SHIVA VEMIREDDY - EPIC
letter from the editors Dear readers, To those who are unfamiliar with us: welcome to the Epic! And to our returners: thanks for not abandoning us. The new year brings in its own surprises, so we’ve featured the newest additions to our campus. From new history teachers (pg. 2) to the recently added student-work program in the cafeteria (pg. 3), the Epic has all the details. For more serious pieces, turn to the indepth section for analyses of Lynbrook’s social pyramid (pg. 10) and the recent wave of online activism (pg. 12). And finally: to learn more about ASB’s possible cancellation of Winter Formal. as well as the student body’s responsibilities in these decisions, flip to our staff editorial (pg. 6). Here’s to hoping we have another great year—for us editors at the Epic, of course, but also to all our readers, new or otherwise. Happy reading, Kristen Wong and Stephanie Lu
Katherine Orozco Katherine Orozco comes from a family of teachers and has always been surrounded by the teaching environment. Before she came to Lynbrook, she was student teaching at Sunnyvale Middle School and served as a substitute at many different schools. This year, her first year teaching at a high school, Orozco teaches five classes of World History. She is also currently working toward a master’s in education. “Teaching is about mentoring and being a role model, and I love that aspect of the job,” said Orozco. “In high school especially, students may need a role model to guide them, and I love having the opportunity to do that.” She enjoys teaching at Lynbrook because she sees the motivation and drive in the students, something she noticed is hard to find in many other schools. Outside of school, Orozco loves to play tennis and read books. “I have a lot of favorite books, but I most enjoy reading ‘The Metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka,” said Orozco. “I think that the book is awesome and hilarious, and the whole aspect of it being weird attracts me.” Orozco can also speak three languages fluently: English, French and Spanish. She grew up in Nicaragua, so Spanish is her native language. Orozco has set many goals for her students this year. “My goals for my students this year are to develop their language skills, so they are able to articulate events in history and state their positions, because history isn’t only about remembering dates,” said Orozco. “I’m excited to teach at a school where kids are so responsible, and the staff is very supportive. It’s like I’m part of a big family.”
Steven Roy Steven Roy is a U.S. History and World History teacher at Lynbrook this year. Inspired to start teaching because of his experiences with helpful and unhelpful teachers from his past, Roy wants students to learn and enjoy the material in a similar way to how he enjoyed his classes taught by good teachers. Roy just completed student teaching at Wilcox High School after getting his teaching credentials and master’s degree in education at Stanford University. “I’m really passionate about my subject,” said Roy. “I like focusing on historical thinking skills, so it’s not just having students memorize things from the textbook, but having them actually do the work of historians.” Having graduated from Monta Vista High School, Roy is familiar with FUHSD. He believes that at Lynbrook, all students are here to learn, to succeed and to get better. Roy has many years of experience tutoring high school students and college students, and also working with executives in many fields. Some of his hobbies include hiking, reading and walking his dog. He also enjoys woodworking, metalworking, working on cars, and fixing things. Having traveled to Istanbul, Roy loves to travel, and would like to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia sometime. “My wife and I were interviewed by the Turkish News in Istanbul,” said Roy. “We stumbled into a 50,000 person Free-Palestine protest, and the news singled us out to ask us about our thoughts.” With his strong passion for history and his large amount of experience, Roy is looking forward to teaching at Lynbrook.
SHIVA VEMIREDDY - THE EPIC
Denise Stuart Denise Stuart is a new teacher for the Voyager program, a therapeutic special day class for adolescent students with social and emotional problems, and is teaching environmental science and U.S. History there. On the main Lynbrook campus, she teaches environmental science and the Learning Skills class. Before teaching at Lynbrook, Stuart taught at Summit Public Charter High School in Redwood City. Stuart has had a strong interest in teaching since she was a young girl. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I got swayed to go into engineering because I like the hands-on part of science,” said Stuart. “I used to teach my brothers when I was around eight while playing ‘school’ with them. My passion for teaching started back then so it was my calling to become a teacher.” In her free time, she loves to go to music concerts and plays, and enjoys all forms of theatre, from drama to comedy. From her journey through high school to college, Stuart played many leading roles in a variety of plays. She also loves to travel. “I’d really like to teach overseas,” said Stuart. “I want to go overseas and work there for a year, but it won’t be any time soon. I think it would be a great way to explore and learn about different cultures.”
