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News
Still under construction
June 6, 2019
Elizabeth Posey, Art Director
Roadblocks The Measure AA construction and its delays were a “necessary evil” for English teacher Melanie Vega and many others on campus, but as the school year comes...
Splash Page
SPARE celebrates completion of native garden at Branham Park
May 19, 2019
Elizabeth Posey, Art Director
After more than a year of planning, the SPARE club held its first festival Sunday at Branham Park to celebrate the completion of their native garden and plant beautification...
News
Track team copes after arrest of coach
February 13, 2019
Annalise Freimarck, Managing Editor
Shocked. Disgusted. Disappointed. These were the reactions that the track and field coaches and athletes felt once they found out that head coach Gregory Marshall was...
Sports
For wrestlers, diets are worth the weight
February 13, 2019
Julia Marques da Silva, Design Director
Wrestling revolves around weight, which sometimes requires extreme dieting, exercise and practice techniques in order to meet strict weight requirements. For each tournament,...
Branham News
Henebry touts success of sharing goals
February 12, 2019
Michaela Edlin, Editor in Chief
“What do you do when you don't have a why?” P.E. teacher Christine Henebry has been asked this numerous time since the start of the school’s What’s Your Why? campaign...

As drills become routine, so does classroom anxiety

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Junior Kimberly Coke prepared for the worst after hearing a Silver Alert blare from every cell phone in her fifth period physics class in early September. “My first initial instinct was ‘Is there a shooter?’” she...

New Buildings, new problems for teachers

Jayden Kim, Staff Writer

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Two of the four long-awaited two-story buildings finally opened this year, and teachers’ opinions on them has been mixed. Among the chief complaints have been recur- ring issues with audio and visual technology as well...

Grad sends a vaping warning

Cara McClure, Staff Writer

September 27, 2019 • No Comments

The use of e-cigarettes and vaping has been linked to potentially deadly side effects, and hundreds have been hospitalized and sick including alumnus Tanner Lanphear. Lanphear, a 2019 Branham graduate was faced with...

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Senior Sara Nayfeh poses with Santa (P.E. teacher Ron Smare) at Friday’s annual Winter Wonderland dance in the cafeteria. The event drew more than 300 students in the special education program from nearby schools for a day of dancing, food and fun. Today the Branham Best Buddies program will head to downtown San Jose to attend Christmas in the Park.
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📷: Katelyn Lowpensky

#bhsbearwitness #winterwonderland

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Sophomore Aoife Murphy contributed one goal against Lynbrook to help the varsity girls soccer team to a 3-0 win Thursday. The team also got a boost from senior Kaylana Owens, who scored two goals in their victory. The JV team conquered the Vikings 5-0 with goals from freshman Mandy Tougas, Jada Morrison and Melanie Coy. Both teams are undefeated, at 2-0. They host Del Mar on Monday at 4 p.m.
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📷: Jazzy Nguyen and Shayne Smith

#bhsbearwitness #girlssoccer

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Social science teacher Courtney Durrant takes orders from Tania Eaton and Melanie Vega during Wednesday’s dress rehearsal of the faculty play “Check Please,” which opens tonight at 7 p.m. and runs through tomorrow. The show, directed by seniors Scott Tucker and Stacey Yavorski, follows a series of blind dinner dates that go awry.⁣
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⁣⁣⁣📷: Nolan Zils⁣
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⁣#bhsbearwitness #facultyplay

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Branham boys soccer fell to the Wilcox Chargers 0-1 in a closely contested match at home on Wednesday. Wilcox scored its first and only goal in the first half. The team (1-2) hosts Alisal at home Saturday at noon.⁣
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⁣⁣📷: Lily Middleton⁣
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⁣#bhsbearwitness #boyssoccer ⁣
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Not even a power outage at Venture Christian Church on Tuesday could put out the holiday spirit of Branham’s band and choir performance. An owl that flew into a transformer and knocked it out was blamed for the outage in the middle of the band performance, a minor inconvenience, forcing the performers to improvise their arrangements. The show ended strong, with an audience sing-along of classics such as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
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⁣📷: Jeff Janosik

#bhsbearwitness #wintershow
#bhsbearwitness

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November’s Bruins of the Month students were treated to a breakfast buffet at lunch today as Principal Cheryl Lawton presented their certificates. Teachers and staff chose the students based on their persistence in the face of personal or academic challenges. We share some excerpts from the 41 students who were nominated.
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⁣📷: Ryan Walters⁣
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⁣#bhsbearwitness #bruinsofthemonth

