In a sleepy town like Los Altos, everywhere is closed by 6 p.m. This devastating reality can drive many into screeching fits of rage, in which many students curse the fact that there is no place where students can celebrate the hours they are not in school, unless—could it be—the place is the school itself.

Ultimate Frisbee, Hide-and-Seek
Since last spring, junior Scotty Bohrer and just friends have utilized the school as a base for their nighttime social life. Despite have a core group of seven or eight people, the group has been about to attract up to 30 for games of Ultimate Frisbee and hide-and-seek.

“It’s kind of adventurous,” junior Chelsea Satterwhite said. “You kind of see the campus in a whole new way.”

Scotty said that this seemingly unconventional decision came from his and his friends’ desire to meet and play Ultimate Frisbee. Because they couldn’t make the time to meet during the day, they decided to meet at school at night and play there, using a glow-in-the-dark frisbee.

“It’s just a whole new game in the dark,” Scotty said. “All you can see is the frisbee; you can only hear the voices. You just hope you don’t run into someone.”

According to Scotty, the students soon lost interest in Ultimate Frisbee, although they did want to stay on longer. They soon began a game of campus-wide hide-and-seek, and the two activities are played at regular get-togethers, whether end up at school or (in the event that the campus is busy) at someone’s home.

“If I had to describe it, I would say it’s exhilarating,” junior Max Napier said.

The group usually meets on Fridays or Saturdays but has not met in “about a month.” Despite a brief hiatus from playing since the end of summer and the rare trouble from the police for being out past the 11 p.m. curfew, the group has resumed playing as of the start of the second semester.

Lap Tag
The school will soon be home to another nighttime social gather. Senior Marissa Palmor and some friends recently decided to have games of Lap Tag at the school, a game Marissa learned while on a youth group retreat.

In the game, pairs sit in a circle, one on the other’s lap, except for one person without a partner. The solo player class the name of two people in the inner circle and those two people have to touch the feet of the solo player. To complicate the game slightly, the partners of the two people called try to restrain their partners by whatever means necessary.

“It turns into a big wrestling fest,” senior Rachael Wolber said.

The partner of the player that touches the feet of the solo player becomes the next solo player, and the game continues indefinitely. Marissa said that once the weather clears up, she would like to make it a good, fun thing that students can drop in on for a while, though “you’d definitely need a while to recover between games.”

The group has met once already (though not on campus, due to rain) and plans to play on campus after some time to recover. Rachael said that the games has a very “spirited atmosphere” and that she would “definitely” go back to play again.

“If you’re not into the party scene, there’s not really that much to do in Los Altos,” Marissa said. “I love the fact that students are find things like Lap Tag or Ultimate Frisbee to have fun in an otherwise dead town. It gives you hope.”

Regular Nighttime Events
Even on nights where students are not meeting up for a game of Ultimate Frisbee or Lap Tag, the campus is still alive at night. Sports practices or games, as well as school functions, are frequent throughout the year. Now in build season, the Robotics team can also be seen working late nights through February 19.

The school is also host to the MVLA Adult Education that runs Mondays through Thursdays. Anyone 16 or older can register to take a class.

Greg Robbin, who takes the Spanish Introduction course on Wednesday nights, is very happy with his class.

“I love it,” Robbin said. “Arlene [Pilling] is a great teacher.

Classes go from 7-9 p.m.; the Spanish Introduction course currently has about 20 students. Amanda Day, also in the Spanish Introduction course, says that the classes are “pretty affordable” and are filled with “good times.”

For more information or to register for a course, visit mvlaae.net.