The Coat of Arms issue 50.3 by The Coat of Arms

Volume 50 Number 3

Menlo School, Atherton, California

Friday, February 2, 2024

The Coat of Arms Serving Menlo’s Upper School Since 1973

by AMELIE GIOMI

Whether it’s dissecting a cow heart, sequencing DNA from the Biotechnology Research classroom, culturing mammalian cells in the cell culture facility or harvesting glowing proteins, wet labs are a crucial part of Menlo’s science curriculum. Yet none of these labs would be possible without the behind-thescenes work of science lab technicians Midori Hosobuchi and Olivia Sidow, a mother-daughter duo. Hosobuchi and Sidow make it possible for students and teachers to perform wet labs safely and effectively in a classroom environment. Hosobuchi and Sidow oversee the lab portion of the Upper School biology and chemistry classes. This multifaceted responsibility consists of setting up and taking down labs on time, advising and training teachers on safety procedures and storing and disposing of chemical waste. Before Hosobuchi started working at Menlo in 2019, teachers had to prepare and set up labs themselves. “You can imagine how much work that would be for teachers and how difficult that would be for science teachers versus, say, other teachers,” Hosobuchi said. Sidow,

Hosobuchi’s daughter, was hired in 2020 to help Hosobuchi transform the wet labs into kits that students could take home. The mother-daughter duo could quarantine together during the COVID-19 pandemic and package the

labs to be sent home. Advanced Topics in Biology and Biotech teacher Tanya Buxton is grateful for Hosobuchi and Sidow’s behind-thescenes work. “It’s not just putting out materials into a cart,” Buxton said.

Staff illustration: Amber More and Tatum Herrin

“Oftentimes, it’s making solutions and allocating the different solutions so that students can have it all set and ready to go. They do a lot of testing on the experiments and optimizing the experiments, so by the time it gets to the students, the process will work.” Without the help of Hosobuchi and Sidow, Buxton said that she would not be able to carry out either of her advanced biology classes. Hosobuchi spent a total of 48 hours preparing a lab with fruit flies for AT Biology. Hosobuchi, a former Middle School teacher, left teaching because she wanted to use the laboratory knowledge that she learned while earning her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology. In this position, Hosobuchi uses her laboratory research skills to advise teachers and students while also helping improve the curriculum for biology classes. She also supports independent projects in the Biotech class, and even manages a cell culture facility in the Whitaker Lab. While Hosobuchi helps primarily with the nine biology classes, Sidow works with the chemistry classes and Anatomy and Physiology class.

Lab Assistants, pg. 19

Alum Runs for Local Congressional Seat by JACOB REICH

From serving in Afghanistan and Iraq as an intelligence and infantry officer in the Marines to working in the State Department battling cartel and gender-based violence, Menlo alumn Peter Dixon (‘01) is no stranger to tackling complex challenges. Now, Dixon is running for Congress in California’s 16th Congressional District, which includes Menlo. The seat has been held by the retiring Anna Eshoo for over 30 years. Dixon was born and raised in the Bay Area, and growing up in the startup capital of the world helped form Dixon’s entrepreneurial spirit. “When you grow up in Silicon Valley, you learn — really at a young age — that if you have transformative ideas, you’re able to leverage technology, build a team around it, assemble the necessary resources and are tremendously persistent, you can have world-changing outcomes,” Dixon said. Dixon, who served as co-editor in chief of The Coat

What’s Inside?

of Arms, joined Menlo School in seventh grade with his three siblings following soon after. He remembers his time at Menlo fondly. “Menlo really creates all these different pathways for people to explore what they’re passionate about, [...] whether it’s working in a maker space or working in journalism, or all of these different [avenues],” Dixon said. After graduating from Menlo in 2001, Dixon attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in political science. During his time at UNC, he was the vice president of the organization Carolina for Kibera, an organization that aims to improve the health and economy of settlements in Africa.

Alum on the Ballot, pg. 2 Peter Dixon, then a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, speaks at Menlo during an assembly on Nov. 5, 2012. Photo courtesy of Pete Zivkov

SPORTS

SPREAD

Menlo Sports Spring Into Action

My Dyslexia Does Not Define Me, but It Is a Part of Me

READ MORE ON PAGE 12

Check out The Coat of Arms website!

News

February 2, 2024

Menlo Adopts “Test-Blind” Admissions Policy for Equity by SONIA DHOLAKIA

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Removing standardized testing makes the process of applying to independent school or college more accessible.

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Director of Admissions Brooke Wilson

Area independent schools including Sacred Heart Schools, Castilleja School and Crystal Springs Uplands School in this move to being test-blind. As for the future of standardized testing, Director

Alum on the Ballot Continued from pg. 1 Dixon has a family history rooted in the military: his father served in the Navy, while his grandfather was a Marine. “The big North Star for me has been service and that’s certainly something that I got from my parents,” Dixon said. After graduating from UNC, Dixon followed that North Star by joining the Marine Corps. His military experience was a defining chapter in his life. “I’ve seen what it looks like when democracy fails. I’ve seen what it looks like when

of Admissions Brooke Wilson indicated that the school continues to evaluate the impact of this policy on the Menlo community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Menlo became test-optional, along with many colleges and other independent schools. According to Wilson, the admissions team did not weigh submitted scores heavily in admissions decisions with this policy. According to Menlo, the decision to become fully test-blind is a step towards a more equitable application process. Wilson hopes that through the removal of test-prep tutors and other costs of the test, applying to Menlo will be an option for a wider range of families. “Removing standardized testing makes the process of applying to independent school or college more accessible,” Wilson wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms. However, Wilson did add that there are

“pros and cons to every policy,” including a test-blind one. Wilson also explained that the test-optional policy created confusion amongst applicant families as to whether or not they should submit scores. “[Test-optional created] more questions, concerns, and stress for applicant families unnecessarily, particularly in a competitive admissions landscape,” Wilson said. Wilson noticed a pattern of only students with the highest scores choosing to submit, a result of them having stronger academic backgrounds. In addition to attending higher-achieving elementary and middle schools, some applicants received one-on-one, private tutoring in preparation for these tests — tutoring which is out of reach for many other applicants. However, it’s unclear how these new policies will impact admissions and the culture of independent schools. According to

women have their rights stripped away,” Dixon said. “I served in the State Department after the Marine Corps and worked in combating cartel violence, worked in preventing gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and worked in the Pentagon,” Dixon said. After working for the government in the Marines and State Department, Dixon founded a cybersecurity company called Second Front Systems. Dixon’s company makes a software toolkit that allows commercial software developers to quickly comply with government software standards so that their existing software can be sold to and used by the government. In addition to founding Second Front Systems, Dixon co-founded With Honor, a cross-partisan organization that fights

polarization by electing veterans. “So the great thing about veterans serving in Congress is that we’re not career politicians where we came up as being part of the party machine and thinking that the enemy was the folks across the political aisle,” Dixon said. Reducing polarization is only one of the goals Dixon hopes to accomplish if he gets elected to Congress. Some key issues he said he hopes to address include protecting democracy, safeguarding reproductive rights, fighting climate change, tackling the housing crisis and establishing gun control laws. Due to his experience in Washington D.C. and time at With Honor, Dixon believes his record sets him apart from the other candidates. “I have a successful track record at the federal level, and I have a successful track record getting legislation passed in

Staff illustrations: Andrea Li

Wilson, not accepting standardized tests is a “relatively new trend” for elementary, middle and high school admissions, and schools are still collecting data on the impacts. While the admissions office hopes the test-blind policy will create a more equitable admissions process and a diverse campus, Wilson is unsure how the removal will impact the school. “I really can’t say yet,” she said. “We will have to see.” Congress,” Dixon said. He is endorsed by New Politics — an organization working to elect veterans to Congress — and six current members of

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I’m a former tech CEO running my campaign like a startup, certainly at startup speed. Peter Dixon ('01)

“

The 2023-24 admissions cycle marks the first year in which Menlo will not consider standardized tests such as the Independent School Entrance Exam and Secondary School Admission Test in the admissions process. However, they will continue to accept the Test of English as a Foreign Language for international students. Menlo is joined by other Bay

the House of Representatives, including Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Rep. Pat Ryan of New York and Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, all of whom are Democrats and military veterans. “I’m a former tech CEO running my campaign like a startup, certainly at startup speed,” Dixon said. “So for anybody at Menlo who wants to come and knock on doors with me or be part of what a campaign — or startup campaign — looks like, our doors are open.”

Read our guide to the crowded primaries for Congress and the U.S. Senate here:

Peter Dixon cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of his campaign headquarters in Palo Alto on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Staff photo: Jacob Reich

News

February 2, 2024

Alum, Foreign Correspondent Recalls Time in Gaza by GEOFFREY FRANC

What Nicholas Casey (‘01) vividly remembers about his time in Gaza was the “extreme human suffering.” As a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in 2014, the Menlo alum covered the last major war between Israel and Hamas, which lasted 50 days and claimed some 2,000 lives. “I saw many bodies of children in the morgue,” Casey recalled.

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The thing which I remember the most was how terrifying it was for people when they had to flee their homes.

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Nicholas Casey (‘01)

Seeing Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 unfold from his home in Madrid, Spain, Casey was shocked. “I knew it was something that was really [going to] mark a before and after moment for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that was just because of the numbers of people that had died,” Casey said. “I knew this was going to be catastrophic, not just for Israel, but also

for people that were living in Gaza.” Casey said he knew that an attack on Israeli civilians on this scale would provoke a strong retaliation, recalling his experience during the 2014 war. “There was one point where I went to report on a United Nations school where a lot of displaced Palestinians had been taking shelter, but despite this, it was hit — I think it was hit by Israeli artillery,” Casey said. “The thing which I remember the most was how terrifying it was for people when they had to flee their homes and they didn’t know whether they were going to die just like in an open courtyard somewhere.” When asked in a January interview with The Coat of Arms what he thought might happen in the region from here, Casey laid out three concerns he had. With recent American strikes on the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iranian strikes on its neighbors, Casey said that the risks of a wider conflict are “big.” He also worries that the war will destroy most of Gaza’s buildings. “It could be likely that after this war ends that most of the Gaza Strip is completely uninhabitable,” Casey said. Finally, Casey is concerned about the prospects of a two-state solution amidst fears in Israel about this solution rewarding Hamas for its attack. “There have been a lot of really good intentioned people that are just as smart as any of us that haven’t been able to figure out a

As a foreign correspondent, Nicholas Casey (right) travels around the world, including to Bolivia in 2016, as shown above, and Gaza in 2014. Photo courtesy of Meridith Kohut/The New York Times.

solution to peace,” Casey said, recalling his time in the region. “[The war] could push that back many, many years.”

Casey graduated from Menlo in 2001 and Stanford in 2005, and he is now a writer for The New York Times Magazine.

MSPA Taps Parent Network for New Internship Program by CAROLINE CLACK

By getting rid of self-guided junior MTerm projects, the Menlo administration has instead given the class of 2025 a new opportunity for MTerm education. Among other MTerm choices, like Menlo Abroad trips, juniors can apply to internships hosted by Menlo parents. These internships will take place over the two-week MTerm period and into the summer. According to Upper School Director John Schafer, these internship opportunities are meant to give Menlo juniors real-world experience that will serve them beyond graduation. Schafer also believes the program was designed to take advantage of the business connections Menlo families have by putting them to use in a way that benefits students.

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There’s so much that can be learned from just jumping into the workplace.

