In the newly released 2026 Niche “Best Private High Schools in America” ranking, the school dropped from #11 to #40 nationwide. The updated rankings reflect new introductions to the grading system, including an evaluation of the percentage of high school seniors who go on to four-year colleges and a de-emphasis on the “Top Popular Colleges” statistic, according to niche.com.
Niche is the leading resource for comprehensive rankings in K-12 schools, colleges and neighborhoods. The wellknown website collects quantitative data and surveys users, along with information verified by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics. According to niche.com, the Overall Niche Grade is determined by a composite score of several categories, including academics, sports, diversity, teachers, college preparation, clubs and activities.
President Rick Commons said through his exploration of the ranking system, he found that the school placed high in college preparatory rankings, but lower overall.
“I inquired about the rankings and I was told two things,” Commons said. “One is that if you look at the rankings, oddly, they have a ranking for college preparatory high schools. We are ranked in the top 10, leapfrogging more than thirty schools ranked ahead of us in the “Best Private High Schools in America” ranking. But for the overall ranking, we are further down.”
Commons said the athletics grade was especially surprising.
“Niche gives us A+ grades in every area but athletics,” Commons said. “That’s the real surprise, given that I think our athletics program is broader and more excellent than nearly all the schools ranked ahead of us in the ‘best private schools’ ranking.”
Class of 2026 takes agressive college application strategy in early round
By Nicole Um
A large portion of the Class of 2026 selected the same highly ranked schools for their Early Decision (ED) or Early Action (EA) applications. In comparison, the Class of 2025 chose less competitive schools for their early round applications.
Upper School Dean Erik DeAngelis said he estimated that around 40% of seniors initially planned to apply early to an Ivy League college or Stanford before the percentage dropped slightly.
“In mid-October, around 40% of the senior class intended on using their committal early app to an Ivy or Stanford,” DeAngelis said. “That number ended up falling a bit once it came time for students to submit. A fair number of students decided to move into different pools, but nonetheless still very competitive nonIvy ones. I’d estimate that the actual percentage this year for people who applied to Ivies and Stanford is slightly higher
than that of last year’s class.”
This juxtaposition is not an unprecedented occurrence. President Rick Commons said the school has seen that odd and even numbered classes of graduating seniors tend to alternate between cautious and bold approaches to the college application process, respectively, with even years’ classes taking greater risks.
“For over a decade, there has been a pendulum that has swung from odd to even years,” Commons said. “Statistically speaking, it is absolutely true that odd years have made strategic early decisions, engendering seniors of even years to observe the success of that and become overly optimistic.”
Commons said the Class of 2025 took a deliberate and strategic approach towards early round applications, and their positive results affected the Class of 2026’s decisions.
“2025 seniors thought more about where they could be happy and more likely to get in instead of applying to the
most selective school,” Commons said. “Because of this, over 50% of the class had good news by the end of December. What I have understood from the deans is that the class of 2026 is falling into that pattern of being overly optimistic.”
Angela Ren ’26 submitted an ED application and said that while the Class of 2025’s success ful results influenced the Class of 2026, other factors should be taken into account for students taking risks.
“Seeing the previous class’s results gave us confidence and pushed us to take bigger risks,” Ren said. “But, there are other reasons like prestige and legacy. An Ivy League college is associated with quality education and success. Harvard -Westlake’s annual matriculation list and experienced dean team breeds hope that we have a better shot at these schools. Also, many students here have parents who graduated from these same top schools, giving them advantages and making it a logical choice to apply.”
Financial report released
By Abby Ryan
The annual financial report showed that the school reached a new record of $10.3 million in annual giving and broke even on its overall budget. The school also expanded on the financial aid budget, which is now $16 million, as well as faculty compensation. Additionally, River Park is 85% funded and is on track to open fall of 2026.
President Rick Commons said the most important takeaway from the financial report is that the school covered all its costs.
“We broke even, which is always important for a nonprofit,” Commons said. “You don’t want to run a deficit because that means that you’re impacting the future. You also don’t wanna run a significant surplus because it means you’re not using the resources that are provided by tuition and other sources of revenue to serve what current students need.”
Commons said the record breaking number of funds raised helped the school give back to students and employees.
“It’s important that we had Annual Giving at a new record, which is once again the largest dollar amount raised by any independent day school in the U.S.,” Commons said. “The Annual Givings is a really important tailwind for us, particularly with regard to how we compensate employees and how we provide financial aid for students. A big takeaway there was that we had voluntary support beyond tuition that was well over $10 million. It accounts for more than 10% of our budget for beneficial compensation for our employees and financial aid for students.”
Chief Financial Officer David Weil ’93 said the school continues to allocate funding where it is necesary to support various programs.
“We continue to be very diligent in our use of financial resources, directing funds toward where they are most impactful,” Weil said. “In our case, that means support for students, employees, campus upkeep and our academic, artistic and athletic programs.”
SENIORS SHOOT HIGH: The Class of 2026 applies to top colleges in a competitive application season. Pressures for the seniors are extremely high as they continue to keep up with their studies while writing college applications.
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National ranking drops to 40
• Continued from A1
Commons said the athletics grade was especially surprising.
“In fact, Niche gives us A+ grades in every area but athletics,” Commons said. “That's the real surprise, given that I think our athletics program is broader and more excellent than nearly all the schools ranked ahead of us in the ‘best private schools’ ranking.”
Sophia Wong ’27 said the rankings do not offer an accurate representation of the school as a whole, but could impact prospective applicants.
“To me, the school rankings are kind of arbitrary and they don’t matter to me because I’m still receiving the same great quality of education,” Wong said. “But to prospective applicants, the [rankings] could be very impactful because many people, unfortunately, base their applications to HarvardWestlake on the rankings from Niche. Therefore, this can result in and perpetuate the trend that's already happening, which is that fewer people are applying to the school.”
Jackson Sunwoo ’27 said the rankings probably won’t influence decisions from a college admissions perspective.
“A good college admissions officer should know the history of the school and its value,” Sunwoo said. “So just because it is lower, that doesn't make me regret my decision to go to the school at all.”
Commons said the Niche Rankings can be difficult to interpret, so he wants to try to find out more about them.
“The criteria for the Niche rankings are always mysterious and probably not to be credited, but I like being in the top 10,” Commons said. “I admit that it furrows my brow when we’re not somewhere close to the top.”
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT: Ashton Oaks-Terrell ’28, Jordan Kay ’28, Brandon Hsu ’28 and James Salazar ’28 of team Silent Impact played against team Naomi on November 3rd for their team's first round. Their team won and will advance to the next round.
Upper School begins annual dodgeball tournament in Taper Gym during lunch
By Chloe Kim
Prefect Council hosted the first round of their annual dodgeball tournament during lunch in Taper Gym Oct. 27, Oct. 28 and Nov. 3. There were a total of 12 teams composed of ten students each and a maximum of one faculty member. After two more rounds of elimination, the final match will be played at the Community Time Assembly on Nov. 10.
Senior Prefect Charlie Sive ’26 said the dodgeball tournament was a concept brought from the Lower School to promote more engagement in community events.
“The dodgeball tournament at the Lower School was always a [popular] event, helping to build community, but at the Upper School, it didn’t have the same energy surrounding
it,” Sive said. “The primary goals were to make the event something students would rally around as they did when they were at the Lower School, and also to increase the amount of student participation in the tournaments.”
Haley Ryan ’27, a member of the team “Wim-Bishes,” said that she and her team have been participating in the tournament every year because they enjoy making the matches both fun and competitive.
“It wasn’t even a question for me and my friends [to participate],” Ryan said. “We have been doing this since 8th grade, and it has consistently been the highlight of our year. The best part about playing to -
New shift in early decision trends
• Continued from A1
Similarly to Commons, Upper School Dean Jesse Rueter said deans view the class of 2026’s ED decisions as risky.
“Generally speaking, all the deans have felt that students have been a little overly aspirational this year,” Rueter said. “[This] is fine, but it makes us a little wary of the results, given that those schools are often very selective.”
Rueter also said that the school has a good reputation and prestige, which affects ED.
“Students from here have gone to [Ivy Leagues] and we've sent a higher percentage of students to those schools over other high schools out there,” Rueter said. “This leads people to feel like if I go to Harvard Westlake, I have an opportunity to go to a place like that, and so I should take that opportunity and apply early.”
Sarah Anschell ’26 is not ap -
plying ED but is following an EA plan. She said that while many seniors are drawn to selective schools, their choices shouldn’t be seen as black-andwhite as long as they are applying to places that align with what they want.
“It definitely checks out that, in some way or another, most seniors are ambitious and applying to selective schools,” Anschell said. “ We should be normalizing the fact that as long as people are applying to schools that will make them feel satisfied, there isn’t a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ ED, regardless if those schools all end up to be top schools.”
Rueter said the decisions of the class of 2026 ultimately come down to individual choice, as the counseling team’s role is to advise rather than restrict where students apply.
“We don’t implement a practice of preventing or limiting anybody from applying wher-
ever they want to apply,” Rueter said. “In the end, that’s their choice. We do like to advise students along the process, though, and encourage them to make wise decisions based on their pros and cons. But sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants. There's nothing we can do about it.”
Ren said she only recently started thinking about her own ED but is trusting the process.
“In general, last year’s results didn’t affect me much. I didn’t even start seriously thinking about my own ED school until the final dean meeting before summer,” Ren said. “When the new school year started, I came back with a clearer idea —partly inspired by a friend from the previous class who went to my dream school, and partly by another strong option I’d often recommended to others. In the end, I just followed my dean’s guidance and now I’m simply hoping for the best.”
gether with my friends is that we are all naturally very competitive. Channeling that energy and seriousness into our games makes every match so much fun. We won our first game, and I'm confident we're just getting started. I have a feeling that this is our year.”
Fletcher Graham ’27, a member of the team “Flip n Flop,” said the team’s performance in the first round was strong and that the team will focus on mindset as they prepare for their next match.
“I am feeling very optimistic about the tournament,” Graham said. “We have a great group of guys, we are super determined and we always leave everything on the court. Our
first win was quite a breeze, with two of the three games having no one out when the whistle blew. Our strategy going forward is pretty simple. We know we have the talent and the skill. We just need to focus on the mental, and the winning will come.”
Dhara Jobrani ’26, a member of the team “Shanghai Sharks,” said that the tournament gives students a great chance to take a step back from academics.
“The best part of playing together with my friends is that the dodgeball tournament is very unserious, but it is a good break to get away from all the stress at school,” Jobrani said. “It also reminds me of all the fun times in PE [that] I miss. I really hope to win this year [since it is] my last year, but either way, I know that I am going to have a lot of fun.”
INSIDE CHALMERS: Upper school deans estimate that around 40% of seniors planned to apply early to an Ivy League, which is higher than years before.
CLAIRE LEE/CHRONICLE
L. Wood Haley Ryan ’27
Students participate in fall-themed activities during inaugural Community Time Fall Fest
By Angel Song
Fall Fest was hosted on the Quad during Community Time on Oct. 30. After attending their respective Community Time assemblies based on dean groups, students were able to enjoy fall-themed activities which included a donut eating competition, pumpkin decoration and bowling. Student Affairs and Attendance Coordinator Michael Plourde said Fall Fest was an effective way to gather students and celebrate the season while promoting other relevant community events.
beth,’ which is why we planned the teaser, and we also wanted to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos with the assembly happening in the gym.”
Hudson Shen ’28 said Fall Fest was an effective way of promoting community while ensuring everyone was able to partake in all of the fall festivities.
“I enjoyed the activity portion of Fall Fest, and I appreciated that we weren’t obligated to do anything but still could do as much as we wanted,”
“Our main goal with this was to get all the students to be in community with one another and celebrate the season,” Plourde said. “We wanted to encourage our students to attend the play this year, ‘Mac -
Shen said. “This was a good way to boost community engagement to an extent since there were a lot of group activities, or at least things that were more fun when done together. I also was glad that there were a variety of activity choices so no one was left out and everyone was able to find some activity that they genuinely wanted
to be doing.”
Genevieve Watson ’27 said she enjoyed having the ability to choose between different activities and locations.
“I liked the amount of freedom we got during Fall Fest,” Watson said. “You could hang out by the benches if you wanted, do a bunch of different activities and you had ample time to enjoy everything that was available. I personally really liked the pumpkin painting activity as well as the variety of special fall snacks that were available.”
Plourde said he was glad to see students reinforcing their relationships with peers in a screen-free environment.
“This was a very successful event,” Plourde said. “It really was just about having the students connect with each other and have some fun on campus during the school day. Part of that was having the students disconnect at the same time by getting off their laptops, put -
Alumnus performs in jazz concert
By Angel Song
Max Haymer ’03 performed at an HW Jazz Alumni Concert during lunch in Chalmers 104 on Oct. 30. Haymer is a professional jazz pianist who has experience performing with artists including Arturo Sandoval, Jane Monheit and the New York Voices while leading his own trio.
Jazz Band and Jazz Explorers member Christian Indelicato ’27 attended the concert and said he appreciated the chance to listen to the trio’s performance on campus.
“It felt like a productive use of my time because it was an opportunity to listen to talented jazz musicians without needing to find a concert myself and buy tickets,” Indelicato said. “I enjoyed the music and appreciated the result of hard work and practice, which was evident throughout the performance.”
Katie Myer ’27 said although she is not a musician, as an artist, she still enjoyed the concert
and gained creative inspiration for her own work.
“As someone who grew up with jazz being my favorite [music genre], having the trio come to our school was just unbelievable,” Myer said. “They were so talented and I could just feel how the entire room lit up when they played. With the end of the quarter approaching, it was such a nice way to wind down with some beautiful music. Although I’m not a musician, I love writing and making films and it actually helped me figure out an idea for Westflix.”
Upper School Performing Arts Teacher Chris Sullivan said he planned this event as a way for students to enjoy live music at school.
“I wanted our students to experience this music live and up close,” said Sullivan. “When I first came [to the school] I found myself constantly recommending shows and concerts to students, but most of those professional performances take place late at night, on school
nights or at 21+ venues. That’s when I had the idea to flip it around and bring the music to HW instead.”
Indelicato said watching the trio perform motivated him to adopt some of their jazz techniques.
“The performance inspired me to incorporate their musical ideas into my improvisation,” Indelicato said. “Improvisation is a difficult skill, and it requires learning techniques from listening to talented jazz musicians. [This concert] helped me improve musically and inspired me to become a better musician.”
Sullivan said he wanted to give students opportunities to be excited about jazz and also remind them that the genre remains relevant in the modern art scene.
“I hope our students leave feeling inspired and enthusiastic about the music,” Sullivan said. “Jazz is an exciting art form. The more you get to know it, the more gratifying it becomes to listen to and play. I want students to understand that jazz is thriving, not an outdated genre preserved in schools.”
Club invites pastor for event
By Angel Song
Christian Club hosted Pastor Chris Juni to speak about
anity in the modern age in
son Lecture Hall on Oct. 27. Juni covered issues relevant to the community, focusing on ideas including friendships and college admissions. The event offered a chance for introspection, helping attendees think about their spiritual and moral lives.
Christian Club leader Andrew Suh ’26 said his existing connection with Juni at LA Sarang Community Church helped him bring the pastor to the speaker event.
ting away their phones and really just enjoying being up there and present with one another, with some fun activities and desserts to celebrate the beginning of a new season.”
Shen said he is excited for future events like Fall Fest.
“I genuinely enjoyed this event,” Shen said. “I’m looking forward to more in the future.”
Watson said she appreciated being able to spend some quality time in-person with her friends without experiencing any academic stress.
“Fall Fest was a great opportunity for a lot of students to catch up with their friends,” Watson said. “This was a relaxing, interactive and exciting way to spend Community Time, especially since this event took place right before the first quarter came to a close. It was nice being able to have some free time to ourselves without having to stress too much about grades and assessments.”
“[Juni] has been my pastor for around a year at my church,” Suh said. “We’ve been on a couple of retreats and hang out after service sometimes, so I would call him a friend of mine. He has experience in talking on college campuses and at different events, so naturally I asked if he would be willing to speak at HW. I am really grateful he said yes with no hesitation.”
Jane Zhang ’26 said this event was helpful to her journey towards developing a religious connection.
“I am a relatively devout Christian,” Zhang said. “I am still trying to discover my connection with God at the same time, so I genuinely did love the experience. I got to listen to a priest who discussed the modern implications of Christianity and what that means for students today.”
Club member Joseph Villa ’27 said he was glad a church pastor came to share Christian experiences and tied them to the school.
