The Coat of Arms Issue 47.6

Volume 47, Number 6

Menlo School, Atherton, California

Friday, May 28, 2021

The Coat of Arms serving Menlo's upper school since 1973

Senior Ditch Day Controversy Highlights Pandemic Challenges

by ALEX LEVITT and LEXI FRIESEL

Director John Schafer said. “There have been seniors who have wanted to ditch but that’s not a tradition that’s happened year-in year-out.”

The grade’s spirit team helped design a fun day at Poplar Beach for the class, and on April 30, informed the administration of their plans. Despite the first few emails that the spirit team received from administrators sounding similar to the ones sent to the classes of 2018 and 2019 who had had “successful” skip days, a final email sent by Dean of Students Tony Lapolla led to the cancellation of the plans.

The email informed seniors that any students attending class virtually or skipping entirely would receive a quarantine from school and athletics, stating that the day at the beach would potentially increase the

community’s risk of COVID-19.

“Normally on a ditch day, you can’t punish an entire senior class, that’s why the seniors do it,” one senior spirit leader said.

“And so because this year they were able to ‘suspend’ us by putting us online for the rest of the year, they abused that power and used excessive force.”

After one final meeting with the administration, the spirit team then decided to cancel the day. On May 5, some seniors’ teachers decided to cancel their classes in support of the seniors, and several students did not show up to campus for their first period class. The administration provided Chipotle at lunch for the senior class and promoted their retreat in the hopes of boosting class spirit.

The popular tradition of seniors ditching school for a day was canceled over COVID-19 and quarantine concerns.

Seniors Jason Bloom (front), Ayush (back left), Alex Wang (back center) and Theo Kim (back right) lead a water balloon toss on May 7, a Menlo Upper School spirit day. Photo courtesy of Jane Ridgeway

After spending over half of their senior year in online school, the senior class has attempted to maximize their bonding opportunities in their final semester at Menlo. Despite going through with spirit events such as “Senior Sunrise” on May 13, “A Night Under the Stars” on May 15, and the senior retreat on May 8, the popular tradition of seniors ditching school for a day was cancelled over COVID-19 and quarantine concerns.

On May 5, the Menlo senior class was planning to have a “skip day,” where seniors do not come to classes and instead meet on Poplar Beach in Half Moon Bay to celebrate their last weeks as seniors. However, after

the administration told seniors that anyone attending a large, off-campus gathering instead of school would have to quarantine from school activities for ten days, the seniors decided to cancel their plans.

According to the seniors who planned the event, having a ditch day has been a longtime senior tradition. “Of the traditions we could keep [during COVID-19] as seniors, it seemed like a pretty easy one compared to things like homecoming or spirit week,” Senior Spirit Leader Sareena Sandhu said.

However, the administration did not feel the same way. “There is not actually a Seniors create water slide on their last day of classes, May 14, to commemorate their time totradition called a ‘skip day,’” Upper School gether at Menlo. Photo courtesy of Jane Ridgeway

Pandemic Creates AP Test Disparities for Students

Nerf Gun Resembling AR Leads to Assassin Game Rule Change

by ALEA MARKS

by VALENTINA ROSS

Students and teachers alike are finding there are some differences between the Advanced Placement (AP) exams this year, in both the curriculum covered as well as in the various test-taking options provided, compared to previous years.

Senior Mack Ford has faced some challenges with AP exams this year, in part because she feels like there has been less time to prepare. “It’s [been] really difficult to cover all of the information and have time to review, and it has been tough to have enough time to practice each section of the exam,” she said. Overall, she finds that the unpredictability of the format has been the most tough.

Ford registered for the exams in September, and at the time she had no idea what they would look like. In her AP European History class, they have been handwriting various sections of the exam to practice. But at the start of 2021 the College Board announced that the AP exam would be online, so all of their essays would be typed.

One of the most prominent senior traditions has been the game Assassin, which has been played for a long time.

It has always been an activity that creates class unity and bonding for the senior class. And, over the years, although the rules have remained similar, they have evolved as they have been proposed by a new student body each year.

“Some games have been more intrusive on the educational program and on the general culture,” Dean of Students Tony Lapolla said. “But, the rules have been imposed by the student body and we’ve talked about those rules and we’ve had time to change them.”

This year, after a lot of uncertainty of what the school year would look like, senior Daniel Tan set the Assassin game in motion once the school opened its campus to 100% capacity. “I knew I wanted to run Assassin first semester because it was something I wanted our grade to have the chance to do,” Tan said. When Tan found out Palo Alto High School had the game going since March, he contacted

AP Tests, Page 3

Assassin, Page 17

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News

May 28, 2021

Math Teacher Leanne Rouser Retires After 31 Years at Menlo

by ELLA HARTMANIS

After a 38-year teaching career, math teacher Leanne Rouser is retiring. Rouser has taught at Menlo for 31 years, and prior to that in Hawaii and Sacramento, Calif.

In 1990, Rouser’s husband was offered a job at Oracle, so the two decided to move to the Bay Area. However, the day before he was supposed to start, Oracle laid off 400 employees, including her husband. Since neither of them had a job, Rouser decided to apply to teach at Menlo.

When starting out, Rouser never imagined that she would stay at Menlo for so long, but her love for the school and people made it difficult to leave. “Every

day [when] I got up, I always knew how much I loved working here, and I always knew I would do it even if I wasn’t paid. I was just loving what I was doing, and I just wanted to keep doing it until I didn’t love it anymore,” Rouser said.

According to Rouser, she isn’t leaving because of the impacts the pandemic has had on teaching or the students. Rather, she’s following through on what she told herself when starting the job initially..

“I still get up in the morning and I love teaching the students and I love math and I love helping kids who wouldn’t necessarily understand how to do certain things like that. I said to myself I want to keep doing

it while I love it, and I just don’t love [the overall job] anymore,” Rouser said.

Menlo hasn’t only been a job for Rouser; it’s where she’s found some of her closest friends. “Many of my colleagues here have been my closest friends and almost like family because when I came here I didn’t know anyone in the Bay Area,” Rouser said.

However, Rouser is excited about the freedom she will have with her schedule in the following year and plans to travel.

“I’m going to enjoy a year of not being on a calendar and just being able to travel when I want to, spend time with my kids, spend time with my sisters who live on the East

Coast, and spend time in Hawaii, where I have a home.”

Growing up on the East Coast, Rouser and her family recently bought land in Maryland to build a house, so she’s excited to be able to spend more time there.

“I grew up on the East Coast and kind of took it for granted [...] So, I feel like I want to spend time exploring over there.”

She also hopes to travel to different countries like New Zealand and possibly train for a big race, like a marathon, to pursue her passion for running. While Rouser will miss Menlo, she is excited about the opportunities that await her.

After 19 Years, History Teacher Dan Devitt Leaves Menlo

by ELLA HARTMANIS

After teaching at Menlo for 19 years, Upper School History Teacher Dan Devitt is leaving at the end of the school year.

Devitt has played an influential role in the Menlo community, as he has taught AP Government, World History, US History, Intro to Law and advised Menlo’s mock trial program.

Devitt restarted Menlo’s mock trial program in 2002. During his time at Menlo, Devitt and the mock trial team have competed at the national championship tournament twice, won the state championship twice and won the San Mateo County tournament 11 times in a row. “Winning County for

the first time, when we beat Hillsdale, will be sort of the night that I’ll never forget,” Devitt said. However his experience of coaching is more than just about winning.

“I’ve enjoyed working with students and especially seeing them so happy outside of the classroom and engaging in academic debate,” Devitt said.

While Devitt has taught his students, they’ve taught him as well and helped grow as both a teacher and a person. “I’ve tried as best I can to decenter myself in the classroom, and by that, I mean when I first came to Menlo, I placed way too much emphasis on lecturing and on being the sage on the stage,” Devitt said. “What I've tried to do for at least the last two years is listen

Leanne Rouser smiles for her yearbook photo in 1991. Photo courtesy of Menlo Yearbook

and learn more from the students.”

A popular event schoolwide is the AP Government mock election, part of Devitt’s AP Government class. “[In the mock elections] you begin to see students express themselves and engage in the type of learning that I think we aspire to [achieve] at Menlo,” Devitt said.

Despite his love for Menlo and the community, Devitt will be teaching at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory next year. Devitt lives in San Francisco, with a daily commute to Menlo of around 30 to 40 minutes each way. By teaching at Saint Ignatius, he can be closer to his son and give back to his community with his work. “I really have seen my kid grow up,

Dan Devitt works on his computer in 2004. Photo courtesy of Menlo Yearbook

and he’s now in sixth grade and sort of at a formative age and he attends the San Francisco Unified School District. I really wanted to reconnect my work by aligning my work with where I live,” Devitt said.

Given its success at Menlo, Devitt hopes to create a mock trial team at Saint Ignatius as well.He predicts the team will benefit not only the school but also increase activity in mock trial throughout San Francisco. “I would love to help them create a successful program, as I’ve done at Menlo, without threatening Menlo’s program. And, I’d really like to help contribute to the mock trial in San Francisco and bring something to the kids at [Saint Ignatius],” he said.

Lauren Lax helps a student in 2008. Photo courtesy of Menlo Yearbook

Math Teacher Lauren Lax to Leave Menlo After 14 Years of Teaching

by CARLY MCADAM

Upper School math teacher Lauren Lax is nearing the end of her 14th and final year of teaching at Menlo. During her time teaching, Lax has taught 10 different classes in the Upper School. “I’ve taught some stats [classes] every year,” Lax said. “But otherwise, I’ve rotated.” In addition to AP and regular statistics, Lax has also taught AP BC Calculus, Algebra 2 Honors, various levels of Pre-Calculus and AP Economics.

She has also overseen independent study courses on global finance and advanced topics in statistics.

Lax has been a beloved teacher for many students. Josh Lim (‘20) was a student of Lax’s during both his junior and senior year at Menlo. He is currently a TA for her AP BC Calculus class. “[Lax] basically

taught me everything I needed for my first two years of college math,” Lim said. “She gave such [...] intriguing math questions that left me doing hours upon hours of math questions outside of the classroom.

She inspired me to be a math major.” Lim felt that Lax helped him grow outside of the classroom as well. “She helped turn me from an anxious junior to a confident college student. She was always available after school to talk about anything.”

