The Oracle

9th Grade Class Election Candidates

2024-08-28T14:12:09Z

9th Grade Class President Candidates

Anushka Krishnan

Ren Lin

Émilie Matthey

9th Grade Class Vice President Candidates

Ian Kim

Yufan Pan

Tanvi Ramachandar

Kayeesha Sitaula

9th Grade Class Site-Council Representative Candidates

Tai Ford

Gordon Oh

Laura Wang

Enzo Wolff de Tourreil

Harry Yin

Play Crossword

2024-08-27T20:16:10Z

Humor: How to begin the year with memorable first impressions

2024-08-28T03:41:43Z

School namesake Henry M. Gunn left lasting impact on Bay Area education

2024-08-28T06:05:11Z

Many of Palo Alto’s well-known landmarks and locations bear recognizable names. Hoover Tower,Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School, and Hewlett-Packard Garage ring a bell for most. Gunn High School’s namesake, however, is perhaps less well-known.

Henry Martin Gunn was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 7, 1898, and moved to Oregon at the age of 12. He attended the University of Oregon and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there, serving in the Navy during World War I in the midst of his studies. He then attended graduate school at Stanford, completing a master’s degree in education before moving back to Oregon to become a principal in the Portland school system. While taking nighttime university courses there, he met his wife Thelma Eiler, an art teacher at the time. As his reputation grew, Gunn moved into the superintendent position for the Eugene School District and then transitioned to the university level, teaching education at the University of Southern California before becoming president of Western Oregon University. After three years there, PAUSD hired him as superintendent in 1950. Gunn’s foremost priority for students in the district was to improve their standardized testing performance.

He cited the fact that PAUSD students performed well above the national average in reading,writing and arithmetic as one of his proudest achievements as superintendent. Gunn also placed special emphasis on “gifted” students, creating a new program specifically to enrich those who weren’t challenged by the general education curriculum. He experimented with new educational approaches at every level, collaborating with Stanford University to bring new curricula and teaching methods to high schoolers while introducing algebra and geometry to elementary students. At the heart of his philosophy was individuality — he encouraged teachers, students, and individual schools to take their own approaches to learning, communicating amongst themselves to find novel approaches while still covering the same basic skills.

As superintendent, Gunn still remained involved in the local community: He was president of the local Rotary Club, held a position on the YMCA board of directors, and was on the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America. Gunn also led a group of superintendent advocates to establish a local junior college district, and successfully founded the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in 1957.

In 1964, Henry M. Gunn High School, Palo Alto’s third high school at the time, welcomed its inaugural student body. Through naming the school after Gunn, district leaders hoped to pay tribute to his service to PAUSD over his 12-year tenure. Unlike the majority of Palo Alto’s schools and public buildings, however, the school was named after him while he was still living.

After leaving PAUSD in 1961, Gunn became a professor of school administration at San Jose State University and then moved to the California State Department of Education, but remained close with the district. He was the principal speaker at the school’s first graduation ceremony in 1968, and received a distinguished citizen award from the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce.

Gunn passed away in 1988 at the age of 90 of a stroke, leaving behind a solidified legacy at PAUSD and the Palo Alto community. Former district principal Dr. Winfield Christiansen noted that his greatest gift, one that went beyond education and schooling, was “to make people believe in themselves.”

Students, staff explore diverse cultures, reset for school year with summer travel

2024-08-28T06:05:17Z

Staffers offer advice for the new school year

2024-08-28T06:05:25Z

New administration, food services building slated to open in January

2024-08-28T06:05:30Z

With interior wall finishes, ducts, ceilings, lighting, exterior stucco, glazing, and landscaping installations progressing during the summer, phase one of Gunn’s construction project is projected to be completed in January, with the A- and B-buildings fully in use. The construction crew will move towards the final stages that include department approvals.

Starting in January 2025 and finishing in fall 2025, phase two — which is to convert the culinary classrooms in the K-building into two Science Labs — will start after the full completion of phase one and finish in fall 2025. This construction plan that began in the fall of 2022 included a major modernization of the administration office, cafeteria and exterior and interior dining halls. The A-building will house administration facilities, a nurse’s office, a multi-purpose room for teacher meetings and additional eating areas. The B-building will feature a Design Studio and classrooms and a kitchen for Culinary Arts.

