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The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

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The Talon

News
Opinions
- Columns
Features
- Homecoming Court
Arts & Culture
Sports
In-Depth
Editorial
Print
Guest Write

More

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Search this site

The Talon

News
Opinions
- Columns
Features
- Homecoming Court
Arts & Culture
Sports
In-Depth
Editorial
Print
Guest Write

More

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Search this site

Freshman class council to have five representatives
By Michelle Jacob, Staff Writer | October 15, 2024
STEAM Week at Los Altos returns for its 20th anniversary
By Manya Sikka, Staff Writer | October 14, 2024
Girls water polo defeats Palo Alto in close overtime
By Janavi Ramde, Sports Editor | October 8, 2024
Instagram’s “Teen Accounts” aim to provide protection for minors
By Jolie Lu, Staff Writer | October 8, 2024
New CIF heat regulations interrupt school sports
By Shannon Chiang, Staff Writer | October 7, 2024

News

Column: An overview of September news

Column: An overview of September news

By Milan Grbovic, Editor-in-Chief | October 5, 2024

Presidential Debate Vice President Kamala Harris debated former President Donald Trump on topics such as the economy and immigration. The Tuesday, September 10 debate — the first between the candidates...

The first day the new multipurpose space opens to Los Altos High School, a building looking out into the pool.

The pool pavilion introduces new multipurpose space on campus

By Kathleen Zhu, Copy Editor

Student competitors dive for the ball in ASB’s Spikeball tournament, attempting to stop it from hitting the ground.

ASB hits the mark with annual Spikeball tournament

By Alex Zuccaro and Michelle Jacob

US History co-teachers Christa Wemmer and Stefaan Lodge helping students during a lecture.

LAHS doubles its number of co-teaching courses

By Tyler Elman and Annabelle Lee

Culinary II's Behind the Scenes

By Michelle Jacob and Manya Sikka | October 15, 2024

Los Altos High School's Culinary II class teaches students the art of cooking and food preparation. Watch behind the scenes of students preparing to cater for the MVLA College Fair.

Senior Kelsey Nguyen is entering her second year as Green Team Co-President.

Meet Kelsey Nguyen, Green Team Co-President and environmental advocate

By Anna Roman, Staff Writer

Students work on translating Latin phrases while Latin teacher Krista Greksouk answers their questions.

AP Latin: A class and a community

By Marcus Gao, Staff Writer

A group of forensics students observing a crime scene as a part of a lab.

Forensics class turns classroom to courtroom

By Manya Sikka, Staff Writer

Sports

The Los Altos High School varsity girls volleyball team celebrates together after winning a point.

Scouting Report: Bumping Up the Talent

By MC Teixeira, Staff Writer | October 3, 2024

The Scouting Report is back with some hard stats. This edition focuses on Los Altos High School varsity girls volleyball, led by 13-year Head Coach Peter Kim, and includes a play-by-play of some of its...

Senior Sophia Costa and sophomore Evelyn Zhang jump to block a hit.

Varsity girls volleyball triumphs in Mountain View rivalry game

By Alex Zuccaro, Staff Writer

Doubles 1 player senior Tyra Bogan runs through a high-five line after announcing her match-up.

Varsity girls tennis defeats Cupertino in third game of the season

By Carolina Yi, Staff Writer

Connor Salita committed to Colorado College in August.

Connor Salita verbally commits to Colorado College soccer

By Lev Zeiger, Staff Writer

Members of the Slam Poetry Team at Nationals, which they qualified for by winning the 2023 Unified
Poetry Slam. The dissolution of the Unified Poetry Slam Competition brought the team to a halt.

Future of LAHS slam poetry team remains uncertain

By Annabelle Lee and Jisoo Hur | October 2, 2024

For the past seven years, the Los Altos High School Slam Poetry Team has competed in the annual Unified Poetry Slam, a Bay Area competition for...

Volare rehearses for the upcoming Fall Festival.

Performing Arts Department set to host Fall Festival

By Sahana Srinivasan and Jisoo Hur

Chappell Roan opens for singer Fletcher in Vancouver.

Chappell Roan makes a supernova with her portrayal of lesbianism

By Sara Lahr, Senior Writer

Senior Julia Fung and Rose Madsen ’24 perform at a fundraising concert.

Carols for a Cause celebrates 5 years of singing

By Anna Roman, Staff Writer

lahstalon

Following the resignation of former football Head

Following the resignation of former football Head Coach Mike Garrity, last week, Los Altos High School appointed new Head Coach Mark Adams.

“Losing a head coach at this point in the summer was unfortunate and I wanted to step up and contribute,” Adams said. “High school football was invaluable to me on many levels and the players deserve to have a great experience. This was just too exciting to say ‘no’ to when the opportunity was presented.”

Adams’ own football career entailed playing as quarterback for the Division I Boston College Eagles from 1983–1986. From 2013–2014, Adams coached the Mountain View Marauders, a local Pop Warner team.

“As I don’t know the team yet, my goals are more tied to growth, development and competitiveness,” Adams said. “As a coach, I have a single goal to make sure the players have a great experience and a lot of fun along the way.”

Photo courtesy Mark Adams
Story by Dorie Xie

Photos by Oscar Johnson, Sahana Srinivasan, Matild

Photos by Oscar Johnson, Sahana Srinivasan, Matilda Haney Foulds and Manya Sikka

On Friday, May 24, Los Altos High School’s annua

On Friday, May 24, Los Altos High School’s annual red carpet, Oscar-style event took the Eagle Theater stage. The Night Film Festival showcased films that Film Analysis students worked on throughout the second semester. Organized by Film Analysis teachers Susana Herrera and Robert Barker, the festival honored the hard work and dedication of seniors who completed their final projects.

