“Are you showering first or am I?”
This summer, on one of the Student Travel summer trips, a select few OHS high schoolers traveled to South America to visit the birthplace of Darwin’s theory of evolution: the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador! Led by the organization Ecology Project International (EPI), 12 students and OHS instructors Dr. Kristina Vetter and Ms. Marie Hamaoui embarked on a nine-day-long expedition to learn about the ins and outs of islands.
Read MoreOn September 29th through 30th, OHSers and their families descended on the town of Incline Village, Nevada for a weekend of fun and friends. The journey to Tahoe was an adventure for many, featuring many long road trips or flights to the local airport.
Read MoreParent-teacher conferences can be a source of anxiety, excitement, or curiosity for students at any school. But for Stanford OHS students, whose parent-teacher conferences are upcoming at the end of October (to be exact,October 30th through November 1st), this normal mid-term ritual has certain differences to brick-and-mortar schools, precipitated by both OHS’s “online”ness and its global reach.
Read MoreEmotional regulation is an important dimension of wellness. It gives you the tools to deal with stressful situations in an adaptive way, rather than being pulled under. It may even reduce general stress; studies show that people with lower emotional regulation report higher levels of experienced stress. Isn’t less stress what we all want?
Read MoreOr do they? One student, rising full-time senior Charlotte Own, has pioneered a highly commendable different course of action. Instead of disillusionment, she chose an alternative route to prepare for the OHS prom. Charlotte shared: “I thrifted [my dress] at a relatively high-quality Japanese thrift store…for an equivalent of around $20.” Thrifting is not only a sustainable recourse in the face of a difficult prom dress market, but may solve problems of both quality, comfort, and expense that many are facing. Before thrifting, Charlotte pattern sewed her own dresses. “It’s become a yearly tradition for me to get straight to sewing…right after finals end so I can have that week in between finals and prom to work on it.”
Read MoreIn reality, reintroducing mandatory testing is more likely to go back to privileging the privileged—those who could afford pricey test prep classes and had the overall advantages in life that lead to higher scores. Although students struggle to perform well in this unbalanced system, they are also stressed by trying to determine if they even need to take these standardized tests or if they should. We don’t know whether to take tests, retake them, or focus our energy elsewhere based on the latest policy changes from different colleges.
Read MoreAs such, Student Life still plans for alterations to this year’s event. They will be working with a carnival company to hold the carnival, and as Ms. Mustafa says, “the best part is… there will be prizes!” Ms. Mustafa, who spearheaded this initiative, expresses that her personal goal was to, “uphold the spirit of the Carnival name and translate it into a real-life experience that captures all the best parts of the carnival and fairs many of us have gotten to experience in the Bay Area,” then share that with the entire OHS community. For students attending remotely, one event that will be hosted is an online student showcase on June 4.
Read MoreAlthough Isabelle enjoyed riding death defying roller coasters, she also appreciated other moments—one of her favorite moments was bonding with her friends as they walked around the park. While walking, Isabelle fondly recalls, “This adorable stray cat walked up to us and was meowing. It was super friendly and adorable, so we took some pictures of it!”
Read MoreOn the last day, the OHSers met up at Andrew Mullikin’s, one of the students in attendance, house for breakfast. Andrew’s mom was the main planner for this meetup and was also generous enough to set her house up with food and sports (like basketball and tennis) for the last day. Reflecting upon the meetup, Andrew said that he enjoyed “... seeing friends and people you’re really close with in person and actually getting to do fun things with them,” which seems to be a shared sentiment among everyone who attends OHS meetups.
Read MoreEvery year, during the month of March, Women’s History Month is celebrated. Women’s history month began as a celebration in Santa Rosa, California in the 1970’s. It originally was a week long, with the official Women's History Day in the middle. Over time, the idea spread throughout America, and in 1980, Former US President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 Women’s History Week. Later on, this weeklong celebration was extended to last the entire month of March. Every year, Women’s History Month has a different theme. This year’s theme is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” (NWHA). In previous years, the themes have ranged from “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories” to "Generations of Women Moving History Forward".
Read MoreOn the fourth day of the trip, OHSers contributed to a global citizen science project, where they helped to document and monitor the populations of tropical fish surrounding the island. Already demonstrating the significance of their work, the students documented the Crown-of-thorns starfish which is a nonnative species. This is one of the many discoveries that are sure to come from the documentation and data the OHSers gathered on this trip. On the fifth day of the trip, students went on a desert hike and learned about the ecosystem and species that live on Espiritu Santo Island.
Read MoreIf taxes from homeschooling households contribute to their local school district like any other brick-and-mortar family, why are homeschool students discriminated against, like clockwork, every fall when they go to register for AP exams? If a homeschooled student lives within the district of a school, they are as entitled to a seat as any given student who happens to attend. They should be permitted to pay the College Board for the test and sit for AP exams, regardless of attendance status.
Read MoreReminding us of the togetherness of our OHS community, Ms. Mustafa, the director of Student Life, mentions how parents specifically can partake in sessions “...focusing on social-emotional well-being and college counseling” led by expert OHS instructors. Rounding off the night, students can let loose at the Winter Formal filled with music, board games, and lots of delicious food.
Read MoreAlas, we do indeed have some students who celebrate with splendid spirit, but with their twist! Aishwarya (‘27) shares that, I don’t think I’ll ever celebrate Valentine’s Day the way it’s meant to be. But I have my own unique way of celebrating it with family and friends! Valentine’s Day is a day of love for my family.” Rebecca (‘25) also thinks of it as “a fun day to celebrate meaningful relationships and eat chocolate.” A tasty agenda in addition to family, friends, and fun? Count me in.
Read MoreBut it certainly affects a majority positively. From the collected data, it seems that the reason why students don’t love the longer winter break is that it makes getting back on track with school harder. Of 39 students that were asked whether or not the longer break made it harder for them to re-adjust, 9 replied “yes” and 3 replied “maybe”.
Read MoreIn general, there was a lot of flexibility in the organization of the event. Although Maxwell stayed in a separate hotel for the weekend, most people stayed at the same hotel. Some students were even able to drive everyday to the meetup! Moreover, students were able to select which events they wanted to attend each day. For instance, Maxwell’s favorites were the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Gianni’s Pizza, and the Bird Rock Hike. He was able to make cherished memories at Gianni’s Pizza, which was a “highlight of the entire meetup for me!”
Read MoreIn terms of how OHSers feel about these assessments, let’s start on a relatively positive note. When asked how confident the OHSer feels about their finals, 48.1% of students reported their confidence as a 3 within the scale of 1-5. There is also the slightest left skew with 29.6% of students reporting their confidence as a four or five as opposed to the 22.2% describing their confidence as a one of two. This is definitely good news because confidence is key.
Read MoreOctober is a busy month for OHS’ers, because of midterms. However, the end of the month provides a chance for celebration and having fun: Halloween! Halloween, which originated as a pagan festival called Samhain, marks the end of summer and beginning of fall. Trick-or-treating, a Halloween staple in the US, was established throughout the 1920’s to the 1950’s by immigrants. Given the diverse body of OHS students, there is also a diverse range of plans.
Read MoreBased on a survey of 30 OHS students with a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions, over 70% of students use Pronto over 40% of the time to connect with others across the school, but there are mixed emotions as to how students feel about Pronto at this current stage.
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