FastForward | January - February 2023

FastForward FastForward THE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

More than 376 entries vied for the top prizes. See the pictures that took the top three spots, Honorable Mentions and Awards of Merit in another strong year for photographers from Marin County high schools.

Photo by Ewan Smith Junior, Marin Academy Honorable Mention

Mount Tamalpais School meets once a month for a new DEIJ initiative called “Connect.” During the Connect sessions, the entire community collectively focuses on a predetermined theme and takes time to learn more together through discussion, reflection, debate, and hearing various points of view. Most recently, the school honored the contributions of Ruby Bridges in our country. Students in each grade made posters and then silently marched in the neighborhood and on campus. Classes later came together to read stories about Ruby Bridges and discuss the importance of her impact on our country and what it means today.

Brooke Brilliant Senior Senior Project

Jeffrey Huang Senior “Skewed”

Devon Green, Junior, “Inter Generational Self Portrait”

Callie Zimmerman, Junior, “Dancing Light”

Pearce Graber, Senior, “Blurred Dance”

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: HONORABLE MENTIONS

Chase Faber, Senior, “Sketch Art”

Justin Goldin, Senior

Iris Weiner , Junior

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Abby Perry, Senior, “Sky Surfer”

Gabby Tuthill, Junior

Alexia Schwaegler, Senior “Plates”

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: AWARDS OF MERIT

Anna Dixon Sophomore “Face to Face”

Anna Ho, Junior, “The Parking Lot”

Ezra Trost Goldhammer, Junior, “Syndrome”

Benjamin Nadjibi, Sophomore, “Lizard”

Eliana Eaton, Junior, “Golden City”

Kailian Robinson, Sophomore, “Waterbaloon Galaxy”

New York City 2023

FASTFORWARD’S

BAY AREA

1 SESSION: 10 Students p/ week, 9am-3pm

Entering 6th — Grade 12

Session I: June 19-23

“It’s

FASTFORWARD’S NEW YORK

Send 1-5 paragraphs of why you want to go to New York City for a week of awesome interviews.

Flasher-Duzgunes

From the windows of our taxi, culture streams past. A motorcycle parade flashes by, Heelys flood the street and rumbling fills our ears. The subways become our lifeline. Days start and end there. Singers,guitarists, and eccentric dancers use their talent to ease the stress of each day. We are surrounded by art. By new ideas in symbiotic relationships with old. They coexist in a curious balancing act. We wander into old brick warehouses and see the creative ingenuity of the young and progressive. Our experience is an endless whirlwind of food, art, culture, and connection, an intoxicating, invigorating journey. Addicting, alluring, and almost incomprehensible. — Bri Alphonso Gibbs, Marin Academy

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: AWARDS OF MERIT

Angelo Neto, Senior

Ivan Ewers Senior “ In Motion”

Cameron Colpitts, Junior, “Red Coat”

Alexandra Potts, Senior, “Flower Face”

Noah Hirson, Sophomore, “Floating Leaf”

Kyle Forrest, Junior

Sara Barrett Senior

PROUD TO SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District l Central Marin Sanitation District l Novato Sanitary District Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin l Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District l Tiburon Sanitary District

Ella Bokser, Sophomore “Froggy”

Ella Galetti, Senior Drayson Jaffee, Sophomore, “Wall of Sand”

Kacy Walker, Sophomore, “Window”

The photographs on these pages use social commentary to comment and /or offer criticism about society— with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing others about a given problem and appealing to people’s sense of justice. An awareness of issues helps our community learn about and more deeply engage in creating change around problems in our community.

Visit: marinlibrary.org

Photos by Kyle Forrest and Max Sherman, Juniors, Marin Catholic High School, Scoot Wang, Senior, San Domenico and Josh Hakman, Marin Academy

Josh Hakman, Senior, Marin Academy, “Society”

Scoot Wang, Senior, San Domenico

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: AWARDS OF MERIT

Eamon Tavacoli, Junior

Natalia Serafini, Junior

Amelia Mannion, Sophomore, “Overcast”

Jenniffer Valiente, Junior

Tori Jarmicki, Junior

Emme Hart, Junior

Sammy Miller, Junior

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: AWARDS OF MERIT

PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST: AWARDS OF MERIT

Everett Rosauer, Junior “Black and White Building”