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Menlo parent Jon Sakoda

“There’s so much that can be learned from just jumping into the workplace,” Jon Sakoda, Menlo parent and founder of venture capital firm Decibel Partners, said. Sakoda, among other Menlo parents, will host Menlo juniors in internship positions this summer through Menlo’s new internship program. For Menlo juniors, the internship program is one option for an MTerm experience that

is replacing self-guided, junior MTerm projects. “What we are offering is so much better,” Schafer said. Juniors partaking in this program will spend varying amounts of time doing tasks for the host organizations which work in various disciplines, ranging from the creative arts to biological sciences. This way, students have the chance to explore workplaces focused on their specific interests. Schafer explained that another goal of the program is to make the intern application process less complicated for students, meaning that when students are hired for these internships, they are guaranteed impactful work rather than just coffee runs. According to Schafer and the internships page on the Menlo website, Menlo juniors should first select an internship and complete an interest form. From there, the host organizations will select an applicant for the position. The program also plans to offer juniors workshops in resume writing, cover letter writing and interview preparation to further the learning experience. The program was largely designed and created by the Menlo School Parent Association. Some of the MSPA members who worked through the logistics before going to Head of School Than Healy and Schafer included parents Arnab Mishra, Reema Shah and Sunil Dhaliwal. According to Mishra, after getting approval from Healy and Schafer, the parents put together a team of volunteers to execute the program. This team then reached out to Menlo parents seeking interested hosts. According to Menlo parent and founder of UW Innovations Shannon Clark, her first high school intern in 2015 was a student from Menlo, and

with the ability to teach an intern about the science behind the business, she was able to strengthen the company’s impact and story. “This summer I’m hoping to share my excitement of founding a new organization focused on preventing homelessness in the Bay Area. This will be a unique opportunity for a student to immerse in social issues important in our society today in a safe and productive manner,” Clark said. Sakoda also plans to host Menlo juniors who will assist Decibel Partners by researching trends in AI and keeping up with AI-related news. Sakoda believes that this internship will benefit the intern by helping them understand preferences like the kinds of people they work best with and the kinds of work that most interest them. Beyond that, Sakoda also believes in the ability of Menlo students to assist Decibel in their cause.

r be Am in : n tio Lev tra oah s u N ll ff i nd Sta re a Mo

News

February 2, 2023

Pixel Perfect: The Menlo Website Gets a New Look by SIENNA LEW

This past December, a new and enhanced Menlo website went live, replacing its predecessor that served the Menlo community for nearly seven years. According to Director of Strategic Communications Shayne Olson, it is standard protocol for a school to update its website’s design every five years or so. Former Director of Communications Alex Perez first initiated the recently completed redesign project in the spring of 2022, with Olson’s help. With Perez’s departure from Menlo in June 2022, Olson became the lead project manager. She continues to be very involved in the new website’s testing and development. A number of factors sparked the redesign; even before the process had begun, various users had commented on the website’s overall functionality. Most notably, some felt that the navigation panel located in the middle of the site was inconvenient. “Users found the old navigation panel really hard to use and it wasn’t very streamlined,” Olson said. Additionally, some of the website’s content was cluttered and not up to date. “A lot of outdated content had piled up over the years, so the website management system needed to be cleaned out and reorganized,” Olson said. During a full audit of the old website, Olson created focus groups of employees, leadership, parents and recent graduates to provide feedback on the site. The audit also entailed user testing and

Staff photo and illustration: Andrea Li

content editing. After the evaluation, Olson and her team brainstormed a few main goals for the project, including revamping the home page and simplifying navigation. “Users told us the old home page wasn’t very impactful and didn’t do a very good job of telling ‘Why Menlo?’ so we tried to emphasize the school’s priorities a little bit more in the new designs,” Olson said. “We also tried to make the homepage a

little more dynamic.” Olson also wanted to emphasize all of the opportunities that Menlo offers on the website. “We built a lot of flexibility into the design. Menlo has so many amazing programs, from athletics to arts to global travel to academics, and we wanted to be able to make all of them feel special and highlight these different programs in a way that was unique to them,” Olson said. That said, improving navigation

remained Olson’s biggest objective. “In the new site, you’ll see that it’s much easier to get into things very quickly; it’s all [at the] top [of the page] and mobile friendly,” Olson said. An aspect that was kept mostly the same was the search bar, as its key features –– such as suggested results –– remain tailored for Menlo users. There have been occasional bumps in the redesign road; when the website first went public, not everything copied over properly from the development platform. Nonetheless, Olson thinks the improved site seems to be working well so far. “There are still little things that we’re finding that aren’t working as well as they should, and we are still building some new features, but overall, the initial rollout has been pretty smooth.” The new website has received positive comments from many, including students. Sophomore Lya Slater appreciates its new look. “I like the font better and it’s a lot more aesthetically pleasing,” Slater said. “When you look at the academics page, the website has dropdown menus, which flows better and I feel like it’s more organized.” Being a visual artist with a knack for design, Slater also enjoys the little details that add to the site’s flair. “The designs and doodles covering the pictures [are cute] and I also like how they have the schedule right on the home page because previously it was very hard to find.”

New TA Booking System on Fortress Aces First Semester by AARON WIDJAJA

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Having a central place for sign ups made sense.

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Writing Center Director Maura Sincoff

Thanks to Lam’s efforts, students now make TA appointments through the Fortress website. When students go on the website, they’ll see a column on the left with a tab that says “Academic Coaching,” then a button that says, “Find a Session.” Students choose the class they need help in, and a list of available times and coaches appears. Before the new system was implemented at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, each course had its own system of putting students in touch with TAs. In ninth-grade English, for example, students signed up for tutoring on a spreadsheet, allowing TAs to put their names next to the student they were going to assist. Meanwhile, all of the science classes had teachers who organized TAled Zoom meetings.

The main reason that Lam and her team restructured the peer assistance program was to make it more accessible for students. They realized the old process was complicated and required unnecessary amounts of communication. “We didn’t like the idea of, you know, every department having their own system, some of which required tons of back-and-forth emails before students could get matched.” But that lack of coordination between departments wasn’t the only problem. “The science peer coaching was a little complicated,” Lam explained. If a science student told Lam she needed a peer coach, she would have to email the student coordinator for the relevant subject, and in turn, the student coordinator would send emails out to all the coaches. Maura Sincoff, an English teacher and the director of Menlo’s Writing Center, agrees with Lam’s strategy. “There’s a broad need for help across all the subjects, and there are some students who are able to coach in both the humanities and the science/math subjects,” Sincoff wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms. “Having a central place for sign-ups made sense.” Senior and peer coach Taylor Tam explains how Fortress is more efficient to sign up with. She thinks that the shift towards Fortress allows students to “find someone they’re comfortable with and just sign up for a slot.” In addition, many teachers and students think the TA program is doing well right now, explaining many improvements that they have seen compared to previous years. Sincoff attributes the current program’s success to the fact that more students are signing up for Writing Center help this year than in the past. “We are

pleased to see the stigma of getting help becoming less of an impediment to using the Center,” Sincoff wrote. In addition, many of the peer coach students are happy with the introduction of the new Fortress system. “We were just hosting Zoom meetings [...] I’d hardly get people [asking for help] — like mainly before tests, I’d get people,” Tam said. She also believes that the whole program wasn’t as well-advertised before this year. Now, Tam said she has gotten significantly more students to sign up for tutoring sessions with her than last year because of the new sign-up system on Fortress. “I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of people signing up for like, tons of different classes,” Tam said. Senior Natalie Jinbo-Davis, another peer tutor, also believes that the program is helping more students than it was last year. “I think that teachers have made a lot more of an effort to encourage students to go reach out to tutors,” JinboDavis said.

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I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of people signing up for like, tons of different classes. Senior Taylor Tam

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Menlo’s teacher assistant or peer assistance program has been part of the school’s learning culture for close to twenty years. When students need assistance with a particular subject, they can set up an appointment with a TA, typically another Menlo student who has done well in that class. Appointments last between thirty minutes and an hour. But recently, Lily Lam, Menlo’s Academic Support Coordinator, has restructured the process of setting up these appointments.

Senior and co-head of the Writing Center Amory Healy said she is happy with the work the Writing Center has done with history and English students.

Junior Amelie Giomi tutors freshman Marissa Louie in the library. Staff photo: Aaron Widjaja

“The Writing Center is doing fairly well, by having the most meetings logged out of any branch of the peer assistance programs,” Healy said. Although the program has been increasing in popularity as well as quality, there are still some minor flaws. This year, there are more humanities TAs than STEM ones. Lam believes that this is partly a legacy of past policy in the science and math departments. “[Teachers] would not let anyone tutor chemistry unless they had taken AT Chemistry — something where it was like you had to be a senior, basically,” Lam said. Tam also attributes the discrepancy to fewer people taking higher-level STEM classes. “I think less people go on to take AP Physics 2, ” Tam said. In the future, Lam does have some future goals in mind to further improve this system. “We were talking about [...] automatically giving teachers access to see which of [their] students have been getting the tutoring,” Lam said. Currently, all tutoring records go to her.

Sports February 2, 2024 5 Reid McLaughlin Pedals Around the World by AMELIE GIOMI

Reid McLaughlin stands at the podium after recieving first place at the San Francisco Criterium. Photo courtesy of McLaughlin

Woodside. McLaughlin, who struggled to find a sport he enjoyed as a kid, likes being part of a close and welcoming community of bikers. “I’ve sort of found this community of people who — no matter where you come from, no matter how fast you are — really welcome you and want to be your friend and want to ride with you,” he said. McLaughlin’s local team of bikers participate in a high school league in the Bay Area that’s part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. While McLaughlin’s local team is not affiliated with any high school, high school teams around the Peninsula also compete in the same local league. McLaughlin is also part of SET Performance Coaching, a national development team for mountain biking, and has raced in multiple national championships. McLaughlin’s first race took place only two years ago, and yet he finished in the top 30 in the Cyclocross National Championships in Kentucky in December 2023 and raced in another national championship in Pennsylvania in July 2023. Because many competitions do not take place in California, McLaughlin often travels across the country to race. Qualifying for a national championship is no small feat. McLaughlin participated in a qualifier race two days before the championship and qualified in the top 50. Around 200

bikers enter in his age category of 15-16 years, but only 120 will make it to the final qualifier race. Races are typically 10-20 miles long and last for an hour and a half. Even though biking is typically viewed as an individual sport, McLaughlin attributes his success in

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I’ve sort of found this community of people who [...] really welcome you [...] and want to ride with you. Sophomore Reid McLaughlin

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Few students spend 12 hours a week pedaling alongside teammates for six consecutive days, each session lasting two to four hours. But for sophomore Reid McLaughlin, this level of dedication to mountain biking is merely the norm. Four years ago, during quarantine, McLaughlin decided to make use of his mountain bike and join a local team of 40 high school mountain bikers with hometowns ranging from San Carlos to

biking to his teammates and coaches. “You can succeed by yourself and there are people who do, but having a community around you really helps you at a higher level because you have people who can support you,” he said. McLaughlin has also found that being a part of a team of bikers has improved his leadership skills. Because he is now one of the older and more experienced riders on his team, he can support

Reid McLaughlin competes in a mountain biking race in Monterey. Photo courtesy of McLaughlin

other riders. “[Biking] has given me an opportunity to mentor younger athletes,” he said. This year, McLaughlin plans on riding in the Junior Tour of Ireland with a road cycling team from California and is looking forward to continuing his passion for biking. McLaughlin encourages others to learn more about biking and try it out. “I think [biking] is something that not a lot of people know about,” he said. “But it’s a really great community and I think it’s a really exciting sport that deserves more appreciation.”

