The Mark Spring 2023 Vol. XIV Issue II

The Mark

The Official Student Newspaper of Menlo-Atherton High School

A Note from the Editors

we celebrate spring as the season for growth and reflection. It is with that spirit we proudly claim our busiest year yet: we now have two class periods, more journalists than ever, and 500 published stories! In this issue, we highlight some of our favorite stories and recognize places where our community can improve. Check out our spotlight on an extraordinary student band, read our exposé on wasteful District spending, see if M-A’s English teachers could beat ChatGPT, and more. No matter your interests, this issue certainly

, a bi-yearly feature magazine published by the students in M-A’s journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. TheMark is distributed to its readers and the students at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the rights to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity. Submissions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of all M-A The Mark To contact us directly us or send us a submissions , email us at themachronicle@gmail.com

Front Cover and Table of Contents

illustrated and designed by Evelyn Hsy Back Cover illustrated by Olivia Hom

Table of Contents

Bears Doing Big Things

We Need More Block Days

Bear Bites: Taqueria La Cazuela

Faces of M-A

The Rise of Trolling and Antisemitism

Los Hermanos de Oro

You Don’t Need to Suffer in Silence

Satire: The Great Stats-by

Editorial: Club and School Sports

Not-So-Good on Paper Queer

Our Staff

Ella Bohmann Farrell

Emily Buck

Sheryl Chen

Katie Doran

Natalie Fishman

Dylan Lanier

Sonia Freedman

Cleo Rehkopf

Sarah Weintraut

Chase Trigg

Ron Freeman

Olivia Hom

Evelyn Hsy

Megan Lam

Alizée Marquardt

Isabel Norman

Caroline Pecore

John McBlair

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Managing Editor

Managing Editor

Managing Editor

Managing Editor

Sports Editor

Webmaster

Design Lead

Design Lead

Copy Editor

Copy Editor

Copy Editor

Copy Editor

Journalism Advisor

Ella Ahn

Melanie Anderson

Emma Buck

Ada Cai

Celine Chien

Jolene Chu

Jayna Chua

Adrian Deutscher-Bishop

Tessa Ellingson

Angeleah Fayette

Collin Goel

Kira Jones

Ayla Karadogan

Tiffany Karp

Margaret Koenig

Sam Leslie

Eileen Liu

Sidney Loftman

Finn Papenfus

Alex Parikh-Briggs

Lindsay Park

Amala Raj

Michael Roman

Devon Schindler

Natalie Shannon

Ben Siegel

Shakira Spencer

Varsha Sripadham

Malika Vahobova

Helena Warner

Aidan Wescott

Celeste Zucker

Bears Doing Big Things

Accomplished Alumni Share Their Stories

Lucia Esperanza* ‘17: DREAMer & FirstGeneration College Graduate

One of Esperanza’s favorite classes at M-A was Lance Powell’s AP Environmental Science (APES) course. She remembered, “The best part about APES was exploring things we were interested in. Mr. Powell is the reason I decided to go get an

DeBraun Thomas ‘07: Radio Host and Guitarist

“I don’t know where I would be without music. Music is a universal language—it’s a bridge that connects people through space and time.” Thomas said.

Although he was never officially part of M-A’s band, Thomas remembers spending many hours jamming with fellow students in the band room. “I am extremely grateful to band teacher Frank Moura. He never made me feel like I wasn’t welcome,” he said. “Teachers have so much on their plates, and to go the extra mile for students is something I really appreciated and have never forgotten.”

environmental science degree.”

Esperanza applied to college as a firstgeneration and undocumented student. “No one told me that I had to go to college, but I always had the idea in the back of my mind,” she said. “I’m really glad I continued my education. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had just given up.”

Esperanza studied Earth Systems Science at UC Merced and now works helping people sign up for public benefits. She explained, “People call us and say, ‘My house is falling apart,’ or, ‘I can’t pay my bills.’ I wake up every day and I’m like, ‘Okay, I have to go to work, but I get to help people!’”

*Lucia Esperanza is a pseudonym

Francesca Fiorentini ‘01: Stand-Up Comedian, Journalist, and Activist

Fiorentini performed theater with the Lunatics improv club at M-A. “We were the drama kids, but we were cool drama kids,” she said. She directed and acted in plays like Twelfth Night, Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Bye Bye Birdie

Fiorentini especially enjoyed history with Mr. Cotter. She explained, “He always made us analyze historical events through different lenses: political, social, economic, and gender. I still use that framework when I think about history and current events.”

She went on to study Feminist Theory and Colonial Studies at New York University (NYU).

Thomas studied broadcasting at the College of San Mateo, then transferred to the University of Kentucky to study journalism. He now produces shows for WUKY, a radio station of the University of Kentucky.

Fiorentini now regularly appears on an online news show, The Young Turks, and has her own political commentary podcast, The Bitchuation Room “It’s a way to drill down on the serious stuff but also take it all with a grain of salt and poke fun at absurdities,” she explained.

written by Caroline Pecore designed and illustrated by Megan Lam

Senior Caroline Pecore began her column, Bears Doing Big Things, in September and has profiled over 30 M-A alumni since. This column is not meant to be a list of the most accomplished M-A graduates. It is a collection of people with a wide range of experiences who were willing to share their stories. Every M-A alum—and every person—is “accomplished” in their own way, and everyone has a story to tell.

Read more alumni profiles here:

Alexandra Nikolchev ’01: Documentary Filmmaker

“My favorite part about filmmaking is being able to embed myself in someone else’s world,” Nikolchev said. “I like watching others, and I get to do that when I film. It’s very satisfying to watch people see themselves on screen and realize that their story matters.”

Looking back, she remembers her English teachers like Liane Strub, who “made us think about who we wanted to be in the world,” and Joseph Fuchs, who “taught us how to have a meditative view on life.”

Nikolchev studied rhetoric and philosophy at UC Berkeley, then sidestepped into filmmaking at NYU. She spent three years with PBS, producing a variety of short films, including the Emmy award-winning series Crossing the Line at the Border. She later won a Peabody Award for her documentary No Le Digas a Nadie (Don’t Tell Anyone).

Opinion: We Need More Block Days

Regular days feel nonstop and stressful. Based on an anonymous Google Form surveying 85 students and 28 teachers, 58% are interested in adding more block days to M-A’s schedule.

Block day schedules allow for greater focus because students have fewer classes per day and for longer periods of time. In a normal 50-minute class period, teachers have to calm students down from their passing periods and take attendance. This cuts an already short amount of time even shorter, making lessons seem rushed or condensed. An anonymous senior said, “It takes me a little while to get my brain in English or physics mode. I spend the first 15-20 minutes getting into the flow of the class, and once I do I only have about 30-35 minutes to do our assignment or classwork.”

Rather than moving from class to class and being faced with completely different subjects in six short periods, with more block days, students will have more time to explore the same topic in a variety of ways for a deeper understanding.

In addition, more block days could mean more flex times. Flex, if properly implemented, is a useful way to bridge the gap between struggling students and overwhelmed teachers. Having more block days would allow students to get personal help from their teachers during school hours at least four times per week. During flex, teachers can also schedule to meet with students they feel need extra support.

Some argue that shorter class periods work better for subjects that require repetition, like foreign language and math. However, while it is true that students will only go to a given class up to three times a week, they will also receive homework to do outside of class. Because they will usually have their class’ homework due two days later, it’s likely that they will complete some or all of it the following day. This will require students to reinforce their memory recall rather than regurgitate what they learned the same day, which will be valuable for exams.

Looking at the overall trends of all public high schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, it’s clear that the majority of schools have more block days in their weekly schedule compared to M-A. Only 15% of these schools have a two-block-day schedule like M-A, compared to the 61% of schools that have more block days. Meena Narayanaswami, a senior at Palo Alto High School, which has a four-day block schedule, said, “I strongly prefer having a block schedule. On any given day during the week, I’m only thinking about three or four class’ worth of homework for the next day.”

Not only are schedules with more than two block days more common, but they’re also more effective academically. Of the high schools in these two counties that are in the top 50 schools in the Bay Area, 85% have more block days than M-A. Based on the California School Dashboard, which ranks academic performance, public high schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have a notable performance increase correlating to more block days. Importantly, socioeconomically disadvantaged students do not seem to be negatively affected by block-day-heavy schedules.

Considering the many schedules offered at other schools in our area, as well as the improvement that can be made at this school, it’s high time for M-A to block it out. Let’s get the full benefits of block scheduling and create a healthier, happier, and better-performing student body.

written by Jayna Chua designed by Sidney Loftman

Bear Bites

written and photographed by Sarah Weintraut designed by Megan Lam

Driving down Bay Road, you might just miss Taqueria La Cazuela, a quaint, familyowned taqueria with authentic Mexican cuisine in East Palo Alto. Hidden behind a fence and draped in foliage, the little green restaurant bustles with locals and employees from nearby tech companies stopping by for a delicious bite.

Gabriel Sanchez and his wife Mayra Rivera opened the restaurant in 2011 after moving from Mexico. Sanchez said, “My wife liked to cook every day, so when I came from Mexico I started working on making a restaurant. I always liked working in the kitchen with my wife.”

When I walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a fresh vase of pink flowers and a jolly statue of a man wearing a sombrero. The staff greeted me with a smile, and the muted sounds of upbeat music floated into the room from the kitchen. I ordered four dishes: the chilaquiles con pollo, albóndigas de pollo, tacos con frijoles y arroz, and tortitas de papas. As a vegetarian, I was excited to see plenty of meatless options.

The tacos con frijoles y arroz were wonderfully colorful and satisfying. Each bite was packed with flavor; the warm beans and rice blended perfectly with the crunchy lettuce and sprinkled cheese. The sauce tied it all together and the house-made tortillas took the dish to another level.

The tortitas de papas are a great option if you’re looking for a hearty meal and a meat substitute. The outer, deep-fried shell was thin and crisp. The dish was topped with cheese and corn and filled with a mix of cheese and greens.

I enlisted my meat-eating mother to review the other two meals. She said, “As a soup fan, I have to say that the albóndigas con pollo sopa was truly outstanding. The savory broth with meatballs and vegetables made it a generous meal. The extra garnish of onion and cilantro gave it a nice fresh crunch and a burst of flavor.”

On the chilaquiles de pollo, she commented, “It was a great dish—the crispy tortilla chips smothered in a rich red sauce combined with the chicken and eggs was a fantastic combination of textures and flavors.”

“Most of the time I tell people, ‘Everything!’ The most popular things we have are the mole poblano and enchiladas michoacanas.”

With a perfect, crunchy texture the complimentary tortilla chips were the best I’ve ever had. Make sure to have a cup of water handy, however, for the red sauce that comes with them.

Taqueria La Cazuela is a lot more than wonderful food, however. A beautiful and cheery garden borders the outdoor seating area, and Rivera herself maintains and cultivates it. Sanchez said, “The garden is something special for my wife. All the plants that you can see around here are here because she grew them. She loves the flowers, and, especially in the summertime, the garden is really nice because people like to be outside to escape the heat and enjoy it.” I loved the fun trinkets scattered throughout, like little rhinoceros and dove-

The taqueria also displays the work of local artist Pedro Rivas Lopez. Sanchez mentioned that Lopez also works with kids in the neighborhood to inspire them to create art. In summers past, Lopez held events in the taqueria’s garden where children created paintings to showcase in the restaurant. Sanchez said, “If kids have their own art or paintings, Lopez brings them, and he’ll put it on the wall, and families can come and see the art. In the summer, he did some events in the garden. Kids from nearby schools came and they created art and then afterwards we showed them to the community.”

