Estrada Nakamatsu’s parents first introduced her to the Marinera to help her and her sister connect to their culture. Although Nakamatsu sometimes disliked attending practices, she eventually grew to love expressing her emotions and culture through dance.

“I was the only Peruvian at my elementary school for around four years, which made me feel very isolated and scared to represent my own culture,” Estrada Nakamatsu said. “It was kind of hard to try to accept my culture and be proud of it (because of) the really deep seated fear of being judged. As I got older, I definitely started to become more proud of my culture. Now, I’m very open. I love to show it off.”

Through the Marinera Nortena community, Estrada Nakamatsu surrounds herself with people who share her Peruvian culture, giving her a sense of belonging. The excitement that comes with dancing gives her an opportunity to cherish her culture.

“Sometimes, I’m so focused on the excitement of the dance that I block out the cheers of my family and I’m completely in a state of happiness,” she said.

Estrada Nakamatsu participates in several competitions during the year, though schoolwork and parent availability limit the number of practices and competitions she can attend.

“I was really happy to be (at the Marinera Siempre Juntos competition in January) because I hadn’t competed in such a long time,” she said. “I got a lot of compliments, and it felt really good to be in traditional wear.”

Competitions usually consist of three pairs dancing while four to six judges watch, with multiple rounds if necessary. Pairs are judged based on the spontaneity (the personality of the dance), grace, coordination and zapateo (the footwork). Through these competitions, however, she’s had to face the hard truth that certain dancers pay to win, even at the major national championship in Peru.

“It’s clear when someone who wins first place only won because they paid or because the judges weren’t good at deciding,” she said. “Sometimes it gets super frustrating that you just want to cry, because you’ve worked so hard and you have so much experience just to lose against someone that isn’t as experienced as you are.”

Despite this challenge, Estrada Nakamatsu continues to dance at competitions and for her own enjoyment.

“I basically just want to have fun,” she said. “I love to represent my culture. One day, I want to maybe even go to Gunn in my traditional clothing that I dance with to be able to show it off and be able to see other people wear (their) traditional wear.”

Cheema started working at Gunn six years ago after learning about a job opportunity from the Paly athletic trainer, a friend of hers. After taking a sports-medicine class at San Jose State University, Cheema realized that she enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of athletic training. “I could combine my passion for healthcare and all things biology- and health-related, and also be a practitioner where sports are involved, so I can see more of the orthopedic-type injuries,” she said. “(Athletic training) just combined it perfectly.”

Cheema works both short- and long-term with students until they are healed. She sends athletes with muscle injuries to a stretch program, which teaches them how to stretch injured muscle groups. Cheema also uses hot and cold therapy (relaxing muscles and joints through heat packs and reducing inflammation using ice packs) and taping when needed.

Although she can diagnose students, she sometimes refers athletes to other doctors to ensure the best treatment for them. “I may refer a student to an orthopedic doctor if I think that student needs X-rays, MRIs and some diagnostic testing to find out what’s going on,” Cheema said. “The (doctor) will come back to me and say, ‘This is a plan of care. Let’s go ahead and do this. You can take them from Step A through Step B, and then we’ll follow up.’”

Since different sports teams play at similar times, Cheema prioritizes visiting high-contact sports, such as water polo or wrestling. On days with many games, she tries to stay in an accessible location so that other sports’ players can easily find her.

Aside from taking care of student athletes, Cheema enjoys celebrating with them. “We have senior students who get acknowledged during those senior days,” she said. “They bring their parents out. They get to bring extended family members and friends. It’s fun all around because we get to celebrate them for all the work that they put into (their sport).”

Every Saturday, a parking lot on Gilman Street transforms into a bustling market, with over 30 California vendors selling items from produce to seafood to pastries. While all three farmers markets in the city are nonprofits, Gilman Street is the only market run by an all-volunteer board of directors, with profits donated to Avenidas, a local nonprofit that supports seniors.

According to Board Vice President Sheryl Klein, community members founded the Gilman Street farmers market in 1981 to make fresh, organic produce more accessible to seniors, as clothing stores and restaurants replaced grocery stores in downtown Palo Alto.

