For several years now, Homestead staff members have questioned whether the Boys versus Girls rally was truly a friendly and comfortable experience for all students. In the past, reports proliferated of students involved in inappropriate behavior such as wearing shirts with offensive messages, or cheering on sexist remarks. “It just became more of a bashing thing rather than a competition,” said Gahart.

In addition to the overall atmosphere of the rally, considering the feelings of each attendee was also a significant matter in changing the theme. “One of my personal major concerns was the fact that boys and girls were segregated when we got to the gymnasium,” Ratti said. “What happens if a student is transgendered, or what happens if a student doesn’t feel comfortable identifying either as a boy or a girl?” ASB recognized these concerns and responded by creating a “neutral zone,” where people who did not want to participate in the separation of gender could sit for the duration of the rally. However, such a space was also recognized as segregation in its own way.
“I didn’t attend the rally last year but from what I heard from my co-workers and the other English teachers […] I guess it was just the same thing [as in previous years].” Ratti said. Despite ASB’s efforts, the discontented reactions toward the rally continued, and it became a topic of discussion at last year’s leadership retreat. According to ASB advisor Melina Miller, the leadership students took a vote on whether they wanted to preserve the Boys versus Girls rally and thus they made the ultimate decision of changing the theme.

As a result, this year’s fourth rally will introduce the first official battle between the classes. “The Battle of the Classes is kind of like a second homecoming week, and everybody really enjoys homecoming so I think we’ll get a really positive reaction,” said Hansen. The upcoming rally week will provide students with the opportunity to dress up and compete in games to promote class unification and teamwork. On the rally day itself, Homestead should expect to see each corner of the gym decorated with the varying class colors. “All Homestead mustangs have Homestead unity, but this is more of you getting to bond with your class,” Hansen said. “I think that’s something unique that we haven’t done at Homestead before.”

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Forte is hosted by the Equestriettes every year and they always have more to do than just dance. “It’s our competition so we have to dance and run it. We sometimes have to juggle both jobs,” said senior Sidney Fellows. Because it is the first competition for most teams that atmosphere tends to be more relaxed than the competitions later in the season. “It’s friendlier and less intense than a U.S.A. competition,” said Fellows.

Though the Equestriettes will not be competing at Forte because they are the hosts they will still perform their small, medium and officer dances as well as all four solo routines. In order to prepare for the competition, Equestriette captain senior Sarah Healy, said, “We’ve been having practices everyday and marathon eight hour practices on Sundays.” On the same note, sophomore Tasmine Hackson added, “We’ve cleaned our dances several times and we’ve talked about how we’re going to perform.”

Hackson still thinks Forte will benefit the team. “It’ll set us straight compared to other teams and help us see where we stand in relation to them. Our biggest competition is Monta Vista. They got second in the nation last year.” Fellows also pointed out, “We’ll still get feedback from the judges.” Healy is looking forward to watching others perform. “It’s fun to see everyone’s new routines. Everything is fresh.”

The Equestriettes’ performance at Forte could have a big effect on the rest of their season. “If it goes well, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. If it goes badly, we might have to change things and it could get really stressful,” said Healy. This is because the tiniest of details can change the outcome of a competition. “In the middle of a dance, if anything drops, even a hair pin, you get a half point penalty. If your score is really close to another team’s, that half point could bump you down to second [place],” Healy said.

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Many of the Career Fair’s volunteer speakers were more than eager to pass on their knowledge about their occupation to the soon-to-be working students. “I came to the career fair because I thought it would be nice to let students know what my job is like,” said Matthew Wilson, a staff reporter for Silicon Valley Community Newspapers. “I was once in their shoes as recently as 12 years ago and I always appreciated it when professionals came to give me a glimpse of what the real world was like.”

As a part of their presentation, the speakers informed the students of the recommended requirements in their line of work, such as advanced math courses for meteorology. “Math is a huge part of meteorology,” said Kari Kiefer, a meteorologist. “Even though the calculus courses can be challenging, you can be successful by getting a tutor to help you work through it […] these skills were very helpful when I got into the difficult meteorology courses such as atmospheric dynamics and physical meteorology.”
With professionals present in their classrooms, students were presented with opportunities to ask in-depth questions about their careers of interest and receive informed responses from them. Senior Calvin Lu said, “Although programming has caught my interest ever since I took Intro to Java in freshman year, going to the video game designer career room reaffirmed my decision to not design video games […] I decided I do not like its long hours and ‘crunch time.’”

