005. He has spent the last 16 years at Burlingame, and is now also a part-time lecturer in mathematics at San Francisco State University.

“ e course that I teach there is an entry-level business calculus class,” Bennett said. It’s kind of like teaching seniors, but I have a wider range of ages. I had a student in her mid-70s

who decided to get a degree af ter her husband passed away, which was awesome.”

From a young age, Bennett’s parents taught him the value of serving others.

“I come from pretty hum ble beginnings. My family didn’t have very much money.

I learned [to] take care of peo ple,” Bennett said. “My parents instilled a strong work ethic and a drive to help in my sib

ing in the 1700s,” starting his days by “getting up at 4 a.m to slop the pigs.”

“A typical day is usually getting here at 7:30 [a.m.] and leaving around 7:30 [p.m.],” Bennett said. “It’s a lot, but it’s not. It’s fun. I enjoy all of it; I can’t imagine not being in volved.”

Bennett is constantly run ning back and forth between his math classroom, the lead ership room and anywhere else he is needed throughout the day. To prevent total chaos, he sometimes leaves notes on one of his classroom doors to give the Associated Student Body (ASB) president, Rinko Miy oshi, instructions on where to nd him.

ERIK BENNETT

lings [and me].”

Bennett is also known for his dry sense of humor and quick wit in the classroom. When speaking about his career, Ben net joked that he “started teach

Bennett has built relation ships with a wide variety of students through his numerous roles. He aims to help students overcome challenges and thrive on campus. Luckily, he’s had the opportunity to see that happen over his many years of teaching.

“[Seeing] students struggle and nding success through that struggle [is the most re warding part of my job],” Ben nett said.

BY

Bennett prepares for the rst student council meeting with ASB President Rinko Miyoshi (top). Bennett instructs his leadership class on tha main stage on Spet. 19 (bottom le ). Along with his leadership responsibilities, Bennett teaches Advanced Placement Calculus BC during third and h period (bottom right).

I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE TWO DAYS OF FLEX AND TWO DAYS OF NAP TIME.

WELCOME TO BURLINGAMEWELCOME TO BURLINGAME

Hannah Korslund

BY ZACHARY NEWMAN, STAFF REPORTER

Hannah Korslund, Burlin game’s newest chemistry teach er, is looking to begin the next chapter of her young career by pursuing her passion for sci ence and education.

“I wanted to combine my love for kids with how much I liked chemistry by becoming a chemistry teacher,” Korslund said. Outside the classroom, she is an athlete and coaches Burl ingame’s junior varsity girls’ volleyball team.

Korslund grew up in En gland and Switzerland and is a citizen of both countries. She attended Johns Hopkins Uni versity and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.

However, her time at Johns Hopkins also fostered another passion: her love for volleyball.

“You have to rely on your team, so [volleyball] teaches you to think about things big ger than yourself,” Korslund said.

Korslund won four Centen nial Conference championships at Johns Hopkins, but in her senior year, the team went un defeated and ultimately won a national championship.

“It was cool to see my whole [volleyball] career end like that, and it gave me leadership skills that I bring into coaching,” Korslund said.

Michael Wu

BY NATALIE GYDE, STAFF REPORTER

New to the science depart ment, Micheal Wu didn’t take a traditional path to education.

A er years of pursuing medi cine, Wu realized teaching was what he really wanted to do.

“A er graduating college, I was on the pre-med route,” Wu said. “I noticed that doing my work in medicine, you know, I didn’t mind it, but I didn’t love it.”

Once Wu gained his teach ing credentials, he knew that education was the job for him.

“I nally was able to look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘[teaching] is what you want to do, and it’s okay to want to do it.’”

Although he rst taught ge

ometry at Aragon High School, Wu knew that he would be more comfortable in a science position, leading him to Burl ingame. Scoring a job at Burl ingame can be a challenge, but Wu feels like the perfect t for this community.

“I think trying to get into this district, trying to get into Burlingame as a teacher is very di cult,” Wu said. “And for me being not as experienced, I feel tremendously lucky to be here.”

Heading into his rst year of teaching chemistry, Wu could not be more happy and excited to see what Burlingame and its hard-working students have to o er.

Elizabeth Sendil

BY SOPHIA DOSS, STAFF REPORTER

A er working various jobs within the scienti c engineering eld, Elizabeth Sendil entered a new era of her career last May as a biology and environmental science teacher at Burlingame. “[Science] explains the world in a way that makes logical sense.” Sendil said. “When you understand the pieces, then you can put them together in di er ent ways to solve new problems or to understand the problem in a di erent way.”

Mainly, Sendil enjoys science because there is always a ques tion to be answered.

“I like the aspect of digging into the whys in ways that ar en’t obvious,” Sendil said. “You know, what is this particular thing happening? How does it happen?”

Now that her teaching ca reer has begun, Sendil hopes to make her classroom an inclusive space, changing the stigma sur rounding science.

“I love it when students come

Stephanie Loi

BY THEO AU-YEUNG, STAFF REPORTER

to me and say, ‘I’ve never felt capable in a science class be fore and I feel capable in yours,” Sendil said. “It’s just really amaz

New geometry teacher Steph anie Loi always felt she was des tined to be a teacher. During a tumultuous high school year, Loi joined the Teacher’s Academy at her school to learn the basics of becoming a teacher. Soon, teach ing felt less like a dream and more like a reality.

“

e academy really helped solidify teaching as something I wanted to do,” Loi said.

