By Angela Gin, Zoe Hong, Zoë Hsu Doo, Xavier Malizia, Abigail Park, and Phoebe Seigel 

Discussions and disagreements echoed between teachers in NB18 on February 5th, as union members examined the results of the fact-finding review released the night before. This meeting came on the heels of the United Educators of San Francisco’s decision to strike that morning. 

UESF is a labor union representing over 6500 SFUSD teachers, paraeducators, and substitutes. These educators are currently working without a contract since their 2023-2025 contracts expired on June 30th, and UESF has been negotiating new contract terms with SFUSD since March.. 

After a four-day-long strike, begun February 9th, union and district negotiators finally came up with an agreement for a new contract that satisfied most of UESF’s demands. The contract includes a 5 percent raise for certified employees by 2026-2027, fully funded healthcare for UESF employees and their dependents, and more aid for paraeducators. The tentative agreement put an end to the strike, and opened  the doors for SFUSD schools once again. 

Negotiations between the district and the union began after the end of the 2023-2025 contract terms, which included a 5 percent total raise from 2023, fully funded medical insurance for eligible employees, special education mandatory paid training within one month of a new assignment, and sanctuary protections excluded from the contract and outlined under policy.

Following a fact-finding document released on February 3rd, the district came to the bargaining table with new offers. These offers entailed a 6 percent pay raise over three years, fully funded health care premiums for families, a pilot program to analyze special education workload, and support for unhoused and undocumented families sanctuary protections, strictly according to the Board of Education Sanctuary Policy. 

Unsatisfied with these offers, UESF continued fighting for a 9 percent pay raise for educators, 14 percent pay raise for paraeducators over two years, fully funded health care premiums for family members, changing special education workload to a “point values” system for students within the Individualized Education Program, and codifying the sanctuary policies in the new labor contract.

By February 4th, 97.6 percent of educators voted “yes” to strike, and UESF declared the beginning of the strike as February 9th. As a strike threatened to  shut down schools and extend the school year from lack of instructors, the 100+ person UESF negotiations team met with SFUSD on February 5th to attempt a resolution after a thorough fact finding process in order to navigate the unprecedented circumstance of the predicted strike.

The last SFUSD strike occurred in 1979, lasting  six weeks, coined the “Great School Strike of 1979” by “The San Francisco Standard.” The strike began in response to  SFUSD laying off over one thousand teachers due to Proposition 13, a law that cut property taxes and caused the district to lose large sums of money. For those six weeks, schools were initially closed, but were reopened to students and staffed with substitute teachers later into the strike. Only after the then Mayor Dianne Feinstein joined negotiations was an agreement reached in which laid-off teachers were rehired, and all teachers received a pay raise.

Current Lincoln Ethnic Studies teacher Charles Lin is a negotiator and bargaining team member for UESF. On February 5th, he prepared himself for the evening’s bargaining meeting between SFUSD and UESF.  The last formal, written proposal given to UESF by SFUSD was on September 25,  according to Lin. Since then, the two parties had been negotiating back and forth without an actual, written proposal. The September 25th proposal notably ignored educators’ requests for healthcare coverage for their dependents, stating that healthcare coverage would stay at “status-quo,” which costs families around $700 per dependent per month, frustrating educators and contributing to the tensions that led up to the teachers’ call for a strike beginning Monday, February 9th. 

District-union tensions had been festering for a while. Over the past few years, the union has expressed frustration with the way SFUSD is treating educators, and UESF even held practice picket lines in 2025. According to Lin, the main issue causing the conflict is simple: money. 

“ I’ve been negotiating for nine, ten months. None of us are budging on the money issue, and so because of that, we go to an impasse because nothing’s happening. Then we go to mediation where the two sides have someone else to talk in separate rooms, then maybe come to [an agreement],” Lin says. 

Once the fact finding report, done by an impartial third party, came out, the district sent out a proposal to UESF, throwing both parties back into negotiations–a last round before the strike began. 

Another issue UESF brought up as a consequence of low wages is the “mass exodus” of educators from San Francisco schools. For Lin, this “mass exodus” stems from a multitude of factors. 

“For a lot of people, they feel that the situation here is untenable for a living. Again, SF is one of the most expensive cities. And people want to be able to have families here, and not spend so much of their time, like writing IEPS. Or, if you’re a para-educator, it is probably more likely you’re working two or three jobs, and paying the same amount in healthcare as a certified teacher, so people can’t afford that. [...] They’re going to burn out, they’re going to leave, and then we have to hire new people which creates instability.”

Between a loose gag order and a flurry of emails from superintendent Maria Su, students and their  families were confused for weeks about UESF’s intention to strike. Due to the gag order, teachers were not allowed to talk about the strike during class hours. However, teachers could share information with their students during non-work hours, translating to lunch and before and after school. For the upper grades, teachers shared certain information and the students then relayed it to their parents. However, for lower grade students in the district, parents could not rely on their students to relay information about the strike. 

Leon Sultan, Lincoln media representative for the Union Building Committee, says that the Union does not have the same communication channels with families as the district which makes sharing the teachers’ side of the story very difficult. 

“We all want to provide the best education for our students […] We don’t really want to strike, but we do not feel that the district has been bargaining in good faith with us,” says Sultan.

Teachers had been working without a contract since July 2025, so the bargaining of a new contract was not foreign to students. In fact, just two years ago, UESF was threatening to strike while negotiating their new contract. 

Throughout the district,students and their families have been affected by the strike differently. Students preparing for advanced placement tests had to learn and study the material independently. Aside from  the stress of their kids losing instructional time, families with younger children also had to worry about finding childcare during the strike. 

Further, food scarcity was a concern while schools were closed down.  Around 54 percent of students in the district as of the previous school year rely on the Free and Reduced Price School Meals program because of food-insecurity, according to EdData.

SFUSD initially argued that they were unable to meet the union’s demands due to the district’s budget deficit as the district is under state fiscal oversight. They cite the declining enrollment as a factor in this deficit. 

On February 5th,  Su sent out an email to all district students, families, and teachers stating that the district’s planning is focused on learning continuity, student safety and support, security and operational planning, and staff guidance and staffing plans. 

Throughout the week of the strike, she emailed the community updates about the negotiations and told students and parents if school would be open the next day. 

These emails included information on how to contact SFUSD for support, food distribution resources through the Department of Children Youth and Families, and independent study packets. These packets were delivered throughout the city to community centers and libraries where students could access materials according to their grade level. To access these materials, students needed to complete an independent study contract. 

According to a student-led group on Instagram, signing the independent study contact would mark students as present so that the school could continue receiving money for student attendance, undermining the goals of the strike. Many union members also encouraged families to ignore these packets and to not sign the contract as it was seen as crossing the picket line.

According to Su, the district report found that UESFs demand for a wage increase was “not budget-neutral and would likely be rejected by the state.”

The strike lasted four days, from February 9th to February 12th. All schools were closed during the strike. Each day, across the school district, thousands of educators picketed outside of their respective schools in the morning and marched downtown in the afternoon. 

The first day of striking started on Monday, February 9th at 8:00 a.m. Teachers, para-professionals, security guards, and some administration  gathered at their respective sites, picketing in front of their schools until 10:00 a.m. After breaking for lunch, they met again at Civic Center in the early afternoon. There, staff members from all across San Francisco public schools protested for the Union’s demands.

On the second day of the strike, the morning routine repeated; a picket at each campus from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. followed by a break for lunch. At Lincoln, the community began to become more engaged, with food, coffee, music, and other community activities provided by staff, students, and families. For the collective protest in the afternoon, all staff met at Dolores Park on a rainy Tuesday afternoon to start a march down city streets to Civic Center. 

Day three started out with the same morning routine. In the afternoon, droves of red-clad teachers came together to spell out “For Our Students, STRIKE” at Ocean Beach for the event organized by human-sign artist Brad Newsham. 

Day four continued as normal, unknown to the teachers that it would be the last day of the strike. After the morning picketing, all staff and supporting students, families, and community members met at the Ferry building for yet another march to Civic Center.

In the early morning of February 13th after an all-night bargaining session, UESF announced that an agreement was reached, and students were to return to school on February 18th, after President’s Day and Lunar New Year. Discussions are still ongoing, as the union votes to ratify the tentative agreement.

By Phoebe Seigel

Earlier this month, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie passed a new drug policy measure that would focus on getting drug users off city streets. The program, officially called “Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation, and Triage”, is part of the mayor’s “Breaking the Cycle” initiative, which aims to end homelessness and curb the fentanyl crisis that has ravaged the city. The RESET house will serve as an alternative to hospitalization and jail, two places that San Francisco’s drug users have often ended up in the past. 

RESET comes as pressure has been mounting for San Francisco government officials to address the ongoing drug crisis that has left American cities struggling to regain their footing. In the past, a common tactic used to address the issue was to arrest those found using drugs on the street. Now, though drug users will still be arrested, instead of being sent to jail, they will be sent to RESET, where they will be given the chance to get treatment and gain release. RESET will be run by the Sheriff’s office. 

The RESET house is what many in the recovery industry call a “sobering house”, which is, according to the organization National Sobering, “often the front door to recovery and a more stable life for society’s most vulnerable populations, addressing the needs of the here and now and working with community partners for additional services. It is a safe, supportive, and supervised environment caring for publicly intoxicated individuals until they are functionally sober.”

 San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto is optimistic about the program, noting that it will hopefully help alleviate the crisis that has become fentanyl overdoses in recent years. 

Miyamoto defines RESET as a space that is, “...not a jail, not a hospital, that we bring people under the influence [to], to help them sober up, and also give them time, [time] to rest up and have access to people and services and treatment, to help them get off the addictive cycle that they’re on.”

In San Francisco, to be out in public and intoxicated is a crime. What law enforcement officers have done in the past was simply take anyone found under the influence into custody, bring them to a jail or a hospital until they sober up, then release them. Now, with RESET, those who would have been taken to one of those spaces will now be placed in RESET, where they will have more of a chance to get help from qualified professionals. 

“Now they’re going to a better, therapeutic, healthy environment, with professionals there that are not just healthcare professionals, but also people who can link them to services,” says Miyamoto. 

“There’s no walls, there’s no doors and bars. It’s not a jail. I think that’s what the game changer is here, because we have so many people in public spaces, out in the community, who are under the influence. We’ve done a really great job addressing the drugs sales and the criminal behavior related to drug sales, both buying and selling. But we haven’t addressed how to deal with people who, under the throes of addiction, are still out on the street. And [RESET] is a way for us to be able to do that, to give a tool to the officers that are out there to be able to bring somebody in custody to a space where they can sober up and change.”

San Francisco has been ramping up crackdowns on drug distribution, leading operations in November of 2025 that, over a two week period, led to 350 arrests and seizures of over 12 pounds of narcotics, according to the SFPD. The narcotics seized included fentanyl, the deadly drug that has heightened the overdose death rate both locally and nationwide. Though numbers have been dropping since 2023, 621 people still died in 2025 of a drug overdose, many of which involved fentanyl, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Miyamoto claims that the rate of fentanyl distribution and overdoses was a leading cause in the introduction of the RESET center. 

“This is something that we’ve looked at from the very outset of dealing with the fentanyl drug crisis. We’ve had two mayoral administrations now who have declared a state of emergency because of the effects of fentanyl on our streets and in our public spaces. Fentanyl is the most evil drug that I have seen in my 30 year career, and the effects that it has on people are devastating. When we first planned this—our approach to dealing with the fentanyl crisis——having a sobering center was in the original plans.”

Miyamoto is hopeful that the new RESET center and the law enforcement policies will help those who need it most.

By Sylvia Liu

San Francisco’s violent crime rate has gone down significantly compared to 2024, with the most extreme drop being in robbery, which is the lowest since the 1950s. Overall, the violent crime rate decreased 17 percent. 

It’s a stark contrast compared to when crime rates rose during Covid. Police efforts and improved technology have significantly mitigated the city’s crime rate, and the results from the decrease in crime are starting to show. 

According to S.FGov, “Violent offense sub-categories are homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.” Compared to 2024, homicide decreased 20 percent, rape decreased 16.2 percent, assault decreased 12.1 percent, and robbery decreased 23.7 percent. 

The decrease in crime rates is creating more opportunities for San Francisco. There are more people coming back to San Francisco since they feel safer, making San Francisco more lively again. 

Brenton Chen, a resident in the Bayview district sees the improvement in how people move around the city: “ More people feel safe in the neighborhood, and more are willing to let their child go outside and hang out with friends.”

During the pandemic, there wasa rise in crime, but that has slowly come down. Violent crimes are going down due to many new changes made to the city. 

According to Officer Jiang, a police officer in SF, “There are many elements that decreased the rate of crimes: there is more patrol work, more police cars patrolling the streets, and the new technology also helps.We can get the information we need faster so we can act faster.”

According to the latest news in the San Francisco Police Department, during 2025, 1,003 firearms were seized along with 56 pounds of fentanyl, which relates to the decrease in violent crime since there are fewer unregistered weapons and fewer people who are on drugs and at risk of dying.

According to Officer Jiang, such changes can be most seen on Market Street. In 2024, there was an abundance of homeless people and people who were using drugs, but now there are barely any. 

Another place where the city saw change is near Lake Merced and Stonestown. Before, there were a considerable number of fights and thefts, but now there are almost none, along with the absence of RV vans. 

