thelegendonline Sports

Boys Cross Country starts racing

By Billy Ung

Boys XC 2015 season starts off strong.  At its Oct. 8 meet, the Varsity team won 29-28 against Westmont

PHHS team dashes right into the season with rigorous training Monday to Saturday every week.

“We have double practices on Mondays.  Morning practice before school and then afternoon practices,” explains Varsity runner Andrew Nguyen.

There are two hard days each week that consists of either mile repeats or hill repeats.  These help the runners train at race pace and give them leg strength to go up the hills.  The drills at practice are A skips, B skips, lunges and karaokes.  These help them prevent injuries and also help them strengthen up for the race.  With its heavy schedule of practicing every day, the team is ready to take on any tough challenger.

Coach Ian Tippets prepares the runners by telling them the race strategies before the race, which helps them a lot.

“I feel very excited but nervous,” expresses Nguyen.

The team hopes that Varsity Captain Bryan Chu will get to state championship.  Other runners also want to qualify for state championship

“I personally want to qualify for CCS (Coast Central Section) with the varsity team,” declares Nguyen.

Cross country is different from the other sports in which the participants do not have any helper during the match.  They just run and run until they reach their goal.

Healthy food is a must to all athletes’ diet.

“I would say that GU Energy Labs has some pretty decent stuff,” claims JV runner Thomas Nguyen.

thelegendonline Features

Insane Ink sponsors Walk to Stop Diabetes

F.02.Step Out Walk for Diabetes.Kyle.Sumida

Step out and walk with me! PHHS joins the Walk to Stop Diabetes event.

Photo courtesy of Spencer Nguyen

By Kyle Sumida

To start off the new school year, Insane Ink decided to give back to the community and partake in the Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, to assist Piedmont Hills in the district competition of providing the most support and fundraising for the charity event.

The charity event took place this Sunday at the Guadalupe River.  All funds raised will be allocated to help train school personnel to ensure that children with diabetes are safe at school; provide aid to those that have been recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes; and much more.  Not only was this a chance to beat other schools in the district, but it was also a significant, positive impact for those affected by diabetes.

“I think we’re on a good track so far,” comments Insane Ink CEO Spencer Nguyen.

In the beginning of October, PHHS was in first place of the district competition in terms of fundraising.  Piedmont Hills team member Jessica Sobrepena had donated $1,874 in behalf of our team, immediately going beyond our goal of $1,000.  Several others donated to the cause.  As of Oct. 6, our school had raised $2,519 in total for the charity event.

Although we had the most money raised, we were still behind Independence High School in regards to the number of sign-ups.  Last Friday, our school had 134 sign-ups for the charity event, compared to Independence’s 304 sign-ups.  In hopes of stepping up the game, Insane Ink created an incentive program to entice its own members to participate.

“(The incentive program) was brought up in our meeting and we thought it (was) a good way to get (our members) to actually participate.  If they don’t have an incentive program, people would put it off and say they don’t have to do it,” Insane Ink Director of Philanthropy Jade Chiu explains.

The charity event was free to sign up; however, Insane Ink provided a free t-shirt to the first 100 participants that donated $29 or more.  Those who were unable to physically attend the event but still wanted to support the cause had the ability to become virtual walkers instead.  Virtual walkers were able to customize their fundraising web pages and send out emails asking for fundraising contributions.

Insane Ink is a business class in Piedmont Hills that allows students to have hands-on learning of operating a business.  The company’s mission statement is to strengthen, support, and uplift the community; which is otherwise known as “The 50/50 Concept.”  Insane Ink advisor Diane Pereira added that the school’s position and ranking amongst the other schools were able to be found online on School Loop.

thelegendonline Pirate of the Issue

Pirate of the Issue: Iris Wu

PIO.01.Pirate.Of.The.Issue.Cynthia.Tran

SAY CHEESE! Iris Wu poses with her students in Taiwan.

