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The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Hannah Shahidi, Print Managing Editor and Satire Editor

Hannah is the Satire editor. She doesn’t really like her job, but she does it for the high salary. Of course, money isn’t everything. She’s also a Print Managing Editor. She doesn’t like this job either, and she doesn’t even get paid.

All content by Hannah Shahidi
Guest speakers we actually want to see

Guest speakers we actually want to see

Hannah Shahidi, Print Managing Editor
May 8, 2025

As a senior, I have attended many speaker events during my time at the school.  From sleeping through talks about everything from activism to current events, I’ve learned so much. However, I think it’s...

The Official Club Fair Guide

Hannah Shahidi, Print Managing Editor
October 31, 2024

Red Cross Club: Learn how to save lives. All you gotta do is hawk tuah on that CPR dummy! Environmental Club: A fast-tracked way to becoming an enemy of Prefect Council through balloon popping....

President of School Rick Commons presents Head Prefect Davis Marks '24 with the Humanitas award during the annual ceremony.

2024 student and faculty awards announced

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
May 30, 2024

Valedictorian: Leo Craig ’24 Salutatorian: Bari LeBari ’24 Bishop’s Medal and Veritas Award: Derek Esrailian ’24, Lila Daoudi ’24, Bari LeBari '24 Given to three seniors who most fully...

Flipping the Switch

Flipping the Switch

Students and faculty discuss the prevalence of code-switching in various marginalized communities and how it impacts individuals.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
May 29, 2024

Just down the street from the Koreatown H Mart is St. James Episcopal School, where elementary school aged kids say goodbye to their parents, run around with their friends and share snacks before class...

Prefect Council allowed students and faculty to vote on whether they want to adopt the revised Honor Code.

Final vote held to ratify Honor Code

Hannah Shahidi
May 28, 2024

If upper and middle school students and faculty vote in support of implementing a revised Honor Code for the 2024-2025 school year, it will likely be ratified following a meeting between Prefect Council...

Prefects decide to revise Honor Code

Prefects decide to revise Honor Code

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
March 20, 2024

Prefect Council will update the language of the current Honor Code to modernize it and lessen ambiguity following preliminary discussions with members of the administration, according to Upper School Dean...

Community members vote in the California Primary

Community members vote in the California Primary

Members of the community reflect on the process and results of the state primary this March.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
March 20, 2024

California residents voted in the primary election March 5 to determine who will be on the November ballot for local, state and federal offices. President Joe Biden won the Democratic Party nomination...

Head Prefect Predictions

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant Satire Editor
March 19, 2024

Spring is starting, and that means it is time to vote for the new Head Prefects. Unlike the presidential primary three weeks ago, this election is actually important. We took to heart the words of the...

President Rick Commons and Head of School Laura Ross sent out an email to parents at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday informing them of a student's arrest.

Student arrested at upper school campus

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
February 29, 2024

A student was arrested at the Upper School by a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective Wednesday morning, according to an email sent to parents by President Rick Commons and Head of School Laura...

Dynasties

Dynasties

Notable families in the school community discuss their various impacts and their presence among students and faculty.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
February 1, 2024

It is 1997. Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo walks into Rugby Auditorium as she searches for a seat at “West Side Story.” Spotting the Platt family, she goes to sit next to them. Cuseo and the Platts...

Estimated percentage of students in the last 10 classes who were accepted into the early round of admission, according to the Deans' Office.

Early Decision Insights

An inside look into how the Class of 2024 performed during the early round of college admissions compared to previous years.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
February 1, 2024

The Class of 2024 received their early admissions decisions last December, with 51 percent of the students who applied early applying to the same 14 schools, according to the Deans’ Office. There were...

Unpublished Chronicle Headlines 2: Electric Boogaloo

It's like predictions, but worse.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant Satire Editor
February 1, 2024

1. Upper School Deans start looking into what the “trenches” are and why so many students are constantly in them. 2. Complete list of past Honor Board cases is stolen from Prefect Council’s underground...

Fighting against performative activism

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
December 18, 2023

“Health insurance in the United States is bullsh*t.” “Things you didn’t know were rape culture.” “What is genocide?" Painted in pastel colors, these phrases dominate our social media feeds....

PRETTY IN PINK: Super princess pop star Sabrina Carpenter performs on stage with Rick Caruso '76 as a dynamic duo. The pair will be performing a concert this upcoming weekend in Palisades Village, curtesy of Caruso.

Your holidays, my opinions

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News and Satire Editor
December 13, 2023

You've probably seen the fake — and poisonous —Community Council snow that sprinkled down the Quad earlier this month. You know what that means: the holiday season is officially upon us. Despite my...

Dreading Decision Day

Dreading Decision Day

Members of the community discuss the emotional pressure connected with the release of early decision results and the differences in applying regular decision.
Alden Detmer and Hannah Shahidi
December 13, 2023

Walking onto the Quad on a December morning, Ava Weinrot ’23 could feel the tension among her classmates. It was the day her early decision (ED) result would come out. Only two days away from winter...

Empowering young voices in politics

Empowering young voices in politics

Hannah Shahidi
November 15, 2023

“Diane Feinstein, 90, Dies; Oldest Sitting Senator and Fixture of California Politics.” I was taken aback when I saw this notification pop up from the New York Times on Sept. 29. Senator Feinstein,...