As Loi began her teaching ca reer, she was initially attracted to the prospect of teaching English, but fell in love with math a er substituting in a friend’s class. Math, Loi felt, o ered the op portunity to expose students to a unique perspective.

ing. I feel like I’m making small steps towards changing the kind of ethos of science and educa tion.”

“I found it special that in math, there are many ways to get to a solution. Rather than em phasizing students to ask them selves if they’re correct, I want them to focus on the process of how they got those answers,” Loi said. “It’s not always about just getting the right answer, but how you get there.”

Loi brought that passion for teaching to Burlingame, where she has received a warm wel come from both students and sta

“It’s very nice knowing that I have a support system where everyone is so nice and helpful around me,” Loi said.

Elizabeth Bellas

BY LAUREN GONZALEZ, STAFF REPORTER

Government and Advanced Placement (AP) United States History are stressful classes: the reading is endless; the lectures are constant; and keeping track of every name, date and era in the curriculum can feel impos sible. Despite these challeng es, Elizabeth Bellas believes she can provide academic and emotional support to every stu dent that walks into her class room.

“Burlingame can be stressful for a lot of students,” Bellas said. “Hopefully, a er a month of having me as a teacher, they’ve gotten this sense [that] my goal is to not stress students out and

maybe actually make their lives a little bit less stressful.”

While she is new to the Burlingame campus, Bellas is familiar with the school dis trict, as she previously taught at Hillsdale High School for a year. Before that, Bellas earned a bachelor’s degree in history from University of California Santa Barbara and a masters’ degree in education from Stan ford University.

“I’ve had such a great time and Burlingame students are so amazing,” Bellas said. “Just so happy [and] easy to talk to. Just so great. I’ve been having a great year so far.”

Alexandra Gray

BY DANIEL CONWAY, STAFF REPORTER

Far before Alexandra Gray found herself teaching ethnic studies, government and mac roeconomics at Burlingame, she wanted to study and pursue busi ness.

Gray attended the Univer sity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and brie y worked at the accounting behemoth Ernst & Young. It was there Gray was inspired to switch careers.

“I realized I didn’t want a desk job where it’s sitting, staring at a screen all day,” Gray said.

Celine

At UCLA, Gray received an early taste of the teaching life when she worked as a camp counselor.

“I compared those experiences with my experiences in the cor porate world… and I thought, ‘What am I doing?’” Gray said.

Gray looks to utilize her pre vious experience in the business world to help students prepare for nancial independence a er high school.She also pointed out that California is one of only ve states that does not require per

BY WILL KRINER, STAFF REPORTER

PHOTO BY WILLIAM

sonal nance in its social studies standards.

“ at’s something that later on in my career I’d really love to work

Most people know a few words or phrases of Italian — ‘Ciao,’ ‘Grazie’ or ‘Prego’ — but learning the whole language isn’t easy. Burlingame’s newest Italian teacher, Celine Tan, will apply her mindset of personal growth combined with her meticulous work ethic to the di cult task of teaching the language to high school students.

Tan spent most of her child hood in Singapore, but moved to Italy at the age of 16 to n ish high school. A er college, Tan worked as a translator for two years and later worked in the eld of cultural consulting, adapting advertising or business projects for a certain culture.

toward changing,” Gray said.“My goal is to make sure people feel actually prepared to go out there in the real world and be adults”.

Eventually, she came from Italy to California to become a teach er at Burlingame.

“People were a lot more re sult-oriented and incredibly competitive back at home, in a way that really overshadowed a lot of growing up,” Tan said.

“What I see in the classroom here at Burlingame is the oppor tunity for a lot more personal growth, and you have a lot more ways to explore your interests in high school.”

Aside from teaching, Tan has a multitude of other hobbies. She enjoys sewing, takes careful care of her plants, and is an avid reader.

Amanda Brown

BY JOELLE HUYSMANS, STAFF REPORTER

Amanda Brown joined the Burlingame community this fall as a new English 3 teacher.

Originally from Massachu setts, Brown received her un dergraduate degree from Bar nard College and spent four years working in public rela tions in New York. However, her career took a turn while working as a volunteer English tutor for the U.S. citizenship exam. At that point, Brown realized that teaching was her true calling.

“I wanted to do something that I felt was ful lling to me and that had some kind of im pact,” Brown said. “And when I was tutoring English, I felt like

I had that.”

To turn her long-standing passion for English into a ca reer, Brown received a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Once Brown completed graduate school, she consid ered her potential next steps.

“My ance and I wanted to go somewhere new and live somewhere that was complete ly di erent from where we both grew up,” Brown said.

e Bay Area, evidently, was the perfect match. It o ered dream jobs for the couple, ideal weather for spending time out side and the opportunity to ex plore Northern California.

Nicole Mauro

BY ABBY KNIGHT, STAFF REPORTER

Nicole Mauro’s family has deep roots in the San Mateo Union High School District.

Mauro graduated from Burlin game in 1988, her brother and grandparent also went to Bur lingame, her parents attended San Mateo High School and her daughter currently goes to Mills High School.

While in high school, she wrote for e Burlingame B, inspiring her to major in jour nalism at the University of San Francisco (USF). She would go on to earn a master’s degree in short ction and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in poetry from Mills College at North eastern University.

“So basically, everything had to do with writing,” Mauro said. “It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s journalism, or poetry or whatever. I was pretty inter ested in it.”

Mauro teaches English 3 at Burlingame, in addition to Rhetoric and Language at USF. She came to Burlingame when a substitute teaching position opened up for Amy Farley.

“I decided to move into high school teaching because I feel like I can have more of an im pact,” Mauro said. “I’m really interested in how they make arguments...not just for them selves, but also for the greater good.”