The city is getting safer due to changes. Officer Jiang states, “ I am very appreciative of the community and the city that supports the SFPD, and I hope that they will continue to receive support. There are many ways that you can help, such as if you see something, say something”. 

By Abigail Park

Standing on the front steps of his alma mater, Abraham Lincoln High School, Alan Wong pledged to support and defend the U.S. Constitution as District Four’s new supervisor on December 1st, 2025. 

Joel Engardio was recalled on September 16th for implementing Proposition K, which transformed the two-mile Great Highway, regularly used for transportation, into a public park. After his recall, which was supported by more than 62 percent of District Four voters, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Beya Alcaraz as the new District Four Supervisor for her background as a local business owner and organizer of community programs like fire-relief donation drives. Seven days later, she resigned due to scrutiny over past business practices when running her pet supply store, “The Animal Connection.”

As of December 1st, the District Four supervisor position is filled by Supervisor Alan Wong, who was also appointed by Lurie. Wong, born and raised in the Sunset district, attended De Avila Elementary and Herbert Hoover Middle School. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 2005 and attended the City College of San Francisco for his Associates Degree. Then, he earned his bachelors degrees at UC San Diego in Political Science and Public Policy and moved back to San Francisco to earn his graduate degree in Public Affairs at the University of San Francisco. 

“I’m glad to see [Wong] inaugurated,” recalls Asya Landa, former Chemistry teacher to Wong and current Lincoln Chemistry and Physics substitute teacher. “I taught him analytical thinking and how to break down complex information in Chemistry class, and am proud he can use it as Supervisor.”

Beyond his education, Wong previously held an honorable number of positions in his community including becoming elected for the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees and serving as an officer in the California Army National Guard for over 15 years. Many District Four members hold high hopes for Wong’s term and local organizations enthusiastically endorse him. 

“In the last three years, crime has reduced by 48 percent in the city, and violent crimes are down 25 percent,” Frank Noto, Co-founder of Stop Crime SF, proclaims at the swearing in ceremony. “Alan played a role in that: he helped grow our organization from about 1200 members to over 3000 members when he was on the board of Stop Crime SF… He’s always been involved– he started a patrol [of volunteers] in the Sunset when he worked for the supervisor in this district… and gathered demographic data on victims.”

At the swearing in ceremony, Wong publicly announced his initiatives.

“I’m so honored to have your confidence and look forward to partnering with you [Mayor Lurie] with my priorities around improving trust in local government, cutting red tape, public safety, and education,” Wong states.

Within just one week as supervisor and a supporter of Lurie’s initiatives, Wong voted for the “Family Zoning Plan,” which works to reverse housing segregation and strengthen communities by investing money into building more affordable and diverse housing. 

Another one of Wong’s initial plans includes attempting to reopen the Great Highway on weekends by signing his plan onto the June 2026 ballot. However, Wong was short one out of four signatures by January 13th, 2026, and his proposition did not make it onto the upcoming ballot. 

“I personally see the closure of the Great Highway as an improvement to the Sunset District as it added a new park where people can bike, walk their dogs… [and] boosted the local economy by helping small businesses near the dunes,” says Aidan Bolosan, Lincoln senior and 18-year-long District Four resident who disapproves of Wong’s Great Highway reopening plan. “Though, it’s great hearing how he wants to find compromise and bridge the community together like a good leader.”

Despite falling short on gaining support to reopen the Great Highway, Wong works to continue restoring trust in the local government through many other initiatives, including leading PG&E hearings after the recent city-wide power outage and fully staffing the police department, which is currently at 75 percent capacity, by speeding up the hiring process and promoting alternative staffing with retired officers.

“[I want to be] able to ensure that our officers are able to enforce the existing laws and ensure that we are a city where people are following the rules,” Wong insists. “People live in the Sunset because they want to live in a safe and clean neighborhood and have a place where they can raise their families and send their kids to good schools in the neighborhood.”

As a district supervisor in a city with open air drug markets, visiting tourists, a growing number of small businesses, and young students, Wong takes a holistic approach to his policies, keeping all identities of District Four individuals and families in mind. He is determined to make District Four, and San Francisco overall, a safer community through law-enforcement readiness.

As a former Student Advisory Council Representative and Student Delegate to the Board of Education during his time at Lincoln, Children’s Council of San Francisco Senior Director of Public Policy Communications, and proud son of a father who attended City College of San Francisco’s culinary program to support him for over two decades as a Grand Hyatt hotel cook, Wong also focuses his work on education. His main measures include accessible childcare for working families and workforce preparation for high school and college graduates. 

Wong specifically strives to enhance career readiness by fighting against the potential financial cuts of the Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps high school leadership development program. This program is offered as an elective class and Physical Education class alternative. The San Francisco Unified School District has been in a budgeting crisis and is cutting approximately $102 million from the 2026-2027 fiscal school year, and the JROTC program has not been a budgeting priority.

JROTC has been a part of Abraham Lincoln, Lowell, George Washington, Balboa, Mission, and Galileo high school for decades. Currently, the Lincoln JROTC Battalion fosters the leadership development of over 230 cadets; the district-wide JROTC Brigade tends to over 980 cadets.

“I never participated in JROTC myself, but I recognize the support it gave my peers when I was in high school,” Wong states. “Some folks, they see it as an ideological thing, it being a part of the military. Back when I was younger, there were attempts to get rid of the program. Fortunately, it still stays here [because] many of [my peers] developed confidence through participating in the program, stepped into different leadership roles, and were able to get mentorship and guidance.”

To restore trust in the local government, accelerating the police department hiring process and fighting for JROTC funding are only a few of Wong’s strategies to promote public safety and education. He is dedicated to placing the best interests of his community at heart when shaping district-wide policy. 

“Being able to serve the Sunset District where I was born and raised in is the greatest honor of my life,” Wong states. “And serving as supervisor of Lincoln High School is something that I deeply cherish. As a veteran, I will always place the community and my country first above any partisan politics or ideology and work in the best interest of everybody in the neighborhood.”

By Anya Golden

Days before Christmas, a third of San Francisco lost power for up to 72 hours. Residents in the Richmond, Sunset, and Presidio districts suffered the effects the longest—some homes and businesses losing power for up to three days. 

According to PG&E, the power outage was caused by a fire in their 8th and Mission street substation. Initially, the outage affected 40,000 customers, but rose to 130,000 as additional portions of the electric system were de-energized for safety.

Throughout the city, stoplights shut down, Waymos stalled, and underground MUNI lines were closed. In order to keep the roads safe, law enforcement officers were stationed at busy intersections and corridors. All MUNI stations between Embarcadero and Van Ness were closed, with the J and N switching back at the Church/Duboce station, and the K, L, and M trains switching back at the Castro station.

Following the initial blackout, PG&E executed two more planned outages in order to repair the substation. During the initial and subsequent outages, PG&E used temporary generators and alternate grid configurations to keep power flowing while permanent fixes were completed. 

Residents and mayor Daniel Lurie expressed frustration by the lack of communication from PG&E and their repeatedly shifting restoration estimates. 

A local newspaper, “SF Standard”, quoted John McAllen, who has lived in the Sunset for more than 40 years. He commented on the fact that the expected restoration time changed from noon to 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. in a single day. 

“Lying bastards, they’re a bunch of drunks,” the 82-year-old said. “The lies, the disinformation—-we’re in the dark.”

On the second day of Sunset, Richmond, and Presidio residents living without power, a resource center was set up at the Richmond Rec Center for fourteen hours a day between Monday and Saturday. The center provided charging stations, Wi-Fi access, bottled water, snacks, ice, restrooms, hand-washing stations, seating, and shelter. PG&E staff were at the center to answer questions and provide outage updates. 

Jennifer Jackson, a mother of a Lincoln senior, spoke on what she saw as the city’s shortfall in responding to the crisis. “The city needed to be in a position of advocacy, not finger pointing. Echoing communication updates and impacts and being specific about what the city was advocating for rather than the finger pointing of the obvious, who was responsible... PG&E. I wanted to see where the city was helping. PG&E set up the shelters for those impacted. Was the city involved?”

Jackson, who works at Purusha Yoga and Pilates Studio in the Richmond added that, “We had to cancel classes and shut the studio down. We lost revenue from no class attendance, lost retail revenue for the last holiday surge before Christmas, and were in the hole after stocking up inventory. Our teachers lost revenue.”

Autumn Pritchard, a senior at Lincoln, was working a middle school holiday production. After ten minutes of the production, the lights went out. After waiting it out for fourty five minutes and scrambling to collect the expensive microphones from kids while figuring out a meeting spot, they ended up finishing the show, improvised by singing a capella and using battery operated candles and christmas trees.

Another Sunset resident and Lincoln alumnus, Lucy Stanford, also lost revenue. She is an eighteen-year-old running a nail tech business out of her room, which is her main source of income.

“Without any power at my house I had to cancel a whole three nail appointments. The holidays are a busy time of year for business and I either couldn’t reschedule those appointments or had to squeeze them in. It was a difficult situation for all involved.”  

PG&E announced that residents' homes impacted by the outage will automatically receive a $200 credit on their bill, while businesses will get a $2,500 credit. Customers can also pursue a separate claims process which will take up to 30 days to process. 

By Mikayla Chew

The Ethnic Studies program expands its curriculum with its newest course, titled Mastering Cultural Identity (MCI), taught by Dr. Tiffany Jackson, aiming to empower African American students through history and psychology. 

Jackson is the recent teacher for the online ASL 2 curriculum and MCI teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School. Jackson has taught other variations of MCI but this will be her first year teaching at ALHS. 

MCI was recently introduced here at ALHS this semester as part of the Ethnic Studies curriculum, qualifying as a G-elective course. The initial movement started in Oakland Unified School District and migrated into SFUSD in spring of 2020, piloting small programs in two middle schools with the help of the American Reading Company. 

MCI focuses on historical and contemporary African and African American culture, all while improving reading and writing skills specifically for black males. Although this course is specifically designed for African American students, Jackson shares that all students are welcome to take the class and learn more about African American history. 

Jackson explains that her class is about “mastering” student’s culture, specifically African American heritage and being empowered by their identity. Core components of MCI’s curriculum are racial identity, African American Culture, and African Americans throughout history. 

“MCI brings a unique lesson that focuses more on the psychology of African American experience and racial identity,” says Jackson. 

Marisol Arkin, principal of ALHS explains that at her previous job as an Oakland middle school principal, she had the same program offered at her school and was inspired when the African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative team reached out to integrate MCI curriculum into Lincoln. 

Arkin explains that Lincoln was able to add the program into the course list through a grant titled the Student Success Fund as well as a meeting with Community School Coordinator; Eric Cuentos. 

Cuentos, also a recent hire for the 2025-26 school year, manages the Needs Assessment and connects with other partners to support students’ needs. He also works closely with the English Language Advisory Committee and African American Parent Advisory Council to advocate on behalf of Focal students. 

The Student Success Fund is a grant from the San Francisco Department Children Youth and Families where schools can apply and be accepted to become a Community School. Lincoln had become a Community School last school year. The purpose of Community Schools is to provide support as well as enhance academic and social emotional support for Focal,  English Language Learners, African American, and Special Education students. This funding is guaranteed through the 2028-29 school year.

MCI was identified as Needs Assessment priority through a comprehensive Needs Assessment conducted by the Community School Coordinator. This process involved one-on-one meetings, surveys from students and parents, as well as group conversations with partners with Focal students. Cuentos explains the data from his research resulted in possible strategies that could be implemented to support focal students such as hiring a Chinese-speaking Family Liaison, continue to fund the Spanish-speaking Family Liaison, and to hire a teacher to teach an MCI course. 

The students that have been enrolled into the MCI course were either already placed onto the roster or students this semester that have schedules that can accommodate a mid-year switch. For example, students with free periods or are enrolled in a non A-G required class. 

“I’m new,so it was a class they just put me in.” says Sky Mckinzy, a sophomore who transferred at the beginning of the year.  

Mckinzy explains her initial impression of MCI was that it was new and unfamiliar to classes she had taken before, but now she found that she has learned more about her culture.  

Jackson hopes that more students not only take MCI to learn more about the history and racial identity, but rather encourage students to find their inner strength and be empowered to be their best selves every day. 

“I want students to learn the experience of African Americans and all students to feel to be aware of the world that they live in,” Jackson states. 

By Kevin Hu

The Academy, formally known as the Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the smallest campus in the entire district. It shares a campus with Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. On October 1, 2025, superintendent Maria Su announced to Academy families that the San Francisco Unified School District will “relocate the program” to Raoul Wallenberg High School. 

Academy students will have until January 30th to decide if they want to attend Wallenberg or not. Those who choose not to attend will have first choice of another SFUSD high school. Until then, they will remain at Academy for the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year.

Since the pandemic, Academy’s student population has dwindled. Former Academy teacher and current Lincoln social studies teacher Claire Jensen says, “The student to teacher ratio when I started teaching at Academy was 35:1, so similar to Lincoln. By the time I left, it was closer to 18:1.” 

Indeed, according to the district, only 99 students currently attend Academy, a far cry from the 200 students the school is funded to support.

Academy closing is a complex issue. On one hand, for the students still attending Academy, it’s easier for them to get quick feedback than if they attended a larger school. 

According to Jensen, “Students are able to receive immediate attention from teachers…It’s good for students with IEPs.” 

