Science & Technology
Read about sophomore Avery Wilson’s efforts to raise awareness about PANS in Lara Parikh’s latest article
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Arts & Culture
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Read about the impact of recent rainstorms on the Pinewood community in Annabelle Eaton’s latest article READ MORE ON PAGE 8
Originating in 2018, the Pinewood Scholars Program started as a committee led by Head of Upper Campus Gabriel Lemmon and Head of School Scott Riches, calling for a diverse group of faculty from different disciplines to come together and create a class. P.S.P. is a flagship program for juniors and seniors in which students are invited to engage in design thinking, project-based learning, and community partnerships.
Over the course of junior year, P.S.P. students work together in groups of three to four students to create a mission-inspired project. In the process, they research social issues by watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, and exploring local nonprofits –– a process P.S.P. and literature teacher Michelle Gannon calls identity discovery.
“Throughout a teenager’s life, there are lots of things that they feel passionate about, but the question is what will they do with that energy — and this class gives them the beautiful opportunity to do something with it,” Gannon said.
During senior year, students have the op-
portunity to build upon what they learned the previous year, educate others, engage in socially conscious activities, and drive initiatives to affect genuine change through an individual project.
One such senior attempting to create change through P.S.P. is senior Audrey Nelson, who is particularly passionate about comforting children who live in the hospital long-term. Hospitalized herself for a month when she was young, Nelson was inspired by her experiences with hospital care packages, of which many she found lacking in personalization and comfort.
To solve this issue, Nelson has launched a stuffed animals drive in order to provide the supplies necessary to create custom bundles. With those supplies, Nelson plans to create bundles based off of hospital patients’ hobbies and interests to improve their hospital stay. Hoping to partner with Fisher House Foundation, a home for children who are frequently hospitalized, the Veteran Affairs Hospital (VA Hospital) is fond of Nelson’s idea and expressed their need for customized care baskets to make their patients feel more at home.
“After interviewing a nurse who works at the VA Hospital, they made it clear that comfort is an issue in hospitals,” Nelson said.
Nelson hopes that her current efforts and future aspirations for partnering with larger organizations, like the Ronald McDonald House Charities, will lead to a greater impact in smaller communities.
At its core, Gannon hopes P.S.P. inspires and empowers students to become changemakers in the world outside of Pinewood.
“I would like them to realize that they can actually make a difference. That even though they may be only 16, 17, or 18 years old, they can truly walk away from this class having made an impact,” Gannon said.
Sleep deprivation. Changing dirty diapers. Balancing school and home life. For the past few months, this is how two teachers here at Pinewood School — high school physics teacher Yong Kim and musical theater and teacher director Carrie McRobbie — have been living.
Kim’s baby, Josephine Kim, was born on Oct. 20, 2022. At three months old, she is already smiling, cooing, and having fun with tummy time. She loves the thrill of sitting in a car, especially the feeling of speed.
Kim thanks the Pinewood community, friends, family, and especially his wife for helping him through this difficult experience.
constantly learning what is the best fit for the kid, then realizing she’s grown up a bit, and what wasn’t working yesterday, suddenly is today,” Kim said.
McRobbie is going through a similar experience, but with her fourth child rather than her first.
“I knew [my wife] was strong, smart, and kind-hearted, but the past [twoplus] months of seeing her as a mother have taken those characteristics to a whole new stratosphere,” Kim said.
Having an infant at home can be tiring, and so much harder than Kim could have ever imagined. However, he feels there are so many rewarding aspects of raising a child and that all the work and time is worth it.
“The intensity and joy of being a parent to a newborn is... 24/7...
Jude McRobbie was born on Sep. 16, 2022. He just turned four months old, and is quite a strong baby. He is always holding his head up high, rolling around, and jumping. Jude is a smiley baby and is adored by his three older sisters, who are old enough to help with little Jude. McRobbie’s husband is excited to have his first child and a little boy. A soccer coach, he is already ready for them to play soccer together. Like Kim, McRobbie is also challenged while balancing her two lives. Even though her job is very time-consuming, she believes in carving out time for herself as well. She tries to spend as much time with family as possible, savoring every moment with her little son.
“I have an entirely different perspective on life these days. When I look at his sleeping face, it reminds me of why all the tough days are worth it,” McRobbie said.
Pinewood hosted its annual high school winter formal on January 21.
This dance was a thrilling opportunity for the students who attended, as its venue was a luxurious cruise ride around the San Francisco Bay.
While the location was exciting, the prices were the opposite. Although there was a presale that advertised tickets for $125 each, students who paid the grand fee of $145 were wary.
Director of Student Life Kyle Riches, who oversaw the planning and execution of the dance, said the pricing and location decisions were based on several factors.
“. . . [W]e take the total cost of the venue, the transportation, [and] whatever else we need divided by . . . how many students are gonna go, and then that’s what we set the ticket prices at,” Riches said.
Student Leadership Council President Daniel Blotter added that admission fees were raised to accommodate the extra expenses of hosting the dance on a cruise ship. Some aspects that factored into the higher prices were the buses to and from the San Francisco Bay, the sitdown dinner, and the DJ.
“We were only trying to break even with how much
the boat and everything that came with it cost,” Blotter said.
Riches clarified that any confusion about a supposed location change actually stemmed from last year’s dance being hosted on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
“We decided on the boat over the summer, so it’s always been on the boat for this year,” Riches said.
Historically, Winter Formal had been on the cruise, but in recent years, locations have been alternating to allow attendees to try new activities instead of experiencing the same setting every year.
“[P]eople started getting bored of [the boat] which is why a few years ago, they changed the location to the boardwalk,” Blotter said. “However, after doing that for a couple years, people started getting bored of it again. So, . . . We decided to bring back the tradition of having it in a yacht.”
