Online Isn’t Enough: Why In-Class Health Should Be Required

August 14, 2017

It’s unclear whether any student has taken the MVLA School District’s online health class with the intention of learning. The web course is a bit like driver’s ed — a curriculum that holds no more significance than another checkbox in the high school experience. Yet while it is universally ack...

UDPS and beyond: poetry at Los Altos

Tinomuda Tugwete, Madison Woo, and Emily Aronovitz

July 6, 2017

Filed under Features, Issue-8

In the following interviews, edited for clarity, The Talon features two poets on the Los Altos Slam Team and their experiences and journeys with poetry. The team took home second place at the Youth Speaks Unified District Poetry Slam (UDPS) finals on April 26, an amazing feat after competing against...

Inside MVLA’s championship debate team

Emily Aoki, Editor-In-Chief

July 5, 2017

Filed under Features, Issue-8

Ten years ago, the Mountain View-Los Altos (MVLA) Parliamentary Debate team didn’t exist. This year, the team is almost 30 strong and didn’t just send one-sixth of its team to the national Tournament of Champions (TOC) — they “closed it out,” meaning the two teams in the final round of the...

Margarita Navarro tackles inequality in schools

Danny Vesurai, Staff Writer

July 5, 2017

Filed under Features, Issue-8

From spearheading programs like AVID to teaching her peers in high school and college as a tutor and teacher’s aide, new Associate Superintendent Margarita Navarro has searched for ways to assist others throughout her life. Navarro’s dreams of becoming a teacher began when she was a 9-year-old in th...

Community Investors Propose Downtown Park and Office Space

Cameron Avery and Anisha Desai

May 18, 2017

Filed under Issue-8, News

On Thursday, May 4, dozens of green-clad Los Altos residents packed City Hall to voice their support for First Street Green at a Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) study session. The proposed development, brainchild of property developer Los Altos Community Investments (LACI), consists of a multi-sto...

In Full Color: Hollywood’s Lack of Diversity

Paola Campos, Staff Writer

June 8, 2016

Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-8

Take a second and think of an actor. He or she doesn’t have to be in your favorite film, be good looking or even be particularly good at acting. Go ahead, any actor at all. Do you have someone in mind? Good. Now, ask yourself this: Is your actor white? Is he male? Is he or she straight? My guess is...

Changing our minds: Pop culture we liked better the second time

Hanna Khosravi, Jessica King, and Eli Colbert

June 8, 2016

Filed under Arts & Culture, Issue-8

An "Implicit demand for proof" | by Jessica King It’s difficult to speak badly about something you love. Even if you know you once hated it, you can’t help but look back at that time and wonder why you ever did. Maybe you love it now because it simply grew on you, or maybe you outgrew your...

Vol. 6: The Last One

Eli Colbert, Staff Writer

June 3, 2016

Filed under Columns, Features, Issue-8

War Stories | By Eli Colbert Her pearl earrings are the only holy thing in the driveway. Add decadence to the new wounds he said, before bolting Onto the interstate. The last warning is a vase inside of a trunk, In a flatbed truck, in a storage locker in Fresno. He can talk About man’s pity for...

Eduardo D. Cuellar: a Hidden Rockstar

Sofia Guo, Editor-in-Chief

June 3, 2016

Filed under Features, Issue-8

With his calm demeanor and quiet personality, senior Eduardo D. Cuellar is one of the last people one expects to fit the stereotype of a rock enthusiast. But for the past eight years, Eduardo has self-built all the musical skills and expertise needed to produce one-of-a-kind instrumental covers, such...

Soaring Eagle: Lizzy Beutter

Anisha Desai, Staff Writer

June 1, 2016

Filed under Issue-8, Sports

Deemed a “star pitcher” by MaxPreps, senior Lizzy Beutter is one of the best softball players in the Central Coast, Los Altos’ team captain and starting pitcher. “I actually initially didn’t like softball,” Lizzy said. “But then I started pitching a little bit, and I really liked being ...

2016 Rio Summer Olympics: The Show Must Go On

Chris Dadok and Emily Terada

June 1, 2016

Filed under Issue-8, Sports

This August, the 31st summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, but unlike previous years, the fate of the summer Olympics in Rio is now more of an “if” than a “when” due to logistical and health problems. However, in order to appreciate the talent and training coming into fruiti...

Red, an Exercise on the Challenge of Interpretation.

Alexis Malgesini, Staff Writer

June 1, 2016

Filed under In-Depth, Issue-8

These pages present a compilation of creative writing that was written about the color red. Each writer was given no context other than the topic and was asked to express their individual interpretation of it through a piece of writing. Like the color red, music, art, literature and the spoken word...