Performing Arts at UHS

Isabel ’23

While UHS is often lauded for its athletics program, we also have an amazing theater and performing arts program. 

One of my favorite classes is Advanced Choir, which I’ve been taking since Sophomore year. In this class, I’ve learned a bit of music theory, but mostly how to create art as part of a group. Around once every quarter, we have concerts, where we showcase the songs we’ve prepared. The nerves and excitement from these performances have proven to bring our 10-12 person group closer, resulting in classes often riddled with inside jokes and laughter. 

Besides Advanced Choir, UHS also offers other vocal groups, including VPX (Vocal Performance Experience), AP Music Theory, and Satonics (UHS’ long standing acapella club).

Theater is also an excellent way to get involved with the UHS community. This includes the Fall play, the Spring musical, and the Student Drama Series (SDS), which are a series of student-directed shows with cast members from all corners of the UHS community

All in all, theater and performing arts have been a tremendous aid for me in finding my place in the UHS community. Whether it be through saying hi to each other in the hallways or sharing the thrill of having just performed in front of an audience, I always feel lucky to be part of such a supportive and high achieving community.

Cross Country at UHS

Jamie ’23

One of the most life changing things I’ve done at UHS is join the cross country and track teams. I had done both at my middle school, but the twice a week practices were mostly spent playing capture the flag and I had never had any real training.

I still remember my first day of summer practice before freshman year. It was during COVID so the team had to be split up into three groups– to my horror, I was the only freshman among a group of upperclassmen, mostly seniors. I was terrified, but I went, desperate to impress; panting, I had to stop and walk after 15 minutes while most of the group was running for over an hour. It was scary and awkward for the first few weeks, but eventually I got to know everyone and was excited for practice in the mornings.

I’m in my third year of running at UHS now, and even though those 2021 seniors have graduated, I’m still always excited to go to practice and talk to my teammates. Cross country has helped me befriend so many upperclassmen, and the travel meet to Fresno last Fall remains one of my favorite UHS memories. Target runs, hanging out together in one hotel room, and badly singing on the bus ride back: cross country has given me the best community and outlet of my life so far, and it’s definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Advanced Projects in Physics at UHS

Sebastian ’24

When I visited UHS during my high school application process, I shadowed a senior through several of his classes, including one called Advanced Projects in Physics. I’d never seen a class quite like it, and this experience showed me the variety of courses UHS had to offer. Now, several years later, I’ve gotten the chance to take this class for real.

Let me tell you about that. Advanced Projects in Physics: Mechanisms and Motion isn’t a normal physics course. The inspirational quote at the top of its Canvas page is Yoda’s famous advice: “Do or do not, there is no try,” which really sets the tone for the rest of the class. In Advanced Projects in Physics, students learn by doing and apply their knowledge of physics to build machines. When I shadowed the class in 2019, students were working on predicting the trajectory of a ball using computer simulations, before testing their predictions by launching the ball in real life. And just this week, we’ve been working on designing and testing pulley systems to understand the concept of mechanical advantage.

The format of this class encourages you to be curious about how things work and apply the concepts involved to your own projects. In Advanced Projects in Physics, we don’t just learn the content, we do the science, which really makes the class unique and fun. I’m very glad that UHS offers this course, because it teaches physics in such an engaging way!

The UHS Clusters Program

Randall ’24

UHS Computer Science

Shane ’23

Red Devil Spirit

Isabella Shen

Isabella ’24

Coming from a relatively small middle school, I’d never been a part of anything quite like UHS’s dynamic community. Thus, I was shocked to see the amount of school spirit and pride carried amongst the student body. One of the prime events showcasing this is the Big Red Friday. Each sports team has one game called the Big Red Friday, which is a special game meant to bring out all-school support. One thing I love the most about these games is the loud enthusiasm and large turn-outs. Students, faculty, and parents alike all dress to show as much spirit as possible, whether it’s wearing all the UHS gear they can find, wearing all red, or even creating giant posters for the team. Some of my favorite posters that I’ve seen have been ones with giant cutouts of the senior players’ heads. From the view of both the sports players and the fans, the Big Red Fridays are unarguably one of the most loved school-related events.

Our student council is also a big contributor to school spirit. During our weekly All School Meetings, the VPs of Activities always put together a Battle of the Classes Event. Battle of the Classes is when 1-2 members from each class compete against each other through some sort of activity. For example, some past activities have been Just Dance, Mario Kart, and sandwich making. Even if you are not the one participating, watching others participate always brings about a lot of laughter and shouts. The winners of each competition award their class with a certain amount of points. At the end of the year, the class that accumulated the most amount of points wins a reward. During my freshman year, my class won the Battle of the Classes. As a result, the student council graciously treated our entire class to an ice cream truck. The UHS school spirit is truly amazing and contributes to the overall inclusion and enthusiasm within our community.

The UHS Field Hockey Program

Meryl ’23

One of my favorite things about UHS is the field hockey program. As a freshman entering into the school community I wanted to find ways to get involved right away. I had participated in theater and other art programs in middle school, but I was also very interested in sports. I enrolled in the Advanced Choir (as one of my classes), signed up for a few clubs, and also decided to join the JV field hockey team. Field hockey was brand new to me but also to every other freshman on the team – we were all learning this sport together. In the beginning of the season we struggled with learning how to pass, shoot, and how to do different tricks – of course! As the year went on though, we began to work together as a team and win many of our games! Field hockey quickly became my favorite sport and remains so to this day. 

I joined a club team with many of my UHS classmates during the pandemic (my sophomore year) and later played on the UHS varsity team during a mini season at the end of the year. This new UHS team was a great support system for me during the pandemic and was a wonderful group of people who I looked forward to seeing at practice every day of the week. The coaches always made practice fun and exciting. They encouraged us to talk to each other about our classes, about how our day was going. They knew when to lead a practice filled with exercise and intensity, but also when to take the team to get a snack and do some yoga. Field hockey wasn’t just a sports team – it was a cohesive community.

In my junior year this was still the case, and I found that the field hockey team remained a close knit community as school started back up in person. We organized dress up days to advertise our games, sat together at lunch, and really acted as sisters for one another off of the field. We had team dinners, got boba before practice, and more – just to spend more time with each other. Now, in my senior year, I am lucky enough to be a captain of this team and have loved keeping these traditions alive and seeing players I have been with since freshman year learn and grow alongside me. Every member of the program has left their mark on this team in different ways, and I am so excited to see where it will go when my time at UHS is done!