Because students thought that the dance would be held on the boardwalk again, they expected last year’s lower prices. During the day-long presale window, tickets were twenty dollars cheaper, but not many people were able to take advantage of the discount since it began on a Tuesday afternoon. Though the presale had inconvenient timing, it was lucky that a presale had even happened because it’s only occured one other time.
Students might think of poetry as something dull, inaccessible, and outdated. To most, its only purpose might be for tedious analysis during English classes or lifeless recitations in elementary school.
Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation competition, subverts those assumptions. With an expansive catalog of contemporary and older poetry at their fingertips, students have the opportunity to find pieces that resonate with them and bring them to life for an audience.
This year, junior Emma Hwang won Pinewood’s competition for the second year in a row with the poems “Backdrop Addresses Cowboy” by Margaret Atwood and “I Wonder Where You Are” by Tanaya Winder. She and ninth graders Caitlin Yamaguchi and Lara Parakh, who won second and third place, will move on to the county level.
Last year, Hwang was a finalist at the school level and won the contest at the county level. That year, Poetry Out Loud was virtual; students submitted videos of themselves reciting their chosen poems to be judged.
English and History teacher Holly Coty, who runs both the Pinewood and the
Santa Clara County chapters of Poetry Out Loud, said she is proud of Emma for winning the Pinewood competition two years in a row.
“Emma brings poise and confidence to her interpretation of the poems, delivering them with careful attention to tone and pacing, allowing the poem to resonate with the audience,” Coty said.
Two-time Poetry Out Loud winner EMMA HWANG
For the 2022 competition, Hwang chose three poems from the Poetry Out Loud collection. She performed “Stomp” by Nikki Grimes and “Interlude” by Amy Lowell, poems she chose because of their emotional weight and ambiguous endings. For the state competition, she added “On the Death of Anne Brontë” to
her repertoire, another piece with a distinctive presence and open-ended conclusion.
Hwang starts the process of memorizing the poems with a commonly overlooked step: analyzing the meaning of the poem itself.
“Truly understanding a poem allows the speaker to recite as if they were ‘living’ as the poem or poet, allowing for a more emotionally connecting experience,” she said.
As she practiced her poems, Hwang paid close attention to various aspects of her performance, such as her inflection, rhythm, and gestures. Filming her practices allowed her to identify areas to work on and strengthen the emotion and connection of her performance.
Hwang also made use of the resources she had at Pinewood. Coty gave Hwang useful feedback on her recitations as well as the pronunciation of specific words.
Despite her clear enthusiasm about poetry, Hwang had low expectations for winning in 2022, citing her lack of experience as the reason.
“My jaw literally dropped,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I feel like a real poet, now. I can really move people with just my words.’”
Since retirement, Lieu has found more time to take photos of anything and everything, ranging from nature to geometrics.
the click of a camera, two fleeting moments are captured forever — one, the visual masterpiece that lays within the border of the photo, and two, the story behind it.
S.M. Lieu, a Los Altos resident who takes photos as a hobby for the Los AlTown Crier, cherishes the beauty of tography for this reason. the way the light hits the water and the reflections, or it may be two people interacting, but [photography] just grabs that moment and keeps it still,” Lieu said. “And I will always be able to go back and remind myself of that moment in time.”
When Lieu first picked up a camera at age eight, she remembered it as a little plastic brownie film camera she carried around to take pictures of her friends. Through the years, both her camera and photography experiences have evolved. She took on a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, but always kept photography as a hobby.
“What really matters is loving [photography],” Lieu said.
Junior Colin Ternus, a Pinewood journalism photographer, feels similarly about photography.
With every photo he takes, he tries to have it tell a story, whether it be a bird on the hunt, a car racing by, or a landscape shifting in the distance. Ternus said that what he most appreciates about his favorite photo, a picture of the Dubai skyline, is that he took it on an iPhone 6.
“It serves as a reminder to me that you don’t need a great camera in order to take a good photo,” Ternus said. “You just have to make do with what you have, and more often than not, what you have is good enough for anything.”
Sophomore Gabby Yang, a yearbook and journalism photographer, also treasures landscape photography. At school, though, she is drawn to photographing sports, as she feels it is connected to her own basketball experiences.
“As an athlete, I can connect to both sides of it — from the athletes point of view and the photographer’s
point of view,” Yang said. Yang enjoys playing around with different angles and camera settings in order to capture the perfect action shot.
Regardless of the genre, every photographer knows there is so much more outside of the borders of a picture.
Basketball has always been the pride of Pinewood. Despite the exception al education, tight-knit commu nity, and endless extracurriculars, Pinewood is known for its prow ess on the court. While often be ing overshadowed by their female counterparts, the boys basketball team has nearly matched their per formances this year. Heading into a crucial stretch of the season, the hope of a Central Coast Section championship is lingering for both teams.
Girls basketball coach Doc Scheppler is frustrated with his team’s bad luck.
“We’ve had to go through with three ineli gible players and three girls down with knee injuries,” Scheppler said. “Out of our 14, that leaves eight girls left.”
Due to his significantly shrunken roster, Scheppler has had to put in players he believes should slowly be integrated into Open Division basketball. He knows this is a transition year for his young team that is brimming with potential for the future.
“We’re asking girls who just joined the program to step into a bigger role that they weren’t expected to have,” Scheppler said. “[Freshmen Lita Fakapelea and Luisa Tava] have done an excellent job of playing at the standard we expect from our players.”
In terms of this team’s goal for the season, assistant coach Kiki Nakano preached the importance of taking it step by step.