Photo courtesy of Felicia Yeh

By Cynthia Tran

Senior Iris Wu went on a trip to Taiwan this summer as a volunteer for the AIDS (Assisting Individuals with Disadvantages Summer program) where she spent two weeks teaching English to underprivileged children in remote areas of the country.  She is also in PHHS 10k club, NHS (National Honor Society), Music Honor Society, and has a passion for running.

Out of all of Iris’s memories and achievements, her trip to Taiwan stood out the most.

Iris dedicated all her time to the kids during those two weeks, bonding with them and learning about their culture.

Iris would wake up significantly earlier than everybody else to go run a couple of miles to start her day then wake everyone up to get started.  She was constantly at the school, sleeping in the elementary’s kindergarten room overnight teaching the kids from 9am to 3pm from Monday to Friday for two weeks.

Even after school, she met with the administrators and teachers of the elementary school to plan the next day’s lesson and played with the kids after that. She devoted her time spent in Taiwan to the kids.

“It’s actually funny looking back on it because I think I learned just as much from the kids as they did from me, if not more,” reminisces Iris.  “I loved the kids.  It was a lot of fun just to hang out with them and play games and whatnot.  I think the best part was that it actually made me feel like I was helping make a difference in their lives  .”

Iris is also captain of the PHHS Cross Country team. She immersed herself in running daily since her sophomore year in high school.   “I like running because it makes me tougher. Sometimes during season we’ll be running 40-50 miles a week,” she explains..

“I never really thought I’d be running marathons or anything like that.  Two and a half years ago, I could barely run four miles without struggling to catch my breath,” she muses.   Iris participates in various races such as the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. She also participates in 10k runs (6.2 miles) and half marathons (13.1 miles).

Iris had ran her first full marathon (26.2 miles) in May this year and placed first in her division (19 and under) with a time of four hours and eight minutes.   She is also planning to run another marathon this coming spring.

As the president of the PHHS 10k club, Iris has a passion for staying fit. She is also an active member in NHS and Music Honor Society.

Iris been playing percussion since the age of four.  She plays in the PHHS Symphony Orchestra, and is currently the principal percussionist of the California Percussion Ensemble outside of school.  Iris have been a member of the Santa Clara Country Honor Band and the California All-State Honor Band multiple times.

thelegendonline Sports

Cheerleaders take first place

By Marques Mosley

Piedmont Hills Cheerleaders get into the history books by getting first place in their 1st event of the year. That is the first time it has happened in the history of cheerleading at Piedmont Hills High School. By having the best routine and hitting all their marks during it to make it look perfect.

“This is the first time this has happened in the years of competitions we have been and it’s a great feeling” comments Varsity Captain Cheerleader Danyel Lee

The competition was held on Saturday Sept 26 at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Going into the competition the girls had a lot of excitement but also they were nervous.

“Lots of people were there and I was scared I wasn’t going to hit my stunt.” said Danyel

Routine was the major part for the team’s victory at the competition. Every day during practice the team would practice their routine to perfect it and make it great any way they could. They would add new moves in the routine each day before they were settled with the best routine.

Team chemistry has not been an issue on the team this season. The girls work well together on and off the mat. They have a tight bond with each other which some cheerleaders say this team is better that last year’s.

“This year’s team has better communication between one another than last year’s.” exclaimed Varsity Cheerleader Gaby Beltran

“I wasn’t on the team last year but the other years I have been on the team we had much conflict but with this team we have no conflict and we work really well together.” said Danyel

With the heat blazing hot the girls felt heat exhaustion. But it didn’t stop them as they finished first in their division in the competition. By winning the team qualified for the National Cheer Competition event in Anaheim, CA at Disneyland where all the top cheerleaders in the United States compete.