Sanchez reflected on how much the business has changed since opening. He said, “When we started this business, this corner was really, really bad because there was so much crime and people didn’t want to come here because of it. We didn’t sell anything the first week. But now, it’s something that we can share with the community; the crime went down, and now all people can walk around the restaurant and feel safe. The police department are our customers, too. They always tell us we made a difference on this corner.”

Sanchez explained that nowadays people come from as far as Mountain View to get their tasty tacos.

From the mouthwatering food to the comforting ambience and kind staff, this is definitely not a place to miss.

Faces of M-A

designed by Amala Raj and Dylan Lanier

OPINION

More than Graffiti: Trolling and the Rise of Antisemitism

written by Natalie Fishman and Sonia Freedman designed by Natalie Fishman

After M-A administrators found swastikas scrawled on bathroom walls in early December 2022, they responded with a police report, held conversations with M-A’s Jewish Student Union (JSU), and encouraged students to make appointments with social-emotional counselors. In Principal Karl Losekoot’s message to students on Canvas, he wrote, “As we move forward, it is important that we work together in order to teach everyone in our community about the inappropriateness of such hate speech and images and their impact on us as a community.”

Swift condemnation of these acts by M-A’s administration clearly displayed our school’s commitment to the safety of every student. However, they maintained the assumption that these acts of antisemitism spawned from ignorance, spreading the message that we must continue to “teach’’ to each other that hate speech was unacceptable. The belief that prejudice comes from ignorance gives perpetrators the benefit of the doubt,

which in some cases can be reasonable. Given how much we are taught about prejudice at M-A, it is far more plausible that these antisemitic acts are a type of trolling––the act of intentionally trying to instigate conflict by saying provocative things. Trolls are purposefully controversial, often slinging harmful insults masked as jokes to trigger a reaction. We are often taught to ignore these types of people because of the risk that we will give them the attention they crave. We laugh off painful jokes so that we are not seen as sensitive. However, by not calling them out from

However, by not calling them out from the start, we become bystanders in “casual” antisemitism.

the start, we become bystanders in “casual” antisemitism.

The issue of antisemitism at M-A is more than just a single swastika— as Jewish students, we have been targets of “jokes” that draw on anti-Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories. Senior and JSU President Jackie Nassiri said, “In ninth grade, I was called a k*ke by an older kid for wearing my Star of David necklace. I was taken aback.” Further, immediately after Principal Losekoot’s Flex Time webinar, we

witnessed numerous students joking that they drew the swastikas themselves. Importantly, male students commited

Importantly, male students commited every case of antisemitism we have heard or experienced ourselves.

every case of antisemitism we have heard of or experienced ourselves. Numerous studies have found that boys are more likely to use the Internet as a space to be inflammatory and controversial, leading them to fall down the rabbit hole of trolling more often. Because of their anonymity, online forums such as 4chan, Reddit, and Discord act as a breeding ground for hate. These sites blur the line between joking and sincere prejudice and are known for allowing users to post antisemitic slurs and symbols. One trend, for example,

Because of their anonymity, online forums such as 4chan, Reddit, and Discord act as a breeding ground for hate.

encouraged users to impersonate rabbis on other websites to spread anti-Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories. Many of the young men who participate in these forums know they spread lies but are entertained by the shock value of what others post. This makes it more important that male students continue to call out their friends, especially in private, all-male spaces where no one else will hold them accountable.

real life, with trolls seemingly forgetting that they are causing harm to real people, whose ancestors may have been murdered because of the hateful messages that swastikas send.

Between 2018 and 2020, researchers found nearly 10,000 videos denying the Holocaust on YouTube.

According to the U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge Awareness Survey, almost half of the participants had seen Holocaust “denial or distortion” on social media. Between 2018 and 2020, researchers found nearly 10,000 videos denying the Holocaust on YouTube. This does not just happen online. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that the number of antisemitic incidents had increased 36% from 2,717 in 2021 to 3,697 incidents in 2022 alone. This marks a steady increase in antisemitism from 1979, when the ADL began surveying for antisemitic incidents, and a more drastic climb throughout the last few years.

Because of the real-life implications of hate speech, as students, we must

condemn hate speech as soon as we hear it, and cannot let even seemingly small comments be swept under the rug. We will soon be pushed into a less sheltered world, without webinars and Canvas emails, and will need to have the courage to confront uncomfortable situations on our own. Junior and JSU co-president Asher Goodman said, “I have experienced antisemitism from individual people, like being called slurs, but I’ve never had people act with violence. It usually comes from the people closest to me.” Speaking out against friends and peers may seem risky, but the slim chance of seeming sensitive is worth the long-term benefits of standing up for your community.

Shaming individuals in a firm but not cruel way is necessary in order to remind peers that their actions and words are hurtful and unacceptable.

Jewish parent Karen Orzechowski added, “Even if it’s just a swastika on the bathroom wall, we have to nip it in the bud

immediately and take it extremely seriously when we see it in our community, because attacks become less offensive to people when they see things as normal.”

Shaming individuals in a firm but not cruel way is necessary in order to remind peers that their actions and words are hurtful and unacceptable. While you should always aim for empathy and kindness, sometimes you just need to tell them to shut up.

Los Hermanos de Oro

Attending one of Los Hermanos de Oro’s performances is like witnessing magic. Hours pass as they play without pause, laughing and smiling as they captivate the crowd. While they play, an audience gathers, dancing and singing along with occasional whoops and cheers.

It’s obvious from the crowd’s energy that they are far more than just a trio of high school musicians.

The Mexican regional-style music ensemble Los Hermanos de Oro began in fall 2021. It consists of M-A senior and bassist Noel Duarte, alumnus and guitarist Adrian Medina and junior and lead singer Angel Lombera.

Although it has only been a year since their debut, Los Hermanos de Oro has already signed to a record label—BWI Entertainment—and released their first album, El Juego de Amor. They play regularly at house parties, quinceañeras, school events, and more.

They originally chose their band name, Los Hermanos de Oro—the Brothers of Gold—on a whim, but now, it’s part of their lives.

Lombera’s home. Lombera’s father bought them their first set of equipment. “We didn’t have the money, but he did,” Lombera said. “Because he worked hard and wanted us to pursue our dreams.”

Amoroso first invited them to play at M-A on a Feel Good Friday. Soon, they were playing for school celebrations, from Cinco de Mayo to Día de los Muertos. They eventually won M-A’s Battle of the Bands in 2022.

going to win,” Medina said. “We had people dancing, but I didn’t know if that was going to get us to the top.”

happy when they announced our name,” Duarte

written by Celine Chien designed by Ben Siegel translated by Ada Cai photos courtesy

said, beaming. “That’s when we knew our dreams were coming true.”

“From there, it just kept going up. We started getting offers from records but didn’t take them because we had just started and wanted to do our thing,” Duarte said.

After Battle of the Bands, the group decided to compose their own music.

Their first song, “Su Regresar,” was a dancing melody about a heartbroken young man who eventually found love and happiness.

“We were so happy when they announced our name,” Duarte said, beaming. “That’s when we knew our dreams were coming true.”

“I honestly feel proud of accomplishing this, looking at how much time we’ve had together,” Medina said. “I’ve been focusing on making more music but still appreciating all our success at the moment.”

of The Boys and Girls Club

Music is a part of me, it’s a part of my life. I feel like they’re family now. La música es parte de mi, es parte de mi vida. Siento que son familia ahora. ”

Pronto, ellos estaban tocando en una variedad de celebraciones escolares, desde Cinco de Mayo hasta El Día de los Muertos. En 2022, ganaron la Batalla de las Bandas.

“No pensaba que íbamos a ganar”, Medina dijo. “Teníamos gente bailando pero no sabía si eso nos iba a llevar encima”.

“Estábamos muy contentos cuando anunciaron nuestro nombre”, Duarte dijo radiantemente. “Eso era cuando sabíamos que nuestros sueños se estaban cumpliendo

“No pensaba que íbamos a ganar,” Medina dijo. “Teníamos gente bailando pero no sabía si eso nos iba a llevar encima.”

“Desde ese punto, solamente siguió subiendo. Comenzamos a recibir ofertas de discos pero no los tomamos porque solo habíamos comenzado y queríamos hacer nuestra cosa”, Duarte dijo.

Después de la Batalla de las Bandas, el grupo decidió componer su propia música.

Su primera canción, “Su Regresar”, fue una melodía danzante sobre un joven desconsolado quien eventualmente encontró

“Honestamente, yo me siento orgulloso de lograr esto viendo cuánto tiempo hemos pasado juntos”, Medina dijo. “Me he estado enfocando más en la música pero aún aprecio todos nuestros éxitos en este

Las canciones de Los Hermanos de Oro combinan guitarra rítmica con melodías alegres y voces suaves. Incluso sin la percusión, las armonías resonantes de bajo y guitarra crean canciones que son fáciles a

Puede ser que su éxito radica en su energía pero también podría ser por su autenticidad. Los miembros encuentran pasión y consuelo en su música y también un sentimiento de

“La música es parte de mi”, Medina dijo. “Es parte de mi vida. Siento que son familia

“Para mi es duro porque mi madre está

en México y no puede volver”, Duarte dijo. Durante el tiempo de la entrevista, él no había visto a su madre en un año. “Los padres de mis otros miembros me hacen sentir que ella está aquí”, Duarte dijo. “Me dan el amor que mi madre me da”.

A pesar de los desafíos—a veces tocando cuatro a seis horas sin parar, la banda encuentra motivación en la audiencia. “La mejor parte es cuando la multitud canta contigo”, Lombera dijo.

“Es la unidad que tenemos”, Medina dijo. “Desde el principio, automáticamente podíamos tocar juntos. Después de practicar por solo dos días, ya nos entendíamos los unos a los otros”.

Content Warning: this article discusses suicide, self-harm, and metal health.

I have ADHD and depression. Over the past few years, that, plus the stress of trying to do well while starting high school through distance learning, drove me to selfharm and intense suicidal thoughts. I come from a culture that too often discounts mental health problems. Before I was diagnosed with ADHD, my parents told me I was just lazy. When I was first struggling with depression, it took me a long time to build up the courage to tell them. I know what it’s like to have a parent tell you that you’re faking your depression for attention and that your problems aren’t that bad because “everybody feels sad sometimes.”

You Don’t Have to Suffer in

I also know how it feels to struggle with mental health while still aiming for high achievement. My first psychiatrist told me that I didn’t need ADHD medications because I was doing fine in school. He didn’t realize how I would struggle at 3 a.m. while desperately trying to finish assignments that I just couldn’t get myself to do. Or how many “mental health days” I had to take after waking up without the will to get out of bed. For months, I felt bad for using my 504 because I didn’t seem like someone who “should” need it. I wish more people would understand that you may look like you have it together while you’re silently cracking under the pressure.

