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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

All content by Marcella Park

I was Dumb Last Year, I will be Dumb this Year

Marcella Park
May 27, 2015

I always think the same thing when I look back on the past: “Wow. I was kind of dumb last year.” Let’s start with sixth grade, when I was a plain dork. Then in seventh grade, I looked back on sixth...

Photo illustration by Benjamin Most and Sharon Chow | Chronicle

Dungeons and Dragons… and spiked chains and flaming swords

Marcella Park
May 27, 2015

Growing tired, the Dungeons and Dragons players flung spiked chains and a flaming sword at the golden throne. The vampire sitting on it wouldn’t budge, and he was a stronger villain than they had ever...

Photo illustration by Jacob Goodman

After Assault

Marcella Park
March 25, 2015

For months, she didn’t know anyone else who had gone through what she had. Samantha* was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance at a friend’s house after a party last April, she said. “No,” she...

Don’t let labels limit your personal growth

Marcella Park
February 13, 2015

Pandas irritate me. It’s not the animals themselves, or even the abundance of Internet GIFs they occupy. It’s the species’ close, tangled connection to Asian stereotypes that irritates me. Pandas...

72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards – Show

Marcella Park
January 13, 2015

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 11: In this handout photo provided by NBCUniversal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Winner of the Best Actress - Mini-Series or TV Movie for "The Honorable Woman", speaks onstage during...

Percentage of senior class applying early drops

Marcella Park
November 19, 2014

In a drop back down from last year’s record high of 93.4 percent, the number of seniors submitting early college applications hit only 89 percent this fall, Upper School Dean Beth Slattery said. "Last...

Being Involved

Marcella Park
October 14, 2014

"What is important is that students select activities that are truly meaningful to them and that they really get involved with them," reads UCLA’s Admissions website. "We look for long-standing dedication...

English department clarifies tutoring policy

Marcella Park
September 5, 2014

The English department outlined its policy on tutors and secondary sources in a Wednesday email to upper school parents and students. A statement titled "Writing English Essays at Home" was included in...

Getting the bigger picture

Marcella Park
September 3, 2014

The Dude abides. That’s probably the most important thing I learned during break, but the Dude probably doesn’t care how high he ranks on my list of summer lessons. It all started when my cousin...

Donors, alumni, celebrities surprise Walch with endowed chair

Marcella Park
June 2, 2014

Close to 100 alumni surprised performing arts and cinema studies teacher Ted Walch Monday night by singing and dancing for him at the announcement of the establishment of a Ted Walch Endowed Chair for...

Students defeat teachers in Science Bowl scrimmage during STEMfest activities

Marcella Park
May 28, 2014

Five seniors defeated five science teachers in a 12 minute-long Science Bowl match during STEMfest May 21. Science Bowl team members Anser Abbas ’14, Zachary Birnholz ’14, Donhem Brown ’14, Kevin...

Basketball player to deliver valedictory address at commencement

Marcella Park
May 28, 2014

Zoe Bohn ’14 will speak at graduation June 6 as valedictorian, President Rick Commons announced at the annual Cum Laude Induction Ceremony last week. The valedictorian is elected by a faculty vote every...

Cheating on the Reading

Marcella Park
May 28, 2014

Of 389 students polled in a Chronicle survey, 65 percent  use online reading aids like SparkNotes and Schmoop, both of which provide chapter summaries for books commonly read in English classes as well...

Moore reveals next years performing arts shows

Marcella Park
May 28, 2014

"Company" will be the fall musical, and "As You Like It" will be the winter play next year, performing arts teacher Christopher Moore said in an email May 21. "Company," with music and lyrics by composer...

Moore reveals next year’s performing arts shows

Marcella Park
May 28, 2014

Four plays written by students and an alumnus were chosen to be performed at playwright festivals featuring young writers. The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival will produce plays by Patric...

SciBowl team defeats teachers at STEMfest

Marcella Park
May 21, 2014

Five seniors defeated five science teachers in a 12 minute-long Science Bowl match during STEMfest Wednesday. Science Bowl team members Kevin Zhang '14, Anser Abbas '14, Donhem Brown '14, Zachary Birnholz...

US to produce “Company,” “As You Like It” next year

Marcella Park
May 21, 2014

"Company" will be the fall musical and "As You Like It" will be the winter play next year. "Company," with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, will be directed by performing...

Zoe Bohn ’14 to speak as valedictorian

Marcella Park
May 19, 2014

Zoe Bohn '14 will speak at graduation June 6 as this year's valedictorian, President Rick Commons announced at the annual Cum Laude Induction Ceremony Monday. Bohn was one of 59 seniors inducted in what...

Banks cancels for La Femme meeting

Marcella Park
May 18, 2014

Singer-songwriter and musician Jillian Banks '06 will not speak as planned at Monday's La Femme club meeting. "[Banks'] management contacted [alumni administrator Janiece] Richard over the weekend to...