Lim also spoke to the atmosphere of Lax’s classroom. “[Lax’s] classroom is truly an amazing experience,” he said.

“There was always something going on in the classroom that made me look forward to class every waking moment of my life.”

Further, Lim felt that Lax fostered a strong

community and positive environment in her classroom. “I loved the collaborative atmosphere that the class fostered,” he said. “I remember the exact moment when I began singing ‘Love is an Open Door’ in AT math, and [Lax] joined in without any hesitation.”

Next year, Lax is hoping to have more flexibility in her schedule. “Now that my daughter is starting kindergarten, I want to be able to drop her off,” she said. “I was also interested in [...] doing something where I could see statistics in action, so I’m excited to be entering that industry.” After finishing up this year at Menlo, Lax will go on to be a data scientist on the image search team at Google. “I’m excited to work on [the] image search [team] because it’s something

that I use every day,” Lax said. “I think it’s incredibly important to think about what information people are being presented with when they’re seeking out information.”

Lax’s favorite thing about teaching at Menlo has been the students. “Sometimes people talk nationwide about what teenagers are like,” Lax said. “And I feel like everything I hear is nothing like what Menlo’s students are like. Menlo students to me are so hard-working, so excited to learn and I have learned so much from [them].

I feel like I’ve met so many people who I really admire here.”

For Lax, leaving Menlo will be bittersweet. “I love the Menlo community, but I am really excited to be doing something different,” she said.

This series of profiles of teachers who are leaving Menlo will continue to be released online at menlocoa.org

News

May 28, 2021

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Menlo School Manages Positive COVID-19 Tests Following San Mateo County Guidelines

by ABBY BECKER

In an address on April 14, California Governor Gavin Newson said that more than 9,000 out of California’s 11,000 schools have reopened for at least some in-person instruction. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 spread in schools mirrors community trends. It may even have lower infection rates than the community if the transmission prevention strategies are strong enough. Although transmission rates are low in schools themselves, students are still testing positive while on campus.

If a Menlo student tests positive, the school goes through a series of actions to contact trace and limit the scope of the spread. School shutdown would only occur if 5% (or around 35 people) of the students and staff members test positive as per the county mandate. However, according to Health Services Coordinator Joan Barada,

the school may consider closure before infections reach that point.

According to Barada, the San Mateo County Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities’ Pandemic Recovery Framework dictates school response to COVID-19 cases in the school community.

“We get all our direction from [the county].

It's not me deciding who to quarantine,” Barada said.

The Pandemic Recovery Framework focuses on three things: case, close contact and indirect contact. Case refers to a person who tests positive for COVID-19; close contact is a person who has been within six feet for at least 15 cumulative minutes of an infectious case.

Indirect contacts are people who may have been near a close contact, according to Barada.

Within 24 hours after a student tests positive, regardless of whether or not the

student tests negative in subsequent tests, Barada must notify the San Mateo County Communicable Disease Control Program and a District Point Person. In addition, she must be in contact with the assigned San Mateo County Health official daily Monday through Friday and submit a daily report of all new cases every morning.

If the student who tested positive is on campus, a staff member immediately pulls them out of their classes. Barada then conducts a cursory interview either in person if the student is on campus or over the phone where she asks baseline information such as if they’ve been on campus and or if they’re in any pods.

Afterward, this information is sent to San Mateo County officials who conduct a contact tracing investigation of their own.

During their investigation, the county health officials go through a series of steps, including contacting the parents of the student. They depend on the school to notify them of immediate contacts and locations in which the students have been, such as classrooms or sports teams. This information helps the county determine if the incident is isolated or a common exposure, like a class member or a transportation-related infection.

To provide this information, the school uses its own contact tracing team, made up of six contact tracers with certificates from Johns Hopkins University, as well as Peace of Mind (POM) tracers. The POM tracers are used to determine if students have been in near a positive COVID-19 case. Barada strongly encourages students to scan their POM tracers every day to make sure the information is accurate and up-to-date. “If people aren't using their POMs effectively, it’s just an expensive necklace,” Barada said.

If the county investigation determines that the infection comes as a result of a school failure to properly prevent COVID-19, the school is encouraged to take strategies that will mitigate further outbreaks.

After the investigation is conducted, recommendations are made to the school to determine who to send home. Usually, it’s only close contacts that are recommended to quarantine. However, it may be entire classrooms if there is more than one case simultaneously or a different COVID-19 variant.

Positive COVID-19 cases must isolate, while close contacts only have to quarantine. This difference is imperative because, according to the CDC, isolation means that the COVID-19-positive person is kept away from all people in a confined area, while quarantine means that a close contact must stay home and stay away from other people.

To e n d i s o l a t i o n when a person has tested positive for COVID-19, they must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of Advil or Tylenol and symptoms must be improving. If a close contact is in quarantine and they become symptomatic, they must remain in quarantine until they receive a negative test or be diagnosed with something other than COVID-19 for their quarantine to end. Both close contacts and positive cases have to receive a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the 10th day of isolation or quarantine in order to return to campus.

CDC guidelines state that close contacts who are fully vaccinated or who have tested positive for and recovered from COVID-19 within the past three months do not need to quarantine. However, immunized people who test positive still need to isolate, according to Barada.

"We get all our direction from [the county]. It's not [the school] deciding who to quarantine."

AP Tests, cont.

“The College Board definitely dropped the ball by announcing changes to the test after students all over the country had been doing review for half of a school year already,” she said.

Despite the unusual nature of exams this year, Ford feels like her teachers have done the best they can given the situation.

“They have always been available for extra help, and they have all provided so much material, even when we don’t have time to master all that material during our limited virtual class time,” she said.

Junior Grace Tang echoed Ford’s sentiment about her teachers’ dedication to their students. She recognized that Menlo’s access to resources has helped the school adapt quickly and provide the best possible preparation for AP exams. “Menlo teachers are really well-equipped to prepare us for the exams,” Tang said. “I don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage compared to the other students around the country who are taking APs this year; if anything, I would say we are at a huge advantage because of our excellent teachers and resources that allow us to be prepared,” Tang said.

AP US History teacher Abby Tieck agrees that Menlo students are better equipped than most. “I think Menlo students are still more than likely to perform very

well just due to the students’ level of self-motivation and determination,” she said. “I don’t think my students are at a disadvantage.”

Tieck is confident that she and her students were able to accomplish just as much this year as in previous years, the only difference being that she had to be more targeted in what she chose to focus on in class. She believes she was more successful fitting in the content by pre-recording her lectures. This allowed her students to listen to them on their own time, so class time could be spent on other content. “My students had to be really self-motivated and disciplined because the bulk of the content acquisition for APUSH was done as homework,” she said. “In class, I chose to elevate the topics that would provide the best vehicles for skill work.”

Tieck chose the digital exam option for her students. She thought it made the most sense, considering they had been practicing writing essays online all year.

Tang supports this decision because she prefers to type rather than handwrite in her humanities classes. She is taking her STEM class APs in person because she thinks it curves the possibility of other students using outside resources.

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News

May 28, 2021

Students Look to Travel to Europe as Restrictions Ease Travelers are eager to get back to their hobbies, but have reservations

by GEORGIA PAYE

After more than a year of the European Union banning nonessential traveling to most of its countries, fully vaccinated American tourists will be able to visit countries in the European Union this summer. The EU plans to use vaccine certificates as acceptable proof of immunity in order to enter the EU. The European Medicines Agency has approved three vaccines being used in the U.S.: the, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson shots. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, did not give a timeline when exactly travel might open up, according to The New York Times.

As the EU plans to open up, Menlo students hope to be able to travel to Europe this summer. “I really hope I'll be able to

travel to the EU or somewhere abroad this summer. Being able to travel out of the country for vacation in and of itself is a privilege, even more so this year, but like many seniors I had always imagined I'd be able to spend my senior summer in Europe or the UK with my family,” senior Ishani Sood said.

Sood would prefer to travel to areas with lower rates of infection such as Portugal or islands around Spain and Greece.

Some students and their families believe that traveling to the EU this year would be too difficult as many COVID-19 restrictions are still in place and flights and hotels are difficult to book.

“Although my family wants to travel to the EU, they are hesitant with Covid-19 and booking hotels and flights is quite complicated this year,” junior Uma Misha said.

Additionally, certain students and families are still weary of contracting

"Like many seniors, I had always imagined I'd be able to spend my senior summer in Europe or the UK with my family."

Staff illustration: Michele Hratko

or spreading the virus even if they and their families are vaccinated.“The main reason why my family and I are still hesitant is the risk traveling poses to not only our health but the health of the communities we'd be visiting. Even though my family and I are almost all fully vaccinated, that doesn't completely eliminate the risk of contracting or carrying COVID, and it's frankly not fair for an influx of selfinterested tourists to put communities in popular destinations at risk,” Sood said.

Students and their families do not want to risk planning a trip if things may get canceled o “A factor that went into our decision [to …] is the unpredictable nature of COVID cases and the rise of new variants. Even if a majority of my family was vaccinated, it would be frustrating to plan a big trip and have it feel unsafe or be cancelled,” junior Soren Sutaria said.

While some students may not be

Despite whether students are traveling to the EU or not, some students think that vaccine passports are necessary safety precautions for international travel.

traveling to the EU, some plan to visit other countries. “I have a large trip to South America for a majority of the summer,” freshman Brady Jung said. Jung is taking a Spanish immersion program and service trip with some friends while he is in South America.

Other students are still planning to travel, however, they are staying within the US. “We definitely plan on going to the East Coast to settle my sister and I into our respective college towns, but other than that, nothing is definitive yet,” Sood said. “ I plan on traveling to the East Coast and Southern California this summer,” Sutaria said. Sutaria plans to visit colleges, play in tennis tournaments, and see his family.

Similarly, Misha plans to tour colleges in the U.S. this summer.

Despite whether students are traveling to the EU or not, some students think that vaccine passports are necessary safety precautions, despite the controversy over asking for proof of vaccination. “I believe that [vaccine passports] should be necessary while traveling because it can prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Misha said.

Other students are still planning to travel; however, they are staying within the U.S. or travel abroad to areas outside the EU, such as South America.