Although a school-wide event covering a wide variety of jobs, there were still a number of professions unable to be represented in this year’s career fair. “There are many opportunities to earn a living doing what you like to do,” said Roy Stehle, an electrical engineer. “The fair only presents a sample of the more common professions.”
Blaney Aikman, a college representative from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising said, “I hope that the students begin to think about what they are passionate about. And then begin to look for a career inside of their passion. […] I hope for every student to be inspired about their future.”

“I think it is a very worthwhile activity,” concluded Stehle. “[In the Career Fair] Students have an opportunity to talk to people who have a depth of experience in their field of work.”
The next career fair will take place in Jan. 2014.

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The ban largely was created to protect regional water, recycling and wildlife, an aspect Save the Bay praises. According to Allison Chan, Save the Bay’s policy associate, Save the Bay also believes the ban will bring some economic benefits. “Cities spend a lot on cleaning up trash, much of which is plastic bags. By eliminating bags, cities won’t spend as much on collection,” said Chan. “Stores save because they are no longer giving bags away for free. They instead can sell reusable bags, and some even give reusable bags away for free as a promotion.” Chan also is optimistic about the community’s reaction to the bag ban. “[We’ve seen from San Jose that] people adapt very quickly to the ban. It’s a pretty easy transition. People don’t like plastic bags, and want to see them go.” Save the Bay would next like to see restaurant bags included in the ban, and a ban on other disposable plastic products, such as Styrofoam.

Others, however, are not so supportive of the ban. The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition believes that forbidding plastic bags is unwise and irrational. “Environmental campaigners lie about the plastic bag’s effect on the environment. We should have facts before we legislate,” said Stephen Joseph, counsel for the coalition, who has been involved with the issue for five years. “Banning plastic bags means we would lose jobs and livelihoods in the industry. [Disposable plastic bags] are an American industry; reusable bags are a Chinese one.”

Homestead High School is getting involved with the bag issue as well. As a fundraiser, HHS AVID is selling reusable bags, partially in response to the ban. “Chico bags got in touch with us about selling their bags. Since we make 50% profit, and the plastic bag ban in Sunnyvale is happening soon, we took their offer,” said Shawnee Rivera, AVID advisor. “[Personally], I love the ban. People need to adapt to their environment. All it takes is a little insight to have a reusable bag ready [instead of a disposable one].” The bags are being sold for six dollars in each of the AVID classrooms.

Those looking for more information on the plastic bag ban and on plastic bag recycling can visit the city of Sunnyvale’s website at Sunnyvale.ca.gov.

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However, the bill has met strong resistance from all across the nation. Opponents of the bill claim it effectively censors the Internet and threatens free speech. In addition to creating a so-called “Internet blacklist” of unsavory websites, it pressures Internet service providers such as Comcast to monitor the sites their users visit, an action that some regard as a blatant invasion of privacy. “The reason SOPA is bad is not because it attempts to enforce copyright law, but because it is an overwhelmingly unfair law that would allow copyright holders to shut down any website they want with little to no warning,” said activist Ryan Bertsche, whose online petition against the bill quickly garnered over 48,000 signatures.

Many users of the Internet are no strangers to piracy; seven in ten students at Homestead High School have partaken in it in some shape or form. Senior Sooyoung Lee admitted to having pirated music, while a junior who preferred to remain anonymous claimed everything he owns is pirated. “Despite the fact that I pirate stuff, I am for copyright law,” said Lee, who added that he feels that the Internet is a public resource. Both students oppose SOPA on the grounds of Internet censorship. On the other hand, junior Brian Zeng said, “It would be inconvenient, but if the bill is effective, then it should be implemented.” “I would hope there are certain restrictions and guidelines for blocking the websites,” Zeng added, noting his misgivings about the bill due to the large number of people who browse file-sharing websites.