“[Juni] got down to earth with us and the questions that he asked us were interesting,” Villa said. “He did a good job in linking school to religion too, which I appreciated a lot.”
Christi-
Ahman-
FALL FESTIVITIES: Nia Nadanarajah ’28 (left) and Lauren Howell ’28 (right) pose for a picture as they wait to participate in the pumpkin bowling activity offered during Community Time. Fall Fest was hosted as a way for the entire campus to experience connection and celebrate autumn.
/CHRONICLE
Hudson Shen ’28
JAZZ AND JOY: Max Haymer ’03 performs jazz
Senior Independent Studies
Twelve seniors were selected to work on Independent Study projects accompanied by the insights of a faculty adviser this semester.
Sydney Assil
By A ngel Song
For her Senior Independent Study, Sydney Assil ’26 is writing a paper about the American education system and researching how it does or does not achieve equity compared to other countries around the world. Her adviser is Head of School Laura Ross.
Assil said an issue she noticed in public education was the lack of equitable teacher allocation.
“[A problem is] teacher requirements and fair distribution,” Assil said. “In America, the requirements to become a teacher are more relaxed than in other
countries, creating underprepared teachers. [ ey] make up far more of the faculty in high-need areas while well-advantaged areas typically have more quali ed teachers.
Part of this issue is the low teacher salaries that create very little incentive for teachers to earn higher educational degrees.”
Ross said the project meetings are often based on discussion, and they help her gain new insights into how other countries’ education systems work.
“[Assil] shows me where she is in her research and what she’s been doing since the last time we met,” Ross said. “ en, we [decide
By E mmel,ne C /an
Zachary Abrahamson ’26 is studying Japanese by writing a short story entirely in the Japenese language for his Senior Independent Study. Middle School World Languages Teacher Shuang Yang is the adviser for Abrahamson’s project.
Abrahamson said he chose this topic because he is fascinated by Japanese language and culture, but the school does not o er Japanese as an o7cial language class.
“I have a strong interest in learning the Japanese language,” Abrahamson said. “ e Independent Study is a perfect opportunity for me to pursue learning the language during school.”
Abrahamson said he began
learning from a Japanese grammar book and started drafts of his short story in both English and Japanese. Abrahamson said he enjoys meeting with Yang for her assistance and support.
“ e highlights of my project are the Zoom sessions with Yang,” Abrahamson said. “It is so nice to be able to share stories about our experiences in Japan and to talk about these experiences in Japanese.
Abrahamson said he has improved his understanding of Japanese through this study and is grateful to be working with Yang.
“I’ve known Yang since 7th grade where she was my KITS teacher when we were still doing school online,” Abrahamson said. “I took a Japanese Directed
Tehmina Malhotra
By A bby Ryan
Tehmina Malhotra ’26 is focusing on making a tattoo brand in order to simulate a market for her Senior Independent Study. Malhotra is being advised by Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Whitney Lasker.
Malhotra said she chose the topic for her independent study because of her passion for art and her curiosity about marketing.
“I came up with this idea over the summer because I love ne arts and wanted to nd an in-
on] what she’s planning to do in the next timeline. For the last four years, I have taught a class on equity issues in public education here at Harvard-Westlake as a Directed Study. In terms of working with [Assil] and meeting with her regularly, it’s been really interesting because I don’t do as much comparative stu with other countries in my class.”
Assil said she hopes to learn how to combat the issue of unfair education and support younger students by highlighting educational di erences between the U.S. and other countries.
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
Caroline Cosgrove
By K ara Jazaer,
Caroline Cosgrove ’26 began working on her Senior Independent Study centered around the rise and fall of the Yiddish language. Her adviser for this project is English teacher Sara Cohen.
Cosgrove said the inspiration for the study came from her familial relationship with the language.
“I am writing a paper on the decline and revival of the Yiddish language after World War II,” Cosgrove said. “People in my family used to speak Yiddish, and as people emigrated out of Eastern Europe, there was a signi cant decline
Study with her last year. She’s also studying Japanese, so she is the perfect adviser.”
Abrahamson said he is learning more about his subject area.
“I’m currently in the process of writing my story alongside doing my textbook reading for homework,” Abrahamson said. “I am also meeting with my adviser from the Middle School.”
Abrahamson said he likes exploring across various disciplines.
“I enjoy connecting my interests and nding patterns between them,” Abrahamson said. “Whether it’s solving problems in the school’s Math Club or reading through Japanese texts, I love being challenged and having the opportunity to spread my interests.”
tersection between art and marketing,” Malhotra said. “It’s the perfect combination between design and business. I will be creating a product, brand, website and social media account, all while focusing on the marketing of my brand.”
Malhotra said she hopes to gain a deeper understanding of elds that she is inexperienced in.
“I hope to further my interest in marketing and advertising because these are two elds in which I haven’t had much previous experience,” Malhotra said. “I love
art and am interested in pursuing it with business in college, so I thought that this study would help me get a starting point.”
Lasker said he is pleased with how Malhotra is using this project to improve her skills.
“I am always excited to see students take creative ownership of their work, and this project really highlights how design connects art, communication and problem solving,” Lasker said. “I am proud of how she is using this opportunity to grow as a designer.”
[in the use of the language]. e people who didn’t leave also felt the decline due to the atrocities during the Holocaust. I’m studying Yiddish in its prime, how immigration and other factors led to its demise and how people today are trying to revive it.”
Cosgrove said she is working with a variety of sources to research her topic.
“I’m doing research with books and sources online,” Cosgrove said. “[I’m using] mainly primary sources and secondary sources, but also am going to do work in Los Angeles by talking to people in Yiddish book clubs so that I can see how it’s
being revived today in Los Angeles. is summer in New York, I went to review lots of manuscripts and documents.”
Cosgrove said that while discovering historical sources was relatively easy, recent sources have been harder to nd.
“ e language de nitely did decline,” Cosgrove said. “It’s easy to nd sources on Yiddish in its prime and also in its decline, but now in terms of revival it is a small e ort. Finding sources for current events has been the hardest part.”
Cosgrove will continue researching and work to nalize her paper at the end of the year.
Zach Abrahamson
Shimon Schlessinger
By E,,eline C-.n
Shimon Schlessinger ’26 designed the lighting for this year’s play, Macbeth, for his Senior Independent Study. Upper School Performing Arts Teacher Aaron Martin is the adviser for Schlessinger’s project.
Schlessinger said he is studying lighting design and working on making a portfolio to submit to a college’s theatre program for the future.
“I am responsible for using our stage lights to produce a design that supports and clari es
the story, enhances the show and brings out the dark, dramatic tone of Shakespeare’s work,”
Schlessinger said. “Most importantly, it makes everyone visible only when they should be.”
Schlessinger said he is happy to work with Martin and is glad to have him as his advisor.
“I chose to work with [Martin] since he is the most experienced lighting designer at the school and is typically responsible for designing the shows,” Schlessinger said. “I’ve built a great relationship with him over the past two years through
By Holden K i,
Opinion Editor Audrey Kim is completing her senior independent study on how visual elements of Chinese Nationalist propaganda shaped public perception during the Chinese Civil War and both of the Sino-Japanese Wars and what they reveal about the nationalist party’s ultimate goals.
Kim is one of thirteen selected students for this year’s Senior Independent Study program, with each student exploring a unique topic of their choice.
Kim said her decision to pur-
sue this topic stemmed from her fascination with how the Chinese Nationalist Party utilized media to adavance its agenda.
“I wanted to do something unique that really explored my interests in Chinese history this year,”
Kim said. “I was drawn to [my topic] because I’m very fascinated by the Nationalist Party in China and especially their leader, Chiang KaiShek, and what they were planning to do. I wanted to see if I can glean that from their propaganda and if that can tell us why they did the things they did.”
History Teacher Jennifer Gol-
Lauren Daub
By A ngel Song
For her Senior Independent Study, Lauren Daub ’26 is working on a project to predict the outcomes of ceramic glazes by applying machine learning to the glaze process. Upper School Math and Computer Science teacher Andrew &eiss is advising Daub’s Independent Study.
Daub said her project involves both hands-on and computer-based components, and she is focusing on one aspect per each quarter.
Stagecraft I and II.” & e Macbeth production took place in Rugby Auditorium from Oct. 30 to Nov.1. Schlessinger said he felt proud of the cast’s growth during the performance and looks forward to the rest of the year.
“I felt like the shows were very strong, and we truly found our rhythm as a cast,” Schlessinger said. “While I’m sad the production has ended, I’m also excited to see what we’ll create together in the rest of this year’s shows.”
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
By Holden Ki,
Vik Bakaya ’26 is completing his Senior Independent Study, a research and lm project titled “Financial Math and Risk Modeling Video Series.” &rough accessible and educational videos tailored to a general audience, he showcases how complex mathematical and nancial concepts can be applied to everyday scenarios. Speci cally, his videos intend to teach viewers on how to optimize a stock portfolio and pro t. He is one of thirteen students selected in this year’s Senior Independent
ub-Marcus, who is Kim’s faculty advisor, said she found Kim’s topic to be engaging because it centers around a group that is often overlooked in Chinese history.
“Everybody knows about Maoist propaganda and it looms large in terms of Chinese history,” Marcus said. “But then when she drew my attention to the Nationalists and their propaganda, that was so interesting to me because I think it’s very underrated and the themes of Nationalist propaganda tend to be minimized in history.”
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
By K ./. J.0.e/i
Kai Kuklinski ’26 is working on his Senior Independent Study titled “Innovation Economics & Impact: Public-Private Pathways to Solve Climate Change and Safeguard Energy Security in the AI Era” alongside Head of Communications and Strategic Initiatives Ari Engelberg.
Kuklinski said the study’s main purpose is to analyze the way relationships between companies and individuals can benefit different career sectors in the near future.
“[I am] exploring how public and private partnerships can be utilized over the next decade
“My project is about trying to predict highly volatile cone 10 glazes post- ring from their base ingredients and chemical compositions,” Daub said. “&e rst part of the project that I’m working on during rst quarter is making the test tiles to build the dataset. &e second part involves data analysis. To do the actual predictions, I’m going to test the validity of di erent models, including linear regression, polynomial, random forest and DNNs.”
Daub said she wanted to merge her passion for ceramics and com-
puter science through her project.
“I chose this project because I really like ceramics and computer science,” Daub said. “&e Harvard-Westlake courses only go so far, so I thought this would be a fun opportunity to keep improving my machine learning skills applied in an area that I enjoy.”
Daub said machine learning can help identify relationships between ceramic glaze ingredients during ring that may be di cult for the human eye to easily identify.
• Continued on
Study group, with each student exploring a unique topic that they chose across various subjects of their choosing.
Bakaya said his decision to pursue this topic stemmed from his long-standing interest in math and desire to make complex math more understandable.
“I have a passion for math, but I always found pure math a little bit tedious,” Bakaya said. “I always wanted things to be applicable in the real world. Another thing that was really important to me was equity. I believe that regarding education, everybody should have
equal opportunity. &e purpose of the series is to make all these super advanced concepts that use all of this math accessible to the normal person in their regular life.”
Faculty advisor and math teacher Kent Nealis said mentoring Bayaka felt like a natural match because of their shared interest in the many topics covered in the study.
“I have a background innance myself, and it was a serendipitous situation where he was interested in something that I’m interested in,” Nealis said.
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
to encourage interdisciplinary innovation in fields like nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and clean technology so that, as a society, we can meet our climate and energy security goals,” Kuklinski said. “That is a big current issue in the 21st century.”
Kuklinski said the primary inspiration for his independent study came from his adviser.
“I wanted to do this study because I have looked into the topic for a while with Mr. Engelberg, who is my mentor for this assignment,” Kuklinski said. “I have had the opportunity to meet with various industry professionals and executives
to learn about what happens both on the government and private side of businesses.”
Kuklinski said he wants to make sure the report meets the academic standards.
“It is very important to me to make it accessible to people and also interesting to read,” Kuklinski said. “We are going to submit the paper to a council of about ten teachers at the school so we can publish it if we want to. It is also an opportunity to research something that we are interested in that isn’t otherwise offered at at a school like Harvard-Westlake.” Kuklinski will present his findings at the end of the year.
Kai Kuklinski
Audrey Kim
Ellie Liou
By A --. R.an
Ellie Liou ’26 is studying the rise of blind boxes for her Senior Independent Study. Liou is working with middle school Dean Department Head, History and Social Studies Teacher Karen Fukushima.
Liou said that her reasoning for choosing this topic is her fascination with Smiskis and her curiosity about the rise of these , gurines.
“I came up with my independent study as a result of my love for Smiskis,” Liou said. “/ey are
a type of blind box ,gurine from the company Dreams Inc., one that is similar to other blind box companies like Pop Mart which sell Labubus among other unique character ,gurines. As a consumer of blind boxes, I wanted to explore the incentives and reasons for their rise to popularity within the past few years, and its historical links to Japanese department stores in the late 1990s.” Fukushima said she enjoys the opportunity to help a student explore something they are passionate about.
Imogen Ramlie
By Emmeline Chan
Imogen Ramlie ’26 is writing a research paper on Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) for her Senior Independent Study. Upper School Science Teacher Chelsea Stewart is the adviser for Ramlie’s project.
FMF is an auto in(ammatory disease that Ramlie inherited at an early age, and she said she chose this project to address patients’ experiences with the disease and spread awareness.
“I’ve had symptoms of FMF
“I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with upper school students, and a student like Ellie, with whom I have a personal connection as her former dean and as an advisor to the Japanese Language and Culture Club when she was at the middle school,” Fukushima said. “I appreciate that the independent study program provides students a great opportunity to research a passion project that is both personally relevant and, in Ellie’s case, culturally relevant.”
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
Isleen Lee
By Angel Song
Isleen Lee ’26 is writing an auto,ction novella for her Senior Independent Study. Auto,ction is a literary genre that blends autobiography and writing . Her advisor is academic support specialist and English teacher Nicole Stanton.
Lee said she wanted to write a novella since middle school, and decided to chronicle the life of a teen girl with some of her own experiences incorporated into the novel.
“It’s about a teen girl who’s navigating [a relationship] with
HW Speech Team reflects on growth over the last five years
By G0a1e Choen
Five years ago, HW Speech could have been summed up in one image: one student, one teacher and a weekly Zoom meeting. Alex Chon ’21 and Speech Coach Sarina Wang struggled to ,nd an e)ective way to publicize the newly-created team because of virtual schooling. /ey navigated through uncertainty and several obstacles, such as adapting to a virtual platform and online tournaments. Sustained by the belief that other students could also eventually gain as much from their club, Wang pushed ahead. Today, HW Speech can be summed up as much more: 85 students, one teacher and hundreds of awards.
/e team competes in tournaments throughout the year, including the two most prestigious ones in the country: the Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament and the Tournament of Champions. While also competing in the National Speech and Debate Tournament, the world’s larg -
est competition of its kind, HW Speech had several finalists and semifinalists throughout the past two years. Competing in a league ranked 13th in the state, the team has also earned multiple sweepstakes awards at the National Online Forensics tournament.
HW Speech President Molly Block ‘26 said that the team’s spirit and diversity are what make the program appealing to prospective members.
“A lot of the team’s growth has come from the people who came for the activity itself but stayed for the community,” Block said. “/e energy on our team never fails to attract new members. Speech brings in every kind of person. From writers to actors, there is something for everyone, regardless of experience.”
However, the team wasn’t always this diverse. Wang said that it has been immensely ful,lling to witness the development of the team from its original, unstructured form to the developed group it is now.
“When HW Speech ,rst started, it was just me and one student ,guring things out as
since I was less than a year old and no doctor was able to diagnose me,” Ramlie said. “I decided to do some research myself and write my own paper. I also want to provide some insight into the symptoms patients face because everyone experiences FMF a bit di)erently.”
Ramlie said that a highlight of her project was reaching out to experts and gathering more statistical information.
we went,” said Wang. “/ere wasn’t much structure yet. It was really about passion, curiosity and seeing what we could create. Watching the program grow from one student to a full, thriving community has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I brag about my students all the time to whoever will listen. I’m so proud of this team.”
HW Speech President Lyra Majumdar ’26 said her time on the team has evolved from when she ,rst joined to today.
“When I ,rst began, I was completely consumed by my event,” Majumdar said. “All of my practices were spent learning di)erent rhetorical tools, memorizing statistics and investigating foreign policy. As president, putting logistics and organizational e)orts aside, the most important responsibility is focusing beyond myself. I’ve met so many brilliant underclassmen and feel honored to bridge the many events and disciplines within Speech, promoting both competitive success and collaborative values.”
Ramlie said that Stewart has also been supportive and enjoyable to work with.
