The sixth annual Santa Monica 5000 brought athletes, students, parents, teachers and citizens across the Santa Monica-Malibu area together to raise money for their favorite Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) sport or athletic program.

When Laurel Fretz was a teenager, she would come to Santa Monica Beach with her friends, occasionally passing by Samo on her way home. She never dreamed that one day she would be Samo’s principal. Years later, she sits in the principal’s office at her new job.

Because the construction that will be going on at Samo throughout this year will take up space in the north parking lot, staff parking spaces have been moved and reassigned, causing much confusion on campus.

Illuminate. It’s the new, web-based system implemented this year by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) that will replace the systems previously in place.

After the Oct. 1 extended deadline, students who haven’t turned in their Tdap vaccine record will be prevented from returning to school until it is turned in.

In keeping with their tradition of “ideas worth spreading,” Technology Entertainment Design (TED) reached Santa Monica by way of the TEDxYouth event held in Barnum Hall on Sept. 24.

Restrictions on the types of foods students can purchase are designed by administration to create a “healthier” Samo. However, the consumption of sugary foods helps support on-campus organizations such as the Vikes’ Inn, where students gather money for their business through selling such foods.

In the process of transforming a gas-guzzler into an “eco-mobile,” Samo’s Team Marine has transformed students into research scientists...

Last year Samo surpassed the goal set by school administrators and the State of California to achieve over an 800 Academic Performance Index (API) score.

Samo clubs came together in the Science Quad Thursday for Samo's first ever "Club Rush," hosted by ASB. Many student-run clubs and organizations set up booths during lunch in order to promote themselves to the student body, and to expose the students of the 2011-2012 school year to both old and new clubs on campus.

After much deliberation, Samo's Summer reading committee has chosen "Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, for the school-wide 2011 Summer reading book.

Dave Eggers, author of Samo’s 2011 summer reading book “Zeitoun,” is reaching out to schools through more than just his writing.

Samo’s AP Art show, held in the Roberts Art Gallery on April 1, allowed the AP Art students to show off their exquisite talents and abilities.

In an effort to get students more involved, ASB has implemented a new requirement for its members: every student enrolled in the class will now have to lead a fundraiser or event to support the school.

In an ultimate three-day tournament to test one's strength, throwing speed and ability to duck and cover, players and fans alike gathered together last week to cheer on their fellow Vikings in the 2nd annual Samohi Viking Dodgeball Tournament.

Several weeks ago, 25 percent of 550 Samo students polled were able to identify Afghanistan on a map. In this geopolitical survey regarding the greater Middle East, students were asked to identify three Middle Eastern nations and state whether or not the United States has conducted military operations within those particular countries in the last five years.

As of this month, members of the Delians Honors Society must complete five hours of mandatory community service hours, on-campus, at scheduled Delians events, on top of completing five hours of community service at a venue of their choice. While some students welcome this change, other students are skeptical.

After over 20 years as the head of the History Department, Samo social studies teacher Jaime Jimenez will hand over the reins to social studies teacher Amy Bisson.

The next ASB election will stay true to the democratic process: students will flock to the South Gym to vote for their representatives in booths.

Technology access just got easier for Samo students. The computer labs located at T110 and L202 are now open every day after school from 3:30-4:30 to give students a chance to complete required coursework and prepare for coming exams.

Sophomore Chelsea Brandwein is hoping to spark more of an interest in the“dead” language through the Glee Club, which held its first meeting March 21 under Mr. Henderson’s patronage.

Tree limbs in the street, potholes, graffiti. Santa Monica’s “On the GO” app can fix all of these problems.

“...the universal themes in his works, love and betrayal, are the same in 1650 and 2011. Love is love.”— Chon Lee, English teacher

Five distict nurses could be cut at the end of this year, leaving only nine Registered Nurses (RNs) for 16 district schools.

“I didn’t win but I feel grateful to have been a part of the experience,” Jensen said. “I got to be part of a game I’ve loved since I was a little kid –– that’s more than enough.” -Carlee Jensen, senior.