If passed, SOPA will not have an immediate effect on the average student’s Internet browsing habits, since popular sites like Facebook can afford the legal muscle necessary to stay in business. Large Internet file-sharing sites will be shut down almost immediately, along with the smaller sites responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s content. “A site like YouTube could never have risen to the top like it did if SOPA had been around,” said Bertsche, “because SOPA would have made it responsible for the content users put on the site.”

While SOPA was all but guaranteed to pass two weeks ago according to Bertsche, as it stands, analysts say the bill now has roughly a 50 percent chance of successfully making it through due to opposition from large companies such as Microsoft and Google. The bill, still subject to change, is scheduled for markup on Dec. 15.

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“We held the Canned Food Drive to help homeless people, and to help the low income families. Also, in this kind of economy, it is beneficial to hold a Canned Food Drive because it helps people manage their expenses,” social manager Abha Sathe said. “This Canned Food Drive also offers the resources needed in the community,” she added.

“Homestead has been a great help to us,” said My-Dung Tran, the Director of Operations and Volunteers at the Sunnyvale Community Services, “When people hear about Homestead High School donating with so much passion, it inspires them to donate as well.”

The competition is not only in between teachers, but also in between the students as well. “We talked about the food drive in class and I told my class that they were my first third period class to bring in items, and then some students took the leadership role to try and do something to motivate students to participate in the Canned Food Drive,” said math teacher Connie Murray.

When asked what item she received most throughout the whole drive, Murray said, “I think the item I received most of was the 148 laundry detergents. Another one of my students brought in boxes of used books.”
The Canned Food Drive has been an annual event for Homestead High School, but it has also become an event to look forward to at the Sunnyvale Community Services. “We’ve been working with Homestead High School for at least 15 years or more. Homestead students have always been supportive and enthusiastic. There are other participating schools, but not to the magnitude or length of Homestead High School,” said Tran, “I am looking forward to working with Homestead again next year.”

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Challenge Day is not just only a club effort. “It is a definitely a school effort,” said the club’s advisor and English teacher Shawnee Rivera, “Principal Clark, Ms. Zankich, Be the Change and I.” Along with those on campus, off campus sponsors of Challenge day also participated in organizing and hosting it.

Diana Zankich, the school secretary, said, “Anyone can attend Challenge Day. As long as they get the Challenge Day permission form signed by their parents and have yet not participated in Challenge Day, they will most probably attend.” Only 100 student participants out of the approximate 150 that apply are allowed into Challenge Day. Along with the participants, student leaders also are present. Becoming a student leader is the next step for those students who have already attended a Challenge Day and want to lead its new participants through their experience. Jayakoddy said, “Returning members that wish to be student leaders have to sufficiently answer a four to five question questionnaire that allows us to get a grasp on who they are and how they want to change individual lives.”

“Challenge Day is a one in a lifetime opportunity,” said Jayakoddy, encouraging anyone to go if he or she is able, “it allows someone a day where they can really express themselves in a comfortable environment with people they might not know. Challenge Day is about being oneself without the fear of judgment because that is better for a person in the long run.”
Rivera also encouraged students to attend, “it is an experience and it is worth it (…) At the beginning of the day, you walk in to the room and see strangers. At the end of the day, you look around and see family.”

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Fellow resident Junior Nancy Liao was in her unit when the fire began. “We heard a really loud knock at our door. My dad went and opened it and it was a police officer,” said Liao. “We were told that there was a fire south of our unit and it wasn’t close to us yet, but we should prepare to evacuate. We packed up a suitcase with some important documents and clothes then drove off to Cupertino Middle School, just to be safe.”
Meanwhile, the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Red Cross set up a shelter in the nearby Homestead High School gym. Pilar L. Furlong, Chief Operating Officer of the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, was on-call when the fire was reported. “From the time we get the call from the fire department, it takes maybe 30 minutes [to set up a shelter],” said Furlong. “Our whole goal is to get here as soon as possible to help the people who have been displaced.” She added, “For people who have been devastated and have to evacuate, it’s cold outside.”

Junior Abha Sathe, who also lives in the apartment complex, saw the fire firsthand. “We always have fire drills at school, but when there’s a fire in front of you, you don’t know what to do.” said Sathe. “It was the scariest thing ever. You could feel the intensity of the fire just standing there.”
It took over two hours and more than 80 firemen and support personnel to extinguish the fire. Several of the families whose apartments were destroyed are now living in previously empty units, and are being supplied with resources from the Red Cross.

