Samo welcomes new students as community rallies together after fires
On Jan. 7 fire broke out through the Palisades and Pasadena, collectively burning over 36,000 acres and destroying over 22,000 structures. As of Jan. 29, there have been 145 requests for enrollment from students displaced by wildfires. Seventy-seven were approved for enrollment, with 46 of those approved being in SMMUSD schools.
Principal Marae Cruce gave information about resources provided by the Samo administration to help smooth the transition for affected students.
“Huge kudos to our staff for being as welcoming and supportive as they’ve been,” Cruce said. “We are super fortunate to have our bilingual community liaison, Ms. De la Rosa, who is really working on some of the mental health side and the community support side. So providing them access for anything they need. Checking in to see basics, if they are students coming to us that have lost their home and they need gift cards for food, clothing, basic needs, trying to support them in that way.”
ASB hosted an event in the library on Feb. 13, inviting all transfer students to meet some Samo faces and enjoy refreshments.
Numerous clubs around Samo have also been fundraising for fire relief for the Palisades. The club, Baking For Change, which fundraises money towards a specific cause every month through bake sales, has dedicated the February bake sale to the California Fire Foundation. They have already raised over $1,000 for this program. The foundation provides financial assistance to firefighters and first responders in the LA fires.
Athena Miller (’27) who is the co-president of Baking for Change, gave a bit of background on the club and their cause.
Laurel Cohn/The Samohi
To welcome incoming/transfer students, ASB designed a poster located at the entrance of the library.
“This month our LA community was impacted more than ever from all the fires,” Miller said, “Our club is a fun way to help the community and spread love through baked goods.”
The Samo orchestra also had their annual Spaghetti & Strings fundraiser, normally the money goes towards funds for the orchestra program. However, due to the raging fires and lasting impact on the community, ticket prices were reduced and the money fundraised was donated towards those in need. Jim Wang, co-director of the Samo orchestra program, touched on the reasons for directing the funds that were raised toward fire-relief.
“We didn’t feel like it was a good time to fundraise for ourselves. So we were deciding what to do with that concert all together, whether to even have that concert.” Wang said. “It didn’t sit well with a lot of us, it didn’t sit well with me, that there are people who are suffering. There are even people in our orchestras who’ve lost homes and we’re having a fancy, dinner fundraiser for ourselves.”
Samo has already received 49 transfers as of Feb. 5. Many of the new students who have transferred feel very welcomed, such as Priya Bevacqua (’28) who was directly affected by the fires.
“My experience transferring has been really good, everyone’s been really welcoming. Samo’s a really big school, so the first week I was kinda all over the place.” Bevacqua said. “But all the teachers have been really nice, like when I would accidentally walk into the wrong class and then they would point me in the right direction.”
Claire Burrell (’27) has had a similar experience in feeling especially welcomed during her first few weeks but also expressed the differences between Samo and Pali.
“It’s been really, really different. The campus, people and classes offered are all very different from Pali.” Burrell said. “The teachers are really inviting, but I’d say it’s a good change. They’ve been very patient and given me more time and been more lenient.”
Samo has a steady trickle of new students who have been affected by the fires, both academically and personally, each week. Admin will continue to offer resources and support as these students join the Samo community.