Cece Dickenson, Sophomore “Water Crashing”

Ariana Garcia, Sophomore “Spider Web”

William Hobson, Junior

Nora Ross, Junior, “Red Reflections”

SCHOOL

Ms. Swisher’s Garden Students

My favorite thing was when we planted the milkweed. — Luke

I like to plant carrot seeds. — Tommy

I like watering and planting. — Tucker

I liked when we watered the milkweed. — Wyatt

I liked it when we saw a monarch butterfly. — Pedro

I liked when we scooped seeds out of the cucumber. — Hailey

I liked when we washed the cucumber seeds. — Dempsey The best thing about the garden is the sunflowers. — Ceci I liked when we drew the monarch butterflies in our nature journals. — Malachy

I liked when we drew one special plant. — Aaron I like when I see butterflies fluttering in the garden pollinating flowers. — Aliya

I like all of the insects pollinating the garden. — Ethan I like looking at the bugs and insects. — Finn

I like looking at the plants. — Rohin

I really liked planting the milkweed and watching the monarch butterflies in the Monarch Waystation. — Mackenzie

I like looking at the leaf bugs. — Dean

I like seeing the monarchs laying eggs on the milkweed. — Xander

I like getting my hands dirty when we garden. — Millie

I liked learning about the monarch life cycle. — Sofia

I like helping the monarchs. — Milena

I love being outside in the fresh air watching all the living things like bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, spiders, and ladybugs. — Ms. Swisher

Maya Olsen, Junior

Jermaine Standfield Junior “Heads in the Clouds”

Diego Doyle, Junior, “Fog”

EZRA ROMERO

California Climate Justice Reporter

WRITTEN BY AUDREY LOWELL and EMERSON SWIFT FRESHMEN, TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOL REPORTERS: MALHAR DEV, HARITA KALVAI, AUDREY LOWELL , KIRA RODRIGUEZ AND EMERSON SWIFT

“JUGGLE YOUR LOVE FOR JOURNALISM”

Ezra Romero is an award-winning climate reporter for KQED news, covering California’s absence and excess of water and produce. As a climate and social justice reporter, he reported a series of stories on the nexus of reparations and climate change from the perspective of Bay Area communities.

Ezra Romero grew up on a peach farm in the Central Valley of California. He graduated from Fresno State in 2012, interned for Al Jazeera in Washington, D.C., and went on to work for the Fresno NPR Station. His love for the outdoors and his interest in agriculture, he says, lead to his work today. He credits his passion for agriculture to the fact that he grew up on a farm. “I just fell into it,” Ezra says. “Because I am in journalism, I just kept on going and now it’s been about 10 years doing the same job at three different NPR stations.”

There is variety in his daily work life, Ezra says. Some days, he is producing radio stories and new pieces to share. Ezra has three podcasts: Outdoorsy, Yosemite Land, and Tahoe Land. He explained there is more that goes into a podcast than you might think. He works tirelessly to research, plan out the episodes, and communicate nonstop with his editor about the pitch. Only then, can he start the interview process. Through podcasts, Ezra connects with scientists about climate change, the reality on the ground, and its effects for real-life people and places.

Ezra’s past work includes—and is heavily focused on—the coverage of

fires and ongoing droughts across California. Ezra covered the Rough Fire in the Sierra National Forest when he was able to shadow firefighters for a day. He observed the fear and reality of these heroes. Driving home at the end of the day, he was completely surrounded by fire. Ezra says, “I felt like a hero for that story, but I was also scared and it changed me.”

Ezra shares another impactful story with us. He reported on Indigenous people in California, highlighting how racism and negative views of Native American people have actually led to our culture of wildfires in California. The story received lot of attention and has now fostered a larger conversation around how California manages wildfires.

Although appreciative for the awards he’s received, Ezra remembers the most valuable feedback he ever received was from a woman who lived near the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. Raising awareness about the toxic contamination that could seep into her neighborhood via rising seas, Ezra had interviewed the woman for his article Poorly Prepared: SF Civil Grand Jury Slams City for Not Protecting Residents from Tox-

ic Contamination. After the article had been published, he saw her and she expressed her gratitude for how Ezra had represented her and her community in the story. “I want people to feel like they’ve been held dear, even if I’ve had to ask the hard questions. They are real people, and we ought to honor their stories,” Ezra says. He works closely with the communities he writes about to share the truth about the climate injustice that they experience.