“I took [Stewart’s] bioethics class my sophomore year and loved her energy and excitement about every topic she taught,” Ramlie said. “She also has a background in genetics which I thought would be very helpful for me during this project.”
“I’ve been able to connect with Dr. Owen Siggs of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia to talk about this,” Ramlie said. “He has provided me with a data set from their collection that I have been allowed to work with and incorporate into my project.”
immigrant parents, religious struggle, teenage love, heartbreak, failure and basically everything a teenager experiences with an emphasis on ,nding her way to Christianity in the midst of everything,” Lee said. “I chose to do this [for my project] because I’ve always wanted to write a novella and I’ve been planning this since middle school.”
Stanton said she appreciates how Lee devotes her personal time to her artistic passions.
“It’s such a gift to advise Isleen’s writing process, because I’m thinking about how to balance my
own creative life with my teaching life,” Stanton said. “So much of the work of being an artist is about time and attention. Isleen makes the daily choice to be devoted to her creative life, with a sense of energy and discipline. I ,nd it inspiring as a writer and as her teacher.” Lee said she hopes to inspire others who relate to the protagonist, a ,gure whose experience she partially resonates with.
“It’s something I’ve been planning and thinking of, so it just feels like the plot has always been a part of me,” Lee said.
• Continued on hwchronicle.com • Continued on
PRINTED
French department reorganizes curriculum
By Rowan Green
Since last year, the French Department has been completely realigned. Upper School French Department Head and French Teacher Karine Bruno has worked with French teachers to align the curriculum from the middle school through the high school to create a logical and progressive program, without any gaps in the curriculum between different levels.
“It took a lot of time, dedication and respect between the middle and high school teachers,” Bruno said.
Bruno said she hopes this new system will form a smoother, more organized, clearer and more comprehensive experience for students throughout their time at the school, putting all of the HW students first.
“It was very nice to talk to the teachers in the middle school and to be able to come up with a new system together that really benefits the student before anything else,” Bruno said.
Middle School World Languages Department Chair and French Teacher, Monique Geisler, who is entering her second year at the school, said that she took the position knowing that the redesign would be occurring. Geisler said the redesign involved the selection of new textbooks, along with a refocus on what the department believed was important to teach.
“We’re focusing on speaking, listening, reading and writing,” Geisler said. “We want to make sure that students are comfortable speaking and also getting all of the grammar behind the language.”
Geisler said she wanted to
Contest held on quad
By Emmeline Chan
Students and faculty competed in the annual Halloween costume contest on the Quad on Oct. 31. A group of judges deliberated amongst themselves and discussed as each contestant walked down the red carpet. There was no formal rubric for evaluating because contestants’ costumes came in such different forms, giving the judges creative freedom. Judges are able to give their input for each costume
Several weeks before the competition, the Prefect Council sent out a Google form for sign-ups and advertised it on social media.
Senior Prefect Sarah Anschell ’26 said that they are constantly searching to get even more people to participate in this community-building event.
“Prefect Council hosts the contest as a fun way to mark Halloween and highlight student creativity that may go unnoticed on average school days,” Anschell said. “We’re always looking for reasons to award prizes and bring people together, even if only for short events.”
Anschell said the contest also aims to foster connections not only between students in different grades but also faculty in
many separate departments.
“This year specifically, we made the decision to have three out of our four judges be new faculty members,” Anschell said. “We did this so that students could see their faces and get to know them better.”
Joseph Villa ’27 participated in the contest dressed up as singer and songwriter Bruno Mars and said that he competed on a whim.
“I honestly felt really scared,” Villa said. “But my friends were doing it and told me to join them, so I did.”
Villa said he was glad he participated and would consider competing again next year.
“If I have a good costume and join with more friends, I would do it again,” Villa said. “I had nothing to lose, and it was a fun and quick thing to do.”
Anschell said she hopes that more students and staff will join in the future to engage in the Halloween festivities. She said she believes activities like these are a great way to create community and spirit on campus.
“I always think it’s fun when people enter in the contest as groups and coordinate costumes among several people,” Anschell said. “It shows that they put a lot of effort in, and I love to see friends participate together.”
emphasize the importance of ensuring that students, whether at the upper or middle school, are learning the same material in their classes.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re at the middle school or the upper school campus,” Geisler said. “If you’re in French II or French III, you should be learning all of the same topics.”
Geisler said that although the French Department has definitely improved, there are still some changes that the department wants to make. With the schoolwide replacement of all Advanced Placement (AP) courses with Honors courses, she said that the department needs to decide how to approach the AP exam.
“So the question is, ‘how much do we want to prepare students for the AP exam, if not everybody’s
going to take it?’” Geisler said.
Along with this, she noted that the French department is working on beginning to give Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs), similar to the assessments that the Spanish and Chinese departments give frequently, so that all students of the living languages on campus have similar experiences.
Despite the changes still to make, students are already noticing the smoother transitions in between classes.
French IV student Lucas Schlumberger said that his move from Advanced French III at the middle school to French IV at the upper school went very well.
“The transition has gone really well, and I think the curriculum really helps the students if there’s some stuff that they don’t know,” Schlumberger said.
HW students compete in the AMC
By Holden Kim
The school hosted the American Math Competition (AMC) exam on Nov. 5. Students who registered were given 75 minutes to complete the 25-question multiple choice test, which covered topics including advanced algebra and geometry. Top performers may advance to the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), the next step toward qualifying for a spot on the USA Math Olympiad Team.
Assistant coordinator and math teacher Joshua Helston said participation in competitions like the AMC provides students with opportunities to approach everyday math problems from a different perspective.
“Participating in competitions like the AMC gives students a new type of reasoning and logic,” Helston said. “All of math, regardless of the subject you’re taking, is all about critical thinking, digesting information and figuring out what’s useless and what’s useful. What’s beautiful about competition math is that you learn new shortcuts.”
Head coordinator and math teacher Laffite Lamberto-Egan said the AMC is not only for math enthusiasts and he encourages all students to participate in the AMC, even those who do not consider math their strongest subject. He said the competition is a good opportunity to practice your skills.
“I have a lot of students that go into it understanding that the problems are hard, and maybe they will be able to answer three or four out of the 25 questions,” Lamberto-Egan said. “This is totally reasonable and can be fun. If you can answer a handful of questions right on the AMC, you’re doing great. I would encourage students to just give it a shot if they’re at all interested in trying contest problems like this.”
PUTTING IN THE WORK: Upper School World Languages teacher Sebastian Merle works on students’ quarter grades following the transformation of the Harvard-Westlake French department’s curriculum. Merle has since taught dozens of students across different language levels.
DRESSED UP: The language department dresses up in the “Wicked” movie theme for the annual Halloween costume contest on the main quad. The group descended the school’s main stairs in coordinated green, black, and pink.
KARA JAZAERI/CHRONICLE
Mystery Minis
DOWN:
1. The pointed top on some buildings
2. Elevated hairstyles?
3. Put in office
4. “Actually,” over text
5. Hospitals, for short
ACROSS:
1. Take to court
4. A sometimes alcholic fall drink
6. See 4-across
7. Customizable holey shoes
8. Established, as a business (abbr.)
DOWN:
1. See 4-across
2. Structures underneath some windows
3. Misbehave
4. 6 pts in football games
5. Kit’s partner in candy
ACROSS:
1. Airport security org.
4. With 1-down, request for candy
6. Greek triangle?
7. Informal greeting said in Paris
8. 1/3 of a tbsp
Jessica Ferrie ’26 created seasonal mini crosswords for this issue of The Chronicle. See if you can use the clues to correctly fill in the boxes.
Layout Assistants and Staff Writers: Leica Achacha, Alexander Ahn, Kiran Amin, Ila Bakaya, Hannah Bayat, Emma Bing, Isabella Chiang, Grace Choen, Rowan Green, Philo Hornby-Simmons, Sophia Jeon, Leela Kandavel, Halyn Kim, Katelyn Kim, Lauren Kvamme, Claire Lee, Lucas Lee, Radha Malhotra, Freddie Mandel, Violet Martin, Brendan Park, Jihan Park, Matteo Rabizadeh, Ollie Rauch, Avery Resnikoff, Birdie Reynolds, Sage Seltzer, Madison Shen, Sally Straus, Phoebe Sun, Avery Thompson, Nick Waller, Maddy Wynholds, Andrea Yu, Vicky Yu, Gyan Zinn
Director of HW Media: Jen Bladen
Chronicle Adviser:
Publication Information:
Founded in 1990, The Chronicle is the Harvard-Westlake Upper School’s student-led newspaper. Now in its 34th year, The Chronicle strives to report stories accurately and to uphold its legacy of journalistic integrity. The newspaper is published eight times per year and distributed to students, parents, faculty and staff. We are members of the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the Private School Journalism Association. Be sure to check out the HWMedia+ app for more content from our publications.
Stop Villainizing Senioritis
In Dr. Nate Cardin’s speech to the Class of 2026 during Senior Ceremony, he emphasized how the behavior of seniors during their second semester can either leave a positive or negative impact based on the way they respect or neglect commitments they made before college applications were submitted. This sentiment is not Dr. Cardin’s alone. Many teachers take issue with seniors missing class for Coachella, turning in assignments late and no longer aiming for an A in the predominantly honors course-load they picked to show rigor on their applications.
While all of this is true, teachers often fail to acknowledge the positive effects of senioritis: many seniors take second semester as an opportunity to build closer connections with friends, both old and new, disregarding cliques or other social boundaries that affected friendships in previous years. Seniors also take trips they never would have taken before in fear of missing a day of class content and falling behind. Yes, these endeavors can often come at the expense of academic achievement and ambition as seniors no longer feel compelled to put as much time and effort into their classes. While this cultural shift is almost a rite of passage, it is understandable how teachers can feel neglected. However, the editorial board urges faculty, staff and administration to carefully consider how the endemic declining motivation of second semester seniors, colloquially known as senioritis, is a symptom of the overall school culture. The true litmus test of a joyful pursuit of educational excellence is what students do when excellence is no longer an obligation. If the behavior of second semester seniors is such an issue, perhaps it is time for the school to reanalyze the prior seven semesters of time spent at the upper school rather than the eighth spent enjoying the cultural depth and diversity of the city they will soon be leaving.
This is not a proposal for a new wellness plan or for more community time assemblies, but rather a call to action for both administrators and seniors. College didn’t matter when we were
seventh and eighth graders, but students still cared deeply about succeeding. What changed about the way those students view academic achievement? Why is it that second semester is touted as drastically more enjoyable than the first, or the entirety of the high school experience at the school? Why is the intellectual curiosity that the school wants to foster fizzling out once external motivators are taken out of the equation? And why is feeling neutral about academic performance such a bad thing?
Seniors, we must also learn how to find balance in our lives by engaging in community activities, from starting a podcast to hosting a ping pong tournament between your friends, requiring only several hours a week. Even with college applications, schoolwork and athletic practices, there are hardly any seniors on campus with under three hours of weekly screen time. Take advantage of what few gaps in your schedule you do have, even if it’s breakfast before late start or after school on the evening before a flex day. Purposefully blocking time to bond with friends or celebrate the nearing end of high school earlier in the school year prevents students from stopping their commitments to school entirely, come second semester. In finding balance during a highly stressful period of their lives, seniors will also be able to find balance when academic obligation is no longer dictating their calendars.
Ultimately, senioritis should not be treated as an inescapable disease or a moral failure of the student body but as a symptom of the ecosystem that shapes them. If the goal of education is to cultivate lifelong learners, moments of disengagement reveal where that mission falls short. The responsibility lies not just with students to re-engage, but with the school to inspire curiosity unbound by grades or deadlines. As seniors prepare to leave, both they and the institution have the opportunity to redefine what fulfillment looks like when the graduation stage is in sight, rather than to sigh, walk across the stage and say things will always remain the same. about us
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION:
The Chronicle strives to be a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes all who wish to contribute. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committewwe works to ensure that every member of the Harvard-Westlake community is recognized, included and given a voice. The Chronicle's publications will aim to represent this diverse community and provide a variety of perspectives on the topics that they cover.
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Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of staffers and are written by the Editorial Board, which is composed of the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors and Section Editors.
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EDITOR:
Letters may be submitted to chronicle@ hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited to conform to Chronicle style, space and format. We are committed to uplifting the voices of marginalized or underrepresented individuals and groups in accordance with our efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
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UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS:
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MEMBERSHIPS:
Quad Talk:
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
“Cranberry sauce because I have a sweet tooth.”
- Mattea Pisani ’27
“I like mac and cheese because it is my favorite food.“
- Pia Terroba Tron ’28
“I love my grandmother’s fried chicken and mac and cheese. I look forward to it every year.”
- Kyle Henderson ’27
“Cranberry sauce because it’s been a tradition in my family every year for me and my cousins to be the ones to make it.”
- Fiona Tseng ’28
“I love Nigerian jollof rice because the flavors are so rich and the taste in general is amazing.”
- Oyinkan Iriafen ’27
“My uncle’s barbecue because he makes it only once a year.”
- Edna Dereje ’26
Has Opal increased socialization on campus?
“I think Opal has increased socialization on campus. I’ve seen an increase in people talking to each other and I think some of that stems from not being able to look at your phone instead.”
- Joya Roy ’26
“Yes. By being forced to not be on our phones, we are forced to be more present.”
- Emma Lee ’27
How do you celebrate Friendsgiving?
“I get together with my friends and we all eat food and play games like photo roulette. We bake and even though it doesn’t really turn out very well at all, its really nice to get together with them and just have a fun time.”
- Hayley Ross-Settineri ’27
P“It hasn’t increased socialization, but I don’t think socialization would be too different if we had our phones either. It’s just annoying to have to block our apps during the day.”
- Nia Maria ’28
“It’s hard to determine whether Opal is making a difference on campus. I don’t think it’s necessary. I think the school thinks so too, given that communication and enforcement of Opal has dropped off since the first month of school.”
- Aidan Elson ’27
“I celebrate friendsgiving by not only having a spread of food from each and everyone of us, but also everyone gets a gift. My friends and I all bring gifts for eachother to show how grateful we are to have each other in our lives. It’s a tradition that is super special to us!”
- Keisari Penman ’27
Stop falling for the deception of political populism
By Jack Fener
opulism as a political approach has, in recent years, become inexorably tied to every facet of American political messaging. Populism is an attempt to appeal to the sensibilities of the common people by positioning oneself as an ally in the fight against the corrupt elite. As a concept, populism is nothing new in America or the broader world, but the extent to which it serves as a political motivator to the general population has become extremely problematic. Theoretically, populist arguments would at first seem to be an insignificant factor to voters, as the rich, powerful candidates peddling this rhetoric are often the embodiment of the corrupt elite. However, this is not the case in actual elections, where populist arguments regularly win the support of voters on both sides.
Populism is a difficult problem to overcome because it is so ubiquitous in both political parties and at every level of the American democratic system. The public has gotten used to ever-present populism and no longer registers it as the manipulative tactic that it is. After all, there is no real logic in one rich, entrenched demagogue calling another rich, entrenched demagogue an enemy of the people. There must be an evaluation of
how populism has shaped the past 25 years of increasingly rhetoric-driven, insubstantial political bickering.
Populism is a problem because it redirects public attention away from real policy issues.
Ultimately, populism is a problem because it acts as a diversion that redirects attention away from the real policies that actually make up a candidate’s political identity. This level of constant distraction is what has allowed candidates on both sides to create policies that are meant to do the exact thing they campaign against. For example, former president George W. Bush campaigned as a relatable ally of the people while implementing sweeping tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the richest Americans during his presidency. Such counterintuitive maneuvers as this are commonplace within the realm of modern politics and represent the core of the hypocrisy in the populist problem.
The rhetoric that stands against the corrupt elite is the very strategy that enables popu -
list demagogues to benefit. Even once this problem is recognized, it is easy to point to one party or even one political figure and blame them for perpetuating this toxic strategy. Unfortunately, this is an issue that is, at this point, so ingrained in the political landscape that no one force can be held responsible. President Donald Trump, though an extraordinarily talented populist and frequent employer of charged, extreme populist messaging, is ultimately a mere result of this deeper problem, and not its creator or sole perpetrator. If anything, the current type of targeted and divisive Republican populism is a response to the vague, unspecific populism utilized by democratic candidates like Former President Barack Obama. Democrats have, in the past, campaigned with broad populist messaging meant to appeal to everyone. Republicans saw the success of this and used a far more direct and effective version of it, appealing directly to their voter base and building strong support. Regardless of who is responsible for them, the American public must be able to see past these tactics and stick to strict policy and results based voting. The goal of this is for the public to be able more clearly consider
what they actually want out of their candidates and political systems, that being the speedy passing of policies they support. The counter to the populist problem is a return to the substance of all politics: a rejection of candidate personalities in favor of a focus on the practical, results-driven side of politics. After all, it does not matter what a candidate campaigns for if they can’t accomplish what their voters want. Rather than being overly simplistic, this approach emphasizes the importance of objectivity and independent thinking about what candidates stand for and what policies mean.
