The evening’s performances were much better than last year’s, with a cleaner sounding program featuring talented student musicians and vocalists Sarah Hoover, Jenna Scandalios, and Christina Takayama, who ended the night with a beautiful version of Girl From Ipanema. Surprise! She doesn’t actually speak Portuguese!

Classics from Basie, Lopez, Vivaldi, and Bach were played throughout the night and although not many attendees were present for the Wednesday night event, it was an improvement from previous years that gives the school something to “hear” forward to for the rest of the year.

This is the first year that M-A has two choir classes, allowing for more students to participate in the concert.

Choir I is a class open to any students wanting to join for their first year of choir. As a group, they performed a variety of songs including “Amazing Grace” and “Fire and Rain.”

Choir II is a continuation of Choir I for those who want to continue choir after their first year of singing. This choir sang songs including “Winter’s Night” and “Do Lord Remember Me.”

Soloists featured in the group songs for Choir I included Jill Galbraith, Vincent Leoni, and Sydney Bonham. Jack Carmassi, Josh Weiner, Randy Oliver, and Isaiah Moody were featured singers during the Choir II group performances.

A select few students were given the opportunity to sing solos. The soloists were Hanna Berggren, Christina Takayama, Jon Morataya, Filip Grehn, Julia David, and Melodie Turner.

Choir and guitar teacher, Patrick Maier, really wanted to showcase a diversity of music and talented student musicians at this Winter Concert.

The guitar class also contributed several performances to the lively night. A student band, “The Elves of Steel,” played “Dani California,” and “City of Delusion.” Zach Cogan and Jenna Swartz played guitar while Katie Holliday sang “Santa Baby” and strummed along.

The night ended with an audience sing-a-long of classic holiday songs like “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”

The administration strongly encourages use of your planner as a key to academic success, yet there is an intriguing side to your everyday homework recorder. Boyscout day? Sandwich day? National Candy Corn day?

These are just a few of the many wacky holidays that our school planner features. Interviewed students voiced conflicting opinions on the matter.

When asked the question, “do you like sandwiches?” junior Connor Arrington responded with an enthusiastic “yes,” although he later admitted he “had never heard of national sandwich day.” His opinion on the creative holidays matched many others. “I think they’re un-needed and … take up space and precious ink,” he said.

Another junior, Chris Brody, had a similar opinion. He commented “they could use some work because they are pretty stupid.” He also questioned the reality of these holidays, saying, “if they had real ones, then it would be cool.”

Brody, along with fellow junior Ashlynn Klipphahn wondered why there was a full day recognizing candy corn but not just a candy day that would encompass other candies such as Reese’s Pieces or Kit-Kats.  On the other hand, junior Vivian Qiu thought that the funny holidays “promote school spirit” and did not mind reading them during an unproductive SSR.

It seems that if students are bored enough, they will read anything remotely entertaining; however, the consensus was generally negative.

With the bands playing classics such as Count Basie’s “Jumpin’ At the Woodside” and “April in Paris,” the musical talent was incredible and was often accompanied by wonderful singers such as Jenna Scandalios, Christina Takayama, Sarah Hoover, and new vocal member Maddie Rostami.

The music was fun and playful, but the night included other surprises that made it even more entertaining for the attendees. Professional Stanford Ballroom Dancers attended to instruct guests how to dance certain steps, such as the tango and three-step.

The four hours of band music was worth the night, and after this year’s increase in numbers and musical quality, appears to be even more promising for the following years.

Students in the M-A choir and guitar classes, from all different grades, have been preparing for the Cabaret Night for over a month.

A variety of musical talent was displayed as students sang and played anything from pop songs like  “Hometown Glory” by Adele to rock songs such as “The General” by Dispatch. Amazing guitarists were featured as well, playing spectacular solos for the crowd.

Many turned out for the event, despite the football game versus Woodside and the volleyball game at M-A. The crowd was snapping, clapping, cheering, dancing, and singing along to the songs played at the event, making it a fun and light-hearted event for everyone in attendance.

Junior, Noa Barak, concludes by saying, “I think it was a wonderful showcase of all of the talented students at M-A!”

The last time that the Homecoming Dance was held at M-A was four years ago. Leadership worked hard to set up this dance, creating a whole new atmosphere in the normal, smelly school gym. They started setting up the gym five hours prior to the dance.

Holding the dance at M-A also had its financial benefits.

“We have made at least $5,000-6,000,” said Student Activities Director, Kelly Todd. “Compared to last year we broke even, so we made money this year that will go back to student activities as a whole.”

Although the ticket sales for this event were just above par, having the dance at M-A was ultimately less expensive, helping us get back on track to making money, not losing it.

Students seemed to be enjoying the event. Many were dancing the night away in the gym, which was lit by well-placed lights, giving the whole room a pink glow. Those who weren’t dancing had fun either sitting out on the tables throwing candy, or getting their pictures taken by the professional photographers in the wrestling room.

“It was fun! The decorations were awesome!” said junior Jenna Scandalios. “I just wish more people had been there.”

