Campus Culture

Zaynab E.

Is Interim Equitable?

During Interim, students leave campus to engage in local or global experiences. Some are service-based trips, others are opportunities for cultural exploration. However, for some Westridge students, the heavy load holding them back from the trip of their dreams is not the 18-hour flight or the 15 mile hike, but the unrealistic cost of these experiences.

Silent Movement Displays

Lack of Diversity

Oona L ’19 reading anonymous testimony about sexual orientation identifier.

December 17 • Emerson L. & Gracie S.

On November 8, 2018, Westridge teachers, Upper Schoolers and eighth graders flooded into Hoffman Gym to participate in a Student Voices assembly called the Silent Movement. This assembly utilized visual representation to display the diversity, or lack thereof, within the Westridge community.

Westridge Theatre Presents

"All in the Timing"

December 17 • Sophia K.

Westridge Theatre

“All in the Timing”, this year’s Westridge Black Box production, was a collection of quirky vignettes that left the audience in stitches. Featuring six-different one-act comedies, “All in the Timing” utilized unconventional language and eccentric scenarios to rework classic acts like a first date gone awry and learning a new language. Much of the play’s wackiness and weirdness are metaphors for love and life. Although the title suggests that the play is about time, the show asks its audience to consider how time impacts human connections.

December 17 • Sophia K. & Tiffany C.

Love Your Mind Week Sparks Unexpected Emotions

When Peer to Peer announced the focus of this year’s Love Your Mind Week at Town Meeting, students responded with tears and anger. Peer to Peer hoped the week would be an inclusive event that would acknowledge mental illness and learning differences while giving the student body a medium to address their own differences and learn about other students’ disabilities.

December 17 • Emily S.

Jadyn L.

Visiting Translators Break Borders

On November 6th, five Mexican writers visited Westridge upperclassmen to talk about their bodies of work. The writers, Ana Fuente Montes de Oca, Nadia Lopez Garcia, Amaranta Caballero Prado, Martin Camps, and Christina Rascon came to Westridge in order to discuss their work with students studying Spanish. The writers, part of a yearly tour of contemporary authors from Mexico, reflected on how their experiences changed their views on the world as well as their relationships with their own Mexican culture.

Westridge Student Research Impacts Collegiate Science Conferences

Yeast isn’t the hottest topic of discussion right now, but considering what Ryan Skophammer and some Westridge students are doing with the substance, it should be. For the past year, Skophammer and his AP Bio students have spent arduous hours attempting to evolve yeast samples making them resistant to Antifungal, a substance that prevents the growth of fungus.

December 17 • Sophia H.

Ryan Skophammer

December 17 • Emily S. & Maya L.

Local & World

Elisa D.

Diversity in Midterm Election Results Inspires Students

On Tuesday, November 7th, a record number of women broke the glass ceiling, winning over 100 elections in the 2018 midterm race. Of the 256 female candidates representing the Democratic and Republican parties, almost half (122) won their respective races. This election cycle also proved historic in the diversity of candidates: Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Debra Haaland, Sharice Davids, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who won seats in Congress for the first time.

December 17 • Jackie Y.

Pittsburgh Shooting

Affects Westridge Campus

On October 27, 2018, the Pittsburgh shooting of 11 Jewish men and women at the Tree of Life congregation shook both America and Westridge campus with its lethality. Monday after the shooting, Westridge’s Jewish affinity gathered, including Jewish faculty, and grieved over the murdered men and women. An electric candle was lit and a Jewish mourning prayer recited. In doing so, the affinity created unity within the Westridge Jewish community and connected with the community in Pittsburgh.

On November 7, almost 74 years after the end of the Holocaust, Trudie Stroble sat in front of the Upper School Ethics classes in the Community Room and recounted her experiences of survival - only one week after the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. The relevance of her story was particularly painful considering the recent events, but having recounted her and her family’s life of strength and perseverance, her lasting message was that love always prevails. “Why hate someone?” asked Trudie. “We must not hate them - I don’t know how to hate. I only feel love.”

Elisa D.

Names of the individuals killed in the Pittsburgh Shooting on October 27, 2018.

Holocaust Survivor Shares Life Story With Students and Faculty

Students for Fair Admissions (SSFA), a organization contesting how the college admissions system uses race, filed a lawsuit against Harvard University on November 17, 2014. They alleged a bias against Asian-American applicants, citing both the low percentages of Asian-American students at Harvard and the institution’s rejection of academically impressive Asian-American students.

December 17 • Emerson L. & McKenna B.