A more pragmatic approach is the ultimate source of clarity in a country where uneducated voters prioritize rhetoric over results. Furthermore, a more concrete view of politics often makes issues easier to understand and more readily applicable to the lives of even the least educated voters. This makes issue-based voting both more accessible and effective. Ultimately, populism is a force that has only brought division, confusion and distraction to the American political landscape. This problem can be overcome by collectively spotting it for what it is and eliminating its influence from our political opinions.
By Holden Kim
On Jul. 21, 2025, Texas
Governor Greg Abbott announced a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional districts – an extraordinary departure from the long-standing norm of decennial redistricting tied to the U.S. census. Abbott’s intentions were hardly ambiguous: the move came just days after President Donald Trump publicly pressed Texas to deliver five additional Republican seats in the U.S. House.
Such clear deviation obliges voters to reexamine the ethical bounds of electoral mapmaking.
Governor Abbott’s announcement triggered a chain reaction, with Republican-led legislatures in Missouri, Indiana and Florida signaling their readiness to redraw mid-cycle maps, and Democratic strongholds like New York and Illinois swiftly moving to the defensive. Seemingly overnight, mid-cycle redistricting a tactic long deemed off-limits, was now being openly discussed as a viable electoral strategy. Such clear deviation from well-established rules obliges policymakers and voters alike to reexamine the ethical bounds of elector -
OBy Riya Iyer
al mapmaking and reconsider what should be deemed appropriate and proportionate to counter partisan overreach.
California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed the Election Rigging Response Act, commonly called Proposition 50. The ballot measure, approved by Californians on Nov. 4, temporarily suspends the powers of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, California’s independent redistricting body. The act would replace this commission with a one-time, limited mechanism for lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, with full redistricting power reverting to the Citizens Redistricting Commission in 2031. If passed, the Democrat-controlled State Legislature could redraw California’s house congressional map to flip at least five Republican-held seats. It is worth aknowledging that the success of California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission is a matter of civic pride. Established by voter-approved Propositions 11 (2008) and 20 (2010), its creation removed district map-drawing power from the hands of politicians and entrusted this responsibility to an independent panel of citizens, allowing for greater transparency and maps that have been widely praised as models of fairness by organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice.
On Aug. 21, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the “Election Rigging Response Act” legislative package, sending it to the Nov. 4 special election ballot as Proposition 50. The move came 20 days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a mid-decade redrawing of Texas’ congressional map to secure more seats during the 2026 midterm elections. Newsom’s decision to temporarily suspend the independent redrawing commission undermines voter input and sets a dangerous precedent that normalizes partisan gerryman-
Newsom’s decision undermines voter input and sets a dangerous precedent that normalizes partisan gerrymandering for the Democratic Party.
dering for the Democratic Party. Traditionally, gerrymandering has been defined as the redrawing of political or electoral districts to make it easier for an incumbent party to remain in power, according to Cornell Law School. At its core, gerrymandering is an undemocratic practice that allows politicians to unfairly manipulate geography to choose their voters rather than give their voters the power to elect representatives that represent their genuine interests. Following the Supreme Court rul-
ing in Rucho v. Common Cause, which deemed redistricting a political issue rather than a legislative one, partisan gerrymandering has become increasingly entrenched. It has gotten to the point where during the 2020 elections, only 7.5% of House races were considered competitive, according to the NYU Law Review. While this normalization has encouraged some states to exploit the practice, California has historically stood against it, making Newsom’s decision aggressive and short-sighted. Proposition 50 compromises a decade-old precedent established by voters when they elected to create the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, or CCRC, in 2008. The commission was largely a response to voter frustration over the state legislature’s history of partisan gerrymandering. In one notable example, former California Representative Phil Burton spearheaded an overtly political gerrymander following the 1980 census, prompting widespread outrage and leading to a 1982 referendum in which voters rejected the redrawing, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Crucially, the process upholds fairness and transparency and minimizes political bias by placing power in the hands of bipartisan voters who are held to strict bias standards to ensure impartiality, rather than politicians seeking to manipulate the map for their own agenda.
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
Does Newsom’s move weaken California’s fair election?
Should states retaliate with their own partisan gerrymandering?
Keep politics out of science: protect and preserve the CDC's integrity
By Hailey Kramar
n Sept. 18, 2025, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted eight to three to withdraw the Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) childhood vaccine recommendation. This change to the vaccine schedule for children was the first policy change enacted by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly reconstructed and controversial committee, according to BBC. It is unconscionable that Kennedy Jr.'s preexisting anti-vaccine beliefs are infiltrating Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine policies. Kennedy has previously been a part of anti-vaccine advocacy groups that unethically claim that childhood vaccines are responsible for autism, according to Associated Press (AP) News. By weakening the long-standing practice recommendation for vaccinations, the CDC signaled that politics outweigh decades of proven scientific fact. This mistrust in medical science leads to further mistrust in our democratic institutions. CDC is polarizing science and it is unethically creating inherent mistrust in other government institutions. Since health policies are based on scientific fact, personal and political bias should never be involved in decision-making. The CDC is a renowned and respected platform which the general public and many doctors, rely on for recommendations about their health. Citizens need to be able to trust the CDC to eval-
uate studies in a fair manner. The committee insinuated that combining MMRV immunizations leads to a risk of febrile seizures. However, this is an incredibly rare side effect and did not necessitate a policy change, according to The Hill. Kennedy Jr. has a long-standing history of opposing the MMR vaccine, according to NPR. Since there is no new evidence to substantiate this change, it appears that his personal beliefs were the primary motivating factor in his decision.
Since health policies are based on scientific fact, personal and political bias should never be involved. in decision-making.
For the 15 years prior to this voting, the CDC recommended a combined MMRV shot for children under the age of four. This bipartisan decision was based on sound scientific safety data, according to the CDC. Due to the CDC’s strong vaccine guidance, the MMRV vaccine led to the elimination of measles in the United States in 2000 which can be credited for saving countless lives decreasing the number of cases by 14% from the previous two years, according to the CDC. However, as vaccination rates fall with the new mandate changes, once prevented diseases are now resurfacing. The U.S. confirmed that
there are 1,281 recorded measles cases in 2025, the highest number of measles cases since 2000, according to Johns Hopkins' International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC). If the number of MMRV vaccinations remains as is, measles could become an epidemic by 2050, according to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). Lower vaccination rates are leading to a surge in preventable diseases. Lives are at stake, and the CDC’s guidance using the correct approach is vital. This policy change is a political intervention of misinformation about autism being directly connected to the vaccine into health policy rather than a health breakthrough. Furthermore, this undermines decades of scientific legitimacy. The immediate risks of the public’s mistrust in the CDC are severe. When Kennedy Jr unnecessarily brought up the minimal flaw of the vaccination that one additional febrile seizure occurs among every three to four thousand children with the MMRV vaccine compared to children without the vaccination. By bringing this minimal side effect to the forefront of the discussion, RFK Jr’s committee has unnecessarily sown doubt in the public’s perception of its efficacy, according to the CDC. Beyond the resurfacing of previously eradicated diseases lies an additional problem, the erosion of institutional legitimacy. In the U.S., trust in the CDC dropped from 66 percent to 54 percent in
2025, according to the University of Minnesota. When citizens are unable to rely on the CDC to advise them based on facts, their faith in other political institutions begins to deteriorate. In 2025, only 14% of parents express high confidence in the CDC because of all the chaos of the current administration, according to the American Journal for Medical Care. Spreading health misinformation becomes ammunition for political polarization. The goal of the CDC is to protect the public with reasoning based on unbiased scientific principles. Unfortunately, the current administration has weaponized science to further its political agenda. Whether it is the president ignoring economic reports and trying to manipulate the Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, or dismissing U.S. intelligence to dictate foreign policy for their own agenda, the public is
losing faith in our political institutions. Analyzing data to make policy decisions should be based on facts and not political party issues
The CDC influences media and other public sources of perception, including targeted social media campaigns and direct engagement with news outlets. In 2023, the CDC started the “Let’s Stop HIV Together, ” a social media campaign targeting younger audiences to promote HIV testing, prevention and treatment, according to the CDC. When parents are confused with the messages the CDC is sending out, in 2025, approximately 16% of parents are currently rejecting vaccine recommendations, according to the American Journal for Medical Care. This may have the detrimental effect of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children, which will lead to the disease spreading.
morning drive times
Interstate 405 closed, disrupting travel to campus
By Kara Jazaeri
In recent weeks, Interstate 405, commonly referred to as the 405, has experienced closures on multiple entrance and exit ramps in addition to the closure of the freeway itself for pavement rehabilitation. Typically scheduled for the weekends, the closures have significantly affected students’ ability to get around Los Angeles and arrive to school for extracurricular commitments.
Mattea Pisani ’27 said the
shutdowns have made it more difficult to get to her weekend sports practices.
“I live down in Culver City, meaning I take the 405 North for 14 miles to school and back in the afternoon,” Pisani said.
“Getting to my Saturday volleyball practices in the morning has definitely been difficult, but I am very grateful that the city is taking measures to fix the freeway and make it safer for all of us. For example, this past weekend I was driving to school for practice and the 405 North was
closed on the way to practice and the 405 South was closed on the way home.”
Pia Terroba Tron ’27 said the 405 repairs have not created any issues.
“The closures haven’t affected my commute to school as they only happen on the weekends,” Terroba Tron said. “They do cause more traffic on the weekends in general, but never on the way to school.”
Max Lee ’27 said the closures have negatively impacted his ability to make it to events both
Monthly sunshine market held
By Abby Ryan
Sunshine Makers Market is hosting another Market at The Shops at Sportsman’s Lodge on Nov. 8. The market allows shoppers to explore local makers, small businesses and arts and crafts. Vendors include Betsey Carter Ceramics, Fox and the Empress Tarot, Little Chimes, DIPHDA and arts and crafts with Creatiive Natiive Kiids.
Founder of Sunshine Makers Market Alanna Bailey said The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge were created to bring people together and give small businesses a place to thrive.
“Every single person is so kind, so talented and so lovely,” Bailey said. “It’s an honor to call them all friends now. We get to create a day of joy for the community and for small businesses to shine. What could be better?”
A member of Creatiive Natiive, a mobile arts studio in Los Angeles, Olivia Brydon said Creative Natiive started being a vendor at Sunshine Makers Market because of her bond with the owner of the market.
“I first learned about Sunshine Makers Market through the own-
er, Alanna,” Brydon said. “We met a few years ago while vending at another art market, and she and I connected over our shared passion for bringing creative experiences to the community. Since then, Creative Natiive has become a regular vendor at Sunshine Makers Market, almost every month, offering fun, hands-on crafts for families.”
Brydon said when planning an event, Creative Natiive aims to connect their arts and crafts with the holidays coming up.
“In order to create a successful event set up it starts with planning out the projects we will be offering,” Brydon said. “We always offer 2 craft choices and lean in towards what season we are currently in or if there are any holidays we can align with theme wise. From there we prep materials, pack and market for when we will be there.”
Riley Romans ’27 said she is looking forward to the Sunshine Makers Market, and hopes that there will be a relaxing atmosphere.
“The Sunshine Makers Market at The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge looks like a fun mix of local artists and small businesses,” Romans said. “There are booths with handmade jewelry, pottery and even tar-
ot readings that I want to check out. Sportsman’s Lodge overall has a relaxed, friendly vibe that will make it easy to just hang out and explore.”
Yari Milakin ’27 said he is not going to the next Sunshine Makers Market, but hopes to go in the future.
“Although I do not plan to attend the Sunshine Makers Market, it is an amazing idea that supports our small businesses,” Milakin said. “It gives them a chance to thrive, and I will be more than happy to go to this next time it happens.”
Margaux Schlumberger ’27 said she agrees with the ideals behind this market, and looks forward to going.
“I always love going to markets and popups with my friends so I’m excited to see what this looks like at The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge,” Schlumberger said. “Supporting small businesses is something that’s really important to me, so I love this concept.”
inside and outside school.
“The closures have been terrible,” Lee said. “I need to wake up early every day because of how unpredictable the 405 has been. Luckily there’s a side route you can go through, so I usually use that. It definitely makes the commute home from school challenging. One time I was with my brother and we were stuck in traffic for over two hours.”
Finn Slootweg ’26 said while his route to school hasn’t been hurt by the closures, he has noticed the impacts across the city.
“The closures on the 405 are incredibly inconvenient for everyone who comes to this school because a very large population of the school takes the freeway to get here,” Slootweg said. “I know many people who have to take the Sunset exit frequently, but it is always closed. It can really ruin someone’s plans if they’re stuck in traffic all day. I do think the maintinence is pretty necessary because driving the 405 is my least favorite thing. It is so bumpy and really needs to be paved.”
HIGHWAY CLOSED: T he closure of a section of the I-405 caused major delays for commuters traveling to school, forcing detours through neighboring routes and extending
across the Valley. The shutdown, due to a planned maintenance, left many students and faculty navigating heavy congestion throughout the morn ing.
DONNA ENAYATI/CHRONICLE
CULTURAL ROOTS
Strands of Identity
Students and faculty discuss the role of hair in shaping identity, its roots in various cultures and its representation in media.
By Hannah Hendifar
Standing on the hot concrete, 10-yearold Keisari Penman ’27 adjusts her two swim caps, making sure her curly hair is shoved into the tight elastic of the latex one before pulling over the required team-issued silk one. She dives into the swimming pool, relishing the cool water as she slices through it, making agile movements that lead her back and forth across the pool. As she is coming up for air on her last lap, she hears, “Why is she swimming if she can’t put her hair in one cap? If it’s going to fall in the water, why swim in the first place?” As she reaches the wall, she instinctively touches her head, aware of the attention her hair attracts.
Penman, who is African American and South Asian, said her hair was a topic of discussion from a young age.
“This was not my first interaction with prejudice,” Penman said. “There were a lot of hard conversations [about my hair] with my mom growing up. It took me a minute to figure out myself and my identity.”
A 2019 study of 1,555 African American women found that lifelong use of chemical products, often used to attain Eurocentric beauty ideals, has resulted in disproportionate exposure to harmful ingredients that can negatively impact their health, according to the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. Upper School Counselor Brittany Bronson said she got a chemical relaxer when she was 10 years old after realizing that her hair did not match the societal beauty standards portrayed in media.
“My hair texture has always been thick and naturally curly,” Bronson said. “If I think about society and what I saw growing up on television or in magazines, you’d always see a black woman’s hair straightened. It’s like, ‘Oh that’s pretty’. You want to be like the majority. You don’t want your hair to be different. My hair was natural up until I was 10 years
old, [when] my mom made the choice to get [me] a chemical perm.”
Keilani Carter ’27 said she was influenced by fashion and the media to dye her hair as a form of self-expression.
“I was born with dark curly hair and I wore it like that until I [became] a teenager, and fashion in the media began to influence and shape my views on how I wanted to present myself,” Carter said. “Dyeing my hair felt like a positive way to express and show my identity. After entering high school, I fully bleached my hair blonde. I always felt that blonde hair stood out and [looked] really cool.”
Western beauty standards remain dominant in the United States, leading many White, Black, Asian and Latina women in American society to follow them, and these same ideals continue to expand globally. Additionally, Asian men and women tend to consider White people to be more attractive than Asians, reflecting the harmful effect of these standards on self perception, according to The Diversity of Love Journal. Collin Bunnak ’27 said he felt pressure to conform to the American beauty standard of curly hair for men by getting a perm.
“In America, people do prefer wavy or more curly hair compared to extremely straight Asian hair,” Bunnak said. “It took me a little while to realize the beauty standard [for Asian men]. I see a lot of other Asian kids from other schools getting perms. We feel like we’re not generally attractive, so we feel the need to get a perm to make ourselves confident.”
Gian Ngo-Willis ’26, who is African American and Chinese, said he likes the way his unique hair differentiates him.
“When I was younger, my hair was naturally very curly and long,” Ngo-Willis said. “I had an afro. Everybody would just come up to me and touch my hair and [say], ‘Oh, your hair is so soft, it feels like a sheep.’ That definitely shaped how I see my hair and it made me want to keep
the curls. I liked having something that other people didn’t. Not a lot of people have this hair texture or hairstyle, especially because I’m of mixed race. It made me racially ambiguous [and] I love that because it shows how [unique] of a human I am.”