The cheerleaders feel very confident within themselves to win some more events before Nationals. With their good team chemistry, great routine, amazing performance at the competition, looks like the cheer squad is making a big name for themselves, “National Champions, Oh Yes!”.

thelegendonline Cultural Corner

Ghost stories from different cultures

By Michelle Fong

From around the world, people share their culture in various ways such as food, clothing and holidays.  But do people ever share the ghost legends from their culture?  Every culture has its unique ghost that haunts little kids into behaving.

One unique ghost is the toilet ghost from Japan, called Hanako-san.  Hanako-san is said to be the spirit of a young World War Two girl who haunts school bathrooms.  Legend has it that if you go to the third stall of the girls’ bathroom on the third floor, knock on the door three times and ask “Are you there, Hanako-san?” you will hear a small girl in a red skirt with bobbed hair answer “I’m here.”

Another classic ghost story originating from Irish culture is the Headless Horseman.  The Headless Horseman, also known as the Irish dulachán, is a headless fairy riding a black horse while carrying his head and a whip made from a corpse’s spine.  Once he stops riding or calls out a name, someone dies.

Perhaps one of the most famous ghosts in history is Anne Boleyn, who haunts England after her execution in 1536.  Many people have claimed to see her haunt several famous buildings including Hever Castle, Blicking Hall and the Tower of London.

Many of the ghost legends arise from the “truth” that someone saw; others come from the imaginative mind of an elder who wished to scare some children.  Either way these stories help form the different cultures around the world.

thelegendonline Sports

PHHS Football kicks off season with victories

By Quynh Luu

Varsity Football

The Varsity Football team started this season with three wins against Saratoga High School, Independence High School and Gilroy High School with scores of 61-19, 34-14 and 51-26.

“This season is starting off good,” commented wide receiver Richard Fedelin.  “We’re three to zero right now.  Offense line’s doing good.  We need a little more better blocking. Our defense is missing too many tackles,.”

The teams practices nearly every day and has worked long and hard together to achieve their victories.

“We have a great team.  We have a good quarterback, good receivers, good lineman, and good running backs.  We’ve just been playing well.  We’ll just keep seeing how we do,” Fedelin further explained.

One of the main objectives for the team this year is make it to Division I of the CCS (Central Coast Section) Championships among other teams in the East Side Union High School District.

“The schools in the district will be at the CCS Championships.  It’s basically to see which team is actually the best,” states quarterback Marcus Romero.

The team won the Homecoming Game against Willow Glen High School with a score of  49–33.  The next game will happen today against Leland High School.

 

JV Football

The JV Football team began this season successfully, defeating Saratoga High School, Independence High School and Gilroy High School with scores of 61-19, 34-14 and 51-26.

“So far so good.  We’ve won all of our games so far,” stated center Joseph Flores. “ The team’s perfect.”

The strong bond between the players is one of the driving forces behind the successful games as the season continues throughout October. The players have practiced long and hard together.

“I feel like we have a very strong team this year.  We come prepared to go against a different team every week,” quarterback Jacob Vargas commented.

The JV Football team is expected to have five more games for the fall season, including one today on Oct. 23 against Leland High School.  Expectations for the outcomes of future games appear to be positive.

“Our goal is to win.  We’re going for undefeated,” Flores responded.

thelegendonline Sports

Baseball Team wins CCS first time in history

S.08 CCS Baseball.Hannah Tong

BADABING BADABOOM! The Piedmont Hills Baseball team run to join together in a doggy pile celebration of their win against Pioneer.

Photo courtesy of Val Bobias

By Hannah Tong

Immediately after the swinging strikeout, catcher Danny Garcia threw the ball to first basemen John Kelly, costing the Pioneer’s their last and final strike.  The boys ran and piled on each other, extremely overwhelmed in joy and completely in disbelief that they had finally won the whole thing.

On the morning of May 30, the Piedmont Hills Baseball team stopped for breakfast at Denny’s for one last team bonding before they went on face Pioneer High at the CCS Baseball Finals.