From the Bay to LA: Alum Jaden Richardson Fulfills Dreams of Playing Football at USC by ASHER DARLING

Growing up as a USC fan, Menlo alum Jaden Richarson (‘20) always dreamed of playing at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the Trojans. On Jan. 2, 2024 Richardson made his dream a reality when he announced his intention to transfer from Tufts University to the University of Southern California to play football, where he will have two years of eligibility remaining. “[USC] was my dream school growing up,” Richardson said. “To have the opportunity to play there was super special.” Starring as a wide receiver and free safety for Menlo, Richardson was named to the 2019 Pacific Athletic League first team. In the fall of his senior year, Richardson committed to play Division III football at

Tufts University in the Boston area. “I never thought I would end up on the East Coast, but experiencing a different part of the country and people was great,” he said. Although his freshman season was canceled due to COVID-19, Richardson continued to develop and improve as a receiver for the Jumbos. After his junior season, Richardson began considering the idea of transferring as the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility to all college athletes coming out of the pandemic. “I knew I was going to have to take care of business [in my senior year] before I was given those opportunities ahead.” For his senior season, Richardson’s younger brother

Jaden Richardson (second from right) stands with his family on his visit to USC. Photo courtesy of Richardson

and Menlo alum Ty Richardson (‘23) also moved from the Bay Area to Tufts to play as a cornerback. “One of the reasons I chose to come to Tufts was to play with him,” Ty Richardson said. “It was so much fun to be around him during my freshman year.” In his senior year at Tufts, Richardson led the team in receiving yards and touchdowns, earning all conference honors. With his breakout season, Richardson’s 20 career touchdowns broke Tufts’ all time touchdown reception record. After much consideration, Richardson decided to enter the transfer portal in search of making a jump to the DI level. In the portal, Richardson garnered attention from major power five programs such as Washington, Cal, Wisconsin and Utah. “Once his recruiting took off it was like the sky was the limit,” Ty Richardson said. Richardson made it his goal to remain grounded throughout the hectic transfer portal process. “College football is a business,” he said. “[Teams] are going to make the best decisions for themselves, but you have to make the best decision for you.” Despite originally committing to Cal, USC made an offer to Richardson days later and he flipped to the Trojans on Jan. 2. “I wanted to make sure I was able to get a graduate degree that matters, go somewhere I want to be and get to play ball,” Richardson said. “At the end of the day I think [USC] is the right place for me.” Menlo varsity football head coach Todd Smith, who coached Richardson, was impressed by his remarkable success. “I’m incredibly proud of him, knowing how hard he worked and am grateful that I was able to coach him,” he said. In addition, Smith hopes stories like Richardson’s send an important message of encouragement to Menlo student athletes. “Don’t constrict or put limits on yourself,” Smith said. “Just do everything you can to be the best version of yourself and everything else will fall into place.” Richardson believes Menlo played an influential role in shaping the player and person he is today. “Menlo did a great job of setting me up with the opportunities to help me get to where I am now,” he said.

Sports

February 2, 2024

By the Numbers: Mid-Season Winter Sports Update Boys Soccer:

Girls Soccer:

#1 9 8

7-0 4 6

in the West Bay Athletic League

seconds it took senior Eric Schmidtke to score against Sacred Heart

the Knights’ score against both Seaside and El Camino

ties for the team this season

goals and 8 assists for points leader senior Sandro Velazquez

goals scored by senior Lila Gold outside the 18-yard box

Photo by Audrey Tsao

Staff photo: Asher Darling

Boys Basketball:

Girls Basketball:

76 11-8

63 5-0

points scored by the Knights in their win against Notre Dame San Jose

points scored by the Knights in their win against Thomas More

14.9

the team’s overall record average points per game for junior Tate Cohen

*As of Jan. 27, 2024

Staff photos: Devon Schaefer

the team’s away record, excluding tournaments

17.3

average points per game for junior Ruiqi Liu

Bay Area Welcomes Two New Women’s Sports Teams by DEVON SCHAEFER

When junior basketball player Karen Xin sits down on her couch and grabs the remote to watch sports, she’s met with the scene of male athletes soaking up the spotlight. Xin prefers to watch women’s basketball because she can relate more to the players. “For a lot of female athletes, watching the women’s game is a better representation of us than watching the men’s game,” Xin said. But while the coverage of women’s sports lags behind the coverage of men’s sports, interest and viewership in women’s leagues has increased in the past years. In 2023, the WNBA had its most-watched season in 21 years; accompanying this record was the addition of a WNBA app as well as a new WNBA website. For the National Women’s Soccer League, CBS viewership was up 41% in 2023 and in November, they announced a new four-year media rights agreement with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports. Following the increased popularity of women’s sports on television, the number of professional women’s sports teams has increased. In 2023, there were six

professional men’s sports teams and zero women’s teams in the San Francisco Bay Area. But come 2025, two new professional women’s sports teams — one WNBA team and one NWSL team — will have started to play in the Bay Area. The NWSL team, named the Bay FC, begins play this spring with their first home game on March 30 at San Jose’s PayPal Park. The stadium holds 18,000 fans and is home to the San Jose Earthquakes, the Bay Area’s Major League Soccer team. Bay FC will build a stadium to use after its five-year agreement with PayPal Park. Sophomore soccer player Krista Arreola first heard about the new NWSL team coming to the Bay Area when it was announced in April 2023. Although, she only began talking about the team with her Menlo soccer teammates and assistant coach Sophie Jones (‘19) –– who plays for a NWSL team –– more recently. “Our whole team was talking about it and thought it was so cool,” Arreola said. The WNBA team coming to the Bay Area is a Golden State Warriors expansion team, the sixth NBA franchise with a WNBA team. Like the Warriors, the new

team — whose name is undecided — will play at Chase Center beginning in 2025. While Xin watches more NCAA women’s basketball games than professional basketball games, she still watches the WNBA more than the NBA. “For a while, I was a huge NBA fan because I thought it was cool but the more I played, the more I watched the women’s game,” she said. Xin does not have certain players or teams she roots for. “I watch a variety [of teams]. You can learn from everybody.” Like Xin, Arreola does not root for a certain team and will probably become a Bay FC fan. “I feel like the more that we support [women’s] teams around us, the better promoted they are going to be,” Arreola said. While viewership of women’s sports is lower than men’s, Arreola believes there is significant value in watching women’s sports. “Obviously, there’s going to be a difference between men’s and women’s sports but I think women can be just as good as men,” she said. “I feel like you can’t really compare and contrast them because they’re really different.”

Staff illustration: Amber More

Sports

COMMITTED CORNER

Kenya Cassidy, UCLA by ALYSSA McADAMS

In August 2023, senior Kenya Cassidy committed to play Division I water polo at UCLA. Cassidy was drawn to both UCLA’s highly competitive water polo program and their student-athlete experience as a whole. “It was my top choice by far,” she said. “Even besides the water polo program, as a school, I’ve always loved UCLA for their academics, campus, and student life.” Once Cassidy went on her official visit, where she could meet

the girls on the team and observe the team dynamic, she was convinced the university was the right fit for her. Cassidy has been playing for Stanford Water Polo Club since the age of eight and was also a four-year Menlo varsity girls water polo member. Cassidy’s older brother began playing first, so her parents introduced the sport to her on the off chance she would enjoy it too. Cassidy certainly did follow in her brother’s footsteps. “I truly came to love

Photo courtesy of Kenya Cassidy

[water polo],” Cassidy said. Cassidy considers Menlo water polo a valuable experience and appreciates the bonds she’s made on the team, but it’s been her club team who has supported her the most through her water polo career and the recruiting process. This is largely due to the tight-knit team dynamic. “We’re all really close and we really push ourselves to compete, which I love,” she said. “We play together really nicely and my team has been one of the factors that has really driven me to get better.” The summer before her junior year, Cassidy’s club team placed ninth in the USA Junior Olympics, the nationwide water polo tournament that takes place at the end of each summer. It was a much higher ranking than she and her team had anticipated, and this impressive feat was one of the best finishes for her club in a while. “It definitely made for an amazing summer for all of us,” Cassidy said. Cassidy anticipates an exciting water polo experience at UCLA. “It’ll be a big step up but I’m really excited for how much I’ll get to improve,” she said. Her future, whether it involves playing professionally or internationally, is yet to be decided, but for now you can find Cassidy in the pool with her teammates training hard in hopes of finding success during their last Junior Olympics together this summer.

February 2, 2024

Bella Chen, Colorado College by MIKI KIMURA

In October 2023, senior Bella Chen committed to play Division III volleyball at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo. Chen is a middle blocker and has been on the varsity girls volleyball team since her sophomore year. She began playing volleyball on her middle school team in 7th grade, and subsequently took up club volleyball in 8th grade. However, Chen’s main sport had been basketball until her freshman year,

Brady Jung, Amherst College by DEVON SCHAEFER

During the summer of 2023, senior Brady Jung committed to play Division III football at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He will join his brother and Menlo alum Carter Jung (‘22) on the Amherst football team. Jung started playing flag football when he was in kindergarten and began playing tackle football in seventh grade for the M-A Vikings, a local Pop Warner team. “I immediately just fell in love with the game,” Jung said. Jung’s brother was going through the recruiting process during Jung’s freshman and sophomore years at Menlo, which inspired him to want to play college football as well. He began his recruiting process during his junior year. “If you want any sort of dialogue with any coaches, it’s really important that you have good [film from your junior season] and thankfully enough, I had a pretty good junior season,” he said. Despite being only two years apart in high school, the Jung brothers have never played on the same football team together. So, while Jung was communicating with colleges, the fact that his brother was on the Amherst football team already made his decision easy. “I’m really looking forward to playing on a team with my brother,” Jung said. “Because we play the same position, there’s a good chance that we’re going to be working in the same playroom. And also, there’s a chance that we’ll be on the field at the same time.” Jung is looking forward to the tightknit community that Amherst’s football team offers, as well as the commitment players have to the team. “What I’ve

seen from my brother and his friends is that they’re gonna be friends for life and they’re just in it,” he said. “It seems like a really fun community to be a part of.” Varsity football head coach Todd Smith admires Jung’s dedication to the

Menlo football team. “He really cares about the program and cares about his friendships and commitments to his teammates,” Smith said. “I’m excited for him [and looking forward] to see what he does at Amherst.” Staff photo: Devon Schaefer

File photo: CoA staff

which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Going into her sophomore year, Chen decided to prioritize volleyball over basketball. “In basketball, I just got burnt out,” Chen said. “I love playing [volleyball]; I just feel a lot of happiness whenever I’m playing.” Chen knew that she wanted to play a sport in college because of the bonds between teammates. “I love team sports. Like, you’re so tight with your team that it’s basically like family,” Chen said. During the recruiting process, Chen narrowed her search down to three schools. What set Colorado College apart was its coaches. “Colorado College had always been my number one [out of all the colleges that I was talking to]. The coaches are just so sweet, likable and supportive. It’s really important to be able to see yourself being coached by the person on the other end of the phone, and I could see myself being coached by them,” Chen said. In addition to the coaching staff, Chen loved the environment of Colorado Springs. “I mean, also, Colorado is just so beautiful. And Colorado Springs is [...] a safe city. Like it’s pretty big, but it just felt really safe when I was walking around with my family.”

Sports

February 2, 2024

Menlo Sports Spring Into Action

Boys Lacrosse:

Girls Lacrosse:

by DEVON SCHAEFER

by ANYA RAMANI

File photo: CoA staff

The boys lacrosse team ended their 2023 season with a close 8-7 loss to St. Francis in the CCS quarterfinals after being ranked third going into the playoffs. They face the loss of a strong defensive unit, including first team all-league selection Ari Krane (‘23) as well as turnover and groundball leader Lucas Vogel (‘23). However, head coach Blake Kim

believes that other players will stand out in the upcoming season, including senior midfielder and first team all-league pick Bradford Tudor, junior attacker James Wernikoff and a deep sophomore class. Wernikoff led the Knights in scoring with 38 goals. On the defensive side, sophomore Benjamin Chock, who upheld a 62% save percentage throughout the season, returns in goal. Kim also expects seniors Nicky Scacco and Brady Jung to contribute significantly again this season. Scacco was second on the team in scoring with 25 goals and Jung had the highest faceoff win percentage of 63%. “I’m just really excited for my last season,” Scacco said. In April, the Knights will travel North to play two teams from the Seattle area. None of the current team members have been on a trip together as the last trip was in 2019 when the team also went to Seattle. “The boys are really pumped about that,” Scacco said.

Photo courtesy of Dai Yamada

After ending their season with a loss in the CCS quarterfinals and a 7-10 record, the girls lacrosse team hopes to kick off 2024 with a fresh start. With the loss of five seniors and the addition of head coach Parnika Patel, the team will experience significant changes this year. Senior captain Kylie Jones anticipates that these differences will make way for

Baseball:

Boys Golf:

by NOAH LEVIN

by ASHER DARLING

After an up-and-down season led to the varsity baseball team missing the Peninsula Athletic League playoffs in 2023, the Knights are back and looking to rebuild in 2024 with a newly renovated field and revamped lineup. Youth will have to carry the way for this season’s squad, especially with the loss of Carson Cleage (‘23), Trey McNair (‘23), Jake Bianchi (‘23) and Colin Dhaliwal (‘23), who had a 1.72 ERA and a league-high 81 strikeouts. Six starters do return, however — sophomore Jack Freehill, junior Luke Rogers and seniors Jacob Lee, Jake Sonsini, Garrett Tran and ace Ryan Schnell, who pitched a no-hitter against Saratoga last year. Junior pitcher Ben Salama

After a disappointing fourth-place finish in the WBAL last year, the golf team is poised for a bounce back in 2024. The Knights will have the entire starting lineup returning from last spring, which the team believes will help them toward their goal of capturing the program’s first league championship since 2019. “I definitely have high hopes for the season considering the improvements our guys have made and the work they have put in,” senior captain Eric Yun said. Due to increased demand, Menlo’s golf program is introducing a JV team. “We have a record 30 to 40 players who want to play this year,” head coach Mark Madayag said. “[Creating a JV team] was the best way to accommodate and give an opportunity to everyone who wants to

Staff photo: Devon Schaefer

emphasizes the need for a positive team culture. “I think we’re just gonna build closer bonds this year. And I think that will ultimately help our goal of winning more games,” he said.