Opinions

May 28, 2021

The Pros and Cons of High School Football

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In light of high school sports returning to play, Penelope Stinson and Alex Levitt debate the pros and cons of high school football Is football replaceable by other, less dangerous sports?

Penelope

Alex's Response The number of football athletes may be decreasing, but it's still the most popular sport. I wouldn't mind if football gets to a point where it isn't as popular, but we shouldn't try to actively force it out because there are still millions of kids playing it, along with millions of fans, every year.

I believe football is replaceable.

I understand that football has a unique culture that could be difficult to replicate. However, I believe we should start moving towards replacing the sport itself, not the culture. We need to ensure that kids are aware of the real risks before starting to play.

We don't have boxing at Menlo, which is another sport with a significant amount of head injuries, so why should we have football?

Alex

vs

Theoretically, there could be a sport that comes along that steals football's popularity and energy.

But at this point, football gets so much attention and funding because it is by far the most popular high school sport. In 2021, most people understand football's risks, yet we still choose to love the game for what it is while also improving players' safety with high-tech helmets and new rules (think targeting).

Penelope's Response Actually, the popularity of football is declining, especially in high schools. According to Forbes, between 2009 and 2019 the number of youths playing football fell from 2.5 million to less than 1.9 million.

Therefore, it is a valid argument that football could be replaced by other, safer sports growing in popularity.

Should the Homecoming game be a football game?

Alex

Penelope's Response We shouldn't completely shut out football; instead, we should make small changes to emphasize and promote other sports other than football. COVID-19 has changed a lot of sports events and games, and this year would be the perfect opportunity to consider switching the main homecoming event from a football game to a basketball game.

Unless the Menlo community overwhelmingly prefers a change, I see no reason to abandon the homecoming football game tradition. I understand why you feel that it glorifies an injury-filled game, but removing a community bonding event in an attempt to send a message wouldn't actually accomplish anything. People will remain fans of the game at the high school level, so all it would do is deprive the school of a fun event. and alumni donations.

Penelope

vs

I don't think the homecoming game should be a football game.

I acknowledge that the event attracts alumni and brings in money, but we should be bringing in alumni and their money to promote a sport with fewer injuries and long-term consequences. Instead, homecoming could be a basketball game. This change would not only be just as fun but would also bring in more fans because we could host both a girls and boys game.

Alex's Response I think that a big basketball game event sounds like a great, fun idea. However, I still don't think that the school should force that upon the community. The school should definitely promote other sports for spectators, but that doesn’t have to replace football.

Should Menlo require parents to go through educational sessions on the risks of football prior to allowing their children to play football?

Alex

Penelope

Alex's Response I think that we could agree for the most part about this one. Even if it were to be a different session where families are told about the positives of football, they should certainly exist to balance out the negatives.

Absolutely, yes. I think there should be at least one session that educates parents of the exact dangers of football, including the rate for injuries and concussions specific to Menlo, so parents know not only the national dangers, but also what's relevant to Menlo.

vs

Sure, I don't think it's a bad idea.

But the key here is that if the school gives warnings, they should also provide testimonials from alumni and active athletes. This will provide new families with a balance of information so that they can best make a decision regarding their children playing football.

Penelope's Response I would agree that football has benefits, but we shouldn't make those sessions mandatory. I believe that there are positives to every single activity offered at Menlo, including football.

The reason why we'd have warning sessions is because the dangers of football are higher than other Menlo activities.

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Opinions

May 28, 2021

Mental Health During COVID-19: We Can't Just Check a Box

by ANNIE STENT

No doubt, COVID-19 has brought complications to Menlo. Students, teachers and administrators are still struggling to deal with the pandemic, but it feels like the administration has moved on as if everything is normal. There still needs to be the same focus on mental health that there was at the beginning of the pandemic.

I noticed my teachers doing a lot to support us when COVID-19 started, especially when we first went virtual in April 2020.

I had significantly less on my plate then than I do now. Teachers were still learning how to evaluate us online, so we had fewer major assignments and tests. I didn’t have to balance school and sports and coping with COVID-19 because the pandemic had made my activities nearly obsolete.

I didn't have to balance school and sports and coping with COVID-19 because the pandemic had made my activities nearly obsolete.

Despite having some of our preCOVID-19 stressors lifted during the beginning of the pandemic, teachers made efforts that eliminated additional complications in our lives.

It felt like teachers were more lenient with assignments and consistently checked in with students. Many of my due dates were tentative, and my finals were optional.

In addition, because the schedule was new at the time, I had about a week to do most homework assignments. Teachers checked in on us more thoroughly than usual at the beginning of classes, and we spent a lot of time in advocacy discussing how we were feeling.

In the beginning of the pandemic, it felt like mental health took priority. Life is slowly going back to normal with sports and arts back, Menlo resuming 100% in person and our academics being back in full swing, but it seems as if mental health is an issue that has fallen through the cracks.

Recently, I ended up doing Zoom learning for two weeks and noticed teachers losing patience when I needed something repeated because Menlo’s or my own internet was down or the speakers on the Zoom cart weren’t working.

While I understood that my being online may have been frustrating to teachers, there was nothing I could do about it. I was following policies that I had no control over and negative tones from teachers only added to my stress.

Online learning is hard, but it's harder when you’re the only one online.

Even now that my quarantine period is over, COVID-19 is still

Staff illustration: Marissa Li

adding to the stressors that already come with school. It reduced the amount of time that we had to get through the curriculum for AP U.S. History: we were barely able to finish. We did two units in four days because my teacher was doing everything she could to have us prepared for the AP exam.

In addition to learning the end of the curriculum mostly on our own time, studying for the test was more complicated than usual.

AP test dates were pushed back by the pandemic, squishing AP testing, final exams and final projects all together.

Upper School counselors make efforts in faculty meetings to advocate for students and to encourage teachers to grant extensions as our work ramps up like it did with AP testing. At the beginning of this year, Menlo hired an additional counselor, Angie Mohr, to help in the efforts to support students. “Everyone is tapped out in a whole different way,” counselor Jake Fauver said.

After hearing this, I was expecting teachers to be a bit more lenient with due dates and test dates, especially around AP testing, but along with other students, I was denied extensions for assignments that were due the day of my exam.

Regardless of the workload, we all faced a huge social adjustment. Students, teachers and administrators went from spending a lot of time at home with just our families and close friends to being around 25% to 50% to now 100% of the student body. There wasn’t much acknowledgement of this or tools given to help us deal with the

drastic changes to our social environment.

We are still experiencing the struggles

We are still experiencing the struggles that this pandemic has brought, but it feels like they aren't being acknowleged anymore. that the pandemic has brought, but it feels like they aren’t being acknowledged anymore. We have assemblies addressing it every once in a while, and counselors advocate on students’ behalf but otherwise, it seems that we are all proceeding as normal and simply checking a box that we did at least something to talk about mental health.

Upper School counselors work hard to stress to teachers the importance of mental health, and administrators work with Student Council’s Mental Health Representative, Kate Richardson. Because of that I would expect mental health to be something that we as a school were more prepared to deal with, especially because it seems like a lot of the COVID-19 caused stressors have simple solutions.

The additional complications that come from quarantine requirements would be cleared up with just a bit of compassion from students and teachers alike. If students acknowledge and appreciate that their

teachers have to put in extra effort when they are online and teachers see that distance-learning while everyone is in person is more difficult for their students, everyone’s lives would be a little bit easier. I

If students acknowledge and appreciate that their teachers have to put in extra effort when they are online and teachers see that distance-learning while everyone is in person is more difficult for their students, everyone's lives would be a little bit easier. know that a gentler tone or a quick check-in or a few words of support would have gone a long way for me.

If counselors are recommending a softer approach to assignments taking place around major testing, I think they should be listened to. I understand that extensions can mess up timing around grading, but teachers need to understand that doing work for 6-7 classes is already a lot, and as students we manage it, however the additions of studying for finals, APs and finishing final projects make that very difficult.

The stress of finals and AP testing being jumbled together would be lightened if blackout started earlier, to take a bit more off our plate. However, if that interfered with requirements for teachers, additional long tutorials during the student life blocks would give us more time for our studies and ultimately lighten the load.

It would have been nice to be given tools to help deal with a new social environment. Required, personal checkin’s with the counselors to see if anyone was experiencing additional social anxiety because of the adjustment from distancelearning to in-person learning could have been helpful. While it would have been a lot

It really doesn't take much to place an emphasis on mental health. of time and meetings, the additional hire of Mohr would have helped split up the work.

It really doesn’t take much to place an emphasis on mental health. We don’t need long assemblies or even class bonding activities that take hours to plan, all Menlo needs to do in order to combat mental health during COVID-19 is to show compassion and give some extra time back to students.

Opinions

May 28, 2021

Thinking Positively: COVID-19’s Effect on the Environment

by ALEA MARKS

When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, most major cities went into lockdown. Businesses closed and people were strongly encouraged to stay inside. Although the state of the world seemed bleak, the environment took advantage of this time to make a comeback.

People got a glimpse of this when a video of dolphins frolicking in newly clear waters in the canals in Venice went viral.

Within the first few weeks of shelterin-place guidelines, traffic was nearly eliminated, resulting in cleaner and quieter skies.

Birdsongs rang out across San Francisco, and the snowcapped Himalayas could be seen in Jalandhar, India, for the first time in over 30 years, as documented in David Attenborough’s latest film, The Year the Earth Changed.

As the pandemic continues, we see more drastic changes within the natural world. In Glacier Bay, Alaska, humpback whales sing to each other beneath the ocean’s surface, no longer interrupted by cruise ships. The newfound silence allows mother whales to leave their offspring while hunting because they can communicate from afar. In previous years, the calves had to tag along, resulting in fewer of them surviving because of a higher risk of predators.

Halfway around the world in Kenya, cheetah cub populations are booming, resulting from less tourist safari buses.

Usually, a mother goes hunting while her cubs hide in the brush, and after making a kill, she sends out a high-pitched whistle to signal the cubs to come. She has to be

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closed beaches, breeding rates increased by 61%, according to Justin Perrault a researcher at Loggerhead Marine Center.