Bronson said as she grew older she transitioned from straightening her hair to embracing her natural texture.
“
“I wish I would have grown up loving my natural hair as opposed to [being] like, ‘Oh, it has to be straight,’” Bronson said. “Not until I was in my 20s did I really grow to appreciate it. I had more friends who had natural styles, and I was in a place in my life where I was like, ‘Oh, I want to explore and see what it’s like to do different things with my hair.’
was younger and not acknowledging my mom’s comments when it came to these common conversations about my hair and our ancestry.”
Ngo-Willis said his African American identity contributes to his perception of his hair more than his Chinese identity because of its historical significance and the variety of hairstyles it offers.
Your hair is a trophy. It’s something that you have to treasure, something that you keep with you.”
Keisari Penman ’27
Seeing the beauty of what it is and connecting to it [felt] like connecting to my roots. [Now,] I’m connected to my lineage a little more. I just love my hair and it’s part of who I am.”
A 2011 Dove Study of 1,000 women found that only 7% of women love their hair, with African-American women most likely to feel that way, according to Glamour. Penman said her hair is an integral aspect of her identity.
“What people tend to forget is that my hair is a really big part of who I am,” Penman said. “Almost every special occasion [and] almost every event, I’ll wear my hair out because it makes a statement. It shows people who I am. It’s like how I was in kindergarten [when] everybody in the room could see my hair above them. That’s something that I hold close to my heart. There’s a strength in [the] empowerment of having hair like this. One of my biggest regrets is shying away from it when I
“Hair has been at the crux of black expression for a long, long time,” Ngo-Willis said. “It holds a lot more weight than Chinese hair. Braids were originally very intricately patterned during times of American slavery to lead slaves to freedom. There is a bunch of historical significance there. The ability and variety when it comes to manipulating black hair has been so widely explored throughout black history. Because there’s so many styles and because they look so different from each other, I think those can really play into shaping identity more than Chinese hair ever could. With Chinese hair, I think it’s definitely a little harder because your hair is really straight.”
Penman said she now proudly showcases her hair after her sports matches.
“I wear my hair out every single time there’s a match,” Penman said. “I wear my hair down and I don’t put it back up. Playing with it is empowering and making a statement is empowering. We had [the] Junior Olympics for water polo and there were a couple games where I gave a really good performance and I wore my hair out after that. There was nobody who looked like me on that deck, who had done what I just did in the pool. Your hair is a trophy. It’s something you have to treasure, something that you keep with you because you just did something to be proud of.”
By Riya Iyer
Violent graphics and bright lights flash on a TV screen as Neal* bites into a chocolate bar while playing video games with his friend. Suddenly, his vision blurs and he feels a strange euphoria flooding his senses. He tells his friend he is going outside for a break. Soon enough, he is on the roof, calmly watching YouTube videos as he trips out from the psilocybin, commonly referred to as shrooms, in the chocolate bar. His rush of anxious thoughts stops and is replaced by an unfamiliar peace and hyper-awareness of his surroundings.
Neal, who tried shrooms for the first time last year, said his experience was different from how he had seen it portrayed in the media.
“Students and teachers reflect on how the portrayal of drugs in movies and television affects teenage perception
In 1998, the four largest American tobacco companies signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), which ended tobacco-related paid product placements in movies and limited cigarette advertising to youth, according to a study conducted by the NIH.
Westflix Leader Eze Baum ‘26 said the current portrayal of drugs in television is contingent on its audience appeal and profitability , but that the legalization of drugs such as marijuana could normalize substance use.
Teens often imitate the behaviors of people they admire in the media in an effort to be more like them”
“It felt closer to a marijuana high than a completely different experience,” Neal said. “In the media, the only aspect that is represented is the visuals because the conception is that your entire reality changes and you start seeing crazy things. That’s just not how it is unless you take a huge dose, so that’s only going to be 0.1% of trips. For me, it actually makes me much more conscious of my actions and myself. Seeing a bunch of things and tripping out isn’t all that there is.”
Westflix Leader Henry Wain ’25 said shifting social norms have changed both the kind of substances that are promoted and the mediums through which they are presented.
— Tina McGraw Upper School Counselor
“It always comes down to the stories that people want to tell, and what interests [studio executives] is marketability,” Baum said. “For the executives involved that are not on the creative side, the question is really as simple as, ‘Is this going to make us money?’ If the answer is yes, it’s going to get made. In terms of portraying [drugs] so casually, one thing that comes to mind is the legalization of various substances, namely weed in California.”
Upper School Counselor Tina McGraw ’01 said teenagers are particularly vulnerable to psychological influence from media because they are at a critical point of self-discovery.
need to learn and educate kids about the reality that drugs play in our society, not just scare them, so they can make the right decisions when it comes to how much they’re taking or if they try them at all.”
Baum said the casual depiction of drugs on screen mirrors a societal shift towards an increasingly relaxed attitude towards substance use.
“Over the last few years, society has just drifted into a more casual use of drugs,” Baum said. “It just seems like it’s not a taboo subject anymore. It has become a mainstream interest. When people don’t feel quite as uncomfortable talking about something, they’re going to make a lot of art about it so that they can understand it.”
Caleb said movies tend to dramatize the hallucinatory effect of weed.
Frazier said. “When substances are shown as a coping strategy, whether it’s friends unwinding with drinks or the guys bonding with a smoke on the beach, it can be sending a message that substances are a good way to meet needs. It is important for young people to know there are other options for meeting their needs, as well as the consequences that exist because brains are in a critical developmental stage until your mid-20s.”
“Cigarettes in past television and films were definitely glorified for teenagers and for everyone,” Wain said. “There was a shift in the 1990s and early 2000s after ‘Fight Club’, where cigarettes became less promoted. Even though they were still present, they weren’t necessarily amplified and it just became a part of the narrative. Another [aspect] is that movies are less important right now. In that sense, things like music and Instagram Reels are more influential and normalize [substance use] more than movies do.”
“According to psychologist Erik Erikson, one of the main tasks of adolescence is identity formation,”
McGraw said. “While teenagers are still experimenting with different personas, most adults have already established how they see themselves in the world. This identity instability makes teens more susceptible to outside influence, especially from their peers. When they encounter media featuring characters they admire, teens often imitate those behaviors in an effort to be more like them. If those characters are shown drinking or using drugs, teens may come to see those actions as normal and less risky than they actually are in reality.”
Caleb*, who tried edible weed gummies for the first time over the summer, said substance use tends to be over-exaggerated in the media, and that its depiction should shift to a more balanced, realistic view.
“There’s a lot of representation about how much drugs will f**k up your life and whatnot, but the reality is not that,” Caleb said. “There are so many people who take drugs casually and regularly and are perfectly normal people. They’re not zombies. They’re not victims of their own habits. They exist and operate just as any normal person would. We
“The media tends to exaggerate the addictive and psychedelic effects of a drug like weed,” Caleb said. “I wasn’t expecting that the effects would be so slow and gradual because in movies, it’s depicted like, boom, you’re high and then you’re not. It cuts to the hangover, and there’s a moment of realization and guilt. However, from what I remember, I never felt the sudden drop because the come down was so gradual and unnoticeable. At the peak of it, you’re trying to wrestle for control of your own mind. Then, the downturn is when you’re slowly winning that struggle and regaining control of your own thoughts and actions.”
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) project is a substance abuse education program founded in 1983 that was widely implemented in schools to warn teenagers away from using drugs. However, its effectiveness became widely questioned after a 2003 study found that D.A.R.E. had no significant long term impact on drug use and in some instances resulted in slightly higher rates of drug use, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. Since then, the program has revised their curriculum to focus on more evidence-based strategies towards prevention. D.A.R.E. Director of Curriculum and Training Ashley Frazier said the depiction of substance use as a mechanism to meet social and physical needs normalizes the behavior for teenagers.
While smoking cigarettes in young adulthood is typically associated with lower socioeconomic status, alcohol and marijuana use are associated with higher socioeconomic status, according to a study published by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Visual Arts Teacher and Upper School Coordinator for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Reb Limerick said the depiction of substance abuse in film raises issues about wealth and status.
“Drugs often bring up issues of socioeconomic class,” Limerick said. “We see ultra rich kids snorting lines of cocaine off kitchen islands with no consequences, contrasted with people living in trailer parks smoking crack and getting busted by the cops. [Film represents] the same substances, but [with] different representation and different repercussions.”
“[There are a lot of] imperfect strategies to meet our needs and sometimes [that] imperfect strategy is a substance.”
From 1996 to 2015, there was a 20% decrease in the number of teenagers who believed smoking marijuana regularly was harmful, according to a study conducted by the University of Michigan. Frazier said teenagers viewing their experiences as fundamentally different from depictions in the mainstream media can be harmful in the context of substance use.
“One thing that many teenagers may not realize is that every person who begins using substances is trying to meet a completely normal and universal human need,” Frazier said. “It’s easy sometimes to think that people who use substances or experience addiction are different somehow, which may even make us feel safer or protected if we don’t see ourselves as being at risk. But we all share the need for things like connection with others, feeling like we fit in and are accepted, the need to experience excitement and thrill, the need to relax and have relief from stress or anxiety.”
L. Wood
Henry Wain ’26
THE TIMES THEY
Harvard School for Boys alumni discuss the school’s departure from tradition and its adoption of a forward-looking perspective in the 1970s.
By Ta,i Gu%u,e
As the 1968-1969 school year comes to a close, the students of Harvard School for Boys descend on their campus o1 Coldwater Canyon. It is time for the school’s annual Harvard Day festivities, complete with a military parade and students decked out in ribbons, sabers and guns. With the Vietnam War peace movement captivating the student body, the school’s tradition as a military institution is not just under siege but on the outs. 2e military history will soon become a distant memory, and the school will 3 nd itself re 4ecting the spirit of the 1970s with new ideas in the classroom and a more diverse student body. During this last military event, Lower School Chaplain Richmond Grant stands by to quell any resistance. 2 ird Prefect Davis Masten ’69, a vocal critic of the military program, said when he took his place with the 3 rst brigade, Grant warned him not to cause trouble during the procession.
ministration began to see the possibility for change in the school curriculum and environment. When Harvard’s board of trustees voted to end the military program for the 1969-1970 school year, nearly three-quarters of the student body supported the decision, according to the book Harvard-Westlake: A History.
Masten and other student leaders worked with parents and trustees to draft a petition advocating for the end of the military program. Masten said although students and some adults favored the end of the program, many parents opposed the school’s decision.
“ There was a lot going on in the world, and young people were representing a change we haven’t seen since that generation.”
Harry Moses ’74
“ 2e trustees were going to make the decision, and the parents were up in arms,” Masten said. “I remember meetings where parents were screaming about how they had sent their kids to a military school. 2e trustees had been rejecting the change for years, but 1969 was a particularly turbulent time in America. 2e question became, ‘If you only have so many hours in a day, is the military the thing you want to infuse into your kids?’”
buttoned-up as his father. He was part of that generation gap between the parents and the students. We had former Governor Ronald Reagan and his son, who were really different people. We had Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his sons, and they weren’t chips of the old block of their dad either.”
Harry Moses ’74 said his classmates looked to students who were graduating high school in the years before them and adopted the spirit of change they initiated.
“Right around Woodstock in 1969, there was a monumental shift in the culture,” Moses said. “We were younger than the people in high school then, so we followed the lead of the students who were four to eight years older than we were. 2ere was a lot going on in the world, and young people were representing a change we haven’t seen since that generation.”
Glasser said the progressive students before him ensured that Harvard was a new institution when he entered the school in 1973.
served in the Royal British Artillery before attending Queen’s College, Oxford. Masten said Berrisford had revolutionary goals for the school’s future.
“Berrisford was a great choice,” Masten said. “He was emblematic of the possibility for greatness. Berrisford had extraordinary credentials. We listened to what he had to say and said ‘Wow, this is so different from Father Chalmers.’ He represented a different kind of future for the school.”
Under Berrisford’s leadership, the school replaced the previous military curriculum with classes in calculus, advanced computer programming, studio art, television, Russian language and wilderness survival skills. Glasser said Berrisford hired new teachers who revitalized the classroom environment.
“Father Grant was delivering a message, warning me not to screw up this last parade,” Masten said. “We’d already lost our military accreditation because nobody cared. The Vietnam War was going on, and both Kennedys had been shot along with Martin Luther King Jr. Why was it relevant to have us boys shining our shoes and belt buckles? Are these relevant skills, or are there other things we could be doing?”
2e end of the military program initiated an era when students and the ad-
The term “generation gap” originated to describe the diverging perspectives between parents and their draft age children during the Vietnam War, according to Time Magazine. Parents had generally served in World War II and rejected their children’s anti-war demonstrations.
Fred Glasser ’77 said there was a generational gap between classmates and their parents when Harvard parents were responsible for decisions that the draft age generation disagreed with.
“We had a lot of kids who were independent of their patrician fathers,” Glasser said. “H. R. Haldeman’s son was a nice guy and not nearly as straight-laced and
“We had some really excellent kids ahead of us,” Glasser said. “By the time I came to Harvard, the school was completely changed and modernized. Harvard was an evolving, forward-looking school and the teachers had freedom to teach what they liked. It was a really great four years of education, the best four years of education I’ve had.”
In 1969, Christopher Berrisford succeeded Reverend William Scott Chalmers, who had been the school’s headmaster since 1949. Berrisford guided Harvard through its 3rst years as a civilian institution. Originally from England, Berrisford
“I don’t think I appreciated Berrisford as much as I should have when I was at Harvard,” Glasser said. “I was not forward-looking enough to realize how good he was. He brought in a ton of great young teachers. I would bet that 60% or 70% of the teachers in my 1977 yearbook had been there for four or less years. They were young, vibrant, enthusiastic and bright. I don’t think any teachers at public school would have sat down at the lunch benches with us or driven us to the movie theater in conjunction with our studies.”
As the purpose of the school shifted, Berrisford’s administration emphasized expanding the size and diversity of the student body. Between when Berrisford first became headmaster and his departure, the school grew from approximately 450 students to over 800 students.
Former Senior Class President Philip Cuddy ’73 is half-Korean. Cuddy said he was admitted to Harvard because he was a quali 3ed student and the school sought to enhance its racial diversity on campus.
Philip Cuddy ’73
ARE A-CHANGIN'
“When my mom got me into Harvard, I think they needed token Asians because it was almost all white,” Cuddy said. “You can imagine this Korean woman walking into the headmaster’s office. My mom spoke perfect English because she was born here, and she explained that I was the perfect candidate to meet their quota, so to speak. I had good grades, so I got in.”
The Los Angeles Country Club was founded in 1897. However, its first two Jewish members were admitted in 1977 and its first Black member was admitted in 1991, according to The New Republic. Cuddy said he did not face any race-related challenges at school, but his friends at Harvard helped him combat racism in places that were not as accepting.
“A friend used to take me to the LA Country Club, and there were no minorities,” Cuddy said. “I remember walking into the men’s dining room and people staring at me thinking, ‘God, how did this guy get in?’ Some of the key members, who were fathers of my classmates, called me Cud for short. They’d say ‘Cud, great football game. How are you doing?’ Then, the other members had to accept me.”
On Aug. 14, PBS SoCal presented the documentary “Fortunate Sons,” which was directed by Peter Jones ’74 and produced by John Manilus ’74. The feature story follows members of the class of 1974 as they reflect on their experiences at Harvard. Martin Montague ’74, a student featured in the film, said he faced obstacles as one of the only Black students.
“When we were in Harvard school and I’d meet a girl from Westlake, she’d say ‘Martin, I really like you, but my parents won’t let me date
Black people,’” Montague said. “I had to park my car off campus at the gas station and walk to school so nobody would hurt my car.”
Glasser, like Cuddy, said he remembers Harvard as a more inclusive environment than was typical for the time.
“We had roughly three Black students per year, but I found it to be fully integrated,” Glasser said. “In college, I was surprised to see all the Black students in the cafeteria eating together in their separate area. That was never the case at Harvard. You wouldn’t find Black students sitting separately at any time.”
As the school adopted the perspective of a forward-looking institution, it not only expanded its racial diversity but also began to consider the possibility of becoming coeducational.
In 1975, the Harvard Board of Alumni sponsored a survey to determine the alumni’s perspective on adopting coeducation. The results, published in the school’s Coldwater Pipeline newspaper, found 275 men supported the change, while 319 were not in favor of coeducation.