I’m a straight, cisgender boy. Toxic masculinity tells boys that, to be men, they must keep their real feelings private, can never show emotion,

and self-hatred, to embrace a destructive mentality that’s irrational in hindsight but, without anyone else to point it out, makes perfect sense. After years of searching for solutions, from different medications to experimental drugs, the treatment that I

found most effective was lying in plain sight—reaching out to the people around me.

Over the summer, I met some amazing people who accepted me and invited me into their circle. One day, someone off-handedly mentioned that they were struggling with depression. No one ridiculed or mocked him; instead, people gave him nothing but support. Because of this experience, I tentatively started reaching out to more and more people I considered friends but who didn’t really know me. How could they have when I never had the courage to open up to them before?

They gave me the confidence to share things that, until this point, I had faced alone. They responded with nothing but support and kindness, and I realized that, as scary and difficult as my struggles were, I

Nearly everyone knows what it feels like to struggle with mental health. Even if

them the chance. You might encourage other people to share their stories. Even while you’re suffering, know that you don’t

written anonymously designed by Emily Buck illustrated by Helena Warner

SATIRE

The Great Stats-by

I’m done with my homework. I’ve solved all the problems, responded to every discussion post, and studied each flashcard. It took a few hours, but I’m definitely proud of myself for such a productive day. I had work and practice after school, so it’s pretty late at night, and I’m ready to fall asleep with some light reading.

Reading calms me; it refocuses my thoughts and allows me to escape into a world beyond the mundane existence I’ve become used to as a high school student. I turn the lights down low, and get ready to cozy up with my favorite novel. It’s a pretty light read, nothing too intense. I grab it from the nightstand with a soft smile, because this is truly my greatest joy. The title in big bold letters reads “THE PRACTICE OF STATISTICS: UPDATED,” and my heart warms knowing I’m in for a treat. I’m pretty far into it—Chapter 6.

As I read through the word problems, I grow excited for the end. Not because I’m bored, but because I know what lies in that last chapter—the answer section. My cheeks warm at the thought of knowing these solutions. I’ve even dreamt about it, which is

probably the result of sleeping with the book under my pillow after I’m done reading for the night.

I’m especially excited to see the solution to part B of problem #67 in Chapter 4. It’s been bothering me for the past few weeks. I’ve even come close to the temptation of flipping to the end, but I know this is a violation of the authors’ master plan. In Starnes and Tabor we trust, I mentally repeat.

I don’t see why this book isn’t a New York Times bestseller. My statistics teacher recommended it to help further my understanding, since the content didn’t make much sense to the class when he explained it. I’m so glad he did. This novel has been my constant companion for the past few months, and I really feel like it’s enriched my life. I recommend that you all read it. Even if you aren’t taking a statistics course, it truly is invigorating. It’s managed to single-handedly not only revitalize my love of learning but increase it tenfold, turning it into an absolute adoration of all things arithmetic.

written by Kira Jones designed by Emily Buck illustrated by Helena Warner

Public School, Private Sports

written by the Editorial Board / designed by Celine Chien / photo courtesy

of Jeff Chapman, Bob Dahlberg, Noah Eisner, Patrick Lam, Troy Atkinson

When asked how she found out about M-A girls volleyball tryouts, senior and former volleyball player Calista Schmidt replied, “It’s just an ‘if you know, you know’ kind of thing.”

M-A’s student body comes from a variety of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Our athletics program is highly accomplished, serves almost half of our school population, and deserves recognition for these successes. However, too many of our teams are largely composed of more-affluent students. Some teams— though not all—have a pipeline of players from expensive, private clubs, making sports more exclusive at a school too often divided by neighborhood. Student-athletes on club teams are lucky to have these opportunities to nurture their passion. However, not all students have access to such costly programs.

Private clubs, which can range from $1,000 to $7,300 each season, develop players’ skills and prepare them for school seasons, giving them a significant advantage.

It’s natural for teams to favor club athletes due to their additional training. However,

without proactive outreach to non-club students and providing additional resources to expand teams, we risk perpetuating a system that excludes many of the students who have the most to gain.

When information about how to join M-A teams is primarily distributed through these clubs and through word of mouth, it becomes harder to offer M-A’s rich athletic opportunities to a wider variety of students. The primary goal of a public school’s athletic program should be to provide opportunities for students who don’t currently have them. To that end, we should more clearly publish tryout and pre-season conditioning information and provide medical clearance for students who need it. With more direct district funding, we should also expand teams to increase the participation of nonclub athletes.

One of M-A’s current methods for distributing tryouts information is through email lists formed after students submit clearance packets.

These packets require a professional physical exam that confirms students’ ability to play. However, students are only added onto email lists after submitting their clearance packet and physical exam.

Some students have a difficult time completing their clearance packets before their sport’s tryouts; students interviewed across five sports said they only completed their packet after tryouts, once they were already on the team, which would have been impossible if they had only been informed once on the email list. Some cannot easily schedule a physical exam, and others are simply unaware that they need to be cleared to participate.

M-A’s other means of outreach is through assemblies. M-A Athletics Director and boys varsity lacrosse coach Steven Kryger said, “Admin has grade-level assemblies to make sure that freshmen understand the tryouts for all the different seasons.”

Out of 75 athletes interviewed, 46 found out about tryouts by word of mouth; 16 found out from their club coaches; nine found out through the M-A Athletics website; three found out through Instagram;

and two through M-A Today!. In other words, despite the SportsNet system and freshman assemblies, most tryouts information is distributed through word of mouth and clubs. As a result, our rosters remain composed of students from the same communities.

Additionally, in some of M-A’s sports programs, coaches also head a club team.

Junior Vaughn Freiermuth, who plays on the boys varsity water polo team, said, “I learned about tryouts for water polo because the M-A coach is also my club coach, so I always have communication with him.” 15 out of 18 boys varsity water polo players play for Mid-Pen or the Stanford Water Polo Club.

Sophomore Dominic Auer, who plays for the boys JV basketball team, heard about school basketball tryouts from his club coach at Sonics, who is also M-A’s JV coach. “I’d say half the team played Sonics last year and the rest was scattered,” he said.

M-A’s previous baseball coach worked for Diamond Baseball Academy, but sophomore Angelo Marin-Revolorio, who plays on the junior varsity (JV) baseball team, didn’t play for Diamond. “Last year, about 90% of the team knew the M-A coach because they played for Diamond,” he said.

On the dance team, almost every member attends Captivating Dance by Nona. Junior and varsity Dance Officer Alice Ingelsson said, “The coach for the studio [Nona’s] is also the coach for the M-A dance team. So my studio and the M-A dance team have kind of been connected. I’ve always known about the M-A dance team since I started dancing at Nona’s.”

It’s our job to provide sports opportunities for those who want and deserve them but cannot pay for them elsewhere.

Further, multiple teams have pre-season conditioning requirements that students may not know about if they aren’t already involved in the team or a club. Information for these requirements may be hard to find, as it’s not typically posted on the athletics website. On the girls volleyball team, the freshman, JV, and varsity coaches all also coach for Encore. Schmidt said, “Going into

my freshman year, I was doing conditioning the whole summer because I had heard about it from my club coach. You basically couldn’t make the team if you didn’t do the summer conditioning.”

build relationships with their coaches and familiarize themselves with the team’s playing style, which some students feel gives them an advantage at tryouts.

Marin-Revolorio said, “It’s harder to make the team if you don’t play club, just because coaches don’t really know how you play.”

Auer said, “I still tried out like everyone else, but I think knowing the coach and the coach knowing me definitely gave me a

If M-A coaches already have an existing pool of athletes—often the ones they are also coaching on club teams, or who were on the team last year—they may have less incentive to advertise tryouts and preseason requirements.

On the M-A Athletics website, tryouts information is only published occasionally, if at all. Only a handful of teams post tryouts information on their individual pages. The most recent tryouts information we could find was posted in January of 2022. The one before that, January 2020.

One way teams advertise is through M-A Today!. However, these announcements are rarely frequent nor consistent. M-A Today! Broadcasting records show that, since 2020, more than half oursports teams submitted two or fewer announcements. On the other hand, larger teams with less competitive tryouts, like badminton, swimming, and track, had four to five announcements. Smaller teams who are seeking more players, like girls basketball and wrestling, were on the top of the list, with five and seven announcements respectively. Some sports made no announcements at all.

Beyond just keeping athletes “in the loop,” club and school coach overlap allows club athletes to

couple of advantages. I knew what type of coach he was, and I was more familiar with the drills that he ran, so it was easier for me to pick up on stuff that we were doing. Just having that connection with him and knowing him from a different team kind of meant that he already knew what type of player I was.”

An anonymous parent of an M-A alum who was a serious, long-time dancer said, “My daughter was interested in joining the dance team. It was very difficult to find any information about where you try out or how it works. She did end up trying out, but when she did it was very evident that the majority of people trying out had already had a routine. She did the best she could with the knowledge she had and she didn’t make it. Her not being on the predominant club was definitely a reason why she didn’t make it onto the team because she didn’t have the same tryout routine.”

It’s understandable for athletes to seek out opportunities to practice and bond with their coach.

However, student-athletes should not feel pressured to join clubs in order to build this relationship.

The unintentional consequence of this club and school overlap is that non-club athletes may feel like they don’t belong on the school team either. Even once on the team, many feel compelled to join the predominant club.

Ingelsson said, “I knew probably ¾ of the dance team before joining. A lot of the people that I danced with outside of school [at Nona’s] were already on the dance team. If people on the M-A dance team aren’t already dancing at [Nona’s], most people will start dancing there because our coach works for both the studio and the dance team.”

This year, the new head baseball coach works for Hit Club rather than Diamond. Sophomore and JV baseball player Mateo Cuellar-Koh said, “I definitely think more people from M-A are joining [Hit Club] than they otherwise would.”

The anonymous parent’s experience with their first daughter led the parent to sign up their second daughter, who also is a dancer, for Nona’s Studio. They said, “I saw the issue and tried to be proactive and tried to get her into the predominant club that seems to funnel into the team. She went once or twice but decided to stop because everyone was super tight [knit] and were not particularly welcoming to her as an older dancer with less experience. It was also a lot more expensive than other dance schools.”

The close connection between private clubs and some M-A teams disadvantages students of lower socioeconomic status.

According to an article by The New York Times, private youth sports have become a multibillion-dollar industry, and “70 percent of children from families with incomes above about $105,000…participated in sports in 2020. But participation was around 51 percent for families in a middle-income

range and just 31 percent for families at or below the poverty line.”

The insider culture of some clubs likely discourages students who cannot afford or do not play on club teams from playing M-A sports. Though M-A has recently detracked some courses, most students still remain divided by feeder school and socioeconomics in many of their classes. Sports should be different. Common barriers that divide students in academics, such as language differences and middle school course offerings, don’t matter in athletics. Regardless of which middle school a student comes from or if they’re a club athlete or not, if they want to kick a soccer ball, jump hurdles, or shoot a basketball—

“Going into my freshman year, I was doing conditioning the whole summer because I had heard about it from my club coach. You kind of have to know that there are tryouts during the summer.”

and are willing to take on a substantial time commitment—they should be able to join that team at a public school.

The primary goal of our athletic programs should not be to cultivate small teams of elite athletes but to make our sports accessible to as many students as possible. Club athletes are fortunate to play on elite teams that are committed to honing

their skills. If we allow M-A sports to be an extension of that private system, we disadvantage students who may not have the means to access the same high-level training but would dedicate themselves to M-A’s team. It’s our job to provide sports opportunities for those who want and deserve them but cannot pay for them elsewhere.