“Celebrating the little wins and taking it day by day, practice by practice, and game by game. That’s how we’re going to win games,” Nakano said.
She said this was crucial in pushing a team that has been depleted of so many key players. Nakano and Scheppler said that three players are really stepping up right now.
“[Sophomore Jolyn Ding], [Senior Ava Uhrich], [Junior Alex Facelo]. They make a huge difference whether they’re on the court or not.”
Similarly, boys basketball had two dynamic freshmen came in, and were ready to put the previous year’s playoff loss behind them.
“[Freshmen Thomas Meehleib and Josh Tian] are the future of Pinewood boys basketball,” head coach Larry Williams said.
“Both boys were very talented eighth graders and have adjusted to the fast pace and physicality that comes with varsity basketball.
We are building a great program and these boys will lead
While the boys team has vastly improved due to these phenoms, Williams believes it is due to the entire team willing to grow together. On their improvement, Williams said he feels good about the team and their steady progress.
“They are continuing to grow together on the court. offense and defense keep ing,” Williams said. team continues its offs, it will be relying enced players to guide unfamiliar territory. he expects to lead the team, Meehleib was quick to reference a pair of upperclassmen.
“[Senior McKellar [Reed] and junior George Textor] have been in the playoffs before, and know how to use leadership in order to win us games.”
While both the girls and boys teams have endured struggles, the motivation to make a deep run in the postseason is as high as ever. Through determination and teamwork, they plan on extending their season as long as possible
If swimmers were ranked from a scale of one to ten with one being the casual public pool swimmer and ten being some of the best swimmers in the nation, eighth grader Mia Su might break the scale.
Su’s swimming endeavors started at the age of six months old, when her parents placed her in swimming lessons so she wouldn’t drown. Fast forward to today, and Su has been competitively swimming for seven years. Along the way, Su has picked up some remarkable achievements, winning competitions and smashing records. One of these records came at the age of ten.
“When I was ten, three people from my swim team and I broke the National Age Group Record for both the mixed 200 yards medley relay and the mixed 200 yard freestyle relay,” Su said.
The group broke their own 200 yard med ley relay record, a time of 2:01.76, set just a few months ago. They improved that time to 2:01.64. The previ ous freestyle relay record was a time of 1:49.76. Su and her team mates broke that record with a time of 1:49.51.
Such competitive swimming brings both enjoyment and stress to Su, as the dedication and work required for good re sults often takes early mornings and late nights.
“My least favorite thing about swimming is waking up at 5:30 and going to practice at 6 on school days,” Su said.
These early morning practices alone often mean a lackluster night of sleep for Su. But, adding the responsibility of doing her schoolwork, managing time efficiently becomes very difficult.
“I try my best to finish my homework as quickly as possible, but sometimes I have to stay up late and wake up early to finish studying for a test,” Su said. These sleepless nights do pay off for Su, however, since her progress as a swimmer brings her
“It’s fun watching my progress as a swimmer, like my times getting faster,” Su said. “It’s also fun for me to know how I am ranked against other swimmers.” Su’s swimming career is far from over, however, as she has aspirations to continue swimming at a higher
“My goal is to get to the Olympic trials cuts soon and hopefully get into the Olympics before colduring my of college,” Su said.
The arrival of the new year marks the start of league competition for all winter sports, specifically the boys and girls soccer teams. Both teams have had impressive performances throughout the duration of their seasons as well as some flaws that they aim to solve.
Girls soccer head coach Whitney Wood said she is happy about her teams’ performance so far this season, but that there’s been some struggles as well.
“[The preseason had] some wins and really good team effort,” Wood said. “[We are] struggling with a winning mindset as we face tougher teams.”
However, Wood said she remains confident that the team will start winning more difficult games in the future. The girls team has had a multitude of special moments throughout the course of their season, but one game in particular stood out to Wood.
“My favorite moment [was] our game against Cupertino High School,” Wood said.
The Panthers faced the Pioneers in a late night matchup under the bright lights of the Firebird tournament. As both teams fought throughout the first half, Pinewood went down 1-3. However, the second half was a different story as Pinewood clawed their way back into the game to tie it up at 3-3.
“[Junior ] Charlotte Van Gent, our leading scorer, scored a hat trick,” Wood said.
In the final minutes, Cupertino scored a last minute goal, but the takeaway of the game was Pinewood’s inspiring comeback and hard-fought play.
The boys soccer team also competes as fiercely as the girls team. Captain and senior Jason Rowe has positive things to say about his team’s performance so far.
“The season has gone well so far, even though we have yet to play our best,” Rowe said.
Looking toward the future, Rowe hopes that his team can keep improving, yielding better results in upcoming games against tougher opponents. Rowe has some favorite moments of his final season as a Pinewood soccer player.
“My favorite moment was playing our first home game against Sacred Heart,” Rowe said.
Despite a tough start, the team managed to win the second half against a fierce competitor. Rowe said that he enjoyed the feeling of being back on the field. He said that defense has improved since last season and it has benefited the team greatly.
“This season the freshmen have stepped into the roles that three departing seniors left in the back line,” Rowe said.
I have not slept right for three weeks. The enigma of “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” has consumed me. It was supposed to be a throw-away sequel to a dying franchise; instead, it has become one of the strangest cinematic phenomena of the new decade, selling out theaters and scoring a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet, something else was afoot. As I swallowed my journalistic pride and curiously sat with fellow movie-goers
for an hour-and-a-half to watch this supposed masterpiece, the truth was slowly revealed. Hiding in plain sight: the most promising, mediocre movie you have ever seen. Watching “Puss in Boots 2” is like watching an elementary school child paint a beautiful finger portrait. Such accidental bril-
We expect nothing out of the child, but for a moment, just a small moment, the child has captured our hearts, made us believe that maybe the beautiful portrait was no accident at all, that maybe this child, with such inexplicable tiny wisdom, knew exactly what they were doing all along. But as the child proceeds to dump an entire bucket of red paint over the canvas, for they know not what else to do, you remember that the child is just a child, and the portrait is just an elementary-school art project.
