Features

Valentine’s Day

Fragrant roses, chocolates wrapped up in silk ribbon and cheesy Hallmark cards are recurring features of Valentine’s Day advertised in every store window and romantic movie. However, while we may indulge ourselves in these materialistic goods, it is still important to cherish the relationships that form the core of our lives. After all, that’s what matters at heart – not only on Feb. 14, but everyday of the year.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/valentines-day/”]Explore[/button]

The Office

The high school experience is a whirlwind for some and a slow trudge for others. In lapses of nostalgia, seniors recollect their freshmen year as a blur, a culmination of fluctuating grades and a reminiscence of teachers’ and friends’ faces. Occasionally, there are the miscellaneous, but vivid tidbits: one’s disdain for the whole-wheat pizza crust or the mortifying slip-and-fall near the stairs of the B Building. Occasionally, we recall the staff behind-the-scenes of MVHS, those who are, rather ironically, situated in the front office.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/2017/10/10/special/office-frontlines/”]Explore[/button]

Carry On

As we move forward towards our uncertain futures, we look back and reflect on our past. We carry with us the memories of our childhood, sunsoaked and carefree. From childhood mistakes to the trinkets on our desk, from the pop culture of our youth to the friends that we made, we bring them with us on our journey into adulthood.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/carryon/”]Explore[/button]

Made of Memes

At MVHS, memes are everywhere, from the classroom walls of Mr. Owens’ room to Facebook groups for classes or their own online pages that are just for fun. The meme culture on campus has led many students to create their own memes, adding to the viral culture of humor today. Take a look at how memes have changed the way we laugh.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/made-of-memes/”]Explore[/button]

10-23 Arrived At Scene

For the next three months, Reporter Rana Aghababazadeh will participate in the Sheriff’s Office Teen Academy to learn about the work of law enforcement. Every two weeks she will post an installment of her activities and experiences of the Academy

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://ranaaghababazadeh.wixsite.com/10-23″]Explore[/button]

Animal Instincts

A shot fired through the flesh, blood oozing out quick and clean. He smiled in victory.
Her bare fist crashed through one board after another, the adrenaline hitting its high. It’s in their bones: their animal instincts.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/animal-instincts/”]Explore[/button]

Then and Now

Chalk boards turned into white boards. Notebooks turned into Google Docs. Pencils turned into the rapid typing on a touchscreen keyboard. This is how technology has transformed the learning experience.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/then-and-now/”]Explore[/button]

Frame of Mind

In this package we explore how our relative affluence affects our perspective and shapes our education.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/frameofmind/”]Explore[/button]

Seven Sins

It’s part of the human condition for us to be imperfect, for us to sin. Read through the package to see short vignettes of both students’ and teachers’ experiences with envy, pride, lust, greed, gluttony, sloth and wrath.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/sevensins/”]Explore[/button]

Every January First 

It’s a tradition that’s unknown to almost all except those who have served in the U.S. Navy, and has left a paper trail of eyewitness accounts and reflections from major conflicts in U.S. history. And up until now, it’s been hidden away. No one knows how the tradition of writing a poem into a deck log or squadron log on Jan. 1 of each year, on the watch from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., began, but it’s left a lifetime and a half of information about our country sitting in the military archives. So I set out to resurrect these pages of verse from their dusty book jackets, and piece together the stories that they tell of the people and places of the U.S. Navy through time.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”http://zazulippert.wixsite.com/everyjanuaryfirst”]Explore[/button]

Taking the high road

Her voice blends in with the loud lunchtime din of the Olive Court, but the story she tells of her substance use is one that stands out. Explore a former student’s experience with drugs, its effects on relationships and more in this package.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/drugs/”]Explore[/button]

Applying Yourself

The college application process leads many seniors to reflect upon the other snapshots of their lives, to find out who they are underneath the piles of homework and the everyday tasks that have consumed so much of their time. This package  looks beneath the surface to see more deeply what goes into the process of applying to college, and how the moments in one’s  everyday life lead to reflection.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/applying-yourself/”]Explore[/button]

Down Memory Lane

There are memories we hold close to ourselves dearly. Then there are the ones we long to forget. Regardless of what kind of memories we form in our lifetime, remembering is an integral part of the human condition. In this package, Special Report explores the memories we have created — and the memories we long to destroy.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/memories/”]Explore[/button]

Aesthetic Inspirations

Humans have a keen receptiveness for visually appealing subjects, whether it’s the latest in fashion or a  the tactful composition of an Instagram feed. In this package, Special Report explores how aesthetic appeal is more than what meets the eye.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/aesthetics/”]Explore[/button]

Bullying

What pushes us to pull others down?