First Look at Controversial Harvard Admissions Case

December 17 • Sophia H.

December 17 • Ronni H.

Campus Culture

Westridge Gets to Know Its Very Own Falconer

Xochitl M., a 9th grader and code enthusiast, has captured a hawk.

Yes, you did just read those words right.

You’re not crazy, or maybe you are...

Regardless, Xochitl M. has captured A HAWK.

December 17 • By Gracie S. & Olivia Q.

Video created by Gracie S. and Olivia Q.

Westridge Princesses

Visit Hospital

Art Students Launch Exhibit Highlighting Minority Voices

In the long list of Rose Court responsibilities, both princesses Micaela M., ‘19, and Lauren B., ‘19, cite their visit to Huntington Hospital as their greatest highlight of serving on the Rose Court so far. On Halloween, the Royal Court dressed up as superheroes and surprised kids at the hospital who were unable to trick-or-treat because of their illnesses. “We got to go around to the different offices in the hospital and help them trick or treat,” Micaela explained. “Members of the business offices had candy, small presents, and coloring books in store for the kids,” Lauren added.

On the Margins, an art exhibit that brings the trials and tribulations of student minorities into the spotlight, recently opened to the public and will be on display until December 19 in the Master Gallery. Curated by Westridge students Abbey P., ’20, and Zaynab E., ’20, On the Margins highlights the minority experience and raises awareness of those from different socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and identities.

December 17 • By Olivia Q.

December 17 • By Jackie Y.

Features

December Editor's Note

Some agreed, some did not. Nevertheless, conversation ensued.

Westridge Spyglass released our first official online issue on November 1, and we couldn’t be more encouraged by the responses we received - not because everyone agreed with what we wrote, but because of the conversations and feedback we are still receiving about our content. Our goal was to bring our community together through multimedia forums - words, videos, pictures, art - and to give everyone’s voice the opportunity to be heard, a persistent endeavor we continue to s trive toward.

December 17 • By Ronni H.

Spyglass Shares Family Holiday Recipes

2018 in Review: Film & TV

Delegates (left to right) Erisa R., Anelise P., Abbey P., Danielle D., Olivia Q., and Shania B. stand in front of the conference building in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dear Peer to Peer . . .

(Holiday Edition)

I am a freshman, and I have never taken a midterm before. I have no idea what I’m doing and don’t know what to expect or how to prepare. What is the best way to approach studying for midterms? When should I start studying? Any study tips?

- Apprehensive About Midterms

December 17 • McKenna B.

Every year, families come together to celebrate the holiday season with their own traditions. This year, the Spyglass team has compiled a list of recipes that we want to share with the Westridge community. From our family to yours, we hope you enjoy.

December 17 • By Isabella W. & Jackie Y.

With the holiday season approaching quickly, we have a chance to catch up on the beautiful and poignant cinema 2018 brought us. For me, the content of the films and television shows of this year confirmed that there was an increase in awareness around the messages we share and support as a society. This year demonstrated the power of diversity, in all senses of the word. A number of creators took risks by spotlighting controversial topics on the big screen and challenging our conventions – 2018 forced audiences to have conversations that would not have been possible five years ago. Crazy Rich Asians, Black Panther, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Ocean’s 8, and Growni•sh are some of many films and television shows that I found signified the start of this new cinematic era.

Dear Apprehensive,

Studying for midterms, and studying in general, is something that is going to be specific to the individual. What works for one person might not work for another. For example . . .

Go to column ->

In order to submit a question that you would like Peer-to-Peer students to answer in this column, email Spyglass at spyglass@westridge.org .

My Experience at SDLC

The moment Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) keynote speaker Dr. Marc Lamont Hill spoke those words, my tears fell to the floor of the conference room. At that moment, the tears I shed represented everything that I feel as a minority at an independent school: loneliness, sadness, anger. When I attended SDLC, all those feelings dissipated.

December 17 • By Olivia Q.

Athletics

Athletic Atrophy In Basketball

Sparks Concern

December 17 • By Caroline L.

This year in athletics, teams have had to deal with lower rates of participation. Some sports are thriving, while others are concerned that they don’t have enough members to compete.

Recently, the Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball teams held tryouts with some of the lowest participation rates in a decade, according to Athletics Department Head Melanie Horn.

“JV Basketball was really low in numbers this year, and a lot of that had to do with so many seniors being on JV basketball but not needing the credit. For Varsity Basketball, we do not want to have more than 12 or 14, but we are a little bit low on that, too,” said Coach Horn.