This realization is heartbreaking because in truth, the first 25 minutes of “Puss in Boots 2” is pure euphoria.
It is simply flawless. The Spanish-Western-style action is punchy, the soundtrack and visuals are off the charts, and subtle twists in the plot electrify the story to keep things fresh. So you can imagine my confusion when, by the climax of the film, instead of enjoying a grand payoff of emotion, I sat there unfulfilled.
What started as an exciting Spanish-Western thriller slowly dissolved into a generic, and I mean generic, fairytale movie along the way. Some will argue that since “Puss in Boots” is from the “Shrek” world, a famously fairytale-run society, fairytale elements were inevitable in the new “Shrek” spin-off. I would completely agree; however, in “Puss in Boots 2,” a complete blanketing of fairytale elements washes away any unique charm from the start of the movie, dumping red paint all over an already complete canvas.
In the end, the sleepless nights will not stop. The sullied canvas that is “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” will continue to bear the stain of near-achievement, while dissatisfied audience members like myself will continue to ponder what could have been. Here I will lie, tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after that, picking up the broken pieces of my own naive fairytale, reminiscing about a dream once more.
For a prototype that was only launched at the end of last year, Chat GPT has received an outstanding and surprising amount of attention. This artificial intelligence was developed by OpenAI and has taken the world by storm. It uses a large word bank to make complex sentences and paragraphs through pattern recognition. Although, Chat GPT can be a force of harm in the hands of students without academic integrity, Chat GPT, like any other resource, is still a tool that helps the academic endeavor of students.
Chat GPT is a software that has the potential to be used in every major job in Silicon Valley. It is the newest innovation in the wave of artificial intelligence taking over industries all over the world.
It can be used without a second thought and is also free (for now). However, anything good can be used for harm: cases of students using Chat GPT to cheat during exams and essays have circulated throughout the news. The concern for many schools is the fact that students are essentially plagiarizing from Chat GPT and the internet. Even though Chat GPT can write an article for you, the reason teachers assign essays is because of the process and not the end goal. They want students to learn how to become skilled writers.
However, Chat GPT has the influence to change this process. The development of the essay will change to become the gathering of information and proofreading of the AI. The technology behind this service uses pattern recogni-
tion and can make mistakes by using either old information or by analyzing a pattern wrongly. For example, if someone asks Chat GPT to code, it will code.
However, it can “code” by getting enough information from the internet to answer your question. This can cause errors in the AI. These errors in the technology can help train students to analyze blocks of text and recognize errors. As technology advances, more jobs need to be dedicated to recognizing and analyzing errors in AI.
As a result, this means that even though Chat GPT can be used as a tool to write and copy essays from, not all information from the AI will actually be correct. In other words, Chat GPT cannot be used to cheat in school assignments.
I believe that Chat GPT will be prevalent in the future whether people like it or not. There can always be people and students that abuse this technology. However this tool will only make the lives of students and employees easier. I think that the whole education system will change because of the use of Chat GPT. I believe that the process will change and will incorporate the ability to proofread articles.
Schools should not ban Chat GPT, instead, they should embrace it; they should prepare for the future and not delay it. The world is not black or white. Chat GPT is neither inherently good, nor harmful. Instead it is a mix of both. Only time will tell how schools will deal with this emerging piece of technology.
SOPHIA YAO Opinion EditorNote: I will only be talking about Love Island UK in this article, since it is the original Love Island and undeniably the best iteration.
Images of perfectly tanned legs, horrifyingly overfilled lips, artificially blue water, and ridiculously chiseled abs fill your screen, interspersed between neon flashes that look like they came out of Graphic Design 1. Welcome to “Love Island”!
“Love Island” features about 40 contestants ranging from the ages of 18 to 31 trapped in a villa without communication to the outside world. They’re all so ridiculously attractive that they all sort of blur together, and none of them end up being attractive at all. Over the course of two months, these contestants couple up, recouple, recouple again, and either get dumped from the villa or go on to win 50,000 euros with their partner. Plenty of drama, challenges, screaming matches, and mental breakdowns occur along the way, soundtracked by overplayed pop music. Basically, “Love Island” is the per fect formula for high caliber reality television: it’s trashy, it’s shallow, it’s cheesy, it’s petty, it’s cheap, and it holds no value whatsoever. Or does it?
I am a firm believer that “Love Island” has more layers under its flashy, neon skin. Within the isolated walls of that villa, discon nected from the artifice of everyday life, social dynamics, human connec tion, and emotional growth take the spotlight. Completely separate from the noise of the outside world, “Love Island” contestants are judged solely on their character, their actions, and the choices they make when they have nowhere to hide. Take, for example, Tommy Fury from season five. Fury was a man who stuck to his morals and stuck to his girl; he stayed out of dra ma, steered clear of misogynists, and always defended what he be lieved was right, even if it meant going against his close friends. With his girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague,
Fury cruised to second place in the “Love Island” finale and definitely did himself proud with his excellent display of kindness, honesty, and love. Fury and Hague have been together for three years and are expecting a baby this year. But not all “Love Island” journeys are as smooth as his, and not all contestants value morality and honesty like him. For example, firefighter Michael Griffiths, also from season five, was a completely different story. At the beginning, Griffiths was just as much of a Prince Charming as Fury. He was patient with his partner Amber Gill, he was a moderator in arguments, and he prided himself on his fairness. That all went downhill when he recoupled with another girl at the Casa Amor recoupling, practically cheating on Gill, and then had the audacity to pin the blame on her, revealing his true colors. At the end of the day, the girl Griffiths was coupled with got sent home, and he went crawling back to Gill on his hands and knees. Thankfully, Gill rejected him and went on to win “Love Island” with Irish boytoy
Located in Campbell, Best Artisan Empanadas Cafe is a multigenerational South American-style empanada restaurant, run by Ernesto May and daughter Stephanie Solorio. At BAE Cafe, empanadas (Spanish and Latin American pastry crescents traditionally filled with beef or chicken) are made with Peruvian-style dough and multicultural fusion-inspired fillings like Mediterranean and Italian.
