Video: The Many Roles of the School Library
Nick Borda, Videographer
February 26, 2018
Filed under Features, Issue-5, Showcase, Web Exclusive
Librarian Gordon Jack discusses the ways the school library has evolved to fit students' needs — from a workspace for all kinds of creative projects to an everyday spot for research and relaxation. Video by Nick Borda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbfJGXydgQ Want to see more Talon vi...
Expensive Resume Boosters Don’t Guarantee College Admission
Emma Kwan, Senior Writer
February 20, 2018
The spreadsheet is meticulously detailed, with rows upon rows of Times New Roman, 12 point font. Each column is labeled differently; one is called “Program Name,” another is called “Application Deadline” and a third is called “Teacher Recommendations.” It’s the season of cold weather and summer...
The Common App: Choose Your Own Adventure
Javin Pombra, In Depth Editor
February 20, 2018
Filed under Columns, Issue-5, Opinions
Ten spots in four years. The Common Application allows you to describe 10 of your extracurricular activities throughout high school. In ninth grade alone, I was planning to fill 12. I had gotten a head start in eighth grade after attempting to get as many meaningless positions as I could to apply to...
The Hippo Lies: Notes From an Admissions Interview
Miranda Li, Print Managing Editor
February 20, 2018
Filed under Columns, Issue-5, Opinions
a“So tell me about yourself,” my admissions interviewer asked. We sat across from each other, cradling our respective hot chocolates. Here are some things I could have said: “When I lived alone this past summer, my phone broke, so my mom mailed me her old one. When it came, it had a single ...
Michael Smith
Noah Tesfaye, Staff Writer
February 17, 2018
The summer following his graduation from UCLA in June of 2001, English teacher Michael Smith got a bizarre phone call. “I got a call early in the morning and it said ‘There's a teaching job up here [at Los Altos]. You may want to take a look into it,’ and the person hung up the phone,” Smith...
Los Altos’ SoundCloud Rappers
Nathan Godderis, Madison Woo, and Max Weirauch
February 16, 2018
First Notes Musicians have to get their start somewhere, and for all three rappers, childhood experience was a foundation to their current work. Born into a musically talented family, Ben Shell grew up listening to his father’s favorite classic rock, his sisters singing, his mother playing piano an...
A Tale of Two Librarians
February 15, 2018
Bustling with activity and chatter, walls plastered with vibrant artwork and hi-tech equipment made available for student use, the Los Altos library defies our typical expectations of what a library is. Instead of pin-drop silence and a serious atmosphere, librarians Gordon Jack and Christine Bridges...
Learning from Intersession: Tailoring Sessions to Students
February 13, 2018
Filed under Editorial, Issue-5
Los Altos’ administration deserves applause for its brave decision to implement Intersession this January. Starting second semester with three non-academic school days and placing necessary conversations during that time can ease student stress and create less interruptions throughout the year. But, of cou...
School Segregation: An In Depth Investigation
Maddie Chu | Emma Van Geuns | Savita Govind, Yolanda Spura | Priya Dixit, Rachel Lu, Madison Woo | Noelle Hanson, Jocelyn Maeyama, Noah Tesfaye, Ian Tseng, Opinions Editor | Culture Editor | Copy/Content Editor | Senior Writers | Staff Writers
February 13, 2018
Investigating the STEM Gender Gap
February 13, 2018
Filed under Issue-5, News, Showcase
Only 10 out of this year’s AP Physics C’s 57 students are girls. In AP Biology, meanwhile, 75 out of 122 students are girls. These statistics are emblematic of larger trends, where girls are pushed toward softer sciences like biology and away from subjects like advanced physics, computer science and c...
Intersession Receives Mixed Reactions
Daphne Ih, Jocelyn Maeyama, and Ashley Cai
February 13, 2018
The pilot Intersession was met with both high praise and sharp criticism from students and staff, and many voiced suggestions for improvements. Of students surveyed by Los Altos’ Leadership Team, 38 percent said they want to have Intersession next year, 39 percent said they might and 23 percent said ...