Midland Mirror - May 2025

MIDLAND Vol. XCIII

Midland School

MIRROR

Los Olivos, California

May 2025

No. 4

Tea Time Grass Mountain Day

By Jay ‘26 Another year, another lengthy trek up Grass Mountain. This 3,885foot tall peak is the crown jewel of Zaca Ridge, the mountain range to the north of Midland, and is an iconic symbol visible from almost everywhere on campus. Every year, the school gets together on one special day late in the second semester and undertakes the eight-mileround-trip up and down. For the past few years, Mathematics Faculty Nhi Nguyen took one group early in the morning and the seniors set up strategic supply stations saliently spread through the trail, handing out goodies ranging from Juicy Fruit gummies and water refills to Nature Valley bars and Nutter Butter cookies.

Every year, rumors abound about when Grass Mountain Day will be. This year, certain sleuths sussed out suspicions of the Tuesday before Junior Dance Weekend, as access to the sign-out sheet for On top of Grass Mountain Midland’s fleet of unmarked white vans and four-wheel-drive SUVs It was a hard day for many. Sascha ‘26, a new junior, admitted, “I caused a few juniors to notice a group of cars checked out for “Grass was a little worried, because I didn't know if I would be able to make Mountain Day scouting” and “taking students to the trailhead.” it up such a steep peak.” But after reaching the top, he and many others agreed that “the view from the top of Grass Mountain and the feeling of hiking a whole mountain–which I've never done before– was certainly worth it.” At the top, we waited until the whole school was there together, and had a brief gathering before everyone went their separate ways, spreading out down the trail on the slippery walk back to school. For those who arrived back before 5:00 pm, root beer floats awaited, the perfect treat to cool down exhausted hikers on a hot afternoon.

The whole school at the summit

This year, the weather was pleasantly warm, with some students arguing that the beating sun and puddles of sweat at the peak were preferable to last year’s clouds, wind, and frigid temperatures. Head of School Hannah Nelson reflected on her first time making the climb, saying, “It was tough—really tough. But I reminded myself, ‘I can do this. I just need to put one foot in front of the other and use the tools I’ve got.’ At one point, I remembered I had trekking poles in my pack.

Once I started using them, the hike became much more manageable.

That moment stuck with me—not because it was hard, but because it reminded me that we’re capable of facing challenges if we stay steady, stay resourceful, and keep moving forward.”

The trail to Grass Mountain

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By Amelie ‘27

Experiential Week

This year, the freshmen class headed out on their annual backpacking trip into the Los Padres National Forest. Due to injuries, the number of students going on the trip was down to 11, so rather than splitting into two groups, the whole class set out together.

They got dropped off at Nira, a backcountry entry point near campus, and hiked downstream on the Manzana Creek to the 10-acre Midland inholding within the forest. From there, they explored the confluence of the Manzana Creek and the Sisquoc River before heading up and over the back side of Zaca Ridge and walking right back to campus. Although rain fell every day of their trip, the reviews were good when this small but mighty group of 9th graders returned to campus.

As usual, the sophomore class got campus to themselves for a week. Over the past two years, sophomore classes have worked on building a bike trail and shower fire construction. This year, the class of 2027 set out with the ambitious goal of doing both things: creating a new outdoor shower fire for Upper Yard and cutting a fresh bike trail near campus. The previous years of sophomores had gone into the week with ambition but neither group had finished their project. Willa ‘27 said, “the sophomore class did more than anyone expected us to.” This year, we somehow managed to complete both: the woodshop was alive with noise as we finished building and installing our shower fire walls made of recycled cedar and pine pan abode cabin wood, and 18 students shouted with glee as they biked down our freshly-built mountain biking trail.

The juniors headed to Chowchilla, a town in the Central Valley, to volunteer building low-income housing. Although their week began a day later than expected due to heavy rainfall and possible flooding, they made the best of the time they had. Mateo ‘26 noted, “It was a very informative experience: not only did we get to know each other better, we also got to do hands-on work for a meaningful cause. It felt good to know our efforts were helping someone.” The class of 2026 learned valuable construction skills together, everything from proper hammer use to the physics of raising a wall by hand. When they weren’t on the construction site, they enjoyed the leisurely lifestyle of teenagers camping in spring: diving into the lake near their site, cooking meals over the outdoor stove, and bathing in the springtime sun and wildflowers.