“We’re more cautious now,” said Sathe. “We always look at the gas stove and make sure the heater door isn’t open. We’re more aware now that this can happen.”

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One of the most controversial topics of the Occupy movement is the alleged police violence that has propelled many Bay Area movements into national news. A speaker for the Occupy Oakland movement, Laura Long, described her experiences with police tear gas. “The day of the first raid, I was downtown […] I got to feel about three or four rounds of tear gas that day,” Long said.

Sean Semans, formerly part of a liaison team between the city and the Occupy San Francisco movement, also met with his share of police violence. According to Semans, after being dragged by four policemen, he was thrown down and then kicked in the head. He also said he was arrested. “It was shock, “ he said, reflecting on how he felt while being, in his words, “mandhandled.” “You don’t expect it to happen the way it does.”

Regarding the reasons that cities have used to clear encampments, including fire hazards, sanitation and disruption of local businesses, Long said most were excuses. “Small businesses in the area were booming as a result of having so many people downtown,” she said, “ But Occupy Oakland is making these issues visible to the public, and so that’s a very good reason to blame an always-existing problem on the so-called rabble-rousers.”

San Jose Police Department Sergeant Jason Dwyer said, “We gave [the protesters] a long time, weeks, to leave on their own.” However, because of city ordinances that prevent camping on the city hall plaza where Occupy San Jose was based, Dwyer stated that police clearings of the camp did not violate protesters’ first amendment rights. “We only hope that whatever they plan to do, they obey the law while doing it,” said Dwyer.

Regarding the alleged violence in Oakland, representative of the City Administrator’s Office Karen Boyd said, “We have an internal affairs investigation ongoing into all alleged uses of force by the police department.” Several cases, including the serious injury of veteran Scott Olsen and the arrest of Susie Cagle, a journalist, are all under investigation. According to Boyd, other local police departments participated in the raids on Occupy Oakland, and the city of Oakland could not account for any police violence on their part. There is currently no estimated date on when the investigations will be completed and released.

According to Meagan Mahoney, a protester at the Occupy San Francisco movement, “This movement is not against the police force, it’s not against the city. It’s not even against the bankers. Really, what this movement is about is making the world a better place.” A coast-wide march is planned for Monday, Dec. 12 during which protesters on the West Coast plan to march to, block and protest at several ports including those at Oakland, San Diego and Los Angeles.

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“It started out with me e-mailing college coaches,” said senior Chet Radish, who has been scouted for volleyball and is currently committed to CSU Long Beach.  “I joined club volleyball, practiced at Leland high school for two years and attended a camp at Long Beach […] They didn’t come and talk to me about college until the end of 2010 Junior Olympics, which I went to every year.”

Senior Constantine Spyrou has been recruited by Division III colleges for water polo.  He described his first encounter with a college sports coach, saying, “It was just an introductory e-mail, saying who he was and what his purpose was for contacting me.  But that mad me think ‘hey, maybe this could work’.  So I pushed that angle further and registered for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).”

Athletic excellence is not the only quality that college coaches look for in students applying for scholarships.  “Really, you can break it down into three areas […] you have your academics, your athletics and you have your character,” said Zimmerman.  He continued, “Is this a type of athlete that want to be a leader?  Or is this the type of athlete that’s just cut up and doesn’t really care?  You have to separate themselves from every other student athlete in the world […] and understand that you’re not just an athlete.  You have to be able to market yourself as one entire package, not just one aspect of it.”

Ross Slaney, a senior pitcher for the Homestead baseball team, has accepted a scholarship from San Jose State University and credits his success to hard work and perseverance.  “I work out every day and I practice five to six times a week […] and once high school baseball season starts, it’s just practice every day.”  He added, “If you do your best and constantly work to improve, they will notice you.”

According to Zimmerman, Freshman and Sophomore years are the ideal times to start looking for scholarship opportunities.  “Most athletes that wait until their senior year to get recruited are so far behind in the spectrum that they end up sitting and becoming a spectator instead of an athlete,” warmed Zimmerman.  “The most important thing is to be proactive.”