Academically, M-A does not work to funnel a small group of students into elite universities but tries to uplift every student from every background—our sports program should do the same. Just as each student has a right to an academic education, they also have a right to the benefits that come with sports.

Additionally, sports are oftentimes one of the only ways that schools can expose students to people from different backgrounds.

Boys JV soccer player and sophomore Gabriel Hermosillo said, “Through playing soccer, I met more white people and brought them into my social circle.”

Chris Saunders, the head coach for M-A’s varsity football team, one of the most diverse teams on campus, explained, “Our racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity is key to our identity as a program. We understand that we are coming from every corner of the District. We have a very shared identity as football players and football team, and I think, in a lot of ways, the glue that binds us is that shared identity.” The football program prioritizes this commitment by ensuring that everyone who tries out and shows up to practice gets placed on a team, even if it’s not varsity.

Estelle Legrand, a sophomore on the cheer team, said, “I’d say the cheer team is very diverse. I didn’t really know any of the people who were on the team, so it was definitely a great way to meet new people and talk to people who I normally wouldn’t have. Most of the people on the team I didn’t even know went to M-A. I got to meet a lot of new people I wouldn’t have talked to otherwise and become friends.” The cheer team is a no-cut sport, which allows those who have little to no dance or cheer experience to still have the opportunity to participate.

M-A’s elite athletes are not damaged by increased diversity of experience on their teams—in fact, they benefit from forming relationships with students they might not have otherwise met.

And while some may argue that we deprive a handful of athletes of the

opportunity to compete at an elite level that could propel them into collegiate sports, practically all athletes who currently do so through club teams can continue to pursue that competitive journey while also reaping the social benefits of high school sports.

Kryger pointed to M-A alum Jeremy Koren. Koren, who is now a Division 1 athlete at Lafayette College, played on some of the best club lacrosse teams in the country. Despite his athletic excellence, however, Kryger explained, “His favorite team to play on was with the M-A kids. A lot of his teammates never played until they got to high school.”

“We’re not the powerhouse of St. Ignatius or Sacred Heart. But he would never have gone to those schools because of the experience he got playing with his friends and having all that camaraderie,” Kryger continued.

Ssports offer social benefits and a myriad of mental health benefits, and incentivize students to improve their academic performance. M-A’s football team serves as a great example of this, with its tutoring programs and Thursday-night team dinners. The team’s pregame dinners build community and team morale, giving the players an opportunity to relax with each other before games.

Sophomore and varsity football player Devin Hyde said, “When I came to M-A, I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot of new faces just from being on the football team because of how extensive it is, and how many people are in it.”

With the tutoring program, students who may care less about academics but love their sport are motivated to maintain their grades in order to continue playing. “The program has tried to shift towards reinforcing the student-athlete idea where the student comes first,” Hyde said.

Many students miss out on these unique benefits when club players fill up M-A rosters. Limited outreach from our sports teams fails to counteract the funneling teams receive from nearby clubs. M-A athletics are restricted by CIF rules that limit its ability to advertise their programs to pre-high school students. On the other hand, club athletes often know their coach and the program’s expectations before they ever set foot on campus.

The football team’s outreach should be a model for all other extracurriculars. Their support system and outreach explain

the team’s diverse composition. They not only place public banners and flyers in the surrounding neighborhoods but also host Youth Football Days, which are free public events held with the M-A Pop Warner Vikings, a non-profit pre-high school football club. Students from nearby middle schools attend, and M-A’s football players also help coach the event, giving kids an opportunity to bond with high school

Private clubs, which can range from $1,000 to $7,300 each season, develop players’ skills and prepare them for school seasons, giving them a significant advantage.

players and learn about the program. Additionally, the football team helps students complete their clearance packets by inviting doctors to campus to clear roughly 50 students who need a physical. This eliminates an obstacle for getting onto the team: those who cannot get a physical from a doctor for financial or transportation reasons can simply get one at M-A. Even so, these physicals can only help athletes who already knew about the team’s schedule and tryouts. This service shows that, in order to increase a program’s diversity, you cannot rely on an email system that you enter once you have had a doctor’s appointment.

Our district should expand funding to reflect that athletics are an essential part of many students’ experiences and should be accessible to all of them.

This year, the girls basketball program held a free grade-school clinic for middleschool students interested in joining the M-A team. Around sixty middle-school students participated in the event: they met current M-A players, learned more about the program, and learned about future tryout dates.

The wrestling team, which advertised on

M-A Today! more than any other sport, has conducted demonstrations in P.E. classes to advertise its program to freshman students. In the past, the boys lacrosse team has partnered with the 49ers Academy to have demonstrations in local middle schools in East Palo Alto. It also has one of the highest numbers of announcements on M-A Today! It is possible that if we increased our outreach to students and more non-club athletes tried out, the composition of varsity teams would remain similar simply because players who play club often enter high school with more advanced skills. To remedy this, sports should expand their programs wherever possible—whether through increasing the size of their teams or creating new non-varsity teams—to allow talented non-club players to showcase their skills and give less-experienced athletes the ability to grow as athletes and be part of a team.

Expanding teams requires more coaches and resources. According to Athletics Director Paul Snow, M-A has been working hard to create more teams, adding freshman boys and girls soccer, girls wrestling, and the forthcoming girls flag football with district funding. The creation of boys volleyball, however, was only due to M-A’s Athletic Boosters, or private fundraising. Accessibility to sports should not depend on private donations, so our district should continue to expand funding to reflect that athletics are an essential part of many students’ experiences.

With almost 60 sports teams, M-A needs a standardized process for distributing information about tryouts and summer conditioning. M-A should require coaches to post this information on the M-A Athletics website and encourage all teams to consistently advertise on M-A Today!

Many M-A teams are working to involve students from all backgrounds, and we should encourage more teams to follow suit. Effective outreach will vary by sport, but the willingness to try new methods is necessary to extend our programs’ reach. M-A’s athletics program is an exceptional opportunity for students to connect with one another and find purpose beyond academics. We should build on the program’s strong foundation to provide that opportunity to more students of all backgrounds.

Your access to private clubs should not determine your access to public school sports.

Not-So-Good on Paper

The Expensive Service Few of Us Use

written by Arden Margulis

designed and illustrated by Megan Lam

When students switched to virtual learning at the beginning of the pandemic, many companies sought to provide schools with technology to help students online. Paper—formerly “Grade Slam”—is a text-based 24/7 tutoring service that the Sequoia Union High School District initially contracted in August 2019 to provide AVID students with text-based support outside of school hours and allow them to submit written assignments to Paper’s Review Center, paying $41,250 for 750 AVID students.

The District wanted to establish a districtwide service; they agreed to pay for Paper to be such a service in August 2021. According to Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Bonnie Hansen, the District chose Paper over other services like Varsity Tutors, which costs $60-$200 per hour, and Tutor.com, which would cost the District $329,000 for one year. Since 2019, the District has paid Paper $649,038.

Since 2019, the District has paid Paper $649,038.

overstates how much individual attention each student receives.

The District paid $289,788 last school year for Paper—that’s $30.75 per student,

Despite

according to District Coordinator of Instructional Technology & Innovation Barbara Reklis. New data shows that, at M-A, 185 students used it during the 2021-22 school year. Altogether, M-A students took part in 976 tutoring sessions and submitted 320 essays for review. M-A students’ access to Paper would have cost the District $68,450, which comes out to $370 per student active last year.

In the first semester of the 2022-23 school year, students used Paper tutoring more. There were 11% more active users last semester than in the entirety of last year, increasing from 185 students in the 2021-22 school year to 205 last semester.

In September, as school was ramping up, 113 students used Paper. Following that peak, usage declined drastically, with

active users dropping 65%. Of the few who tried Paper, many only used it once, which contributed to the decline. Despite the District paying for all 2,123 M-A students to be able to use Paper, in most months, fewer than 2% of students did.

Sophomore Angeleah Fayette said, “I’ve used it once and it honestly wasn’t that helpful. My tutor was trying to be helpful but then she solved the problem in a different way than what we learned in class. It ended up being more confusing, and I ended up saying, ‘I’ll just ask my teacher.’”

One reason students discontinued their use of Paper was its lack of consistency. Though senior Hannah Blunt has used Paper many times, she said, “Recently, especially with higher-level math, a lot of tutors don’t know how to help and they transfer you to different tutors.”

Other students have had issues with being transferred between Paper tutors. Sophomore Nia Sadrzadeh was transferred between tutors three times and spent over an hour getting the answer for one geometry problem.

Recently, according to interviewed tutors, Paper has changed its transfer policy: the company has begun telling tutors to help students with subjects the tutors are not specialized in. One internal memo instructed tutors to use Google or to ask other tutors for assistance.

Paper instructs their tutors to use the “Paper Method,” which Paper’s Corporate

Communications Manager Ava Paydar explained as, “Rather than giving away answers, Paper tutors ask thoughtful questions to assess what students already know—guiding them toward solutions on their own.” Paper’s memos state that, even if tutors aren’t an expert in a subject, they can still help the student understand the question or build the student’s confidence. However, a humanities tutor said, “It feels like none of Paper’s policies have been made by someone who teaches.”

Achenbach said, “I know of one tutor who was punished for transferring a student who asked for help with a Chinese assignment to a Chinese-speaking tutor without trying to help.”

“Paper can be really frustrating since I am just trying to get my homework done. Half the time I feel like I know more than them. Then their responses take a really long time. But I know it’s not their fault since I think they are working with multiple people at one time.”

An anonymous current tutor said, “I can’t help a student with calculus or music theory. Nothing is set in stone, but I think eventually Paper will force me to.”

Blunt commented, “Paper can be really frustrating since I am just trying to get my homework done. Half the time I feel like I

know more than them. Then their responses take a really long time. But I know it’s not their fault since I think they are working with multiple people at one time.”

Paper’s website claims, “The student has the undivided attention of the tutor,” receiving “one-on-one focus.” All five tutors interviewed disputed that. Former tutor Jamie Achenbach said, “Tutors are often working with between three and seven students at a time, rather than in the oneon-one sessions that Paper advertises.” A current humanities tutor said, “They lie to districts about tutoring being one-on-one. I consistently have three to four students at a time.”

However, Paydar said, “It’s exceedingly rare for a tutor to work with more than one to three students at once. In fact, less than

0.8% of time is spent with more than three students in a tutor’s classroom, and we refer to these periods as ‘surges.’ We do everything in our power to avoid these situations.”

When asked about this statistic, four out of the five interviewed tutors said that it did not reflect their experiences.

Furthermore, interviewees said Paper refused to provide them with ten-minute breaks as required by IWC Order No 2-2001. Eventually, the company told tutors they would receive one hour’s pay for every day they were denied their tenminute break, which is the legally required penalty. But Paper required that tutors sign an agreement before receiving this pay. The agreement states, “The information set forth in this Agreement is strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed by Recipient without the Company’s prior written consent.”

One tutor, who asked to be referred to as Natasha, said, “They made me sign this illegal document. The back pay should not depend on a confidentiality agreement. It should be a given.”