The 9th graders going down Grass Mountain

The juniors stabilizing the walls with nails

The Seniors camped at Tank Mesa, spending their days doing trail work, fixing up the site of the (now burned) senior cabin, and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Ruby ‘25 and Aquila ‘25 were both doing trail work on campus for their senior projects, so crews of seniors helped. When not working, they created a fire pit and foundations at the old senior cabin site and worked with Sage Trails Alliance to maintain and improve Midland’s public trails. This group wasn’t just doing manual labor, however. Trace ‘25 claimed that “the food Nhi helped us learn to make was definitely the highlight of the trip. Thinking about the next meal kept me going through the trail work.” When meal time came around, they were feasting on meals organized and head-chef’d by Nhi Nguyen, math faculty. Weeks of preparation went into this food, and the flavors left a momentously good impression. The seniors spent some of their last time together during experiential week, enjoying the little moments while sleeping under the stars.

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Community

Cake by the Ocean: Junior Dance Weekend 2025

By Emma ‘26 Junior takeover! Every May, as the school year comes to an end and the seniors grow more and more distant, you can feel the excitement for graduation building. But there is one more hyped up event to look forwards to: Junior Dance Weekend (JDW). For a brief two days, the juniors cover all the jobs in Stillman, cook meals for the school, and organize fun activities for the other classes.

The Class of 2026 began plotting as early as January, hoping to have ideas in place before the late-year academic grind. Countless meetings took place, whether in classrooms with closed blinds during lunch or secret gatherings in chapel disguised as disciplinary discussions. Each year, JDW has a theme and a fake theme, with the real theme (just like the date for Grass Mountain day) often leaking out into the ears of lowerclassmen. Hoping to throw nosy sophomores off the scent, this year the juniors concocted up a fake theme, a real theme, and the secret theme. Each came with an announcement at assembly and a fake roster of activities.

First, the fake theme was Star Wars, as JDW fell on May the 4th.

Guillermo and Z ‘26 dueled it out on Stillman porch before being taken away by faculty children Freya and Toma as the Imperial March played in the background. Next, Shae and Kevin ‘26 brought horses to assembly and dueled it out with finger guns to announce the rodeo theme. And finally, just a few hours later, the junior boys wore swimsuits to assembly to reveal the real, real theme: Cake by the Ocean. That Friday night, the juniors hosted the Cruising Game, altered this year to include a good squirting with water guns for rule breakers. In the Cruising Game, 9th, 10th, and 12th graders attempt to sneak from their living yard to the other, while the juniors prowl around Middle Yard to catch them.

The games were full of excellent disguises, radio-coordinated search tactics, and a lot of wet underclassmen fleeing from the range and firepower of cheap plastic Amazon water blasters.

On Saturday morning, everyone got to sleep in, bar the juniors who awoke early to cook up breakfast: layered yogurt parfaits and Kevin’s amazing Nutella-filled French toast. After an hour of preparation, the whole school departed in a fleet of white cars and arrived at Refugio State Beach. Lunch was barbequed hot-dogs, chips, and a cake decorating competition. Despite the frigid water, many elected to go surfing, while others sunbathed in the sand, soaking

Cake decorating contest

soaking in the UV-index-level-ten rays. Departing around 4 pm, everyone got back to campus for dinner and enjoyed chicken kebabs and strawberry shortcake cooked up by another batch of juniors. At 8 pm, the 2010s-themed dance began and lasted until 9:45 pm curfew, causing cleanup to be delayed until the next morning. Overall, JDW was a huge success among the students and faculty alike, creating much excitement for the following year when these juniors would be seniors.

