Winter '25

The show is around three hours long and has mostly been given positive reviews. The original cast live recording of Hamilton is currently available for viewing on Disney +. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote Hamilton and he was the very first actor to play the titular character. 

The show itself was very good according to Logan Marchese (‘26). ¨I had a lot of fun! It was a cool experience and the show was amazing to see. Going there with friends made it even more fun!¨ 

Solomon Sloan (‘26) felt that ¨It was such an emotional experience and I was so glad to have seen it for the first time with a large group of people I care about.¨ During Act 1 of the show we watch Hamilton as he meets all of his friends and comrades for the first time as well as the woman he marries.

Solomon expressed his feelings about the first act by stating ¨I cried throughout Act 1 and continued to get emotional after the long show.¨

Joey Cardinale (‘27), an AMP sophomore, says that he loved the show and was excited to get to experience watching it live. ¨I loved it! It was an incredible experience and I really appreciated the chance to get to go on the trip. ¨

Many of the students had an amazing time and thought that the show was amazing! It seems AMP field trips never fail to be one of the best experiences a student could ask for.

Parade of Lights

By Ashley McGee 

December 5, 2024

Light up your holiday season at the 21st Annual Parade of Lights in downtown Pacific Grove! On Thursday, December 5th, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the streets of this small coastal town will sparkle with festive floats, twinkling Christmas lights, and joyful holiday spirit. The Parade of Lights is a cherished tradition. Rain or shine is the event to bring together families, friends, and neighbors for a memorable evening of celebration and cheer.

“This year’s parade was very festive and accurate to the ‘Sand and Sea Holiday’ theme, with companies in blow-up sea animal costumes and beach-themed Christmas floats” said Varsity Cheerleader Samantha Perez (‘26).

The Monterey High School Pep Squad was a shining presence, wearing Santa hats and colorful Christmas lights, dancing side by side through the streets of P.G. 

The team’s performance in the parade was filled with holiday joy and upbeat music as locals lined the streets to enjoy a time with family and friends this holiday season. Some Christmas favorites were played like ‘Santa Tell Me’, ‘Last Christmas’, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, and ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ while everyone savored a wonderful night filled with holiday spirit. 

The Carmel Middle School cheerleaders brought an extra burst of energy to the event, lighting up the parade with their team spirit and colorful accessories and lights. Local businesses played a vital role in making the event a success. From sponsoring floats to dressing up with their vehicles, business owners exemplified the heart of Pacific Grove, coming together to support this beloved tradition. “It was super fun seeing everybody get together for holiday cheer this year!” said Varsity Cheerleader Julianna Aiello (‘26).

 The parade truly showcased the strong sense of community that makes Pacific Grove and its neighboring areas so special during the holiday season. As the community continues to celebrate, the cheerleaders look forward to making more memories at next year’s parade.

Student of the Month: Harlow Gil

By Sophia Ruttschow 

December 6, 2024

Harlow Gil is a senior at Monterey High School, and has gone here all four years. She’s also been an arts pathway AMP student the whole time, and participated in art classes, artist events, AMP events and clubs.  

In fact, one of Harlow’s some memorable moments from high school has been doing events with the Q&A Club, elaborating on how kind everyone is and how fun and enjoyable the festivities usually are. “I also really really enjoyed Prom,” Harlow continued, describing the bright atmosphere and magical night.

Over the years, Harlow believes that she has grown into her personal style, finding herself fashion-wise along with breaking out of her shell and making lots of new friends and connections. One of her friends, Arianna Martinez (‘25), called Harlow “one of my best friends. I love her so much and she brings such a light of joy into my soul every time I see her.” Martinez went on to say that she adores Harlow’s sense of humor and her personality, adding that “she’s one of my favorite people on the planet.”