The lack of people was was accounted for by the Bridge School Benefit Concert which started on the day of the Homecoming dance and continued throughout the rest of the weekend.

However, this Homecoming Dance was a huge success compared to those in the past. Students enjoyed themselves, the leadership class made a sizeable profit, and the decorations were incredible.

Students have been anxiously awaiting the revealing of this new guardian statue at our school for months. On Oct. 19, their wishes finally came true on at 1:10 p.m. Drumming, chanting, and cheering drew many others to the patio to watch this monumental event. Finally, after a 15 minute wait, the statue was finally unveiled. Students were seen on their knees, bowing to the statue, to honor it as our new guardian animal.

Junior Kathleen Muenzen, said that “I think that [the bear] is a good symbol of school pride.”

To read more about the unveiling of the statue, click here.

This year’s Homecoming Rally, held on Oct. 17, was different than past rallies. It was held on a Monday, which contributed to the lack of enthusiasm, and was held on the football field, instead of in the gym. The over 85° F weather was just too much to handle for the 2000 M-A students.

While the leadership class had high expectations for the new location, students said it was just too hot. Both freshman and sophomore students, seated on opposing sides of the “stage,” were seen trying to cool themselves off, or just walking around, not paying attention to the main event.

“It was very hard to see, especially for those of us in the back,” said sophomore Brett Moriarty. Most others seated on the football field felt the same way.

The events had more creativity and shine than those of previous rallies. However, students were too busy cooling off and trying to breathe to pay any attention to these activities.

Even though the rally did not quite meet expectations, Leadership student Charlotte Philp said “I’m really impressed with the seniors’ spirit despite the heat, they made M-A proud.”

The student body is still pumped up for the Homecoming football game against Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 21 and the Homecoming dance on Saturday, Oct. 22. Be sure to come out and support your school, M-A!

This year, the Oct. 22 dance will be on campus instead of at the Hiller Aviation Museum where it has been the past few years.

“We brought it back for a couple different reasons. It definitely costs us less to put it on campus, but it also allows us to sell cheaper tickets so more kids can go,” explained leadership teacher Kelly Todd.

But not all students are happy with the idea of having a dance on campus.  “I think it’s stupid. I already come to school everyday, so having the dance on campus will just be boring,” remarked junior Kian Modjtehedi.

“Personally, I don’t love the idea of it being at school, but I like the fact that tickets are cheaper,” added sophomore Kendall Peters.

One benefit of having an on-campus homecoming is that leadership can spend the extra money on better decorations. This will allow them to create an atmosphere reminiscent of the dance’s theme, Candyland.

“We’re planning to basically transform the gym so it doesn’t look like a gym… We have very exciting decorations,” said ASB President senior Selin Kutlu.

Todd divulged, “We do have one big surprise that we aren’t revealing yet.”

In addition, the homecoming rally will also be revamped. Rather than being held at the end of the week, this year the rally will be at the beginning of the week, on Monday, Oct. 17, in order to “continue to build the school spirit that we already have at M-A,” said Todd.

Tickets to the homecoming dance are still being sold during lunch on the green, $40 for singles and $75 for couples, with prices going up each week. Be sure to get yours before the day of the dance.

The Freedom Walk works toward all three of the club’s goals, which founders seniors Elizabeth Sherwin and Sydney Young name as “raising awareness of human-trafficking, raising funds for anti-trafficking organizations, and mobilizing students to participate in the abolitionist movement.”

The walk, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., will raise money for anti-trafficking organizations through registration fees. For students, registration costs $15 for a team member and $20 for an individual student. For adults, registration costs $25 for a team member and $30 for an individual adult. Registration is available online at http://freedom-walk.eventbrite.com/. “We’re shooting for about 75 to 125 [participants],” Young says.

“The money we raise is hopefully going to go to the Bay Area Trafficking Coalition, which is a new nonprofit based in Menlo Park and they’re really serving as the network behind the 53 organizations we know about fighting human trafficking,” continues Young.

The club has had some minor issues with the administration throughout the planning of this event.

“There’s an issue with raising money for a nonprofit because technically M-A’s a nonprofit, and you aren’t allowed to just send money to another nonprofit,” states Young. The club submitted a proposal to the district board, which granted them permission to give the money directly to the Bay Area Trafficking Coalition. “We’re excited that M-A is getting behind us now,” she says.

At the Freedom Walk, “We’re going to have a couple organizations holding informational booths—International Justice Mission, Not For Sale, Trade as One, Freedom House,” Young continues.

Members of the Melodies for Charities Club will sing, and Save Every Slave will sell fair-trade chocolate and provide all attendees with a bag with the club’s logo. According to Sherwin, “Luttickens has agreed to donate sandwiches for our walk so there will be food.”

Groups of four or more will walk 27 laps around the baseball field to represent the 27 million people in slavery in the world. Individuals are encouraged to walk 14 laps to signify the number of child slaves.

Elizabeth remarks that “this Freedom Walk will definitely be the biggest event we’ve ever done.”

For those interested in getting involved, the Save Every Slave Club meets every Tuesday at lunch in E-21.