The following is a Q&A with May and Solorio, edited for clarity.
What was the inspiration behind BAE Cafe?
EM: I wanted to do something a little bit different. There are so many hamburger places, so many taco places, and so many sandwich places; it’s going to be very difficult to compete with one of these places… [but] there’s no place that actually specializes in empanadas. We were trying to find something unique.
Where did you learn how to make empanadas?
EM: My mother. The recipe for the dough [used at the cafe] is the recipe that my mother taught me. She also loved cooking, and she introduced [me] to cooking [when I was] very, very young.
What was it like starting BAE Cafe?
EM: It was taking a leap of faith, just believing in something and going for it and working hard. I [was] studying computer science because I was thinking about the money, and look at me now. I’m doing something that I’m passionate about. I don’t regret it. I love it. I wish somebody had told me to do whatever you want, and instead of studying computer science, I would have gone into culinary. But you know what, it’s never too late. I’m here.
What inspired the fusion element of your fillings?
EM: Throughout the years where I worked at different places, I always learned something new. Whether it was an Italian restaurant, Chinese food, or Mexican, I learned something. We’re always trying to innovate and trying to say “Okay, can we do an empanada with a little bit of a different culture flavor?”
SS: I wanted empanadas [to be] a gateway to other cultures. I [always] love hearing people say, “Oh, I grew up eating something similar like this." That’s what I look
from page 4
But, some of the most impactful “Love Island” journeys are the ones not of romantic or even platon ic love, but self-love. An excellent example of this is season three’s gem Camilla Thurlow, a shy, polite and well-mannered woman who worked in explosive ordnance disposal. She would travel from country to country, walking out onto explosive minefields and disarming them to make the area safe again. Overall, she was the least likely person to go on “Love Island.” However, her journey was one of the most special and iconic ones on the show. While she started off extremely insecure and more as a side character or confidant to some of the louder, raunchier girls on the show, Thurlow real ly grew into her own as she navigated rocky romances
forward to when people eat empanadas, that connection to their culture
We visited BAE Cafe to test out their empanadas for ourselves. Here are our reviews:
KA: I had the traditional beef empanada, which was filled with meat, onions, olives, and raisins. While I am not the biggest fan of raisins, I liked how their sweetness offset the savory flavors of the meat and onions while complimenting the flaky dough. However, my absolute favorite part of it was the chimichurri, a parsley garlic oil sauce which, when eaten with the empanada, added tangy pizzazz; if I could only use one sauce for the rest of my life, it would be BAE Cafe’s chimichurri sauce!
SH: The empanada that I chose was the chicken cilantro empanada, which was pretty cool and tasty. To be honest, I don’t really remember what was in it, but there was definitely a lot of chicken and cilantro! There was a bit of pepper and onion fusion as well, which ultimately synthesized into a very unique, savory taste. The sauce that I was given to pair with the empanada was the perfect blend of sweet and sour — think the Sweet n’ Sour Sauce from McDonald’s, but better. On the side, I had fried potatoes, which were soft with crunchy outer shells. And besides just the food, I really enjoyed spending time with Sally, Karina, and Sophia Y. (not genuine). I’d definitely go to BAE Cafe again!
SK: I made the BEST choice with the Mediterranean empanada — a crispy, crunchy, saucy blob of perfection! Shocking me with some surprising but gladly welcomed olives, this cheesy and savory flavored dough wrap was perfectly accented with a cool, minty Greek Tzatziki sauce that was maybe even better than the one my mom makes — sorry, mom! Still hot and toasty from the oven, this zesty empanada warmed my stomach and soul on a stormy day. I will be returning to the BAE Cafe and ravenously tasting every one of their different kinds of empanadas soon.
SY: My order was the chicken mushroom empanada, which was crunchy, toasted, and filled with a creamy chicken mushroom filling that was reminiscent of Italian recipes. It was warm and perfect for a cold, rainy day. I had my empanada with tzatziki sauce. The cold, tangy sauce with the hot, salty empanada made for a delicious combination. I also had the peach and blueberry empanada, which was really interesting because I’ve never had a sweet empanada. I thought it was really yummy and sort of like a little handheld pie. It was also served warm, with gooey peaches and blueberries inside. I thought it would’ve been amazing with some vanilla ice cream. Overall, a 10/10 experience and I would highly recommend BAE Cafe!
with misogynist Johnny Mitchell and obsessive Craig Lawson. But those turbulent waters were simply waiting to deliver her to Jamie Jew
"Pinewood is a silly, silly place. I love it here! "
– Skylar Chui
second place on the show. Thurlow and Jewitt have been together for six years and are now married with two kids.
Yes, “Love Island” is a reality show that is known for its shallowness, brainlessness, and absolute ridiculousness. But if you watch for long enough, you’ll begin to notice some cracks in its glittery, neon facade: Thurlow opening up to Jewitt about not feeling good enough for him; Gill realizing that her hard exterior prevents her from showing affection to the people she really cares about; Fury serving an open-faced cheese and ketchup sandwich for a romantic dinner.