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The emotions of transitioning from junior varsity (JV) to varsity sports vary among athletes, and Homestead students and no exception.

“I was proud that I was good enough to be on varsity and that through all the practice, I really came through,” said junior Murraya Macaraeg.  Macaraeg has been playing tennis for eight years now, including three on Homestead’s girl’s tennis.  Since her sophomore year, Macaraeg has played on varsity, “I didn’t expect to be on it [varsity] in my sophomore year.  I expected to make it my junior year,” she said.

Macaraeg is not the only athlete who transitioned onto a varsity sport during her sophomore year.  Senior Jane Hansen said, “I was very excited […] being a sophomore on varsity was a great honor.”  Hansen has played field hockey on Homestead’s team for four years.  She also plays club field hockey during the off-season.

Junior Emma Aviet made it onto varsity girl’s water polo this year.  Aviet stated, “I felt happiness and a little bit of anxiety for the people I would be playing against.”  Aviet has played on Homestead’s JV girl’s water polo team for her freshman and sophomore year.

A senior on Homestead’s football team, Paul Carey explained what he liked about playing on varsity, “I like spending my Friday nights playing the best sport in the world.  It’s awesome to be able to play in front of the entire school and to have all your friends and family there rooting for you.”  Carey has played on Homestead’s football team since his sophomore year and has continued on varsity since his junior year.  Although Carey enjoys playing on varsity he said, “I mostly miss being able to play football and then go to the varsity game to watch it [the game] and hang out with people.”

A newer addition to Homestead’s varsity football team is junior Connor Church who started playing on varsity this year.  “I knew that it was going to be much more challenging but I was happy that I would get to play in a varsity game in our new stadium with the band and my classmates watching,” said Church.  Church had played on JV football for both his freshman and sophomore years.

For many student athletes however, the level of being on varsity from JV does not matter, “Whether I was on JV or varsity, I was a hundred percent dedicated and gave it my all,” said Hansen.

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Charlie Bostic, the coach of Homestead’s varsity football team, knows what he is doing, both on and off the football field. After a victory, however, Bostic makes sure to never get too arrogant. “We might have won a game, but we still have to be cautious. Just because we won doesn’t mean we did everything right,” he said.

Bostic has coached at Homestead for twelve seasons and has carried the team from the El Camino league to the more prestigious De Anza league. Last year, Homestead football reached the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships under Bostic’s leadership.

Even as a strict coach, however, Bostic adheres to certain traditions. Before the football team’s game against Fremont every year, for example, the team goes to Bostic’s house and eats dinner together.

According to Bostic, he started coaching because “I wanted to be [a] part of football,” said Bostic. When not working at Homestead as a physical education teacher or as a coach, he spends time with his family and plays golf.

Gary Carroll

The coach of Homestead’s girls varsity volleyball team, Gary Carroll, is a man with strong principles: “Hard work and energy,” he said, “and when talent doesn’t work, heart.” As a coach, Carroll encourages his players to have a positive attitude at all times and tries to ensure a “safe place for the girls where they can pursue their passion.” He believes that the girls on his team are “highly intelligent in the league, and should play like it.” As a coach, he believes himself to be sincere, truthful and encouraging.

Carroll went into coaching because of his passion for the game of volleyball, and because “it [coaching] probably fills a void of competiveness that, the older I get, the harder it becomes to fill,” he said.  On his own time, Carroll plays basketball, a sport he used to coach, and spends time with his daughters, all the while using the principals he has employed for his own team.

Louie Alicea

The head coach for girls’ varsity tennis, Louie Alicea, believes in communication both on the court and off. As a coach, he employs a “communicative style of coaching.” Even when he’s not coaching, he still employs communication, especially in the multitude of sports he used to play, including baseball, basketball, softball and racquetball.

As a coach, Alicea believes he is fair, just and open to players’ opinions and goals. Alicea believes in playing a mentally strategic game of tennis. As a coach, he employs patience and discipline, making sure that the whole team communicates well, all the while having fun when appropriate.