After a tough but victorious match against Milpitas just two days earlier, Piedmont Hills was ready for their next opponent.

They showed up to Pioneer’s field at about 5:30pm and immediately did their warm ups and stretches.  Their coach gave them a quick pep talk, firing and hyping them up for the game.

Right when the game began, Piedmont Hills hit four doubles just in the first inning, giving them an early lead of 5-0.  Starting pitcher Christian Castaneda pitched all five innings and gave Pioneer no mercy and no chance to score.

“Cameron Castaneda pitched a gem, and they weren’t able to hit it past our defense,” informed left field Matthew Leffler.

Five out of the six batters were able to get on base in the first inning and continued to pound all of the pitches Pioneer threw at them.

By the fourth inning, Piedmont Hills’ Pirates led 10-0.  Finally, with two outs and two strikes, Castaneda struck out the batter to win the game.

“It was the best feeling ever,” expressed designated hitter Danny Bobias.  “We were all huddled on the mound [which] turned into a dog pile.”

Their four hour practices full of game situated scenarios involving defense and offense had paid off.

The Pirates really showed up with their A-game on, being the first Piedmont Hills Baseball team and the only 16th seed team to ever win CCS.

“After we won, I felt like I was on cloud nine.  It was the best thing I have ever felt,” commented Bobias.

thelegendonline Captain's Log

Blurbs

By Sommer Fowler and Rosa Lin

Blogilates at Piedmont
Every Thursday after school Good Karma Club hosts a pilates session based on the popular YouTube series Blogilates.  The routine is designed to suit all levels of capability and music is played during session to encourage participants.

Historical Society Hosts Movie Night
The last Friday of every month is celebrated by the Historical Society in Ms. James’s room with a movie.  The movie serves as a reward to members after a month of learning history.

Interact Attends FLC
Interact kicked off their club activities by attending the annual Fall Leadership Conference on Oct. 11.  The conference took place in Independence High School’s gym and garnered approximately four thousand attendees.  A total of 13 areas attended the event, which lasted from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.

PHHS Students to Attend Light the Night
PHHS clubs are set to participate in the Light the Night event at discovery Meadow tomorrow night at 5pm.  The mission of this walking event is to find cures and give access to treatment to all blood cancer patients.

PHHS Students to Donate Blood
The Red Cross Blood Drive will start Nov. 20 in the library from 9am to 2pm.  Donors must be at least 16 years old and meet specific height and weight requirements.  Certified nurses from Blood Centers of the Pacific will be drawing blood and donors will receive a free shirt and refreshments.

Art of MOBA Tournament
Art of Moba plans to hold a fall League of Legends titled “League of East Side” in November.  The tournament will be double elimination, allotting the first place team 50% of the total entry fees collected, and the second place team 20% of the total entry fees collected.  Additional prizes will be included if more than eight teams sign up for the tournament.

KFC’s Cooking Workshop
KFC (Korean Fan Club) members are instructed by officers how to cook Korean cuisine in room B-02 the second Friday of every month.  The workshop designed to provide insight into Korean culture starts at 3:10pm and ingredients are provided to members.

Scary Story Contest
To welcome the spooky holiday, PHHS Creative Writing Club hosted its annual Scary Story contest, which closed on Thurs. Oct. 22.  Winners will be revealed on next Wednesday, shortly after counting the public votes.  Submissions ranged from short stories to fan fiction and contained both fiction and nonfiction works.

thelegendonline Opinions

Introduction: We Know

By Jacqueline Nguyen

It’s no secret that physical copies of newspapers are an endangered species.  Once every month a few come tumbling down the proverbial hillside into oblivion, and with them a little piece of my heart.  Just kidding about the last part.  What used to be romanticized as risking life and death in order to uncover the truth is now “19 Pictures That Prove Man Buns Have Gone Too Far” and a “Who is your Disney daddy?” quiz.  Those are from Buzzfeed.  Google them.