Only 9% of students at M-A tried Paper last year, and many tutors also seem discontent with Paper’s administration. Despite this, Paper is valued at $1.5 billion dollars, and continues to grow. As for Paper’s future at M-A, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services Bonnie Hansen said, “The District needs to figure out why usage tapers off throughout the year before they continue the contract.”

Opinion: Our History Classes

The struggles and accomplishments of LGBTQ+ people are rarely honored in our classrooms, contributing to the quiet—and detrimental—erasure of LGBTQ+ history. Teaching queer history is required by law in California, but M-A’s history curriculum falls dismally short, not only failing to comply with our Education Code, but also failing to provide students with the inclusive history curriculum they need and deserve.

At M-A, few classes adequately represent LGBTQ+ people throughout history. One anonymous student said, “In my time here, I have learned about queer history maybe once. I feel like sometimes there are missed opportunities to talk about queer history.” Up until our junior year, neither of us learned about queer history beyond a couple sentences in a textbook or an allusion in a lecture.

Teaching queer history is M-A’s legal obligation: the FAIR Act, which went into effect in 2012, mandates that California schools teach “Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR)” LGBTQ+ history. It requires “instruction in social sciences to include a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other cultural groups, to the development of California and the United States.”

Beyond just the law, inclusive curriculum is crucial because it helps queer students feel welcome, seen, and celebrated. An anonymous M-A student said, “I think a big reason it is important is to recognize that people with queer identities have always existed, and for queer students to know their history.” Sophomore Benji Weiss added, “It validates other people’s experiences and shows all sides of history.”

This year, as Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) leaders, the two of

us compiled a Google Drive folder with dozens of resources and lesson plans on a wide range of queer history topics, sorted by M-A’s history courses for each grade level. We spoke to M-A’s history department in the fall about using these resources, and while teachers were open-minded and receptive—and some even shared their plans to incorporate the lessons we provided— students have not reported learning more LGBTQ+ history this year than in the past.

Nationally, according to the 2021 Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) School Climate Survey, almost three in four LGBTQ+ students said that “their classes did not include any LGBTQ+ topics” at all. Those who were taught “positive representations” about LGBTQ+ history reported feeling a greater sense of belonging at school and were less likely to hear homophobic and transphobic remarks.

The 2022 Trevor Project National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that LGBTQ+ youth who reported that school was not an affirming space were 31% more likely to attempt suicide than those who reported it was.

“It can be very lonely and very isolating to be a young queer person,” said junior Sasha Filippova, one of Nueva High School’s Queer Student Union (QSU) Student Leads. He continued, “Even if you have a support group in your generation, it can feel like you’re a small group of people battling against insurmountable forces. Learning queer history can really help you understand that, yes, there are incredible obstacles, but you’re not alone. People have been succeeding, living under pressure, surviving, and even thriving in the past.”

Allen Frost, who teaches a few queer history electives at Nueva, said, “Many queer teens feel, for good reason, totally marginalized. For our queer students, I think there’s a need to see how queer people throughout history have, in the face of all this

opposition, persecution, harassment, and marginalization, been able to find and make their own communities, and been able to love, lead happy and joyful lives, and resist oppression. And I think that’s really, really powerful.”

Queer-inclusive curriculum also widens students’ perspectives on history, and is important for all students, even those who aren’t queer. Just as teaching about any marginalized group helps all students—not just those who identify with that group— develop nuanced, thoughtful perspectives, studying queer figures and events does too. Learning about activism in the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, would be incomplete without mentioning the Civil Rights Movement, environmentalism, anti-war protests, or feminism; likewise, LGBTQ+ activism belongs on that list too. Teachers should acknowledge queer history in context across time periods, just as they do with other developments; without it, students are left with historical perspectives that don’t honor the truth or complexity of our past.

With little guidance from school leadership, teachers structure their classes differently, choosing which perspectives to include in their curriculum. An anonymous M-A student said, “I think teaching queer history depends on the teacher, because they can choose what to teach.”

Our own different experiences with learning queer history during junior year reflect the inconsistency in both FAIR Act compliance and curriculum inclusivity between teachers. While one of us had occasional lessons throughout the year that centered on LGBTQ+ people and events, the other only had a single ten-minute powerpoint on queer culture in the 1920s. Whether or not students are adequately exposed to LGBTQ+ history is too important to be treated as simply a matter of teacher preference.

With teachers choosing how much queer

Leave Queer Students Behind

history to incorporate in their lessons— and most choosing to incorporate very little—students only learn this history by investing their own time and effort. Junior J Mandelstam said, “The only reason I know what I do about queer history is because I’ve made the effort to learn things by myself, gone to M-A’s GSA, or researched these topics for school projects. And that’s because it’s not taught in schools. What is taught is very surface-level, and for people who aren’t queer, that may be all they really know about our community. I wish it were more.”

Queer history should not be something that students learn only by taking personal initiative, whether through GSA, their own research, or topics they’ve chosen for class projects. Without guidance from their classes, most students, especially non-queer ones, will never explore this history. Frost added, “There’s a difference between letting queer students read queer history and actually requiring all students to read queer history. In the same way that I wouldn’t want just Black students in my class to read Toni Morrison, I would want all students to read that.”

M-A offers Gender Studies, a onesemester course that does incorporate queer history, like pre-colonial gender identities from around the world, texts by texts by LGBTQ+ authors, and the successes of various activism groups. These lessons give students greater respect for the advocacy it’s taken to reach our current, hard-won progress towards LGBTQ+ equality. However, Gender Studies is not enough: most students will never sign up for this course, and some who do won’t be able to take it.

Senior Mezzy Epidendio said, “People need to understand more about queer people and culture—there’s a lot of misconceptions and misinformation.”

LGBTQ+ people

have existed in every country and era that M-A history classes cover, but students and teachers at M-A are too often ignorant about the extent of this history. Many see LGBTQ+ people and activism as modern developments, but when students learn about the extent of queer history, it challenges the misconception that being queer is a recent fad or mental health crisis.

Frost said, “For many teachers, this was not something that they themselves learned about when they were studying.” He added, “Terminology is constantly shifting, and so it can feel really scary for some teachers to be like, ‘Okay, I’m going to wade into this.’

It’s time for teachers to break that cycle, even if it means taking the difficult first step of educating

themselves and initiating the conversation around queer history in their classroom.

I think I’m comfortable being in that space of ambiguity because I’ve read a lot about queer history. Also, I am gay, so I feel like I’m more empowered to talk about these things because it is my own identity. But I think some teachers who don’t know as much might be a little bit hesitant because it is such a politically charged topic, and I also think teachers don’t want to be in a place where they’re possibly offending students.”

Though teachers may initially feel uncomfortable addressing a topic that they haven’t previously learned about, that doesn’t justify continuing to exclude queer perspectives from their classrooms. Doing so only passes on their own gaps in knowledge to students, and reinforces a hesitant dynamic between students and educators whose ignorance makes them too afraid to broach the topic of queer history. It’s time for teachers to break that cycle, even if it means taking the difficult first step of educating themselves and initiating the

written by Katie Doran and Megan Lam designed and illustrated by Katie Doran

conversation around queer history in their classroom. Being honest with students when they’re unsure about certain aspects of queer history is better than avoiding it altogether.

Senior Abi Wee, another Nueva QSU Student Lead, said, “I think it’s irresponsible of teachers and educators to refuse to engage with content that is difficult to bring into the classroom for fear of getting called out. Resources for educators are definitely there.” Indeed, there are numerous resources available—from pre-made lesson plans to guides on terminology—that are designed specifically for teachers looking to craft more inclusive curriculums.

Limited time can pose another difficulty in including queer voices. Frost said, “Your English and history teachers are always going to run up against the problem that we only have so many days in the school year. Making those choices [on what content to teach] is always so difficult.”

Especially in AP classes, teachers may view queer history as a distraction, taking valuable time away from content more likely to appear on AP exams. However, queer history remains an essential part of students’ holistic view of history. Moreover, AP history exam questions are often open-ended, testing students’ abilities to draw connections and bring in outside knowledge—skills where knowing queer history is just as helpful as knowing other parts of history.

There will certainly never be enough time for any high school survey history course— AP or otherwise—to incorporate all the content worth teaching and learning about. Still, at a school where LGBTQ+ stories are rarely even referenced, it’s time we start seeing queer history as an unexpendable part of our curriculum.

Lack of inclusive curriculum is a complaint shared around our school district, not just M-A. Junior and Sequoia High

School GSA co-president Ethan Thacker said, “The majority of teachers don’t mention queer history at all, and even on the off chance that a teacher will mention queer history, it is never in depth.”

Our district hires staff specifically to design equitable professional development plans that help teachers comply with education laws while supporting all students; however, LGBTQ+ voices are too often excluded. Woodside senior Max Valdez, president of Woodside’s Alphabet Soup Club—their organization for queer students and allies—said, “One of my teachers told me that in all the years that she’s worked here, there hasn’t actually been a proper presentation on how to treat queer kids.” While M-A has provided at least some teacher training on supporting

While M-A has provided at least some teacher training on supporting queer students in the last few years, these initiatives have largely been spearheaded by GSA and students, not school leadership.

queer students in the last few years, these initiatives have largely been spearheaded by GSA and students, not school leadership.

The lackluster movement towards inclusive curriculum at M-A and in our district is depriving all students of the “Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful” history they deserve, and it leaves queer students without the valuable knowledge of their

place in history. Junior Logan Greenbaum said, “It’s important for young queer kids to know that, despite how it may feel, they are not the first nor are they the last. They aren’t alone; queer people have always existed.”

As students, we have advocated to teachers about creating FAIR Act-compliant curriculums, presented at professional developments about why this matters, and offered resources to the history department to lighten the load on teachers trying to make this transition, but little has changed. M-A needs stronger involvement and initiative from school administration and teachers on behalf of queer students. It should not be our job as students to ask— repeatedly, fruitlessly—for our school to provide curriculum that affirms us and complies with the law.

This Queer History (And More!) Belongs In Your Classroom

The Lavender Scare

Beginning in the 1950s, the Lavender Scare was a decadeslong effort to fire gay and lesbian people from U.S. government jobs out of a supposed fear that they were communist infiltrators and a threat to national security. The history of the Cold War and the Red Scare isn’t complete without a discussion of the Lavender Scare and how anticommunism became legislated homophobia.

The HIV/AIDS Crisis

The HIV/AIDS crisis disproportionately affected LGBTQ+ people, particularly gay men, and hundreds of thousands of people have died from AIDS in the U.S. alone. In the 1980s and 1990s, at the peak of the epidemic, politicians refused to speak out on the crisis—there were almost 25,000 deaths before President Reagan publicly addressed AIDS at all—and media coverage was minimal. Only when non-LGBTQ+ people saw the virus as a threat to themselves did the government take action. In the face of erasure and indifference, LGBTQ+ people formed their own organizations to advocate for and take care of each other, like ACT UP and the Blood Sisters. Learning about the HIV/AIDS crisis shows students the reality of a devastating time in LGBTQ+ history as well as how community members sought to uplift one another.

Queer Culture in the 1920s and 1930s

This was a formative time for modern queer culture in the U.S., as drag and LGBTQ+ nightlife blossomed around the country, from Harlem to Los Angeles. Studying this so-called “Pansy Craze” and the growth of queer culture, even at a time when being gay or dressing in drag were considered crimes, is a reminder of the resilience and joy of LGBTQ+ people.