Moses said he valued the environment in an all-boys school because students were not distracted by their romantic relationships.
“One of my favorite experiences during those four years of high school was the morning coffee, sitting and chatting with the English department or the history department,” Moses said. “You would have two hours of very stimulating and engaging conversations that didn’t have any flirting involved. It was a very different environment than it would have been if there were girls
around. If there were girls, people would have been focused on trying to impress them.”
Despite some resistance, the school eventually adopted coeducation in its merger with Westlake for the 1991-1992 school year. Cuddy said after Harvard discarded its military program, there was little reason for it to remain a single-sex school.
“After the military, very few people were opposed to [coeducation],” Cuddy said. “ e biggest obstacle to coeducation was women’s-only bathrooms. We had girls coming from Marlborough and Westlake to be cheerleaders and, outside of school, everyone was hanging out with girls and having girlfriends.”
Chalmers Hall Sandwich Bar
In the alumni survey report, the Coldwater Pipeline outlined the main points on both sides of the issue. Some favored coeducation because it would prepare students for adult relationships. Those against the change contended that becoming coeducational would undermine the school’s previous success. The newspaper staff, however, incorporated their support of the change into the
article and said students would benefit from a coeducational experience. “ e anti-coeducation faction turned the question of preparation for adult relationships around for their favor, saying that a single-sex school better prepared one for a male-dominated business world,” the newspaper said. “Nevertheless, the fact remains that success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.”
Members of the school community reflect on how faith is becoming a new source of grounding and connection among Gen Z students.
By Mila Detmer
During lunch, as chatter fills the hallways and lockers slam shut, President of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) Zidaan Sattar ’26 slips quietly into an empty classroom. He gently places his backpack on the classroom floor, unfurles his prayer mat and sits cross-legged facing Mecca. For a few short minutes, the hum of campus life fades, replaced by the soft rhythm of spiritual devotion. Inside Munger 202, Sattar takes a steady breath in, closes his eyes and feels the momentum of his day start to slow down. His shoulders soften, the tension in his jaw eases and a sense of clarity settles his scattered mind.
Sattar said that taking even a few minutes to pray between classes helps him stay calm amid the hectic school day.
“When I pause here, even for just five minutes in between classes, praying helps to keep me grounded,” Sattar said. “It’s a reminder to slow down when everything else feels busy.”
personal meaning, according to a 2023 Springtide Research Institute study. Nearly half of Gen Z says religion plays an important role in their sense of identity, even if they rarely attend services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This increase in religious interest takes place alongside high emotional pressure. 67% of Gen Z report feeling overwhelmed about the future and many students describe religion as one of the few consistent rituals they control according to Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health. A 2022 study showed that nearly 60% of young Americans say they cope with stress through prayer or meditation, even if they don’t formally belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, according to American Psychological Association.
At school, religion shows up in small, everyday moments rather than formal ceremonies. Students bow their heads before a test, send a verse to a friend or take a quiet moment to pray during club meetings. Clubs and faith groups offer a space to pause and reflect for students, and to share experiences and connect with peers who understand their same struggles. Even brief moments about faith can bring comfort and clarity amid the rush of school life.
Sattar said religion is part of his routine and builds his discipline.
“Islam is mostly about daily prayers,” Sattar said. “Since I pray five times a day, I end up doing some at school and some at home. It keeps me humble.”
Sattar’s desire for clarity and connection reflects a broader shift in how Gen Z engages with faith. Rather than following traditions out of obligation, young people are choosing their beliefs more intentionally. 74% of Gen Z reported that they are spiritual but not necessarily religious, suggesting that institutional labels matter less than
President of Christian Discussion Club Andrew Suh ’26 said his religious beliefs began with curiosity, but deepened because of personal struggles.
“I was fascinated by the idea of an afterlife when I was little,” Suh said. “However, as I got older and faced hardships with family, school and finances, I leaned more on my faith. It gave me someone above my problems that I could look to for wisdom, support and comfort.”
Just a few classrooms down from Sattar, in the Jewish Club, challah is sliced as students share reflections on the Torah. Across campus, each student turns to a different faith, yet all are searching for the same thing: a place to belong.
Co-Leader of the Jewish Club Sarah Anschell ’26, said being a part of the Jewish Club has allowed her to bring that same sense of community to campus.
“I wanted to help students celebrate Jewish culture and feel proud of their identities,” Anschell said. “Even if someone isn’t super religious, there’s a place for them in our club. We host events like challah-baking and Shabbat dinners that give people a space to slow down and connect, whether they come for faith, food or friendship.”
The need for a sense of community is a reality that stands in contrast to national data. While 29% of Americans
now identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research Center 2024, many of the schools’ students are quietly moving in the opposite direction. For some, faith is less about doctrine and more about anchoring in a world that feels increasingly unstable, according to The Bright World.
A survey found that the percentage of Jewish students who said their Jewish identity was very important increased significantly from 2022 to 2024, showing stronger identity orientation among Jewish students in recent years, according to Tufts University researchers.
Anschell said, for Jewish students, their religion is grounded in community and connection.
““Judaism is really about community and shared values,” Anschell said. “My Jewish identity gives me a sense of belonging by connecting me to long-standing traditions and history. It reminds me to carry those values of curiosity and compassion everywhere I go, even in spaces where not everyone shares my background.”
ceptions about Islam. We bring people together through activities like Kahoots and discussions, which are meant to be a combination of learning and fun.”
Through the Jewish Club, Anschell said faith often serves as a bridge rather than a barrier.
“Even though Judaism isn’t the dominant culture here, I see it as an opportunity for connection,” Anschell said. “We’ve worked with other religious affinity groups, especially during the multicultural fair in the spring, which helps everyone learn about one another’s traditions and build genuine friendships. That kind of open dialogue makes the school feel more inclusive and close-knit.”
I want to help students feel proud and connected to their Jewish culture, no matter how religious they are. ”
Sarah Anschell ’26
Suh said that his club, although still in its early stages, has already attracted unexpected voices.
“So far, we’ve been a space where Christians and, surprisingly, non-Christians come to discuss theology and the place of religion in politics, academia and social life,” Suh said. “I’ve noticed people are definitely more open now. They may not all believe, but they’re curious.”
The school’s religious clubs reflect this blend of structure and flexibility. For some students, religion isn’t confined to belief alone, but expands into spaces for open dialogue, curiosity and connection. Whether conversations turn to philosophy or friendships, these clubs show how spirituality on campus often brings people together.
Sattar said his affinity group isn’t just about preaching, but about presence.
“MSA is more social than anything,” Sattar said. “I mainly want to bring people together and clear up miscon-
Though Jewish people make up only about 2.4% of the U.S. population, and students who identify as Jewish often represent a small minority on school campuses, many say their connection to faith has strengthened over time according to the Pew Research Center.
Anschell said that, as she’s gotten older, her connection to Judaism has only deepened.
“When I was younger, I took my faith for granted because I went to a Jewish day school and everyone around me shared [the religion] it,” Anschell said. “But, as I’ve grown up and met people from different backgrounds, I’ve realized how much my traditions mean to me. They’re a part of who I am, something I want to hold onto and share.”
Even those who don’t attend services say something is shifting in Gen Z’s views towards religion. For many students, faith is as much about community as it is about tradition.
Anschell said she hopes to create a space where everyone feels seen and celebrated.
“I initially wanted to be involved in the Jewish Club to help students celebrate Jewish culture, connect with one another and feel proud of their identities, regardless of whether they feel deeply connected to the religion or are just curious to learn more,” Anschell said. “It feels really meaningful to ensure that all of our members feel represented at school.”
L. Wood Sarah Anschell ’26
By Donna Enayati
Students discuss the impacts of the cost of expensive tutoring, test preparation and additional payments impacting student life
pass Education group, a test preparation company comparable to other groups such as the Princeton Review and Kaplan. Compass Education’s test preparation costs between $3,000 to $5,000 range, depending on how many hours of tutoring the students receives and the packages they select. They have outreach programs across the nation through their scholarship program and partners with schools to offer pro bono. Compass Education partners with the school to offer test preparation for lower-income students for free or at a discounted rate.
Senior Director of Sales at Compass Education Sarah Bernard said she believes individual instruction is more beneficial compared to other testing preperation alternatives.
“Whether you’re looking for a private coach for golf or a guitar teacher, I don’t think there’s a negative to having help,” Bernard said. “It can only, hopefully, bring you closer to your score goals. It’s an expensive thing to add to your budget, but if you are working with a reputable company, like a tutor, or taking a class that’s helpful and well done, it should be a largely positive experience.”
Samual Krieger ’27 has used tutoring in the past for English, Honors Chemistry and ACT preparation. Krieger said
to tutors] and they were unhelpful and made me feel rushed. My previous math teachers did not present the material in a way that I was able to understand. I got a tutor so I could ask my questions without fear of criticism or judgement. I was able to fully understand the concepts and have all my questions answered.”
As students aim for academic excellence, the fees of tutors, test preparation and ad ditional expenses raise questions about the cost of performing well at the school.
Ebrahemi said she feels tutors are beneficial, however, the high price point, which often comes with more ex perienced instructors, is inaccessible for many students.
“[Tutoring] gives an academic advantage because you’re getting help from professionals who know the stuff really well, and not everyone has the ability to get that kind of help,” Ebrahemi said.“ The more it costs, the more likely they are to be a good tutor. ”
Calvin Kim ’27 is among sev eral Honors Physics I students who work weekly with Sonny Ahad, an instructor at Dynamics Education Center. Locat ed a few minutes away from the Upper
“Tutoring is super expensive, and we go to Harvard-Westlake, so you need extra help because classes are very rigorous.”
-Samuel Krieger
“I consider [tutoring] an art.” Ahad said.“ When you learn physics, you have to understand the big picture rather than doing problems here and there. I tell my students, ‘I don't give you a fish, I'll teach you how to get a fish.’”
Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said she does not believe tutors are necessary to perform well.
“There is a physics tutor that people [say] you have to get, and you have to book him before you even enroll in the class,” Slattery said. “People think if you don’t, then you’re going to get a bad grade. There’s no evidence to suggest that the kids who are using that tutor [perform better], but somebody has convinced everybody that that’s the only way to do it.”
Ahad said he helps people who are unable to pay his fee.
“Sometimes I do offer [discounted rates],” Ahad said. “I have some students who are not from Harvard-Westlake or other nearby private schools who cannot afford it. I treat them as my friends. I don't even charge them. I try to help them, and am thinking more about free tutoring in the future.”
Slattery said she wishes students used their available resources, especially considering the cost of tuition.
“When you spend as much money as it costs to go here, it is because we have excellent teachers that you can meet with, and an excellent support system,” Slattery said.
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ble for each unit, which might be a little bit more difficult for a private tutor who has to tutor kids from across many schools with many different curricula. Another huge advantage is that peer tutoring is free, and it can also be done during your school day so you don't have to take time off of a really busy weekend or after school.”
The school also encourages students to meet with their teachers frequently and build strong relationships with them. Krieger said he prioritizes meeting with his teachers and demonstrates his enthusiasm for the class.
“Always going to your teacher first is the best thing you can do because it shows that you truly care about your learning,” Krieger said. “You’re invested in the subject and are able to build a relationship with that teacher. It's cool to have relationships with the amazing faculty and staff at Harvard-Westlake.”
Vourgourakis said she wished the school did a better job of promoting the resources that they offer.
“They should make these resources more available, accessible and known to people,” Vourgourakis said. “I know a lot of students who are also on scholarship. I told them that I got SAT [tutoring] without any cost ato me and they were really surprised. It should be made more clear that they do cover that, and that you can make requests to your dean about it .”
Out of Bounds
Students and faculty discuss the impact of long commutes and the way distance shapes daily life, academics and community.
By Rebecca Vitti
Cooper Ren ’26 and his parents anxiously surround the computer while the school’s admissions email loads in. The screen’s glow washes over their faces as “Congratulations!” finally appears. Excitement floods the room, but it is quickly followed by a quiet understanding as the three exchange worried glances. From their home in La Verne, a daily commute to the school would be impossible. They all come to the same conclusion: they needed to find a living space near campus.
During the week, Ren stays at an apartment seven minutes away from the Upper School. On weekends, he returns to his family home, an hour and a half away in La Verne. Ren said he is thankful for the arrangements his parents made to lessen the burden of his commute.
management perspective and also from a social perspective.”
19% of families said they moved closer to campus to attend the school, and 25% said they had considered doing so, accord ing to a Chronicle poll. Though distance often influences the decision to attend the school, many in the commu nity work around the inconve niences and challenges that follow.
“[The commute] was the first thought that came to all of our minds, since we knew it would be too far to do every day,” Ren said. “My parents were graciously able to make the sacrifice to get this apartment and stay here. My mom typically stays with me on weekdays just to make sure that everything’s okay. I’m grateful that my parents supported me in this decision, and I hope I made the most out of it.”
Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said she worries about the impact that long commutes and unaccompanied living arrangements, which some families have adopted in the past, can place on students.
“We sometimes have the struggle of people who live really far away and whose parents rent an apartment right off campus,” Slattery said. “Kids should be living with their parents during high school. We’re not a boarding school. We haven’t had as much of that recently. More people have started to move the whole family closer, but I just worry about the toll [the dis-
Upper School Math Teacher Mat thew Bartha, who lives in Long Beach, said his commute can take up a significant portion of his day.
“I leave really ear ly in the morning, so that it only takes me about 40 minutes to get to work,” Bartha said. “The worst commute, is probably two hours. Work brought me up here, but I have family down in Long Beach.”
Jasiri Johnson ’27, who lives an hour and a half away in Car son, said the long commute has strengthened his work ethic over the years.
“Since I’ve been doing this since 7th grade, it doesn’t re ally affect me,” Johnson said. “It’s become ingrained into my morning routine. It makes me a more disciplined person compared to a version of me that wouldn’t have such an extraneous schedule.”
Miki D’Adamo ’26, who lives in Manhattan Beach, commutes an hour and a half to school and said her family’s choice to enroll her was motivated by their desire to find her a stronger academic fit.
“My parents wanted me to have a better educational opportunity than I was getting in public school before,” D’Adamo said. “I wasn’t really being challenged academically, and they were like, ‘Why don’t you just try this out?’ I didn’t have any problems with it.”
From Carson to Manhattan Beach, the school draws students from over 175 ZIP codes, creating a diverse community with members from neighborhoods miles apart, according to the school’s website. Johnson and D’Adamo’s commutes to school place them among the 13% of students at the school who travel more than an hour each way, significanlty longer than the school’s average commute time of about 40 minutes, according to a Chronicle poll.
Nina Sawyer ’27, who lives an hour away from school in View Park, said her family decided to send her to the school because they wanted her to receive a rigorous education.
“My parents made the decision for me to go private [school] because I wanted a dual language education and public school did not offer that,” Sawyer said. “Public schools are not known for having the most rigorous academic environment. My parents knew that a place like Harvard-Westlake would be more fulfilling for me socially and academically.”
Bartha said that despite the distance, the school’s reputation and environment
an easy one, and came with benefits which introduced him to new parts of Los Angeles.
“Harvard-Westlake is notorious for treating their teachers really well,” Bartha said. “I grew up near where I live now and everything was up and down the Interstate 110 corridor. I didn’t even know there was a freeway called the State Route 170. I called it the fake freeway.”
However, the choice for a longer commute also comes with trade-offs, as the distance can affect extracurriculars and the formation of friendships. Slattery said long commutes can create social and academic challenges that cause her to question whether admitting students from such distances benefits them.
““In Los Angeles, it’s so hard to get from one place to the next,” Slattery said. “I sometimes worry that people will get excluded. There are some kids who can’t participate in Peer Support and are spending three hours a day on a bus or in a car. I have this dilemma sometimes when we’re in the admission committee and somebody lives really far away, wanting to honor that opportunity, but also worrying about inviting kids into our community who are going to have those challenges.”
week, according to a Johnson said the distance between him and his friends has taught him flexibility and connection
“I don’t really know people who live near me, but I’ve been surrounded with people in Santa Monica, Encino, the Palisades and Studio City,” Johnson said. “The distance makes hanging out with my friends more of a hassle because I still have to drive a good way away. We hang out a lot in either Culver City or Century City. I have a very wide range of friends across Los Angeles. If I’m at some random place in Los Angeles, I could text one of my friends and say, ‘Hey, I [can] hang out for an hour because I might be stuck [in that place] for an hour’ and they’ll come hang out. Even though there’s distance, we find a way around it.”
There are some kids who can’t participate in peer support and are spending three hours a day on a bus or in a car.”