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/bullying/”]Explore[/button]

The Whisper of a Dream

America’s roots are deeply ingrained in the immigrants that arrived there. From the Pilgrims’ first landing in the 17th century to the plight of the Irish peoples in the mid-19th century, the movement of foreigners to the United States plays an invaluable role in American identity. Today, the spirit of the American Dream lives on in the people around us, whether it’s in the teachers of MVHS, a man who brought her daughter to America in search of better education or a Taiwanese girl struggling to get acquainted to an alien country.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://elestoque.org/americandream/americandream.html/”]Explore[/button]

To Be Beautiful

Examining the meaning of beauty today.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/to-be-beautiful//”]Explore[/button]

Coding

Located at the heart of Silicon Valley, the programming scene at MVHS is alive with energy. In this package, the developers of MVHS give a behind-the-scenes look of what goes on in the coding community.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/coding/”]Explore[/button]

Rebirth

As the new school year begins, each of us takes on a new life. Freshmen become sophomores, sophomores become juniors and juniors become seniors. This year, even parts of our campus have taken on a new life. Explore stories of the rebirth of MVHS in the 2016-17 school year.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/rebirth/”]Explore[/button]

Scream and Shout

In a word? Vocal. We stood up for what we believed in, whether we did this through the internet or in person. We screamed at the top of our lungs at the rallies to uphold our claim to royalty, and flocked to social media to commemorate important moments, not just moments in history but important moments in our own lives. We created a chronicle of ideas and opinions that we weren’t afraid to put out into the world, and now we are the youngest to vote in the upcoming election. As high school comes to an end, a hush tends to fall over seniors as they reflect on their past four years at MVHS. But we continue to look forward and speak out. We’re the ones who raised our voices.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/scream-and-shout/”]Explore[/button]

Celebrating Moms

Loving. Generous. Strong. Beautiful. Oftentimes we forget to give thanks to the women who provide us with care, support and unconditional love. But on one date we commemorate them for their dedication and hard work: Mother’s Day.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/celebrating-moms/”]Explore[/button]

Urban Farming

Raising animals, growing cacti and a school garden relocation, what do they have in common? These ongoing changes all reflect a growing fad: farming in the suburbs.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/urban-farming-special/”]Explore[/button]

Ideas

Where do we get our ideas from? Includes articles from Apr. print issue.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/ideas/”]Explore[/button]

The way we love

What better way to say “I love you” than with bright red hearts, a bouquet of red roses, a package of chocolate or a heartfelt-card?
Valentine’s Day is the one day set aside by the world for people to openly display their affection towards others. Here we explore how people love and how their expressions of love have changed.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/The-way-we-love/”]Explore[/button]

Let’s talk about sex

How much do we really know? Examining how culture and environment impact sex education. Includes articles from print issue.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/lets-talk-about-sex/”]Explore[/button]

Borderlands

While some students are loud and rambunctious out in the open space of the academic court, others are tucked away in the nips and corners of the campus. And while some just happen to be drifting along the peripherals of the campus, others are inhabitants — spending each passing day there making memories. The borders of the campus is where their story begins.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/borderlands/”]Explore[/button]

SAT Vocabulary

Beginning in 2016, CollegeBoard will offer a new version of the SAT with a revamped vocab section aimed to dissuade students from using flashcards to “memorize obscure words.” Instead, the test will focus on common and useful words offered in a broad context. As we say goodbye to the copious agglomeration of enigmatical lexemes, we will choose one SAT vocabulary word each day and discover the word’s meaning to MVHS students.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/sat-vocabulary/”]Explore[/button]

Give and take

Examining who charity serves in donations, events and service. Includes December’s digital print issue.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/2015/12/12/special/give-and-take/”]Explore[/button]

Answers

Seeking answers and solutions to questions we have all wondered about at some point.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/answers/”]Explore[/button]

Roleplay

Investigating what roles we play in our respective communities and how those roles influence us. Includes articles from print issue.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/roles/”]Explore[/button]

Life Skills

Students show how other skills can aide them both now and in the future.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/category/special/life-skills/”]Explore[/button]

Religion and tradition

Exploring the role of religion and tradition in our lives. Includes articles from print issue.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/religion-and-tradition/”]Explore[/button]

Superstitions

Examining superstitions from myths and legends to rituals that students do before taking a test.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/special-report/superstitions/”]Explore[/button]

Tales from our city

Exploring the changing lives of residents in an evolving Cupertino

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://elestoque.org/tfoc/tfoc.html”]Explore[/button]

A changing city

As Cupertino undergoes renovation and expansion, different communities express their hopes and doubts about the changing city.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/special-report/a-changing-city/”]Explore[/button]

Who are we?

Students and teachers describe how different aspects of their life define who they are.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/who-are-we/”]Explore[/button]

Ready, Set, Go!

Students and teachers explain how they get ready for the school year.

[button target=”_blank” style=”text-align: center;” class=”” link=”https://www.elestoque.org/ready-set-go/”]Explore[/button]