Harlow is going to great places, but she will still miss a lot about high school. Specifically, the teachers and students that made MHS her second home. One of her teachers, Mr. Woods, had a couple things to say about Harlow as a student and a person. He wrote a resounding “YES!” in response to a question of whether Harlow makes a good role model.  “Harlow is an honest, caring, and gentle person who can help others not only by being a role model, but also through her willingness to have hard conversations.” He also described Harlow along with her art, saying she “is in many ways a throwback to another era, when art was solely the product of imagination and skill.  Her art is like an island of analog coolness in a world of digital sameness.”

Drawing and painting is Harlow’s favorite elective; she really enjoys learning about all the styles and mediums. In fact, she’s hoping to go to college for art as well. 

Finally, Harlow has a tidbit of advice for those that will be high school seniors soon. “Brainstorm your senior projects early, and focus on something you’re passionate about for it.” Along with that, she recommends doing a fair share of research about careers and majors before college research and applications. 

And to conclude her suggestions, Harlow remarked, “Senior year is a weird mix of a lot of stuff at once sometimes, and nothing sometimes, and I think it’s important to not lose your spark, your momentum. Keep it going to the finish line.” 

So there you have it, your spark is truly important, and if you keep up your passion and effort, it will pay off in the end. 

LA Wildfires 2025

By Ollie Wolfe 

January 10, 2025

On Tuesday,  January 7th of 2025, Los Angeles, California was impacted by the first yearly wildfire in California. This fire has been devastating, destroying up to over 19,978 acres of land. As of now, ten citizens have been reported deceased or in critical condition. So early into the year, this event is likely to harshly impact the state of California and its residents.

Unfortunately, nearly 130,000 have been asked to evacuate their homes and find shelter away from LA. This causes stress on other residents of California, as the government is taking out taxpayer money to house and feed evacuated residents. Speaking of costs, it's estimated that the damage caused by the large fires will cost the city at least $50 billion. To help contain the cost, the state would be utilizing tax payer money.

Aside from the immense cost of these tragic fires, many residents are experiencing a lot of hardships as they lose their homes, businesses, jobs, and other important parts of their lives. There are countless viral videos in which owners are reunited with their prized pets; these videos help acknowledge the stress and pain that residents of Los Angeles are going through at this point in time. 

To help support LA, promote donations to countless organizations such as lafoodbank.org/fire, ymcala.org/actnow, and LA Fire Mutual Aid Resources website. For further information about these fires and organizations, make sure to keep up with the news and keep spreading the word on how to help. If you’d like to mention anything further about this tragedy, feel free to reach out on instagram at @monterey_galleon. Go Dores!

ISM Theater Field Trip 

By Arianna Randazzo 

January 15, 2025

Monterey High Players presents Animal Farm, a show directed by Sebastian Sloan (´25) and they have been invited to perform at the International School of Monterey. 

On January 16th, the cast and crew of Animal Farm will visit the ISM campus to perform a brief scene for the students who are reading and studying the show. The performance will be a small preview of the show and will run from 10 to 11 a.m. 

On the day of the performance, the students participating will be excused from their classes at 9:45 and will proceed to leave campus at 10:00. Once on campus, the students will be set up in ISM's multiple-use room while Sloan gives a speech about the show. 

The scene includes the argument between Snowball, Bishop Singer (´27), Napoleon, Joseph Cardinale (´27), Snowball's explosion, and scene eight, in which Squealer, played by Sophia Ruttschow (´26), explains their plans for the farm.

The performance itself was about 10-15 minutes long. After the scene, Sebastian Sloan, Willow Cote (2026), and Clay Bustoz (´26) came on stage and spoke about AMP and what electives and opportunities Monterey High School has to offer.

Joey Cardinale, one of the actors in Animal Farm, said, ¨It was a lot of fun to go out and see the people. It gave me some perspective on what I need to work on for the show.” Knowing what to work on for the show is very important especially because the show opens next Friday!