Stephanie Lee

BY JEANNINE CHIANG, STAFF REPORTER

Stephanie Lee, Burlingame’s newest physical education (PE) teacher, always wanted to teach a PE class. Although Lee pre viously taught science at two other schools in the Bay Area — Archbishop Riordan High School and Parkside Middle School, when a job opening to teach PE popped up, Lee jumped at the opportunity.

Although Lee wants to see overall improvement among her students this year, she is more focused on teaching them to establish a growth mindset.

“I wish students took away being able to work with others no matter their ability as well as nding something that they en

joy that will improve the overall health of their body,” Lee said. Lee cares about each and every student and wants all students to feel supported and safe in all circumstances. She also appreciates working with the kids in an environment out side of a traditional classroom.

When Lee isn’t teach ing, she likes to read, cook, hike, and try new things. Lee also loves to support her stu dents in a er-school activities.

“I love supporting my students’ extracurricu lar activities, and I love to go watch them do what they do best,” Lee said.

PHOTO BY ZACHARY NEWMAN

PHOTO BY NATALIE GYDE

PHOTO BY SOPHIA

PHOTO BY LAUREN GONZALEZ

PHOTO BY THEO

PHOTO BY

PHOTO BY ABBY KNIGHT

PHOTO BY JOELLE

PHOTO BY DANIEL CONWAY

KRINER

SPREAD

SOPHIA BELLA, COPY EDITOR

Sports and mental health: by the numbers

2

BY THEO AU-YEUNG Sta Reporter

BY MICHELLE MOSHKOVOY Sports Editor

For many high school stu dents, participation in sports has increasingly become one of the most consistent features in their life, taking up a signi cant time slot in their day. Students must battle to nd a balance between their sport and the ac ademic stresses of high school.

e Burlingame B polled Burl ingame students to gain insight into how sports impact mental health.

We received 116 responses. Here’s what we found:

Based on gure 1, most re spondents agree that sports ben e t mental health.

To dive in deeper, we decided to observe trends between men tal health and the number of sports that respondents played.

Figure 3 shows a strong but un surprising trend: 90.5% of re spondents that play at least one sport nd athletics bene cial to their mental health.

As expected, respondents

who played sports were far more likely to agree that sports improve mental health, while respondents playing no sports tended to disagree. Despite this small sample size, it is a nota ble trend that the more sports played, the more likely students were to agree that sports are bene cial.

“Overall, sports are a real bene t to most students. And just in general, mental health is really bene ted by activity by sports,” wellness counselor Amy Cryan said. “Overall, I think that’s true from the interactions I’ve had here as well at BHS.”

So how exactly do sports im pact mental health?

John Philipopoulos, Athletic Director and Burlingame varsi ty football head coach, said that athletics provide a community to students.

“Sports o er students an opportunity to feel a part of a group, of a family,” Philopopou los said. “It gives them a form of mental freedom.”

Cryan resonated with Phi lipoloulos’ evaluation of how sports promote mental health.

“Setting goals, reaching goals, even healthy competition, like being part of something and reaching a goal that you set as a team,” Cryan said. “All of those are really, really good things.”

Senior Minnoli Raghavan, a three-sport athlete, has experi encd those bene ts rst-hand.

“With college apps and schoolwork piling up, I feel it’s harder to manage my time and get things done,” Raghavan said. “Sports are nice to have to take your mind o those things and to escape or relieve the stress.”

Surprisingly, despite the stress-relieving e ects of sports, Philipopoulos has noticed that students now miss practices much more frequently than they did earlier in his 22-year tenure as Burlingame’s Athletic Direc tor.

e results from our poll seem to o er a rationale for the trend Philipopoulos noted.

Based on gure 2, a major ity of athletes (55.8%) say that sports disrupt their schedule or academic work.

With academic stress rising, students might feel the need to

skip practices to get caught up on their work or participate in other extracurricular activities on their schedule.

“I o en nd myself evaluat ing what I need to do on a giv en day and the time I will need to allot towards those things,” Raghavan said. “I have to un derstand my limits and make the decision of whether or not to miss a practice to make sure I have enough time to work on things I need to do.”

ment really emphasize prepar ing our athletes for the future and the long-term bene ts of athletics,” Philipopoulos said. “And I think sports is a great av enue for student athletes to de velop tools that are necessary for success in the future.”

Nonetheless, if students feel overwhelmed, the Burlingame wellness program is an acces sible resource. e on-campus department o ers support in the form of academic counselors or

SPORTS ARE NICE TO HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MIND OFF THOSE THINGS AND TO ESCAPE OR RELIEVE THE STRESS.

MINNOLI RAGHAVAN

Philopopoulos, however, sees this as a potential learning opportunity for student ath letes. Because students’ lives and schedules are increasingly lled with schoolwork, extracurricu lars and sports, they are forced to learn about time management and decision-making.

“We as an athletic depart

the Student Success Center, Cry an said.

“Even just for students to be like, ‘I’m frustrated, I’m over it, I’m tired,’ and verbalizing those things and brainstorming ways to get some support,” Cryan said. “We’re de nitely here for them.”

Spirit squad cheers in the start of new school year

tators sporting the black out theme.

“I think starting o as away games, it’s not that di erent because the crowd has been so good. I was actually shocked at rst,” senior and varsity co-cap tain Liv Cotton said. “At the rst game against Cap, the students’ section was huge. It was very lively, so it honestly felt like a home game to me at rst. It just makes me more excited for the actual ones and how pumped up the student section is going to be.”

Abby Koch, the other senior varsity co-captain, said the loca tion of the games does not hin der the cheer program’s spirit.

the sport.