The Gibson family has sold dried apricots and walnuts from its family farm, Gibson Farms, at the Gilman Street market since its inception. Vendors and siblings Ginger and Gilbert Gibson make the one-hour drive from Hollister to Palo Alto each weekend. “At some of the other markets we’ve been to, people will try to get a lower price for the product, but that doesn’t happen here,” Ginger Gibson said. “We’ve made a lot of friends over the years, and the tempo of this market is really welcoming. Although it’s a parking lot, it almost looks like a county fair.”

Along with rotating vendors to ensure a diverse array of products, the Gilman Street market has adapted to the community’s needs by transitioning from a seasonal to year-round market. “We heard from folks in the community that it would be really nice to have access to the market year-round, so a couple years ago, we opened for a full year-round market,” Board President Annie Warner said. “We still obviously don’t have some vendors in the winter — none of our stone-fruit vendors have anything to sell in January — but we do take on more prepared-food vendors, and some of our produce vendors bring root vegetables throughout the winter.”

The Urban Village Farmers Market Association established Palo Alto’s second farmers market on California Ave in 2007. The California Avenue market features the most vendors of the three in Palo Alto and boasts textile and craft stalls. Both the California Avenue and Gilman Street farmers markets also feature a rotating cast of live music performers.

For those unable to attend the weekend farmers markets, the seasonal VA Hospital market — founded by the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association in 2010 — hosts a variety of stalls in front of the hospital’s main entrance.

While the market is open to the public, market manager Rebecca Barner notes that the majority of clients are veterans and hospital workers. “We have a couple of produce and bakery vendors (here), but we find that for this market, it’s more popular when it comes to hot food because a lot of the people that work here or live here come to get lunch,” she said.

While the city determines the markets’ overall layout, each market chooses its own vendors and stall setups, according to California Avenue market manager Scott Martin. Stall placement is based on California agricultural laws, and there are specific locations for each type of produce.

California Avenue market manager Scott Martin explained that the health and sustainability benefits of shopping at farmers markets often make the higher price worth it. “Here, you can actually meet the people that grow (produce) or pick it, or the ones that milk the cows,” he said. “If you buy meat here, you’re gonna know the day they ended the animal’s life and it’s only coming from a few miles away. It’s nice to know what goes into your body and know the people that raised everything (and) cared for it.”

Ginger Gibson recommends coming to the market as a fun weekend activity for everyone, regardless of whether they plan to buy food. “I’d recommend this market to anybody, even just to walk around during different seasons because the products will change, the smells will change,” she said.

Take a 3D view around the Farmers Market

“The community of the team is very fun — I try to keep it very energetic. We (the tennis team) know each other so well, and being able to hit with each other and having fun playing out there (is great).”

—Mia Saad, 11

Girls Volleyball

“The upperclassmen are really supportive of the underclassmen, and all three teams are really supportive of one another: We all go to each other’s games and cheer each other on, and we do team dress-ups before games as a whole program instead of each team individually.”

—Celine Safa, 12

Girls Golf

“Golf, as opposed to team sports, really teaches you about yourself, and it’s more mentally (intense). You’re not playing against other people. You’re really playing against yourself.”

—Kira Kuartei, 11

Girls Water Polo

“Water polo is one of the toughest sports both mentally and physically — and being part of a sport that forces you to push yourself really helps you grow as a person. We also have super fun dress-ups, a super good team atmosphere and everyone wants to work hard.”

—Ravina Nath, 12

Boys Water Polo

“For the past two years, we have won CCS (Central Coast Section) championships, which has been a great accomplishment for our team and Gunn athletics as a whole. Throughout the years, we (have) become really close as a community and team, and it is a great place to make friends and participate in a really fun sport.”

—Nadav Efrat, 12

Cross Country

“It’s a good way to stay fit and meet up with other people, and it’s really fun being able to compete against hundreds of people in meets.”

