Polly McConnell
Back To School Changes... Again
As students file into the halls of Pasadena High this Monday, we know something is different. It’s not the shining new entrance outside the office, or. It’s not the patch of trees in front of the gym, nor the swath of green behind it. Instead, the change lies within the matrix of A-building offic...
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Expanded!
Biden delivers 100,000 acre expansion for environmentalists, Indigenous groups, and residents
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PUSD Budget Cuts Loom: Call to Student Action
.reaten PHS librarian, academy teachers, and more, will students rise up to reach a solution with the Board?
On February 16th, 2024, the PUSD Board of Education approved the closure of over two-hundred positions throughout the district. The measure extends to teachers, administrators, and central office jobs. The staff cuts, mandated by the Los Angeles Office of Education, are the response to a significa...
Class Spotlight: Film History
Behind the scenes of a class that's about more than the movie
When I think of Film History, I picture silent, black-and-white reels and essays on De Niro’s character development in The Godfather. I think: Gene Autry, Marilyn Monroe, Car Chase, repeat. But here at PHS, the course is something entirely different. It goes miles beyond my narrow-minded assumptio...
School and Sport: Balancing Life as a Student Athlete
Tonight, I sat down to write this article after three hours of homework, and before that, a volleyball game in Burbank that pulled me out of my last two class periods. My situation, though it may sound harrowing, is not rare: it’s the life of a student athlete. Pasadena High School offers all st...
Polytechnic vs. Altadena
Polytechnic High plans sports complex in northern Altadena
Stationed at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains in northern Altadena, Nuccio’s Nursery has sold azalea and camellia flowers since 1935. In October, the Italian family business announced plans to retire - and hand over the property to Polytechnic High School, which proposed converting all thirteen...
AP African American Studies: Rethought or Removed?
College Board removes critical race theory and contemporary movements from new AP curriculum
Critical race theory. You’ve probably heard of this term before - maybe somewhere on Twitter, a New York Times article covering the Black Lives Matter movement, or in the manifesto of a social justice coalition. But have you ever seen it in the classroom? Critical race theory (often abbreviated CR...
Teacher Spotlight: Mrs. Beck
Making calculus a little easier for all of us!
It’s safe to say that students are terrified by the word calculus. advanced math courses, especially those prefixed with the daunting “AP”, seem to invoke a quarry of emotions like stress, fear, or wonder for most - this is a level of math that a lot of students don’t even wish to tackle in college...
To Eat or Not to Eat?
PHS students and teachers clash over the right to snack
Tuesday afternoon. Sixth period. 2:15pm. Math. Your worksheet? Forgotten. Your stomach? Empty. The person to your right pops open a bag of Takis, and the mouthwatering smell of the spicy, crunchy snack wafts straight to your seat. What is the only thing you’re thinking right now? “I want some,” soph...
PHS's Student Wellbeing Center
A welcome, confidential space for all students!
As students are finally getting settled into a rhythm with our new school year, many have noticed and taken advantage of the up-and-running Student Wellbeing Center. This humble and welcoming space, located in G202, is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until 4 pm for every student at PHS. Brittani,...
The Secret Garden
Green Club's New Native Garden is Coming Soon!
Picture this: It’s a beautifully warm, sunny day, and you and your friends are looking for a place to sit down at lunch. You want to breathe in some fresh air, find a patch of shade, or get away from the concrete quads and noise of campus. If only a divine space like this existed at PHS… Well - it d...
Art on the Ballot
A new initiative for arts education in California schools
Throughout the history of the public education system, art has been consistently underfunded in K-12 schools. Even today, most students who are remotely interested in art as a career opt to attend a specialized arts high school that’s an hour away rather than the public school down the road. For pub...
Will we stay in school?
Alarming COVID-19 numbers leave students wondering about a return to online learning
Winter break brought many new things - cold weather, relieved stress, holiday spirit… and of course, a tremendous COVID-19 spike. A rocketing holiday surge of the Omicron variant left many in shock and panic, especially as similarities began to emerge between our current situation and that of March ...
Toilet Taboo
Campus-wide bathroom closure leaves students in a tailspin
When’s the last time you used the bathroom at PHS? Were you willing to suffer through walking across 3 buildings to reach the nearest open one, or was the grimy state of the sinks not worth the risk? It’s no secret that during this semester, bathrooms all across campus have been closed. This phenom...
Where did all the plants go?
A history of greenspace at PHS (and why we don't have any)
On average, each student at PHS walks through the quad and canteen five or six times a day. On top of that, most make two trips to the locker rooms, and one more across campus while exiting at the final bell. This evens out to roughly eight or nine trips around campus throughout the day. That’s eigh...