The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle
Award Recipients announced
SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT: Dashiell Sparks ’26 stands among other recipients after earning a highly selective Posse Foundation scholarship.
Dashiell Sparks ’26 receives award
FROM GOALS TO GOLD: During the final Community Time all-school assembly, varsity girls volleyball and varsity girls field hockey teams
Varsity girls volleyball and field hockey win championships and receive rings at assembly
Rees Pugh: Performing Arts
Rees Pugh: Performing Arts
Haley Hicks: Faculty
Haley Hicks: Faculty
LINGERING FLAMES: Community members hold signs and gather in memory one year after the Palisades Fire as frustration and grief continues.
‘They let us burn’: Reactions to post-Palisades fire protest
WAVES OF FREEDOM: Protestors stretched a massive Iranian flag across the streets of Westwood on Jan. 11, as crowds gather to oppose Iran’s current regime. The demonstration
People meet in Westwood to protest Islamic regime
Coast-to-Coast offers summer opportunities at fair
Coast-to-Coast offers summer opportunities at fair
Restaurant Lemonade closes Studio City location
Restaurant Lemonade closes Studio City location
A structure fire broke out internally at 4132 Vanetta Place and spread up the Sunswept hillside to a neighboring four-story building.
What happened at the Sunswept Fire?
Lunch waste tells a larger story: schools serve sustainability, then trash it.
The Kramar Lens: Improve Sustainability in the Cafeteria
Printed with Permission of David Rothbart
David Rothbart: My Special Place
Printed with Permission of Kayla Graff
Kayla Graff: When I Almost Walked Away
Printed with Permission of Lyla Kavanagh
Lyla Kavanagh: Openheartedness
Printed with Permission of Audrey Kim
Audrey Kim: The Side Quests Matter
Lunch waste tells a larger story: schools serve sustainability, then trash it.
The Kramar Lens: Improve Sustainability in the Cafeteria
Students scale democracy’s dome, learning power through advocacy and persistence.
The Kramar Lens: When the Bill Died, the Real Lesson Began
Plastic flames warm bodies while inequality poisons vulnerable communities’ lungs
The Kramar Lens: Inhaling Inequality, The Human Cost of Microplastics
Wanted: Em Dashes—Alive, Defiant, Expanding Thought Beyond Grammatical Borders Conventions
The Kramar Lens: Who gives a f_ about an em dash?
When politics pierces science, public trust shatters along with integrity.
The Kramar Lens: Keep politics out of science protect and preserve the CDC’s integrity
What your university decision says about you
The Unofficial Curriculum Guide 4: A New Hope
Chron-Clave: Selecting New Editors
Chron-Clave: Selecting New Editors
Guest speakers we actually want to see
Guest speakers we actually want to see
Asking for Letters of Recommendation: Your Foolproof Template
Lucas Schlumberger '28 holds up a flower.
The Beginning of The Holloway: A Reflection and Foreword
An illustration that expands on a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.
Back in the Pack
On Display
On Display
Mother and son reaching out to each other from opposite sides.
Living with the Ribbon
Financial aid student notices from afar the higher-quality clothes and privilege of her more affluent peers.
The Class Divide
An illustration of a Daily News newspaper that has been discontinued.
The Media Monopoly
Jeff Bezos Should Be Allowed to Co-Chair the Met Gala
Jeff Bezos Should Be Allowed to Co-Chair the Met Gala
Senior Superlatives
Senior Superlatives
Jeff Bezos Should Not Co-Chair the Met Gala
Jeff Bezos Should Not Co-Chair the Met Gala
Cutting Deep: the Stone-cutters Collective releases its Spring 2025-2026 Issue
Cutting Deep: the Stone-cutters Collective releases its Spring 2025-2026 Issue
Charles Abemayor '26 sprints on the track to finish a race
Wolverines Only
Jason Collins' senior yearbook photo.
Remembering the Impact and Legacy of Jason Collins ’97
Softball team finishes their season with a record of 11-11 campaign
Softball team finishes their season with a record of 11-11 campaign
Track and field ends season strong
Baseball team prepares for upcoming playoff push
Baseball team prepares for upcoming playoff push
Lucas Schlumberger '28 holds up a flower.
The Beginning of The Holloway: A Reflection and Foreword
Weighing the impact: Evaluating the costs and benefits of beaver reintroduction
Aerial view over two walruses on an ice floe in front of Kvitøya (White Island) in the Svalbard Archipelago.
Silent Safeguard: The Permafrost is melting, what does this mean?
A tire rests on the dry bed of Lake Mendocino in Ukiah, California.
From wetlands to dry land: Drought and water risk in California
A photo of a vibrant rose at the Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge.
A guide to understanding SoCal’s native flora: How to incorporate them into your gardens
The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle
The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Weighing the impact: Evaluating the costs and benefits of beaver reintroduction

The beaver is a large semi-aquatic animal that drastically shapes any ecosystem in which it resides. The North American beaver was hunted to near extinction for their fur and meat. Now we must decide whether or not to reintroduce the beaver
Owen Fua, Reporter
May 25, 2026

Currently, the western U.S. megadrought is on pace to last for a century, causing major water sources like the Colorado River to dry up and leave local ecosystems and communities dry. Some argue for...