Beth Slattery Head of Upper School
Nearly half of students feel that their commute affects their stress during the
Ren said the distance is what makes the school’s community unique.
“There is a bit of a division because I’ve never seen any of these people before,” Ren said. “A lot of them have come from the same middle or elementary schools, but since I lived so far, I have not. It’s great that Harvard-Westlake has such a diverse community, with people coming from all over, even from places as far as La Verne. The community at Harvard-Westlake has a lot of people I wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise and there are a lot of great minds that I’ve been able to converse with.”
L. Wood Cooper Ren ’26
Arts&Entertainment
VOGUE OF TOMORROW
By Audrey Herrera
Tess Latham ’27 scrolls through Vogue Italia’s Instagram page, looking at the bright colors and bold fashion choices that decorate its feed. Her attention shifts to her own copy of Vogue U.S. The magazine blends in with every other publication on the table. With its bland colors and simple styling, it fails to live up to the cutting edge of creativity in fashion that Vogue once did.
Latham said that Vogue U.S. does not carry the same creative energy as the many global counterparts.
“One thing I have noticed about U.S. Vogue is that it always seems less interesting than
energy or aesthetic changes. For now, Vogue U.S. still feels behind all the other countries. It’s definitely not as cutting edge in terms of creativity.”
Performing Arts Teacher
Lisa Peters said Vogue U.S. has strayed from being a source of authentic fashion inspiration.
“Vogue is not something that has been on my mind,” Peters said. “I feel that Vogue, along with most other major fashion publications, is primarily a vehicle for advertising and perpetuates unrealistic and elitist ideals in regard to body image, beauty, lifestyle and consumerism. Vogue is incentivized to remain influential to a demographic that can afford the high-end products and aspi-
while also maintaining the artistic standard. Wintour has very much become a public figure. She’s been on talk shows, involved in controversies and starred in a documentary. I wonder if Malle will also become a celebrity in her own right or stay behind the scenes in Vogue.”
Ayati said Vogue is still relevant because of its status and reputation, but not in direct contributions to the fashion industry.
“Vogue still shapes trends, but now mostly indirectly,” Ayati said. “It’s main audience now are industry insiders like stylists and designers, while social media increasingly drives what everyday consumers see
eos in the editorial content. The magazine currently has over 51 million followers on Instagram with an average of 43 posts per week, according to InsTrack.
Corman said he believes that, despite Vogue falling behind on print, it has a very successful digital presence.
“There is increasingly less emphasis on print, so many people think that magazines like Vogue are losing influence on the general public,” Corman said. “I do not think this is the case. If you look at the Vogue Instagram page, it has over 50 million followers.”
With its heightened focus on digital content, Vogue has begun to experiment with artificial intelligence (AI). The mag-
create harmful beauty standards and create unrealistic competition in the industry.
“The model industry is difficult enough,” Corman said. “With models competing, not just against other people, but against Artificial Intelligence, it becomes exponentially more difficult for them to make a living. Also, using AI models can create even more unrealistic beauty standards that may literally be unachievable. If Vogue’s concern lies simply in being as cheap as possible, they are better off using mannequins.”
Seamus Wilson ’26 said AI is an interesting tool, but using it in Vogue risks originality.
“AI does not belong in the fashion industry,” Wilson said.
Orchestra partners with YOLA for a concert
By Audrey Herrera
Harvard-Westlake’s Symphony and Chamber Orchestra collaborated with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) for a special concert and fundraising event at the YOLA Center on Nov. 7. The event featured performances of the two orchestras in addition to a large-scale food drive and fundraising effort in partnership with the local nonprofit organization Hearts of Los Angeles (HOLA). This was the first time the school partici-
pated in the joint event.
YOLA, founded by The Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel, provides free music education, instruments and mentorship to students who might not otherwise have access to such opportunities, according to The Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Upper School Orchestra Director Neli Nikolaeva said the event included a large amount of parent participation.
“We worked alongside school parents who organized the food
drive and fundraising event that goes with the concert,” Nikolaeva said. “We had about 500 people in total. I want to express a huge gratitude to Harvard-Westlake parents. They handled a lot of the logistics, so I could focus on music and fostering collaboration between the students.”
Katie Wang ’27 said she was excited that the orchestra participated in community service while playing music.
“It’s important for us to participate in community service projects like this,” Wang
Macbeth in the making: the crafting of a classic tragedy
By Sophie Lee
The Theatre Company started off the year with Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The play follows Macbeth who, after receiving a prophecy, conspires with his wife, Lady Macbeth, to seize power from the current monarch. Centered around Macbeth’s tragic downfall due to unbridled ambition, the play explores guilt, moral decay and paranoia as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth devolve into tyranny. Students performed the play in Rugby Auditorium on Oct. 30, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1
Upper School Performing Arts Teacher & Director Sabrina Washburn said she picked the play to reflect on the current global climate.
“I chose Macbeth as a way to look at the state of the world and how the power of very few people affects the lives of an entire nation,” Washburn said. “We incorporated mirrored surfaces into the set design to ask the audience to literally see themselves in the play and ask how they are participating.”
Washburn said the rigorous rehearsal schedule demanded a lot from the performers.
“The students involved in the production worked really hard on it,” Washburn said. “Particularly in this play, the principal characters go through a tough, emotional journey that required them to be vulnerable and extremely present in
each rehearsal.”
Jack Smith ’26, who played Macbeth, said the rehearsals provided the chance to deeply explore his character.
“The more I do plays and musicals, the easier it gets to prepare, analyze and get into character, especially with Shakespeare,” Smith said. “Even combined with senior year’s workload, I love watching scenes come together after a long rehearsal, and seeing the set go up super quickly.”
Smith said his previous acting experience has prepared him for his lead role, despite the main character being difficult to interpret.
“This was not my first time playing a lead role, as I played the lead in another Shakespeare play we did two years ago called Much Ado About Nothing,” Smith said. “That role really taught me the necessity of analyzing the play closely and memorizing my lines as quickly as possible, which takes quite a bit of time. Other than that, I find Shakespeare’s language fairly easy to understand, especially after three years of practice. Still, it is hard to understand Macbeth's motivation for power since it is a mixture of fear, desire for control and the need to prove himself to those around him.”
Stage Manager and Lighting Designer Shimon Schlessinger ’26 said his approach to lighting the show was to emphasize dramatic emotional changes.
“We intentionally avoided the use of colored lighting as much as possible to focus on the direction and intensity of light,” Schlessinger said. “This production made heavy use of side-lighting, which helped sculpt the actors’ faces and subtly reveal emotional shifts. Brightness itself is a powerful storytelling tool, too. It can distinguish a dark, brood ing monologue from a warm, open conversation in a sunlit field.”
Elliot Murphy ’27, who played Lord Banquo, said that, despite the complexities of a difficult play like Macbeth, the experience of working on it reaped massive rewards.
“The show had many challenges, but I think the hardest part was saying the lines correctly while still making it seem like the words are coming to me naturally at the moment,” Murphy said. “However, once you understand a play like this, it becomes exhilarating, and I want everyone to be able to feel the thrill of the emotions. I hope the audiences could see how they relate to the themes of the play, and leave the theatre talking. Theatre brings connection, and I wholeheartedly believe it is the best form of education because it’s an immersive learning experience that everyone should be exposed to. I want people to learn, talk and connect with each-other though the play.”
said. “Not only does it bring our orchestra closer together, but it’s also a great opportunity to give back and express appreciation for those around us, like at this event.”
Nikolaeva said the school’s mission was her inspiration for creating the event.
“We are an institution that finds purpose beyond ourselves, and I think an orchestra embodies that,” Nikolaeva said. “We were there to enhance both the school and our greater Los Angeles commu -
nity. I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to meet the right people to make this wonderful event possible.”
Grace Hong ’26 said the collaboration is an opportunity to meet other musicians and play together.
“Meeting people with different backgrounds was so important because it brought a new sense of harmony to the music,” Hong said. “Collaborating with musicians who had unique perspectives and pushed us to listen closely.”
MELODIC MOMENTS: HW Chamber and Symphony unite for a special collaborative performance in Boston, bringing together student musicians for a shared concert experience in March 2025.
Culture Corner: Fall Everything
By Sophie Lee
Fall Screenings
As fall begins, it is time to discover a new show or movie to enjoy while relaxing at home. Here are some entertainment recommendations to cozy up to during this autumn season:
Fall Styles
As the summer winds down and cold weather arrives, hues of brown, red and orange clothing emerge to encapsulate autumn. Here are some of the staples you will reach for everyday during this season:
A warm, witty series about the close bond a young mother and her daughter share, “Gilmore Girls” is a charming watch for all ages. With its relatable characters, focus on small town life, coffee shops and quaint inns, this classic show is a must-watch for this season.
TWIN PEAKS
This series, which uncovers the mysteries behind a small town, is ideal for fall because of its misty atmosphere and flannel-clad characters. With its unique atmosphere and innovative storytelling, this series is a compelling watch for fans of genre-blended shows.
Enjoy this classic series following six friends in New York City as they engage in daily antics. This is a very binge-able show for fans of sitcoms looking for lighthearted humor.
LITTLE WOMEN
Set in the mid 19th century, the autumn aesthetic, warm and earthy tones and cozy interiors make this movie about the strong bond between four sisters a quintessential fall watch. Emotional and cinematic, this movie transports viewers into New England with its endearing characters and their heartfelt stories.
Fall Delights
All food can be eaten year-round, but some dishes just taste better in the autumn. Here are some delicious fall delights:
Pumpkin Pie Hot Chocolate
Perhaps more of a winter drink, hot chocolate is nonetheless ideal for this season. Warming you inside out, a nice cup of hot chocolate brings a sense of calm as the year concludes.
Synonymous with Thanksgiving, pumpkin pies are the ideal treat for the season. Since pumpkins are in season during the fall months, pumpkin pies will be especially fresh and will nicely round out any meal.
Cardigans
When you think of autumn fashion, one of the first things that comes to mind is the cardigan. This versatile sweater is always trendy and perfect for this season of fluctuating weather.
Knit V-neck Sweaters
One of the quintessential fall staples, a knit v-neck sweater is easy to style and can be worn under a large jacket or by itself on warmer days.
Boots
This is finally the season of boots! Perfect for matching with bootcut jeans or leggings, boots of any height fit perfectly to complement any fall top such as a cardigan or sweater. Brown and black boots can elevate any outfit with their classic look.
Fall Playlists
For smooth beats that resonate with the falling leaves of the season, look no further than these to soothe your soul:
“Lover Girl” by Laufey
Laufey’s distinct style of uniting jazz and bossa nova music with modern pop evokes contemplation, perfect for this season of change.
“Here, There and Everywhere” by The Beatles
A timeless classic, this mellifluous song is the epitome of nostalgia.
“Cardigan” by Taylor Swift
As the name implies, this song feels like a warm embrace into a cozy cardigan.
SNL's Embrace of TikTokers Marks a Positive Effect
By Nicole Um
The 51st season of Saturday Night Live (SNL) welcomes five new cast members, including TikTok creator Veronica Slowikowska. Since SNL first aired in 1975, it has become a popular medium for up-and-coming comedians. Some public onlookers oppose this inclusion of influencer comedians, fearing that their less conventional roots cheapen the show’s longstanding legacy, according to National Public Radio (NPR). However, this shift represents SNL’s willingness to evolve with its audience and redefines what it means to be relevant in comedy.
TikTok has become the creative breeding ground of an entire generation. With its short-form videos, trends and micro-celebrities, it has revolutionized entertainment in a way television never could. Creators have freedom and control over their public profiles, building their own audiences from their bedrooms instead of waiting for a network deal or agent. Social media is not a threat to traditional entertainment but an
evolution of it. When SNL welcomes comedic influencers to its stage, it is acknowledging and appreciating the new forms of talent influencing pop culture today.
This shift marks an initiative to connect with younger audiences. Social media has become a primary source of entertainment and information for newer generations, and its fusion with SNL helps appeal to younger demographics. By featuring TikTok creators, SNL is not abandoning its traditional roots, but merely introducing its work to a fresh audience.
Critics of this change may argue that influencers lack the comedic depth or live performance skills that SNL demands, viewing these social media influencers as unserious and unprofessional. However, this argument underestimates influencers’ adaptability. TikTok creators produce, manage and act in their own content daily, experimenting with humor and audience engagement in ways that traditional comedians cannot replicate with their strict scripts and lack of creative control. Their
success relies on connecting instantly and authentically with millions of viewers. That skill brings a refreshing shift to SNL’s carefully choreographed sketches. Featuring influencers doesn’t necessarily mean lowering artistic standards. It expands SNL’s artistic boundaries. The entertainment industry inevitably evolves with technology. Like YouTubers landing Netflix specials, creators appearing on SNL is no different; it represents the next chapter in that ongoing story. Just as SNL once gave a platform to newcomers like Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey and Adam Sandler, it now offers opportunities for digital-age comedians to cement their places in the entertainment industry.
In an era where consumer interests change continuously, SNL’s embrace of TikTok influencers is not a desperate attempt to stay trendy, but a recognition of comedy and culture’s combined potential. Rather than tarnishing SNL’s legacy, this move reaffirms the show’s role as a staple source of modern entertainment.
The Un-Ethicist
By Satire Staff
High school is complicated. Being ethical is hard! Are you or a friend currently struggling with a moral dilemma? Need an unbiased third party opinion from a trusted columnist? Look no further – the Un-Ethicist is here to save the day. It’s like an advice column, except instead of telling you what you need to hear, this writer will give you the advice you want to hear.
My situationship says he doesn’t believe in labels: Are you just now finding out what a situationship is...
Someone asked what my ED is, and I don’t want to tell them: Ask them where they’re EDing, and then say “OMG same!”
I’m wearing the sexy version of a childhood character for Halloween. Am I sexualizing children?: Have you dressed up as a schoolgirl for a party before? If so, your sexy strawberry shortcake costume isn’t
worse.
My best friend is cheating on their significant other: Are you a good friend or a good person? Clearly neither, since you’re submitting this to a columnist instead of talking to the cheater or the cheated.
I know who stole the jewels from the Louvre: If you say anything to the police, you’re just as bad as people who report their classmates to the honor board.
I got with two girls in one night and I don’t know how to tell them: Tell neither! Protect your peace king.
I saw “Student Recommendation Letter” in my teacher’s Chat GPT history: Do you really trust your teacher’s grammar? Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.
Hopefully reading this article made you a better person. Submissions accepted at chronicle@ hw.com. Or text 310-993-1765.
Puzzle Solutions
A Complete Club Fair Guide
By Jack Fener
Hello Wolverines! Are you regularly confused and overwhelmed by the club fair? Did the 19 different tutoring clubs all blend together? Did you simply ignore all tables with no food on them, missing half the experience? It's okay, we all did! Worry no longer. I am here to clarify which of the thousand clubs you signed up for are worth attending. The answer is likely none of them, but you might as well give some a shot. How valuable is your time anyway?
Red Cross Club: Put on the false guise of lifesaving altruism! Sign the sheet, attend the meetings and pray nobody ever actually keels over and expects your help.
Environmental Club: Do you want to help the planet? Well try Greenpeace, nerd! All this club will do is trick you into thinking you are making a difference, one google slides premade template presentation at a time.
Songwriting Club: Do you dream of unleashing your rhymes and melodies on the unsuspecting public, preferably at high volume? Join this club and conspire with likeminded artists.
Global Affairs Club: Debate, but with no winner, end goal or
decisive conclusion.
Investment Club: Join for the competition prize money, stay for the market-related bickering!
Cinephiles: Lets hope this is the only type of “phile” you are. Otherwise your name may soon be on more than just the club list.
Slam!: It's just songwriting club for people who can’t sing / They'll cover up lack of talent with trauma dumping. / I can't think of a better way to spend one's time / Then to read aloud boring poems that don't even rhyme.
Ethics Bowl: Do you like to argue? Are you too pedantic for speech and too lazy for debate? Do you want to seem like a good person by participating in a club with “ethics” in the name? See you at Ethics Bowl!
Board Game Club: 80% Catan, 20% everything else.
Comedy Club: This club is good-natured and here to prove that comedy is for everyone. Especially unfunny people, apparently.
Civic Leaders of America: You stand undaunted, unafraid and totally unelectable. Good luck saving our sinking democracy.
Model United Nations: A truly
classy club for the worldly and educated among you. Just try not to hook up with more than four people at each conference. Could get real awkward at the delegation table.
Surf Club: Are you regularly sunburnt but call it a tan? Do you wear dark sunglasses at the beach so girls can’t tell what part of them you’re looking at? This may be the club for you!