Swimming:

Boys Tennis:

by TATUM HERRIN

by RAFE WEIDEN

Senior Sage Huddleston is excited for her final season of Menlo swimming. “[My goal is] just to make it more positive and try to have fun, because it’s like, the last season that I’ll be doing it,” Huddleston said. Last season, the boys and girls swim teams both placed 39th in CCS, which only has one division for

Photo courtesy of Pam McKenney

new potential. “I’m super excited for this season because I feel like we have a lot of young talent that’s only getting better,” Jones said. “I [also] don’t anticipate the change in staff to really affect any of the team’s chemistry because we’ve bonded so much.” Last year, Jones was a starting midfielder and received an honorable mention from WBAL. She worked with sophomore Elia Choe who led the scoring with 50 goals. Choe made first team all-league and will continue as a pivotal attacker for the team this year. Junior Ellie Knoll secured 47 draws followed by sophomore Hannah Bernthal and Jones who had 42 and 33 draws respectively. The team finished in fifth place in the WBAL after their sole league win against M-A at the end of the season. This year, Patel has high hopes for the team. “The goal is to get third seed in our division,” she said. “[I want the girls] to push their limits.”

Photo courtesy of Pam McKenney

play and get better.” The varsity team will tee off in their first match against the Nueva School at Baylands Golf Links the week of Feb. 26.

swimming. Senior Connor Grant made it to the finals of the 100m fly and placed 14th. According to Huddleston, success in CCS is difficult because opposing schools’ teams are made up of competitive swimmers, while most players at Menlo use the swimming season to stay in shape for water polo. Huddleston appreciates swimming coach Simon Cassidy’s ability to make the season productive for those players. “I think he does a good job of adjusting it to everyone’s needs,” said Huddleston. “He encourages people to get better with their technique and not just train, which I think is beneficial for a lot of players.” Grant is looking forward to the 2024 season. “We have some promising freshmen,” Grant said. “And we hope to qualify even more people for CCS this year.”

The varsity boys tennis team is ready to shine for ‘Coach Bill’ in the legend’s final season. “There’s a lot of determination. Everybody wants to show out for Bill’s last year,” junior Ben Levin said. The Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame coach led the team to their 22nd

File photo: CoA staff

consecutive undefeated league season, a NorCal championship, and a third-place finish in the All-American Invitational Team Tournament at Newport Beach after a devastating loss to University High School in a tiebreaker. They hope to continue this success, especially with the addition of a new state championship where the winner of NorCal, often Menlo, plays the winner of SoCal, typically University. The team believes a revenge game state championship would be a great parting gift to the renowned Shine. It won’t be easy though, as the team has lost some stars including Nikhil Agarwal (‘23), Tudor Braicu (‘23) and Evan Burnett (‘24), who graduated early to play for UT Austin. Junior Cooper Han and sophomore Yuanye Ma will need to fill these absences for the team to maintain their dominance.

returning core — including junior distance stars Landon Pretre and Will Hauser. In 2023, Pretre and Hauser helped the boys varsity 4x800 team run 7:39 to set a CCS record in the state final. The team also finished third overall for the CCS Championship, the smallest school to achieve this in the history of the program.

However, the team faces the loss of several key graduating seniors including Pretre’s brother, Justin Pretre, (‘23) and Aiden Deffner (‘23). “It’s pretty hard shoes to fill,” Pretre said. “They shaped our team culture into what it is today.” On the girls’ side, sophomore Ariya Kaushek also seems primed to step up. As a freshman, Kaushek rose to the top with

impressive results, and was the Division V CCS Champion for cross country this fall. “I’m excited to have a great group of girls coming out,” Kaushek said. “As far as I know, we have doubled the amount of girls in track this year.” The team is destined for a promising season with its expanded roster and a load of returning talent.

Track & Field: by BIANCA PUTANEC

Coming off one of the most successful seasons in Menlo history, the track and field team is entering 2024 with high expectations and an even higher roster count. Nearly 100 athletes are signed up to compete across 17 events this spring. The new team members should bolster what was already a strong

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February 2, 2024

Students With Learning Differences Find Community at DLS

by Lizzie Freehill Different Learning Styles is a new affinity group and club at Menlo started by seniors Ryan Schnell, Alex Gani and Paige Miller. “[The club and mentorship group are] really about celebrating learning differences and also supporting one another through a lot of common struggles like with extra time or finding [or] figuring out accommodations, common challenges we all face,” Miller said. According to Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean, who co-advises DLS alongside Academic Coordinator Lily Lam, the group is currently more focused on serving students with diagnosed learning differences. However, the club hopes to open the doors to students who don’t have diagnosed learning differences in the future so they can support their classmates. “The mission is to normalize the concept of learning differences, to educate those students who have learning differences about their learning style and the support Menlo can offer,” Dean said. “We also want there to be a peer mentor component: kids talking to kids. And we can certainly take some of the information that students give us in these meetings, to advocate for change at Menlo.” While Dean and Lam will make occasional appearances to give club members study and organizational tips, there’s a heavier emphasis on peer-topeer interaction. Students talk about their experiences, share advice and support one another, according to Schnell. Miller, who was diagnosed with ADD and ADHD in sixth grade, acknowledges that while many of her classmates and

friends try to understand and accept her learning differences, DLS provides a special sense of camaraderie in a community that prides itself on academic achievement.

“Those who’ve who ve attended our club have definitely said that they feel a lot less lost.” Senior Ryan Schnell

“There’s the stereotypical, ‘I get really distracted’ or ‘I’m unproductive’ but then aside from that, just having extra time and wanting to go out on the quad during lunch, hearing music playing in this great weather and I’m sitting there taking a math test, finishing my extra time, that’s definitely been a challenge,” Miller said. “High school’s not a time where you want to be different.” Although Miller appreciates the help she has received throughout Menlo from the Learning Center and teachers, she is grateful that she can find additional support through the DLS club. “Now having a group of supportive students [...] has been super impactful for me because it shows like, ‘Oh, I’m not alone in this and all these kids aren’t alone in it,’” Miller said. “And even if you’re not a part of the group, knowing that Menlo does things to recognize kids with learning differences, knowing that Menlo cares, I think, in itself just goes a long way.” Schnell expressed similar sentiments.

“Those who’ve attended our club have definitely said that they feel a lot less lost. I mean, I personally felt like it was pretty scary as an underclassman to have to have these kinds of tougher conversations with teachers about accommodations and tutorial sessions,” Schnell said. The next step for DLS is creating the Learning Allies peer mentorship group. Learning Allies will act as a pair system to help underclassmen navigate how to manage extra time, going to the learning center and other questions they may have about accommodations. According to Gani, it took him until his junior year to figure out how best to handle his accommodations, some-

thing he feels might have been easier if he had had a peer mentor to give him advice and teach him how to navigate these additional responsibilities that come with having a learning difference at Menlo. Dean believes that the effort made by Schnell, Gani and Miller to create DLS has made a difference for students with diagnosed learning differences at Menlo. “[Student Council speeches] often have [a] grand list of priorities that includes things like shorter classes, no tutorials, better lunches. [Learning differences] never make it into the speeches, but it could change the experience and [out]look for a generation of children,” Dean said.

Senior Paige Miller leads a DLS meeting. Staff photo: Lizzie Freehill

Teachers Support Students by Providing Accommodations by Sienna Lew It’s no secret that each student learns best in different ways. Whether they prefer visual, kinesthetic or auditory learning methods, Menlo teachers strive to support their students with learning differences so they can reach their full capabilities in the classroom. One particular tool Menlo offers is extra time on assessments. “We all need to

Staff illustration: Andrea Li

be supported in ways that activate our learning potential, and sometimes that looks like providing extra time,” history teacher Dylan Citrin Cummins said. Many teachers have different approaches in supporting students with extra time and other accommodations. Chemistry teacher David Spence shares his personal experiences with dyslexia and ADHD with his students to normalize learning differently. “I think it’s important to acknowledge that [these learning differences] are real, and that I have them myself, and that I’m on their side,” Spence said. Spence believes students should have accommodations to learn best, but still put in effort to complete assignments. “They have to do the homework, they have to do the reading. [But] extra time [as an accommodation] just makes sense. In an assessment, I want to see if the student can understand the concept,” Spence said. “If it takes them a little more time to write that down, there’s no problem with that.” For Cummins, having one-onone connections is important in supporting students with learning differences. “I think the point of an assessment is to get an understanding

of where students are at; to determine whether or not learning has been achieved,” Cummins said. “It’s really good feedback for the student and the teacher. [But] we can’t do that assessment of learning if students don’t have the time to show what they’ve learned.”

“If a student needs a few more minutes to show their learning, that’s my priority.” History teacher Dylan Citrin Cummins

Cummins believes that testing environments with ample space and time is essential for students to demonstrate their knowledge. “If a student needs a few more minutes to show their learning, that’s my priority,” he said. Cummins also thinks timed assessments may not accurately reflect the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. However, he acknowledges strict time limits in the professional world, despite not being in a traditional test format. “There is a space for timed assessment when it comes to certain knowledge skills,” he said. Both Spence and Cummins sometimes grapple with questions around equity between students who have the resources to obtain accommodations

and those who do not. Both teachers take a student’s circumstances into account when they ask for additional accommodations. For example, a few students every year ask Spence for index cards to use on final exams — something he doesn’t provide. Spence first advises students to try different memorization techniques. “Memorization can be very hard for some students, but [it] is a skill they need to practice. If flash cards do not work, I introduce other tools like mnemonic devices to help. In some cases, I have allowed a student to use a flashcard in the first semester,” Spence said. “As a teacher, you always have that sort of balancing act.” Cummins also keeps fairness in mind. “If a student needs a little bit more time for an assignment, and it’s the first time that they’ve asked me for [it], that’s no problem for me,” he said. “If it doesn’t feel like it is a pattern or a trend, [but] a legitimate situation where a student needs time to show their best work, no problem. If this is a pattern, that’s a very different issue.” Spence and Cummins ultimately want what is best for their students, and sometimes extra resources or accommodations can help students thrive in the classroom. “I want my students to love learning and develop skills — you have to develop skills to become a lifelong learner,” Spence said.