Donna Keith

Donna Keith coaches Homestead’s varsity girls’ field hockey team. As a coach, Keith does not just use regular field tactics, but instead gives her team a more rounded education. Keith said, “I use leadership development and talk a lot about communication and how to work as a team.” Keith shows her devotion to the team by constantly searching for ways to improve it. She encourages the girls to join other Homestead teams to gain experience and practice.  Keith said, “I would rather have them lose and play a good game than have them win and play a terrible game.”  If the team does lose, however, Keith focuses on why they lost, and analyzes those reasons heavily. She prepares her team for each game through conditioning and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. According to Keith, she believes that the field hockey team is compromised of “great students and great young women.”

A strict but personable coach, Keith plays field hockey with ex-collegiate and national players during her spare time. A nurse and mother, Keith still finds time for long distance biking and coaching a club hockey team for younger girls, constantly keeping her passion for the game alive.

Kendrick Sealy

According to cross country and track coach Kenrick Sealy, “If you show up and work hard, you will end up running really fast, [and] you will reach the promise land.” Sealy believes in involving the whole team when victories occur and in presenting medals to successful runners. He encourages team bonding, and hosts a pasta dinner before every meet. When meets come around, though, the team gets together to warm up and go through a routine.

As a coach, Sealy does not allow “sandbagging,” when one person slows the entire team down. He believes that “Some people have it (talent as a runner), others have to manufacture it.”  At the same time, Sealy believes everyone who tries hard enough can produce the talent needed.

In his spare time, Sealy runs private training sessions with both collegiate and middle school runners. When he isn’t coaching, though, he works in the Fremont Union High School District office as a special education teacher. Before becoming a coach, Sealy planned on running the pro-circuit for track and field, before becoming a journalist, but he happened to become a coach by accident; he was asked by one of his student’s mother to take over as coach for her cross country team, because the previous coach was not a coach that was up to par.

Steve Lavelle

The head coach for the girl’s golf team at Homestead, Steve Lavelle believes himself to be a fun coach, on and off the driving range. He uses different tactics to encourage the team, such as “keeping things simple,” not over-coaching the athletes and letting them figure out how to do swings on their own. He stays positive during the team’s victories, but always reminds them that there is work to do. As a coach, Lavelle believes himself to be “supportive, easygoing, organized, helpful and patient.” As the coach of Homestead’s first girl’s golf team, Lavelle said, “I am too old for anything else but golf, except for maybe dodge ball occasionally.”

When he is not working with the golf team, Lavelle is playing golf, and officiating high school football and basketball games.

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Homestead first became involved with Tutorcloud in 2010, when a representative from the site attended that year’s senior class meeting. “Tutorcloud presented at the senior meeting last spring […] an opportunity to tutor over Skype from college dorm rooms,” said alumnus Tim Hausler, a Tutorcloud tutor and undeclared freshman at the University of California at Berkeley. “One of the things I really like about Tutorcloud is that it tries to connect tutors with students from the area of their own high school,” Hausler explained. According to Hausler, tutees are not all necessarily Homestead students, but students of any school age.

Homestead’s FBLA also involved itself with Tutorcloud this year. The Community Service (CS) division of the club is focusing this year on providing both tutors and marketing for Tutorcloud. CS has distributed flyers and posters to West Valley Elementary School and Cupertino Middle School to advertise the service. The division also plans to expand its marketing to a variety of other elementary and middle schools. CS will also offer tutoring by members of the club free of charge. Since the tutors will largely teach elementary school students, “We’re looking for passionate and dedicated tutors […] classes aren’t as important,” said Sydney Wang, a sophomore who, along with fellow sophomore Theresa Xu, is the CS project chair this year. CS is also in the process of creating a special internet portal for those tutors who are involved with Homestead.

The service is currently smaller than other tutoring companies such as Sylvan Learning, and founders Blair Silverberg, Chris Frank and Chris Olivares all are heavily involved within the site. Olivares tutors students, while Silverberg connects tutees with corresponding tutors. Frank, a former FBLA member, hopes the site will endure with Homestead’s and FBLA’s assistance. “ If you think about it, 10 [or] 20 years from now, Homestead students could still be using Tutorcloud to get help with homework, study for tests, get ready for the SAT, and get college applications advice […] It’s great that this group of FBLA students is a crucial part of building that,” said Frank in regards FBLA’s involvement with the site.