On the other hand, SFUSD is facing a budget deficit. The district spends more than it receives from funding. According to a Parents for Public Schools budget report, after accounting for all expenditures, SFUSD faces a net shortfall of over $100 million. 

Although the closing of Academy is controversial, it had been in the making for years. The district previously considered merging or closing schools between 2022-2024 while under superintendent Matt Wayne. 

Under Wayne, the district released the Resource Alignment Initiative, a plan to close or merge 11 schools. Among those listed in the RAI was Academy.

The backlash forced Wayne to step down and allowed Su to take over as superintendent of the district.

Su promised to halt closures and mergers for the 2025-2026 school year. However, the district released a fiscal stabilization plan in December 2025. The district plans to save $3 million in 2027, assuming three site or program consolidation per year, starting in 2027. In other words, in order to save money, the district plans to merge or close three school sites per year.

Laura Dudnick, the Director of Communications for the district, says, “This reflects potential future closures, not just The Academy’s.”

By Xavier Malizia

The Public Health Academy is one of five Career Technical Education programs at Lincoln High School, with the primary goal of “understanding and sustaining mental, social, and community health,” according to SFUSD. 

On Friday, November 21st, SFUSD discovered former Public Health Academy teacher, Eric Bringas, did not have the proper credentials for his role. Bringas currently holds a physical education credential, which does not meet the requirements for teaching a CTE course at an SFUSD high school. 

With such a short notice given to the administration and teachers, replacing Bringas with the easiest solution, a long-term substitute teacher, did not seem fair to the students.

“[We] didn’t want that to happen […] just having a sub sitting in and watching children […] We wanted the rest of the semester to be meaningful,” explains Vicky Lee, who picked up seniors in the Public Health Academy.

This led other existing teachers to take on his classes for the remainder of the year. The sophomores, juniors, and seniors were assigned to Valerie Ziegler, Brendan Furey, and Vicky Lee, respectively. Adding a class so suddenly is by no means an easy feat for these teachers, especially when it comes at the cost of giving up a valuable prep period. 

Aside from the difficulties of adding another class in the first place, the three teachers who have stepped up to take on the academy have no experience teaching public health and are forced to essentially build a curriculum on-the-go, or as Lee put it, “We're building the airplane as we are flying it. And we don't know how to build an airplane.”

As for the students in the class, the difficulty of developing a curriculum while the year goes on has been noticeable. Senior Christian Ko explained that Bringas taught a much more hands-on class focused on physiology and anatomy; while the content they are learning now is much more focused on careers in the public health field. While Ko enjoyed the class taught by Bringas more, he understands that this is a very difficult position that the teachers are facing and that Lee is doing a very good job adapting to the new class.

“She’s navigating something that she isn't well versed in,” said Ko, “And [as for the class]...it’s, like, taking a step back and taking, like, a broad stance.”

One of the main goals of the academies at Lincoln is to create a tight-knit community inside a big school, with the student teacher relationships proving to be an integral part of the academy experience for students. With this change, the students and teachers alike have to “build relationships that don't exist,” as Lee put it, “In a spring semester, that's really hard.”

Overall, the teachers are optimistic about the rest of the year and, most importantly, proud of their students for adapting to the last minute change to their academy.

As for the future, it is still unknown for the academy, with finding CTE-credentialed teachers proving very difficult for SFUSD. Principal Marisol Arkin was unavailable to comment on the future of the program. 

“[We need to be] putting teachers into classes they are authorized to teach,” says Ziegler.

While seemingly obvious, situations like this prove how just one teacher going unnoticed can lead to a serious issue. If Lincoln didn’t have such an established CTE department, an issue like this could have left almost 100 students without a class. 

By Zoë Hsu Doo

Returning from an eventful winter break, Lincoln’s classrooms were suddenly led by unfamiliar faces as teachers were absent in large numbers. For some students, the absences were expected, with notices from their teachers before break. For others, the change came without warning. Teachers have been absent for various reasons, ranging from sabbatical leave and retirement to credential issues. As a result, several teachers, including math teacher Ramiro Raygosa, and Public Health Academy teacher, Eric Bringas, are currently absent from Lincoln’s halls. Whether for a week or nine months, the routines, structure, and expectations of a classroom shift significantly when a teacher is absent long-term, and students are feeling the effects.

“Going into this class, I obviously expected to have someone supporting me along the way, so it feels a bit empty now that the resource has vanished.” says Landon Kan Huy, a senior at Lincoln, describing his experience in his Statistics class with an absent teacher.

Vacant positions have been filled with both daily and long-term substitutes , or entirely new teachers. Substitute Brianna Carino has taken over Raygosa's Statistics and Algebra 1 classes while he is on medical leave. Due to her background in social science and history, Carino was originally brought in to be a long-term substitute for Jennifer Levine, the retired American Democracy and U.S. History teacher.

“On top of me being a stranger in the classroom, I’m also now having to relearn math for myself so that I can teach it to my students,” says Carino.

Despite best efforts from substitutes, students have reported a different learning environment. The Statistics class is now entirely digital, formatted for self-paced learning. 

“I’ve grown used to [digital self-paced lessons],” reflects Kan Huy, a student in Raygosa’s Statistics class. “Being at this school where teacher vacancies are the norm, while I'm still trying, I don't always fully understand the material." 

Carino notes that the impact of absences varies by the class rigor and subject. “[For] Algebra 1 class, I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get back to the basics to make sure I’m not setting my students up with the wrong foundations because they are going to end up in Algebra 2 and Geometry.’”  

Clear communication between teachers and students has helped certain students remain motivated, but many admit their engagement has declined. With less direct instruction time and more independent work, some students utilize in-class time for other subjects. However, experiences vary widely.

“Now, I feel like there are more assignments than I had with Mr. Bringas,” reflects Ella Ma, a sophomore in the Public Health Academy, now taught by Valerie Ziegler. “Before he left, we were doing body strength assessments and being more active in his class. Now, we are watching documentaries on public health and having to do a lot more work in a class period each day.”

The period between the teachers’ departure and the long-term substitutes’ arrival left students with idle time on their phones, leaving them unprepared for when the course starts up again. While students report more stability under credentialed long-term substitutes, the challenges of available materials and supporting students with IEPs still persist.

In Raygosa’s Probability and Statistics classes, made up of juniors and seniors, students often rely on peer support, allowing Carino to take a less hands-on role. In contrast, freshman Algebra 1 classes require more structure and direction. Charles Paulson, title, took over as interim math department head while Raygosa, the prior head of the math department, is gone. Along with his co-teachers Emma Christopher and Anthony Sourmany, Paulson has stepped in to support the students amid the transition.

While teacher absences may be unavoidable, their effects are not insignificant. Without consistent instruction and classroom stability, learning gaps can widen over time, leaving students to bridge the distance on their own.

By Orin Yu

The spring semester has started, and with that many seniors anxiously await responses from colleges. Over the break, most seniors finished submitting the last of their college applications. They can breathe a sigh of relief now that they are done, but others are already stressing about receiving decisions from colleges that they applied to early action or early decision for.

Early action and early decision are college application options that let students apply to colleges early, in order to get a decision letter early. Typically EA and ED applications are due in November, with decisions coming out during late January and February. While early action applications are typically the same as normal applications, just earlier, early decision applications are binding, meaning a prospective student has to commit to going to the school if you get in. 

Applying to a school with early action is a great way to show increased interest in a college, while early decision shows a school you are fully committed, as you must attend if you get in.

At Lincoln, many seniors who applied EA or ED are already receiving decision letters from schools. Each decision letter carries a lot of weight, as the contents could dictate how each senior spends the next four years of their life. 

Senior Cody Koh is finished with his college applications. He has been working on his applications since well before school started. 

“Seventeen out of 22 of the schools I applied to were early action. I spent the better half of the summer working on applications up until early action deadlines.” 

Despite having to put in so much work in the summer, Koh believes that the reduced stress during the school year made it worth it. 

“Applying early action gives me a better chance of getting in,” Koh states, “I can kind of relax now.” 

Koh has received acceptances from 10 of the schools he has applied to already. 

Not every senior applied EA or ED, however. Those who applied for regular decision will still be waiting for the next couple months. 

Senior Kim Huynh is also finished with her college applications, applying largely to regular decision. She is still waiting on key decision letters, but is happy to be done with all her applications. 

“I feel relieved because I don’t have to worry about applying anymore, but I also feel stressed about getting decisions,” Huynh states. 

The stress Huynh feels is largely due to waiting on one of her top choices, one that will let her achieve one of her dreams for college. 

“I want to go away from SF for college, so I really, really hope I get into UCSD.” 

UC decisions come out in March, quite a few months away. So Huynh has found ways to manage her stress: 

“I remind myself that my PIQs are really about me. If a college doesn’t think I’m the best fit, that's ok. Plus, I know that rejection is not, like, the end of the world. I can always transfer schools after my first year.”

As decision season continues, seniors balance anticipation and patience. Whether applying early or regular, seniors agree that the college process is stressful, but manageable. And as deadlines approach, students are doing their best to stay grounded while preparing for what comes next.

By Yasmine El Hattab

Despite ranking among the most expensive cities in the country, San Francisco still offers an abundance of romantic experiences that require little more than time, curiosity and a willingness to make distance, whether it be walking or public transit. 

From coastal paths and public pathways to world recognized art museums, the city rewards intimacy without the demand of financial damage. 

One of the newest additions to San Francisco’s free landscape is the transformation of the Great Highway into a pedestrian-friendly space along the city's western edge. Following the passage of Proposition K, the former highway now functions as a public space, known as the Sunset Dunes, stretching roughly four miles between Ocean Beach and the Outer Sunset neighborhood. Along the route, visitors encounter stake parks, exercise structures, hammocks and murals painted directly into the pavement. The Highway has stops, specifically benches and seaside locations for sitdown experiences, making for a good picnic. Throughout the day, the space fills with cyclists, runners, families, dog walks, and neighborhood groups. The Sunset Dunes offer a variety of experiences, whether that be a good nap on a hammock or a beachside picnic—all good options for a fun and beautiful outdoor date. 

Just inland, Golden Gate Park remains one of the city's most expansive and famous free attractions. Spanning more than 1,000 acres, the park anchors San Francisco's outdoor culture and offers miles of walking paths, lakes, open meadows and gardens. Visitors can walk through windmills, Stow Lake, and even small herds of bison. The park's quieter trails provide beautiful sights and peaceful walks, while busier areas host cyclists, runners, tourists, and occasional free public events such as music performances, dance activities and roller skating events. The park provides a multitude of landscapes, locations and experiences, all perfect settings to go for a walk, have a picnic or simply enjoy time together. 

Tucked within Golden Gate Park, the San Francisco Botanical Garden and the Conservator of Flowers offers beautiful views. With fields filled through lanes of curated plants from around the world, the park offers an intimate experience with nature. Both parks are filled with a variety of nature, spanning from small flowers to entire trees. Secluded benches and open lawns provide space for talking, sitting and a beautiful walk. The Botanical Garden is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day, and the Conservatory of Flowers provides a free experience at all times of the day.

For couples drawn indoors, San Francisco’s museums provide free opportunities to explore art and architecture. The de Young Museum, also located within Golden Gate Park, offers free admission to Bay Area residents every Sunday. The copper building features a twisting observation tower with views of the park and city skyline. The museum houses permanent collections spanning American art from the 17th through 21st century, as well as African, Oceanic and textile arts, all spread across multiple floors, providing a unique art viewing experience unseen elsewhere. 

Far downtown, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art offers another accessible art viewing experience. With free admissions for those 18 and under, the gallery also features large large public galleries alongside smaller installations. The museum features rotating installations, digital works, murals, large-scale contemporary art alongside smaller exhibits. With hands-on drawing exhibits, painting, sculpture, photography, design and media, SFMOMA provides a compelling indoor destination that brings world renowned art at no expense. 

The city hides beautiful opportunities free of charge whether its oceanside, through a parkland or indoors. San Francisco is a city full of free experiences if you're willing to look and give romance a finance-free try. 

By Lola Snopkowski

As course selection nears, the imminent pressure of which classes to take for next year looms over all except seniors. Freshmen are looking forward to new, more challenging classes and deciding whether to try out their first AP course or continue with their world language. Sophomores are figuring out how to stack up challenging classes to stand out to colleges without overwhelming themselves, and juniors are trying to lighten the load while maintaining rigor in their final year of high school.

There are many routes to course selection, but two stand out: either take challenging classes to gain knowledge and stand out to colleges, or take classes for fun and enjoyment. Both routes have proven to be successful, and it ultimately depends on the type of student you are and your plans after high school. 

Current senior Phoebe Seigel, who took the maximum number of AP classes throughout her time in high school, advises others to find classes that test them, and that not only look good on college applications but also relate to topics they enjoy. 

She states, “I think a [big] part of school is knowing how and when to challenge yourself.” 

Similarly, don’t “overbook” yourself. If you’re a student-athlete or have a job, make sure you have enough time to attend training and practices, or work, while still succeeding in school.

She took most of her classes to look good on college applications, but chose them specifically, knowing her interests and strengths. 

As a humanities oriented student, one of her favorite classes was AP Language and Composition, which is widely recognized for its demanding workload.

 Despite that, it remained one of her favorites because the teacher, Shamira Gratch, always kept the class engaging and fun while still challenging. 