SHIVA VEMIREDDY - THE EPIC
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his school year, Lynbrook is welcoming 12 new staff members, ranging from teachers to paraeducators to food service assistants to counselors. Four teachers share some facts about their life and their experiences before joining Lynbrook.
Paige Robinson Paige Robinson, a Lynbrook alum, is a new World History teacher this year. After majoring in history at CSU Monterey Bay and recently getting her teaching credentials at UC Davis, Robinson came back to Lynbrook as a first year history teacher. “I like history because it’s a story, whether it’s looking at wars, politics or religions,” said Robinson. “For history, going chronologically just makes sense in my mind, as opposed to these abstract ideas like finding imaginary numbers or understanding chemicals. As people, we already understand half of what’s going on, it’s just understanding the terminology that historians have given it that makes it more challenging.” Robinson makes sure that her lessons are helping students learn as opposed to just finishing assignments. For this reason, she has discussions in class about homework and classwork and makes sure that everybody is participating. “I feel like I’m more equipped to help students that are struggling, because I’ve been through the stress of Lynbrook and can help students succeed through the mistakes I made so they do not have to make them,” said Robinson. Besides teaching, Robinson enjoys swimming and playing water polo. She is coaching girls water polo at Lynbrook this year. “I love coaching water polo because I get a chance to share my experience with the players,” said Robinson. “As a kid, I was always on the pool deck, and surrounded by the water. My life has always revolved around the pool.” As the school year progresses, Robinson wants to be able to help her students grow and learn history more efficiently.
Lynbrook celebrates fifty years at Jubilee BY SHIVA VEMIREDDY & HARSH JAIN
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n Saturday, Sept. 12, students, alumni and staff members gathered to celebrate Lynbrook’s 50th birthday at the Jubilee. Lynbrook began teaching its first classes in 1965, but a lot has changed. Students gathered on the quad that morning to represent their clubs, volunteer or have fun. Many of the clubs there sold food or had activities that everyone could participate in. For the visitors, food was sold on trucks which were driven on campus. The Jubilee was an opportunity for many students to get points for volunteering. Students from Link Crew were in charge of different stations: games, photo booth, arts and crafts. Junior Hope Safranek, a Link Crew leader, volunteered in the Cove, where every issue of the Epic and Valhalla yearbook since 1965 were laid out. “It gave alumni a walk through the past, as I saw many look through the yearbooks
and chat about their time at Lynbrook,” said Safranek. Amid the reminiscences, Dan Chase and Vince Stornaluolo, two activists from Lynbrook’s class of 1970, tell their story about getting the dress code removed from the school system. “Dan and I struggled like every other high school student now,” said Stornaluolo. “But there was a big difference. We weren’t allowed to keep our hair longer than three inches, women could not wear pants, and we didn’t like that idea because we got suspended all the time.” “We were stoned one day,” Chase added. “And we wanted leave our mark on our school.” “So, we decided to form a more perfect union by trying to abolish the dress code,”said Stornaluolo. I guess you could say we were the campus radicals.” Many acclaimed members of the San Jose/Cupertino community also came to speak at the Jubilee. The headline speaker
was Congressman Mike Honda, who just won his recent election to retain his position as congressman. Other speakers included councilmember Evan Low, Spanish teacher and alumnus Julie Morelos, history teacher Jeffrey Bale, ASB president and senior Prashant Pokhriyal, principal John Dwyer and various other alumni. “I thought it went pretty well,” said Mr. Tuana, one of the organizers of the event. “We were happy with it. The speakers did a really nice job; I think they articulated what Lynbrook was about..” The ceremony was concluded by cutting Lynbrook’s very own birthday cake. “It was pretty obvious that over the years, certain things haven’t changed like the spirit, quality of students, and the care for the teachers, and everything else like that,” said Honda. “The Jubilee was great because it is always important to celebrate who you are and where you come from. And school spirit never dies.”
PAST AND PRESENT | Visitors reminisce about previous years in the memory room
FUTURE VIKINGS | Kids create viking hats at a crafts station
ALL PHOTOS BY SHIVA VEMIREDDY
SHIVA VEMIREDDY - EPIC
BY ESHANI MEHTA
SHIVA VEMIREDDY - T HE EPIC
new arrivals on lynbrook’s staff
IMPARTING WISDOM | Mike Honda poses with ASB president Prashant Pokhriyal