Monthly Archives: November 2021

The Spanish Program at UHS

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Abi ’23

I have found the UHS Spanish program to have some of my most memorable experiences in my time at UHS. In my middle school before coming to UHS, I had taken one year of Spanish, but I really didn’t learn much other than some very basic vocabulary. This meant that when I took my placement test the spring before my freshman year, I placed into Beginning Spanish. I was originally a bit disappointed by this, because I felt that the time that I had already spent learning Spanish should have been enough to get me into the next level, but I ultimately realized that the level I was placed in was perfect for me. 
My Spanish class freshman year only had about twelve people, and all of them were in my grade. Even in our beginning class, we analyzed literature and we had full class discussions in the language. These tasks initially sounded very daunting, because I just assumed that I didn’t have nearly enough grammar and vocabulary knowledge to execute them, but my teacher was extremely supportive and gave us help when we needed it. 
In my Sophomore year, my Spanish class was almost all Freshman with only one other person in the class in my grade. I was worried about how the class would be that year, because I usually value having familiar faces in my classes, but the class ended up being a very enjoyable experience. Even though I didn’t know anyone before the year began, I found that doing collaborative assignments and group projects made it so much easier to break the ice. Similarly to my time in Beginning Spanish, we read and analyzed a lot of short stories, and used those stories to learn new vocabulary and grammar. I found this to be a very valuable way to learn the language because it was very engaging and all of the discussions that we did really improved my speaking skills.
This year, my Spanish class is formatted very similarly to past years, and it is always so exciting to see different stories with wildly different themes. I love being able to read more complex stories with more complex themes as my language skills improve, and it is always interesting to go into Spanish class every week

What It’s Like Being on a UHS Athletics Team

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Jay ’23

Prior to the 2021-2022 UHS school year, the only option for boys sports in the fall was cross country. Since running long distances wasn’t really my thing, I would fulfill my fall PE requirement by lifting and trying to get in shape. However, when UHS announced that there would be Flag Football in the fall this year, I immediately signed up. Turns out it was the best decision I could have made. We finished the season undefeated in our first year in program history and never punted at any point in the season! Offensive coordinator Free Gary and defensive coordinator Scott Laughlin came up with some great plays for our playbook and pushed us to perform at our highest level all season. While It was fun winning and having success on the field, the best part in my opinion was the spirit and energy that we had as a team. Whenever we played a home game at Paul Goode Field, our whole team would run out of the dugout towards the bleachers carrying posters and screaming trying to get our home crowd riled up. Clearly, it worked as we blew out every team at home and the crowd definitely played a big part of that. Whenever we scored a touchdown, our whole team would run into the endzone, celebrate, pose for a picture, and then cap it off with some classy touchdown celebrations. The overall energy and emotion during big plays and touchdowns was something special to be a part of. In addition to that, I feel like I learned a lot of valuable lessons by being a part of this team. On one play, I was on defense playing cornerback and we switched from zone coverage(covering a certain area of the field) to man coverage (guarding a specific player on the other team). My teammate and I got confused and accidentally guarded the same man, leaving another opposing player wide open and he scored a touchdown. Obviously, the two of us weren’t happy with each other. After taking a few minutes to reflect on what happened, my teammate and I agreed that we’ve got to have better communication and we should call out the number of the player we’re guarding so there’s no confusion. I think communication is a really important skill to have in the real world and this expiderence goes to show how flag football is bigger than just football.

The Photography Program at UHS!

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Emma ’23

When I first started researching different high schools, I was overwhelmed with the amount of choices and decisions that had to be made. I remember flipping through course catalogs and scrolling down websites in hope to find answers in this nerve wrecking process. However, one specific moment that provided clarity in this time was when I was finally introduced to the UHS photography program. I was immediately enticed by the description of the photo curriculum, as well as the way in which photo teacher, Gale Jesi, taught her class. She expanded my ideas on what photography means, as she included philosophical ideas within the analysis of photographs. 

In my freshman year at UHS, I was determined to take photography. Over the course of my Photo 1 and Photo 2 classes, my view on photography was completely altered. We studied different artists, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, and Ansel Adams, dissecting the meaning behind their photographs. Additionally, I was able to develop photos within the darkroom, an aspect unique to the UHS photography program. 

I took Photo 3 my sophomore year at UHS. Although all photo classes at UHS are taught by Gale Jesi, this curriculum differed greatly from the Photo 1 and Photo 2 classes. We were able to experiment with photoshop and digital cameras. For me, the most memorable experience in class was the creation of a photo book. We worked on this photobook continuously for the entirety of the second semester.  Not only was I able to use my photos as a way to explore new emotions and ideas within myself, but I was also struck by the work of my classmates. Once we completed our books, we were able to share our work with one another, and contribute our ideas. 

Currently, I am taking an independent study with Gale Jesi relating to the exploration of San Francisco. I have immersed myself into the city and captured different images that depict the diverse aspects of the bay area. Next year, I plan on taking AP studio arts, which includes a merging of all studio arts into a singular class. Overall, the UHS photography program has been an amazing experience that I am truly grateful I was able to explore!