TD ‘27 and Veronica, Hayden, Emma, Mateo, Stella, and Julissa ‘26 at the dance hosted by the juniors

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Saying Goodbye to José Juan Ibarra ‘87

By Miriam ‘28 When the sun sets behind the majestic mountains, with beams of light shining on the vivid soccer field, you can always see José Juan and his dog Mero striding on the verdant grass. Just as the sun sets, after twenty-nine years of dedication to Midland as a faculty member, José Juan is going to leave Midland better than he found it and continue his work on the SYV High School Board of Education.

As an alumnus of the class of 1987, he is familiar with Midland’s culture and programs, and is one of the people who has the most knowledge of Midland. He shares the values of the school, and noted “I love the values of Midland, of working as a community.” It is this knowledge of Midland that has served him in becoming closer to the student body in his most recent role: Dean of Students and Athletic Director. He is friendly to everyone, and whenever you walk through campus and come across him, he will greet you amiably.

José Juan at the farm

José Juan and his wife Arcelia

One of José Juan’s greatest achievements at Midland is improving the school’s diversity. As someone who came to the U.S. undocumented, he was the only Mexican student during his time at Midland. For a time, he was the only faculty of color. José Juan is determined to help diversify Midland by welcoming students and faculty with various backgrounds. Talei Cody ‘15, Farm Faculty Assistant, believes that “José Juan brought diversity to Midland. His commitment and consistency is his greatest achievement.” During his time at Midland, he supported and helped ethnic and religious groups, such as the Asian American Alliance, LatinX, Black Student Alliance, Jew Crew and most recently, Christian Club.

He worked hard to improve equity within the student body. He recalls that during his time as a student, there were rank systems where seniors had privileges and most students only talked to people within their own class. However, after bringing changes and putting an end to hazing, he is proud that there are more interactions between students from different grades. Furthermore, he aimed to enhance belonging and inclusion within the student body through helping students participate in Student Leadership Diversity Conference as well as DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice) Summit programs, where students share their culture and backgrounds with the community via discussions and workshops. He believes firmly that, “It is important for the community to be mindful of differences and be sensitive culturally. I am glad that we are having more intentional conversations and making cultural adjustments”.

As the Athletic Director of Midland, José Juan has also made contributions to the sport programs. He is proud that Midland offers sports that not only welcome students with different levels of experience and physical abilities, but also sports that they might have never played before, such as farm sport and Natural Horsemanship.

When interviewed, he confidently said, “At Midland, we develop players. Our coaches are amazing at providing experiences that allow students to tap into their athleticism”.

José Juan, like a farmer, nurtures his students with care and equity, leading generations of Midlanders to fulfill The Portrait of a Graduate, and most of all, to be better people who will succeed in their later adventures in college and society.

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Secret Life of Pets (at Midland)

By Julissa ‘26 At Midland there is a secret way of life, revolving around the pets that are owned by students who reside in Lower Yard.

Two dogs from Junior Quad race around. Sierra, an Australian Shepard, and Skylar, a Golden Retriever, fight for a slimy green ball.

Maude and Shae ‘26 laugh as they reflect on how their dogs’ dynamics have changed over the years. Since the beginning of last year, Sierra and Skylar have adapted to Midland quickly and have become an integral part of the student body. Their energy and cuteness radiates to anyone who comes in contact with them, with many being unable to resist the urge to pet them.

Millie and AC’25, photo by Grey & Elle Photography

Athena the bunny drinking water

Some extremely high-pitched tweets come from my cabin, as my two lineolated parakeets sit on their colorful swing inside their bird cage. Gladys and Fozzie, my bonded pair, have been at Midland since the end of last year. Every day, I bring them out, and I sit on my bed as I do homework, while they blow kisses in my ear.

Fresh produce is given to the rabbit Athena, as she hops around the pink carpet inside Veronica ‘26’s room, making her rounds through her play space and taking a nap under the desk chair. Veronica, sitting on the floor near her bunny, says, “I really enjoy having my bunny around, and she makes life at Midland easier. She bites my ankles, thumps around, and eats my orchids. Besides that, she is the cutest and most loving bunny I could wish for.”