With the new administration office’s “court- yard-like entrance”, Senior Construction Manager Mohammed Sedqi explains that its location was most suitable for parents’ and visitors’ way finding and staffs’ supervision.

“The best architecture is when you don’t need a sign saying ‘admin is there’. You want to just arrive at the parking lot and clearly know where it is,” he said. “The entrance is facing the parking lot, so it’s this new face to the school entrance that helps promote the sense of place at the school.”

The renovation work includes adding 8,000 square feet to the existing 12,000 square feet of building. During the process, the crew tackled challenges with remodeling an existing building, such as the absence of utilities lines
underground and older, incorrect spokes. Sedqi also said that potential setbacks in regulatory food space checkpoints will not be a major problem, ensuring a timely debut.

PAUSD Facilities & Construction Director Eric Holm describes that many tasks, including installations of electrical wiring, landscaping and planters, were allocated to start between the end of school and start of summer school to
prevent disruption during the school year. The construction team planned to repave the streets and repaint the main exit when summer school ended on July 19.

“We try to have the least amount of disturbance to students, so we use the summer to work outside of the fences of the building construction site,” he said. “So to connect the entire power of the buildings, we had to shut down the entire campus for three days.”

Sedqi expresses a similar sentiment.

“Because of the first winter storm that hit us hard, we had a challenging period with a mud pit in construction for months,” he said. “Otherwise, summer is when we make a lot of progress without things that hit a delay like interrupting school activity.”

Holm explains that unexpected changes and additions from the original plan range from environmental concern to improved technology.

“An example is that the contractor’s access to get things would end up damaging the trees because the building was too close, so we’ve made some modifications there,” he said. “We’ve also changed as a district. Gunn is one of our test cases for a new security system and camera system inside, so that all the doors are Access Reader on this building, and you won’t need any keys to get into the building.”

For future projects, Gunn may consider cross-laminated timber, a material built from sustainably harvested big wood lumber, as used in rebuilding Herbert Hoover Elementary School in March of 2024.

“The cool thing about mass timber, which is cross laminated timber, is it being the new zero carbon footprint technology,” Sedqi said. “It’s a really good direction, and if that is successful, that might be a prototype for future projects.”

For Sedqi, whose role in construction stemmed from a childhood of building Legos, he finds it rewarding to be able to connect with students and teachers, like food services and CTE Instructional Lead and culinary science teacher Cindy Peters, to execute campus facilities or that elevate each part of the community.

“I’m proud of the culinary classroom and kitchen because I have had a lot of meetings with Cindy. If you’ve been to her class, she’s been there for roughly 20 to 30 years and it’s outdated. So I like when she’s on site and says, ‘I’m happy about this. I want to teach here.’” he said. “It’s for her and for all the students. You’re gonna get some place that is
like cooking in a place that looks like a five star restaurant. It feels really good.”

While construction is continual with interior design efforts such as installing flooring, ceiling lights and kitchen equipment; painting the walls; and putting in attack panels, Assistant Principal of Facilities Dr. Mycal Hixon points out that the administration is focused on finding ways to better students’
environments and fulfill their needs.

“It allows us to continue to support students in the best, most efficient and safest way possible,” he said. “It finally allows for a cafeteria dining space during rainy day weather and is air conditioned for students to have lunch. That definitely means a lot for Gunn, while meeting all the measures and safety disciplines as best as administration
can.”

Series of fire alarms disrupt campus activity, prompt additional investigation

2024-08-28T06:05:37Z

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, fire alarms caused campus-wide evacuations and interrupted class schedules.

The first two alarms were set off by some kind of smoke — potentially from foods like popcorn that have activated the sensors in the past — while the cause of the third alarm remains unknown. According to Assistant Principal of Safety Dr. Mycal Hixon, the new fire panel — which was installed over the summer to provide a safety upgrade to the previous out-of-date system — is being investigated as the potential cause.