Those interested in Tutorcloud can visit its website, http://www.tutorcloud.com, for further information, or to sign up for the service.

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According to the project, seven out of every 100 teenage girls become pregnant every year. Additionally, pregnant teens are more likely to drop out of high school and even less likely to go to college. Homestead’s PTSA will present statistics such as these through the Blossom Project’s pregnancy prevention presentation, along with personal anecdotes from teenage mothers. PTSA President Rita Allen said, “I hope that students will listen to the teen moms, take their messages to heart and share their stories with friends, particularly those who engage in risky behaviors.”

The GSA and Be the Change clubs have played a large role in spreading awareness on these issues around Homestead. “We are making posters and holding meetings discussing teen pregnancy and other topics,” said GSA member Steve Rodriguez, “Kids that can’t take care of themselves shouldn’t take care of other kids.”
The Blossom Project was initiated in 1999 by the Community Health Awareness Council in response to the significant number of teen pregnancies in the Los Altos/Mountain View community. The Blossom Project’s primary form of outreach is through its pregnancy prevention performances, which provide insight on the life-changing consequences of both teen pregnancy and parenting. Program director Dr. Alexandra Smithmixter supervises these events by facilitating educational discussions between the presenters and audience members.

“It’s a great privilege to support and lead this amazing group of women as they reach out to today’s adolescent population,” Smithmixter said.“The Blossom Project is a powerful and effective way to share what it means to have a child at such a young age, and how it affects one’s life, relationships and future.”

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4. Monta Vista and Homestead exchange faculty members
5. New Historical Documentation club at Homestead

Not only did Homestead’s marching band have the Macy’s parade to work on, but a competition routine to practice as well. On Oct. 17, when the majority of the competitions for the field show ended, the band started working on its drill for the Macy’s parade. According to Burn, what was supposed to be an easier and shorter routine, one that would allow the band to focus on the parade, turned out to be a much more demanding field show. Burn also stated that he significantly increased practices in both intensity and quantity.

Senior Mitchell Conkin, tuba section leader, concurred. “Of the four years I have been marching, this is the hardest one by far,” he said.

Senior drum major Jonathan Wong said, “We added a few more practice days because we have to practice for our traditional field show, Macy’s drill, the actual parade and our performance in Carnegie Hall.”
Practices for the parade will focus on different aspects of marching that have otherwise never been covered. Because the band will march a three-mile route on the day of the parade, endurance will be a new aspect to practice. Senior Amanda Nelsen, captain of color guard, said, “Because of all the extra work we have had to learn, practices have been very focused and intense. This year has also been structured differently than previous years.” The band started the year by focusing more on posture and holding up instruments, to look its best on the big screen.
Senior Abha Gokhale, trumpet section leader, said “We started the year focusing on these different aspects; it did not just start recently. We have been building up for it.”
Some freshmen feel that preparation is even more difficult because of their inexperience. Freshman Gavin Kerr said, “Because this is my first year doing shows, I am not as experienced as the seniors.”
However, Nelsen supports the underclassmen: “I am amazed at how the new members stepped up and exceeded everyone’s expectations,” she said.

Nevertheless, as Wong said, the marching band as a whole has, “gained a strong sense of discipline, work ethic, and commitment. We have an ‘all or nothing’ kind of mindset, which has helped us propel forward in making our season unforgettable.”

The group that will travel to New York includes 400 people, including Homestead’s principal, superintendant and other school board members, along with band members and their parents. They will take five different flights from San Francisco to New York as well as eight different buses for transportation once in the city. The Homestead marching band can be seen live on NBC on Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

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Although league finals will take place on Nov. 1, 2011, the team wants to feel comfortable during the race. Team captain  James Asselin said, “By racing here today, we can get a feel for our competition and the track.”  The Crystal Springs track consists of 2.95 miles of continuous hills.

Over the years, Homestead’s cross country team has grown substantially. Coach Kenrick Sealy said, “In my first year as coach [seven years ago], our team consisted of about 30 members. This year, we have around 80 members.” Despite the lack of freshmen on the team, the few who are have, according to teammates, demonstrated their strength thus far. “Some of the freshmen are even on varsity,” said captain Sharon Ng.