Regardless of the varsity team’s loss of nine graduating members from last year, co-cap tains Cotton and Koch have challenged themselves by step ping into leadership positions.

“I feel like we’re learning a lot of new material and gaining a lot more strength and abilities that maybe we haven’t had in the past couple years,” Koch said.

e varsity team is made up of upperclassmen with previous experience. However, the oppo site is true of the junior varsity (JV) team, which largely con sists of beginner cheerleaders.

stunts are going really well so far, so I’m really happy with the team.”

Because most of the JV cheer team is new, there are more members experiencing the unique perspective of the games as a cheerleader.

“ e games have been really fun, they’re just really exciting. It’s fun to watch the game but also to be part of it,” said soph omore and JV base Jasmine Pi neda.

BY KRISTIE KIM Social Coordinator

With the football program playing only away games in farung locations like Napa Coun ty and Cupertino in the rst six weeks of the season, Burlin game’s cheer squad has had an unconventional opening to the

season.

Undettered, the team is con tinuing to boost morale on the sidelines and during perfor mances on the eld.

An energetic student body helps. During their rst game at Capuchino High School on Aug. 26, the student section was crowded with chanting spec

“I feel like even with the away games, sometimes we think [that] not that many people are going to come but I feel like for our team, that doesn’t really matter. We’re going to give the same e ort and amount of how much we try if it’s an away or home game,” Koch said.

e cheer squads are not mandated to perform at all away games since many require long bus rides, but they still use their time to practice for future events and gain further knowledge in

Sophomore and JV cap tain Annie Conway is the only team member with experience in cheer, as she was one of few freshmen on JV last year.

Conway’s role has shi ed from being the youngest and constantly learning to teaching and guiding other teammates.

“I think we’re all doing really well learning the cheers. And I think everyone has them down which is really impressive, be cause I know when I was a fresh man I did not know those right away,” Conway said. “We’ve been picking up our dances, and our

Despite football’s numerous away games, the cheer squad has participated in other school events to welcome the begin ning of the year.

Cheer has ultimately played a huge role in contributing to a more spirited environment, en couraging students to be present and engaged at Burlingame.

“On the rst day [of school] and during back to school night, we kind of cheered people on [as they] walked in,” Paige Corne lius, freshman and JV co-captain said. “[It] might have seemed a little silly, but I think it was help ful for people to [get that] there’s a strong sense of community.”

Varsity cheerleaders helped to energize the crowd during the rst football game of the season at Capuchino High School.

PHOTO BY JAKE ROTHSTEIN

Golf in full swing among students

BY ARSHIA CHAKRAVARTTI Senior Reporter

When activities, restaurants, stores and tourist spots began to re-open last year, everyone had something they wanted to do rst: go to the beach, eat out for dinner, watch a soccer game — the list goes on. But for some, one sport o ered a particularly enticing opportunity for pan demic relief: golf.

“It was sanity to go out and breathe fresh air and just com miserate with people,” girls’ golf coach Michelle Riley said.

Golf is a major sport na tion-wide, but was steadily de clining in popularity prior to the pandemic. From 2003 to 2018, the sport lost 6.8 million golfers, according to the National Rec reation and Park Association [NRPA] — 22% of players.

However, the pandemic ipped that trend on its head.

e National Golf Foundation [NGF] reported 24.8 million golfers nationally in 2020, a 2% increase over 2019, marking the largest net gain in participation in 17 years.

e increase in golf partic ipants has been an especially dramatic change for Mariners Point, a golf center in Foster City. Professional Golfers’ Asso ciation of America (PGA) golfer and junior golf director at Mar iners Point Ron Sagara noticed the shi early on.

“Golf was very popular, [and] our facility got very, very busy,” Sagara said.

Mariners Point itself saw an over 50% increase in guests during the summer of 2021, and

double the number of kids aged seven to 11 registered for sum mer camps.

Golf’s popularity among youth has translated to the Bur lingame girls’ golf program; the current squad is the largest the program has seen. 52 athletes initially tried out, and 25 ath letes made the nal cut, a far cry from the team of six the pro gram had just two years ago.

“ at’s a huge improvement of people wanting to be part of this experience, wanting to be part of this team,” Riley said.

Every golf athlete had di er ent motivations for joining the team. Some joined from the in uence of parents, while others joined as a fallback from other sports.

“I did it because one, I didn’t make the volleyball team and two, because I could still be active and socialize with my friends,” sophomore girls’ golf athlete Anya Sternberg said.

Sternberg is not alone in ap preciating the social aspect of the sport.

“You know you can go and play a quick game of nine with some friends or if you have more time you can play 18. So, there are just so many ways to engage and enjoy the sport,” Riley said.

Golf‘s tranquil and stressfree environment also sets it apart from other sports and ap peals to players.

“It’s a little more relaxed... like obviously [you have to] fo cus but it’s a little more laid back and you can like socialize with friends,” Sternberg said.

Even the players have no ticed golf’s resurgence among both adults and teenagers.

“It’s also kind of exciting that golf is kind of becoming more of a sport that people want to play. and it is really enjoyable. I think it is underrated,” junior Sarah Ott said.

FALL SPORTS KICK INTO GEAR

Former Stanford water polo player steps onto the pool deck

BY AMANDA NOLAN Social Media Manager

A er girls’ water polo coach Dennis Clement sent in his resignation weeks before the rst day of school, father and water polo player Perry Wu stepped up to the plate. But rst, he had to check with his daughter, senior Natalie Sullivan Wu.