February 2, 2024

Center Spread

Learning Differently at Menlo

Menlo Community Expresses Viewpoints on Accomodations by Jacob Reich An increase in learning difference diagnoses marks the past decade at Menlo. In 2011, 13% of Menlo students received learning accommodations. Today, that number has increased to 20%, according to Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean. Dean is at the helm of Menlo’s efforts to address students with learning differences. Multiple laws require schools to accommodate students with learning differences. However, only one applies to private and non-religious schools that don’t receive public funding: the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. “The law tells us that we need to open the schoolhouse doors to all students with disabilities, at least to the greatest extent possible,” Dean said. However, Dean tries to do much more than just what is required by law. “The law does not say we have to maximize the educational experience or outcomes for students with learning differences, but at Menlo and a lot of other private schools, that is part of our philosophy,” Dean said. “We’re not just trying to open the door. We’re trying to make sure that you have the best possible learning experience while you’re here.” Students at Menlo receive learning accommodations for many learning differences, such as

“Not all students are starting in the same place or going to end up at the same finish line.” Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean

dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD and dyscalculia. About half of the students who receive accommodations have ADHD, and a third have either dyslexia or dysgraphia. Many students have more than one learning difference. Menlo offers a variety of accommodations tailored to student’s individual needs and learning differences. The most common accommodations offered are extra time, preferential seating, note-taking assistance (such as the use of a laptop) and the ability to record lectures. Occasionally, students can have their course requirements modified, such as having their world language requirement waived. Dean recommends that students with accommodations voluntarily maintain balance in their schedules, specifically by taking a free period. “[Students often] don’t and then they feel the

crunch and they wonder why the accommodations don’t feel like enough support,” Dean said. However, some students have doubts about Menlo’s rules regarding accommodations. “Why not give everybody the time they need to show their knowledge on a test?” a student, who prefers to stay anonymous, asked. Another student, who also wishes to remain anonymous, believes that some people have taken advantage of the extra time system. “I think there are plenty of people with extra time that do not

“It’s not like you’ll get extra time in the real world with your job.” .” Anonymous student

need it or deserve it. It’s become a ridiculously high number of people at Menlo who are able to get it because they have money,” they said. The testing required to get an ADHD diagnosis in the Bay Area can be thousands of dollars, and it is difficult to find a tester who accepts insurance. Menlo offers some financial aid to students to get testing done, according to Dean and Academic Coordinator Lily Lam. They also believe that in certain tests, it can be unfair for students to have more time than others. “Especially when it comes to the standardized tests, I don’t think people should so easily be able to get an advantage over others. It’s not like you’ll get extra time in the

real world with your job,” they said. Dean acknowledges that some students may find accommodations unfair. “I think that is a minority viewpoint. But I think it’s a legitimate viewpoint and we should wrestle with that as a community,” Dean said. As Dean notes, many students believe extra time is fair. “I feel like extra time is useful because if you have a valid reason [to receive accommodations], it gives you a fair chance,” junior Brady Kagan said. Dean also thinks that much of the perceived unfairness could be fixed if every student went through the process of a learning evaluation. “I wish [learning evaluations] were universally covered by health insurers in the United States. Because if we put everyone through that process, or at least put it within reach, I believe that more individuals would understand these measurable differences, and it would change their attitude towards quote unquote fairness.” However, although testing for learning accommodations isn’t widespread or covered by insurance, Dean firmly believes providing accommodations to students with learning diagnoses is fair. “What I can promise you is that it is equitable to give extra time; it is equitable to provide these other forms of support. Because not all students are starting in the same place or going to end up at the same finish line.”

February 2, 2024

School Policies Support Students With Learning Differences by Andrea Li It took junior Kirin Debnath two eight-hour sessions with an outside psychologist to complete the evaluation needed for him to receive learning accommodations. “They had me do many, many different puzzles,” Debnath said. “It was just a bunch of different things that [...] mapped out my cognitive abilities.” Educational testing is the national standard for diagnosing learning differences, making it just one step in a multifaceted process students must go through to receive learning accommodations at Menlo if they do not enter the school with accommodations. At the same time, Academic Coordinator Lily Lam and Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean work together to make the process as seamless as possible for students. Part of this process requires involving an outside psychologist. “Ms. Lam and I will work with families to refer them to outside educational psychologists we trust [...] we read the evaluation report [...] and will try to accommodate in keeping with the best recommendations for any diagnosis they may receive,” Dean said. Seeking outside help is necessary because, while Dean and Lam can provide some tests on campus, both are ultimately not qualified to perform tests that would result in a concrete diagnosis. “We can offer some assessments here on campus. [...] Ours are one of diagnostic tools to determine whether or not they should go through with testing,” Dean said. “We certainly understand how to read and interpret reports. But we don’t have the authority of the state to conduct this [educational] test.” Staff illustration: Amber More

According to Dean and Lam, Menlo offers some financial aid to parents who must turn to outside psychologists for educational testing. “We don’t want testing if it’s [...] cost prohibitive, so we’ll do everything we can to make it happen for the family,” Lam said. A student’s designated learning accommodations will largely depend on the results of their

“Once I told them about my ADHD recommendations, they kind of handled the entire process.” Junior Kirin Debnath

educational testing, which arrives in the form of a report that Dean and Lam read and interpret. Depending on these results, students may be denied learning accommodations. “A student might not meet the psychometric definition of a student with a disability. We will say there are some things we can offer you but we may not be able to offer you all the accommodations,” Dean said. Still, to ensure objectivity, Dean and Lam will also send a student’s testing results to the College Board for review. “We want it to be the fairest process [...] possible. [...] We want [accomodations] to align with what the College Board would give them and what college

would give them going forward,” Lam said. Aligning accommodations means Dean and Lam must use the College Board’s metrics to determine the accommodations Menlo gives. “When we send our application to the College Board, including the student’s Menlo plan, and their educational testing report, [...] they may say no,” Dean said. “We will tell a family, unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to offer you accommodations at Menlo.” According to Dean and Lam, linking Menlo’s accommodations to the College Board’s standards is crucial not only to prevent a disconnect between standardized testing accommodations and school accommodations, but also because colleges and universities use the College Board’s standards to determine what accommodations a student receives beyond Menlo. Dean and Lam’s efforts to make receiving accommodations a smooth process for students have paid off for Debnath. Before entering high school, Debnath lacked an official ADHD diagnosis and did not receive any accommodations. “I came from a public middle school where I definitely had to fight tooth and nail for everything. [...] But the nice thing about Menlo is that once I told them

“We don’t want testing if it’s cost prohibitive, so we’ll do everything we can to make it happen for the family.” Academic Coordinator Lily Lam

about my ADHD recommendations, they kind of handled the entire process,” Debnath said. IIIIIJunior Jordana Lenihan already had a plan for her learning accommodations coming into Menlo, but similarly found the process to be seamless. “Coming into Menlo, Mr. Dean and Ms. Lam did a great job, like, talking to my parents about it and making sure that all my accommodations just stayed up to date,” Lenihan said. Like Debnath, Lenihan feels that the process for receiving learning accommodations at Menlo differs from public schools. “Menlo [...] had the support system where [...] when I go into college, [learning accommodations] are still there,” Lenihan said. Lenihan notes that if she had gone to a public school, she believes she would not have received the assistance needed to get accommodations beyond high school.

February 2, 2024

Center Spread

Learning Differently at Menlo

“Not all students are starting in the same place or going to end up at the same finish line.” Director of Learning Resources Ryan Dean

“It’s not like you’ll get extra time in the real world with your job.” .” Anonymous student

February 2, 2024

“Once I told them about my ADHD recommendations, they kind of handled the entire process.” Junior Kirin Debnath

“We don’t want testing if it’s cost prohibitive, so we’ll do everything we can to make it happen for the family.” Academic Coordinator Lily Lam

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February 2, 2024

by Maren Mulloy

My Dyslexia Does Not Define Me, but It Is a Part of Me

When I was asked to write this article, I struggled to articulate my perspective on the ways my life is different from those without dyslexia. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known. Every person with a learning difference has a different story to share, each with their own set of challenges around accommodations and learning habits. My dyslexia prolongs the time and effort I spend daily on rudimentary skills that others would find easy. Dyslexia

“Being dyslexic does not restrict me from being successful; in actuality, it is the driving force. ”

of a badge of honor, and I’ve long believed there is beauty in having learning differences.

Subtle tricks make a lasting impact on me as a learner. To this day, I continue to check the direction of my b’s and d’s with hand gestures and still spell “because” with the help of a mnemonic device (big elephants can always understand small elephants). I have coped with and thrived despite the struggles that come with having dyslexia. After I was diagnosed when I was seven years old, I was ecstatic. This was shocking to many around me. Maybe I felt

is something I have grown up with my whole life and can not fathom what my life would be like without it. Growing up, I was always in the worst reading group and my spelling relieved because the diagnosis helped me better understand the reason behind my challenges in literacy. Or maybe it was because my parents told me I could finally get an iPad to listen to audiobooks on. Either way, I was thrilled. I began to call dyslexia my superpower, was often deemed as “creative,” which really meant that my teachers and peers thought IIIwas struggling. Despite these shortcomings, my elementary school teachers initially overlooked the difference in my learning style because I continued to learn key concepts and

“I am beyond proud of my dyslexia.” contribute in class, even if it took a little longer. I struggled to memorize simple times tables, spell and read at a fast pace; instead, I focused on bigger concepts and more abstract ideas, and still do. The extra work I put in helped to outweigh my reading struggles, even if there is no “cure” to them. The challenges I face in completing basic tasks push me to excel in other, more unusual areas to compensate for those struggles. My dyslexia is something

successful and keep up with my classmates. I discovered areas where I could excel because of my dyslexia. I would listen to Audible at three-times speed, allowing me to finish 800-page Harry Potter books in less than a week while retaining the same level of comprehension as I would at regular speed. My learning difference is not something that will change or get better over time, so I try to find ways to adapt. I use the tools available to me to finish my assignments, even if this means taking an irregular path. My school days start the night before. Each night, I need to email teachers about when I will do my assessments, how we will squeeze in the extra time and where we will meet. I also set up lots of meetings with my teachers to go over any questions I have on topics that we covered in class (shout out to all my teachers who put up with my endless questions and are so generous with their time). I often take longer to finish my assignments than my peers and need to put more effort into some subjects than most

“I’ve long believed there is beauty in having learning differences.”

others. My accommodations — listening to audiobooks (I have listened to over 85,000 minutes on Audible), voice typing, Google reading documents aloud, extra time and a separate workspace — help me combat some while spelling was my kryptonite. of these However, I quickly learned that dyslexia was not challenges. all iPads and audiobooks. Determined to remain At this point, at my current elementary school and stay on the I am beyond same level as my peers, I began seeing a reading proud of my tutor twice a week for two hours and a math tutor dyslexia. once a week for an hour on top of regular school. Although Because my brain is not wired the same way as it does others, the tutoring helped me and my family not define discover the tools and habits I needed to be me, it has helped mold me into the person I am today. It hasn’t always been easy, and sometimes it hurts. Dyslexia became a point of defiance for me, and it continues to be one to this day. Amber More The lessons and joys that come with having a Staff illustration: learning difference vastly outweigh the challenges. Being dyslexic does not restrict me from being successful; in actuality, it is the driving force.

Opinions

February 2, 2024

Valentine’s Day Is a Day for Celebrating Love in All Its Forms, Single or Taken

Staff illustration: Natalie Jinbo-Davis

by SIENNA LEW

Every February, Cupid shoots his precious arrows toward the hearts of people everywhere. For some, his aim is perfect, but for others, he misses the mark. Lovers spend the month walking on clouds, whereas loners are left to wallow in their singleness.

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Society’s heavy emphasis on romantic love can overshadow the importance of platonic relationships, self-love and empowerment.

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It’s undeniable that, on one hand, Valentine’s Day is a rich celebration of love and devotion. It gives couples a chance to express their appreciation and adoration for one another. Valentine’s Day can also be a significant source of frustration, stress and difficulty for those without romantic partners. However, all people — single

or taken –– can still find joy in celebrating Valentine’s Day with or without romantic love in their lives. Let’s start with the good. For infatuated couples, embracing Valentine’s Day with romantic dinners and heart-to-heart talks or teddy bears and heart balloons can feel like living the dream. Lovers have the opportunity to make memories infused with love and deepen close bonds on this special day. Many people use the holiday as a chance to be extra affectionate with their partners and loved ones. I, for one, find it easier to express my sentimental feelings to my loved ones on Valentine’s Day, as I know others around me are doing it too. Further, the overall Valentine’s vibes are warm, never failing to fill me with joy no matter how sad I wake up feeling. On the flip side, for those flying solo, Valentine’s Day can make your life feel like a melody lacking an accompaniment, even if you didn’t want a duet before. Society’s heavy emphasis on romantic love can overshadow the importance of platonic relationships, self-love and empowerment. The pressure to conform to romantic love in order to enjoy Valentine’s Day can make this day of celebration feel like a day of discomfort. The reality is that love takes on so many

different forms, all of which are unique and special. So let’s cue the sweet candy hearts and dark chocolate truffles as we appreciate every kind of love, or lack thereof, this Feb. 14. Let me reiterate that Valentine’s Day is truly for all people — anyone can participate in conveying love for partners, friends and family. There are so many easy ways to show appreciation for your loved ones: write a sweet card or buy them their favorite sweet treat. Even if you haven’t yet found your soulmate, I’m sure you can’t resist the sugary allure of Valentine’s candy. I know I sure can’t!