Aerial view over two walruses on an ice floe in front of Kvitøya (White Island) in the Svalbard Archipelago.

Silent Safeguard: The Permafrost is melting, what does this mean?

One of Earth’s largest carbon reservoirs is beginning to release ancient carbon into the world, spreading undiscovered pathogens, and potentially exposing the toxic materials from which it has been protecting us.
Owen Fua, Reporter
May 22, 2026

Permafrost is permanently frozen ground that covers nearly one-quarter of the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a combination of soil, rocks and sand held together by ice. However, recent rising temperatures...

The last male Northern White Rhino, Sudan, passes away under the watch of those who loved him most.

Ami Vitale shares her message and story, inspiring awareness around wildlife conservation. 

Ami Vitale, a world renowned and highly regarded National Geographic photographer, spoke on both the middle and high school Harvard-Westlake campuses on April 28th and April 29th 2026, respectively. 
Beckham Williams ’28, Reporter
April 30, 2026

Ami Vitale, a world renowned and highly regarded National Geographic photographer, spoke on both the middle and high school Harvard-Westlake campuses on April 28th and April 29th 2026, respectively.  Her...

A small, sequestered portion of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Storm drains, plastic waste drive ocean pollution

EcoWatch estimates that 40% of the world's ocean surface is no longer true ocean, but plastic debris created by people. 
Alexander Ahn, Reporter
April 20, 2026

For a long time, the ocean has been polluted by humans. Humans put garbage, untreated sewage and chemicals into the ocean, making it uninhabitable for sea creatures. EcoWatch estimates that 40% of the...

Earth Day 2021, people gather in protest for environmental action.

Earth Day reflects evolving climate urgency and action

What began as a nationwide protest in 1970 has expanded into a global environmental movement, with Earth Day now observed across more than 190 countries. 
Alexander Ahn, Reporter
April 19, 2026

Earth Day was first organized on April 22, 1970, in response to growing public concern about pollution and environmental damage in the United States. At the time, issues such as oil spills, smog and contaminated...

A textile factory sends a a plume of smoke snaking through the air.

Fast fashion and its detriments to our world, workers, and health

As the climate crisis escalates, it becomes increasingly necessary to address the the impact of fast fashion on the environment, the work force, and human health, assessing its impact both as a matter of scientific inquiry and as a possible lever for social change.
Beckham Williams ’28, Reporter
April 14, 2026

Our society has fostered a culture of consumerism, a culture that supports a type of frenzied and wasteful consumption of clothing, specifically fast fashion. Fast Fashion refers to cheaply produced and...

The electric transition: Promise, pain, and potential within the automobile industry

The electric transition: Promise, pain, and potential within the automobile industry

Electric vehicles continue to rise in popularity within the early 21st century, but it is time to address their holistic environmental and social impact.
Owen Fua, Reporter
March 1, 2026

Electronic vehicles – better known as EVs – are supposedly the future of both high-energy and high-power cars that do not produce CO2, the harmful greenhouse gas that pollutes the earth. But upon deeper...

Photo of tomatoes grown on the hydroponic towers.

The cost of high volume production in the food industry: A review of FOOD, INC

FOOD, INC is a 2008 Oscar-nominated film that exposes the industrialized food system, investigating how corporations prioritize profit over environmental health.
Addison Kim, Reporter
February 23, 2026

Food companies sell a “pastoral fantasy” and the image of agrarian America, but the reality is large-scale factory-style production. This is environmentally harmful because industrial systems depend...

Plastic flames warm bodies while inequality poisons vulnerable communities’ lungs

The Kramar Lens: Inhaling Inequality, The Human Cost of Microplastics

Microplastics are not just an environmental issue, but also a demonstration of whose health is prioritized and whose livelihood is devalued.
Hailey Kramar, Opinion Reporter
February 4, 2026

As she looked at her whimpering child in the cold, brisk air, a mother used a plastic bag as fire starter without a second thought. The flimsy, liquified plastic poison dropped into the deep reds of the...

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Environment