Sullivan Wu, who is in her fourth year on the varsity team and is now co-captain, had to navigate the stigma around being the coach’s daughter. In doing so Sullivan Wu and her dad set the precedent that there would be no partiality as a player and family member.

ere was a hard decision to make of want ing to separate my school life and my family life, but then I also want what’s best for the team, and I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of the girls having a good season,” Sullivan Wu said.

From the start of the season, Sullivan Wu took measures to create an open dialogue with her teammates, sending multiple texts to acknowledge the awkward position but con rm she was strictly a teammate.

“I won’t be treated di erently, and this doesn’t mean I have an advantage over anyone,” said Sul livan Wu. “ ere was a mutual understanding that he would be on the pool deck as my coach and not my dad.”

Wu’s water polo resume exceeds well beyond the typical coaching requirements. He started his wa ter polo journey at Lynbrook High School, where he played under Steve Barnett, a two-time Olym pic water polo player. He then played for Stanford University’s men’s team and now continues to play as a co-leader of the master’s water polo program through Burlingame Aquatic Center.

Cross Country

‘Shish kebabs.’

at’s how one Burlingame runner de scribed his legs a er reaching the top of the notoriously steep Cougar Hill at the Sept. 16 Artichoke Invitational, the cross country team’s rst meet of the season.

Despite the challenge presented by Cou gar Hill, the team still produced impressive results. Boys’ varsity placed seventh overall with a score of 183, just beating out Mills High School’s score of 184. Girls’ varsity came in fourth overall with four top 25 nishers, con tributing to a team total of 131 points.

“We’re in good early season form, but there’s de nitely a couple things to work on,” head coach Chris Coleman said.

Girls’ Tennis

On ursday, Sept. 22, girls’ tennis hosted school rival San Mateo High School.

With a nal score of 6-1, the Panthers (4-1 Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay Divi sion) easily triumphed over the Bearcats. Al though the two schools are known to be rivals, ursday’s matches were more easygoing.

Burlingame’s No. 3 doubles team, freshmen Samantha Tom and Evelyn Du, showcased their consistency yet again: the duo has won every one of their matches this season.

Although she is new to the team dynamics, Tom has enjoyed playing at the varsity level.

“I’m de nitely a little nervous because ev eryone’s older than me, but I think I’m doing pretty well,” Tom said.

“He knows a lot, so when it comes to learning new skills, we learn a lot more,” junior Stella Wet tan said. “He’s a really good coach in a sense that he really tries to make sure that his players are doing the best that they can, and he doesn’t really get mad at people for not doing things right, but rather that they aren’t doing things to the best of their own abilities.”

With Wu’s experience, he brings discipline and a tough coaching style. For many of the returning players, Wu’s practices have been challenging com pared to Denis Clement’s more relaxed coaching. However, as the season has gone on, their endur ance has helped them make it through practice and achieve their big-picture goals

“It was an initial shock, but with multiple con versations about what we want this year and our goals, we are in the same mindset. Practices are hard, but we want to do well and win,” Sullivan Wu said.

As a father, Wu prioritizes teaching the girls how to honor their commitments and grow be yond the sport of water polo.

“I just try to take opportunities out of sports and make lessons out of them for the kids,” Wu said.

Sophomore Allie Moran putts the ball towards the hole during a team practice at Mariners Point.

PHOTO BY ARSHIA CHAKRAVARTTI

New coach Perry Wu coaches the girls’ varsity team to a win over Carlmont High School on ursday, Sept. 22.

PHOTO BY AMANDA NOLAN

IT’S TIME TO STOP WRITING ABOUT HATE

BY THE BURLINGAME B EDITORIAL BOARD GRAPHIC BY LIZZY WAN

On Feb. 8, 2018, the Burlin game B Editorial Board pub lished an opinion piece follow ing a boys basketball game in which Burlingame fans shouted racist chants and slurs at their Mills High School opponents. At the time, our sta wrote that “Passivity exacerbates the problem; we’ve become adept at turning a blind eye to the sort of behavior that turns into a racial ly-inclined chant at a basketball game.”

On May 23, 2019, a sta member of the Burlingame B wrote an article titled “An ti-Semitism alive and well at Burlingame” in response to swastikas and antisemitic mes sages found on the vandalized locker of a Jewish sophomore. In the incident’s a ermath, the Burlingame administration was “virtually silent,” the author wrote.

On Sept. 6, 2019, the Burlin game B authored a story called “Burlingame High School target of hate-motivated vandalism” a er a facilities engineer dis covered racist and homophobic messages spray-painted across the walls of school buildings in the early morning. At the time, this year’s seniors were in their rst month of freshman year — still anxiously trying to memo rize their locker code, desperate ly studying for their rst biology

test, and forgetting to wash their physical education clothes.

On Sept. 19, 2019, the Burl ingame B Editorial Board pub lished a piece much like the one you are reading now. at edito rial said the quiet part out loud: no one is surprised when anoth er hate incident takes place at Burlingame, because it’s never an isolated occurrence. Explicit displays of hate — gra ti, van

dalism and racist chants — were just “public example[s] of what [students] faced every day.”

“We’ve been here before,” the editorial openly declared.

Almost three years later, our new managing team wrote their rst breaking news story of the year: “Racist, Anti-Semitic graf ti discovered on campus.” We heard from a student whose par ents wanted her to transfer be

cause of Burlingame’s reputation for hate. We talked to a teacher who said Burlingame’s culture is less welcoming than other schools. And that students don’t want to be here because of that culture.

