Monte Vista community mourns loss of basketball coach
Claire Chu, Editor-in-Chief
February 27, 2020
“Lemmon Strong.” That was the slogan for the Monte Vista women’s varsity basketball team and fellow community as they remembered beloved coach Jim Lemmon, who died Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. He battled with cancer that began in the summer of 2019. Lemmon was 58. T...
Testing the metal
Edi Zhang, Staff Writer
January 23, 2020
While everyone else is off to the races after school, one dedicated team stays until 6 pm most days of the week. They build, program, test, and compete. It’s a large team collaborating on a challenge. This team is the Red Tie Robotics team. Red Tie Robotics competes in the FIRSTⓇ Robotics Comp...
Is reading a fading hobby among teens?
Macie Calvert, Staff Writer
January 23, 2020
If you’re a Monte Vista student, you’ve probably realized that our library was once the most desolate place in the school- or maybe you haven’t, because you’ve never actually been there. Even with Monte Vista’s new librarian, Julie Garrahan, steadily increasing che...
What drives teachers to teach?
Anthony Santa Maria and Cameron Roth
January 23, 2020
The Monte Vista parking lots are filled with cars amassing millions of dollars. Students seem to take great pride in their forms of transportation and show them off. But what about teachers? Yvonne Spilker is a math teacher at Monte Vista who doesn't mess around when it come...
The Golden State Warriors’ not so golden start
Brooklyn Weber, Staff Writer
January 23, 2020
Everything from Steph Curry's law-defying circus shots, to Klay Thompson's catch and shoot 3’s. And who could forget the back to back championships led under Steve Kerr. The Warriors have had a league defining run… but has it come to an end? The Warriors have now fallen to the bottom o...
Racist incidents lead to an emphasis on Equity Squad
Claire Chu and Raquel Montelindo
January 23, 2020
A racist video went viral on Twitter. Students refused to open a classroom door because a person of color touched the handle. A teacher tasked students to translate between Ebonics and English. Monte Vista staff carded a Monte Vista African American...
US-Iran Conflict affects Monte Vista students
Manahil Rizvi, Sports Editor
January 23, 2020
The increasingly volatile conflict between Iran and U.S. and increasing tensions has affected the lives and families of a few students of Iranian and American identity here at Monte Vista. Just days before the missile attack that left General Solemani of Iran, among four others, dead, so...
Phones jails: A false solution
Shreya Bhasin, Staff Writer
November 15, 2019
Phone jails in Monte Vista classrooms have become an increasing trend in the past couple years, but they are not as practical as teachers would hope. Phones are a tool available to most Monte Vista students, and if used properly, they can be used for research, and other academi...
Don’t forget my name
Manahil Rizvi, Sports Editor
November 15, 2019
“I didn’t immigrate halfway across the world and give you this name for it to be butchered and mispronounced,” my mother said. To be fair, to be given this name in America, I thought she should have expected that. Manahil doesn’t roll off the tongue as easy as most. But as I ...
A surprising discovery leads to Duke commitment
Claire Chu, Editor-in-Chief
November 14, 2019
She wasn’t supposed to win the state section. Neither was she considering to pursue running. In fact, she wanted to quit. Now, committed to Duke University for cross country and track, she couldn’t see herself in a different sport. In the summer before freshman year, senior Kelli Wilso...
Brian McCumiskey: Taking flight
Macie Calvert, Staff Writer
November 13, 2019
Most Monte Vista sophomores’ minds are focused on getting their driver’s license, but one student is set on something different: his pilot’s license. Sophomore Brian McCumiskey is a pilot-in-training. This self-proclaimed ‘Airplane Freak’ spends his free time in th...
Mother and daughter Clintons empower women with new book
Claire Chu and Raquel Montelindo
November 13, 2019
In a gym filled with diverse families, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, shared the experiences of writing their new book that not only strives to inspire women but society as a whole. On Sunday, Oct. 20, the Clintons arrived at the San Ramon Valley High Sch...