She has also been in Green Academy, taught by Valerie Ziegler, since her sophomore year, and it is one of her favorite classes because of its unconventional class structure. One of her many highlights was the cooking classes, in which they just learned how to cook every Wednesday.

Academies are similar to electives, but you take them from sophomore year through your senior year. They are also cohorted, meaning, typically, other classes will include the same group of people in that academy. Lincoln will offer four academies next year: Green Academy, focusing on the environment and nature, Teacher Academy, focusing on childcare, Business Academy, focusing on business, and Digital Media & Design Academy, focusing on audio and video editing.

All academies are taught very hands-on and go on many field trips all around the city.

On the other hand, senior Jerry Hou took a different approach than Seigel, aiming to take classes for enjoyment. He believes that course selection should reflect the classes you want to take, not those you take simply for college applications. 

“Choose classes that you’d like and not classes that you need,” he states.

Despite this, certain classes are needed for graduation, but once all required classes are completed and theres more freedom in ones schedule, classes can be picked soleley for enjoyment. 

One class he regretted taking was AP Environmental Science in his junior year because he thought it was too difficult and did not reflect well on his transcript. 

His favorite class was PE because it was fun and gave him a chance to play basketball after a long day of school. This led to him continuing to take PE electives beyond the minimum requirement of two years. 

He took this route in high school because his goal was to play baseball in Junior College, very different from Phoebe's goal of attending a four year college and becoming a journalist. 

Counselor Omar Campos states, “You have to show colleges that you took classes outside of the norm in the form of AP or concurrent enrollment classes.”

AP classes are useful, but they require a lot of work, and you have to get a four or five on the exam in order for it to count for college credit.

 At Lincoln, they are also very challenging to get into due to high demand and limited class spaces, which is why Campos also states, “The hack is to take dual enrollment classes, and the reason being is because a three unit college level course is worth two high school letter grades.”

Currently, Lincoln offers Psychology of Race and Ethnic Relations, and Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, which are college classes taught directly on campus. Still, you can also take classes online or on a college campus through the dual enrollment program at either CCSF, Canada College, Skyline College, or College of San Mateo.

City college classes can free up space in your schedule for free periods, allow you to fulfill your credits early and take extra classes, or explore a new subject not offered through high school. 

Course selection can hold a huge pressure of who you want to become, and if you know what you want to study or what you want to be, then choosing your classes should reflect that. If you don't,  exploring a variety of fields can be useful. For example, if you want to pursue a major in the STEM or  medical field, you should double up on science or math, whereas if you want to pursue an English or social studies major, you should take AP World or AP U.S. History and double up on English. If you have no idea, then taking a couple of classes in a variety of subjects that you find interesting can help you solidify your choices.

Finding the right classes to take can be tricky, but as long as you can figure out your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll be able to find the right fit for yourself.

Whether you're like Seigel, trying to take the most competitive classes, or you're like Hou, finding enjoyment in your class selection, both sides and everything in between can produce successes.

By Lola Snopkowski

Lincoln girls soccer is always a major competitor in the SFUSD league championship, and this year, they are coming at it stronger than

ever, with new positivity and connectivity. 

Their season started on November 20th, and so far they are 10-4 overall and 8-2 in league, placing third out of thirteen. With one more game left in their season, they’re ready to put in the work to finish strong.

Each game, they create themes—displayed on their team's Instagram, @alhsssoccer—such as superheroes or “Mission Impossible”, and dress up at school accordingly.

Junior Kailah O’Doherty stated, “I feel like it brings our team together [through lighthearted fun].”

This playful tradition fosters team cohesion and boosts morale and trust on and off the field.

Most recently, they did “lifeguards” for their game against Mission, wearing goggles, life vests, and lifeguard branded items. They didn’t need any lifeguard rescues as they dominated with a score of 4-0—senior Katy Alvarez with two goals, and senior Amelia Chan and Sophomore Makena Reeves with one goal.

Head Coach David McPherson(Coach Mac), alongside assistant coach Edmond Sullivan, have worked hard to build a successful team. 

McPherson stated, “Our assistant coach, Mr. Sullivan, and [our] captains have helped enact more team-oriented routines this season on and off the field that foster positivity, camaraderie, and all around good vibes.”

Last year, they had a very successful season, going 10-2 in league and 13-6 overall. They had a strong game against Washington in the semi-finals, winning 2-0, but unfortunately lost to Lowell 3-0 in the Championship. 

Lowell has posed as a rival not only in soccer but throughout Lincoln athletics. Lincoln rarely beats Lowell in girls' soccer, but last year in the regular season, they tied 2-2, scoring two last-second goals.

This season, despite Lincoln putting up a competitive game against Lowell, they ended up losing 3-1 with two last minute goals by Lowell, but are not discouraged and are ready to face them again later in the season, and potentially in the championship. 

McPherson stated, “Since the Lowell loss, we have preached the importance of finishing games, playing until the final whistle in each half; stressing to the girls the importance of not getting too high or too low—an important quality of a champion.”

Despite several crucial seniors graduating last year, they continue to put up successful games with the help of Captains Amelia Chan, Kailah O’Doherty, and Kaley Huynh. 

They also gained new assets with nine new freshmen out of a total roster of 28. 

O’Doherty stated, “Our freshmen have truly come into the roles on the team [and] our captains work very hard.”

On Friday, January 30th, they celebrated their seniors for senior night and beat Balboa 4-0, who they had previously lost to earlier in the season 1-0. But due to an ineligible player, the game was ruled a win by Lincoln. 

This game was the last home game for the seniors, marking growth and development not just from the beginning of the season but throughout all four years.

  O’Doherty stated, “I feel like we’ve improved a lot.”

By Angela Gin

The start of a new year signals the start of a new season of winter sports. The Lincoln boys soccer team has begun their annual cycle of practices and games, but with an all new coach, Jose Menendez.

Menendez was offered the position by Lincoln’s Athletic Director, Olga Camacho after the former coach, Nathaniel Garcia, left the school district. But while Menendez is new to coaching this team in particular, he is not new to soccer or coaching at Lincoln. 

He assisted the former girls soccer coach, Kenyatta Scott, from 2011 to 2014 and  the boys soccer team from 2012 to 2016, retiring officially in 2016, and coming out of retirement to coach boys soccer this season. 

Menendez notes the differences between when he last coached and the present, “There is more organization from the league, and there are more rules of course. But the game is still the same.”

Team captains Cruv Milgrom and Darian Lee-Imhof have noted that Menendez’s coaching style differs from past coaches, stating that the focus was now on the players rather than the coaching style. 

“I feel like last year, our last coach, he was a little more clear about telling us what he wanted. Our other coaches really wanted us to play in a specific way,” Milgrom says.

“I think it’s a little less structured, he just trusts us to be able to know and know what to do and, you know, do it,” adds Lee.

In addition to adjusting to a new coach, the team has also had to deal with many injuries. According to Milgrom and Lee, such injuries include twisted ankles, sprained ankles, and a broken foot, with most injuries among the senior players. 

“It’s made it a little difficult because a lot of us are used to playing with these seniors and players who are usually our starters. It takes a little time to adjust to playing with new people,” Lee says.

The last time Lincoln went to city championships for boys soccer was in 2013, but they lost due to injuries, and the last and only time Lincoln won the boys soccer city championship was ten years earlier in 2003.

Since the start of their season, the team has won three games, lost one, and tied twice, putting the team at third place in the CIF league.

Menendez believes that this year the team will make it to city championships for the first time in a decade, saying, “We have a very extraordinary team, very skillful and talented players, great captains with a great attitude and with a lot of vision. We, Lincoln, we are not participants; we are contenders to the championship.” 

Milgrom says, “Really, at the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to who wants it more. Like, we definitely wanted it more last week, and we need to do it again this week, and the week after. But it definitely feels possible, which is a good feeling.”

By Xavier Malizia

On December 2nd,  the Sava Pool, a public pool nestled in the Outer Sunset between Stern Grove and Carl Larson Park, closed for renovations. The pool has hosted Lincoln swim practices for years. However, this season, the Lincoln swim team was left without a pool, struggling to put in the laps. The team, which often gets less attention than sports like football, basketball, and baseball, is one of the tight-knit communities on campus, yet faces uncertainty for the next few months.

As of now, the Lincoln swim team practices at the City College of San Francisco, which is at least a half hour away from Lincoln. With the only available time slot from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., students with a seventh period often don’t have enough time to get to the pool. 

Despite this, senior Tyler Chan has a positive attitude towards the season.

“We’re getting through it,” says Chan, senior on the swim team.  “A lot of people [are] showing up late, but we still got our hours.”

The CCSF pool is not available for the rest of the season, however. The team is once again going to be forced to relocate practice to the Balboa Pool after February 6th, with practices at 6:30 a.m., before school starts.

With time in the water limited, head coach Michael Zheng worries that “it will make it hard for people to be able to learn and grow as swimmers.”

Senior Dalton Brown admitted that practices this early are intimidating to the swimmers, but he still has a positive outlook.

“I also think it’s a good thing, because it’d be nice to get it all out in the morning,” explained Brown.

He says that even with these challenges, he expects a good season from the swimmers at Lincoln. 

Seconding this, Zheng hopes that a challenge like this will help bring his swimmers together to create a closer environment in the water.

The constant changing of pools, practice times, and long commutes left only the most dedicated swimmers on the team after losing a handful of athletes who quit. Brown is staying optimistic about this, hoping that it will help the team's success. 

Coach Zheng has a goal of overall team growth in mind for the season. 

“[I want to] make sure the swimmers who started with no experience get to swim how they like, [and] make sure the experienced swimmers learn something new to further their strengths in swimming,” he explained.

As for the team itself, the players have very positive things to say.

“The atmosphere of Lincoln swimming is very uplifting,” states Chan

  “Even [those] who are not very good at swimming [… can] join Lincoln Swim [… and] they will teach you how,” says Brown, seconding the communal and supportive atmosphere of the team.

Swimming is similar to sports like track and field, where athletes compete individually, with points given to both personal swimmers and the team as a whole.

“You swim laps, but there's not really much to it. [...] It's just how much you can get your technique refined, and how much you can have that [mentality] to push through and finish your sets,” says Chan. 

Showing up every day to perfect his stroke is the most challenging part for Chan and his teammates in such a repetitive sport.

Unlike other sports, swimming involves lots of transitions, off-campus transit, showers, and changes of clothing, which is, as Brown puts it, awkward for high school students. 

However, the story of the season is not about competition or skills, but about the position Lincoln swim team has been put in due to the closure of the Sava Pool.

By Ella Lal

The 2023 to 2024 championship was the first time the Abraham Lincoln high school wrestling team had ever won a championship in the history of SFUSD high school city wrestling championships. Lincoln’s wrestling team also won the 2024 to 2025 championship and has now gone undefeated for the past two years. 

According to the boys team captain Kai Villegas, they’ve had little to no competition in the city, “I think [our]team dynamic is better than other teams’--stronger. Everyone always underestimates us even though we win every year.”

Villegas explains that the reason for the team's performance is because of their discipline. The wrestling team practices every day after school for two hours. However, many members of the team choose to stay after practice and train on their own time. 

Villegas also explains that their coach, Micheal Frias, teaches them about the mind and body connection of wrestling. Frias places an emphasis on technique and taking advantage of leverage in a fight. Frias wants his team to use their brains, not just the brawns. Villegas points out that a strong mentality and technique are things that many wrestlers don’t learn until much later in their career, which gives them an edge over their opponents. 

Frias states, “What we focus on is becoming a better version of ourselves every day, both on the mat, in the classroom, at home, in the community. And if we focus on becoming a better version of ourselves every day, then everything will fall into place, and opportunities will arise.”

Ramya Reeves, the wrestling girls team captain, expresses that one of the things she really likes about the team is its focus on mental health, 

“I think mental health in sports is really important, because it’s so easy to become demotivated and be hard on yourself when you’re not performing how you expect yourself to perform in the sport, like you're putting so much time into it. Our coach is really big on healthy foods, making sure you’re feeling your body correctly, and making sure you're journaling, taking time to make sure your mental is okay.” 

The team's motto is “Eat, sleep, wrestle.” Frias wants his wrestlers to eat healthy, whether it be a vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore diet.

Reeves says that she also feels very supported by the other girls in wrestling. Claiming it feels very inclusive and that there are never any hard feelings after a match. Reeves also shares that she hopes that more girls join the wrestling team,

 “More girls should join the wrestling team. It teaches you a lot of discipline and all the girls are so supportive in the sport. There is one bad encounter that I’ve had on the mat and off the mat while wrestling a girl. I always end up hugging it out with a girl after the match. It’s really inclusive, everyone is really understanding.”

Frias says that more girls should consider joining the wrestling team and that it can change your life for the better. Wrestling is the fastest growing girls sport and is a great path for girls looking to separate themselves on college applications and earn scholarships. 

“For the girls, I would say, if you want to change your lives, go ahead and join wrestling.”

By Phoebe Seigel

A key part of anything is knowing when to quit, when to throw in the towel, when to give it a rest. A lot of television shows seem to have forgotten the art of quitting, dragging out storylines much longer than they have to, leading to subpar TV and disappointed viewers. A perfect example is the television series spanning eight years, “Stranger Things.” 