“We’re trying to work with the fire department to see if this is either a faulty alarm, a box that’s going off or if there was an actual pull,” he said. “Unlike the other days, we weren’t able to identify smoke (on Thursday), so we’re really trying to figure it out.”

These interruptions, even with the adjusted bell schedule accommodations on Thursday, impacted both student agenda and instruction time. According to history teacher Laurel Howard, she’s had to adapt to the incident in order to ensure her periods learn the same amount of content at the same time.

“(The fire alarms are) impacting my class periods in different ways,” she said. “If I’m trying to keep my classes on track with each other and one has a 20-minute evacuation, then I have to make adjustments so (the delayed class) doesn’t fall too far behind.”

Firetrucks arrive to campus during the Thursday, August 22 fire alarm. (Vin Bhat)

Although a definitive reason for the three alarms this week is still under investigation, administration is considering whether they may be due to a potential smoking problem on campus. Hixon explained that possible administration responses may include increased student resources, increased campus security and utilizing camera footage.

“We want to make sure that we can accurately identify what the problem is so we can accurately work together collaboratively to come up with solutions,” he said. “If it’s going off because somebody’s intentionally smoking in the bathroom, that’s one thing. If there’s somebody actually doing something, we want to find what support we can provide them to help them understand that (it) is not okay.”

For English teacher Diane Ichikawa, the ambiguity of the faulty fire alarms’ has added to the confusion that undermines the trustworthiness of the campus’s safety systems.

“Because we get so many (fire alarms) that end up being either false or people perceive them to be false, they don’t take an actual emergency (seriously),” she said. “It’s kind of a ‘boy-cried-wolf’ situation.”

Students wait for teachers to take roll during the Thursday, August 22 evacuation.

In response to the lack of information available, Hixon highlighted the administration’s efforts to rectify these issues.

“We will work with the company that installed the fire alarms to ensure we are trained on everything it does and why,” he wrote in an email. “We will also be more alert to our surroundings, making sure that if we see something, we say something so that we can safely get things taken care of. We will also be getting an updated security camera system.”

However, despite the disturbances these fire alarms have caused, Science Instructional Lead Dr. Heather Mellows emphasized the importance of taking evacuation seriously.

“(Evacuating) is still important because we don’t know which alarms are real,” Mellows said. “And as a science teacher, I know that sometimes the fire alarm is because of what happens in my room, and I need it to be real when that happens.”

Currently, the evacuation drill scheduled for Thursday, August 29 will continue as planned.

“I am sure students have done a great job, but just in case, there are still a few things that we need to work on and (the drill) gives us that opportunity to do it,” Hixon said.

—Written by Kaylee Cheng, Anne Dong, Sylvie Nguyen and Ya-An Xue. Additional reporting by Gwen Domine.

Student Pen Pals form unexpected bonds, bridge cultures

2024-05-26T20:35:03Z

Sophomore Rayla Chen opens her mail box to discover letters instead of report cards, advertisements and other packages. Inside the letters, she finds herself teleported to France through the writing of her international pen pals.

In an era where technology often mediates our interactions with others, Chen’s choice to engage in letters allows her to put more thought into her communication than a simple text.

“I’ve done two pen-pal programs,” she said. “The first one was in eighth grade and I was paired with a girl who lived in the French Alps. We talked for a bit online before we started writing to each other. I wrote to her in French and she wrote to me in English.”

This program was orchestrated by her French teachers and their English teacher friends in France. Although not participating this year because her teacher chose not to, Chen was involved during her eighth grade and freshman year.

Teachers paired students up with someone from their partner class in the other country, and in cases of unequal class sizes, someone may be required to write two letters. From there, students received basic information about their pen pal and gave teachers the letters to mail out — beginning the exchange cycle. Through the program, Chen matched with many students from diverse backgrounds whom she wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise. One example of this enlightenment is her second pen pal — Clemence from Albi, a village in the South of France.

“I exchanged social media with (her), and despite only having one semester to communicate, (found out she was) a very lovely person,” she said. “She’s a tri-athlete and she’s super cool.”