Ezra Romero’s advice for young or aspiring journalists is to “juggle your love for journalism.” Love telling stories but also think about how much money you are going to make in the profession. “For a long time, you earn very little,” Ezra explains, and it is hard to climb the ladder. He explained that as a young journalist, you have to go out of your way to find the stories that you are most interested in. “When you find a story, or a vein of information that fuels you, follow that,” he says. In the beginning of Ezra’s career, he recalls how he wasn’t interested in some of the stories he was assigned to. “Just pitch a better story,” Ezra says. “I think that’s what they want from us, right? They want us to do bad___ things. So let’s do that!”

“I want people to feel like they’ve been held dear, even if I’ve had to ask the hard questions. They are real people, and we ought to honor their stories.”

MY PLACE | MY STORY

DAVIDSON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT BAND

United Markets congratulates these Davidson Band students and their long-time teacher, Dana Trillo. The Band is comprised of four concert bands, two jazz bands, a marching band and Color Guard. The Davidson School Middle School Cougar Band and Color Guard are producing superior music again this year. The Band recently won first place awards in Jazz and marching competitions at the Santa Cruz Band Review, and Lodi Band Reviews, and 1st place awards in the Concert, Marching, and Jazz competitions at the Tournament of Champions in Fairfield. These Cougars are regarded as one of the best middle school marching bands in Northern California with a strong Concert Band and Jazz band program. In addition to their participation in music competitions and school concerts, the Davidson Band has performed in local community events. The band will perform the National Anthem at the Oakland A’s game on May 3rd. The Band is blessed to have strong administrative support, parent involvement, and above average kids! Heads Up and the Davidson PTO are the band’s ardent supporters, a testament to the hard work of the Davidson students, support of the school’s staff, and the ‘buy-in’ by their parents and community.

I like playing songs that I hear on the radio or hear in the movies. — William Healy

In Band, we get to learn fun music and get to preform it to the public, and people outside of our immediate circles. — Sahar Maysot I love how everyone is so friendly and willing to help; no one is left out, and we have the best band director we could ask for! — Addicus Roth

I like how much I got to learn about music and how everything works. —Ivan Alvarado We’re like a family that plays music together. I always look forward to Band class, playing together and going to all events. — Maricela Mooney What I like about Band is all the friends I made and music that we play. — Jesus Vazquez Band is amazing because you get to learn new instruments along with your strict teacher! — Gypsy McConnell-Abell I love how the Band creates close community for all its students. I can comfortably connect with other students in Band. — Mason Stein

I like the community and learning an instrument is also very fun. — Will Pierce

I like the competitions where we go to different places and compete for trophies. — David Capdarest-Arest Band is basically learning a new language and over the years, as you get better, you appreciate it more as all instruments work together. — Kekoa Stuart

I love playing the best woodwind instrument ever — the saxophone. — Elijah Cartagena In the Davidson band, you get to learn an instrument while having a lot of fun with friends throughout

I like learning how to play instruments, learning new songs, and getting to go places

your three years at Davidson. — Charlie Pledger

where there are competitions to win. — Walter De Leon Valdez

Front row, left to right: Jacqueline DeLeon, Giselle Maldonado and Miles Harris. 2nd row, left to right: Ella Clark, Michelle Loeza-Weiss, Paxton Ishikawa, Sahar Mayost, Leo Thomas, Beckam Walter, Angie Calmo Garcia and Jaden Evans. 3rd row, left to right: Kannon Wood, Adonis Martin, David Capdarest-Arest, Elijah Cartagena, Reed Sadownick, Mason Stein, Charlie Pledger, Claire Sellars, Archer Capinpin, Andy Mazariegos and Aylin De Leon.

Back row, left to right: Jesus Vazquez, Christopher Perez, William Healy, Will Pierce, Solomon Wheeler, Gypsy McConnell-Abell, Addicus Roth, Noah McGowan, Walter De Leon Valdez, Kekoa Stuart, Dana Trillo (Teacher), Maricela Mooney, Nicholas Colbert, Keily Garcia, Ramon Alvarado and Freddy Ordonez.