Career Day brings alumni, parents to Upper School

Marcella Park
May 13, 2014

A total of thirty-one alumni and two current parents hosted sessions for upper school students to attend during third, fourth and fifth periods as part of Career Day Tuesday. During Career Day events...

Wednesday deadline for Community Council applicants

Marcella Park
May 9, 2014

Applications for positions on next year's Community Council were emailed to sophomores and juniors Friday. "The Council works with faculty advisers to direct, research, coordinate, implement, and approve...

Both Birds to retire, volunteer in Maine

Marcella Park
April 30, 2014

Director of Financial Aid and French teacher Geoff Bird and Upper School Dean Mike Bird have spent 47 years working for schools. Now they’ve announced that this is their last. "I love coming to school...

Assassin games set for April

Marcella Park
March 19, 2014

Upper school students can still email their names and grades to [email protected] to join this year’s first game of Assassin, organized by game masters William Lee ’14 and Jonah Blume-Kemkes ’14...

Framing the family

Marcella Park
March 19, 2014

His father was gone most of the time on business trips, and his mother was busy working and finishing school, all the more so because she was still learning English. So for three years starting from when...

Film festival to feature producer

Marcella Park
March 11, 2014

Producer Debra Martin Chase will speak at the 11th annual Harvard-Westlake Film Festival Friday March 14 at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. Martin Chase's work has focused upon women, tweens,...

Sign ups open for year’s first Assassin game

Marcella Park
March 10, 2014

Upper school students can now email their names and grades to [email protected] to join the first school-wide game of Assassin of the year, organized by game masters William Lee '14 and Jonah Blume-Kemkes...

Students meet Rwandan president

Marcella Park
February 15, 2014

Students who went on the semester break trip to Rwanda met Rwandan president Paul Kagame Feb. 12 at a Los Angeles World Affairs Council event at which he spoke. Because they were not able to meet him...

Students meet Rwandan president Kagame

Marcella Park
February 14, 2014

Students who went on the semester break trip to Rwanda attended a Los Angeles World Affairs Council event Wednesday at which Rwandan president Paul Kagame spoke. Because they were not able to meet him...

P1020417

Marcella Park
February 14, 2014

Science teacher returns from health leave

Marcella Park
February 12, 2014

Science teacher Walt Werner returned to school at the beginning of the semester after finishing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph tissue. After being diagnosed in June, Werner...

Playwrights Festival audition materials released

Marcella Park
January 16, 2014

Upper school students can now access the Playwrights Festival audition information for auditions that will take place Feb. 18-19 in the Drama Lab. Festival producer and performing arts teacher Christopher...

kwanzaa

Marcella Park
December 19, 2013

The Techie

Marcella Park
December 18, 2013

Every day at work in the Didax House, a green building at the edge of campus near Upper St. Michael’s parking lot, Web Manager Lillian Contreras sits in front of two monitors writing code for the school’s...

Improvisation group expands

Marcella Park
December 18, 2013

Both improvisation groups had their first rehearsal Nov. 22, three days after performing arts teacher Michele Spears’ announcement that the program will expand to two groups this year. Spears announced...

Community Council welcomes volunteer organizations, clubs

Marcella Park
December 18, 2013

Community Council organized service-related activities for every day of the week from Dec. 9 to 13. To start Community Service Week, the council held a non-profit fair Monday where clubs and organizations...

Community Council holds week of service-related events

Marcella Park
December 9, 2013

Community Council organized service-related activities for every day of the week from Dec. 9 to 13, bringing back last year's character motto, former President Thomas C. Hudnut's saying, "Do Well and Do...

Community Council ends can drive with Dippin’ Dots

Marcella Park
November 25, 2013

Community Council brought a Dippin' Dots truck to the quad today to reward students from dean Sharon Cuseo's group for bringing the most cans to a canned food drive held this past week. Community Council...

Scene Monkeys auditions yield new group

Marcella Park
November 20, 2013

The improvisation program will expand to two groups this year, performing arts teacher Michele Spears announced in an email Nov. 19 to students who auditioned for Scene Monkeys. One will remain the Scene...

‘Hotel Rwanda’ manager tells students to trust their conscience

Marcella Park
November 7, 2013

The hotel manager who hid more than 1,200 refugees during the Rwandan Genocide spoke at an all-school assembly Thursday about his experiences and the importance of following one’s conscience instead...

‘Hotel Rwanda’ to screen Monday

Marcella Park
November 1, 2013

An Oscar-nominated film that chronicles the heroic actions of Thursday’s assembly speaker during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide will be screened Monday, Nov. 4 at 3:20 p.m. in Ahmanson Lecture Hall. Upper...

Halloween

Marcella Park
October 31, 2013

“The Matchmaker” auditions to begin Nov. 11

Marcella Park
October 22, 2013

Auditions for "The Matchmaker," this year's winter play, will begin Monday, Nov. 11, with sign-ups for audition time slots starting Monday, Oct. 28. Students will be allowed to select for themselves the...