It is more than a year after the lockdown began, and to the relief of many, life is slowly returning to

careful, though; she might alert predators who will attack her cubs if she calls out too loudly or too frequently.

The noise of the safari buses made it very difficult for this maneuver to be successful, but the newfound silence enables clearer communication between the mother and her cubs.

Most tourists are unaware they are damaging the ecosystem around them, which is why the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise. It has unveiled the way that humans

Staff illustration: Michele Hrakto

are destroying the natural ecosystems that they claim to be so in tune with and causing significant harm to the animals.

Female sea turtles wash up on the beaches in Florida to lay their eggs every two to three years. In the past, their breeding season has been interrupted by people on the beach. For the first time, the turtles have been able to lay their eggs in peace. It is known that human interference with turtle breeding grounds is a problem;

however this year, scientists were able to measure the extent of the impact. With

normal. But we cannot overlook what the pandemic has taught us about our destructive impact on animals and their environment. We must use what we have learned to change our habits regarding the ecosystem rather than mindlessly return to the pre-pandemic world.

We need to take a step back and recognize that the solution is to allow our environment to heal. The pandemic has shown that the less humans interfere with the animal kingdom, the better. With little modifications such as restricting cruise boat and safari bus routes, as well as closing turtle-breeding beaches at night, we will see drastic improvements in the natural world.

Menlo Students Reflect on the Good Amidst a Year Defined by Struggles

by LIZZIE FREEHILL

“Coronavirus: Bay Area’s Shelter-inPlace to Last Through May.” “Students are Falling Behind in Online School.” “U.S. Surpasses 500,000 Covid-19 Deaths, a Monumental Loss.” We have constantly been reading headlines like these for over a year now. While obstacles and struggles

While many obstacles and struggles define this year, there has still been good. define this year, there has still been good.

Still, in my experience, the negatives have tended to overshadow the positives.

Reflecting on this past year or so, I’ve realized that many of these positives have been in response to adversity.

The resiliency I have seen from the Menlo community, the United States and the world as a whole has impressed me. Not only have I witnessed my generation survive a period of isolation and confusion, but I’ve witnessed people take the experience and do something with it.

Many of my peers started small businesses and initiatives during the initial shelter-in-place. For example, at my middle school, a handful of students from the school’s community service club and I made hundreds of origami flowers and animals for my grandparents’ retirement home. This project was something we would never have accomplished without so much free time.

Sophomores Sydney Fish and

Mitali Srinath created an organization that sewed and donated masks called Cloth for Community. At first, Fish and Srinath sewed masks to receive community engagement (CE) credits. After realizing how simple the process was, they began donating them to aid those who couldn’t afford or didn’t have access to masks. “Mitali and I created this organization with the goal of just having kids be able to get CE credits, help the community, and [donate them] to people in need who couldn’t really afford [them],” Fish said.

In addition to inspiring new projects, COVID-19 has allowed families to spend more time together. For example, during the first few months of the shelter-in-place order, my family would watch an episode of “Beverly Hills 90210” every night. Those guaranteed 45 minutes we spent every day watching the show together brought us closer.

Menlo alumni Sophie Reynolds (‘20) was thankful to spend extra time with her family before leaving for college. “Being able to spend time with my family in the fall and over summer was definitely nice because once you leave, I feel like you see your parents a lot less,” Reynolds said.

A break in my daily routine of school, rehearsal, homework, practice and more homework that I’d been following for years gave me time to reflect on what parts in my routine I was benefiting from and what parts I wasn’t. Throughout online school, I tried different tactics to help myself work efficiently and create more time for myself, my friends and my family. Since we’ve been back on campus, I’ve been able to apply these new routines to my daily life.

In being away from my friendships,

I was able to identify what I needed from those I was close with and the type of people with whom I wanted to surround myself.

So when I started as a freshman at Menlo, I had a better understanding of who I was and found people whose personalities better aligned with mine.

Through social media and collaborations such as the New York Times “Teens on a Year That Changed Everything,” I was able to resonate with other teens’ feelings.

It was powerful to see others express their same emotions through art. It reminded me that other kids my age also feel isolated and

Staff illustration: Sutton Inouye

confused and that there has been and always will be a worldwide community of teenagers that struggle with similar things I do.

Amidst negative headlines, there have been many about kindness and compassion during the past year. “I think that a lot of daily things divide us, but the fact that every person in the world was hit with this pandemic and we were all struggling, it did unite us against the pandemic in being safe and helping each other,” Fish said. “In that way, it was a really good opportunity to see human kindness become more prevalent and more talked about in the news.”

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Opinions

May 28, 2021

Banning the Traditional Assassin Game is Unnecessary

by ALEX LEVITT

Most years, what may feel like a tap on the shoulder means game over for seniors playing Assassin at Menlo. However, this year, the tagging of other players to eliminate them from the game could be done at longer distances than ever before with the addition of Nerf guns, which were suggested by the school to keep social distancing. While Nerf guns mitigated the COVID concerns, they quickly created other concerns that eventually shut down the game before it could be completed.

Senior Assassin is a game that has become tradition at Menlo. All seniors who opt to play receive a target that they have to eliminate by tagging, or for this year, shooting. When a student eliminates their target, they inherit the target of the student they just eliminated. The last player standing wins.

Not long after this year’s game of Assassin began, the game’s controversy grew. Senior Class Dean Chris Young received word that a student was frightened by a verbal engagement that they overheard. “I think you can understand why hearing, ‘I'm gonna kill you!’ from around a blind corner had another person suddenly experiencing intense fear,” Young said in an email to the senior grade. In addition to the fear of these types of incidents occurring, Young noted that a student brought in a Nerf gun painted black that looked like a realistic firearm, and it scared at least one student before quickly being put away. All of this led to the game’s indefinite suspension.

The subject of killing and shooting is very delicate and sensitive, even with Nerf guns. The seniors unintentionally started the Assassin game on the anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. While unintentional, this puts into perspective how real these issues of school safety are.

The termination of Assassin this year is reasonable; the school did not want anyone else to be negatively affected by it.

However, it is unreasonable to permanently discontinue the tradition just because of what occurred this year. “You will likely be the last class to play [Assassin],” Young told the seniors in an email. He suggested outlining a new activity for future years, such as a scavenger hunt or geocaching.

This would be a mistake because the tradition and camaraderie of the game should be preserved.

Senior Aaron Cheng, one of the last seven survivors before the administration canceled the game, thinks the game can be played without the risk of creating fear for students. “The tradition aspect is valuable, so I would prefer that we are not the last grade to play the game if possible. The small details of the game are unimportant. The game can be played with mini beach balls or with tag rules and still be fun. The game is useful as a bonding experience for seniors,” Cheng said. Cheng’s point that the game can be played without Nerf guns is logical; beach balls bear no resemblance to firearms. The same goes for tag, if COVID-19 allows for it by next year.

Senior Theo Kim was also one of the seven remaining players in the game. “I hope this does not have to be the last year of Assassin. The tradition of Assassin is very fun for the grade, and it is particularly important as a bonding experience to make up for lost times during distanced learning,” Kim said.

The idea of Nerf guns for Assassin seemed like a perfect solution to play at a distance, but, unfortunately, gun violence is too prevalent for Nerf guns to be used at school. However, the game of Assassin can and should live on through creative adaptations. This and an effort to eliminate the use of the word “kill” can save the game for future grades. It is worthwhile to consider this aspect of the game before cancelling the game forever. The bonding and tradition aspects of Assassin are crucial for Menlo’s school spirit.

I think you can understand why hearing, 'I'm gonna kill you!' from around a blind corner had another person suddenly experiencing intense fear.

Menlo senior Ilan Listgarten participated in the traditional Assasin game.

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May 28, 2021

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Pandemic Reveals Inequity in Hospital Health Care

by TESSA FRANTZ

Though the world seemed to stop after the pandemic first hit, the social effects of COVID-19 began to unfold, shining a light on racial inequity in America’s healthcare system. As a result, African Americans and Latinx citizens’ COVID-19 cases are disproportionate to their percentage of the total population. Such information highlights the racial inequity surrounding job and education opportunities, as well as access to healthcare.

People of color have higher rates of contracting COVID-19. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latinx individuals consistently showed the highest rates of COVID-19 cases of any racial demographic in the nation, despite only making up 18.4% of the total US population.

Kathy Julian, M.D., Professor of Medicine at UCSF and Menlo parent, confirmed this idea from her experiences in her workplace. “In the Bay Area, particularly in the early part of the pandemic, we were seeing significantly higher cases in people of color — more specifically, in Latinx individuals. Obviously, in the Bay Area, we have a high percentage of Latinx patients, but we were seeing much higher relative rates of COVID-19 in

those patients than expected,” she said.

There are several reasons why people of color have been statistically contracting COVID-19 at higher rates. From a national perspective, job inequity between people of color and white citizens shows disparities in salary and job opportunity. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latinx individuals are more likely to work in the construction industry than their white, Black or Asian counterparts. Similarly, African American men are more likely to work in transportation and utilities than any other racial group. These disparities within the workforce have effects on salary and available resources, including healthcare opportunities. According to David R. Williams, Norman Professor of Public Health at Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of African and African American Studies, these inequities lead to less accessible healthcare for people of color. “Compared with white persons, Black persons and other minorities have lower levels of access to medical care in the United States due to their higher rates of unemployment and under-representation in good-paying jobs that include health insurance as part of the benefits package,” Williams said.

These inequities have been a call to action for many Black and Latinx rights activists. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP, recently released a document titled “Coronavirus Equity Considerations,” containing evidence to point out the systemic inequities and how they apply during COVID-19. “Already, we’ve seen many equity and justice challenges that must be addressed before they worsen and cause further damage. We must recognize and stand up against racial/ethnic discrimination and stereotyping,” the NAACP

published on their website.

Systemic inequities aside, many Black and other patients of color across the globe have shared experiences of receiving less urgent or even unfair treatment within hospitals based on their race. Julian confirms this notion and reveals why some people of color experience discrimination in the healthcare system. According to Julian, patients of color can be considered less important patients because of inherent biases that devalue Black lives. When considered less important, patients of color don’t receive the same urgency and attention that many white patients receive. “We all carry biases,” she said. “Especially in health care, when people are sick and quick decisions need to be made, bias is more likely to come out.” Inherent biases explain why some healthcare workers may mistreat or undertreat patients of color without consciously meaning to. But Julian contends that there are ways to counter inherent biases. “One thing I have people do is an implicit association test, where you actually examine your own bias.