Queer Victims of the Holocaust

Gay people were among the groups imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust and, after WWII, many were re-imprisoned as well. The Allies decided not to remove the German law criminalizing homosexuality, and Germany did not recognize gay survivors of the Holocaust until more than 50 years later. Now, the pink triangle—an icon that gay people in concentration camps were forced to wear—has become a symbol of queer pride and resistance.

Gender Before Colonization

Especially before European colonization, many cultures had more fluid or expansive views on gender. From Hijras in Ancient India to Kitesha in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Two Spirit people in some Native American cultures, there are numerous examples of “third gender,” nongendered, or fluid identities from around the world. Exploring global and pre-colonial gender norms helps show students that gender nonconforming people have existed and thrived for millennia.

See GSA’s resources and lesson plans on teaching queer history here:

Do Teachers Look Like Their Pets?

Ms. Wan MCLV Teacher

Ms. King

Precalculus & AVID Teacher

Mr. Saunders Economics Teacher & Head Football Coach

Mr. Hunt World History & AP World History Teacher

Ms. Walsh MCLV & AS English II Teacher

Mr. Amoroso Student Activities Director

Mr. McBlair AP Lang & Journalism Teacher

Dr. Richards Biology & Chemistry Teacher

Co$mo

Cody Ross

Rango

Bert Riley

Macey Cleo

Pudge and Hazel

A: Pudge & Hazel / B: Cleo / C: Macey / D: Co$mo / E: Cody Ross / F: Bert / G: Riley / H:Rango

written by Natalie Shannon designed by Ayla Karadogan

the mastermind behind Lego DeadMadness, a lego stopmotion YouTube channel with 155,000 subscribers and 31 million views.

Bakunin learned how to film stop-motion in his hometown of Kazan, Russia, but abandoned the hobby when his family moved

to a village on the Russia-Kazakhstan border for political and safety reasons. He resumed making stop-motion in 2018, but he had no way to share his videos because he had never heard of YouTube. Eventually, a friend

channel only uses Russian, he now has an English channel as well. Bakunin came to America in 2020, but cannot return home to his mother and siblings without being drafted into the current Russia-Ukraine war.

In Lego DeadMadness, Bakunin has created an expansive universe inspired by movie series and video games. “The characters and all of the animations are a single huge story,” he said. “Basically, I just want to try connecting famous franchises together with my own characters. It’s a mess, but I like it.”

At M-A, Bakunin finds belonging in John

written by Amala Raj designed by Ella Bohmann

Giambruno’s film class and Sarah Frivold’s photography class. of these classes because I’m studying with other people who are also interested in filmmaking,” he explained.

In his videos, Bakunin explores complex themes such as mental health and loneliness. “One scene shows Charlie being alone in the street to mirror the loneliness that she feels. Before this, she had a mental breakdown in front of her friend, but her friend just left her, alone in the street. In this scene, she was alone, angry, screaming, and then she stopped to breathe.”

Lego DeadMadness features diverse characters voiced by Bakunin’s friends, classmates, and parents. However, Bakunin refuses to let his friends from Russia voice his newer American characters because he wants authentic accents. Thus, he recently began hiring professional voice actors to

Bakunin has 155 thousand subscribers and 4.6 million views on his most popular video, based on the popular horror game Five Nights at Freddies 2.

Bakunin said, “Back in Russia, I liked to be the class clown, but I never thought I could be popular. I’m really glad I have people who appreciate me personally, because there’s more to my animations than just adapting existing franchises.”

play English-speaking characters. To create and edit his videos, Bakunin uses a range of tools including fake blood, special effects software, clay, motion tracking, and green screens.

Bakunin blew up after making videos based on the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise. When he first discovered Freddy’s, Bakunin was impressed by the game’s vast storyline, but unsatisfied with existing Lego adaptations, so he decided to create his own stories. He said, “Since I was the first one to actually do it well, that was the reason the channel became so popular. The audience for my Five Nights at Freddy’s videos noticed that I had other videos with the Freddy’s characters going through new adventures, and became hooked on my channel.”

Today, Bakunin’s channel is so popular that it is the subject of fan art, web pages, and videos on other channels. Before Russia invaded Ukraine and YouTube halted monetization of Russian channels, Bakunin made between $400 and $600 a month from his videos, 15-20% of which he spent on tools for making videos.

Prior to this school year, Bakunin planned on majoring in filmmaking. However, one course at M-A changed his post-graduation plans: “This year, I decided to take the AP Art History course. When I took this course, I realized, ‘Wow, there’s so much in the world that I don’t know, and that I want to know!’ Forget filmmaking, I can learn all of that stuff on YouTube. This is what I need. So I’m applying for art history, and maybe I’ll change to filmmaking after a few years.”

Currently, Bakunin’s main project is a massive, feature-length film in English. It will emphasize the human aspects of his characters, especially their inner struggles, pasts, and aspirations. He is currently searching for voice actors at M-A to be part of this project.

Reflecting on his success, Bakunin said, “Back in Russia, I liked to be the class clown, but I never thought I could be popular. I’m really glad I have people who appreciate me personally, because there’s more to my animations than just adapting existing franchises.”

However, online popularity has costs. Bakunin said, “If I analyze my life during the last three years, for each friend I have in real life, I have four online friends. I might become a little bit disconnected from reality sometimes, but I’m working on it.”

National Merit Scholars:

The Older the “Smarter” ?

I cannot tell you how many parents have come up to me over the years and said, ‘Because I read your book Outliers, I held my kid back from starting school, and it was the best decision I ever made.

– Malcolm Gladwell,

Revisionist History

Many parents believe that holding their children back a year will benefit their academic performance. However, our survey of National Merit Semifinalists—students who score in about the top 1% on the PSAT/NMSQT—in our school district suggests that holding your kid back will not in fact help them become semifinalists, as the semifinalists were on average neither old nor young for their grade.

While some parents obtain exemptions for their children and some students subsequently skip or repeat grades, there’s a cutoff for how young students can be when they start kindergarten. In California, between 2005 and 2010, this cutoff was five years old on or before December 2nd. The Relative Age Effect (RAE) theorizes that younger children often perform worse than older children in their grade because they are less developmentally mature, particularly in lower grades when a one-year gap between them and their peers is more noticeable.

Among SUHSD National Merit Semifinalists there is no significant RAE. Admittedly, our sample size of 41 students who started school between 2005 and 2010 is small, and there are many confounding variables.

The graph to the right shows the number of semifinalists born in each relative month. Those between 0 and 12 are a normal age for their grade. Those with negative numbers are born after the typical cutoff for their grade, making them relatively younger, while those with numbers above 12 are born before the typical age cutoff for the grade

above, making them relatively older. The average and median relative months among the sampled semifinalists are 6.44 and 7, respectively. These fall squarely within the normal ages for their grade, and thus do not indicate an RAE.

THE STUDIES

“The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review,” a review of studies that was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that “Relatively younger children in [the] same class groups: (a) obtain significantly lower mean scores in cognitive and motor tests, (b) have a higher repetition rate, and (c) have a less[er] capacity of socialization.”

The review concluded, “In the academic domain, there are significant differences in favor of relatively older schoolchildren. These differences are measurable in cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional performance. Although the RAE diminish at older ages, their long-term (adulthood) impact may be important in terms of further education, income and family savings capacity.”

Dr. Alar Urruticoechea, one of the review’s authors, said that there are studies “that go beyond the educational stage and report a relationship between salary, family life, suicide, etc. and relative age.” Even so, one of the studies in the review did not find any long-term effects.

WHAT CAN REDUCE THE RAE

The review also found that the RAE had a particularly large effect on boys, students in lower socio-economic levels, immigrants, and those with less family support. However, Dr. Urruticoechea noted, “There are variables that could be protective and make these [relative age] effects less important in the development of children, such as family support, teacher training, the adaptation of the center to the needs of the child and not the child having to adapt to the center, etc.”

Our SUHSD semifinalist data does not necessarily mean that the RAE is nonexistent. Because some M-A students come from wealthier neighborhoods like Menlo Park and Atherton, students’ socioeconomic status may contribute to the absence of an RAE. In addition, since we looked only at those who scored highest on the PSAT, our data does not capture whether and to what extent the RAE affects those who score lower. Furthermore, essentially all students taking the NMSQT are at least 15, and the RAE tends to decrease as students get older. Some studies included in the review found an RAE in academics that disappeared by age 15.

That being said, other studies looking at similar metrics have found an impact from the RAE on older students. Dr. Urruticoechea said, “A study, not yet published, that we conducted shows how there are statistically significant differences in favor of relatively older children in the PISA [Program for International Student

Assessment, an international exam taken by 15-year-olds] 2018 tests for Spain.”

WHAT TO DO

Dr. Urruticoechea said that people frequently overlook the RAE and “look for other answers to [students’] difficulties, such as ADHD or other pathologies that can be confused on many occasions with the brain’s own immaturity.”

That said, even if the RAE is correctly identified, reacting to it is not necessarily beneficial. Gladwell noted, “Parents holding their kids back doesn’t solve the problem, it just creates a relative age effect arms race.” If parents of all the younger kids hold their kids back, then those who used to be the older kids will then be the ones negatively affected by the RAE. Then parents of those kids might hold their kids back, disadvantaging the others, and so on. Both the review and Gladwell offered suggestions of how systems can combat the RAE.

Gladwell said, “In Australia, they’ve invented something called Maturity-Based

Corrective Adjustment Procedures—MatCAPs, as it’s known—for provisional use in the sport of swimming.” He suggested adapting Mat-CAPs for use in education by running test scores through “an age correction algorithm.”

“Parents holding their kids back doesn’t solve the problem, it just creates a relative age effect arms race.”

Dr. Urruticoechea highlighted a greater variety of options. He said, “There are authors who propose to make groups and passage between groups more flexible depending on the relative age and abilities of each child, to evaluate each child exactly when they have a certain relative age, to delay the enrollment of these children, [and] to generate support plans, among others.”

IN CONCLUSION

Dr. Urruticoechea added, “I really believe that we should consider the RAE as a variable when researching education and see it for what it is: one more factor among those that can help or not in the teaching/ learning process and make decisions to help education be more inclusive and equitable for all people.”

There is no clear consensus about the extent to which the RAE exists. It would seem from the findings of experts that the RAE exists even when controlling for some other variables. However, there are a variety of other factors that are likely far more important in determining a student’s academic success, including financial and familial support. Our spread of National Merit Semifinalists reflects the RAE’s insignificant influence on academic performance for at least this subset of SUHSD students.

written by Alizee Marquardt designed by Olivia Hom

Faces of M-A

Teacher Tats: Ink Around Campus

Teacher Tats: Ink Around Campus

Kat Keigher

Kat Keigher

the baby arrived, they would use those same scissors to cut the umbilical cord. This gave rise to the story of babies being delivered by storks! I was born at home by a midwife, and both my children were born by a midwife. I am also a seamstress, so this image is particularly special to me.”

However, she added, “Most of my tattoos have little to no significance. I agonized over having an elaborate, symbolic meaning for my very first tattoo, but after a couple more, I realized that they can just be pretty.”

