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TheLoma Linda Adademy

REFLECTING ON LOMA LINDA ACADEMY SINCE 1940

Writtenby:JocelynSanchez,Kailey

Pipersburgh,(‘26)&PriscillaAlao(’27)

Editedby:NolanJamison

StudentAssociationHandshake

SAILINGACROSSTHESEAWITH‘26CONT..

CANTICLESISBACK

WrittenbyAedanParsons(‘27)

EditedbyBillyLatour

BELOVEDCLASSRETURNS

INTHEWORDSOFMR.DESIR

JOINNEXTYEAR

MusicRetreat

WrittenbyEzraEnciso(‘26)

EditedbyGracieBahri

During the retreat, the students took part in rehearsals and fun activities. On Saturday morning, all the students participated in a hike up Mt. Two Bit behind La Sierra University and worshiped together. On Saturday night, students had free time to go to the recreation center and play basketball, volleyball, pickleball, and swim in the pool. Kinnon Saunders (‘26) said his favorite part of the retreat was “being in the pool.” Students and faculty are excited to continue the tradition of band retreat and are looking forward to a great year of music.

LLAClubs

Writtenby:GracieHerrera(‘29)andLizMillet(‘26)

Editedby:NoahKim

NewTeachers

Writtenby:ReaganMassey&AbiStyadi(‘26)

Editedby:PriscillaAlao&OliviaAnilus

NEW TEACHERS, SAME MISSION:

GROWING IN CHRIST AT LOMA LINDA ACADEMY

This school year, Loma Linda Academy welcomed five new teachers to the team: Mr. Marcus Desir, Mr. Michael Pichette, Pastor Luke Steen, Ms. Tiffany Nelson, and Ms. Atalia Estrada. We interviewed Mr. Desir to help you get to know him better.

GETTING TO KNOW MR. DESIR!

What made you want to become a teacher?

Mr. Desir said that he’s been teaching since he was in elementary school. He would teach his choir in junior high and high school. He attended Oakwood University and, while there, joined the choir, the Aeolians. There he met his mentor, Jason Max Ferdinand, who sparked his desire to teach.

What is your favorite part of being a teacher at LLA (so far)?

Mr. Desir enjoys watching the talent of the students at LLA. “This is so far the most talented school I’ve worked at,” he stated. He is in awe of how fast Pro Musica is able to learn the music he gives them.

What have been your initial impressions of LLA's school community since you've arrived?

Mr. Desir enjoys the family-oriented community here at LLA. He was welcomed with gifts from administration and staff. He felt especially welcomed on the first day of school when the seniors of Pro Musica came in with a speaker playing music and jumped around to greet him. “It was great to see the team-bonding games and the traditions at the music retreat.”

What is one thing you hope students take away from your class?

Mr. Desir hopes that the relationships and memories formed in his classes are cherished for a lifetime. “Hopefully they take away the fact that they had a good community.”

Written by: Priscilla Alao (‘27)

Edited by: Abi Styadi

CrossCountry

Written by: Ryan Seheult (‘27)

Edited by: Priscilla Alao

Run to Victory!

Sept. 23 marked the first cross country race the Roadrunners took on in the 2025–2026 school year. This race, the first of many, is a crucial one, as it sets the tone for the remainder of the season.

At tryouts, the sun was blazing, and I took the chance to interview a few of the runners afterward as team captain. When I asked Eric Carter (‘27) how the heat felt, he shook his head and said, “It was crazy hot. I felt like every step was harder than the last. Did you feel how the sun was just sitting on us?”

I asked him what kept him going, and he said, “Honestly, it was the coaches yelling for us. Every time they shouted ‘keep pushing,’ it made me want to keep running, even when I felt like stopping.”

When Ethan Kelly (‘27) was interviewed about the most challenging part of tryouts, he laughed and replied, “The heat made it feel like my shoes were melting. My legs got super tired, but I didn’t want to quit.”

I asked if the coaches’ encouragement helped, and he nodded right away. “Yeah, for sure. When they said we could do it, I felt like I had to prove them right.”

Finally, I asked Ethan how he felt finishing the tryout, and he said, “Exhausted, but proud. It was probably one of the toughest runs I’ve done, but it felt good to finish.”

Eric remarked, “Man, if we don’t practice more, that first race is gonna smack us. Today was already tough.”

I asked him why, and he said, “Other schools are training harder, and if we just jog around, we’re gonna be in trouble.”

Ethan concluded with, “We gotta run more, like really push each other, not just go easy.”

FallFootball

Written by: Noah Kim (‘27)

Edited by: Priscilla Alao

I Came, I Saw, I Scored

The first flag football game of Loma Linda Academy’s 2025 boys’ season was on September 3 at 6 p.m. against Sherman Indian High School. The boys' team won with a score of 40–12. The girls’ season commenced on September 8. The team will be attending the Fresno Tournament this year from September 19–21

On August 19 and 20, both teams held tryouts to determine who would lead the team to victory this season.

Prior to tryouts, the teams held a conditioning camp, where players trained to recover from the long summer break and ran many miles to get back in shape

The head coach of the boys’ football team is Coach Daniel Foster. Regarding the upcoming season, Coach Daniel said, “There’s a lot of work to do. We’re looking good.”

This year's boys’ team seniors are Ethan Castillo, Stephen Boyce, Joshua Nieto, Carl Ricketts, Charles Park, Tyler Park, Landon Samples, Calvin Dulan, and Draevyn Tan (‘26). The girls’ team, led by seniors Elah Hebia and London Bryant (‘26), is coached by Patrick Black.

On September 15, both the boys’ and girls’ flag football teams won their matches at home The boys finished 32–6 against Escondido, and the girls won 18–8 against Redlands Adventist Academy.

On the girls’ team, Tiffany Park (‘28) had an astounding first-play touchdown, running it down the field. On the boys’ team, many notable touchdowns were scored by Samuel Carrera, and Noah Kim (‘27) achieved a “pick 6” to end the game.

Coach Daniel, the leader of the boys' team, also has an impressive off-the-field background— including playing high school basketball against Kevin Durant, the now-famous NBA player. The Mirror interviewed Coach Daniel about this experience.

“It was pretty terrible. Even in high school, he was huge,” he said.

“How did you guard KD?”

“There’s no guarding KD,” he replied. “He’s like 6'11.”

“What did playing Kevin Durant teach you about coaching?”

“We gotta be better, because there’s always somebody out there who’s bigger and gonna be a professional at some point. We gotta keep pushing.”

2025-2026

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

OliviaAnilus

COPY EDITOR

PriscillaAlao

MANAGING EDITOR

NoahKim

LAYOUT EDITORS

JocelynSanchez,AedenParsons,&KaileyPipersburgh

SECTION EDITORS

GracieBahri,EzraEnciso,BillyLatour,NolanJamison,AbiStyadi,Reagan Massey,NoahKim,AedanParson,&GracieHerrera

WRITERS

EzraEnciso,JocelynSanchez,PriscillaAlao,KaileyPipersburgh,Reagan Massey,AbiStyadi,JiannaNation,EthanCastillo,BruceCotton,Aedan Parsons,GracieHerrera,LizMillet,RyanSeheult,&NoahKim

PHOTOGRAPHERS

BillyLatour,AedanParsons,JocelynSanchez,RyanSeheult,Kailey Pipersburgh,AbiStyadi,&ReaganMassey

MEDIA MANAGERS

GracieBahri,AbiStyadi,NoahKim&ReaganMassey

VIDEO EDITOR

RyanSeheult