Month: December 2019

By Nolan Pham

Last Wednesday, students gathered eagerly on to Sophomore Hill in front of the Big Gym during lunch to attend Votechella intent on earning their lawful privilege to vote. Organized by American Government teacher Lynne Murray and many student volunteers, this event was attended by 250 students who are interested in participating and registered to have their say in the government.

Votechella is a registration drive where students sign up to vote or pre-register to vote online or on paper. It is hosted by Ms. Murray, who for the past years has been working with the registrar of voters in Santa Clara County knowing the importance of voting.

“I’m African American and a woman and with those two life experiences, voting has always been an amazing opportunity that we didn’t always have,” remarks Ms. Murray. “I don’t want students to know that, but hold it close to their hearts because voting is how you share your voice, your opinion, your ideas about how and what the country should be doing for us as citizens.”

At Votechella, motivated student volunteers helped attendees sign up as well as facilitated the event.

“I volunteered at Votechella because I feel like as teenagers we don’t get the word around on stuff that is important. It’s important for teens to know that they need to vote in order for this country to be better,” explained volunteer Navleen Kaur.

Some volunteers also expressed their incentives to encourage others to vote.

“I wanted to take part in giving students my age the opportunity to take the first steps in voting,” explained volunteer Danny Hinh. “Voting is undeniably important because that’s how things in this country are done and I think our generation should be more invested in it.”

Students who were still confused about which party they preferred could still register as well.

“When a 16, 17, or even an 18 year old signs up, they can select what’s called NPP (No Party Preference) so they don’t need to know their political party now,” explains Ms. Murray. “Hopefully by the time of the next election, they will understand what parties they are involved in and can complete it then.”

In the future, Ms. Murray is confident that Votechella will continue to be a popular event attended by many students.

“I think this generation is much more aware of the activities of our government and what they can do as residents of the U.S,” remarks Ms. Murray.

Overall, teachers and volunteers are proud of how the event turned out and hope to have the same success next year.

“It seemed to go pretty. A lot of people came to register and I hope they end up voting,” commented volunteer Justin Wang.

Students who missed the event with ambitions to vote are still able to contact Ms. Murray to register to vote.

“I welcome anyone to come in and grab a form and often times I’m here after school to hook students up to the online application so they can vote,” added Ms. Murray.

By Christine Do and Austin Lin

Around the middle of November, the construction of the new tennis courts started. The Tennis teams look forward to the newly improved quality and additions. These new courts are scheduled to be completed around the end of this year or before the Boys’ Tennis season starts, but the recent rainy season and chilly weather will most likely postpone the completion of the courts.

The reasons for the tennis courts being rebuilt were due to the amount of injuries associated with the uneven pavement.

“Because of earthquakes, there were many cracks and because of this, players tend to get injured. The lines on the court were also barely visible, so it was very difficult to play matches and make good calls,” said Boys’ Tennis Captain Manav Dixit. “During matches, the balls wore out very quickly and this decreased the quality of play.”

New outlets are being installed to power the ball machines, which the team is excited for because they have not been able to use the machines in previous years. The lines on the courts are being reapplied and the nets will also be replaced. Unlike the original courts, the new courts will not have fence dividers.

“This construction was part of the plan for construction of the concession stands. The next planned part of the plan is the softball field,” stated School Site Council Member Maggie Nguyen.

As the district plans for these reconstructions, the team had asked for more additions, but some of these wishes were not fulfilled.

“We originally wanted an additional court to be added so that our games would end faster as well as add court lights so we could practice later in the evening but unfortunately, the courts will only be resurfaced,” said Girls’ Tennis Captain Kirsten Takeshima.

Despite this, the Boys’ and Girls’ Tennis teams are thrilled to be able to play on fresh new courts in the following season. They hope that the tennis courts are done in time for the Boys’ Tennis season.

“I’m most looking forward to the courts being blue and green, which I prefer a lot more than red and green. Our balls will not wear out as fast, and we will be able to use them for much longer and save a lot of money,” said Manav.

The tennis teams hope to reduce the amount of injuries while playing games and utilize these improved courts for the upcoming years.

By Joanne Vu

PHHS’s district, ESUHSD, recently passed official policies concerning laws on the LGBTQ+ community on Nov. 4.

As the chairperson, GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) President Sofi Jaquez sat in on the meeting and voted on the trustees’ latest issue. This month, there were two major developments regarding the entirety of the LGBTQ+ students: As an entire district, they support and acknowledge LGBTQ+ youth, prior to the absence of an official acceptance or acknowledgement in the past. The other being students of the LGBTQ+ community are protected from backlash or bullying on the basis of identity, including discrimination from faculty members (teachers and admin.).

As the student governing board is funded through the district, there is a representative for each grade at each school, and out of those four, there is one main representative for the school as a whole. At our school, Sofi takes on that role.

The following process consists of the student government board electing the chair members where they sit in as an official trustee during the monthly meetings. The passing of these policies give hope to PHHS’s GSA club in terms of the liberation and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.

“For me, specifically, this makes me really happy because I’ve seen countless incidents of bullying and discrimination and for there to be new regulations officially frowning on this behavior, rather than looking the other way, gives me hope and brings me a lot of joy,” stated Sofi.

It will provide official support and acknowledgement of the LGBTQ+ community, and is meant to protect students from bullying each other based on their identities and sexualities.

“As for GSA, I don’t think much will change considering we’ve always been a well-known safe place. If anything, this policy may encourage more students to feel comfortable enough to possibly join GSA,” expressed GSA Board Member Sierra O’Leary. “It’s one thing to be acknowledged, but it’s another equally important thing to be celebrated, and positively empowered by fellow peers.”

In the future, the club hopes to touch upon other issues concerning the LGBTQ+ youth.