By PAUL PAYNE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Hardworking and competitive are two words that describe Nicole Ahern. The Piner High class of 2010 valedictorian earned straight A’s all the way back to fifth grade. She aced calculus, tutored ESL students and set the school record for 100-meter hurdles at [...]
By SARAH STINSON MARIA CARRILLO HIGH SCHOOL, JUNIOR Have most urban dwellers truly seen the stars? The few sparse lights that glimmer in city skies sadly can’t compare with the gleaming brocade that blankets areas of remote wilderness. Although it can be difficult for people to release their [...]
Editor’s note: Hannah Croft graduated in May from Santa Rosa High School and later this month starts classes at Cal Poly, where she’ll be majoring in journalism. By HANNAH CROFT Seniors, listen up. I’m only going to say this once. Senior year is by far the most fun you could [...]
By AUSTIN HEGG CARDINAL NEWMAN HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR There is a constant outcry among teenagers for more freedom, more choice and more independence. Being a teenager in high school is a very peculiar age; your opinions begin to develop yet you are still living under your parents’ regulations. [...]
By JESSICA BIDDULPH URSULINE HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR I have always lived my life with minimal concern about what the mass media suggest is appropriate or “good,” but I do see the unreasonable goals they establish for people. Girls living in this century constantly are bombarded with images of [...]
By JEREMY HAY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT The thing about school, says 18-year-old Luis Guzman, is that it’s hard to stay in it. “It’s hard just being in school because I know my family doesn’t have any money,” he said between classes at YouthBuild, a vocational education school for [...]
By SAM SCOTT THE PRESS DEMOCRAT For years, Austin Meyer’s birthday meant tickets to a Cal Bears football game, a natural destination for a boy equally interested in sports and academics. Plus his brother Jordan attended UC Berkeley. But you can cancel the blue-and-gold cake and candles this [...]
By MACKENZIE BOULTON ANALY HIGH SCHOOL, 9TH GRADE Have you ever thought about what someone is doing in India, Paris or maybe Japan, or what their daily lives are like? When I was 14 last February, I got the privilege to travel to Japan for 10 days. I [...]
By GLENDA ANDERSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Figuring out where Ukiah teen Reiney Hatch is on any given weekend is a cinch. If she’s not in a pickup hauling a horse trailer, she’s in the saddle in some rodeo ring. Last month, it was Wyoming. A couple of weeks [...]