Then, at least you’re aware of it so that if you’re under extreme stress or need to make quick snap judgments, you can remind yourself to not advance on the biases that you hold.”

Vaccine distribution is varied by socioeconomic opportunity

by RILEY HUDDLESTON

In recent weeks, California’s vaccine supply has gone from limited to surging. Part of the state’s vaccination plan included reserving 40% of the supply to 400 priority ZIP codes.

The priority system includes ZIP codes in the lowest quartile of California’s Healthy Places Index, which measures socioeconomic opportunity.

Measures of socioeconomic opportunity include “Only 10 ZIP codes in account income, eduthe Bay Area are considecation level, housing red priority, and none of and health care access. them are in Santa ClaAlthough race and ra, San Mateo or Marin ethnicity do not formally counties.” define priority ZIP codes, the existing measures often align with race and ethnicity, according to the San Francisco

Chronicle.

Only 10 ZIP codes in the Bay Area are considered priority, and none of them are in Santa Clara, San Mateo or Marin counties. According to The Mercury News, areas that have had high case rates, such as East San Jose, East Palo Alto, Hayward, San Rafael and Concord are all

absent because they are located in more affluent ZIP codes despite being poorer neighborhoods themselves. Further, the East San Jose area has had 1,358 cases per 10,000 residents, which is more than double Santa Clara County’s rate, and 50% higher than the overall state rate.

According to Health Services Coordinator Joan Barada, the difficulties scheduling vaccine appointments in the early stages of the rollouts was due to limited dose availability. “Extreme weather in the mid-state regions hampered the delivery

of vaccines nationwide,” Barada said. Now

that appointments are becoming more available, Barada hopes that Menlo students take the opportunity to get vaccinated.

“San Mateo County has been attentive to targeting more disadvantaged neighborhoods.”

Barada doesn’t know enough about the overall impact of ZIP code or income on vaccine availability. Still, she does know that San Mateo County has been attentive to targeting more disadvantaged neighborhoods. “I regularly get emails asking to volunteer at [sites in more disadvantaged neighborhoods] to help vaccinate, which I have done several times since January,”

Barada said.

Staff illustrations: Lauren Lawson

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May 28, 2021

Effects of Climate Change Highlight Racial Inequity

by Tessa Frantz The movement to combat climate change aims to fight all the aspects of global warming.

One intricacy is climate injustice, which highlights inequity in where the effects of climate change are most prominent. The reality is that communities of color often suffer severe repercussions from climate change because of systematic racism.

According to the United States Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization, “the realization that it is not just global warming that we are dealing with, but global warming in an unequal and unjust world has yet to sink in.” Systematic racism has cornered these communities of color into pockets of polluted land. Factories and plants targeted these communities, providing jobs but polluting their air in the process.

The movement combating these disproportionate effects of climate change is titled climate justice. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, climate justice is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regard-

less of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.”

Though long-standing inequity has made communities of color bear the brunt of climate change effects, the goal of climate justice is to acknowledge and mend those inequities. The current course of action has been preparing these communities for further environmental damage. “Climate justice has been happening all over the world in communities of color to try and help make sure they can adapt to climate change,” Director of Sustainability Chrissy Orangio said.

Awareness around climate justice has been intensifying in all countries, but it is not as prominent yet in the United States. “[The movement toward climate justice] has been happening all around the world for the last decade or two. It’s only really new to us in America because we’ve been shielded from the [physical effects] of climate change,” Orangio said.

Environmental inequity hap-

pens around Menlo. Neighboring communities such as East Palo Alto have faced especially harsh consequences from climate change throughout the past several years. East Palo Alto faces heavy air pollution and is built on numerous superfund sites.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, superfund sites are “polluted locations requiring a long term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations.” Polluted air increases the risk of developing asthma and other respiratory issues, and toxins in superfund sites can cause sickness.

As a coastal area, the Bay Area is at risk of flooding because of sea-level rise. According to NBC Bay Area, the Adapting to Rising Tides report has shown concerning forecasts for coastal communities. Many at-risk communities are communities of color, who often don’t have the immense funding needed to combat sea-level rise. Time and options are running out for these communities, whose homes will literally be washed away in a matter of years.

Staff illustrations: Tatum Herrin

Sports

May 28, 2021

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Working off the Field: Menlo Alumni Succeed in the Sports Industry

by LEXI FRIESEL

Many Menlo alumni have succeeded in the sports industry.

General manager of the San Francisco Giants and Menlo alum Scott Harris always knew he wanted to work in Major League Baseball. “I always felt connected to baseball, appreciating its layers of ingame strategy and innovation,” Harris said in an email to The Coat of Arms. “When I realized that I had no future on the field, I quickly pivoted to the dream of working in a front office and finding other ways to help a team win. I feel very lucky to be living out that dream today.”

Harris grew up in Redwood City and graduated from Menlo. In high school, Harris played both soccer and lacrosse.

Ironically, Harris was not a Giants fan but rather a Cubs fan since his father grew up in Chicago.

After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in finance at University of California Los Angeles, Harris began his first MLB-related job, an internship with the Cincinnati Reds.

Soon after, the Chicago Cubs hired him as the Director of Baseball Operations. Harris took on this role while simultaneously taking classes at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business Management. To fulfill both of his responsibilities, he would fly back and forth from Arizona, where spring training was happening, to Illinois for school.

When Harris returned back to the Bay Area in 2019, he took on his current Job as General Manager of the San Francisco Giants.

Kirk Lakob (‘06) holds two front-office positions at the Golden State Warriors.

Looking back on his years at Menlo, he fondly remembers being a part of Menlo’s basketball and golf teams and math class with upper school math teacher Lean Rouser.

Lakob attended Stanford University where he was briefly a walk-on to the basketball team but later decided to play club basketball. Despite receiving job offers for tech after graduating, Lakob decided to fulfill his lifelong dream of working in the sports industry by working at the Phoenix Suns for basketball coach Steve Kerr.

A few months after beginning his first NBA job, Lakob’s father, Joseph Lakob, purchased the Golden State Warriors.

After much discussion, he ultimately took on the job of Executive Vice President of

Kate Paye (‘91) (left), is currently the associate head coach of the Stanford Women’s Basketball team that won the 2021 National Collegiate Athlete Association championship. At Menlo, Paye played on the basketball team and won three California state championships. Photo courtesy of Flickr

Basketball Operations, helping to oversee the team’s budget, trading, contracts, scouting and the minor team loosely. He is also Vice President of Golden State Warriors (GSW) Ventures, where he looks for new ideas, technologies and companies.

Lakob shared that his favorite part of the job isn’t what he expected. “When we won our first championship in 2015, I realized winning wasn’t everything,” Lakob said, “I looked back and realized how much fun it had been working with the people. The best part of my job is seeing my colleagues succeed and enjoy their dreams.”

Kate Paye (‘91) is currently the associate head coach of the Stanford Women’s Basketball team that won the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. At Menlo, Paye played on the basketball team and ended up winning three California state championships.

In college, Paye was a walk-on for the Stanford Basketball team and ended up

David Ball ('14) founded Untold Athletes, an organization to tell and uplift the stories of athletes, like those who had lost their seasons to the pandemic. Photo courtesy of Pam Tso McKenney

winning the 1992 national championship her freshman year before receiving a scholarship and finishing in the final four in 1994. After college, Paye played the sport professionally for six years in the American Basketball League and the Women's National Basketball Association.

Despite pressure to take on higherpaying jobs, Paye decided to begin a career in coaching after retiring. “A lot of people questioned my decision, but I wanted to pursue my passion,” Paye said. “I love coaching. It’s extremely rewarding, and I do not regret my decision.”

Paye began coaching at Pepperdine and San Diego State, but quickly returned back to Stanford as an assistant coach after receiving a phone call from her previous coach. "It was a no-brainer and a dream come true,” Paye said.

In March 2021, Paye helped coach the Stanford Women’s Basketball team to a NCAA championship, the first victory since Paye was a freshman in college. “The emotion I felt the most after the team won was relief because we wanted it so badly for this group,” Paye said. “They had sacrificed so much.”

Georgia Tech assistant basketball coach Eric Reveno (‘84) also attended and played basketball at Menlo. Reflecting on his time at Menlo, Reveno noted that he struggled at first but eventually became a better student and was able to get into Stanford University on a basketball scholarship.

After graduating from Stanford, Reveno played basketball professionally in Japan for a few years and was able to learn the language during his time there.

Upon returning to the US, he originally wanted to play basketball professionally, but eventually decided that he would be better off coaching. “Even though I got my master’s in business, I still decided I wanted to stay in the sports industry as a coach,” Reveno said. “I love coaching teams and helping players become the best they can be.”

Reveno started by working at the

Riekes Center. He helped the founder, Gary Riekes, move everything into the current location. Afterwards, he became an assistant coach at Stanford, head coach at the University of Portland, and finally the assistant coach at Georgia Tech, his current job.

This year, Reveno and the coaching team at Georgia Tech focused on preparing the team for games despite the challenges and precautions presented by COVID-19.

Despite the adversity the team has faced in the past year, they succeeded in winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and making it into the March Madness bracket.

David Ball (‘14) has played tennis since the age of four, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers. When he came to Menlo for middle school, he played several sports, but eventually decided to focus on tennis in high school. Aside from sports, Ball also enjoyed being a part of student council and was elected Student Body President as a senior.

B a l l a t t e n d e d B r i g h a m Yo u n g University and played on the school’s DI Tennis team. However, after only a few matches his senior year, the global COVID-19 pandemic began. Ball was disappointed that the rest of his final season was cancelled.

However, he was able to turn his misfortune into a much larger project.

“After COVID-19 shut our season down, I had a ton of free time,” Ball said. “At the same time, I saw so many of my peers having their recognition taken away.”

Eventually, Ball founded Untold Athletes, an organization to tell and uplift the stories of athletes, like those who had lost their seasons to the pandemic.