With the cross country season only halfway completed, the team is focusing on preparing for the competitive meets that will take place in the coming weeks. Sealy said, “While the season is young, we’re trying to find out what type of machine we have going on in the team. We’re focused on the giving the kids a strong base […] and developing racing legs before the post-season. We don’t want anyone to get injured, especially not at League finals or CCS.”

 “On weekday and invitational races [such as the SVCAL preview meet], people don’t run as hard as on a major meet,” said captain Aviv Weinstein. To save energy, those who compete in bigger meets jog lightly through the course. Team members also prepare for meets by eating carbohydrates and running “an easy three miles the day before, to make sure [their] legs don’t get too tired before the race,” according to Weinstein.

Weinstein said, “Cross country isn’t the easiest sport; sometimes running straight up sucks.” Despite the inconveniences associated with running numerous miles a day, the team has shown its dedication and continues to race on.

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<h3>The Epitaph’s Editor in Cheif spends the afternoon practicing with girls JV field hockey.</h3>

I used to be convinced that field hockey was the sport I was born to play.  I have a great-grandfather who won a bronze medal for field hockey in the 1932 summer Olympics.  Frankly, it’s in my blood.  One can imagine my initial excitement, then, when I learned that I had been assigned the task of practicing with Homestead’s junior varsity field hockey team.  Though I’d never picked up a field hockey stick before, I believed there was a chance, however small, that I could potentially excel at an athletic activity for the first time in my life.  I had no idea what I was in for.

 The afternoon started off simply enough; I dressed in the only pair of gym shorts I owned and paraded onto the practice field with a certain air of misplaced confidence.  I greeted coach Cefalu and introduced myself to the players, all the while still thinking I might have a chance at keeping up.  I was overconfident.

It took about thirty seconds to realize how wrong I had been in assuming that this would be easy.  Mere minutes after arriving on the field and conversing with the team, the coach’s shout of “Warm-up lap!” caught me entirely off-guard.  Determined to participate in any way possible, I hurried off after the team, learning about half a lap in that not exercising for two years is hardly conducive to athletic success.  I give myself credit, though; I hadn’t fallen too far behind just yet.

What followed were a series of stretching exercises, imposed upon us to ensure our readiness for the drills and strenuous work to come.  This, I could do.  I’ve always been relatively flexible, and stretching provided a welcome reprieve from the stress of running, which I frankly couldn’t have done for much longer if I’d tried.  However shaken my confidence was at that point, I still was proud that I hadn’t made a fool out of myself.  “How are you doing so far?” a few members of the team asked me, smirking at my obvious fish-out-of-water status.  The humor was hardly lost on me.

With stretching out of the way, I received an impromptu lesson on the finer points of holding a field hockey stick.  After having to be told multiple times that “It’s not a golf club,” I finally managed to get my hands in the right places: one toward the top of the grip at the high point of the stick, and another at the grip’s base, just above the logo on the painted wood.  I followed the team out to the middle of the field, and joined them in practicing their stick handling.  Believe me when I say, however, that there are literally zero easy things about manipulating a small rubber ball’s path across artificial turf at high speeds, especially taking into account the multitude of other players by whom I was surrounded.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I bumped into a few others, however embarrassing it was at the time.

When it came to passing the ball, though, I regained a small portion of my dignity.  After receiving another condensed lesson from our coach and a few other players, I paired up with a member of the team to practice hitting the ball back and forth.  It took a few chunks of displaced turf to get there, but after about ten minutes of trial and error, I was able to smack the ball halfway across the field with minimal difficulty.  I’ll admit it: It was a nice change of pace after the embarrassment that my dreadful stick handling had caused me.

Ultimately, however, I did more than look awkward and out of place, though.  As someone who had never been to a field hockey game, I was able to learn a lot about the sport.  I gained a newfound respect for it, and honestly enjoyed myself.  I’d like to offer my sincerest thanks to Homestead’s junior varsity field hockey team for being so welcoming and willing to teach a gangly, sedentary senior.  Still, I probably owe the team something of an apology; I’m sorry I almost knocked you down.

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