A little Australian Cattle dog wags her tail as she waits for treats that Tess ‘25 has in her hand. She tells her to roll over, and obediently, Lula rolls in the dirt, coating her black and white speckled fur, because she knows that if she follows the command, she will receive the yummy snack. Lula has been at Midland for the past four years, making her a four-year senior along with the class of 2025.

In Sophomore Quad, a rabbit named Lavender and a dog named Cricket are wallmates. Owned by Abby ‘27 and Willa ‘27, they bring joy throughout Lower Yard as Cricket makes his rounds to get pets from whoever calls his name and Lavender enjoys roaming through Abby’s cabin.

After their first year of Midland, returning students have the chance to apply and bring their beloved pets to campus. For dogs, 10% of the student body are able to bring those furry friends, due to space constraints, but other “extraneous” pets are always considered once the prospective pet application is submitted. The Lower Yarders of ‘26 have some very interesting combos of pets and encourage other students to bring their pets as well! Poppy, owned by Pyp ‘27 is the only dog (and pet) in Upper Yard and is always at the assembly circle waiting to be pet by any student. Upper Yard seems to currently lack pet representatives, but hopefully that changes over the next few years.

Having the opportunity to have a pet at Midland is such a unique experience and makes it fun to explore and do homework with (depending on what pet you have, of course!). It’s something special that Midland fosters: an environment for the student and their companion to thrive in.

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Senior Project: The Last Stand of Midland

By Emma ‘26 Every year, the seniors are given the choice between a writing a 10page paper or creating a project that focuses on their interests. This year, 8 students decided to escape the purgatory of a senior thesis and followed their passions to create projects that add something to our school.

The first seniors doing projects are Sam and Kielson ‘25, who undertook the creation of a fleet of paipos and a skiff in the Midland wood shop, respectively. As the resident expert in aquatics and oceangoing on campus, Sam teaches many students to surf and paipo (it is like boogie-boarding but with a small wooden board). He decided on his project because of the lack of surf craft for students to learn with.

Though battling procrastination, Sam finished before his deadline and began prepping for Senior Symposium. As a proficient boater and fisher, Kielson’s passion project came from his interest in the ocean and finally building his own boat. Encountering few problems, Kielson has hopes to finish his boat, then test it with his project advisor, Andrew Gardiner, who is Head of the Jobs Program and Midland’s wood shop teacher.

Switching gears to trail oriented projects, Ruby and Aquila ‘25 are doing trail work on Midland’s campus. Ruby is restoring the Golden Horseshoe trail on Midland’s property. Involving fellow students in her project, Ruby has taught many a lower classman how to wield a MacLeod and a Pulaski, also acquiring labor to help her complete her project in time. Aquila, Midland’s mountain biking expert, has undertaken the creation of an entirely new bike trail in trash canyon.

Though facing a formidable opponent, the Midland cows, Aquila finished his project and the students in mountain bike sport have been test riding it before Senior Symposium.

Artists Brodie and Morgan ‘25 chose to make a mural and mugs for their respective senior projects. Brodie began her beautification of Commons at the beginning of Semester 2, choosing to place her mural in the student space to bring color to it. With her only challenge being fending off interested students, Brodie completed her mural and hung it in Commons. Morgan, a talented ceramic artist, decided to create individual mugs for every student in the ceramics studio. Either letting the students decorate their own mugs or designing them to match the student, Morgan created, fired, and glazed 70 individual mugs, finishing before her deadline.

Aquila ‘25 showing his trailwork

The fourth and final genre the senior projects for this year can be sorted into is miscellaneous. Simon and Tess ‘25 chose to make a video game and a field guide to Midland trees, respectively. Simon decided to follow his love of video games and create a Midland video game with characters based on students to practice his coding ability. While encountering multiple challenges, including dropping his computer so it didn’t function properly, Simon has been working hard to finish his game before Senior Symposium. Tess, on the other side of the tech spectrum, decided to put her passion for forestry and trees into a guide of Midland trees. Beginning with Midland’s iconic oaks, she has systematically logged every native tree on Midland’s campus, finishing in time to present her guide to students at Symposium.