Over the past year, Untold Athletes has told about 150 different stories and has gained an audience of people who love and are inspired by sports. In the future, Ball hopes to partner with a bigger media company like Bleacher Report or ESPN and continue to build the brand.

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Sports

May 28, 2021

COMMITTED CORNER

Kamran Murray, Phillips Exeter School

by LOUISA SONSINI

The PACER test. For many of us, the name itself unearths a vivid memory.

During this test, kindergarteners through 12th graders run back and forth across a 20-meter region in an attempt to keep up with incrementing beeps. Once a student fails to cross the 20-meter area before the beep, their test is over. For many, this evaluation was a dreaded and exhausting experience. But for Menlo senior Kamran Murray, it sparked an interest in cross country.

When Murray broke his middle school’s PACER test record, cross country or track and field hadn't even crossed his mind. Instead, eighth-grader Murray was busy playing soccer and swimming.

But as he entered high school, Murray chose to join Menlo's cross country team, making varsity as a freshman. By the end of his freshman year, Murray had limited his sports to track and field and cross country, halting his involvement in swimming and soccer.

During his initial cross country experience, upperclassmen and other team members helped introduce Murray to the sport. However, Murray's most impactful relationship was with then-senior Robert Miranda (‘18), who now runs for Yale University. "[He] took me under his wing and was really helpful in getting a footing because I had never run before," Murray said.

In addition to Miranda, Murray developed a close-knit group of friends during his running experience at Menlo."There was a group of about 10 of us that [...] would run like 11 months a year.

I pretty much saw them five days a week for 11 to 12 months a year every day after school," Murray said. "[They're] probably some of the closest friends I've found at Menlo."

Coach Jorge Chen has also had a profound impact on Murray. "He obviously knows what he's doing, and he's a great coach, but he's more of a friend than anything," Murray said.

After Murray graduates from Menlo, he will continue to run cross country at

Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in Exeter, North Hampshire, for a year.

Murray chose to attend Exeter next year for multiple reasons, including its opportunity to get faster and maximize his chances of recruitment in college. "Because of COVID, recruiting has been hard this year. The schools that I was interested in had fewer spots than normal, which made my decision harder," Murray said.

Despite COVID-19's recruitment setbacks, Murray is excited about the future and has already started goal-setting. Some of these goals include attending the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships and becoming an All-American.

Cross country photos courtesy of Pam Tso McKenney

Photo courtesy of Pete Zivokv (far left).

Photo courtesy of Christian Corcoran (left)

Christian Corcoran, Occidental College

by BRADY KLINE

Senior Christian Corcoran committed this spring to play soccer for the Division III program at Occidental College. Corcoran has been playing soccer most of his life and is following in the footsteps of his dad who played soccer in college in England.

Corcoran has known for a while he wanted to continue playing soccer at the next level. “It’s been my goal for most of high school because I love soccer so much,” Corcoran said. He added that both the Menlo varsity coach Marc Kerrest and club coach were able to help him a lot in the

recruiting process, giving him tips on what to do and how to best be prepared. Corcoran also mentioned that his dad was able to help from his experience playing in England.

In addition to soccer, Corcoran also credits his athleticism to NJB basketball which he played for three years when he was younger. Furthermore, Corcoran played rugby as a kid back in Europe, where he lived until he was eight. He identifies rugby as where he developed the grit that he has on the soccer pitch.

Like many other student-athletes,

especially in the class of 2021, Corcoran’s recruiting process was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Corcoran noted “COVID was pretty hard because it made it so coaches couldn’t see us play.” Corcoran also blamed the NCAA’s rule that granted an extra year of eligibility for all current college athletes, meaning each team had less spots on the roster for incoming freshmen.

Corcoran added that he had originally hoped to play at a Division I school but realized that there were many pros to playing for a Division III program instead.

Corcoran is excited about his decision to attend Occidental in the fall. “A big factor was the coach. I had a pretty good relationship with him. I could tell he had a pretty good philosophy in mind. It’s also in LA, which is an amazing place to be. Also, the campus is pretty nice, and it’s a great academic school.” Corcoran plays left wing for the league-champion Menlo Knights’ soccer team, although he plays left back for his club team and plans to play left back at Occidental.

Sports

May 28, 2021

15

The Last Dance: Seniors Reflect on Their Final Season in a Menlo Uniform

by DANIELLE MCNAIR

On July 20, 2020, the California Interscholastic Federation issued a statement regarding the modified sports calendar for the 2020-21 school year: if the positive COVID-19 test rates in San Mateo County were not low enough by the seasons’ start date, the entire season would be canceled.

For many Menlo senior athletes, having a final season as a Knight became an uncertainty “I was always confident the soccer season was going to happen,” senior Christian Corcoran said. “People would ask me if I was worried about [the season] getting canceled, and I would say no, but there was always the thought in the back of my mind that it was possible soccer wouldn’t happen.”

On March 4, 2021, a group of teenagers in San Diego won a lawsuit against the state that allowed all indoor and outdoor sports throughout California to begin their seasons.

“Volleyball is an indoor sport, so we got hit with the hardest COVID-19 restrictions, which was disappointing,” senior Roxy Karrer said. “However, I was still looking forward to my senior season.

As the only senior on the volleyball team, I wanted to step up and be a leader.”

Despite having modified sports seasons, senior athletes could compete with

(Right) Ronier Babiera tackles a player on the Half Moon Bay offensive line.

“I'm going to miss competing with my teammates during practice and going out in games to win for the community supporting us.”

Photo courtesy of Ronier Babiera

their teammates and make more memories in their final high school season. “My favorite memory was our April Fool’s prank where the [girls water polo team] decided to jump into the pool with our clothes on and practice; our coach found it hilarious,” senior Hope Isaacson said.

After not being physically together in over a year, senior Marisa Castagna was excited to reunite with her teammates this season. “It was just really fun to have everyone back on the track for practices and cheer each other on during the races that were held,” Castagna said.

Senior JC Ng found that fostering new relationships with his teammates has made his final baseball season the most memorable. “The baseball team had a complete roster turnover from last year to this year, so getting to know the underclassmen has been very enjoyable,” Ng said.

Many senior athletes look forward to Senior Day, commemorating the last four years and their final regular-season game played on Menlo grounds. “Winning on Senior Day was a highlight this season because all the seniors played well, and it was great to see that our efforts on and off the field led us to such an exciting moment,” senior Ronier Babiera said.

For senior Connor MacMitchell,

senior night was a rewarding experience.

“Standing on deck with my fellow seniors after putting in four years of consistent work and forming connections together was special,” MacMitchell said.

Many senior athletes were looking forward to their final team trip; however, with COVID-19 restrictions, teams were unable to participate in these annual trips this season. “I was looking forward to traveling to San Diego for our annual SoCal tournament, which we weren’t able to do,” senior Lindsey Ball said.

The boy’s soccer team usually spends a weekend in Santa Cruz playing a few games and going to the Beach Boardwalk. “I was really looking forward to that trip. In the past, it has made the team a lot closer, and I was looking forward to going one last time with my fellow seniors,” Corcoran said.

As senior athletes reflected on their final season as a Knight, they shared sentiments about leaving their teams and sports. “I'm going to miss the team chemistry we've had every year. In my sophomore and junior years particularly, I looked forward to coming to practice every day because I knew I was coming to a welcoming environment and one that pushed me to become a better player,” Ng said.

Castagna is going to miss the team's

Ronier Babiera tackles a player on the Half Moon Bay offensive line. “I'm going to miss competing with my teammates during practice and going out in games to win for the community supporting us.” Photo courtesy of Ronier Babiera

As the only senior on the volleyball team, Karrer wanted to set up this season and be a leader for her team. “I was really looking forward to teaching them our team culture.” Photo courtesy of Roxy Karrer

culture that the coaches and athletes have cultivated. “[This team] has offered unwavering support during my four years at Menlo,” she said.

Similar to Castagna, MacMitchell’s teammates and coach made playing water polo one of his most memorable experiences at Menlo. “My teammates are some of my closest friends, and I’ll always remember the countless laughs we shared,” MacMitchell said.

Though Ball is going to miss playing tennis, she will especially miss her coach, Bill Shine, and the girls on the team even more than the sport itself. “It is such a healthy environment and everyone gets along really well and they taught me how to really love tennis again,” Ball said.

Like Ball, Isaacson is going to miss her water polo teammates most. “As much as I love playing water polo and being a goalie, this team is such a close-knit group, and always has been since I joined sophomore year,” Isaacson said. “This year's team will be particularly hard to leave.”

“Playing a sport for Menlo not only means making really close friends, spending a lot of time together, and making incredible memories over your four years, but also allows you to represent the school, and I am going to miss representing Menlo out on the field,” Corcoran said.

(Left) Christian Corcoran breaks away from his defender against St. Francis High School. Photo courtesy of Christian Corcoran (Below) Hope Isaacson, Menlo varsity water polo goalie, defends a shot from an opponent.

Photo courtesy of Pam McKenney

(Above) Marisa Castagna racing in the Westmoor Ram Invitational in the fall of 2019. Photo courtesy of Marisa Castagna (Left) Lindsey Ball tosses a serve in a home tennis match in March 2021. “I am going to miss Bill and the girls on the team. They taught me how to really love tennis again.” Photo courtesy of Leon Yao

JC Ng up at bat in a home game against Hillsdale High School. “In my last high school season, I’ve most enjoyed building new relationships with my teammates.” Photo courtesy of JC Ng

16

Sports

May 28, 2021

Menlo Students Transfer Schools to Play on More Competitive Teams

by ERICA FENYO

Tatum Constant practices at the Westminster School in Connecticut. Constant sought stiffer lacrosse competition that she felt was accessible at an East Coast school. Photo courtesy of Tatum Constant

While some Menlo sports teams offer competition, others leave student-athletes feeling underwhelmed and put them in a challenging position for recruitment. In response to this issue, some Menlo students transfer schools to get the opportunity to access better training and competition.

Freshman Brooke Stroh is an avid lacrosse player who hopes to play against a higher level of competition away from Menlo. Stroh plans to follow a similar path to her brother, Brayden Stroh, who transferred to The Taft School for lacrosse after his freshman year at Menlo. She plans to move to the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts sophomore year. “It was actually [Brayden’s] idea that he would go to boarding school, and then I got really interested in it,” Brooke Stroh said. “All the schools that [Brayden] was looking at

seemed so fun and enjoyable and had good lacrosse.”