Tours resume in person

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
November 15, 2023

The Admissions Office conducted in-person tours and events for applicants and their families for the first time since the 2019-2020 admissions season. Previous admissions events had been either fully virtual...

Student holds up a test that they cheated on. Illustrations by Eva Park.

A Test of Character

Members of the school community and alumni discuss the evolution of cheating and its implications on students and faculty.
Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
November 14, 2023

Content Warning: this article contains the usage of homophobic slurs. On a cold afternoon in February 2008, Matthew Krumpe ’08, a senior at the time, had just finished dance class in lower Chalmers....

Chronicle dinner

Chronicle dinner

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
September 21, 2023

A proper "girl dinner" can’t be described with silly things like words – it is a state of mind. You may be asking:"Hannah, you're not the Washington Post. How could you tell us what girl dinner is?"...

Typical college banners from the eight Ivy Leauge schools are being hung up next to each other. Illustration by Iris Chung.

Selection Secrecy

Georgia Grad and Hannah Shahidi
August 26, 2023

Clarissa Brown ’24 had to make a decision. Waiting behind the tee box for her turn at golf practice, Brown was approached by her fellow teammate. When her teammate asked her where she was going to apply...

Illustration by Alexa Liu

European Summer: Coldwater Edition

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
August 25, 2023

Scrolling through Instagram is my favorite extracurricular. I basically consider it an internship at this point, and before anyone asks, it WILL be the number one activity on my Common Application. But...

Oceangate media

Oceangate media

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
August 25, 2023

When Oceangate’s Titan submersible lost contact with its mothership on June 18, news outlets around the world were constantly publishing updates, captivating viewers globally. The entire world shifted...

During the inaugural HW Media retreat to Big Bear Lake, students participated in a team bonding game with counselors. Printed with permission of Billy Montgomery.

Publications merge into Media

Hannah Shahidi, Assistant News Editor
August 25, 2023

The Chronicle, Vox Populi and HWTV will be combined into one program, called HW Media, starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Now a part of the Interdisciplinary Studies and Independent Research (ISIR)...

Two students are seen sitting at tables on the quad having a conversation.

Behind the Wellness Plan

Hannah Shahidi and Connor Tang
August 25, 2023

The school is implementing new schoolwide wellness initiatives in response to recent student deaths in the community, as announced in an email from President Rick Commons on Aug. 1. The current Mental...

Workers are seen on strike, asking for better pay and protesting about artificial intelligence and succession.

Advocating for writers’ rights

Hannah Shahidi, Staff Writer
May 24, 2023

Some of the best moments I’ve spent with my parents have been sitting down at night to watch TV — whether it’s "Saturday Night Live" (SNL), "Young Sheldon" or yet another "Modern Family" rewatch,...

A stressed Head Prefect gives a speech while worried about other personal school commitments.

Prefect pressure

Jade Harris and Hannah Shahidi
April 9, 2023

Head Prefect Simon Lee '23 was on edge. With thousands of his peers' eyes fixated on him, he  was about to give the speech that would determine his long-held dream of becoming Head Prefect. After giving...

SLIDE hosts town halls

Hannah Shahidi
March 12, 2023

Upper school affinity groups and Student Leaders for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (SLIDE) hosted Town Hall discussions during February for students to talk about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)...

Kids are happily getting off a school bus and are ready to visit monuments.

Taking learning outside of the classroom

Hannah Shahidi
February 10, 2023

Classes at the school cover a wide range of topics in core subjects and additional areas of study. While some classes and programs take field trips, much of the content students learn often stays in the...

A globe to represent the need to learn about multicultural issues.

Bring awareness to global issues

Hannah Shahidi, Layout Assistant and Staff Writer
February 10, 2023

The smell of traditional Persian stews fills the air as I sit down for my daily family dinner. Normally, when I sit down to eat, my parents and I exchange small talk and catch up with each other about...

Jacob Massey ’25, Elliot Lichtman ’23, Hugh Cheng ’25 and Sophomore Prefect Eric Lee ’25 take the new unified course survey on their laptops, allowing them to give feedback on their teachers.

Unified course surveys rolled out

Iona Lee and Hannah Shahidi
February 8, 2023

Upper school students completed surveys for each of their courses during January, the first time the administration has conducted a universal survey instead of ones created by individual teachers. Through...

And the Award Goes to: “Nope”

Hannah Shahidi, Layout Assistant and Staff Writer
February 8, 2023

In Jordan Peele’s latest sci-fi and horror film, "Nope,", we follow the story of OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) on their ranch in rural California. During the...

New store Van Leeuwen Ice Cream offers vegan desserts. It is one of six new stores opening at The Shops at The Sportsmen's Lodge.

Stores open at Sportsmen’s Lodge

Hannah Shahidi
December 15, 2022

Reformation, Roberta's Pizza, Civil Coffee, Kismet Rotisserie, Fred Segal and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream opened new locations at The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, a shopping and dining complex near the upper...

LAHSO Leaders Omar Rivera '24, Simone Herman '23, Sophia Rascoff '23 and Fernanda Herrera '23 stand at their booth on the quad.

LAHSO hosts fundraiser for Puerto Rico

Hannah Shahidi
October 7, 2022

The Latin American and Hispanic Student Organization (LAHSO) hosted a fundraiser to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Fiona on the Quad Oct. 3. Proceeds earned from LAHSO's fundraiser will be donated...

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Hannah Shahidi