Kielson ‘25 talking about his boat

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Sports Sleeping Under the Redwoods

By Julissa ‘26 Waves crash against the rocks surrounded by crystal blue water that stretch out beyond the beach. It’s quite blissful, and everyone takes in this beautiful view before they have to put on their heavy packs and take on the last Outdoor Leadership (OL) backpacking trip of the season.

The second Spring OL trip was led in the Big Sur backcountry, a place that Midlanders have never before been to. Normally, the spring trips are in the Midland backcountry or around the local area.

However, this season was different. The Big Sur trip has been a constant rumor throughout the group, until finally Andrew, one of the season’s coaches, announced that it was actually going to happen.

Day one consisted of a good chunk of the hike being uphill. The sun beats down on everyone, sweat trickling down our spines and soaking our shirts, but frequent water breaks made this treacherous uphill bearable. The views were insane, the sparkling blue ocean was all in view and walking up the trail was like walking through a flower garden, the poppies popping and the lupine lush in clusters. After finally reaching the top of the 1,000 plus feet of elevation, gigantic redwoods surrounded the trail. The feeling of walking through these giant trees was surreal, everyone admired the natural beauty of the trail and enjoyed the relative flatness that this part of the hike had.

The redwoods were charred from fires in the past years, but despite the scarring, they continue to thrive and soar into the sky.

During the horrid uphill of the first day, Sam ‘25 took the opportunity to secretly poke wildflowers through Trace’s ‘25 shoes and backpack, decorating them without his knowledge. When he realized Sam was beautifying him, Trace sped up on his way to our first camp to see his backpack sooner. Sam wasn’t in the original OL group, but this trip was opened to Midland Stewards and in a raffle, Sam and Aquila ‘25 were chosen to go on this trip. As he recalled after the trip, “It was hilarious because I had been at the exact spot 10 years ago.” Sam’s story came full circle, satisfying ending in the same place he began.

Andrew under the giant redwood

Spring OL ‘25

Vicente Flat campsite was such a beautiful spot, redwoods surrounding everyone as they made their way down the path to a possible spot to make camp. However, some friendly backpackers had already claimed the spot, which made us decide to find a more desirable place to make camp. After a quick relocation, backpacks were dropped and everyone called this place home for the next two days.

Cone Peak, the tallest coastal peak in the lower 48 states, awaited us the next day. After re-evaluation, the group would NOT wake up at 5:30am but instead, bright and early at 6:30am instead. A little bit better. It was an estimated six miles uphill and six downhill, going back the same way up. The uphill was treacherous, but the scenery and the unexpected group of mules that passed the group on the road up balanced it out.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 The hike up wasn’t easy, but thanks to a group of trail workers, it was possible for the fourteen brave hikers to make it to the top of the peak. The uphill felt as if it were never ending, that is until the old fire tower was just in view. Everyone raced up to finally sit and enjoy the picturesque views of the shimmering ocean, redwoods that seemed so small from up top, and the expansive Los Padres National Forest. What started as an impossible hike was made a reality, a great accomplishment for everyone. Going back down was somewhat easier, a little hard on the knees but less demanding than the way up.

Burritos were made for dinner, such a delicious meal that was definitely earned after a long day out on the trail. Jay ‘26 ended up eating five full burritos and had to take the poop kit out twice, making everyone laugh as he ran into the woods. Sleep came easily for everyone as they slept under the redwoods for the last time.

A solo hike awaited the next day, where every student was spaced five to ten minutes apart and could use the time to self reflect and enjoy the hike back by themselves. The fog made it feel like a wonderland, but unable to navigate or have a sense of direction.

Nearing the head of the trail, the waves crashing made it notable that the end was near. The rest of the day was spent at Sand Dollar Beach with a group using paipos that were made in the Midland wood shop and explorations on the rocky beach. It was a gloomy day, the gray clouds acting as a shelter from the sun, but that didn’t stop anyone from doing any fun explorations. That night, games were played by the fire as the raccoons rampaged through Bella and Andrew’s campsite, one even finding Bella’s poop kit!

