By Morgan Apostle “Brandon’s too weird to be awkward,” says Irma Spars of her husband, Brandon. The Spars family is undoubtedly a huge part of Sonoma Academy life. With both parents working and their daughter Clara a freshman this year, almost the entire family goes to Sonoma Academy every morning [...]
By Allison Ashley “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” - Aesop When my 20-year old-cousin Michelle was 13, she wrote a story in seventh grade English class that she read to me when I was nine years old. The name of the story was “Smiling [...]
By Amy Pino Not many people can say they’ve felt the ground-shaking rumble of a volcano in action right beneath their feet. The students and teachers that attended the Mt. Lassen camping trip last year had that amazing experience. “I believe in experiential education,” said Sam Horton, which explains why [...]
By Allison Ashley “’Splash!’ was the sound I heard as we dove into the water. The 50-degree water slapped me in the face, sending me into shock. ‘I can’t do this’ I muttered under my breath, deep down knowing that wasn’t true. So I kept pushing. I pushed until I [...]
By Sierra Maciorowski Old photographs tell stories across time, passing on images of what has been and never will be again. However, very few photographs travel through loops in time, have content that borders on impossible, and eventually lead to an elderly grandfather murdered by strange creatures called “hollowgasts." As [...]
By MARTIN ESPINOZA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT At New York University, Zena Hinds of Petaluma has Greenwich Village as a campus — an ideal habitat for a young artist who who dreams of one day performing on Broadway. Hinds, 18, graduated from Sonoma Academy and is now studying music [...]
By LUCY SLAVIN CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL Recently, my mom told me of a conversation she had with a friend who told her how concerned she was about allowing her 9-year-olds see the film “The Hunger Games.” She explained to my mom that she was upset that the [...]
By BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Amanda M. Hauth remembers when golf for her was making sand angels in the bunkers, while now it is celebrating the rare hole-in-one and anchoring her high school team. In the Windsor High School senior’s future, golf may lead to a college [...]
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ THE PRESS DEMOCRAT When life handed Jasmine Elliott emotionally challenging circumstances, she turned them into an opportunity to give and to grow. Elliott was in seventh grade when her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Her mom since has recovered, but [...]
By ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Kelsey Tarantino is one big step closer to her goal of acting on Broadway. Tarantino, a 2012 Santa Rosa High School graduate who has performed in more than 20 local productions, recently began acting classes at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The [...]