We’re writing the same story repeatedly: Burlingame breeds racism, homophobia and an tisemitism, and denying that reality only perpetuates it. But

our words, however strident and pleading, no longer have the de sired impact on our readers. Our community is desensitized to the reality that hate plagues our school; as a result, rather than look at ourselves in the mirror, we prefer to plug our ears and ip the page.

Simultaneously, our teachers have worked tirelessly to incor porate anti-racist and anti-bias professional development into the new curriculum, and our district has updated their poli cies to re ect the same goals. But our school is ghting an uphill battle if our community contin ues to lag.

A er the 2018 basketball game, former principal Paul Belzer made an announcement over the loudspeaker. “Although we are not de ned by the acts of some of our community, we need to stand together and make it clear this kind of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tol erated,” he said.

Almost ve years later, this statement is laughable. Make no mistake: Burlingame is de ned by how some members of our community act. ese incidents darken the reputation of the en tire school. While only a small subset of students commit acts of hate, we all wear ‘Burlingame High School’ on our sweatshirts, jerseys and helmets. at means each and every student needs to bear the responsibility equally for changing the way our stu dents at our school behave.

Unfair advanatage: It’s time to forget about college legacy

BY LIZZY WAN Diversity Coordinator

My dad went to a private school that considers legacy. Automatically, that makes me a better candidate for the school. When I apply, my chance of admission should be far high er than a student whose parent didn’t attend the college, right? is statement is absolutely ridiculous. But most colleges don’t think so.

A 2018 survey by Inside Higher Ed found that 42% of private schools and 6% of pub lic schools consider legacy when looking at applicants. Generally, at least one of a student’s parents must attend the school to quali fy for legacy, although it can be used more broadly to include grandparents and siblings.

is includes every school in the Ivy League, where Spark Ad missions estimated that between 25% and 35% of admitted stu dents are legacies.

Does sharing the blood of an alumnus inherently make me a better applicant to the school? No. Do they think I bleed the school’s colors because of my lineage? No. So why do so many schools care about legacy?

e answer is pretty sim ple: money. Universities in the United States, especially private

schools, rely heavily on a steady stream of he y donations. Fam ilies with a long line of alumni from a speci c school tend to donate more. To keep the cash owing, schools are more likely to accept students from these families.

An article by Joe Pinsker of e Atlantic titled “ e Real Reasons Legacy Preferences Ex ist” revealed that a 2017 com mittee at Harvard University found that if it accepted few er legacy students, the school would put itself at risk of getting fewer donations, which they be

years. Harvard’s president, Law rence Bacow, makes a little over a million dollars a year. Clearly the school will not be running out of money anytime soon.

e bene ts of legacy don’t stop at the admissions process. If they don’t make it into their parent’s school, legacy students are o en o ered pathways to still attend. For example, the University of Southern Califor nia (USC) selects students for a transfer plan, allowing them to study abroad for their rst year, maintain a certain GPA and transfer as a sophomore.

e program is notorious for mainly selecting rejected lega cy students, although the exact numbers are unkown.

However, according to USC legacy transfer Megan Ely’s

testimony in an Anneberg Me dia article, the rumors are true. In the article, Ely recalled that all of the classmates Ely knew were also legacy students. Despite being prevalent across the United States, lega cy admissions are not popular among students. College Pulse conducted a survey in 2019 that found seven in 10 students be lieve that taking legacy into con sideration is unfair when look ing at college applications.

ere is a path to solving this problem: just this year, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act bill was introduced to the Sen ate, which would prohibit schools that

participate in federal stu dent-aid programs from consid ering legacy or donations when looking at possible applicants.

By keeping legacy a promi nent consideration when look ing at applicants, schools con tinue to support a more wealthy group of students, as those were the only people who used to attend higher education, espe cially elite institutions. is only makes it more and more di cult for students who are not part of this small group to gain admit tance. Schools must get rid of the archaic tradition of priori tizing money over the merit of their students.

BY THE HARVARD CRIMSON

lieve is necessary to maintaining Harvard’s academic prestige.

But at the end of 2021, Har vard had the largest endowment in the country, worth an estimat ed $53 billion, and received an estimated $1.4 billion worth of donations in 2018 alone. Clearly, the donations are helpful — but they seem awfully unnecessary, especially for a university that costs $303,564 to attend for four

SPRAY PAINT ON CAMPUS

VANDALIZED LOCKER

An

legacy

white,

At club fair, Burlingame welcomes in ux of student groups

space for discussion, Dontova plans to hold a couple of meet ings in the fall that would allow students to gather and talk about Ukraine and Russia.

More than anything, Donto va created the club for students to share anything they feel pas sionate about.

“[We want] to talk about Ukraine and Russia. If anyone has something to say, they’re voices are always heard in the club,” Dontova said. “We will also eat Ukrainian and Russian snacks during club meetings.”

Tsai wants students to join the club in order to promote unity within the community, and help those who may be in need.

“People should join to sup port our community, especially if you’re interested in helping people that are less fortunate than you. is is a great way to get involved,” Tsai said.

Pickleball Club

BY DARIA BURNOSOVA Senior Reporter

A er weeks of review by ac tivities director Erik Bennett and his leadership class, the club fair showcased several new and diverse clubs. e incoming clubs provide students with the chance to explore interests relat ed to sports, ethnicity, religion, music and community service.

e Ukrainian club, Clothes for Kids club and Pickleball club are among the organizations now available to Burlingame stu dents.

Ukrainian Club

e Ukrainian club, led by president Masha Dontova, al lows students to taste delicious Ukrainian and Russian food while o ering a safe space to talk and express their opinions about the current war between the two countries.