I was a devout fan of “Stranger Things” in eighth grade, when the show’s fourth season came out. I obviously watched the entirety of season four–and felt disappointed. The season felt like an afterthought, an add-on to the show to make more money off of viewership. In a way, that season really turned me off “Stranger Things”. The acting was pitiful, the plot holes were abundant, and the writing was underwhelming. The fan in me disappeared, and I largely forgot about the show for the four years it took for season five to come out. Gradually, for nostalgia and curiosity’s sake, I have been watching the fifth season, and am becoming more and more let down with every episode. I can’t help but feel like this show should have ended after the third season, which, unlike the last two, was actually an enjoyable watch. “Stranger Things” seasons four and five feel like empty cash grabs made by the Duffer brothers and Netflix. What was an exciting plot with engaging characters and catchy writing morphed into a finale with a feeble finish and untied loose ends.  This is not in any way a phenomenon unique to “Stranger Things”; however, so many shows continue to push on well past their prime, leaving viewers feeling bitter about pointless plotlines and useless seasons. “Stranger Things” is not at all the only show that has continued putting out seasons well past what would have been a satisfying conclusion. A quick look at any sit-com will lead you to the same conclusion–this should have ended way earlier. “Modern Family,” “Brooklyn Nine-nine,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Derry Girls,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Fuller House,” the list goes on and on and on. At some point, when watching these shows, you have to start wondering why in the world you’re still watching them. As the shows continue, the writing gets worse, the story falls apart, the jokes become un-funny, and the characters begin to fall flat. At a certain point, you get turned off from the show, as I have been to all the shows listed above. After all, why continue to watch what has just become a boring excuse for entertainment. So, what then is the point of continuing a show when you sacrifice its value as a method of storytelling? Put simply, it’s money.

Let’s say you’re a big television company like Netflix. You just got a show on your network that has blown up and created a huge fan base. You’re making millions off of the show. Why not continue it for as long as possible? You know that as long as seasons keep airing, you will likely have a solid viewer base–even if the show keeps getting worse. This constant desire to keep generating wealth leads large streaming companies to push for more and more seasons of shows that would likely have been much better off with an earlier end. 

How much art are we willing to sacrifice for profit? Turns out a lot. Streaming companies should put their viewers first–after all, that’s where they get their profits. Viewers don’t deserve bland episodes of a show that should have ended ages earlier, especially not when there are hundreds of actors, writers, and crew members who have their own unique and new ideas that deserve to be brought to screen. Quit giving us half-hearted TV.

By Kevine Liang

In a time where capitalism is booming, STEM fields are growing while humanities shrink, but with the rise of technology the study of humanities is more important than ever.

Humanities is defined as the study of all things societal and culturally human, including history, philosophy, language, literature, arts, and stories.

As capitalism peaks, businesses and people choose wealth over the welfare of others. In addition, the rise of STEM being deemed as more stable and noble further drives out the humanities as a choice in our future, lessening our ability to think from another perspective and form empathy.

Empathy is the core of humanities. The understanding of different cultures and history has paved the way for trade on routes, like the Silk Road, which expanded innovation because people took the time to learn. 

We are humans through our feelings and experience. It's been frequently told to us through movies. “Dead Poets Society” tells us to embrace art so that we are able to discover our identity and communicate our thoughts to others—we learn emotional education.

Could you imagine a world without humanities? The world would be terribly bleak. 

Phoebe Seigel, an aspiring political science major believes, “It would be George Orwell's"1984 ". Everyone would be stripped of their individuality, because humanities is so individualist in a sense that it is an individual telling their story through a film or a book. Without humanities, the world would be hopeless and you wouldn’t know yourself or who other people are.” 

In 2022, 435,506 STEM bachelor degrees were given while 179,272 humanities degrees were conferred—the latter of which has been decreasing ever since. Making $20,000 more than social sciences and history majors a year with a STEM degree is compelling, no doubt. 

Our focus begins to narrow on STEM, contributing to a decrease in critical thinking, persuasive communication, and adaptability; all traits that have value in the job market, even in STEM fields. However, the humanities degrees that focus on these skills are deemed as “useless” because of its stereotypical low-income and  job instability.

How many people take on a STEM career because they think that studying humanities is unsuccessful or inaccessible? But the success and accessibility that are often seen in STEM majors can be applied to humanities too—you just have to look a little deeper. 

Humanities majors take on roles as directors, writers, social workers, marketers, philosophers, teachers, artists, and so many more jobs that are often overlooked because of their undesirability to some.

It is not that you have to study humanities if you’re passionate about STEM, but you should further your pursuit of the humanities if you have the opportunity. 

Much of the disregard of humanities comes with emphasis placed on STEM in our society, but if STEM wouldn’t exist if not for humanities, why is it one is prioritized more than the other?  

Even Jinyu Kuang, a STEM-oriented junior believes that, “Humanities has maybe played a bigger role in [his] life than he thought. [Since] philosophy and math go hand in hand, the way we go about understanding the world through math is weird. It's almost magical, but it's not tangible.” 

All the early scientists like Issac Newton considered themselves philosophers, and to a certain degree all scientists and STEM majors are philosophers. 

While humanities doesn’t cure the ill or create new technology like STEM, if this new tech fails to cure the ill, how do we find resolve in ourselves? The answer is humanities, because in the face of death, new technology will not stop the cycle of life from eventually ending, nor does it teach us how to grieve and appreciate. If you are debating between what to study, consider doubling up on majors, and have the courage to study humanities . 

The reason why injustices are called out, politicians are held accountable, sciences and museums are funded, and books are written is the humanities.

By Zoe Hong

Students hunting for AP Calculus BC on Lincoln’s SFUSD website won’t find it listed under math courses. They won’t find accurate emails on Lincoln’s list of clubs, and when clicking links on Lincoln’s website to contact faculty and staff, they are instead sent to a Canadian gambling site.

These are not just cosmetic issues. Inaccurate course listings, hidden information, and outdated links mislead incoming students and their families researching Lincoln, harming families. Lincoln's digital footprint should connect people to valuable resources such as Calfresh, formerly known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sports games times and locations, team rosters, and Parent Teacher Student Association grants worth hundreds of dollars. But years of errors have created widespread distrust for Lincoln’s websites, leaving these opportunities buried and unused. 

Lincoln has digital websites, such as the official SFUSD website, the athletics site, the counseling portal, the PTSA page, and the Lincoln Log website. Each contains different useful information, but these websites remain unupdated and unmaintained. For example, when fellow Lincoln Log journalists and I were searching for information on previous sports championships, we were surprised to find the history and records section of the athletics website link track and field as Lincoln's only sport. Even then, track and field’s records only display an unpublished Google Sheet. 

This year, Lincoln's interim principal Marisol Arkin hired Eric Cuentos, a new Community School Coordinator and website manager, who works to connect students and their families with social services such as housing support, legal aid, and food assistance. 

Since joining Lincoln, Cuentos has updated the World Language Department which had incorrectly listed French as an available class and also added the ALHS School Profile to the website, creating an easily accessible overview of the schools demographics and classes for families and students researching Lincoln. 

As Cuentos points out, “It's not so much a recruitment tool as it is an information tool.”

Lincoln's reputation can recruit students without the website. The website's real value is in serving families who need resources. 

“Schools with lesser resources don't have the ability to maintain their website,” Cuentos adds.

But Lincoln is the second most requested high school in the district with a large percent of its student population coming from low income households. 

Lincoln has a responsibility to maintain its digital presence in order to serve its community effectively.

 “On an equity level, having information on the website is really important for families,” reports Cuentos. 

But their website still lacks crucial information and proper links, furthered by students' communication habits. 

Students traditionally access information through Google Classroom while parents access announcements through ParentVUE, where they can check their children’s grades and teachers’ updates, making the official platforms seem optional. Teachers are able to communicate directly this way while coaches can message their athletes. For students and families on Google Classroom, the official website seems unnecessary. 

But the convenience of emailing information to students has enabled neglect of the school websites. When students don't use the website, it doesn't get updated, leaving families without direct communication methods ? is this what you mean in the dark. Tech illiterate families, non-English speaking families, potential students, and community members are left trying to understand the school websites, with some pages having not been updated since 2019.

The website offers translation services from English to Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, Gagana Samoa and Arabic, making it accessible to non-English speaking families, while Google Classroom updates are normally only in English. However, the website remains un-updated leaving these resources underutilized and such families uninformed. 

Orin Yu, boys varsity volleyball player and coach for the JV girls volleyball team says he relies on his coach for information about games and practices. 

"I never even knew Lincoln had an athletics website," Yu confesses. 

Lincoln has a notorious problem with low attendance at sports games, a problem the athletics website could potentially solve. By advertising and keeping the athletics website consistently updated, more students will have easier access to game times, locations, and rosters.

Cuentos’s work has made Lincoln's SFUSD website more reliable than it has been in years. But with over five platforms, there is a lot more work to be done in order to ensure information is correct and trustworthy. The resources exist, they just need to exist on Lincoln's websites. 

By Michael Lai

Everyone has felt that New Year's motivation, the burst of energy that encourages you to accomplish great things. Often by March, that spark of motivation dies down into old habits. It is so common for this to happen that roughly 90 percent of resolutions fail. The problem is not our dreams, but the way we achieve them.

Resolutions fail because they are built on sudden changes, rather than sustainable systems. Goals as vague as “eat healthier” or “get fit” require long-term commitment and dedication. When immediate results are not seen or noticed, motivation can be lost, leading to an early exit.

It is similar to the “new semester, new me” thoughts.  After bombing the first round of tests, grades crash, and motivation follows. People aim for their goals, but do not plan out how they can reach them. It is better to focus on the process, not so much the goal itself. The experience is often more enjoyable than actually achieving the goal; the journey is better than the destination. 

A way you can reach your New Year's resolutions is to think specifically, take small steps at a time, and not jump straight to it. Some examples can be to switch out “get fit” with “walk for 60 minutes per week,” or replace “get better grades” with “study 20 minutes after school every day.” Because these goals are more specific, it’s practically instructions on what to do.

Viewing goals as a destination makes the process of reaching them much more difficult. This mindset makes the process feel like a waiting room. When we complete something, we forget all the work and dedication that we put into achieving it, including all the memories we made.

Stop waiting for the new year to change your life. Real change is built on consistency, not bursts of motivation. Dedicate this year to building a system that works towards your goal, without relying on inconsistent motivation bursts.

By Lincoln Log Staff

From within San Francisco to Washington, D.C., the limits of journalists’ First Amendment rights are being tested. 

In 1735, John Peter Zenger, a colonial journalist, was accused of seditious libel and arrested by the royal governor of New York. A jury later acquitted Zenger on the basis that the truth should be protected. This set a precedent for the First Amendment, in which freedom of the press allows a person to publish information and ideas without government censorship or punishment, setting the foundation for all journalists in our country. 

Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent on January 7th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While the situation surrounding her death was initially debated—many had taken sides, arguing either that Good was killed in cold blood, with no motive, by the ICE agent, or that the ICE agent acted in self-defense. Notably, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and President Donald Trump sided completely with the ICE agent, labeling Good as a “domestic terrorist” and promoting claims that Good was attempting to run her killer over with her car. Claims like these directly contradict the video footage of the event. 

In a video analyzed by the New York Times, the officer who shot Good was shown to be completely out of harm's way and the direct path of her vehicle—meaning his life was not in imminent danger, as claimed by President Trump and Noem. 

So what, then, does it mean that these two prominent figures continue to deny video evidence analyzed and verified by reputable news sources? It shows a lack of care for promoting the truth in favor of political gain. It shows that the current administration is willing to deny and twist real events, which ultimately poses a threat to journalists everywhere. How can the truth be investigated and spoken about when the government actively tries to stamp it out?

The current state of our country pushes us to mull over the events taking place. However, citizens receive limited information from unreliable social media posts and opinionated voices on pixelated screens. Journalism allows each side of the story to be heard, permitting the reader to be given the various perspectives behind complex stories. Reading the news may seem outdated, yet it gives us the information that our TikTok and Instagram feeds can’t.  

Opinion journalism has also been critical in keeping the public educated—they provide analysis and context alongside the objective facts, offering in-depth, nuanced criticisms that encourage readers to reflect on and question the world around them. Opinion journalism pushes for the intellectual conversation and discourse necessary to uphold democracy. 

Khoi Nguyen, a former editor-in-chief at the Lincoln Log, shares that student journalism is largely responsible for covering local events, reporting facts, and exchanging knowledge. 

“Student journalism is a lifeline for democracy’s survival in our generation and onward,” Nguyen states. 

He goes on to explain that the First Amendment protections for journalists and publications are exceptionally strong. Although he goes more in-depth about how journalism publications are unlikely to lose lawsuits but still end up settling for one, losing millions of dollars. 

As AI circulates throughout social media platforms, Nguyen believes that should be the least of journalism publications worries. He claims that newspapers should only concern themselves with the public interest and “making sure that the ideas held by those in their community are being represented fairly, and the rest will take care of itself.” 

Over the first year of Trump’s seat in office, there have been several instances where big publications have been repressed. Most recently, the FBI raided a Washington Post reporter, Hannah Natanson, in the investigation of Natanson illegally retaining classified files. 