—Jake Seley, 12

Dance

“Dance team is a great place to meet new people and grow and learn dances together. Dance itself is very special because it’s not just a sport — it’s an art form as well. You can express (yourself).”

—Sophie Nam, 11

Cheer

“It’s just fun to be a part of a community. We also do a lot of different activities: We go to football games and basketball games, and we have our own competition. There’s a big variety of stuff that we do. It’s also a really fun way to be active.”

—Julia Hilding, 12

Girls Flag Football

“(I joined because) being able to start this program would be a really fun experience, and (it’s) an empowering idea. I think people should join so that we can actually get a prep for the sport. It’s a lot more fun than football because you don’t have to get tackled.”

—Jocelyn Lu, 10

Football

“(My favorite part of the football team is) the reward of playing games on Friday with my teammates. They’re all my friends, so I just hang out with them and spend time with them. I love my coaches too. They’re fun to be around.”

—Devin Sidhu, 12

Jung developed this routine when she was younger and struggled with pre-competition anxiety. “I started competing (at) a young age, so I (would) struggle with confidence in my ability,” she said. “I ask what I can do for myself, and the answer I come up with is being in control.”

Maecker’s coach created her morning warmup routine, while Maecker developed her nighttime routine through learning from others and reading articles. Having a steady routine has allowed Maecker to establish a sense of control. “(The routine) is something I know instead of something that’s really scary and unknown,” she said. “By having this routine, I make sure that my body is fully prepared to be ready, both mentally and physically.”

Rischmoller finds that the routine helps him relieve stress. “I don’t really feel that nervousness or pressure to play,” he said. “If I don’t do it before a game, I feel more nervous than I usually do.”

Powell believes one of many benefits of working with Mellows in the same school is that they can encourage each other to take on new experiences. “Dr. Mellows is responsible for getting me to be on stage to do anything,” she said. “I think there’s no way in hell I would have ever been on stage in the staff musical (without her encouragement). She (tells me), ‘I’ll do it. I’ve done it. You do it. Let’s do it.’”

Working in the same department has also allowed for the two teachers to share common ground. “We can commiserate with work situations,” Mellows said. “We (also) have a lot of understanding of what challenges there are and what joys there are in work.” The teachers have also grown closer outside of school. Powell, for example, has helped Mellows with pet-sitting in the summer. “(Mellows) had a habit of traveling the world in the summer,” Powell said. “So in the summertime, our family was a cat camp for her orange cat. When Dr. Mellows (had finished) teaching in Turkey for two years, I flew to Turkey to pick up her cat because she was going to spend the summer visiting her family in England and going on a safari.”

The two teachers also strengthened their friendship through shared passions such as softball. “I knew that (Powell) played softball, so I invited her to play on the softball team I was playing on,” Mellows said. “So I got to know her outside of work as well.” Powell and Mellows play together on a team called JERKS, and this love for softball has created unforgettable memories between the two teachers. They have also chaperoned Model United Nations conference trips together. “We have some good stories from various adventures across the country with the students,” Mellows said. Powell and Mellows have come to cherish different aspects of their friendship. Powell values Mellows’ unconditional acceptance and their varied strengths. “The things we bring to a conversation aren’t the same,” she said. “(Mellow is) always asking me biology questions, and I’m always asking her physics and chemistry questions. We have some rich conversations because we have different strengths.” On the other hand, Mellows values their support for each other. “She gets my sense of humor, which I appreciate,” she said. “She has my back and knows my history because (our friendship has) been so long.”

In the future, Powell sees herself continuing to work together with Mellows, both in and outside of school. “We have a nonprofit company called Bad-Ass Grannies, BAG for short,” she said. “(We make) greeting cards that are for anniversaries and birthdays, counted by the periodic table. Dr. Mellows writes fortunes, and I write poems about the birthday or anniversary, mostly in iambic pentameter. When we no longer work here, we could open (up) that store and have our little kiosk of greeting cards.” Mellows also agrees that their friendship will continue into retirement. “There’ll be more adventures to come,” she said. “(I’m) counting on our baking (passion) and greeting-card business for an income and the connection after we retire.”