Editors’ Picks 100 years of FUHSD honored in district-wide celebrations pg. 3 Colleges have become a battleground for students’ freedom of speech pg. 5 Adrian Philip carves a path towards success pg. 15 Redlining: forming urban and suburban divisions pg. 16
Website
Find exclusive content and all archived stories at www.lhsepic.com
Social Media
Follow our Instagram @lhs.epic for breaking news, sports and event coverage
Rohin Saharoy surpasses limits in the dojo pg. 18
Volume 59 Issue 8 | May 20, 2024
Lynbrook High School, 1280 Johnson Ave., San Jose, CA 95129
CLASS OF 2024 SENIOR ISSUE senior comic: pg 7
bequeathals: pg 8-9
100 years of FUHSD honored in district-wide celebrations
Fighting the newest outbreak: test flu STAFF EDITORIAL VOICE OF THE EPIC
T
he phone rings in the main office — another absence call for a supposedly sick student. Coincidentally, multiple teachers are giving tests on that day. Spikes in absences on days when tests are administered have become a rising concern. This phenomenon has been dubbed “test flu”. While many students are genuinely sick, some students miss school just to skip exams. At a school like Lynbrook, academics often weigh students down. Though not taking a test on the chosen day may seem like a quick and simple solution to avoid facing an obstacle, this habit of avoidance poses detrimental effects on students, affects their classmates and negatively impacts the teacher’s lesson plans. Instead, students should prioritize communication with teachers and recognize the multiple consequences of test flu to ensure effective learning. There are many reasons why students may choose to miss class on the day of a test. One reason is that the student does not feel prepared due to a lack of studying or not prepared enough to do well on the test. A factor that may create this course of action is the amount of stress that students may feel from a heavy workload or procrastination leading up to the test. Some students come to school with minimal sleep while dealing with constant pressure to achieve high grades. In the long run, these students risk and sometimes cope with their anxiety by avoiding taking tests to have more time to study and potentially get a higher grade. “Testing anxiety and academic pressure affects students,” sophomore Susanna Khubchandani said. “Without good grades, some may think that their future prospects are ruined and that they’re not going to get anywhere in life.” story continus on page 4 || opinion
BY AUDREY SUN AND OLIVIA YUAN
F
UHSD commemorated a century of providing education at Fremont High School and the FUHSD Adult School on May 11. Through events like a war memorial at Fremont and tours of new classrooms at the Adult School, the commemoration both honored the past and looked toward the future of the district. “Our goal for the celebration was not only to celebrate our school’s 100th anniversary but also to invite new students and spread awareness about the Adult School,” Adult School principal Lori Riehl said. The opening ceremony in Fremont’s Shannon Theater kicked off the centennial at 10 a.m. with the Fremont choir. Their performance was followed by speeches from Riehl, as well as Fremont principal Bryan Emmert, Fremont senior Lia Kamhaji and Fremont alumnus and teacher Jason Townsend. Additionally, current district superintendent Graham Clark, former district superintendent Polly Bove and district board of trustees president Jeff Moe were present as speakers. Sunnyvale mayor Larry Klein, congressional aide from District 17 representative Ro Khanna’s office Jordan Tachibana and district director representing assemblymember Evan Low’s office Patrick Ahrens also contributed addresses. At the podium, which was adorned with ikebana (the traditional Japanese art of floral arrangement) from Adult School instructors Connie Chen, Mayshine Huang and Fusako Hoyrup, the speakers recounted their involvement in FUHSD, expressing their hopes for the district’s future and honoring significant figures in its history. “Listening to the speakers, some of whom are former students and people that I knew or worked with, talk about Fremont was wonderful,” former Fremont teacher Richard Canavese said. “It was very emotional to listen to their recollections of people, my colleagues and friends, who have either passed away or moved away.” story continus on page 3 || news
senior map: pg 10-11
senior columns: pg 12-13