While the Trump administration poses this as a threat to our national security, the raiding of a reporter’s home is “highly aggressive and unusual,” as deemed by the Post. Natanson’s phones and laptops are currently under investigation, although a federal judge has issued a halt on searches. This is not an isolated incident; Trump sued CBS in 2024 for the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, while Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House, has threatened journalists with a lawsuit if they do not follow the administration's orders. Even the New York Times is receiving abuse from this new administration, as Trump sued for defamation over reports undermining his career and the legitimacy of his election. Now, in order to maintain the credentials required to enter the Pentagon for press meetings, journalists cannot obtain information that the Defense Department doesn’t allow. It would be deemed as criminal activity and isn’t protected under the First Amendment right. 

During the beginning of Trump’s second term, Leavitt announced that the Trump administration will choose the pool of reporters that cover events and travel with the president—disregarding that the pool was previously chosen by an independent organization. Even when this decision was made to “be inclusive,” it may sound like a limitation of who can cover the media, especially covering the media of someone who runs our federal government. 

The crackdown on journalists continues, as journalists now cannot access the Upper Press Office in the White House without an appointment, which has been a space for free information between the White House and the public for a long time. 

The Lincoln Log has been a pillar of Lincoln school culture since 1940. It's essential for the faculty and students to stay informed about important school events, news affecting our district, and new movies and TV shows. Additionally, we share our thoughts on the world we live in, both serious and lighthearted. The Lincoln Log provides students with a space to share their ideas and pressing current events, raising the next generation of a much-needed field: journalism. The Lincoln Log is one of only two high school student-run publications in SFUSD, the other being The Lowell at Lowell High School. 

Lowell’s former newspaper advisor, Eric Gustafson, sued the school district for his reassignment by the school, supposedly due to letting his students run controversial stories. Some of these stories are about the verbal harassment students faced from teachers. Although this is protected under the First Amendment and California Education Code 48907, Gustafson was reassigned to teach sophomore English classes instead of the journalism classes at Lowell after eight years of being the newspaper advisor, with Lowell’s principal citing the prior article and a proposed article about teachers and AI as the reason for the switch.  Students old and new alike protested this insult to student journalists.

“We spoke out about it by going to the Board of Education meeting and the Board of Supervisors meeting,” states Yue Yi Ping, The Lowell’s multimedia editor-in-chief.

“Journalism is often the first thing to come under fire in times of instability,” says Maren Brooks, the text editor-in-chief of The Lowell, “and that is when it is so important to lean into journalism.”

A judge ruled that the reassignment of Gustafson was illegal and that the district and Lowell must reinstate him within 30 days. 

The initial removal of Gustafson affected the Lincoln Log, making us wary of exercising our First Amendment rights to free expression. Stories could be forcibly altered and toned down in fear of repercussions.

In light of these tragic attacks on journalists’ First Amendment rights, we all have a role to play: we must engage deeper and more carefully with the news. We must check our sources, approach issues with nuance, and do our own research. We must stand by student journalists and journalism as a whole, and we must become more educated, informed, and aware. Only through collective action can threats against our First Amendment rights be ceased. Educating ourselves is only the first step; to stand up against the attack of journalism, we must advocate for ourselves and others through the same form of media that is being destroyed.

By Sophie Ng

To say I’ve never stressed over college applications is a lie—over Thanksgiving break, I racked up thousands of minutes of listening on Spotify, relentlessly trying to drown out my thoughts as I worked on my responses to the UC ‘personal insight questions’. While I was in these trenches, a peer and I exchanged feedback on our writing, and we joked about our chances of getting into a specific school. 

Mid-conversation, they told me, “Yeah, but, looking at your stats, I don’t think you’d get in.” 

It was a possibility I’d considered before; with the rise of social media influencers dedicated to showcasing applicants’ profiles and results, I’d previously found myself succumbing to the pitfalls of these sensationalized videos. I went back to my essays with a different attitude: Why try at all, given my “stats?”

I spent the next hour [...] with my Google Docs, seesawing between believing my life was truly over and wondering if college applications were truly meant to be this serious, because what relationship do I, a 17-year-old American high school girl, have with these higher institutions? 

I grew up as the oldest daughter of two parents who never attended college, making me the first in my lineage to tackle this daunting application process. Despite the presumed burdens that would come with the role, my parents have never pressured me to get into top schools. Regardless, I’ve always wanted an elite education simply to prove I am capable of something incredible. Somehow, applying to college had become less about the pursuit of knowledge and more about attaching myself to the name of a specific institution.

I grew up in a world where education is guaranteed. In fact, it is a requirement; California’s compulsory education laws require all children from the ages of six to 18 to attend school. In such a society, it is easy to lose sight of what education really means. I grew up believing tertiary education was simply a requirement to live. 

I submitted my UC applications on Wednesday, November 26th, and with four more days of Thanksgiving break to myself. Getting in was the end goal, but with admissions out of my hands, I was thoroughly hollowed of my purpose.

Throughout the application process, I’ve faced questionable comments about my application, stats, and essays from peers. Almost everyone is nervous about applications, and almost everyone wants to get into a selective school. A traffic jam has formed, and people are vying to pass through somehow; and for some people, that means turning the cycle vicious.

Grade inflation has encouraged students to look outside of school for activities to stand out. Abandoned social media accounts for student-led non-profits are all too common—this is no longer a matter of academia, but a matter of embellishing your resume. The latter ends up being a neverending treadmill of improvement; a cycle where the goal post is constantly being moved back. 

This is where the cycle turns vicious; the aforementioned comments, a constant need to prove you are ahead in the race, the susceptibility to burnout—we all need to relax. The application process should not be about constant working, but about encouraging learning throughout high school in order to prepare students for college. 

It gets so easy to overlook how special post-secondary education really is, especially with accessible options like community college and direct admissions. I’ve learned to reframe my view of universities as less of an obligation and more of an opportunity; they are ultimately educational institutions made for learning.

By Angela Gin and Ella Lau

Support. Assistance. Help. These are words that describe the jobs done by members of the  SOAR program, otherwise known as, Success, Opportunity, Achievement, Resiliency, is made up of paraprofessionals, and various speech and occupational therapists. This program is part of Lincoln's special education department. Teachers in this department work daily with students seeking extra support or guidance to ensure a comfortable learning experience, a core goal in school atmospheres. 

The special education program at Lincoln is felt throughout the whole school community, but students are not receiving the full support from staff because of absences of support staff, lack of space, and only having one IEP counselor.

Vice principal Laura Langlois Rashidi oversees the special education department here at Lincoln and provides the department with resources and support. Recently a large amount of staff in the department have been absent due to illness. 

“One issue we face is when staff call out sick, especially with our paraprofessionals,” states Rashidi, “it makes it tricky because I have to shift around schedules and make that decision of what teachers are working with what students and what students are going to have more support in their class and what students are not”.

This is the ongoing issue, and according to Rashidi, even with a school as large as Lincoln and a support staff of almost 40 paraeducators, support for students in various classrooms schoolwide are still not being met. The lack of support staff in classrooms puts a dent on students receiving the necessary guidance for them to be comfortable and successful in school learning environments. 

Decisions for student support should not be based on availability but on student need. Support for students is not only from paraprofessionals, but also from counselors. Here at Lincoln, the programs are only managed by one counselor, Ian Enriquez. IEPs otherwise known as Individualized Education Programs are legal documents provided to support and help students be successful in education. Individualized Education Programs can be diverse depending on what the student needs. Some students require help from paraprofessionals in classroom environments or in SDC, otherwise known as Separate Day or Special Day Classes, whereas others simply have a study skills period. IEPs require legal action and management which must be monitored by a case manager. With almost 2,000 students here at Lincoln, one teacher dealing with legal paperwork and accommodations for every student shows a clear example of lack of support for students.   

Comfort in a school environment can be essential for students with IEPs, it is essential when it comes to giving each and every student a space in which they have enough room to have functionality and be at ease. In the high-functioning, semi-stressful environment found in schools and classrooms, physical space is necessary but limited for the special education department. This is not ideal. 

Department chair Devin Walker, an IEP case manager and SCD teacher who runs the special education department here at Lincoln has emphasized the lack of space for the students. In previous years, according to Walker, the administration prior to the 2025-2026 school year allowed “more real estate room” for the department when it came to classroom space. Now with the current administration, this battle continues and contributes to the issues within the special education department. 

By Elise Dunn

Cold. Dark. Depressing. These words define the early spring semester of high school. As we exit the festive season, the spooky vibe of Halloween and the spirit of the “happy-happy” holidays, we enter the familiar pace of deadlines and school work. Many students return to school and encounter feelings of stress from events such as AP exams, SATs, and semester deadlines. Although sunny spring days may be ahead, the pressure of school can be heavy and unavoidable. 

Handling these weights, plus a six hour school day and seven classes can be a lot, and in some cases, cause burnout or workload exhaustion. The stress and weight of seven classes, homework, outside extracurriculars and navigating college prep is rough on a 17 or 16 year old high school student. The burnout is real—by the end of January we are already stressed, sleep deprived and drowning in mountains of homework, a constant struggle. Stress and burnout do not always have to be problematic, they can be something that students can conquer. 

Parents and academic supervisors will tell us that the reason we are not productive or focused on our academics is because of our phones and media distractions such as video games and social media apps like Instagram or Tiktok. This argument may seem true, but there is a different side to the story.. Social media may be an outlet for procrastinating assignments and avoiding due dates; however it can also be a platform for advice on how to study effectively. Videos titled “Five study methods proven to work” or “How to study productively” can help convince you to put down the phone and pick up the homework. Watching videos of people actively completing their work can motivate you to do the same. 

Recently, I had a large assignment due and instead of working on it, I spent three hours scrolling through TikTok. It was a dire situation considering that the assignment was 20 pages long and incomplete; until, a video popped up of someone filming themselves doing their homework. Watching the girl in the video sit down and complete her homework motivated me to get up and complete my own.We approach homework and schoolwork  with feelings of dread and boredom. Nobody truly wants to spend their free time doing a math assignment or writing four pages of detailed history notes, and when we approach our work with negative emotions we tend to want to do something that will make us happy like watching a movie or playing a favorite video game. 

Rewarding yourself for doing the hard stuff such as that long homework assignment you have been avoiding can be a helpful tactic. Once we get home from school we want to lie down, relax and do something that will take our minds off of that huge assignment due. Relaxation and laziness after school makes our motivation lower and causes us to start avoiding our homework. Instead of lying down or doomscrolling for hours on end, we should be completing assignments due in less than 12 hours. 

Reliable fan favorite sources such as “Atomic Habits” by James Clear describe successful ways to become productive and build up habits. One method that has been proven to work is doing a current enjoyable activity, then doing something academic and countering that with something fun you have been wanting to do. This is similar to the reward system as it uses a reward to persuade yourself to complete homework. For instance, sit somewhere comfortable, do a page of notes or math homework and then reward yourself by having leisure time on your phone or TV. 

The simple satisfaction and feeling of finishing homework is another motivator to do academic work and menial tasks. Writing a to-do list is a generic but straightforward and successful way to avoid procrastination. Simply taking a 0.7 gel pen and dashing an X or checkmark over something as simple as an overdue homework assignment can make you feel accomplished and motivated to keep going. 

The fact is, procrastination is an issue students face every day, when stress can come to a point where it's simply too hard to deal with. Students like you and me just want to crawl up into the hole of avoidance and never leave. However, when we do that, we lose the war of the spring semester slump. Overall, with the right mindset and study habits, your success improves each time you hit that submit button or put that paper in that turn in the box. 

By Ariana Lopez

On January 3rd 2026, Nicholas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, and his wife Cilia Flores were taken by the U.S. Delta Force during a military operation in Caracas. According to US congress Maduro and his wife were apprehended on charges of drug trafficking, narcoterrorism and money laundering. However, both Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Monday,  January 5th. 

The U.S. government has claimed that before becoming president, Maduro provided passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drugs from Mexico to Venezuela; however, these claims are just allegations. The kidnapping of Maduro was preceded  by airstrikes on alleged drug trafficking boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean and Pacific, Venezuela is a sovereign country meaning it has the independent authority to govern itself and control itself or its territory without any interference. The United States interfered with Venezuela. 

President Donald Trump violated the United States law by attacking Venezuela with airstrikes, killing over 100 people and capturing their president without Congressional approval. This means that article 2/4 of the United Nations (UN) Charter prohibition of law was violated.Article 2(4) of the UN Charter is a cornerstone of International Law, obligating all UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force against another state's territorial integrity or political independence, or being in any way inconsistent with the UN's goals. Article 2/4 Essentially, it bans aggressive warfare, protecting state sovereignty and promoting peace, though debates continue over what constitutes "force," especially regarding cyber or economic pressure. The United States had no right to attack Venezuela and it was a breach of the United States policy because it was not an act of self-defense and it required the use of the United States military force which is not allowed under International Law. The United States president has attacked a country accused of drug smuggling without proof. However it can be argued that Trump had the power to start the Maduro operation because the president is in charge of federal law enforcement and is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. President Trump may have the power to start off the Maduro operation but it does not change the fact that he has threatened and attacked another country without congressional approval. As a president he should abide by the United States Laws. 

Despite the capture of Maduro being a breach of the United States law?, Venezuelans are filled with hope yet with fear. Venezuelans in Florida celebrated what many have called a historic turning point for their country. Venezuelans see Trump’s actions as a sign of freedom from dictatorship and not as a threat. Venezuelans living in the U.S. have expressed their hope in being able to see their family in their home country after decades. In the city of Doral, Florida the streets were filled with Venezuelans celebrating their freedom from dictatorship finally being able to use their voice.For instance, Abraham Lincoln student Anddy Wu Feng states, “My family is excited and I am too, most nights we would hear people protesting.”His family moved to the U.S from Venezuela because of how dangerous the atmosphere was and because his family wanted a better future. Although he states that his living conditions were not as bad as other Venezuelans’, he mentioned that at times “Water and electricity would be completely off.” 

