With the school year nearing the end, it’s time to look back on some of this year’s intriguing senior projects. Seniors Emily Rubin, Blaine Dzwonczyk and Emily Cheng were commended by staff for being some of the many students to put together especially interesting or impressive projects.
The Broken Box Theatre Company hosted the annual Senior Showcase on Friday, May 10 to honor the senior members of Broken Box. During the showcase, every senior acted out an original skit.
Every year, the school hosts the film festival where seniors in the Film Analysis have a chance to showcase their creativity. While the community had the chance to see these final products on Tuesday, April 23, the process and inspiration behind each of the films was largely unknown. Here are the stories behind a few of the films.
A teenage boy races through the forest, closely followed by two armed, threatening men. By his side is a girl about his age, fear and confusion etched into her features. This is a scene from senior Shelby Pefley’s movie “Short Circuit”, which won the Best Technical Achievement award at the Film Festival last Tuesday, April 23.
Edith Frost, a substitute teacher for both Mountain View and Los Altos, calls herself retired after teaching English for 20 years. She now enjoys leisures such as skydiving, flying her solo plane, riding motorcycles, traveling to other continents and, of course, bowling on Friday afternoons. As a mother of three and a grandmother of four, she looks forward to celebrating her 80th birthday with her family this August. Her first 79 years have been anything but conventional.
TweetFreshman Sydney Niermann practiced for weeks, travelled to L.A., woke up before dawn, stood in line for five hours and waited for her turn to audition for even longer–all for one minute. Her preparations paid off. Her audition for the first round of season 3 of ”The X Factor,” a singing competition show like “American Idol,” earned her a spot in the next round of auditions.
TweetFor students at Freestyle Academy, the joint alternative arts education program offered to students at both Mountain View High School and Los Altos High School, making a film is no unfamiliar task. Throughout their two years at Freestyle, students write, film and edit narrative stories, documentaries and even, most recently, music videos. As the final project, seniors have partnered up to develop 10 minute narrative films.
TweetWhen freshman Julia Khan posted a photo collage advocating for the acceptance of religious and cultural diversity on Facebook’s “Being Liberal” page in early March, she had no idea how much attention it would receive. Julia’s message was simple, demonstrated with four pictures of herself holding up papers with the words, “My name is Julia. My mother is Jewish. My father is Muslim. My brother and I are taught love and acceptance. When will the world follow?”
TweetIn 1938, Switzerland-born Robert Bleibler moved into the Cherry Avenue house that is now one of the oldest in Los Altos. His grandson, Armond King, keeps a sign for H. Bleibler’s Ornamental Framework (Est. 1903) to honor and preserve the legacy of Bleibler’s lifelong metalworking occupation, from creating artworks to mending general repairs such as constructing steel buildings, repairing plows and mending.
TweetTaking a series of disjointed elements and cultivating them into a script would be a daunting prospect for most students. However, freshman Connor Verity managed not only to create a cohesive film, but to also garner acclaim at the Boise Student International Video Festival (BoVi), a student film competition hosted at Boise State University.
TweetA teenage boy races through the forest, closely followed by two armed, threatening men. By his side is a girl about his age, fear and confusion etched into her features. This is a scene from senior Shelby Pefley’s movie “Short Circuit”, which won the Best Technical Achievement award at the Film Festival last Tuesday, April 23.
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