For Chen, every envelope that arrives creates a new and lasting friendship, as well as an opportunity to explore unique experiences. Regular curriculum is taught through an outside perspective with basic grammar and textbooks, while the letters take those skills to a more advanced level. They help improve her understanding of foreign lifestyles and cultures and enhance her knowledge around language use.

“(The pen-pal program) enriches your class experience a lot more because you get to see the culture a lot more and you get to learn first-hand what life is like in the country of the language that you’re speaking,” she said.

Pen-pal programs also opened Chen’s eyes to the cultural differences in other parts of the world andhelped her learn how to adapt to them. Each letter unveiled new perspectives and ideas from France, allowing Chen to experience the country through a mere piece of paper.

“I’ve definitely learned more about French culture, and when I did my exchange program with the Council on International Educational Exchange over the summer, I had my pen-pal programs before that,” she said. “Learning about French culture through someone who was living there actually helped me a lot during my exchange because I got to learn about French customs a lot and adapt there quicker.”

Chen also emphasizes the importance of keeping contact with others around the world as a way to connect, meet new people and expand one’s horizons.

“I think that all language students should do pen-pal programs because you’re able to immerse yourself into the culture a lot better and you’re able to learn the language and cultures a lot better,” she said. “It’ll open your eyes up to the world a lot more.”

Student Pen Pals form unexpected bonds, bridge cultures

2024-05-26T20:30:43Z

Junior Samhita Krishnan had discovered one issue that many people hadn’t — the gap between the elderly and the youth. To build a better community Krishnan decided to take action and create a pen-pal project called BuddyBonds. In Gunn’s Advanced Authentic Research class, each student has the opportunity to research a topic chosen in an area they find interesting. Alongside juniors Namya Kasturi and Lia O’Donovan, Krishnan created BuddyBonds, a program to connect seniors from Ivy Living — an assisted living community in Menlo Park — with Gunn students. So far, ten students have sent out a combined total of six letters and received one in return. BuddyBonds aims to mend the disconnect between older and younger generations. Writing letters provided a way to build friendships between unlikely individuals, all from the comfort of home.

“We originally started a pen-pal project because we wanted to bridge the intergenerational gap between the elderly and students here at Gunn,” Krishnan said.

These letters cover a variety of topics, such as hobbies, sports, academics or anything else the students choose to include about themselves. The founders of BuddyBonds created basic prompts intended to promote interesting conversations and encourage those writing to share more about themselves.

“In one of the letters, one of the other people who participated talked about her love for music and how she’s part of the orchestra,” Krishnan said.

Writing these pen-pal letters transcend the benefits of casual correspondence. According to Krishnan, the experience of a senior citizen — someone who is over 60 years old — is incredibly different from that of a high schooler, and writing to them would provide students with a chance to understand unique points of view and learn from their vivid life experiences. Krishnan adopted a newfound sense of understanding towards those who reside at Ivy Livings through her pen-pal letters. The project also left a positive impact on the community at Ivy Living by helping to introduce more social aspects to the seniors’ lives.

“Only one out of the 10 people we interviewed said that they got contact with people outside of the retirement home,” she said. “And after we did the pen pal letters, (we) can safely say that there’s been a difference and that they feel a little bit more connected, specifically to the students that were involved with the pen pal program.”

This pen-pal project has also created a chance for students to meet one of the residents in person — Alison. Alison, who has lived and studied in Edinburgh, Scotland, was one of those individuals. This experience has proven that taking initiative to reach out can lead to potentially life-changing opportunities like these.

Although the project is relatively new, with the first letter being sent out in March, Krishnan recommends this activity to anyone looking for a way to connect with others.

“Reaching out and communicating is definitely a great way to get involved in writing letters,” she said.

The practice of writing letters has become less and less common, vanishing in the age of technology. While less convenient, the authenticity of writing, addressing, stamping and mailing a letter can’t be beat. Despite its decline in popularity, however, the art of pen-palling is still occasionally seen today in initiatives such as BuddyBonds, which are intended to connect people of different ages.