“Saltburn” Review: All That Glitters Isn’t Gold by TATUM HERRIN

Staff illustration: Amber More

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2000s indie sleaze surprisingly harmonizes with English decadence and the slowness of life in the countryside.

rugby shirts and colored Ray-Bans to hint at the era. Canale kept things authentic by turning to Depop — the internet’s favorite online thrift shop — for the casual attire, costuming the cast in clothing actually bought and worn during the 2000s. The real standout outfits from the film, however, were featured at the protagonist Oliver’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” themed birthday party. The looks encapsulate the glamor of descending into madness almost as well as Shakespeare himself.

But what could perhaps be the most aesthetically pleasing aspect of the film is the cast. If you’re still wondering whether “Saltburn” is worth the watch, the 6 foot 5 inches, chiseled and tan Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton should be able to convince you. And the cast isn’t just attractive — it’s also packed with talent. Barry Keoghan’s performance as Oliver is so compelling that I truly questioned his sanity. Rosamund Pike as Elspeth Catton, known for her role as Amy Dunne in “Gone Girl,” is another standout. Pike has clearly mastered the skill of getting the audience to root for a morally questionable character. For all these reasons, I wanted, so badly, to fall in love with this movie, but I just can’t call it perfect. After all the online hype, I went into “Saltburn” ready for my mind to be blown. Sure, several scenes left my jaw unlocked and skin crawling, but the shock was rooted in the explicitness, not good writing. Particularly the infamous bath scene. You know, the one where… Nevermind. This is a high school publication, after all. Back to the analysis. Saltburn’s plot starts strong but

falls hard. The pacing of the first hour is both engaging and immersive, but the second hour becomes far too chaotic and jumpy, cramming in major developments left and right. The final twist was a bit anticlimactic, especially compared to Fennel’s award-winning “Promising Young Woman.” I won’t spoil too much, but, at the end of “Saltburn,” Oliver does exactly what you’re expecting he will once you’re about halfway in. Though all the ominous hints throughout the movie suggest the reveal of some grand conspiracy much larger than the desires of one man, Oliver’s revealed motive is pretty basic.

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I still have so many questions left unanswered, even with the two hour running time.

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for her work with the hit Netflix original series “Bridgerton” — used oversized

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Beautiful and shallow. These words describe the Catton family of “Saltburn” just as well as the film itself. Directorwriter Emerald Fennell has taken the world by storm with her hit thriller comedy “Saltburn,” and for good reason. Each and every shot is an absolute feast for the senses, though the plot keeps the film just short of a masterpiece. Let’s start with all there is to love, because there’s a lot. The film has a unique aesthetic I’d never seen before: 2000s indie sleaze surprisingly harmonizes with English decadence and the slowness of life in the countryside. Aesthetically speaking, Saltburn is the perfect blend of “Skins,” “The Favourite” and “Call Me By Your Name.” The movie’s edgy 2000s feel is rooted in a soundtrack of nostalgia. With alternative staples like MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” and dance-inducing synth pop beats like Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder On The Dancefloor,” Saltburn’s soundtrack is nothing short of transformative. But no period piece is complete without the right wardrobe. Costume designer Sophie Canale — most known

A quote from the director explains why the ending, while maybe exciting on paper, falls flat. Fellen explained in an interview with Backstage that a hint at Felix’s doppelganger early in the film was merely an attempt to add to the ominous vibe. “Ominous vibes” are only compelling because the audience is expecting something big to come. When nothing comes, it’s just disappointing. I still have so many questions left unanswered, even with the two hour running time. Still, “Saltburn” has set a stunning standard for 2000s period pieces. Hopefully there’ll be more to come, now that the end of the 00’s was 14 years ago. The film is certainly worth a watch. Just not with your parents!

Opinions

February 2, 2024

Haters Gonna Hate: Taylor Swift Is Good for the NFL, So Why Can’t Football Fans Accept Her? by SONIA DHOLAKIA

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The NFL has been trying to expand its audience for over a decade. They have hosted games in Europe and streamed games on Nickelodeon, spewing virtual slime into the end zone when a team scores. But those efforts aren’t what brought millions of views to the NFL. Instead, a relationship between Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has grown the game’s audience exponentially. And yet, many fans refuse to see her presence as a success for the sport.

When Taylor Swift first attended the Chiefs versus Bears game in September 2023, female NFL viewership increased by 63%. It only grew from there. When Swift was spotted in the box of the Chiefs versus Jets game in October, it was the most watched NFL game since the 2023 Super Bowl. Taylor Swift has brought the NFL what it wanted most: attention. So why are fans upset about it? If we’re being honest, the football community does not have the best track record of being welcoming to female fans. Many female sports fans are familiar with “the quiz”: after mentioning a liking for the sport, they’re often met with “Oh, you’re a football fan? OK, name the backup receiver for the Minnesota Vikings” or “Who was the quarterback for the Dolphins in ‘82?” Excluding Swifties from the NFL reflects the age-old attitude that women can’t truly appreciate sports. Some football fans claim their resentment towards Swift stems solely from her image oversaturating the NFL’s coverage of its games, declaring that she doesn’t need to be shown on screen twice a quarter. Sports Illustrated writer Jimmy Traina went as far to say that “legitimate NFL fans” hated the cutaways to Swift and her famous friends during the Chiefs-Jets game. But

fans aren’t complaining when the cameras pan away from the field and instead show Matthew McConaughey on the sidelines of UT Austin games or shots of cheerleaders waving their pom-poms. The truth is, fans aren’t upset that the attention is not on the game. They are upset that the attention is on Taylor Swift. A woman who they assume must know nothing about football, despite being a well-known Eagles fan. The notion that “legitimate NFL fans” can’t also watch the game to see a world-famous singer implies that football is not a game that can be enjoyed by the masses. Just because more women are watching football does not mean it isn’t the same game with the same stakes. And further, viewership among teenage girls increased by 53% the first three weeks of Sunday Night Football in the 2023 NFL season. Isn’t it remarkable that one woman can be an entry point for so many into a fascinating, entertaining sport? Ideally, these new viewers fall in love with a sport appreciated by so many. So instead of mocking Swift and her fans, football lovers should respect her ability to do what the league has failed at: bringing their beloved game to a new faction of America. Taylor Swift doesn’t seem to be giving up her tickets anytime soon — her fans shouldn’t be shunned away either.

If “Mean Girls” (2024) Taught Us Anything, It’s That Not Every Movie Needs a Sequel by ALYSSA McADAMS

In recent years, we’ve seen an eruption of sequels popping up in our Netflix recommendations. It seems that every major entertainment studio has decided to take on some sort of ‘Part II’ or reimagination of a previously successful movie, whether it be a new version of “Mean Girls,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” or “Spider-Man” — the list goes on. I’ll admit that despite my brief career as a moviemaking student at Menlo, I’m not the most well-versed in the inner workings of the filmmaking

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Sequels can be very dangerous because they compromise your truth as an artist. I think a sequel to "E.T." would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity.

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industry. I can, however, give you my point of view as an everyday person who loves a good outing to the movie theater, and my opinion is that viewers are being disappointed by sequels far too often. I feel that many of these new sequels have simply fallen flat in comparison to their predecessors. And this seems to be a pattern; I mean, besides old classics like “The Godfather Part II” and “The Godfather Part III” or the too-many-tocount “Lord of the Rings” movies, when was the last time you heard of a sequel picture being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture? Hollywood’s got to learn to leave ‘good enough’ alone

be done right — “Top Gun: Maverick” proves that it is possible. The difference is that the sequel was well-executed. The film doesn’t imitate the same storyline as the original “Top Gun” but with shoddy modernization, it doesn’t create a storyline that’s completely irrelevant to the original movie and directors waited 36 years to create the sequel, making it feel like less of a money grab. It builds off the original movie and characters but offers new and interesting plot points that appeal to both older and younger audiences. So, the moral of the story is that if you want to make a sequel, you have to

perfectly balance particular elements in a way that will make it successful: its own standalone story, new talent, a surprise factor and both familiar and novel elements, among other things. Chances are, you’re best off just appreciating the original movie’s success and moving on. If it’s really that good, it’s likely that any form of a sequel will just disappoint viewers’ high expectations rather than paying homage to the original. Instead, let’s cross our fingers that Hollywood producers will start to come out with fresh ideas that can become the new classics of our generation.

Staff illustration: Amber More

Steven Spielberg

rather than trying and failing to capitalize on the success a previous movie attained. When I walked into the theater to see the new “Mean Girls,” I was so excited to see how it would compare to the original. “Mean Girls” (2004) was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, characterizing early-2000s teen life in an inimitable way and still being quoted daily by millennials and Gen Zers 20 years later. However, Tina Fey, writer of both the original and remake, did not live up to her own standards when creating “Mean Girls” (2024). She attempted to imitate the popular Broadway “Mean Girls” show, altering its musical numbers to create watered-down songs that simply fell flat. She also failed to incorporate modern technology like texting, emojis or social media in a way that is even slightly relatable to the modern teenager. And if you’ve been on the 2024 “Mean Girls” side of TikTok, you can probably guess how I feel about the Shein-esque costuming choices. After the 2011 sequel of the original, “Mean Girls 2,” was so ill-received, Fey should’ve guessed that any sequels or remakes would be nothing compared to the original. A 2014 CBS survey polled Americans on their favorite films of all times, and frequent answers included “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Titanic,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Notebook,” or “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.” What’s the common thread here? All these movies are original and unreplicated, which is part of why they all took the world by storm. In fact, director Steven Spielberg once mentioned that he will never make a follow up of “E.T.,” saying “sequels can be very dangerous because they compromise your truth as an artist. I think a sequel to ‘E.T.’ would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity.” This just goes to show that if a movie is a hit, let it be a hit and move on to creating something newer and better. I don’t mean to say that a sequel can’t

Opinions

Febrary 2, 2024

In an Era of Page-To-Screen Adaptations, Is the Book Truly Better?

by CAROLINE CLACK

the son of the first female president of the United States, and Henry, the prince of England. Because of the movie’s shorter running time, the story is narrowed. Although I was initially upset over the exclusion of my favorite character, June, who played a major role in the books, I understand that the writer Matthew Lopez needed more time to develop Alex and Henry’s story. When looking at the book and the movie side by side, the cast, writers and director accurately captured the essence of the book by not straying far from the plot. After all, the loveable storyline is what gave the book its bestseller status. Prime Video also released a series adaptation of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han in June 2022 and a second season in July 2023. This Prime Video release differs from “Red, White & Royal Blue” in that the show is vastly different from the book, and

for good reason. With the oversight of Jenny Han, writers of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” series made significant changes, including additions to the plot, an emphasis on Belly’s older brother Steven and the softening of Belly’s best friend Taylor, who remained largely one-sided in the books. With all of these changes, the series successfully embodied the same themes of the book series, while also making the characters more relatable and the storyline more entertaining as well as less dramatic. Plus, as a Swiftie, I loved the soundtrack! Lastly, this comparison wouldn’t be Sta f Tat f illus um t Her ration : rin

complete without analyzing Disney Plus’ new release, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” a show series created by Jonathan Steinberg and produced by Rick

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In an attempt to resurrect itself in a declining era, Hollywood is turning more and more to literature for inspiration.

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If you’re settling in to watch a new movie or TV show with friends, family and a bowl of popcorn, chances are whatever you’re watching is based on a book. New films like “Lessons in Chemistry,” “The Color Purple,” “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and so many more came to life on paper before the screen. In an attempt to resurrect itself in a declining era, Hollywood is turning more and more to literature for inspiration. In this returning era of book adaptations, I’ve returned to the age-old question: is the book truly better, or have entertainment companies cracked the code to perfecting on-screen renderings of classic novels? If you asked me, an avid book reader, this question a few years ago, I would have laughed in your face –– especially after watching the dismal “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” movies released in the 2010s. However, recently, literaturebased movies and TV shows have exceeded my expectations and made me think maybe I was a little too rigid in my prior derision. “Red, White & Royal Blue,” which debuted as the number one movie on Prime Video worldwide in July of 2023, demonstrates that some book adaptations are worth a watch but not better than the books they’re inspired by. “Red, White & Royal Blue” was based on Casey McQuiston’s novel of the same name; the story follows the romance between Alex,

Riordan. This series encapsulates the lighthearted drama and adventurous spirit of the original book series, published in 2005. By staying true to the plot and including diversity throughout the cast, this series is an accurate representation of how I remember envisioning the books when I first devoured them. Ultimately, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to movies and books, but this year has made it clear that book adaptations can be successful, especially when the author contributes to making their vision become an on-screen reality.