Over 40% of the residents in Doral, Florida have Venezuelan roots. The reason for the celebrations in Florida relate to the poor conditions Venezuelans faced living with Maduro as their leader. Maduro took office in 2013 and soon after the economy collapsed and inflation rose. Maduro was a brutal leader; he silenced the voices of his political opponents by jailing them. Maduro caused human rights violations by repressing descent and using brutal force against protestors. During the elections of 2018 and 2024, Maduro won by what observers said were fraudulent methods. Maduro’s corruption and mis-management caused the state-run economy to fail and made living conditions horrible.

Even though Maduro had Venezuelans under his dictatorship and caused the country to live in poor conditions, it did not give Trump and the United States the right to use military force to remove him. Trump may have power because he is in charge of federal law enforcement and is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; yet, he still had no congressional approval to take action against Maduro. Arresting Maduro was against International Law and violates Venezuela's sovereignty by interfering with their country. The attack from the United States against Venezuela cost the lives of over 80 people over allegations without proof. Venezuela may be happy that they are finally free from dictatorship but they also live in fear of what could happen next. 

By Kenny Lin

With the new year, hundreds of TV shows and movies are set to air. Genres expanding from adventure to drama to romance to thriller, only a few are among the most anticipated.

The year started strong for anime fans as two popular anime series, "Jujutsu Kaisen" season three and "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" season two, were released on January 8th and 16th, respectively.

"Jujutsu Kaisen," releasing every Thursday on Crunchyroll with an expected 24 to 26 episodes, is a dark fantasy that tells its story through fast-paced, suspenseful animated fights, blending horror, comedy, and emotional depth. Awarded the "Most In-Demand Animated TV show" by Guinness World Records in 2024, season three continues the massive cliffhanger as the story takes a 180-degree turn.

On the opposite side, "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End," coming out every Friday on Crunchyroll with an expected ten episode release, is high fantasy. The storyline explores the aftermath of a classic Hero's Journey as an immortal elf learns to connect with humans’ short life spans. People watch “Frieren” because of its slow pace and focus on the emotional aspect of its story, driving viewers to remember to cherish the time they have and to appreciate every moment.

For TV shows, award-winning Emmys and Golden Globes for Outstanding Drama, "The Pitt" starts its season two on HBO Max now every Thursday; praised for its intense, accurate portrayal of medical professionals, the storyline focuses on the intense conditions and modern problems faced by healthcare workers in the emergency room like the realistic problem of being understaffed, feeling burned out, and experiencing violent abuse from patients.

Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress "Beef" season two, coming out on April 16th on Netflix, will shift with a new main cast and storyline but still retain its dark and twisted themes. The new season will focus on an incident that triggers a "chess-like sequence of favors and coercion," according to the official "Beef" logline. 

Other exciting TV shows releasing this year include "The Rookie," season eight, streaming now on Hulu, with episodes coming out every Tuesday; "Bridgerton," season four on Netflix, with part one coming out on January 29th and part two on February 26th; and live-action "One Piece," season two on Netflix, coming March 10th.

Moving on to movies, "Project Hail Mary," "The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender," and "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" are all set to release later this year.

"Project Hail Mary," coming on March 20th, is an adaptation of the book by Andy Weir. The story begins as Ryland Grace wakes up alone in space with amnesia, as he’s figuring out what to do. The story cleverly engages viewers with science and problem-solving as one problem comes after another.

"The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender," coming on October 9th, is an animated movie that is a continuation of the popular TV series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The movie, in contrast to its live-action remakes, will continue the storyline after the TV series ended, with the main characters facing new challenges. Viewers are excited to see the main cast continue in their young adult years after the series concluded in 2008.

"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping," coming on November 20th, is a prequel to the “Hunger Games” trilogy. The story will be set back in time to the 50th Hunger Games, focusing on the shaping of Haymitch Abernathy. “Sunrise on the Reaping” is set in a dystopian world controlled by a dictatorship and each year, 24 citizens of Panem play a game where only one is set to be alive. The movie explores themes of political manipulation, abuse of power, and rebellion.

Other exciting movies arriving include "Toy Story 5" on June 19th, "Jumanji 3" on December 11th, and "Avengers: Doomsday" on December 18th.

With multiple past Emmy Award winning shows, 2026 is full of exciting TV shows and movies, fueled by the continuation of series and new exciting entertainment to look forward to.

By Martin Situ

When I watched “Wicked,” I left the theater with a feeling of satisfaction and wanting more. The movie ends with Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, flying away on her broomstick to escape the Emerald City, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger. “Wicked: For Good” came out the following year. However, all I was left with was a feeling of what could’ve been.

The “Wicked” franchise is based on the Broadway show of the same name by Winnie Holzman. The first movie, “Wicked,” covers Act One of the Broadway show. It tells the story of Elphaba, who has been ostracized her entire life for having green skin, until she meets Galinda, the popular girl who introduces Elphaba to a whole new world. The movie has great plot development. It slowly builds up the plot using conflict and despair, making the audience truly feel the intensity. In the final scene of “Wicked,” Elphaba takes control of her life and defies the Wizard of Oz as she flies off into the western skies with “Defying Gravity” playing in the background.

“Wicked: For Good” picks up the story five years later.Elphaba is now labeled as the Wicked Witch of the West. Galinda, now known as Glinda the Good, acts as the Wizard of Oz’s spokesperson. The movie follows Elphaba as she tries to expose the Wizard of Oz’s fraud and bring back animal rights.

I felt that “Wicked: For Good” brought the same high-quality production from the first movie, but with a more rushed and underdeveloped plot. 

At times, the pacing is rough. After Fiyero betrays Galinda to be with Elphaba, the relationship between the two quickly develops, quickly leading to private time , if you understand what I mean. The entire sequence moved very quickly and didn’t allow time for Fiyero and Elphaba’s relationship to properly grow. Following this, Elphaba engages in a duel with Galinda at the site of Nessarose’s death. In order to save Elphaba, Fiyero acts as a human distraction to the police, and ends up getting captured and beaten by the police of the Emerald City. Elphaba then flies over to some mysterious castle, where she casts a spell that turns Fiyero into a scarecrow, saving him from death.

This entire sequence just felt unnatural to me. I was filled with questions. What is that castle? How did Elphaba and Fiyero’s relationship develop so quickly? Fiyero is the scarecrow?

I felt like more could’ve been done to expand the important parts of the story, while cutting out unimportant details such as Fiyero and Galinda’s wedding. The movie is two hours and 17 minutes, while Act Two of the Broadway show is only 60 minutes. How is the movie riddled with plot holes, even with an extra hour of content? 

Even with all my blabbing, I would still watch the movie again. I enjoy the darker and more grim mood that the movie creates, while keeping the characters’ personalities consistent. The production still pulls through with good songs and great visuals, making sure not to slack on quality.

I would recommend the movie to anybody who wishes to watch the “Wicked” Franchise or has just watched the first movie and hasn’t seen the sequel yet. It provides a satisfying ending to the “Wicked” Franchise. Of course, this is my opinion as somebody who hasn’t seen the Broadway show, so I’m not sure how much the movies actually deviate from the musical.  However, it's still good to give it a shot, as you may enjoy the movie more than I did. 

By Quincy Fulton

Over winter break, I saw “Marty Supreme” in a tiny New Mexico theatre with my family, overpriced popcorn in my left hand and overpriced Skittles in my right (the overpriced water was in the cupholder). However, after the film’s two-hour and 30-minute runtime, I left the theatre with my head blanking on the night’s price tag—instead, I was full of awe at the propulsive, traipsing story I had witnessed on the big screen. 

I had no prerequisites; I hadn’t read a synopsis, nor a review—all I’d seen was the abundance of marketing tactics, including the celebrity giveaways of active windbreakers branded with ‘Marty Supreme’.

When I say ‘traipsing story,’ I mean a plot that is constantly moving and changing, so much so that I forgot what the true conflict was until the end. A24’s “Marty Supreme” is the story of Marty Mauser, a world-class ping-pong player, with a devil-may-care attitude and an ego the size of the moon. It is based on the real-life icon Marty Reisman, but in a heightened form, played passionately by Timothée Chalamet. Set in 1950s New York, Mauser is on a mission to become the greatest table-tennis player in the world, and he will do anything to become so, despite the disrespect he receives from others.

At the beginning of the movie, he is working in a shoe store, playing the sport in clubs at night, until he gets a ticket to a championship. After losing to a Japanese player, Koto Endo, played by deaf actor Koto Kawaguchi, Mauser is ignited and vows to rematch the victor in Japan—and win. In this quest for greatness, the American’s ego, narcissism, and self-regard get him and his companions, whom he so rarely regards as anything more than tools in his box, into even further setbacks from his ultimate goal. In the end, he is just proving to himself what he needs to believe, what he’s worked so hard to achieve: he is the greatest table-tennis player alive. 

At first, I found it comical how passionate Mauser was to be dreaming about ping-pong stardom, but over the course of the movie, as I witnessed his pitfalls and constant desperation, then fervor, I gained respect for him. Of course, he’d lose my admiration almost immediately after by screwing over, or screwing, anyone who could be of use to him. 

This is why, where others may think Mauser is yet another unsympathetic, egotistical male protagonist, I won’t disagree. However, I surmise that you don’t need to like a protagonist to empathize with them, or to eagerly want to see what happens when they earn what they’ve been working towards. I also believe that the unsympathetic, selfish nature of Mauser is what really pushes this film along; you never expect where the plot will go next, and like a cat, Mauser seems to have nine lives he just keeps taking.

In the midst of all of the crazy subplots during Marty Mauser’s journey to Japan, including hustles, missing dogs, babies, and revenge, one thing stays consistent: the ensemble cast’s emotional acting. Consisting of celebrity actors like Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, as well as celebrities-turned-actors, like Tyler, The Creator, and first-time actors like Koto Kawaguchi, Mauser’s rival and a real table-tennis pro, the cast provides intense standout performances. Director Josh Safdie chose many public figures who had never acted before to portray the rugged ‘50s neighborhoods. They embody the tense, comedic, entertaining scenarios.

Chalamet, however, as a sort of anti-hero, characteristically stole the show. The actor is no stranger to embodying characters, good and bad, and his controversial “Marty Supreme” performance rightfully earned him the Golden Globe award for male actor in a comedy, as well as an Oscar nomination as producer and star of the film. He also spent years, spanning through the pandemic to 2025, practicing ping-pong to be as good as his character is. 

On divisive filming tactics, I also admired the subversion of common tropes. Where the writers use a lot of foreshadowing to obviously pick up later on, they also subvert expectations, such as in the case of Rachel Mizler, played by Odessa A’zion. When introduced, she seems like a typical starstruck woman used by Mauser, and later by her own husband, but we learn that she is just as scheming and cunning on a level near equal to Mauser. She is not as helpless as she comes off to be, and in a film full of male achievements, I appreciated the chance for her to be selfish. 

Main guy Chalamet’s embodiment of Mauser was not only the result of his performance; the outfits, created for the film in the period of 1950s New York, made the setting and the references to it all the more believable. Makeup designers also added acne scars and a fake unibrow to Chalamet to fit his bedraggled persona.

Where the clothes were period-accurate, the soundtrack was not. 80s New Wave fit the vibe of the high stakes, low reward decisions, but I would’ve preferred if music fitting that same feeling was composed in the style of the mid-century period-piece. 

However, the endmost scene, accompanied by “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, where Mauser finally starts living a life caring about other people was hard to dislike. After burning all of his bridges to get to Japan, Koto Endo, and the point where he could prove to himself that he’s a winner, he holds his son in his hands and sets his game aside. 

Overall, this was a movie about ping-pong, but moreso, unexpectedly, a movie about the ups and downs of stardom and proving to the world that you’re not a failure. “Marty Supreme” was full of surprisingly high stakes, heartfelt moments, bizarre scenarios, and comedy. Through gritted teeth, I just wanted to see what would happen next. 

By Christine Kang

Known best for her 2023 hit "Greedy," Tate McRae released her new single, "Tit for Tat," which debuted at Number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in October 2025. Following this momentum, her deluxe album, “So Close to What”, was released on February 21st, 2025. However, the project deserves more criticism than fame.

Tate McRae is a globally popular artist who rose to fame as a teenager, establishing herself as a Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born in Calgary, Alberta, on July 1st, 2003, she spent her early years moving between Canada and Oman. Thanks to YouTube and TikTok, her songs and singing skills went viral, leading her to sign with RCA Records. 

Recently, her new album, "So Close to What” has caught the attention of millions of fans. Her songs frequently appear as background music in short-form videos, often garnering millions of views.

However, despite the positive comments and reviews regarding her musical style, I personally believe the album does not deserve the hype. McRae focuses on a mix of pop styles, such as dance-pop, power pop, and alternative pop. While these styles fundamentally share infectious, high-energy melodies and accessible verse-chorus structures, her previous work included heartbreaking lyrics that resonated with the audience’s personal experiences.