Stroh also wants to pursue lacrosse at the collegiate level. “I do want to play in college, and I think that is one of the main reasons [that I’m transferring to the Deerfield Academy],” Brooke Stroh said.

“I also think that the certain school that I’m going to has a lot of college coaches that know their lacrosse team, and it would get me to be viewed by more coaches.”

While Brooke and Brayden Stroh are both underclassmen transfers, some upperclassmen also choose to leave Menlo for their final years in high school. For example, now at the Westminster School in Connecticut, senior Tatum Constant transferred after her junior year.

Like the Stroh siblings, Constant sought stiffer lacrosse competition that she

felt was accessible at an East Coast school.

However, unlike other lacrosse transfers, Constant already accepted a recruitment offer to Trinity College before transferring.

“I committed [to Trinity College] in July [of 2020] going into senior year, so I’d already decided on going to boarding school,” Constant said. “[Recruiting] was definitely a big factor for me because I knew, based on the recruiting process, that I was going to go to college on the East Coast and probably in Connecticut where my boarding school is.”

While Constant played varsity lacrosse for her three years at Menlo and enjoyed her experience, she wanted to play against tougher competition before playing in college. “Lacrosse is just a more competitive sport on the East Coast,” Constant said. “My high school team practices six days a week, we play during school whenever we have [free periods], and we can constantly just play.”

While many student-athlete transfers are players switching to boarding schools or moving out of state, other Menlo sports

have also seen students leaving for better programs locally. For example, a junior boy, now at a different school in the Bay Area, left Menlo to play in a better basketball league. “I played for Menlo all three years in middle school, and then I played for [Menlo] in freshman and sophomore year; however, I quit before my sophomore season ended,” he said. “Getting recruited for sports like basketball and football is not necessarily easy at Menlo because the leagues aren’t very competitive, so [my high school] offers a much better opportunity to get recruited.”

While he mainly wanted to transfer to play in a better league, he also felt frustrated on Menlo’s basketball team because of a bias towards upperclassmen players. “It seemed like there was a big culture of entitlement,” he said. “Where if you’re a junior or a senior [at Menlo], then you deserve to play on the team. You deserve X minutes, and I thought that it wasn’t very merit-based, and that was off-putting.”

Freshman Brooke Stroh is an avid lacrosse player who hopes to play against a higher level of competition away from Menlo. Stroh plans to follow a similar path to her brother, Brayden Stroh, who transferred to The Taft School for lacrosse after his freshman year at Menlo. Photo courtesy of Brooke Stroh

Menlo Athletics and Technology Departments Collaborate to Livestream Sports Due to COVID-19 Restrictions, Menlo Sports Games are now Broadcasted Online

by MADISON LIU

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of spectators allowed to attend Menlo sports games has been limited. In lieu of this, several sports games are now being livestreamed with collaboration between the Athletic and Technology departments.

Currently, only between two and four spectators per player are allowed to attend games, depending on the sport. Additionally, those spectators must be members of the player’s immediate household, meaning that both friends and extended family are not allowed to attend in-person.

The Athletics Department decided to livestream games so restricted spectators could still watch games in real-time.

“Since [COVID-19] has restricted families, students and fans from attending games, we decided it would be a good service to stream, so those people who were not allowed in person could still watch online,” Athletics Director Earl Koberlein said.

Several sports have been or currently are being livestreamed, including football, waterpolo, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse and soccer. However, different methods of livestreaming are used for different sports.

For indoor sports such as volleyball and basketball, Menlo uses the Pixellot

camera system, which is an automated AI streaming system. “The Pixellot camera is a high-end camera that has the ability to track the motion of where the ball is,” Educational Technology Specialist Mike Kulbieda said.

“It also connects to a livestreaming coder, which allows us to then send the video feed through the internet to a destination of our choice.”

For outdoor sports, livestreaming poses a much harder challenge due to the limited internet access at the fields and pool. “We have limitations and wifi internet on the fields, so we had to come up with a different solution,” Kulbieda said.

In order to create a strong-enough connection, a technique called cellular bonding was used. “Cellular bonding is when you take two or more cell networks that are available in the space and combine them into one super-strong signal that can then be used to stream video over the internet,” Kulbeida said.

All football games, soccer games and select lacrosse games are streamed in partnership with a firm called Skynet, according to Koberlein. For boys and girls water polo and the first few lacrosse games, Skynet was not used and streaming was

organized independently by Menlo.

The livestream film is also used by players after their games to create highlight videos for college recruitment. “Especially with COVID-19, [college coaches] can't

see you playing in person, so you need to have clips of you playing,” junior volleyball player Kami Israelski said. “They're crucial for your recruitment process.”

Due to the limited number of spectators allowed to attend sports games in person, many sports have begun live streaming their games on various platforms, including boys basketball, which livestreams on the National Federation of High School Associations network. Photo courtesy of Madison Liu

Arts & Lifestyle

May 28, 2021

17

Reflecting on Free Speech Rights at Menlo in Light of Supreme Court Case

by PENELOPE STINSON

Currently in Washington D.C., a case regarding students’ free speech rights is taking over the Supreme Court. The case concerns a Pennsylvanian cheerleader and her explicit message directed at her public high school after not making the varsity cheer squad. The Supreme Court has faced cases about free speech limitations on high schoolers before, such as Tinker v. Des Moines which stated that schools could not regulate speech within the school building unless it disrupts the educational process.

However, this case, Mahanoy Area School

District v. B.L., is the first to question the limits of schools to regulate free speech of students off-campus and on social media.

Public schools have protections for their speech outside of school: students can enjoy the same rights to protest and speak out as anyone else and can speak their minds on social media platforms, with speech not relating to their school, and will not be punished, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Part of what makes the cheerleader case divisive is the ambiguity of whether the profane speech directed towards the school actually caused

a disruption to the learning environment, and thus would not be protected.

However, since private schools are private institutions under the Constitution, the free speech rules for private school students differ from those in public schools.

According to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), an organization working to defend the First Amendment and press freedom rights of high school and college students, private school free speech rights depend heavily on the school and the state. For example, if a school has procedures or an administrative process specified in a

student handbook, they must be followed when an issue regarding free speech that falls under the guidelines arises. If the school doesn’t follow outlined procedures, a student could seek damages in court for a breach of contract. But should the private school have no policy, they can generally expel a student for any reason, according to research provided by the Student Press Law Center.

California has different free speech rules from the rest of the country, being the only state that has passed legislation specifically protecting free speech rights of private school students. “The Leonard Law” forbids private school administrators from taking disciplinary action against a student for engaging in speech that, off campus, would be protected by the First Amendment. According to a legal expert from the SPLC, this law diminishes a private school’s authority for limiting off-campus speech, even if it is critical of the school or controversial. However, according to the same legal expert at the SPLC, the Leonard Law has not been used often and could potentially prove difficult to uphold in court, but it is useful for creating a deterring effect on school censorship.

In Menlo’s Student Handbook, there are policies for hate speech and speech that the school considers a direct threat to the core values and ethics of Menlo. This includes but is not limited to racist, antisemitic, sexist or homophobic speech, and includes off-campus speech. The Student Handbook also sets broad guidelines for use of social media, stating that if Menlo believes that a student’s activity on a social media website violates school policies, the school may request they cease immediately and the student may be subject to disciplinary action. However, Menlo does not currently have guidelines for speech, on or off-campus, that is critical or derogatory towards the school, such as in the Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. case.

Dean of Students Tony Lapolla believes that free speech at Menlo depends highly on the situation and what was said.

“I personally have always embraced the idea of free speech, but the gray area is when [the speech] has an effect on the school, when they say something about a person or the school in general. This is where we get into an area of legalities and we have to ask [legal] counsel for advice,” Lapolla said. Lapolla also explained that Menlo has had to deal with issues of harmful speech that was not technically considered hate speech.

However, Lapolla does not consider Menlo, as a private school, to have absolute power with issues regarding free speech.

“Public schools have, obviously, a very different set of policies and laws but that doesn’t mean that Menlo has carte blanche and they can do whatever they want,” Lapolla explained. He emphasized that Menlo has the power to make decisions regarding free speech but they cannot go against the law, and that it comes down to what is right and what could potentially be harmful to an individual.

in the game and who got the most “kills.”

Every year, each senior class has had their own “weapons” for playing the game, including pool noodles, cardboard swords, and even tennis balls. This year, the student council wanted to use Nerf guns. “One

of the biggest difficulties was getting the administration to clear Nerf guns,” Tan said. However, after many conversations about what would be the most safe in regards to COVID-19, Lapolla, Senior Class Dean Chris Young and Health Services

Coordinator Joan Barada agreed to the Nerf guns. “[The Student Council] pushed hard for the Nerf guns, and these days, when there haven’t been a lot of activities, we decided to allow that,” Lapolla said.

Assassin, page 19

Staff illustration: Dorinda Xiao

Assassin, cont. his friends who organized their game.

He used the same online system as Palo Alto High School, herokuapp.com, to create a game for the Menlo seniors. The site showed students’ targets, who “shot” who and a leaderboard to see who was still

18

Arts & Lifestyle

May 28, 2021

Menlo Adjusts Graduation Protocol Due to COVID-19

by PENELOPE STINSON

As the school year comes to an end, the seniors shift their focus to their last days together before they graduate. Although COVID-19 forced Menlo to suspend or completely redesign many events such as Homecoming, semi-formal and prom, graduation will still be held in person and will not be a drive-in ceremony like last year.

The main ceremony will take place at Cartan Field in the morning, and with limited attendance. Only the members of a student’s direct family, such as siblings or parents, can attend. Grandparents and other relatives will have to tune in to the live-streamed version of the event, in accordance with COVID-19 precautions set

by San Mateo County. Senior Class Dean

Only the members of a student's direct family, such as siblings or parents, can attend [graduation].

Chris Young explained the difficulty of disappointing grandparents and other close relatives who are frustrated that they could not attend the event. “We’re so sorry, but it

comes down to the total numbers in the end with capacity,” Young said.