A comic series by guest illustrator Jonah Block

The Coat of Arms Editor-in-Chief...............................................Tatum Herrin Print Editor..........................................................Andrea Li Online Editor................................................Lizzie Freehill News Editor.................................................Geoffrey Franc Opinions Editor.......................................Alyssa McAdams Arts & Lifestyle Editor................................Sonia Dholakia Sports Editor..............................................Devon Schaefer Spread Editor................................................Amelie Giomi Social Media Director......................................Jacob Reich Creative Director........................................... Amber More Copy Editors.........................Miki Kimura, Eleanor Kinder Marketing Director....................Claude Kingsley-Williams Video Editor.................................................Caroline Clack Assistant Arts & Lifestyle Editor.................Lucas Kawamoto Assistant Sports Editor.................................Asher Darling Assistant Spread Editor....................................Sienna Lew Assistant Opinions Editor.............................Aaron Widjaja Adviser...............................................Miles Bennett-Smith Staff Writers..........................................Noah Levin, Julia Livingston, Maren Mulloy, Bianca Putanec, Anya Ramani, Rafe Weiden

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Opinions

February 2, 2024

What Should Menlo Students Use as Their Go-to Water Bottle? by ELEANOR KINDER

When walking throughout the Menlo campus, you’ll often find students sporting water bottles of various shapes and sizes –– and for good reason. Carrying around a reusable water bottle is eco-friendly, necessary to stay hydrated and (some might say most importantly) it’s a cute accessory. But which brand comes out on top? I took it upon myself to test and compare three different brands that I often spot in Menlo students’ backpacks: Hydro Flask, Owala and Stanley.

1st Place: Owala

3rd Place: Stanley

A newer brand of water bottle is Owala, which has gained popularity since it was founded in 2020. One version of this bottle in particular, the FreeSip, has become popular for two main reasons — first, it features a unique lid that has both “sip” and “swig” functions because of the structure of the built-in straw, and secondly because of its variety of vibrant color options. In fact, every type of Owala bottle comes in at least three different eye-catching colors. This bottle is leak-proof and opens with the simple push of a button. Another perk is that Owalas tend to be cheaper than the other two bottles on this list, standing at $37.99 for the 40 ounce bottle, but the quality is just as good, if not better. Owala was even named one of the Best Inventions of 2023 by Time Magazine. Owala has become a popular water bottle brand around the world, and it’s time for Menlo to hop onto the trend.

Stanley bottles, which seemed to dominate the holiday wish lists of teenage girls in 2023, were actually created in 1913 to cater to men who enjoyed hiking and the outdoors. It wasn’t until 2017 that Stanley’s Quencher bottle drew the attention of young women. The Stanley Quencher has double-walled vacuum insulation to keep drinks cold or hot for a very long time. Also, the shape of the bottle incorporates a narrow base that comes in handy for fitting in a car’s cup holder. One flaw brought by this shape, however, is that it can be clunky and hard to handle, and the narrow base makes it easy to knock over. Their large size means they can be heavy when full as well. Though they’re a bit less pricey than Hydro Flasks with a price of $40 for a 40 ounce tumbler, Owala does beat them out in terms of best price. Though Stanley water bottles have changed a lot since 1913, dare I say for the better, it’s time to ditch the Stanleys and find a better alternative.

2nd Place: Hydro Flask

Staff illustrations: Maya Stone

Many people have succumbed to the temptation of the wide variety Hydro Flask offers. Founded in 2009, some may think that this water bottle’s time has come and gone. In reality, it remains a go-to for consumers. In 2019, US water bottle sales surged 42%, reaching $318 million, with Hydro Flask dominating the market. Hydro Flasks are vacuum insulated, allowing cold drinks to stay cold and hot drinks to stay hot. They also come in countless colors and sizes, along with various types of lids, so each student can find the perfect one for themselves. Hydro Flasks are on the more expensive side of the water bottles on this list, with a 40 ounce bottle averaging at $50 depending on the cap of choice, but everything that they offer makes it worth it. Hydro Flasks are already very popular at Menlo, but for good reason. They should remain a go-to water bottle brand.

Students Should Keep an Open Mind About Menlo Plays by AARON WIDJAJA

Currently, members of the Menlo drama department are working tirelessly to prepare for their production of “Antigone,” which hits the stage from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4. However, the participation numbers for the play are considerably lower than they were for the fall musical of “Something Rotten.” Why is that? It’s my impression that, when thinking about auditioning, many students are more hesitant to participate in productions they consider boring.

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Even if the play might not be your forte, I believe that you should try something new first and make judgments later, rather than the other way around.

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Theater lovers at Menlo seem to favor modern and peppy productions like “Matilda” or “Mean Girls” over older and more slow-paced ones like “Antigone.”

Personally, I think Menlo students should have an open mind to both participating in and attending all types of productions regardless of popularity, as failure to do so limits opportunities for a successful show, fosters inaccurate predispositions and promotes a culture of staying in your comfort zone. Firstly, a message for aspiring actors: you should try to participate in plays even if you don’t know much about the story, as doing so supports the Menlo drama team as a whole and makes production easier. Many roles are necessary for a play to come to life, including the leads, the chorus and some minor characters that appear a couple times throughout the play. No matter the role, they are essential for a play to work. Often, there is a wide variety of cross-changes — when an actor changes from one costume to another in a short amount of time — that characters must partake in for various scenes. Unfortunately, without enough people, actors are forced to take on more than one role, making cross-changes significantly more complicated. So don’t shy away from participating in a play just because it covers an unknown topic. When I tried out for “Something Rotten” myself back in the fall, I did not know anything about the plot, roles or expectations of the play and also had no acting experience at all, so I naturally felt a bit awkward and out of place. I was in a new community, the theater community,

and I was very unfamiliar with its inner workings. At the same time, though, I wanted to try something new, so I took my chances and decided to try out for the play. I had my apprehensions, especially after hearing stereotypes about “theater kids” and how “weird” they were. However, in joining the play I discovered those stereotypes are completely untrue and made to put down people who expressed themselves differently than others. I ended up having a great time and stepping out of my comfort zone. Lastly, a message to all Menlo students: holding double standards prevents you from trying new things, which in this case might be both performing and witnessing a new favorite play. As children, we were always told to be adventurous, even if it doesn’t seem appealing. This is especially true for theater, where there are so many possibilities for one to try. At first, you may think that a particular play isn’t appealing and that you won’t enjoy participating or watching. But most often that is simply not true, and how would you know if you’ve never tried it? You could be stopping yourself from having a memorable and rewarding experience. Even if the play might not be your forte, you should try something

new first and make judgments later, rather than the other way around. Also, even if you did not like the experience, at least you made an effort; that in itself is an accomplishment. Overall, I do not agree with the double standards that students put on these plays, as it hampers the chance for everyone to engage in a productive play, imposes unnecessary expectations, and restricts the ability to explore new things. I hope people can get past this barrier to have fun and amazing shows.

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Arts & Lifestyle

February 2, 2024

Behind the Curtain of “Antigone,” Menlo Drama’s Modern Retelling of a Greek Classic

by JULIA LIVINGSTON

The Upper School winter play “Antigone” opens Friday, Feb. 2 in Menlo’s Spieker Center for the Arts. Juniors and seniors may have preconceptions of “Antigone” from reading it during their freshman year in English 1, but director Steven Minning hopes to surprise them with his bold interpretation, capturing the audience using modern mannerisms and costumes. The production follows the story of the protagonist, Antigone, as she defies the king’s decree to bury her brother, leading to a contorted, yet tragic, outcome. The story explores what it means to be human deeply and philosophically, according to Minning. “It’s a very powerful drama that is as relevant today as it was when it was first written 2,500 years ago,” Minning said. “It’s even probably more relevant, given the political nature and temperature of our country today and around the world.”

It’s a very powerful drama that is as relevant today as it was when it was first written 2,500 years ago. Director Steven Minning

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Minning selected the show to broaden Menlo Drama students’ theater repertoire. “We’ve done Shakespeare, we’ve done French Renaissance, we’ve done modern comedies, older comedies, dramas, but we’ve never done a Greek play before,” Minning said. According to Minning, the challenge will be to overcome the general public’s rather ingrained perception that a Greek play is old-fashioned and boring. Senior Beti Essa, who portrays Antigone’s uncle Creon, hopes no one avoids seeing the production due to preconceptions from the original book. Because Menlo Drama is doing a modern rendition, it is designed to be easier for the audience to connect to and understand compared to the original. “It’s the same Antigone, the storyline and the baseline, but we’ve made it our own,” Essa said. One major difference between “Antigone” and past Menlo productions is that “Antigone” has only eight characters, an incredibly small cast for a Menlo-produced play. By comparison, the fall musical earlier in the school year, “Something Rotten,” had 22 characters. But Minning believes a small cast can have its benefits. “It’s more of an intimate process because there’s not as many schedules to deal with and you get to know the

“Antigone” cast members work with Steven Minning during rehearsal. Staff photos: Chloe Lee

students on a much more individual basis,” he said. “My favorite part of rehearsals is having everyone participate in the creation of ‘Antigone.’ As we’re [rehearsing], I’m asking the actors to watch what we do and if they have suggestions or thoughts to speak up right then. But with a larger show that is not always possible,” Minning said. Senior Amory Healy, who plays lead protagonist Antigone, agrees that the cast is actively involved in the creative process, sharing their input to help Minning achieve his vision for the play. “All of us give pointers to each other about how we think a line should be read or how we think a movement would work or what looks best and what doesn’t,” Healy said. “It creates a very collaborative space and supportive community.” Because of the small cast, Minning has taken the creative decision to limit the auditorium to a capacity of 86 people. The stage setup envisioned is called “in the

round,” where the audience will be seated on the original stage and circle the smaller built-in stage. “I chose this to make the experience more immediate and intimate,” he said. “The audience will be right there with the actors watching them so that the experience will be unique and the audience and the actors will feel very different. It’ll be a much more exciting experience.” For the actors, the “in the round” stage does pose new challenges because the audience is watching from three sides. “It’s harder to cheat out [towards the audience],” Healy said. However, the actors appreciate the new stage setup because of the opportunity to have a bigger impact on an audience intimately gathered around the storytelling. “I feel like within that space, we can have different emotions and be able to convey their message stronger,” Essa said.