In contrast, despite the high energy, the new album feels repetitive and unappealing. In "Greenlight," the lyrics feel less polished and impactful. For example: “Band-Aids and bullet holes don't go / I can't unhear shit I've been told”

These two lines are repeated three times in three minutes. This song, along with others like "It’s OK I’m OK," relies on a single, repetitive loop for its duration. The lyrics fail to build a connection, and the instrumental background is too plain, lacking a catchy melody for the audience.

Furthermore, the visual direction feels disconnected. While the outfits in her music videos are often sexualized, the lyrics are not. Many people, including myself, feel the sound is watered down; repeating the same melody over and over offers no excitement or stylistic innovation. I believe these songs are designed specifically to boost streams and serve as background music for apps like TikTok, rather than to stand on their own.

The harmonies in each song feel stale and dated, sounding like a diluted mix of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. McRae’s lyrical themes have also shifted; while they used to focus on angst and heartbreak, “So Close to What” portrays desperation for a new partner and how easily an ex is forgotten. Just like in her older songs, some lyrics do not reflect her message or fit with other parts of the song, creating confusion for the listener.

Ultimately, So Close to What feels less like music for active listening and more like background noise. If she included lyrics that did not constantly repeat, I believe she could reach a higher artistic standard. Currently, Tate McRae lacks originality.

By Camille Chew

“Stranger Things” first aired on July 15th, 2016. The 80s-throwback-themed series immediately caught the public's eyes, launching directors Matt and Ross Duffer on a path to stardom. Originality, charm, genuine tension–it had it all. But when the finale arrived nearly a decade later, I found out the story felt emptier than ever. 

 Spoilers ahead: Yes, the finale has its standout emotional moments–but for me and many other viewers it still falls flat. Previously established plot points are forgotten, characters miraculously disappear, and a majority of the finale is spent on a “sunshine and rainbows” epilogue. It feels like what made the story so appealing has been turned upside down. 

The series follows a Dungeons-and-Dragons-obsessed group of social outcasts as they become entangled in the consequences of human arrogance. Alongside telekinetic girl Eleven, the cast faces alternate dimensions, inequality during the 80s, and villains–both human and monster. 

My main issue with the finale is the lack of weight provided to what should have been the series’ biggest fight. Netflix chose to release the final season on three different days; episodes one through four on November 26th, five through seven on December 25th, and finally the finale on New Years Eve. Netflix did not stop at just streaming however; the “Stranger Things” finale also released in theaters, selling out seats nearly immediately.

Releasing episodes on different days and weeks is a common tactic among streaming services to increase viewership and conversation around shows–but Netflix and the Duffer Brothers took this commonly used strategy a step further by lengthening wait times and aligning releases with major holidays. Consequently, viewer expectations rose; I expected the fights to be bigger and badder, following the previously established linear growth in threats from seasons one through four. 

But this, sadly, is not the case. The main threat the cast faces is the Mind Flayer, a mysterious spider-like being that leads the show’s numerous other monsters. The Mind Flayer is accompanied by Vecna, a telekinetic man turned horrific monster. Together, they plan to combine Earth with their home dimension of monsters, the Abyss. 

The battle parallels a similar battle against a smaller recreation of the Mind Flayer which took place two seasons prior. Just as the cast did previously, they split up and gain high ground on the creature. Make-shift weapons are accompanied by flamethrowers and flare-guns as the cast barrages the Mind Flayer from all angles. The Mind Flayer bares its teeth, all bark and no bite. Compared to season three’s Mind Flayer recreation, which nearly kills Eleven and murders hundreds, the portrayal of the Mind Flayer’s true form in the finale is anticlimactic. It flails its legs and bites the air, but not once does it injure anyone.

Ten minutes after the fight begins, Vecna’s head is cut off and the Mind Flayer collapses. The main cast suffers no deaths and no injuries. In season four’s finale, Max Mayfield is sent into a coma by Vecna following a two hour fight. In season three’s finale, Mayfield’s brother sacrifices himself to save Eleven’s life. In season two’s finale, Eleven goes missing. And in season one’s finale, monsters tear through people and Eleven is lost in an alternate dimension. Yet in the culminating fight of “Stranger Things,” these threats feel nonexistent. 

The main bulk of the finale is emotional scenes. Before fighting Vecna, Hopper, Eleven’s father-figure and caretaker, begs her not to fight, scarred by the loss of his biological daughter to cancer. This was by far my favorite dynamic and relationship in the finale, and from beginning to end their story is engaging. Vecna initially takes advantage of Hopper’s vulnerability, creating an illusion of himself in place of Eleven, causing Hopper to shoot her. While watching this scene, my heart dropped.

Upon returning to Earth, the cast is cornered by the military, with power-suppressing speakers blaring so Eleven has no chance to fight back. But Eleven never intended to continue fighting. She stands at the gate between the Upside Down and Earth, preparing to vanish alongside it. 

Chaos ensues. The cast shouts, trying to break free from the military’s hold and get to Eleven. Only one succeeds: Eleven’s boyfriend, Mike Wheeler. Their relationship has been strained across multiple seasons, plagued by various arguments as well as Wheeler’s inability to tell Eleven he loves her. During their final moments together, this reigns true once again. Eleven gives yet another one-sided “I love you,” and Wheeler cries but still cannot return her heartfelt words.

The scene was emotional, but it left me feeling disillusioned. Out of everyone to say goodbye to Eleven, why choose him? At the very least, why not make him tell her he loves her? Wheeler and Eleven’s relationship was a major plot point during season four, with the culmination of efforts to repair their relationship being Wheeler telling Eleven he loves her. Now, in their final moment together–the most critical moment for their relationship–the words “I love you” still don’t leave his lips. Instead of providing a satisfying conclusion to Eleven and Hopper’s father-daughter relationship, Wheeler steals the show in the worst way possible. 

Cut to 18 months later, and the cast continues to live out their lives in comfort and happiness for nearly half of the finale’s runtime. The longer the epilogue ran, the more I began to question why Vickie Dunne, major side character during season five, is inexplicably absent during the epilogue. Dunne was dragged into the monstrous mess the cast faces, yet she got not a second of screen time during the nearly hour long epilogue. 

Similarly, Dustin Henderson, an original cast member from season one, had a girlfriend during season three–Suzie Bigham. But just like Dunne, Bingham’s existence is seemingly erased. With no prior sign of the two having broken up, Henderson moves on to flirting with another girl during the epilogue. 

The Duffer Brothers previously established themselves as pioneers in originality. The plot was calculated and complex, with one main message: “Don’t be afraid to be different.” But the ending was far from unique, following a cliché format where each character falls into a stereotypical role or job during the epilogue. The storyteller becomes a writer, the “nerd” goes to college, the couple continues to go on dates–the list goes on. 

“Hold on [...] That’s it; comfort and happiness, could you be more trite? I thought you were some master storyteller or something,” Mayfield asks Wheeler during an epilogue match of Dungeons and Dragons that mimics the finale’s final fight.

For many viewers including myself, Mayfield sums it up best. 

By Denise Mai

“Five Nights at Freddy's 2” is a peak example of the tragedies of child possession, the supernatural, and the fear of androids gaining control and the power they hold. FNAF 2 then drags previous watchers back in by adding to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria’s tragic past. The film was released on December 5th and was written by Scott Cawthon, who was the creator of the video game franchise of the movie. Now, after watching the movie, I enjoyed how it expanded the lore and gave more background to the characters and the story of Freddy Fazebear’s Pizzeria, and I can’t wait to watch a third movie. 

In the first movie, Mike Schmidt works as a security guard and single-handedly raises his little sister, Abby. The movie then introduces police officer Vanessa Shelly, who has a secret past that's connected to the animatronics and Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Mike, unable to find a babysitter for Abby, takes her to the Pizzeria, where she runs off and befriends the animatronics. 

In the end, they find that Vanessa was the daughter of the killer/kidnapper of Mike's younger brother. The movie then ends with animatronics actually turning on who they realize is their killer and killing him. 

“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”  builds off the first movie but has more intense scares and deeper lore. The film starts by introducing Charlotte, who gets stabbed by William Afton while she tries to save a young boy before she can escape, and, after dying, a trap door opens underground, where she falls in and comes out being carried by one of the animatronics called the Marionette. 

The scene cuts to Vanessa, who wakes up in a cold sweat due to nightmares. Leaving a suspenseful cut off from the tragedy of Charlotte, it pulled me into the Marionette and made me want to know more.

We then get to watch Abby now in middle school, still struggling with the loss of her animatronic friends, and to be honest, this was an extremely hard watch since I thought it was ridiculous how someone of her age was sulking over robots. Mike tries to give Abby false hope by telling her that he will try to fix her “friends” in his spare time, trying to encourage her to be a normal kid and make friends. However, Abby is impatient, and Mike is on his date with Vanessa, so Abby sneaks out of the house to fix the animatronics herself. Mike comes home to a note from Abby, so he rushes to find her at the Pizzeria. He comforts her by telling her they're in heaven and then gives her a “Faz-Talker,” a toy that lets her communicate with her friends from afar. This toy comes in handy later in the movie, where it’s used for the benefit of the Marionette. 

Michael is first introduced as an innocent tour guide for the older franchise of Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria for a group of teenagers who film paranormal activities for the internet. During the tour, the Marionette reappears when one of the teenagers stops a creepy old music box that is playing where the Marionette rests. As the scene goes quiet, the tension mounts, and I remember gripping a friend's hand, anticipating a jumpscare. 

This is then where the Marionette begins its slaughter and murders everyone in the building, but Michael can escape. Eventually, we get to see the Marionette's face after it possesses one of the teenager's white masks and hollow eyes, creating a deeply unsettling effect.

The film briefly steps away from its horror to deliver an emotional yet traumatic scene where Vanessa dreams about her father, and during this scene, I was able to learn how her father was a person she felt trapped and controlled by. However, near the end of her dream, Vanessa shoots her father and wakes up in a sweat, which I felt was an effective way of showing her struggle to take back control from him. 

We are then brought back to Abby, who gets a message from the “Faz-Talker” telling her to help her friends, but in reality is the Marionette using her to escape Freddy’s Fazbear’s Pizzeria since she is bound there. After shutting down the system that traps the Marionette, Vanessa tells Mike that the Marionette has Abby, also revealing that Charlotte has been possessing the Marionette ever since her death. 

I enjoyed how this brought some of the “FNAF 1” movie logic into the second movie, with kids trapped inside and possessing the animatronics, but this time Charlotte is willingly doing it, making her situation new and different.

Reaching the end of the movie, we get to watch Mike and Vanessa being chased by the animatronics, one of my favorite scenes being when Vanessa was being chased by Mangle, a fox-like animatronic, which I was especially able to appreciate after seeing some behind the scenes of the Mangle puppet and how realistic it was. Also, seeing how the scene was filmed just made it so much more realistic than it already was.  

Now, at the end of the movie, I quite enjoyed how it full circled to Vanessa and her tragic focus on her story helped ground the ending emotionally while still building toward what’s next, which then leaves on a cliffhanger that makes me want to know more, and now I can’t wait for a third movie.  

By Leo Le

Despite the decade-long gap between “Zootopia” and “Zootopia 2,” friends and families flooded the theaters on November 26 ready to test the hype. 

In “Zootopia,” the city is in chaos when mammals across Zootopia start disappearing. Judy Hopps, a rookie rabbit cop and Nick Wilde, a sly fox team up to crack a specific case and find Mr. Otterton, one of the mammals that recently disappeared. By the end of the movie, Judy and Nick expose the traitor behind the recent animal disappearances and restore peace to Zootopia.

“Zootopia 2” embarks on another journey with a new mystery that threatens the delicate balance between predator and prey forcing them to act with caution. 

Judy and Nick put their trust in Gary De’ Snake, who was one of the many reptiles forced into hiding due to distrust and discrimination. Gary works with Judy and Nick to uncover the truth behind the supposed creator of Zootopia who is stealing Gary’s great grandmother's blueprints to the city .Similar to the first movie, “Zootopia 2” is filled with humor, action, and emotion along with a similar storyline of conflict involving traitors with high status and power. Although it may feel a bit repetitive, new characters, experiences, and emotions make the movie worthwhile.

In the middle of this mystery, Judy and Nick become complete opposites and shatter their good relationship. While Judy wants to help out Gary despite being considered accomplices to  the supposed criminal, Nick doesn’t want to be involved in this case. 

Having different views of the situation, Judy tells Nick, “Maybe we're different,” and they both split paths by accident, filled with regret. We soon discover in a reunion of the two that Nick only didn’t want to do the case because he was scared to lose her. We also discover that Judy wanted to do the case because she wanted to be strong for the one person who believed in her.

This particular scene drowned in vulnerability from both characters following the action and mystery story line is like the perfect mix of sweet and sour. Rather than telling us a story, it teaches us a lesson as well and I believe is the main reason I suggest watching Zootopia 2. The movie was great and if I could rewatch it,  I would.

Following the underground British rap scene:

“Weekend Rockstar” by Feng

Release Date: February 13, 2026 

As  “Cali Crazy” was released on January 6th, Feng carries his coming-to-age sound—supposedly a teaser for his upcoming album. This album, which is Feng’s debut album, is stated to drop “soon…” according to his Instagram bio. The album follows his house party invitations while telling the tales of a teenager pursuing rock music through reminiscing what life was like in the fruity and upbeat 2016.