Thurlow’s mom, who visited the villa at the end of season three, said it best.
“I just think it is such a brave thing to have done,” she said. “It’s very strange when I think that you have been off to these places to work and yet… On the outside, it is lounging about in a villa in the sun all day. What is so brave about that? But it is such a brave thing to have done.”
A concealed, corruptive disorder. Just in the United States, 1 in 200 kids are affected by Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), an auto-immune disorder. Sophomore Avery Wilson is raising awareness for this underdiagnosed disorder. Unfortunately, only a small percent of the population has awareness, so many more children may have PANS but are not diagnosed.
“This leaves the illness to worsen and possibly create new problems,” Seika Oelschig said, a senior affected by PANS, said.
“It’s really underfunded, underresearched, and underdiagnosed,” Wilson said.
As an advocate for patients, Wilson expressed that more people need to understand the significant impact the disorder has on the body. Due to Wilson’s efforts trying to spread awareness and recruiting volunteers in her community, she gained the title of being a Stanford PANS ambassador. She helps the Stanford PANS clinic with a fundraiser and a blood drive where the
donations go to research for PANS, mental and physical disabilities, and other infections. To understand the cause and effect of the illnesses, doctors compare the blood of a healthy participant to an affected patient. As a bonus, healthy volunteers receive $50 in compensation and community service hours.
“If people see this and think ‘Oh that sounds like me!’ and are able to find help, that would be really cool,” Wilson said.
Many medical professionals disregard the disorder because they don’t deem the symptoms severe or fatal. PANS affects children ages 3 to 13. It starts when the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain, specifically the basal ganglia, which controls one’s thoughts, feelings, and movements. This is an example of an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks its own body. PANS is also a hereditary disease, so children with family history are more susceptible to it. Because of the lack of research, doctors don’t have a definite explanation for the true cause of the disease. Scientists have discovered that PANS and PANDAS, a subgroup of PANS, can be triggered by bacterial
You might not know what they are, but chances are you’ve seen them before. Whether they’ve popped up in a YouTube recommendation, or maybe an article on The Futurist, concept cars have rapidly ascended into mainstream media.
Put simply, concept cars are full scale models of vehicles put together to showcase new technologies and innovative ideas. These vehicles are usually not mass-produced, but built as one-off advertising campaigns for the car companies and the budding technologies they offer. The cars are revealed at motor shows, and even technology meet ups such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Although concept cars may have only gained popularity in recent years, their roots can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. One of the first known concept cars was the Buick Y-Job. Designed by Inventor Harley Earl in 1938, the Y-Job featured
many design elements that were considered futuristic at the time, such as the hidden headlights and the smooth, streamlined body.
The Y-Job ended up being a concept car that never came to fruition. Due to problems with scaling the model for mass production, it was scrapped as a oneoff prototype. However, it did the job of advertising for Buick, as many people were in awe at the Y-job’s strange, futuristic design.
In recent years, concept cars have become even more stylized and ridiculous. In late 2020, the Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR took the tech world by storm; the car was fully electric and featured an advanced autonomous driving capabilities. The car was built around a “bionic” design that was meant to evoke the living, breathing world of the blockbuster film, Avatar.
The car was a massive advertising success as photos of the car were shared millions of times on social media. The combination of the futuristic design and collaboration with the immensely popular Avatar franchise created the perfect opportunity for Mercedes-Benz.
For car enthusiasts, concept cars offer a window into the future and a glimpse of technologies that seem impossible. For car companies, concept cars offer a unique way to showcase their brand to consumers.
On a larger scale, concept cars offer a clear benefit to society as well.
Often, select features found in concept cars end up making their way into production cars at some point.
infections, such as the flu and chickenpox.
Within 48 to 72 hours, the neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as depression and sleep impairment manifest, which happen quite suddenly. PANS is also considered a form of Acute-Onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Typically, OCD symptoms develop gradually; however, with Acute-Onset OCD, fully developed symptoms show up overnight.
Children with PANS may also experience severe obsessions, repeated rituals, tics, anxiety, depression, irritability, food restriction, and learning blocks.
PANDAS is associated with streptococcal infections like strep throat. Sometimes, children have what doctors call “occult” infections, as they are carriers of the virus but are not affected by the symptoms. This causes doctors to often misdiagnose children.
Luckily, both PANS and PANDAS can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and medicines like anti-depressants.
For example, tablet-style displays that are now common in higher end cars, were once only a dream built into the dashboards of the most extravagant concept cars. While concept cars and their feature sets may seem outlandish at first glance, they can end up having a positive impact on future automobiles.
Recently, many artists have risen to fame by posting their music to TikTok and purposefully making catchy songs to gain streams. This method of promotion has garnered mixed opinions, with some people saying it is a good way for unknown artists to get discovered and others saying it compromises the singer’s artistry.
An example of a non fabricated viral moment is shown through Gayle’s hit song, “abcdefu.” After she teased “abcdefu,” the song blew up and transformed her career. She has quickly obtained an
impressive amount of opportunities for her music career that most other artists rarely achieve, such as opening for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour.