Sadly, the trip came to an end on the fourth day, and a pit stop at the elephant seal sanctuary on the coast of, wherever Hearst Castle is, made everyone’s day. Bets were made on which elephant seal would win a fighting match, laughter and the barks of the seals echoing throughout the area.

The stunning scenery with towering redwoods

OL is such a unique program that is offered at Midland, a way to cultivate leadership skills and allow a space for self reflection to happen on its own. This season being her first, Hayden ‘26 expressed, “My first OL trip was my first ever time backpacking, and I had little to no knowledge of the outdoors. I didn’t know how to set up a stove, a solo tarp or pack my pack. And after this OL trip I feel very proficient in these skills”. Even after two trips, it is easy to grow in leadership skills and there are visible effects through hard work and determination in the program. As years continue to go by, the outdoor program will continue to flourish and make a space for everyone to find their place and learn how to take leadership not only indoors, but in the outdoors as well.

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By Amelie ‘27

Soccer

At the start of the 2025 soccer season, a lot remained unknown for the Mighty Oaks. Last year, nearly half of our starting team graduated. Our longtime coach, Karlin, was unable to continue coaching soccer this year because the schedule conflicted with that of his club team. Going into this season, the team had a lot of new players and the number of students returning to the pitch for another year dwindled.

When we returned from February break and soccer season began, things were a bit in the air. Genevieve ‘97, Spanish and History faculty, stepped into the role of head coach.

Genevieve’s time with the Midland soccer team is coming full circle: as a student, she played on the Varsity girls team for four years and captained it for three. Her first job at Midland was as the assistant soccer coach, a position that eventually evolved into her taking a teaching role at the school, moving on campus, and beginning to coach again on top of her teaching load. And now she’s back on the pitch: leading the team through what has become a very successful season.

Overall, the season has been a joyful success. “It's great to have talented players on our team,” said George ‘25, co-captain of the team, “and it's even better that our team is one that plays together.

This year has really shown how successful we can be when the team plays to support each other.”

George said that “going into the year I thought I, and other returning team members, were going to have to fill a huge role, but realistically it worked out very well because a fair amount of the team did a lot of pre-season work in fundamentals, and Genevieve has been training everyone to play together really well.”

The team has had a remarkably high scoring season: so far their four games against Besant Hill and Oak Grove each ended in triumph by more than five goals. The coaching approach this season has been more focused on team growth than individual skill, something that players appreciate. Maude ‘26, another captain, remarked that “a lot of the returning players have gone into the roles with more confidence: they pass more and are more connected as a team. This creates a bunch of space for new students to explore their roles, and the rest of the team has been acknowledging and playing into that.” This year's team has talented players across all grades, creating a unified front that can continue to lead Midland Soccer to victory in the next few years.

Soccer team ‘25

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Head of School Note The end of the school year is nearly upon us. The seniors were just away at Refugio, soaking up the coastline and reflecting on their final days as Midland students. Back on campus, juniors stepped into leadership—helping to prepare for Graduation, tidying the corners of campus, and tending to the many small rituals that mark the close of a Midland year.

This term has brought its share of heat and chill, of long days and sudden breezes. We hiked Grass Mountain together— my first time!—and you all danced in the barn at your Secret Garden Prom. You studied, you stumbled (some of you quite literally down Grass Mountain), you laughed, and of course, you learned. The final stretch of the school year is always a bit of a rollercoaster, echoing the unpredictability of life itself. But there’s something beautiful about riding it together. I’m grateful to be on this wild, short, meaningful ride with you. As you head into summer, I hope you rest deeply, play freely, and chase a little inspiration while you’re at it. You’ve earned it.

Hannah Nelson, Head of School

The Midland Mirror Team Editors Ava ‘25 Caleb ‘25

Writers Jay ‘26 Emma ‘26 Julissa ‘26 Amelie ‘27 Miriam ‘28

Faculty Support Heather Carreiro John Isaacson ‘94

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