The judging panel, librarian Gordon Jack, former Film Analysis teacher Sasha Jones and math teacher Teresa Dunlap, crowned three winning films:

The top film was Day 387 by seniors Joey Braun, Gijeon Gerdes, Manuel Gonzalez Stocker, Paavo Lahdesmaki and Sam Stein.

Second place was awarded to Video by seniors Isamu Britt, Eric Dogan, Daniel Field, Leo Gardner and Thomas Riordan.

The third place film was seniors Passenger Princess by Annelise Hein, Paavo Lahdesmaki, Razvan Popescu and Abby Wang.
“Film can be an emotional experience - some films make us laugh, make us cry, make us happy and make us sad. Each film manipulates us to feel a certain way based on the purpose of the film,” Film Analysis teacher Susana Herrera said.

Story by Summer Li
Photo by Ellie Ji

This year, the celebration for Pride Month at Los

This year, the celebration for Pride Month at Los Altos High School was kicked off at the Gender Sexuality Awareness club (GSA) Pride Gala. Held last Friday, May 31, the event’s theme was “Fantasy” — attendants were encouraged to dress to the theme however they felt comfortable.

“It's meant to be a safe space for queer people to dress in ways that would otherwise be difficult,” GSA president junior Mei Ozawa said. “But anybody is invited to have fun.”

“The event fits in with our greater hope of GSA being a place for LGBTQ people,” Trisha Bhattacharyya said. “We definitely try to bring representation to the community, and with the Pride Gala being an event where it's all about celebrating self expression, I think it very much aligns with our mission.”

A large part of organizing the event was budgeting. GSA, having to balance between spending money for the event and keeping prices low, chose to prioritize the latter.

“It’s an expensive event to put on, but we want to have low ticket prices to make the event as accessible as possible,” Mei said.

Conversations about the Pride Gala started all the way in August. There were obstacles along the way, including communication, which according to GSA member junior Trisha Bhattacharyya, was “challenging.” However, it was a net positive experience for GSA members who worked on the project.

“Logistics were difficult to figure out, but it was really exciting,” Trisha said. “Seeing the Pride Gala come together at the end was absolutely the most memorable part.”

Story and photos by Jolie Lu.

On Thursday, May 23rd, LAHS Advanced Science Inves

On Thursday, May 23rd, LAHS Advanced Science Investigation researchers hosted their annual ASI symposium. The Talon interviewed rising and current ASI students to discuss the significance of their presentations and the benefits of the class.

Video by Sahana Srinivasan and Joseph Wang

Staff Storytime: Kelly Coble Coble's dog rugby ta

Staff Storytime: Kelly Coble

Coble's dog rugby tackles life with vigor!

Video by Ishika Modi

Last week, ASB hosted their annual dodgeball tourn

Last week, ASB hosted their annual dodgeball tournament in the gym. Team Klay Thompson took home the win, defeating the Kings in the final matchup for the title.

Video by Jisoo Hur, Michelle Jacob, and Marcus Gao

On Tuesday, May 21, Los Altos High School’s stud

On Tuesday, May 21, Los Altos High School’s student choirs performed in a final concert in the Eagle Theater. The event was organized by choir teacher Lauren Diez and aimed to invite the community to enjoy the music students in Choral, Concert Choir, Bel Canto and Volare worked on throughout the year. With just their voices and passion, the choirs hoped to bring beauty and inspiration into people’s lives through their songs.

“It’s really special to share those moments through live music,” Diez said.

Story and photos by Summer Li and Joseph Wang.

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Students gather in remembrance of the people harmed in the 2018 Parkland High school shooting in Florida.

America, your school shootings need to stop

By Sara Lahr, Senior Writer | October 5, 2024

The subject of the graphic is an eye to signify awareness and consciousness. The multicolored iris represents the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, while the wisps of rainbow surrounding the eye show its increasing growth and acceptance in society.

Faye’s Expressway: Like the river

By Anonymous | October 5, 2024

Running against one another this November, nominees Donald Trump
and Kamala Harris speak at rallies in hopes of strengthening their campaigns.

I’m not watching any more presidential debates, and you shouldn’t either

By Tyler Elman, Senior Writer | October 5, 2024

The Talon's board candidate endorsements

The Talon's board candidate endorsements

October 5, 2024

The November 5 election will decide the makeup of the Mountain View–Los Altos School Board. The School Board decides policies on programs and...

The Talon’s 2024 second semester diversity audit

June 6, 2024

COVID-19 & Monkeypox

Last week, LAHS distributed COVID tests, and they will continue to be available this week.

LAHS distributes COVID tests for winter break

By Matthew Kim, News Editor | December 18, 2022

Next year, LAHS and MVHS will only offer on-site testing down on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

MVLA to decrease on-site COVID-19 testing

By Matthew Kim, News Editor | December 14, 2022

Columns

The subject of the graphic is an eye to signify awareness and consciousness. The multicolored iris represents the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, while the wisps of rainbow surrounding the eye show its increasing growth and acceptance in society.

Faye’s Expressway: Like the river

By Anonymous | October 5, 2024

“No person ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and they are not the same person,” ancient philosopher Heraclitus...

The subject of the graphic is an eye to signify awareness and consciousness. The multicolored iris represents the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, while the wisps of rainbow surrounding the eye show its increasing growth and acceptance in society.

Faye’s Expressway: In our own ways

September 17, 2024

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