Keigher said, “There is something beautiful about customizing your already-unique body into something that feels even more beautiful and special. Tattooing is unique in that you have to love an artist’s work so much that you’re willing to wear it around 24/7 for the rest of your life.”

Keigher said, “There is something beautiful about customizing your alreadyunique body into something that feels even more beautiful and special. Tattooing is unique in that you have to love an artist’s work so much that you’re willing to wear it around 24/7 for the rest of your life.”

Ronnie Sanchez

Ronnie Sanchez

History teacher Ronnie Sanchez also has nine tattoos. Instead of picking his tattoos out beforehand, Sanchez has a unique tradition: “Every Friday the 13th, tattoo

written by Dylan Lanier

“My favorite part is being able to tell stories about them, share my interests, and support artists in their craft,” Keigher reflected. “Tattoos, for me, are another way to connect with people.”

“My favorite part is being able to tell stories about them, share my interests, and support artists in their craft,” Keigher reflected. “Tattoos, for me, are another way to connect with people.”

parlors will usually have something called a ‘flash sale’ where they’ll lay out a series of pre-made designs created by in-house artists,” he said.

parlors will usually have something called a ‘flash sale’ where they’ll lay out a series of pre-made designs created by in-house artists,” he said.

“They usually cost some variation of the number 13 (e.g. $13, $31, $113, etc.).

“They usually cost some variation of the number 13 (e.g. $13, $31, $113, etc.).

I go out to a different tattoo shop every Friday the 13th and choose a design there; I never know what I’m going to get until I actually show up at the shop.”

I go out to a different tattoo shop every Friday the 13th and choose a design there; I never know what I’m going to get until I actually show up at the shop.”

He added, “I think the most difficult thing about getting my first tattoo was dealing with the feeling of disapproval from my mom, but she eventually got over it.”

He added, “I think the most difficult thing about getting my first tattoo was dealing with the feeling of disapproval from my mom, but she eventually got over it.”

In the future, he said, “You can find me in some tattoo parlor getting new ink every Friday the 13th.”

designed by Sheryl Chen illustrated by Evelyn Hsy

written by Dylan Lanier designed by Sheryl Chen illustrated by Evelyn Hsy

Cat morgan

Cat morgan

English teacher Cat Morgan has three tattoos and loves them all equally. “One is a swallow, one is a half-sleeve of flowers, and one is a full-sleeve on my right arm representing different plants and animals I’ve seen while hiking since I moved to California almost six years ago,” she described.

Impressively, Morgan creates her own de signs. For her tattoo of a swallow, she said, “I left the sketch on my nightstand for six months leading up to my make sure I was set on that design.”

English teacher Cat Morgan has three tattoos and loves them all equally. “One is a swallow, one is a half-sleeve of flowers, and one is a full-sleeve on my right arm representing different plants and animals I’ve seen while hiking since I moved to California almost six years ago,” she described.

Impressively, Morgan creates her own designs. For her tattoo of a swallow, she said, “I left the sketch on my nightstand for six months leading up to my appointment to make sure I was set on that design.”

As for its meaning, Morgan explained, “In earlier times, going out to sea was a dangerous task, and sailors weren’t sure if they return home each time they left. As the stories go, because swallows only fly so far out away from land and over the land and over the ocean, if a sailor saw a swallow while on the way home, they knew they were almost there—even if they couldn’t see land yet. For me, it’s a reminder that even if a goal feels out of reach at the moment, I’m almost there.”

As for its meaning, Morgan explained, “In earlier times, going out to sea was a dangerous task, and sailors weren’t sure if they would actually return home each time they left. As the stories go, because swallows only fly so far out away from land and over the land and over the ocean, if a sailor saw a swallow while on the way home, they knew they were almost there—even if they couldn’t see land yet. For me, it’s a reminder that even if a goal feels out of reach at the moment, I’m almost there.”

Ventura’s largest tattoo, which depicts the shoreline and orange blossoms, was inspired by a myth about her father’s home city of Valencia, Spain.

Ventura’s largest tattoo, which depicts the shoreline and orange blossoms, was inspired by a myth about her father’s home city of Valencia, Spain.

“The collection on my left arm includes flowers native to North Carolina, Geor gia, and California—the three states I’ve called home,” Morgan explained.

“The collection on my left arm includes flowers native to North Carolina, Georgia, and California—the three states I’ve called home,” Morgan explained.

English teacher Ana Ventura tops the list with ten tattoos. “I got them all when I was younger,” she said. “At this point I feel sort of ambivalent about them. Honestly, I don’t

English teacher Ana Ventura tops the list with ten tattoos. “I got them all when I was younger,” she said. “At this point I feel sort of ambivalent about them. Honestly, I don’t

really think about them that much until someone starts staring.”

really think about them that much until someone starts staring.”

Ventura also has literary symbols tattoed to reflect her love of writing and a ruby on

Ventura also has literary symbols tattoed to reflect her love of writing and a ruby on

her calf for her grandmother Ruby. She explained, “I have three matching tattoos with my friend Melissa, mostly because I am not a matching tattoos kind of person, so they’re sort of poking fun at myself.”

“For many years I thought I was done getting tattoos, and maybe I am,” Ventura remarked. “But recently, I started thinking of getting a full sleeve on my left arm. I probably won’t do it, but you never know.”

her calf for her grandmother Ruby. She explained, “I have three matching tattoos with my friend Melissa, mostly because I am not a matching tattoos kind of person, so they’re sort of poking fun at myself.”

“For many years I thought I was done getting tattoos, and maybe I am,” Ventura remarked. “But recently, I started thinking of getting a full sleeve on my left arm. I probably won’t do it, but you never know.”

Ana Ventura

Ana Ventura

ChatGPT: Revolutionizing Education or Compromising Integrity?

written by Ron Freeman, Caroline Pecore, and Cleo Rehkopf designed by Cleo Rehkopf

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the one, the only, the incomparable ChatGPT! That’s right, the language model extraordinaire is back and better than ever, ready to answer all your burning questions with a wit and charm that would make even the most seasoned comedian blush. So, buckle up and get ready to have some fun, because with ChatGPT around, you’re never more than a few keystrokes away from a good time!

Prompt: “Write a funny 250 word intro to a news article about chatgpt.” Generated with GPT-4 on 3/24/23.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms have been available to the public for years through services like Siri, Photomath, and Speechify. In November of 2022, a new and revolutionary program joined the mix: ChatGPT.

ChatGPT enables users to generate fulllength essays based on unique prompts, as well as customize the tone and writing level of written responses. Given this opening for widespread plagiarism, humanities departments across the country are debating the future of English courses and writing in education. In a piece titled “The End of the English Major,” The New Yorker observed the broader trend of declining enrollment in humanities majors and increased emphasis on STEM fields that has accompanied recent

technological advancements. In direct response to the advent of ChatGPT, The Atlantic pondered “The Death of the College Essay,” and The New York Times published an op-ed titled simply, “This Changes Everything.”

To assess these concerns and the current impact of ChatGPT on our community, we evaluated M-A teachers’ ability to distinguish student-written essays from AI-generated ones. We collected 27 sample prompts from different M-A English classes, generated essay responses to them using ChatGPT, and combined them with real M-A- student-written responses in packets of six to eight essays. We then surveyed 11 M-A English teachers to see how well they could distinguish between student and AI writing. The essays included analyses of poems and novels, paragraphs comparing Taylor Swift songs to lines from Shakespeare, narratives about embarrassing moments, argument essays, and more.

To prevent teachers from expecting one student-written and one chatbot-generated essay per prompt, which would not reflect their experiences reading actual assignments, we included two chatbot-generated essays for some of the prompts with two essays.

writing conventions, and is thereby harder to distinguish from AI-generated writing. It’s also possible that the errors in less-developed writing help to distinguish it as human.

Teachers scored relatively high on creative and analytical writing prompts (75% and 73% respectively), but had a hard time correctly identifying the writers of argument essays (55%).

The essays used in data collection were all generated using a version of ChatGPT that ran on GPT-3. OpenAI has since updated this software to generate better answers and have announced that they will be replacing GPT-3 with GPT-4, which runs on more data.

The answers ChatGPT provides will only improve over time as programmers edit the software and add more data to its algorithm. While adding more data isn’t guaranteed to increase the quality of the answers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes that the capabilities of AI will progress at an exponential rate. Additionally, developers are working on AI that can code for AI, which will further speed up this process.

ChatGPT-generated essays can be tricky to identify. However, there are a few common tip-offs that can help distinguish AI from human writing. For instance, essays with sentences that have little variation in sentence structure and length are likely to be AI-generated. AI-generated essays also tend to be more rigidly organized and have a monotonous, robotic tone.

Teachers correctly identified 62% of the essays as written by either ChatGPT or students. They were 33% more likely to correctly identify student-written essays than those generated by ChatGPT. This indicates that teachers are unlikely to wrongly suspect a student of using ChatGPT, but may have more difficulty identifying ChatGPTgenerated writing.

Teachers especially struggled to identify the chatbot’s writing when it was mixed in with essays written by upperclassmen. They had a 53% average accuracy rate on the junior and senior essays, compared to a 79% average accuracy rate on the freshman and sophomore essays. This could have been because the prompts we used for the upperclassmen essays covered topics like the death penalty and novels like The Great Gatsby, which are more widely discussed online and therefore easier for the chatbot to write about. It could also mean that, as students progress through the education system, their writing adheres to more

GPTZero, an app that determines whether a text was written by a human or by an AI algorithm, is able to identify ChatGPTwritten essays with an accuracy rate of over 85% through statistical analysis of these characteristics.

The most incorrectly-identified prompt of all of the essays we distributed was an argument essay written by ChatGPT on a topic it deemed overrated.

Identifying ChatGPT essays on actual assignments is admittedly different from identifying them on a survey. Teachers are unlikely to search for ChatGPT-written essays when they grade assignments as thoroughly as they would on a survey designed to test their ability to do so. At the same time, as one teacher pointed out, “In reality, teachers are familiar with each individual student’s writing style, so it is difficult to blindly identify whether these are written by students or AI if this is not our

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Analytical Essays

own students’ work.”

In an effort to curb cheating using the software, M-A has blocked ChatGPT for anyone using the school’s WiFi. However, students can still access ChatGPT at home, or even on campus if they connect their computers to phone hotspots.

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Weeks after ChatGPT was first released, history teacher Anne Olson caught several students using ChatGPT to plagiarize essay revisions. Olson explained, “When I was confronted with essays that didn’t seem to flow the way that my students’ writing typically does, I was concerned. Plus, there were a few specific alarm bells in the writing such as oddly placed rhetorical questions throughout the paragraphs. I confronted the students about it and they admitted to having used ChatGPT.”

Argument Essays

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Creative Writing Assignments

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English teacher Kat Keigher also caught one of her students submitting a ChatGPTwritten essay. “There were zero grammatical errors, and there was an answer, but it felt very generic. I think it was that sense of vague, generic, superficial observation that felt computer-generated,” she said.

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Olson said, “I’m not anti-AI, but I’m antiplagiarism. If you’re struggling to understand something, AI could be another way to learn, but taking work from ChatGPT and turning it in as your own is unacceptable.”