After seeing her success, many record labels have tried to fabricate a viral song or sound to obtain this success for their signed artists. However, creating a viral TikTok song is a very unpre-
dictable and incalculable process because it depends on the current trends on the app. Even after having a viral post, consistency in streams and longevity is not guaranteed, which can quickly lead to the end of an artist’s career. This scenario, of course, relies on the artist going viral in the first place — because an artist could post a snippet for their new single and gain no traction at all. However, it seems many artists’ careers are now de-
pendent on this unreliable marketing method. For example, famous A-lister musician Halsey recently said in a TikTok that her record label wouldn’t let her release a song until she could fake a viral moment on TikTok. Her label wanted her to have a non authentic moment to gain attention to the song so that it could perform well if released. Although very restrictive most times streams are all that matters and ensuring a song performs well is not an unreasonable thing to want. Halsey making such a statement is not a new occurrence; many artists including FKA Twigs and Charli XCX have said similar things. After smaller artists saw Halsey’s statement, however, there was a lot of backlash.
Singer-songwriter Bronze Avery put it best in a Rolling Stone article.
“All independent artists hear is ‘Put your songs on TikTok . . . and one day you’ll be big like Halsey.’ But if Halsey has to do it too, then what’s really the goal?”
I never thought I’d relive the year 2020, but as soon as I started watching “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” I immediately felt transported back. From lead detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) playing the popular video game “Among Us” to characters working on Zoom, the film begins in a grounded, realistic depiction of 2020. Residing in this world are a cast of colorful, dramatized characters, featuring Claire (Kathryn Hahn), Duke (Dave Bautista), and Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), among others. Each of them receive an ornate box of puzzles from billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who invites them to his private island in Greece for a murder mystery-themed party. When one of the players is actually murdered and all of the other players become suspects, a real murder mystery begins. There are quite a few enjoyable parts of “Glass Onion.” The film is set in Greece, so it is visually stunning. Every scene is shot against a beautiful backdrop of gorgeous mountains and clear skies, along with a beautiful, intricately-designed mansion that ends up playing an incredibly satisfying part in the climax. The cinematog-
Though Pinewood art teacher Sasha Vu is beloved by her students and the Pinewood community, she does more than just teach art. In addition to having attended an arts high school and college, she makes colorful 2D illustrations and art installations for various buildings in the San Francisco
Vu’s love for art stemmed from a young
“There are students where [you can tell] that [there’s something] they’re good at,” Vu said.
“And for me, [art] was the thing I was good at. It was obvious
raphy enhances these visuals, with creative and unique shots that keep the film visually interesting as a whole. Along with great visuals, the film is supported by solid writing. The story unfolds in an engaging and satisfying way, and most of the plot elements established early in the film are tied up by the end in interesting and unexpected ways. I particularly enjoyed how some of the metaphors and puzzles discussed early in the film, such as the Glass Onion itself and the fugue in the puzzle boxes, become a representation for the film and story itself.
However, these metaphors also exemplify one of the problems with the film: the reveal of the murderer. From the beginning, the film works tirelessly to set up motivations and potential explanations for multiple suspects, but the murderer is eventually revealed to be the most obvious candidate. While the Glass Onion metaphor — a layered, multifaceted object with a clear center — does attempt to explain it, the reveal of the murderer still comes off as somewhat uninspired.
In addition, I would have liked the characters in the film to have more development. Though this may be typical in a murder mystery, each character seems to
to everyone and I just went with it.”
This love for art continued from high school and led to her attending Pratt Institute, an art university in New York. During her time at Pratt, Vu said she was surrounded by the world of art and honed her skills.
“It was good to be immersed in art and be given so many opportunities to explore different mediums, and
have a single character trait that is overexaggerated throughout the film, leaving little room to explore any complexities in the characters. I believe that, if the film showed a bit more char acter development or featured more complete character arcs, it would have been even more compelling.
Despite these flaws, I still had a great time with “Glass Onion.” The characters were fun, albeit a bit oversimplified, and the story had a satisfying structure. Because it features a good murder mystery with an anticlimactic ending, I would say that this would be a great film for someone who enjoys the journey rather than the destination.
develop my artistic voice,” Vu said.
A few of the classes she took included expressive art therapy, sculpture, and film classes, all of which she said helped expand her “artistic voice” and gave her opportunities that she wouldn’t normally have elsewhere.
Throughout her art journey, Vu said she has been inspired and encouraged by her art teachers. Despite struggling in other subjects, having teachers who recognized Vu’s strengths gave her the affirmation and support she needed. Vu’s art teachers have been some of her biggest influences along her journey and are part of the reason why she loves teaching art today, she said.
Outside of school, Vu is the co-founder of a San Francisco art collective, Street Heart. The collective, which Vu runs with a few friends, mainly consists of installation art and murals. Vu said she has been making art installations with her friends for about six years now.
Vu’s art can be seen on display in San Francisco; her latest piece was completed in an art residency, which is a studio space where art can be made. Art residencies are typically combined with a show toward the end. Vu has done many art shows, although she said the thought of having so many eyes on her art can be nerve-wracking at times.
Even as a professional artist, Vu still struggles with art at times.
“There’s always a feeling . . . when you look at your art and think ‘I hate this,’” Vu said. “[When this happens,] time can [help] if I take a few days to step away and look back at it.”
Pinewood families from Grades K-12 celebrated Lunar New Year at Pinewood Upper Campus on Jan. 28, with food and crafts stalls, lion dancing, acrobatics, and other performances by the Upper Campus Mandarin classes.
Lunar New Year—mainly celebrated in China and other Asian countries like Vietnam and South Korea—starts and ends with the first new and full moons of the lunar calendar. Many Pinewood community members have celebrated this event since a young age.
“I remember growing up in the US and in Canada, and having to celebrate Lunar New Year in Chinatown, with parades and firecrackers,” Anne Wong, Pinewood’s director of alumni and community engagement said. “I think it’s always important [to celebrate], because it’s part of my heritage.”