“ e purpose of our club is to talk about today’s situation between Ukraine and Russia. Also, to learn about Ukrainian culture,” Dontova said.

In order to provide a safe

Clothes for Kids Club

President Zoe Tsai founded Clothes for Kids club to raise money for organizations which provide clothes for disadvan taged and impoverished chil dren.

“We plan to fundraise mon ey through bake sales and other types of fundraisers, so that we can donate the money to the Sa maritan house and other orga nizations that get kids who need clothes and the apparel that they need,” Tsai said.

Hank and Charlie Lane formed the Pickleball club to o er students an opportunity to learn more about the trend ing sport. ey hope to teach club members about the origins of pickleball, how to play the sport, and famous people who participate in the game.

e brothers also plan to familiarize the broader Burl ingame community with the sport.

“We are going to possibly partner with organizations such as the Burlingame Rec Center and the boys and girls club to spread the sport to more places,” Charlie Lane said.

Top: Juniors Evan Kim, Zaren Lami and Charlie Lane pro mote the Pickleball Club.

Bottom: Club president Zoe Tsai shows students the bene t of joining Clothes for Kids.

Train track crossing updated to clear way for electri cation

BY ALEX KELLY Business Manager

Over the summer, Caltrain conducted tests at Burlingame railroad crossings to test the Two Speed Check system, a train signaling update. is sys tem will check a train’s speed at two di erent locations to ensure that the train bar goes down in time, replacing the old system, rst installed in 1991, which ran on electrical currents to de tect when to drop the train bar. e old system will not work with electri ed Caltrain, set to launch in late 2024. us, the Two Speed Check system was installed.

“Once you go into an electri ed system, you can’t use that system anymore because it used electric currents,” Caltrain o cial Brent Tietjen said. “So with the electric system, we have to use something that has actual speed checks on the rail corridor on the tracks.”

Caltrain has now installed this new system at 17 train crossings in the cities of Burl ingame and San Mateo. A total of 41 will eventually be switched to the Two Speed Check system. Since installing this system in May, Caltrain has tested the sys tem twice, most recently with an update during the weekend of Sept. 17 and 18 to x a bug in the system.

“It’s a little more high-tech than our older system, so there are some updates they need to do to just work out any bugs that were there,” Tietjen said.

e train crossing malfunc tion at the Burlingame cross ings on the weekend of August 28th was independent of the testing and installation process. It caused some delay for Burlin game community members like senior Lily Hartley, who was late to her job at Burlingame Aquat ic Club (BAC) because of the in terruption.

“I was incredibly frustrated because I was late to my lesson, and I made a bad rst impres sion on the family that I was teaching a lesson to,” Hartley said.

e complete overhaul of the train signaling system will also not solve the problem of “phan tom” trains. is phenomenon, familiar to Burlingame stu dents, occurs when the train bar goes down in absence of a train. It o en occurs when the train stops at a nearby station, but not the one with the bar down. Students see this hap pen at both the Oak Grove and Burlingame station crossings. But this does not mean that stu dents can make their way across the tracks when the bar is down.

“Whether you think it’s a phantom train or not, you’ve absolutely had people who as sumed that they were safe in the past, make some very poor decisions and we want to make sure that everyone understands — just trust the gate,” said Dan Lieberman, public a airs spe cialist for Caltrain.

e “phantom” train prob lem should be solved with the

installation of the Crossing Optimization Project in 2024, which will update Wi-Fi and train schedules using an online system, helping to conduct ac curate train crossings. is up date will make the Two Speed Check system obsolete.

As Caltrain looks to electrify in the next two years, they will continue to do work in the Burl ingame area.

“We’re very excited about that project. We’ll have more service a er it’s electri ed, much clean er, greener. Just a much more comfortable ride for everybody,” Tietjen said.

Caltrain o cials tested the new signaling system at multiple Bur lingame crossings as a part of their electri cation project.

PHOTO BY ALEX KELLY

PHOTO BY DARIA BURNOSOVA

PHOTO BY DARIA BURNOSOVA

PHOTO BY DARIA BURNOSOVA

e Ukrainian club o ered samples of their ethnic cuisine to en courage students to join their organization.

PHOTO BY ALEX KELLY

A er school, students cross the train tracks at Burlingame Avenue and Carolan Avenue.

Burlingame’s fashionistas put their spin on fall trends

BY RUBY ROSENQUIST Sta Reporter

It’s retro season, and Burl ingame’s classrooms look like museums lled with unique relics from past decades. With low-rise jeans and platform converse from the 1960s ac companied by oversized graph ic tees and shnets from the 1980s, style has truly come

full circle. A er returning to school, students are updating their wardrobes to get ready for fall. I spoke with junior Avah Reichow, junior Santiago Ta rango and senior Sophia Van Ryswyk about their takes on recent fashion trends and what style means to them.

AVAH

Junior Avah Reichow, a gymnast and enthusiastic Har ry Styles fan, knows what’s up at Burlingame.

Her closet, which is made up of neutral tones and a few colorful accents, illustrates her simple aesthetic. Every night, she plans out the next day’s out t while considering cru cial factors such as the envi ronment and weather forecast. Her main goal: feeling com fortable in her own skin.

“Gymnastics has in uenced how I view my body, which in turn in uences what I wear,” Reichow said. “I’ve learned to be more comfortable with my self, so I really wear whatever makes me feel good.”

When Reichow chooses an out t that balances simplicity with con dence, it sets her up for a fantastic day. Along with wearing what feels good, Re ichow makes an e ort to stay up to date on current trends.

“Scrolling through Pinter est or Tik Tok, I will see an out t that I like and try to recreate it,” said Reichow.