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A tribute to friends, former and present, was the theme of the upperclassmen rally, as they shared the stories of their relationships and struggles. Junior Chase O’Neill shared how junior Erik Sadauskas has been working two jobs to support his family and for his mom fighting cancer. Senior Anica Le’s friends and teachers asked for a laptop for her creative endeavors. Also during the rally, Junior Kendall Fowler shared her why for being at school, and how sports and family helped her challenge her self-worth. It was also a chance for the school to memorialize Robyn Gutierrez, a student who passed away in 2017 due to complications from muscular dystrophy. We will share her story, and how she has been a constant thread in past Winter Wishes rallies.
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📷: Ziv Galpaz and Jazzy Nguyen
📝: Ziv Galpaz

#bhsbearwitness #winterwishes

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The ninth annual Winter Wishes Rally on Friday offered laughs, tears and a chance for students to see the hidden challenges that their peers face. At the underclassmen rally, freshman Alec Karbowski and his family received financial help after a fire early November destroyed a large part of their home. The teachers of the Ignite program, which helps a group of freshmen and sophomores, wished for t-shirts as a sign of solidarity. And junior Olivia Downey shared her struggles and embrace of her Asperger’s, and the social obstacles that she faced. Here are the highlights from the first rally.
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📷: Cara McClure and Lily Middleton
📝: Katelyn Lowpensky

#bhsbearwitness #winterwishes

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Branham’s Competitive Cheer Team placed first Saturday in its second competition of the season. The team hosted 16 teams at the second annual invitational. The day also served as a fundraising event in which the Lady Bruins trained junior cheerleaders the basics of cheer, jumps and stunts during a two-hour clinic.
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⁣📷: Tae Yun (Erica) Kang (@ericaakang)

#bhsbearwitness #cheer

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A magical moment from the underclassman Winter Wishes, with sophomores Riyo Robinson and Isolde Aburabi singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Please check back for more updates.

#bhsbearwitness #winterwishes #babyitscoldoutside

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Opinion

Beyond the college (small) talk

Elizabeth Posey, Co-Editor-in-Chief

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Seniors, how many times have you been at a social or family gathering and been asked about college? Probably too many to count. Adults light up at the opportunity to make...

MONOPOLY: The Disney+ Edition

November 1, 2019

Everyone loves Disney, right? They make fun movies for the whole family, stories of rats who know how...

Immigrant hatred moves beyond U.S. borders

June 8, 2019

Go back to your own country.” A woman told this to my father on the beach, after he picked up a crab....

Revisiting Guidelines for Sexual Harassment

June 8, 2019

In the light of the #MeToo movement and changing attitudes towards sexual harassment, it is unacceptable...

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Entertainment

Final touches on fruitful career

Renee Owens, News Editor

June 8, 2019

Art department chair Cristina Prates will retire in June after 20 years of teaching at Branham. Prates has seen and facilitated many changes on campus in her time here, but...

Winter guard fundraises due to debt

June 4, 2019

Taking the world stage

April 7, 2019

Old films, modern lens

April 5, 2019

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Science & Tech

On YouTube, it’s fact vs. fiction

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Senior Payton Sample uses YouTube to help him study for his pre-calculus class. He looks for well-known channels that can help him learn concepts such as factoring polynomials. He is often impressed by the vast amount...

You’re sleep-deprived. Here’s what to do about it

November 1, 2019

Grad sends a vaping warning

September 27, 2019

Caffeine puts some pep in athletes’ workouts

June 8, 2019

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February Print Issue

Sports

Still Celebrating

Jazzy Nguyen, Staff Writer

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Page 09 - Sports It was called the bra seen around the world. In 1999, moments after scoring the decisive fifth penalty kick against China in the Women’s World Cup, Brandi Chastain removed her jersey,...

Cross Country

September 27, 2019

Caffeine puts some pep in athletes’ workouts

June 8, 2019

Milwaukee Brewers draft Arman Sabouri, class of 2016, in 12th round of MLB draft

June 6, 2019

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Student Life

Henebry wants school to find its “Why”

Lily Middleton, Staff Writer

November 1, 2019 • No Comments

Junior Kyleigh Mecchella has experienced sexual assault. She felt weak. It was her weight training class with P.E. teacher Christine Henebry that helped her find strength again. Henebry helped Mecchella find her inner...

College options abound beyond AP classes

November 1, 2019

School pilots new space for mental health

October 10, 2019

“I want it to be a space for families to create this culture on campus,” Nguyen said. “That's what I see my role is: On the one hand serving students who are here, but also serving their family and connecting them to the larger community."

Homecoming decorators set the scenes for this week’s festivities

September 30, 2019

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