Whats going on around Samo?
Hazel Health introduced to Samo as a mental health outlet.
Hazel Health, a new program coming to Samo available from home and at school, will provide free virtual therapy to all students in need,
This program was brought together by Samo after taking part in a needs assessment a couple years ago through the LA county office of education. The needs assessment found that despite Samo already having therapist options on campus, long waits require the school to hire more therapists. The LA county office of education offered Samo Hazel Health as a solution, which is a short term model of virtual therapy: around six to eight sessions with licensed therapists, accessible from home or school, will be provided.
Using iPads currently in the nurse’s office, any students can refer themselves to Hazel Health. School advisors and therapists are also able to refer students. While the sessions will remain confidential, there will be adults around to help the students if necessary. Lotan Shuli, the mental health counseling coordinator at Samo, is excited about the new partnership with Hazel Heath.
“Safety is really important, when someone is having a session with a therapist in person and they are experiencing something very crisis level that therapist is going to handle it. However, when you have a therapist that is not in the vicinity, it is a whole other procedure,” Shuli said. “Students can self-refer. There is also a website for students to fill out which will soon be on the Samo wellness services.”
JSA attends annual Winter Congress to imitate the primaries
Samo’s Junior State of America (JSA) attended the yearly Winter Congress from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. The Winter Congress imitated the primary elections, which are currently taking place nationwide.
Dylan Cheah/ Contributor
JSA members, Dylan Cheah (’24), a student from Pali High, Isis Mcdowell (‘24), and Emery Cunningham (‘24), head to their debates in the U.S Capitol.
The Winter Congress is a yearly legislative simulation during a statewide convention for student members of JSA chapters across the country in Washington D.C. They met for three days and imitated congress, creating and debating bills and legislation. As citizens over the age of 18 are getting ready to vote for the upcoming general election, JSA is intent on preparing students to take part in the electoral process while giving them an enriching educational experience. Kara Best (’24) is one of the club presidents along with Dylan Cheah (’24), and alongside vice president Isis McDowell (’24).
“Our current goals as a chapter are to represent California well in the national convention and meet new people,” Best said.
Best and Cheah were both voted best speaker in each of their debate blocks.
Samo’s engineering team places fifth in national JPL tournament
This past December, a Samo engineering team placed fifth place at the national NASA Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL) competition in Pasadena.
Gigi Bazyler/ Contributor
Sam Davidson (’24), Gigi Bazyler (’24), Ben Telanoff (’24) and Miles Bhattacharya (’24) make a device for the JPL invention challange.
Every year, JPL releases an invention challenge for highschoolers to design a device to complete a specific task. While all teams in Samo’s engineering class qualified for the national competition, Team Grievance North America, composed of Gigi Bazyler, Miles Bhattacharya, Tia Hansen, Alex Moses, Kyle Spiteri and Sam Davidson’s fifth place finish was the highest of the three.
“We spent a lot of time planning with our teams, and building prototypes for the components used in devices,” Gigi Bazyler (’24) said.
Taught by Breanna Snyder, the engineering class works on developing different skills and knowledge for the real world. Students work in teams and groups to design and create different solutions, utilizing communication and critical thinking skills. The PLTW engineering program consists of four levels: Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics and Engineering Design and Development.
College signing day commemorates student athletes
National signing day, which took place on Feb. 7 in the North Gym, commemorated Samo’s student athletes who signed to collegiate sports.
Sienna Bevan / The Samohi
Nine student athletes sign to their respective colleges on Feb. 7 to continue their athletic careers
Nine seniors were celebrated by fellow teammates, coaches, parents and other students—Cassie Bibby, playing soccer for University of Southern California, Darragh Flanders, playing water polo for Pomona College, Jasper Ford, playing lacrosse for the Dominican University of California, Ryland Hawkins, playing football for Willamette University, Oliver Keeves, sailing for Tufts university, Caden McCallum, playing football for Tufts University, Jayden Montanez, playing football for the University of California, Davis, Bobby Munoz, playing baseball for Macalester College and Emerson Werger, paying volleyball for the University of Denver. Every student was recognized individually, as their coaches came up one by one to speak on each of their athletic achievements.
Caden McCallum, who played on Samo’s varsity football team as running back and linebacker, is excited to further his football career and education at Tufts University.
“It was a crazy environment. A lot of people showed up compared to last year, which was in the Greek; it was only three people then, this year we had nine,” McCallum said. “It was pretty incredible seeing everyone supporting us.”
The students signed to their colleges, officially binding their commitment to their future teams. Commemorating the ceremony was a moment with the students and all of their families, as parents and siblings gathered behind their student athlete for a group photo.