She o en centers out ts around the wardrobe of her favorite celebrity: Harry Styles. Styles, according to Reichow, is an iconic artist because his merchandise can be seen ev erywhere.

“I draw a lot of inspiration from stu that he has worn, es pecially incorporating his mer ch which is always so fun and happy,” said Reichow.

Without his in uence, Re ichow’s wardrobe would not be complete. She feels connected to Harry Styles because they both have a shared sense of lik ing fashion.

“Obvious ly, Harry Styles is amazing with fash ion be cause he is always so won derfully dressed,” said Re ichow. “I want him to be a part of my life, and I re that through my clothing.”

PHOTO BY RUBY ROSENQUIST

Senior Sophia Van Ryswyk, a swimmer and lover of all things spring-related, has de veloped a distinct style since freshman year of high school.

“I really like colorful cloth ing,” said Van Ryswyk. “When ever I am out shopping and I see a fun top or pants, I always want to buy them.”

Van Ryswyk prefers shop ping in-person rather than online. Because sizes can vary dramatically between clothing brands, it is di cult for her to judge whether or not some thing ts when she shops on line.

“Online shopping isn’t my thing,” said Van Ryswyk. “You just want to be comfortable.”

As an active athlete who also participates in important school functions, her out ts vary from day to day. O en,

SOPHIA

Van Ryswyk will spot new and unique clothing that sparks her creativity.

“Honestly, I don’t think that I do well with keeping up on fashion trends,” said Van Ry swyk. “But, I like passing by people and seeing clothes that I will keep in mind the next time I go shopping.”

Along with the students she sees at school, her mom is a source of fash ion inspiration — and an extensive wardrobe.

“I love thri ing,” said Van Ryswyk. “I mean, my mom’s closet has really good clothes.”

According to Van Ry swyk, her and her mom have very similar styles and personalities.

“I just like what I wear,” said Van Ryswyk. “I think

SANTIAGO

Junior Santiago Tarango, a drama student and fall a cionado, loves wearing clothes that make him feel comfortable about his identity.

He is not the type of person who plans out what he is going to wear the day before but rather prefers picking something on the spot. Combining shades of blue, brown and black, Tarango’s wardrobe can appear simple at rst glance. However, he relies on accessories to enhance his out t.

“[Jewelry] can make some thing basic be a little more dressed up,” said Tarango. “It makes it look like you put ef fort into your out t.”

In particular, he ex presses himself by wear ing an assortment of rings. He believes that his looks should be purposeful, and his jewelry re ects that intention.

He buys his clothes and accessories from a variety of stores, but mentioned that he intentionally avoids looking like everyone else.

“I don’t play sports and I don’t have a job, so I don’t re ally wear any functional cloth ing,” Tarango said.

Instead, Tarango wears clothing that helps him ex press his cultural identity as a Latino.

“When I wear my favorite clothes, I just feel good about myself,” said Tarango. “Clothes

of myself as a bright person, and I think that is re ected in my colorful, spring-themed clothes.”

Now that the weather is starting to turn, Van Ryswyk said she plans on replac ing shorts with jeans. Nevertheless, she will continue to incorporate color into her looks.

PHOTOS BY SOPHIA BELLA

are a good way to express my self and like the per son that I am.”

Rather than follow ing the norm and adopting athletic wear, he draws inspi ration from the environment around him.

“If I see somebody walking down the street and hear my self say ‘wow, that’s a dope t,’ I know I have to try it,” said Ta rango. “Sometimes all it takes is seeing something that you like and having the con dence to wear it.”

TRENDING APP CAPTURES AUTHENTICITY

BY KRISTIE KIM Social Coordinator

BeReal, a French app released in 2020, has taken hold of the social media world. e con cept of the app is intentionally simple, unique and easy to use: once a day, at a random time, the app noti es all of its users that they have two minutes to take a picture (a BeReal) “on time.” If you miss the timer, the app al lows you to post a late BeReal that still has a two-minute re striction. BeReal uses cameras on both sides of your phone to simultaneously capture a sel e and your environment. In or der to see your friends’ BeReals for the day, you must post your own.

e idea of having to take a spontaneous picture at a speci c time of the day o ers an appeal ing contrast to other social me dia platforms. Social media is all

about looking good, posting the best parts of your life and hiding the imperfections; BeReal is the opposite. Yes, you can pose for BeReal, or save it for when you look best during the day, but its core purpose is to o er friends an honest and raw snapshot of your life.

Senior Kiana Hee rst down loaded BeReal in January of this year a er her brother, who is in college, started using it. She regularly posts to see what her friends are up to and enjoys re acting to them.

“It’s like you’re not putting your best self out there,” Hee said. “It’s literally just like being real and so you can be more au thentic and it sort of takes away the pressure of posting.”

e app is unlike other so cial media platforms in another signi cant way: there isn’t an addicting algorithm. With apps like Instagram or TikTok, you

can scroll through random pic tures or videos curated to your taste, and the content pops up continuously. With BeReal, there is little to do beyond look ing at your friends’ BeReals for the day and reacting to them.

Another special part of the app is the memories function, which allows users to see a col lection of their past BeReals. Simple, random pictures from shopping at the grocery store, attending a festival or enjoying a beach day can all be captured in memories.

Admittedly, while the app is unique, it can also make people feel guilty or unproductive when their memories are lled with pictures in bed.

So take the app or leave it. But, for the love of god, please don’t post a lame picture 26 hours late.

PHOTO BY RUBY ROSENQUIST

PHOTO BY RUBY ROSENQUIST