The topic isn’t taboo.  If it was, you wouldn’t be reading this, or skipping to the comics as you are all more likely doing right now.  It seems like we arbitrary group of nerds here at The Legend just don’t get that the world is changing, and traditions cannot last forever.  One of those is true.  But this isn’t even about the family finally coming to a silent agreement that no one has the patience for a full game of Monopoly every Friday night or Dad not realizing that simply earning a perfect SAT score is not going to get you into Berkeley anymore.

Maybe we should all be home in our underwear behind a screen, leisurely doing all our interviews on Facebook and uploading everything solely onto the internet like 12-year-olds in the YouTube comment section, well partially.  Maybe, just maybe, people would look to our quaint little website a little more often instead of googling news.  Easier and faster?  Of course!  Better?  Arguable!

Call me lame and cliché when I say this, but I like the feel of newspaper toner rubbing against fingertips I just washed.  I feel like my own version of a superhero when I’m out uncovering the mystery that is why the band teacher chose to have his students play a song that I can’t even pronounce.  Writing the guide to asking a girl out to prom was also a blast.  I like to think I’m my own comical genius—but enough of my rambling.  I’m here to give you all a preview of what’s to come within the next several months.

There will be a lot of your monthly logs of Interact’s activities, your comics that you will probably be compelled to criticize, maybe a once in a lifetime happenstance that we might have to be sensitive about and your opinions and editorials that give our perspectives on the world.  There will be your people doing homework during class who shouldn’t be, journalists being turned away for doing their interviews the day before publishing date and your editorial staff being frustrated at said journalists.  There will also be your pizza layout parties, your random displays of affection and group of people who act as one big idiosyncratic weird yet fun family.

So sit back.  Enjoy the show.  Don’t focus too hard on the statistics and beware of lots of factual mistakes.  We hope those won’t happen often this year.  Without further ado, this is the 50th Anniversary of PHHS The Legend.  We hope that you will continue supporting us throughout this year and help keep this tradition alive for years to come.  However, I beg of you: Please don’t make us work at home in our underwear.

thelegendonline Cultural Corner

Easy DIY Costumes

By Sommer Fowler

Simple Mask

Materials:

  • Construction paper
  • Felt
  • Scissors
  • White glue
  • Hot glue
  • Strip of elastic or decorative straw or ribbon
  • Feathers, glitter, markers, etc.

Cut construction paper into the desired outline of the mask and cut out eyeholes.  It may be helpful to first draw the shape of the mask on a sheet of paper.  Cut a piece of felt into a similar yet slightly smaller shape so that when placed over the construction paper, the paper is visible around the edges of the felt, like a border.  Glue the felt on top of the construction paper, making sure the eyeholes are aligned.  Decorate the mask using materials like markers, glitter or feathers. To create a hand-held mask, hot glue a sturdy decorative straw to the back of one side of the mask.  For a hands-free version, hot glue the ends of an elastic strip measured about an inch smaller than the desired head size.  It is also possible to use ribbon in place of elastic and tie the ribbon in a bow at the back of the head.

 

Fast Face Décor

Materials:

  • Eyelash glue
  • Rhinestones, glitter, lace, etc.

Apply a thin layer of eyelash glue to the desired area.  Wait 30 seconds then apply rhinestones or brush on glitter.  Cutouts of lace can also be used.  Gluing different colors of glitter can create an ombre effect.

 

Easy Colored Hair

Materials:

  • Newspaper
  • Tape
  • Comb
  • Colored hair spray

Tape newspaper around the neck until it resembles an apron.  Any part of the hair to be left uncolored should be covered.  If the hair is long, section the hair into small parts.  Spray the colored hair spray onto the hair while combing through one section at a time.  Using a hair dryer while combing can speed the process.

 

Tips

Almost any of these materials can be substituted, the beauty of DIY is that it allows creativity.  When working with messy products like glitter or colored hair spray, make sure to work in an open space.