Samo student Sam Harreschou works daily with students in Specialized Academic Instruction Classes, and recently founded a music therapy program.

Students travel to San Francisco to present at the AP College Board’s Western Regional Forum, in order to discuss the implementation of a post-AP exam project.

Samo makes advances in Arts Education programs, specifically jazz band and ROP Dance.

California is experiencing a widespread outbreak of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. In response to 10 recent pertussis-induced infant deaths, the state implemented a new law that requires all students starting 7-12 grade next year be vaccinated for pertussis before the beginning of the school year. The law applies to all students — new, returning or transferring, studying at public or private school.

Samo’s jazz band and jazz combo participated in the 43rd Annual Berklee College of Music’s High School Jazz Festival in Boston on the weekend of March 5-6. Under the direction of SMMUSD Visual and Performing Arts coordinator Tom Whaley, the musicians placed first in the highest division.

As the college acceptance and rejection letters trickle in to anxious seniors, questions of “Where do we go from here?” inevitably arise. Although not getting into Harvard may seem like life’s end, it’s not — and Rose Bloomfield is here to prove it.

In times of economic downturn, public schools are some of the first to feel major budget cuts. In many districts, art programs take some of the hardest blows to funding; but in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), the arts receive solid community support. Evidence of this could be seen on Saturday March 5, when Barnum Hall was packed to the rafters for the eighth annual “For the Arts Concert.”

Frankly, it’s impossible to watch the television phenomenon “Cops” and not be intrigued. The audience is captured by the thrill of watching police tackle and serve justice to no-good low-lives. We get a certain satisfaction from seeing our tax dollars at work, keeping the streets of this great nation safe. And there’s no doubt: everyone likes watching criminals get busted.

Effective this year, SMC’s late-start summer classes will be cut, leaving some students to rethink their plans regarding credits.

So much at Samo is a competition, but Café Samo was different. It was about making music.

To offset the spending and revenue gap predicted to occur in Santa Monica over the next five years, the Santa Monica City Council has proposed a price increase on many recreational activities, which would be effective July 1, 2011.

The process of changing the district calendar is distributed over two years; the next school year is scheduled to start in late August.

When her mother, who was still living in Malawi at the time, informed da Silva that a school in her hometown was shutting down, she decided to make a difference. Using money she had saved up from her work as a nanny, she started a school in her childhood home. Forty-eight children began attending her makeshift school in 2001.

After the standard of student dress has come into question, administrators have begun to reexamine the dress code.

“I just need to start taking more time to be thoughtful about myself,” Runyon said. “I’ve had a rough year. I’ve lost three friends, and I just have to get my life in order.”

ASB focuses specifically on events and policies by dividing into two groups during class.

Hilton’s hopes for his career path always included performing his own songs.“I always wanted to do music, I always wanted to be a musician – I loved it,” Hilton said. “My family all played so I was singing from when I was really little, always performing in coffee houses, different ice cream parlors or wherever they’d let me sing.”

Samo teachers are among those to vote on a new school year for SMMUSD, which would begin in August and end in early June.

Effective Aug. 1, 2010, the NCAA will no longer accept online courses for any of the 16 “core subjects” required to graduate high school. College-bound athletes who take online classes after that date will then become ineligible to play sports in Division I or Division II schools.

In response to what some believe to be irresponsible student behavior at the homecoming pep rally and football game on Oct. 22, Associated Student Body (ASB) members Charlie Schmittdiel and Meghan Loftin have been asked to step down from their elected positions, and all school-wide activities and events related to ASB are postponed indefinitely.

The object of the game is to throw the volleyball and hit the “can” or beach trashcan. There are four members on offense and three on defense, plus a goalie in a circular court. If the defenders tag the offender who has possession of the ball, there is a turnover and the offense and defense switch positions. The sport, although unique, is similar to team handball and soccer.

School safety is examined after a student is robbed and assaulted while on her way to school.