OpenAI, ChatGPT’s developer, has done little to prevent cheating, even going so far as to say in a statement on Educator Considerations on their website, “We … caution taking punitive measures against students for using these technologies if proper expectations are not set ahead of time for what users are or are not allowed.”

While M-A’s Academic Integrity Policy does not specifically mention AI, it states that students can’t submit “a portion of a document copied from an author, or composed by another person, and present [it] as original work.”

It’s true that ChatGPT answers are harder to detect than answers found using a simple Google search because the platform combines answers from many different sources. However, ChatGPT plagiarism detectors such as GPTZero, Writer, ZeroGPT, and Writefull, which work by reverse-engineering the algorithms that ChatGPT runs on, are constantly improving. Turnitin, a more widely-used plagiarism detection site, is also currently developing technology to detect ChatGPT’s writing. Despite issues surrounding plagiarism, ChatGPT has the potential to change the education system and all of our learning for the better. Perhaps, in the future,

teachers will integrate ChatGPT into their coursework. Khan Academy is currently developing an AI-powered learning tool aimed at making one-on-one tutoring more accessible, coaching students on how to improve their writing, and aiding teachers with lesson planning. Advancing AI could assist with tedious administrative practices, enable foreign language students to practice their conversation skills, or help translate dense, technical academic journals into simpler terms.

ChatGPT has already entered some M-A classrooms as an educational tool. Keigher had her students analyze ChatGPT-written personal statements in class and reported that many were surprised by how good its writing was. She said, “It was a nice reversal of a conversation about writing, because I think the shift in writing and writing education is now that you have to beat the robot. If you’re not writing better than the AI, then you’re not going to excel; you’re not going to succeed. You can use ChatGPT as a starting point, but if you can’t make it better, unique or unpredictable, then it’s not going to be useful.”

She continued, “I think for a lot of teachers, myself included, it means rethinking the sort of prompts we’re asking students to do and rethinking the format of giving the assignments. For example, starting everything in-person as opposed to at home. I think those are good first steps until students understand how to use ChatGPT as a resource rather than as an escape.”

However, incorporating AI into classrooms also brings potential for additional harm. If integrating ChatGPT into the classroom means teachers stop allowing essay revisions or assigning some writing altogether to avoid plagiarism, that hurts the education of all students, not just those who cheat.

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As technology advances, the role of humanities departments will undoubtedly evolve. While many have raised concerns over the relevance of learning how to write with the development of systems capable of writing for humans, writing remains a crucial life skill.

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English teacher Rachel Wan said, “Writing is a way to practice communicating ideas clearly. When you turn in an essay and get feedback, you learn how to be more clear. Writing is a reflection of the thoughts in our brains, and when we learn how to write more clearly, we learn how to think more clearly. When you work with other people, you need the skill of communicating thoughts and not having them be misunderstood.”

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ChatGPT weighed in, “The future of writing and humanities education will undoubtedly be shaped by technology, but it’s important to remember that the human element of creativity and critical thinking will always be necessary to produce meaningful and insightful writing and to fully understand and appreciate the complexities of the human experience.”

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Quiz: Spot The Bot

designed by Cleo Rehkopf

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AS English II Prompt 1: Write a humorous story about an embarrassing moment from your life. Use satirical techniques such as verbal irony, situational irony, and hyperbole.

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AcademyEnglishIIIPrompt:Usingtheargumentspresentedon ProCon.orgregardingthedeathpenalty,writeanargumentfor oragainstcapitalpunishment(thedeathpenalty)intheUnited States.Besuretociteatleastonequotationasevidenceinyourargument. IamfirmlyagainsttheimplementationofthedeathpenaltyintheUnited States.TheargumentspresentedonProCon.org,aswellasaplethoraofother studiesandresearch,clearlydemonstratethenumerousflawsandmoral shortcomingsofcapitalpunishment.Firstly,thedeathpenaltyhasbeenshowntobearaciallybiasedand discriminatorysystem.AccordingtoProCon.org,“AfricanAmericansconstitute 13%oftheU.S.population,but42%ofthoseondeathrowand35%of thoseexecutedsincethedeathpenaltywasreinstatedin1976.”Thisdisparity highlightsthesystemicracismthatpervadesthecriminaljusticesystemand underminesthenotionofequaljusticeunderthelaw. Furthermore,thedeathpenaltyisacostlyandinefficientsystem thatdoesnoteffectivelyserveitsstatedpurposeofdeterringcrime. ProCon.orgnotesthat“thedeathpenaltyismuchmoreexpensive thanlifeimprisonmentwithoutthepossibilityofparole”and that“statesthathavedeathpenaltyhavehighermurderrates thanstateswithoutthedeathpenalty.”Thissuggeststhat thedeathpenaltyisnotaneffectivemeansofreducing crimeandisinsteadawasteofresources.

3

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My childhood was filled with embarrassing moments that would make even the bravest of souls squirm with secondhand embarrassment. But one moment stands out as the most mortifying, so mortifying that I still have nightmares about it to this day. It all happened on a hot summer day, my family and I were at the beach. I was feeling confident and excited to show off my new bikini. I had begged my mom for weeks to buy it for me, and I finally convinced her. I couldn’t wait to show off my new bikini and felt like the coolest kid on the beach. I ran out of the beach house, and headed straight to the water. I dove in the water and started swimming, feeling the waves crashing against me and the sun warming my skin. It was the perfect day. But as I was swimming, I realized that something was off, I felt a strange sensation on my back. I reached behind me and felt something squishy and slimy. I quickly swam to the shore, and as I got out of the water, I realized that the squishy and slimy sensation was coming from my bikini bottoms. I looked down, and to my horror, I saw that my bikini bottoms had a huge hole on the back, and my underwear was showing. I was mortified, my family, strangers and friends were all staring at me, and I could feel my face turning red, I could feel the heat of the sun and the sand on my feet, but I swear it felt like the whole beach was freezing. I quickly ran back to the beach house, and locked myself in the bathroom. My mom came to check on me, and I explained to her what happened, she couldn’t stop laughing. From that day on, I learned that sometimes, things don’t always go as planned, and it’s important to laugh at yourself and not take things too seriously. And I also made sure to always check my clothes for holes before leaving the house, especially my bikinis. And that was the day I learned that sometimes, less is more. And also, to never wear a bikini again in my life, and always stick to one piece bathing suits.

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theASEnglishIIIPrompt(summarized):Writeanessayconnecting characterdevelopmentofJayGatsbyfromTheGreatGatsby byFScottFitzgeraldtothegreatermeaningoftheworkofa whole.

theInF.ScottFitzgerald’snovelTheGreatGatsby,thenarrator,Nick,follows AmericanprogressionofJayGatsby’sstoryandGatsby’sambitiontoachievethe Dream.Throughoutthenovel,Gatsbyisportrayedassomeone life,whowoulddonearlyanythingtosecurehisdreamofattaininghislovein friends,DaisyBuchanan.ThenoveldemonstrateshowGatsbymustdeceivehis thepublic,andevenhimselfinhisattempttobuildastairwayto thehisglorifieddream.FitzgeraldutilizesGatsby’scharacterarctoillustratehow extremeAmericanDreamcanoftennotbeattainedunlessindividualsresortto andoftencorruptmeasures.

Inthenovel,Gatsbydeceiveshiscompanionsthroughliesabouthisfacade drivingastheaffluentandextravagant“JayGatsby”.Forexample,whenGatsbyis withNickinhiscar,GatsbytellsNickthatheattendedOxford,comes Gatsbyfromafamilyofwealth,hastraveledtheworld,andlivedinSanFrancisco. liesaboutnearlyeverythingthathetellsNickinthisscene,andGatsby thatevenliesaboutthingsthatdonotaidinhispersonasuchastheconspicuouslie aboutGatsbylivedinthe“midwest”ofSanFrancisco.ThefactthatGatsbylies nearlyeveryelementabouthimselfillustratestheideathatGatsbyfeels Nick.theneedtocompletelychangewhoheisinfrontofevenhisclosestfriend, Overall,Gatbyisforcedtoresorttoextrememeasuresofdeceit \ totrytogethisAmericanDream.

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Body-ody-ody: Get to Know Yours

Why do we cry when we’re sad?

Save your tears for another day? Researchers believe that crying decreases anger, increases forgiveness, and creates social connection by showing vulnerability. Emotional tears are chemically different from tears from chopping onions––they contain more protein, which sticks onto and runs down our faces slower. These “attention-seeking” tears increase the likelihood of people seeing our tears. How manipulative!

Why do we laugh when we’re tickled?

Laughing when tickled is an automatic emotional response. One theory is that we evolved to be ticklish to protect vulnerable parts of our body, such as our neck and armpits. Scientists found that the movements of someone who is tickled resembles someone in extreme pain. The reason why you can’t usually tickle yourself is because, if you were to try, your brain would know that it’s you “attacking” yourself. There are a few theories for why you laugh when you’re tickled. One goes that laughter is a form of submission to the person tickling you, encouraging them to stop. Your body is basically saying, “You win. Heehee.”

Why do we get brain-farts?

Brain farts, or randomly forgetting information you should know, can occur at any time, from grocery store trips to high-stakes sports games. Also known as maladaptive brain change, brain farts can be detected by brain scans 30 seconds before the mistake occurs. This led researchers to believe that brain farts are the result of the brain trying to preserve energy and rest during repetitive tasks. In other words, your brain wants a time-out!

Why do we get goosebumps?

We can get goosebumps from standing in the cold or listening to Adele while crying in the shower. They occur when our piloerector (hair-attaching) muscles contract in quick bursts to generate heat and adrenaline. When the muscles tighten, the hairs pull the skin up, forming the small bumps. These muscles are connected to our sympathetic nervous system, which is affected by emotions such as fear, pride, and excitement—so it’s quite literal when someone says “you gave me chills.” For our long-haired ancestors, goosebumps made them seem bigger to enemies, which is why we sometimes get goosebumps when receiving a parking ticket in the middle of class.

written and designed by Jolene Chu illustrated by Helena Warner

Our Re-MARK-able Seniors

& Their Journalism Experience in Three Words

collaborative, impactful, UNPREDICTABLE

Aidan Wescott

DRIVING TANGIBLe CHANGE

illuminating, rewarding, aCtion-packed Katie Doran Kira Jones

zealous, collabortive, rewarding

Sidney Loftman

M-A’s most professional

Devon Schindler

fun, insightful, collaborative best experience ever

Meaningful, Creative, InvestigativE

Exciting, Rewarding, Eventful inspiring,

Interesting, Engaging, Impactful

Artsy and enlightening

zest, team, discovery

exciting, inspiring, engaging

Challenging, new, fast-paced

enlightening,

Exciting, interesting, creative

Hilarious, yet purposeful

Incredible, fun, meaningful busy, fun, chill

collaborative, open-ended, aspirational

Fun, Interesting, Collaborative

vivaciously thought-provoking

Isabel Norman

Malikahon Vahobova

Helena Warner

Ella Bohmann Farrell Caroline Pecore Ishita Mishra Melanie Anderson Finn Papenfus

Jayna Chua

Sheryl Chen

Evelyn Hsy

Emily Buck

designed by Sonia Freedman

Which Subject Are You?

Answer Key for Spot the Bot (pg: 35) 1. ChatGPT 2. ChatGPT 3. Student

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created by Sonia Freedman and Dylan Lanier designed by Olivia Hom