Students, parents attend Rwanda trip information session, learn about genocide

Marcella Park
October 15, 2013

A meeting in Ahmanson Lecture Hall Oct. 3 presented students and parents with information on a trip to Rwanda to investigate the Rwandan genocide and its effects. Award-winning producer Jeff MacIntyre,...

Presidential Medal of Freedom to honor astronaut Sally Ride ’68

Marcella Park
September 25, 2013

Sally Ride ’68, the first American woman and youngest American to travel to space, will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the U.S. bestows on civilians. She...

Film teacher researches French director in Paris

Marcella Park
September 25, 2013

Performing arts teacher Ted Walch spent a week in Paris during the summer researching French director Francois Truffaut’s "Les Quatre Cents Coups" at The Cinémathèque Française. He also walked the...

All-school convocation begins school year

Marcella Park
August 27, 2013

The first-ever all-school opening convocation Tuesday morning included the investiture of a new president, the announcement of a new character theme for the year and the investiture of this year’s upper...

Divya Siddarth: India

Marcella Park
August 27, 2013

In the two weeks she spent at a yoga university in Bangalore, India, Divya Siddarth’s ’14 typical day started at 5 a.m. and consisted of hours of practicing yoga, chanting and meditating. She took...

Shaolin Showdown

Marcella Park
August 27, 2013

They started out nervous. Eitan Sneider’s ’17 father had signed him, his cousin Daniel Sneider ’16 and another cousin up for three and a half weeks at a Shaolin school of Kung Fu in Yantai, Shandong,...

Advanced Performance Studies class performs “Under Milk Wood”

Marcella Park
June 2, 2013

The Advanced Performance Studies class, made up of seven seniors, performed “Under Milk Wood,” a play for voices by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and directed by Performing Arts teacher Ted Walch on Saturday,...

Gender Studies students write research papers instead of taking final exams

Marcella Park
May 30, 2013

Instead of taking a final exam, the two students who took Gender Studies this year each wrote research papers, one of the effect of media on men and women, and one on a female artist. Liza Wohlberg ’13...

GLI Club fundraiser raises rape awareness

Marcella Park
May 29, 2013

The Girls Learn International club posted flyers and held a bake sale May 24, promoting awareness about rape culture and raising $855. The money from the bake sale will pay for tuition, uniforms, supplies...

GLI sale raises $855 for Pakistan school

Marcella Park
May 24, 2013

The  Girls Learn International club made flyers and held a bake sale May 24, working to raise awareness about rape culture and finishing the day with $855. The money from the bake sale will pay for tuition,...

‘We could see a lot of pockmarks in the ground – bomb craters’

Marcella Park
April 24, 2013

This was my first time out of the country without my parents, and my first time in Southeast Asia. I had been to Mexico to do charity work, but then I could run to my mother whenever something different...

Not enough enrollment to fill Ethics, Gender Studies classes

Marcella Park
April 24, 2013

The Ethics and Gender Studies courses will not be offered next year due to a lack of student sign-ups. Only three students signed up for Ethics next year, and two for Gender Studies, English teacher Malina...

GLI delegates attend women’s conference at United Nations

Marcella Park
March 13, 2013

Five girls from the school’s Girls Learn International club spoke at, helped lead and attended events at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations last week in New York. This year’s...

GLI to attend UN Council on women

Marcella Park
February 13, 2013

Five members of the Girls Learn International Club will take a trip the first week of March to the United Nations Council on the Status of Women held every Women’s History Month in New York. This will...

Olympic swimmer Torres ’85 to speak at Women’s History assembly next month

Marcella Park
February 13, 2013

Five-time Olympic swimmer and Westlake alumna Dara Torres ’85 will speak at the school’s annual Women’s History Month Assembly on March 18. Gender Studies teacher Malina Mamigonian, who is organizing...

Clubs volunteer at children’s events

Marcella Park
December 20, 2012

Helping Hands club members volunteered at a holiday carnival for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and volunteers organized by the Chinese Cultural Club helped at Alpine Recreation...

English offers new senior options

Marcella Park
December 19, 2012

The English Department will offer two new, non-Advanced Placement courses next year for seniors, Shakespeare as a year-long course and Senior Practicum. Senior Practicum "will be a literature-centered...

Clubs volunteer at children’s events

Marcella Park
December 19, 2012

Helping Hands club members volunteered at a holiday carnival for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and volunteers organized by the Chinese Cultural Club helped at Alpine Recreation...

Faculty win awards for innovation, loyalty

Marcella Park
September 5, 2012

Senior Advancement Officer Jim Pattison received the Marion Hays Award and history teacher Nini Halkett received the Kogan Family Award at the faculty opening meeting last week. School president Thomas...

Senior Signs with Record Company

Marcella Park
September 4, 2012

by Marcella Park Alex Fleischman ’13 recently signed with the record label Bombeatz Music after sending in several demos of his own electronic creations and getting positive reviews. Fleischman has been...

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Marcella Park