Westflix: Learn how to finish that cigar for graduation. Nicotine addiction is complimentary.
KHWS: Fakemink will take over the music scene and everybody will remember how you played it on the radio first. This will be your year.
Peer Support: If you like oversharing on social media but are afraid of a digital footprint, love eating snacks someone else purchased and want to play a hot seat variation for the 9087929th time, then we’ll see you next Monday.
Venture: Members of this club are all set to make waves in the industry! As soon as they figure out what the industry is.
Speech Team: Debate is weird! Arguing sucks! This is easier and way more fun.
Alum Trent Perry embraces bench role at UCLA
By Jean Park
Last spring, Trent Perry ’24 stood at half court, cutting down the net after leading Harvard-Westlake to its second straight state title. Six months later, Perry is sitting on UCLA’s bench, averaging 11.3 to 11.4 minutes per game, and spending most of his time watching from the sidelines.
At Harvard-Westlake, Perry averaged 18.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game in his senior year, shooting 47% from the field and 86% from the free-throw line, according to UCLA Athletics. He was named the 2024 California Gatorade Player of the Year, McDonald’s AllAmerican and California Mr. Basketball after leading the Wolverines to win their second consecutive CIF Open Division State Championship. During his senior postseason run, Perry scored 17 points in the state final against Salesian College Prep and recorded 28 points and 8 rebounds in the regional final.
on the court.
“Harvard-Westlake helped me out with handling the workload of things,” Perry said. “I took a lot of classes in high school, so the transition off the court, being able to manage my time more and having more free time in college helped me be more productive. Also, I had a really good coaching staff in high school, [which] really prepared me for the college level and the practices that happened here.”
Perry said having the opportunity to play at a competitive level has given him a sense of appreciation for everything he went through in high school.
Balancing academics and athletics at Harvard-Westlake came with its challenges. Between early morning practices, travelling for tournaments and maintaining strong grades, Perry said there were times when it was difficult to manage everything at once. However, Perry said the experience prepared him for the next stage of competition and made the challenges worthwhile as he learned how to handle demanding schedules and expectations both in the classroom and
“Being able to just play at a Division I level made all the hardships on and off the court in high school extremely worth it,” Perry said. “I’m having a really good time and having a lot of experiences that people can only dream about or see from a distance. Actually being able to take a step back and realize where I’m at makes everything that I’ve been through worth it.”
Head of boys’ basketball David Rebibo trained Perry during his time at the school. Under Rebibo, the team won CIF in 2024 and a state championship in 2023 and 2024. Rebibo said Perry’s strong work ethic and growth throughout his high school career reflected his determination to improve every day.
“[Perry] was an exceptional worker and athlete,” Rebibo said. “He truly earned everything through effort, focus and consistency. He was always eager to improve and continually
sought ways to grow both on and off the court. He really was a great athlete with incredible size. I believe those two things will pay dividends for him at UCLA.”
Perry said the adjustment from being a lead scorer in high school to spending more time on the bench at UCLA tested him in new ways as he learned to adapt to a different role on the team.
“Honestly, it was pretty challenging,” Perry said. “I had a lot of talks with the coaching staff here after the season, just trying to figure everything out. It was actually good for me to take a step back.”
“Perry said he leaned on his faith to understand his limited playing time and the challenges of his freshman year.
for support throughout his time at the school.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs in a season,” Perry said. “Especially in high school, there was a time when I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, even though I was only a sophomore. I would always talk to [Scardino], sometimes about mental health tactics, but mostly just expressing what I was feeling within me to her.”
I’m having a really good time, getting a lot of experiences that people can only dream about or see from a distance.”
Trent Perry ’24
“I’m really big on faith, and I think sometimes things happen for a reason,” Perry said. “From my perspective, I feel like God is telling me, if you have to take a step back, you’re ultimately not ready to go to the next level yet, which is the NBA for me. So, being able to take on a lesser role during my freshman year and really watch from the bench helped me observe what the college atmosphere is like. I learned how harsh college fans can be, how fast the pace of play moves and how much focus and discipline it takes to perform at that high of a level.”
Perry said that because he had a lot of pressure to perform, he depended on Sports Psychologist Kat Scardino
Rebibo said Perry’s experience at Harvard-Westlake helped him develop the discipline and structure needed to manage the demands of college basketball.
“[Perry] has always been ready for the challenges of UCLA basketball,” Rebibo said. “He’s an incredible young man, disciplined, process-oriented and committed to the daily habits that lead to success. His time at HarvardWestlake as a student-athlete prepared him extremely well for college life. With the independence college brings, many freshmen struggle to balance academics, training and recovery, but [Perry’s] maturity, structure and work ethic have allowed him to thrive.”
Perry said his experiences taught him to stay present and grateful as he continues his college journey and adjust to the demands of playing at the collegiate level.
“I always just remember to be where my feet are, always be grateful and keep pushing forward always,” Perry said.
L. Wood
David
Rebibo
Chronicle’s Sports Takes
Sports Reporters give their thoughts on the downsides of creatine use by student athletes and the detriments of reclassing in high school.
By Jackson Hubbard
Creatine is one of the most popular supplements among athletes. Nearly a third of high school football players take creatine, according to research publication frontiers.
The supplement is available online for as low as 10 dollars, is legal in all sports leagues and is advertised as a safe and fast way to gain muscle and strength, providing an inexpensive and effective option. That pitch can be tempting for student-athletes trying to gain any competitive advantage they can. However, in the middle of an intensely demanding season, creatine will have a negative impact on performance and consistency, and thus should not be consumed.
Creatine works best in phases of hypertrophy, causing muscles to retain extra water. This can be helpful for athletes trying to lift more weight and gain muscle, making it perfect for offseason training and preparing for a physical competitive season.
While in season, however, the goals shift; rather than building muscle to be
By Jake yoon
When a 16-year-old freshman lines up against their 14-year-old competitors, the game becomes unbalanced and unfair. Younger athletes are expected to compete with older, reclassed players that are more physically and mentally developed and overall more experienced than their rivals. Reclass athletes may have a significantly higher chance of making varisty and competitive club teams over a player in the same grade. This creates an uneven playing field for non-reclassed student-athletes and can discourage them from playing sports because of factors that are out of their control. Reclassing student-athletes compromises the integrity within highschool sports.
Academic consequences that come with reclassing are also a prevalent issue. Students who reclass spend a year repeating academic content that they have already learned. Instead of being challenged to grow intellectually, they repeat the topics they already learned and have the false sense of progression when, in reality, they are standing still. Education should be about moving forward
Reclassing harms true athletic, academic equality
and meeting new challenges. Reclassing sends the opposite message – that setbacks can be avoided simply by reclassing and that prioritizing athletics over academics is the path to success.
At school, the issue of reclassing has become increasingly known as recruitment competition increases. In recent years, several top high school athletes such as basketball stars Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa were reclassed to align with college recruitment timelines and professional opportunities. While these athletes get attention at the national level, their successes pressure high school athletes to follow the same path, believing that repeating an academic year is necessary to compete for athletic recruitment. This mindset shifts focus away from academic growth to a cycle of athletic development that benefits very few athletes but hurts the integrity of academic competition. Only about 1% of high school basketball players advance to the Division I level, showing that for most, reclassing offers little real benefit, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Beyond athletic achievement, holding
Creatine hurts competitive athletic performance
sustain high level performance week after week. Weight gain caused by creatine can cause athletes to feel significantly more fatigued and sluggish. In addition, creatine causes the body to use more water as it is needed for muscle growth. This leads to increased dehydration amongst athletes. Dehydration is already a major safety concern for high school athletes, so anything that would increase its severity is not justifiable, particularly while in season. Especially during prolonged exercise on hot days or nights, it is nearly impossible to drink as much water as one’s body is using, causing cramps and extreme dehydration. As a result, athletes can be prevented from participating for extended periods of time as their exhausted bodies require more time to recover.
Although generally safe, creatine is not free of side effects. Aside from dehydration, many athletes report a combination of muscle tightness, stomach cramping and digestive discomfort, especially if they don‘t pair their creatine -
son, these effects can be managed and worked around, especially since they come with the benefit of significant muscle growth. During the season how ever, missing a single practice or game can be detrimental to the team or the individual’s performance, and consistent performance has to be prioritized.
As opposed to relying on supplements, athletes should prioritize eight or more hours of sleep a night, consistent hydration, balanced nutrition and stretching and re covery work in order to ensure their highest level of performance is available every day at practice and games. These habits also will build long term habits and injury preven tion, something creatine can’t provide.
students back rarely boosts academic performance, leading to lower motivation and a higher dropout risk, according to Education Week. Reclassing for sports sends the message that kids can cheat the system in order to achieve success. Instead of confronting academic challenges directly, kids learn that the answer is to delay progress by holding themself back a year. True growth comes from working hard to overcome obstacles, not from artificially creating short term advantages through age and repetition.
Reclassing may appear to offer short term benefits, but in the long run, it ruins academic competition and progress while raising ethical concerns in athletics.High school should prepare students for the real world and future academic pursuits rather than encourage shortcuts that challenge fairness and scholastic development. Instead of promoting fairness or development, it ruins competition and sends the wrong message about education and character. High school sports are meant to teach teamwork, perseverance and balance, values that are undermined when winning becomes more important than integrity.
Creatine is not necessarily the villain; it can be a smart tool utilized in the offsea son to accelerate muscle growth and come back stronger with a physical foundation for the next season’s competition. In season though, the focus should be on stability and controlling what you can. Supplements won’t win you games, but preparation and consistency will.
Field Hockey wins Tournament of Champions
bor High School with a score of 4-0 in the 2025 Los Angeles Field Hockey Association (LAFHA) Tournament of Champions (TOC) championship game at Ted Slavin Field onOct. 25. Margaux Schlumberger ’27 led the scoring for the Wolverines with two goals. Ranked 27thbor came into the championship game with a three-game win streak in which
At Ted Slavin Field, the Wolverines beat Fountain Valley High School 5-1 in the first round on Oct. 21 and defeatednals on Oct. 23 to send them to the
The field hockey team won the TOC for seven consecutive seasons from 2017
ed the 2025 season with an eight-game
win streak, though they were unbeaten in their final 13 games. The team was ranked 19th in the state and 213th nationally this year by MaxPreps.
Despite being eliminated from the TOC by Bonita High School and placing second last year, Schlumberger said the team’s expectations were just as high as before the start of last season.
“The team’s mindset going into the tournament was [to stay] focused but [also be] excited,” Schlumberger said. “From the beginning, our goal was to win the whole tournament, and it was reflected on the field.”
Schlumberger said she credits the seniors with bringing both energy and humor throughout the tournament.
“Our senior class in particular really kept the energy level high throughout the tournament,” Schlumberger said. “There was no shortage of sideline cheers, which were hilarious and super motivating.”
Hayden Park ’27 led the team with 30 goals scored, the third-most among all
California players. Schlumberger led the team with 17 assists, fourth in the state. She also added 26 goals, which made her fifth in the state. The Wolverines’ starting goalkeeper, Abigail Juarez ’26, recorded 16 saves on 29 attempts, holding opponents scoreless six times.
Schlumberger said the team’s resilience differentiated them from everyone else and that they evolved significantly since the preseason.
“What set the team apart was our ability to improve and adapt,” Schlumberger said. “We made massive strides over the course of the season. The team that went into the playoffs was completely different from the one in preseason, which is awesome [because it] makes it a lot more difficult for opponents to predict [our] strategies.”
Key players returning for the 2026 season include Park, Schlumberger, Abigail Ryan ’27, Valentina Hernandez-Ruiz ’27, Luciene Oneil-Dunne ’27 and Mila Detmer ’27.
Jake Yoon Sports Reporter
Jackson Hubbard Sports Reporter
DAVID ROTHBART/CHRONICLE
WOLVERINES ONLY WOLVERINES ONLY
BY MAGGIE KOO Maggie Koo
When I picked up a field hockey stick for the first time during the pandemic, I never imagined it would lead to an offer to play Division 1 at University of Pennsylvania. I played golf for eight years and soccer for four, and both hold a special place in my heart. However, in 9th grade, I made the difficult decision to say goodbye to both in order to fully pursue field hockey.
When I first started playing, I wasn’t the best. This didn’t deter me. Instead, it motivated me because I wanted to reach the skill levels of the people above me. I joined Ventura County Red Devils (VCRD), a club team, and began practicing with them in 9th grade.
The field hockey community in California is more tight knit than other sports communities, so joining VCRD introduced me to an entirely new group of people who, if not for this sport, I never would’ve bonded with. The friendships I’ve built through field hockey are extra special to me because they are built on a shared love for the sport.
Over time, practices quickly became a highlight of my week. I always find myself looking forward to seeing teammates and working on my skills. Nothing compares to the satisfaction I feel after a long practice. VCRD is based an hour away in Moorpark, but it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice to be able to pursue the sport at a higher level. The long drives make me value the practice even more. I’m grateful for my parents for taking the time to drive me, and I want to get the most out of practice because it is such a large time commitment.
Naturally, there are ups and downs to pursuing sports at a high level. There were often sacrifices necessary to figure out what I wanted to prioritize, but I felt like I was making the right decisions because I loved what I was doing. The satisfaction I received from succeeding at something I love is an unmatched feeling.
Our field doesn’t have lights, so when the clocks change in the winter, the sun goes down before we can finish our two hour practice. This means we have to squeeze in all of our technical and tactical work into a brief 30 minute period before it gets
too dark to continue. Instead of ending early, we take our shinguards off, line up on the baseline and run. A lot. Although it’s not my favorite part of practice, I know the fitness portion of the sport is just as important as technical skills. It’s a grind, but I know each extra sprint I run separates me that much further from the rest of the pack. You have to love the grind.
Despite marking a break in the club season, summer wasn’t a time for rest, but instead was a time to train at camps and clinics in hopes of getting noticed by college coaches. Before sophomore year, my mom took me on long road trips up and down the east coast where we would go to college ID clinics. It was tiring, hot and humid but I knew this was a rite of passage for anyone going through the recruiting process. Living out of a suitcase was not ideal, but I knew it was all part of the grind.
June 15th of sophomore year is a very important day for aspiring student athletes. It marks the first day Division 1 coaches can contact potential recruits. The feelings I had heading into that day were a mix of stress and anticipation. I checked my phone anxiously all day only to realize I had zero emails and no phone calls scheduled in the foreseeable future. It was a tough day, but I wasn’t ready to give up on my goal. I continued working on my gameplay and went on another long road trip along the East Coast, almost identical to the one I had endured the previous summer. The recruiting process was long and drawn out, but I continued to reach out to coaches and send highlights in hopes of gaining some attention.
In September of 2024, one of my top schools reached out to me. Elated, I was determined to stay in contact with the coaches and keep them updated on my athletic and academic progress. However, as the holidays rolled around and the new year came, I began to hear less and less from the coaching staff. Refusing to give up, I went to two showcases back to back weekends in Florida so they could see me play in person and I could hopefully finish up my recruiting process. I sent countless emails, but never received anything back.
I was upset thinking that I had lost out on a chance to play at one of my top schools, but I stayed positive and turned to other possible opportunities that began to appear. In February, I was fortunate enough to hear from another school that I was interested in and set up a call with the coaching staff there. They invited me to a practice – a 6:45 a.m. practice. Not wanting to miss too many days of school, I ended up booking a red-eye flight Monday night so I could arrive at 5:30 a.m, spend the day there and fly back that night so I could be back in class on Wednesday. As I walked through the campus on that cold, dark Tuesday, I really wondered if all the time, effort and money spent was worth it. Would I even get an offer? Was all this worth it just to continue the student-athlete grind in college? But when I arrived at the practice, I saw 20 other girls on the team who shared my love for the sport and were willing to brave 40 degree weather to practice early. I realized the grind was not unique to just me. There were other girls who had the same drive that I had, which only made my love for the process grow.
A week later, my dream school, UPenn, emailed me. After inviting me to a clinic and campus visit, the coach called me with an offer to play on the team in the fall of 2026. This stage of my journey was over and, looking back on it, I wouldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t change the early Saturday morning practices, the get-togethers I’ve had to skip out on or the countless hours spent drafting emails that were sent to countless coaches with no response. The rejections made the successes even better. A lot of people only see the wins, the Instagram posts and the commitments, but I know and appreciate the grind that goes into the result behind the scenes. This extends beyond just sports. When I see anyone enjoying their moment of success, I have nothing but respect for the passion, love and hard work I know they have put in outside of the spotlight.
Oftentimes I’ll ask myself, have I reached my full potential as a player? Not yet. But will I love the grind as I work to get there? Yes.