"Traditionally, we've done [graduation] out on the loop. Should this be successsful on Cartan, then moving forward, maybe [we'll] always do it there."

guidelines were] very specific. [They were] laid out well ahead of time, instead of one week before,” Cruikshank said.

Frances Ferrell, Assistant to the Upper School Director and another organizer of graduation, added that the graduation planning team incorporated some elements to match the experience that seniors had in previous years. Two changes in particular include posts on the Menlo School Instagram account highlighting seniors every day

in May, an element continued from last year, and photo montages of students as their name is called at graduation. There are also changes this year that could be kept permanently, according to Ferrell.

“Traditionally we’ve done [graduation] out on the loop. Should this be successful on Cartan, then moving forward, maybe [we’ll] always do it there. The school is open to how this has [allowed] us to reimagine graduation,” she said.

According to Health Services Coordinator Joan Barada, the county was extremely strict with who could and could not attend the event. “They want it restricted to only the household unit,” Barada said.

Teachers and staff are allowed to attend the event, as long as they sign up for it first.

Victoria Cruikshank, Assistant to the Dean of Students and one of the main coordinators of graduation, explained that attendees don’t need to receive PCR COVID-19 tests prior to attending the event, assuming San Mateo County continues to stay in the yellow tier of COVID-19 cases.

Cruikshank noted that this year, San Mateo County set clearer and stricter guidelines for school graduations, making it easier than last year to plan the event. “This year, [the Staff illustration: Sophie Fang

Assassin, cont.

At first, the Assassin game went smoothly. “It wasn’t until towards the end of the game, when people started to bring more authentic looking guns that we thought it was worrisome. [It] was very clear in the parameters that [the Nerf guns] could not be realistic,” Lapolla said.

According to Tan, at lunch on Thurs., April 22, senior Kevin Sandoval was waving around a Nerf gun that was painted black and looked like an assault rifle. “He walked straight from the senior quad past Lapolla and a few [administrators] and went all the way to the other side of the freshman quad where the redwood grove is and showed it off to people there, and then he walked

towards the CADC, so he kind of flashed it everywhere,” Tan said. Tan acknowledged that it was partly his fault, as he had not

"It wasn't until towards the end of the game, when people started to bring more authentic looking guns that we thought it was worrisome." instructed in the game rules that the Nerf

guns were not allowed to be painted, although he and Lapolla had talked about it. Tan assumed that everyone would know not to do that. Sandoval realized the severity in his actions when Tan told him to put the gun away.

“I think some real thought has to be given to what the game might look like in the future because there are elements of the game that are positive,” Lapolla said.

There were two major things that Lapolla did not agree with: the realistic-looking gun and the camouflage theme. “That took more of a sinister element than just having fun, and I think that made people also feel a little bit uncomfortable,” Lapolla said.

Young also didn’t like the camouflage/ military-like clothing as a theme.

“Only later did the incident with the painted gun occur, which completely terrified someone and made many uncomfortable. Other scary moments were also reported where faculty might have had a moment where they thought real gun violence was about to ensue (based on the language and tone of voice they heard),” Young wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms.

For future classes, Tan suggested having a game that has less violence and portrayal of violence in general. “The game would be called ‘senior elimination’ instead of Assassin to avoid kill-based language (Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School do this, for example) and the system that both schools used this year worked really well — they gave every

"[Assassin] will be replaced, or [Young] will leave Menlo School."

Seniors Lindsey Ball, Maddie Levin and Libby Eggemeier pose for a photo with their Nerf guns during the first day of the annual Assassin game.

Photo courtesy of Pete Zivkov

player a 6-inch inflatable beach ball and had those function as the ‘weapons’ for the game,” Tan said. However, Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School students organize these games without informing the school, so the game happens all offcampus. “[The students] chose beach balls not because the school told them that guns were unsafe, but because they made that decision themselves. That’s incredibly mature. I'm hoping we can reach that level of understanding as well,” Tan said.

On the contrary, Young will not endorse the game for future senior classes.

“I have no hope for Assassin to continue.

It will be replaced or I will leave Menlo School,” Young wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms. “Some other game will need to be played that is cooperative or at least friendly, competitive and not rooted in our sickeningly violent culture.”

Arts & Lifestyle

May 28, 2021

19

Seniors Make Up for Lost Year With Dance and Retreat

by LAURA ARTANDI

As the school year comes to an end, the Class of 2021 has been allowed to organize and attend a few events to make up for the traditions that they missed earlier in the year. One of these events was the annual senior retreat.

Typically, the senior retreat is a twoday retreat away from school where the seniors participate in bonding activities with one another. This year, the administration and students modified the event to make it

more COVID-19 friendly. Health Services Coordinator Joan Barada had to approve the day’s events before the seniors moved forward with them. “They [tell] me what they want to do, and then I tell them if that fits into all the mandates and requirements and guidance from San Mateo County,” Barada said. This discourse is how the process of event approval typically works.

According to Barada, she did not have to adjust any of the seniors’ plans for the day. “They brought in people from [The

Riekes Center] to help, [so] I needed to go through what they had to do [before coming to campus],” Barada said, explaining the extent of the adjustments she had to make to the event.

The people from the Riekes Center came in to lead activities at different stations. The stations included activities such as learning a dance, doing a freestyle rap and playing a nature game. The event took place on May 8 from 4:00 to 11:00 p.m. and was referred to as “Senior Day.”

Seniors learn a dance during a rotation of team building activities with the Riekes Center. Staff photo: Carly McAdam

Seniors play at one of the poker tables during their dance. Staff photo: Carly McAdam

Although the junior and senior class did not get an official prom this year, the seniors partook in a “Night Under the Stars” themed dance. “People [were] very excited for it,” senior and Activities Coordinator Brooke Weinstock said. “Since no one got a prom last year, and if you didn’t go to prom sophomore year, this is [the closest] you’re going to get.”

According to Weinstock, the event was planned by parents and faculty, and the student council did not play a role in organizing it.

The dance was on May 22, and took place on the patio outside of the Spieker Center. The event was a silent disco, meaning that music was played through headphones that the seniors wore, rather than over speakers. The headphones played different channels of music, and seniors were able to switch back and forth based on what they wanted to listen to.

The headphones were also used to make announcements, such as reminding students to wear their masks.

Masks were still required at the event, and Barada, as well as other faculty, chaperoned to make sure that this was occuring. There were many activities that students could pick from at the dance.

Dinner was served for students, and there was a photographer with a photo wall, as well as poker tables.

Selected Student Profile: Sharon Nejad

by GEORIGA PAYE

CoA: What mythical creature would improve the world most if it existed?

your dance moves, you would be killed, what dance moves would you bust out?

CoA: If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying?

S: A unicorn. That's super basic, but like, come on. It’s exactly what we need to bring us out of this horrible, dark hole.

S: I’m gonna go with the basic, you know, just like the Dougie. And then just body rolls. I'm really good at that.

CoA: How would you spend 10 million dollars?

CoA: If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

S: Dolphins. Dolphins are pretentious, man.

They just think they're better than everyone else because they can swim and they're mammals.

S: I would buy a mansion. And then just live in it with all my friends.

S: Number one, I would want constant good food at my fingertips because I can't cook at all, and I don't like other people's cooking either. Number two, you know, just everyone to be happy. That'd be kind of dope. Wait, never mind, the world I just thought of was a super numb world where everyone's like, too happy. Third wish. I wish I could do a 360 dunk.

CoA: What would the world be like if it was filled with male and female copies of you?

S: It'd be pretty chaotic. It'd be fun, though.

I'll tell you that.

Nejad's Knightbook portrait. Photo courtesy of Menlo School

CoA: What’s invisible but you wish people could see?

S: Oh my gosh. I guess it would be my energy. When people meet me for the first time, they're scared of me. And I’m like, if only you could see the real me inside.

CoA: If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends and family assume you had done?

S: They probably [would] assume I got a restraining order from touching someone's feet or something.

CoA: You’re a mad scientist; what scientific experiment would you run if money and ethics weren’t an issue?

CoA: Which body part do you wish you could detach?

S: I've always wanted to make a psychopath.

You know, like cut off some neural pathways so that you don't feel emotions.

S: Maybe like a chunk of my ankle because all my pants just end up being capris.

CoA: If someone held you at gunpoint and said that if you didn’t impress them with

CoA: What food is delicious but a pain to eat?

CoA: What word is fun to say?

S: Finagle. Love the word.

CoA: What would the world be like if it was filled with male and female copies of you?

S: It'd be pretty chaotic.

It'd be fun, though. I'll tell you that.

S: Definitely crab. Like, it's so good, but I feel like I'm working at it for way too long.

CoA: What’s the most pleasant-sounding accent?

CoA: What’s your cure for hiccups?

S: That ‘Sweet Old Alabama’ accent, like that old grandmother type of accent.

S: I just embrace hiccups. There's no cure.

CoA: If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?

S: Honestly, Mr. Wheeler. He just has such a cool voice. But, it would be really funny if it was like Danny DeVito. So maybe Danny.

CoA: What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?

S: I got to make leis with Marianne [Siulangapo ('19)]. [That was] definitely the best part of my week because we just gossiped half the time.

20

Arts & Lifestyle

May 28, 2021

Year in Photos: Highlights in Sports, School and Socialization

by THE COAT OF ARMS STAFF

(Left) Students congregate socially distanced on the quad before the school day starts.

Staff photo: Sadie Stinson (Left) Adminstrators John Schafer, Cindy and Tony Lapolla, Chris Young and Than Healy pose for a photo during one of the first days back on campus in 2021. Photo courtesy of Pete Zivkov

(Right) Sophomore Sophie Leupold, freshman Charlie Hammond and senior Mack Ford dance in a musical number for "Working," the spring musical. Photo courtesy of Pete Zivkov

(Left) Sophomore Natalie Westermann runs down the line during introductions at a girls varsity tennis match. Photo courtesy of Leon Yao (Below) Freshman Alyssa and senior Tessa Grosso show Health Services Coordinator Joan Barada their green badges on the One Medical app before entering school. Staff photo: Sadie Stinson

(Left) Freshman Brooke Stroh experiments with static electricity in her freshman physics class. Photo courtesy of Pete Zivkov