Sarah Dairiki

So, I just got back from a Friday night outing with my friends, and we decided to go to the movies to end our Friday with a bang. Being the rom com obsessors that we are, we decided to go and see Endless Love , possibly the biggest rom com movie out in theaters right now. We ended up going to the movie theater, and as we handed our tickets to the ticket taker and walked into the small theater, it was literally packed with teens. I guess that is expected with a rom com movie like this one, as it appeals to the younger generation. I'm pretty sure I only encountered one adult couple who wanted to have a quiet Friday date night at the theaters, only to be forced to share the theater with a ton of young teenage girls and couples obsessing over Alex Pettyfer, the leading male actor in this film. Endless Love  is a rom com focusing on the summer after graduation from high school, where David (Alex Pettyfer), a middle-class teenager dedicated to taking over his father's auto business...

Jesse Jackson. Photo creds: Mrs. Snow Commonly known as the “Great Unifier,” Reverend Jesse Jackson has influenced people of all races and ethnic backgrounds, and is currently paving the pathway to his legacy as a leading advocate for public policy issues. From his entrance onstage to the final words of his speech, Jackson continuously leaves his audiences breathless with his phenomenal quotes and passion he inserts into each sentence. Jackson’s work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr. along with his aid in Operation Breadbasket sparked his love for civil rights, thus urging him to start his own organizations to help the youth succeed, and the adults and elderly have a healthier lifestyle. During his speech in the Performing Arts Center at Menlo-Atherton High School, Jackson stated: “We all need to learn to live together as brothers and sisters,” furthering his belief that everyone should learn ...

Caramel Macchiato (Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and topped with caramel sauce) In the past week, I have been getting increasingly nervous. I have always been a fan of Starbucks ever since I was in middle school, and I started from the basic Strawberries and Creme Frappe, then graduating to the oh so scandalous Caramel Frappe and Shaken Iced Passion Tea Lemonade. But now that I am in my Junior year of high school and am feeling the pressures and stress of completing the year with a bang, I have been turning into a zombie, walking around in a daze, half awake and half dead. Because of this, I have turned to Starbucks and their caffeinated drinks to keep me from crashing at 8 P.M. every night from exhaustion. It is clear that I have a problem. A massive problem. I have a Starbucks addiction. And that's NOT good. I have been trying out all these new drinks, both hot and cold ones, and am trying to figure out the best ones that work for...

This is an article that I wrote for my journalism class at my high school. Unfortunately, the article got cut from the issue, but I wanted to post it because I feel it really embodies the growing controversy as to whether adminstrators' should require high school students to fulfill their CTE and Fine Art requirements in order to graduate high school. M-A currently offers Fine Art classes that range from orchestra and band, to drama, digital photography, ceramics, guitar, and the visual arts, such as drawing and painting. Whether a student chooses one of those or turns to the CTE (career technical education) classes, such as AP computer science, journalism, or video production, they are given a variety of options to choose from. Although the students have that flexibility, many find an area of interest they want to stick with throughout high school, and find it discouraging when that class doesn’t fit into their schedule because they have to fulfill thei...