The first hour of the celebration was full of performances. This year, Master Liu, the main performer, had an incredible performance, involving a beautiful lion and dragon costume, acrobatics, and audience members of all ages volunteering, dancing along with the performance,
NEW YEAR Pinewood community members take photos of the recent Lunar New Year celebration that took place on Upper Campus.
and chanting words in Mandarin. Pinewood Mandarin classes also took part in the performances; Mandarin 1A acted out a skit, complete with props and puppets, and Mandarin 4 sang “Gong Xi Gong Xi”.
Many different stations opened during the second hour as well. The crafts and games tables included Chinese paper cutting, calligraphy, lantern making, origami rabbits, Vietnamese Lotto, and Jegi Chagi, a Korean game where players kick the Korean shuttlecock jegi around in the air.
Some of the foods offered at the food stalls run by parent and student volunteers were fried sesame balls, spring rolls, potstickers, Vietnamese xio, pandan arils, Vietnamese tea, and Korean sikhye and yakgwa.
“When we organize Asian celebrations, we have a lot of volunteers who want to pass on their knowledge and their traditions,” Wong said.
This year’s celebration was an incredible success, with a large part of the Pinewood community coming together to celebrate the important customs and traditions of this Asian holiday. Students and parents honored the age-old tradition in lavish fashion.
Full of great stalls and entertainment, this was a fun yearly event for Panthers of all ages.
“There was multi-colored rice, a cool oriigami station, and lots of fun,” 8th grader Rachel Aronson said. “I really enjoyed spending Lunar New Year with my friends.”
Despite the recent weather giving way to floods, power outages, and school closures, the Pinewood community has made efforts to be anything but stormy.
For senior Myles Fox, the commute to school has always been an opportunity for long naps. Each morning, Fox must wake up at 6:15 a.m. to make a drive from Morgan Hill to Pinewood, ranging from 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half.
On Monday, when Pinewood’s closure was first announced, Fox had already taken a shower and had begun to get dressed. Although the notice was issued too late to keep him from getting out of bed, Fox had not left the house yet and was able to go back to sleep.
“When you get up early in general, it is nice to do a little bit of sleeping-in,” Fox said. “But having online days isn’t always the most convenient.”
On some days, however, Fox realized that school closures and online learning was the only way he would be able to go to school.
“There were times that there was so much water where I live that my mom wasn’t sure she’d be able to pick me up,” Fox said. “There was a notice in Morgan Hill that said that they shouldn’t even go out of the house because it was so flooded.”
These road closures also proved an obstacle for math teacher Sara Dorset. Living in Pacifica, Dorset usually makes it to school in around 35 minutes. With the
recent weather though, it is now taking her over an hour.
“There’s this huge sinkhole on highway-92, so the whole highway was closed,” Dorset said. “It takes up a whole side of the road, so now only one side is open.”
While the teachers receive notice of the school closures at the same time as students, the administration works well before 6:30 a.m. to look at the impacts of the weather.
Principal Gabriel Lemmon starts communication with administration at 5 a.m. to determine the school’s closure status, but there were times in which he could not even make it to school himself.
Living in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Lemmon experienced harsh wind during the storm and was forced to manage property damage during the school closure.
“I woke up one morning, looked out the window, and there was a tree that fell right in front of our front door,” Lemmon said. “I spent the rest of the day with a chainsaw, cutting up trees and trying to manage our fences that also came down.”
Although the past few weeks have been a tough adjustment for some faculty and students, the Pinewood administration is working hard to find new solutions to accommodate the weather and the students who are most impacted by school closures.
“I’m glad that the school is working to keep us safe,” Fox said. “I think that that’s really good on them.”
“[Students for Sustainable Change] is really passionate about making Pinewood a more compassionate place,” Vice Principal Hemm said when talking about the student-led group. Students for Sustainable Change, a group of students working together to implement community voice in Upper Campus policies, is currently working on a project centered around non-academic programming in order to learn what topics the student body is interested in.
In the previous semester, S.S.C. went through a “planning” stage where they laid out the trajectory for the 2022-23 school year.
“Last semester, we initially decided what our theme for the year would be,” Prisha Mohapatra, a sophomore part of S.S.C., said.
“When S.S.C. was brainstorming topics for what we wanted to handle this [semester, non-academic programming was] one idea that Ms. Hemm spearheaded,” senior and S.S.C. member Sally King said. “We all got on board since we all have been to these presentations and they have either been fun or not so fun, so that was definitely something we wanted to improve.”
This initial stage also included communicating with members outside of the Pinewood community in an attempt to take inspiration from other schools–such as Nueva, Oakwood, and Priory–in regards to their non-academic programming.
“We would use our personal connections and then
delegate that way,” Hemm said. S.S.C. then used this information to create surveys for the Pinewood community.
“The ultimate goal would probably be to ensure that everyone in our community, from parents, to faculty, to students, have a chance to voice their ideas and hopes for it,” Mohapatra said.
In the second semester, S.S.C. plans to use the data they have gathered to improve non-academic programming.
“Much of what we did last semester will not be repeated this semester, since we will be focusing more on gathering data and analyzing it,” Mohapatra said.
“We were thinking about conducting focus groups of smaller random people from each grade — this includes random parents, faculty members, and students — and try to have deeper conversations about our topics or what they want to see from us,” King said.
Hemm has been critical with the success of the team, constantly encouraging S.S.C. to keep pushing through setbacks.
“[She] has been instrumental in guiding us and working with us,” Mohapatra said.
With S.S.C. ‘s hopes to better the non-academic programming at Pinewood, King asks the community to take an active role in helping S.S.C..
“I would like to see the community just respond to the surveys when we send them because we really want to hear their voices,’’ King said.