CoA Mini Crossword by GEOFFREY FRANC

Across: 1. Schafer, for one 5. Farewell, in Madame Chung’s class 7. To put on again, as with a rain jacket 8. Menlo photoshoot destination 9. ____ Buco (Italian dish)

Down: 1. Places where one could store marbles or coins 2. _____ Joy (famous Beethoven piece) 3. Animal skins 4. Highlighter colors 6. “Do ____ others…” (golden rule)

Scan QR code for solutions

Arts & Lifestyle

February 2, 2024

Parent Teams Embrace Inclusivity With Grade Pre-Parties by ALYSSA McADAMS

In the past, there had been some informal pre-parties, and there were concerns that some students didn’t have a pre-party to attend. Junior class team parent Susan Edwards

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Each grade at Menlo, in the middle and upper school, has their own parent team composed of volunteer parents who sign up for that year, according to 11thgrade team parent Susan Edwards. The teams typically meet once a month and members chair or co-chair particular events for their grade, such as Random Acts of Fun, parent hikes or Moms’ or Dads’ Night Outs. Semiformal pre-parties fall under their list of responsibilities. In particular, this means finding a venue and organizing food, drinks, music, activities and decorations with the help of a small budget from the Menlo administration. It was important to the Menlo administration and class deans that students can all attend their own preparty because it aligns with their core values of inclusivity and community. “In the past, there had been some

informal pre-parties, and there were concerns that some students didn't have a pre-party to attend before the dance,” Edwards, who is a co-chair of the 11th-grade pre-party this year, said. “Everybody is welcome at the full-grade pre-party, with or without dates.” She also emphasized that the pre-parties serve as a way to get the parents involved so they can see the students dressed up with their friends or dates before they leave for the dance. For the past few years, freshmen have had their pre-party on campus. Freshmen in particular may still be acclimating to Menlo by the time the semi-formal dance rolls around, and the idea is to give students a convenient place to be together beforehand. “We hope that [the pre-party] creates a sense of bonding, community and excitement for the event,” Freshman Class Dean Sabahat Adil said. Menlo’s campus serves as not only a convenient but also a comforting location for ninth graders. Adil acknowledges that walking into a full-school event can be the most intimidating part of the night for freshmen, and hopes that the on-campus pre-party can enable freshmen to simply walk over to the dance in groups after the pre-party. This eliminates the stress that may come from figuring out how and with whom students will arrive to campus. Though Edwards and her co-chair acted early when it came to reaching out to Menlo parents to see if they’d be willing to host for the juniors, this year there was no family who could provide a venue. Many families who traditionally host for the 11th-grade class were already booked for a different event in the spring, such as one of the Parents’ Night Outs. Others couldn’t fit 200-300 people in their backyards or didn’t live close enough to campus. “We had some families who were in Hillsborough or Los Altos who were willing to host, but we just don’t want the students and the parents driving too far away before coming back to campus for the dance,” Edwards said. The lack of interest could have been a result of more than just the tricky logistics of hosting — the opening up of your home to hundreds of people. Junior Brett Frauenhofer and his family decided to host the gradewide pre-party when Frauenhofer was a sophomore, but stormy weather caused the function to move indoors. “There were around 250 people all packed inside one big room and it took a lot of work to make

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sure everybody had a good time,” Frauenhofer said. “I’d say it was worth it, but I could understand why the way last year’s pre-party went could deter other families from volunteering to host this year.” The junior parent team had to think quickly when it came to finding an alternative for the venue. They considered budget-mindful options like the Menlo cafeteria or the Menlo commons before finally deciding on the Sequoia room at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Though hosting it on Menlo’s campus would be easier to pull off, the team had to be mindful of limited parking spots and the fact that freshmen and sophomores were considering using campus for their pre-party as well. “[The Sequoia room] is a great space with an outdoor patio and a great sound system for music,” Edwards said. She and her co-chair are planning on arranging a photo booth and catering food from Chick-fil-A.

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Especially as we get older, it’s awesome to host full grade events because it creates a sense of unity in our grade. Junior Avani Ganesan

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Each year before the annual semi-formal dance, students come together with their friends or dates to take pictures, grab a bite to eat and socialize before heading over to campus. Menlo administration, however, recognized the need for an inclusive place for all students to meet with their grade, as some students found themselves without a place to go beforehand. The solution? Fullgrade pre-parties hosted by a volunteer Menlo family. These pre-parties, however, prove to be tricky, as they require immense dedication and effort from the volunteer hosts. Because of this, it makes sense that they don’t always work out as planned.

No matter where the pre-parties take place, it is the goal of the parent teams that students will have a fun evening filled with activities, good food, music and an opportunity to hang out with both their friends and family before heading over to Menlo. Junior Avani Ganesan, whose family will be hosting the prom pre-party for her grade, agrees with these values. “Especially as we get older, it’s awesome to host full-grade events because it creates a sense of unity in our grade,” Ganesan said. “It’s extremely important that we feel comfortable talking to each person in our grade and developing a sense of community before we graduate and head off to college.”

Arts & Lifestyle

February 2, 2024

10 Tips for Lab assistants Your Single Valentine’s Day (It’s Okay)

Continued from pg. 1

by ALYSSA McADAMS

1) Exchange Valentine’s baskets with friends! Who needs a sweetheart? 2) Watch your three favorite rom coms (top recommendations: “Ten Things I Hate About You,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”, “When Harry Met Sally”) 3) Add 100 new people from Snapchat Quick Add 4) Third wheel your cuffed friend’s date night so you can live vicariously through them! 5) Buy a dozen of Krispy Kreme’s heart-shaped Valentine’s Day donuts and eat every single one by yourself

Buxton appreciates Hosobuchi and Sidow’s organizational skills. “They’re always on top of things,” she said. “[We] have never had to postpone a lab or anything like that, because it’s always ready when the teacher does need it.” Hosobuchi and Sidow must order materials weeks before a lab so that they arrive on time. Sidow enjoys the flexibility of the job and the varied tasks she can complete, from management tasks to more menial ones, that ultimately benefit the students. “Just knowing that what I do benefits students is also rewarding,” she said. Hosobuchi and Sidow’s schedule is dependent on the labs that need to be carried out during the day. “We can be doing any one of our many tasks at any time, just depending on what’s coming up,” Hosobuchi said. “We have to be really responsive to what the needs are of the teachers.” Because Hosobuchi and Sidow set up and prepare the labs when students are not in the classroom to avoid disrupting teaching, their interactions with

students are limited. Sidow notes that students rarely approach her unless they ask her lab-specific questions when she is in a science classroom. “I do enjoy being behind the scenes and supporting but it’s also nice to be seen once and a while,” Sidow said. “And so, just the understanding of like, oh there is someone who is doing the work of setting up and taking down the labs and being mindful of that, even that is enough for me.” She encourages students to approach her and say “hi.” Similarly, Hosobuchi wishes students were more aware of all of the behind-the-scenes work required to carry out their labs. “We are intimately involved in instruction through the labs,” she said. “It

would be great if students [could] have a better understanding of why we’re in there with carts and what we’re doing when we’re setting up. We work probably just as hard as the teachers to help [students] get the education that [they] receive.”

6) Quickly swipe past your friends’ Valentine’s Day Instagram stories 7) Read the cute messages on the back of the candy hearts out loud to yourself 8) Tell your family members you love them so you can at least hear somebody say it back 9) Buy one of those Costco 8-foot teddy bears and hug it for a couple hours 10) Tell yourself next year will be better! Staff illustrations: Amber More

Staff photos and collage: Amelie Giomi & Amber More

Selected Student Profile: Ryan Li by GEOFFREY FRANC

Q: When you’re at home and it’s a rainy day, what do you like to do? If I have free time, sometimes one thing I do is I get a book, and I’ll put on headphones and read the book while listening to music. It’s very relaxing. I think like 70% of the time I end up falling asleep. Q: What’s on your bucket list for before you graduate? I’m hoping that one thing I can start doing is staying after school because I feel like only recently I was able to start actually hanging out with friends and doing things that weren’t academic related. Another thing I really want to do is go on field trips. Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Denmark or Switzerland. I think those are both really nice places in Europe, and they both seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. There’s nothing really controversial happening. I feel like being able to live in such a relaxing place where there’s not so much stuff happening would be nice.

like a big, three-horn goliath. I feel like you could not find another animal that has three horns. It’s like a triple unicorn; it multiplies the coolness.

Q: Do you have a hot take of the day?

Q: What three things would you bring to a desert island?

I think math, especially Menlo math, has got to be the least useful subject at school. Q: Do you have a favorite animal? Can I answer this in two parts? CoA: Yeah! I have a favorite dinosaur, and I really need to share this: my favorite dinosaur is a triceratops. I feel like a tyrannosaurus is so basic, but a triceratops is literally

My other favorite animal is a frill-necked lizard. It’s ferocious, but it’s small and cute.

Q: What is your biggest fear? What I’m really afraid of is that when I die, I won’t be surrounded by people that are dear to me, and I’ll die alone.

If possible I’d bring a cell tower, a phone and a water bottle. Hopefully I wouldn’t be staying on a desert island for too long. Or I could bring a Jeep. I think driving around in a Jeep in the desert would be pretty fun. If I’m bound to go out, I might as well go out in style. Q: What are three words you would use to describe yourself? Analytical, deliberative and spontaneous.

Ryan Li performing as a witness in the 2023 San Mateo County mock trial competition. Photo courtesy of Li

Arts & Lifestyle The Great Pizza Debate: CoA Reviews Menlo Park’s Best (And Worst) Takeout Pizzas February 2, 2024

by GEOFFREY FRANC & SONIA DHOLAKIA

We had one afternoon and one mission… find the best takeout pizza in Menlo Park. Our pizzas were evaluated on the following criteria: cheese, cheese-to-sauce ratio, crust, and value. We gave a combined rating on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being Menlo pizza and 10 being the best takeout pizza. Note: 10 is not the best pizza ever, as gourmet pizza at a higher price point (à la Che Fico — be sure to check out our recent review of that on menlocoa.org) is not covered under this review, but it is rather the best pizza to order for a birthday party or cozy night in.

Mountain Mike’s: 5/10 Sonia: This was our cheapest pizza at $16.99, and that was apparent from the first bite. I was disappointed by the sauce ratio and found that there was far too much crust with not nearly enough sauce. With no tomato flavor, it just felt like I was eating cheesy bread, not pizza. The thick crust was good, but not enough to make me forget the lack of flavor overall.

Amici’s: 7/10 Sonia: I always thought Amici’s was overpriced, but compared to Round Table it’s a bargain. At $17.75, it had the best crust-to-sauce ratio by far. It’s certainly a different style of pizza –– far more oily and with a paper-thin crust. But this New York style did not disappoint. You could really taste the quality of the cheese and the brick-oven cooking method. Geoffrey: Here, Sonia and I diverge. While I’ve gotten over my “Amici’s tastes like vomit” phase from childhood, the pizza is so thin that there is basically no sauce. Such unique flavors from the cheese need to be balanced by sauce, but too often I felt I was eating a white pizza. And although Sonia raves about the thin-crust, we should disclose that she did not eat any of the outer crust. My guilt about food waste compelled me to eat the crust, but one could hardly call it food. Its cardboard properties made it frustratingly challenging to bite through despite its thin nature. That all said, I enjoy the unique texture and flavor of their pizza (minus the outer crust), and it was certainly better than Round Table and more enjoyable than Mountain Mikes.

Geoffrey: The sauce was admittedly drowned out by the inches-thick crust, but the combination of the thick crust and a slightly high cheese-to-sauce ratio kept the cheese from sliding all over my hands without making the cheese layer unnecessarily thick (à la Costco). Sonia: We should have tried Costco! Geoffrey: Mock trial has made me so tired of Costco pizza.

Avanti: 10/10

Sonia: In my opinion, Avanti wins for both value and food satisfaction. It was $18.40, our second most expensive pizza but by far the largest. Quality wise, Avanti is also the winner. The cheese was high quality, and even though you couldn’t really taste the sauce, it was a result of too much of this decadent cheese, not too much flavorless crust. Geoffrey: My cousin once said (and I have since maintained) that Avanti tastes like laser tag pizza. Most take that to mean that I look down on the quality of ingredients, but the reality could not be more different. The outer crust strikes the perfect balance between dough and crunch, and under the sauce and cheese the crust is just thick enough to hold its own, preventing grease and sauce from spilling onto laser tag equipment, for example. The sauce-cheese ratio was perfectly balanced, and each brought out the other’s flavors without overloading my palate. Contrary to Sonia’s take, I think their sauce was the only one that shined. With the added bonus of having the cheapest 14-inch pizza, I think we may have found the perfect takeout pizza at Avanti.

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Sonia: I admit, the ends of the crust do not compete with the rest of the pizza. But I would go to Amici’s every day (and twice on Sundays) to avoid what we consumed from Round Table.

Round Table: 2/10 Sonia: There are over 400 Round Table restaurants across the nation, and Menlo Park is blessed to be the home of “The Original Round Table.” But no amount of pizza history can make up for the “pizza” itself. The most expensive pizza, at $18.99, was small and not noteworthy in the slightest. While I could taste the sauce slightly, the crust couldn’t decide if it was supposed to be thin or thick, leading to a most basic, bland pizza. Geoffrey: Round Table was a huge disappointment. For one, there was basically no sauce. Like, nada. And the crust, oh my God the crust: with its off-putting taste and cardboard texture, I felt like I was eating cauliflower crust. Not to mention it was simultaneously our smallest and most expensive pizza. It wasn’t as bad as Menlo pizza, but then again, Menlo pizza doesn’t cost $19. Shame on you, Round Table. Shame on you.

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We might not have been able to find the best pizza in Menlo Park. That being said, we definitely determined that some places are worth ordering from more than others. If you want the biggest bang for your buck, Avanti high-quality pies are the way to go. But if you desire a more traditional New-York-style pizza, the Amici’s sticker shock is not nearly as bad as you may guess. All in all, we recommend you avoid the major chains and stick to the Bay Area’s local establishments.