Actors weren't the only people who took this trip. There were also tech people there such as the stage managers and costume designers. Willow Cote, one of our stage managers admitted that ¨going back to my old school, which I went to for almost a decade, was amazing, especially since I got to share my number one passion with children who share my story.¨

Cote has been in many shows before this one but as an actor. Lots of students find themselves going between the acting and tech aspects of theater. A good example of this would be Solomon Sloan (‘26) who is usually a part of tech and has the very important job of implementing sound in our program. 

Sloan (‘26) is also a member of the cast and he plays the role of Minimus, a young pig who is often at the side of Napoleon. Minimus is a funny young pig who often adds comic relief to the scenes he's in. He is talented at every aspect of theater that he is in and was even involved in the scene performed at ISM. 

He was happy to perform for the students of ISM and expressed that by saying, ¨For us as actors to have gotten to promote our show, but also the great middle schoolers reading the book to see it brought to life on stage.¨

Many of the cast members have done a show before but none of them have taken a field trip to another school to perform a scene for a show. This was a new experience but was ultimately a good one according to some of the actors.

Senior Highlight: Sebastian Sloan 

By Arianna Randazzo 

January 31, 2025

Monterey High School’s Sound and Spirit Commissioner Sebastian Sloan (´25) has done many things on this campus since joining us here during his sophomore year. He immediately started as a very spirited student who participated in every theater production.

During his junior year, he was a lead in two of the shows all while being in leadership. During that time, he felt accomplished looking back and seeing how much time, effort, and energy I put into those roles-- I’ve discovered more about myself and the person I want to be. ¨ 

Before coming to Monterey High, Sebastian lived in Maryland with his family. He has always been interested in acting and has even declared ¨I’ve been acting ever since I performed Shakespeare out of the womb¨. He started performing when he was six at a K-8 arts academy. 

This helped him pursue his love of acting and led him to join AMP. Ever since he joined AMP he has regularly attended field trips and is always willing to help other students. In fact, after learning about the student shows, which is when a student directs a show without the help of an adult, he decided he would apply. 

During his senior year, he gained the title of Sound and Spirit Commissioner and was the student director of this school year. He chose to direct Animal Farm by George Orwell with the help of Bishop Singer (´27) as his assistant director. He only had four weeks to put the show together and did it with an open mind according to Bishop.

Bishop Offered many kind words about Sebastian, stating that he’s been a role model to him ever since he started here last year as a freshman. ¨He is one of the most sociable and amicable people I've ever known and I can say Animal Farm had one of the closest casts I've ever worked with¨

Bishop has been acting alongside Sebastian since Cyrano, the fall show of 2023 and this year got to have the experience of directing with him. Bishop describes directing with Sebastian to be an honor and said he always felt heard by Sebastian. ¨In terms of directing he is probably the most open-minded director I've worked with. He was willing to consider things and break the norms of director-actor relationships ¨

Sebastian himself described the show to be a ¨roller coaster that took a lot of effort¨. He explained he was lucky to have such a wonderful production team to help put together Animal Farm. His number one goal was to connect everyone in the cast and make sure everyone was enjoying spending the time to put together the show.  ¨community should always be sought after in a show, and I think is safe to say that that community was created¨

Not only has Sebastian shown interest and dedication towards theater, but he also shows it in the club he started this year with Frida Vossler (´25) called The First Amendment Club. His reason for starting this club was that ¨I love free speech, and I’m lucky to say I’m not the only radical activist¨

In his club, they talk about issues in the world we care about, seek solutions, and take action to make those solutions possible. They are currently focused on making awareness about immigrant protection and plan to distribute posters across the school with info on this subject, as well as a Community Night filled with poetry, presentations, and debate. 

At his club they had invited  Jimmy Panetta, the United States representative, and ¨Having Jimmy there was such a dope experience, and showed that politicians care about the people they represent. What started as an email ended up being an incredible conversation that inspired us to keep this club strong. ¨

Sebastian's final advice for any incoming or current underclassmen is to be yourself and discover yourself. Always do what you truly want to do, and when you grow and become a leader in whatever you pursue you can be a leader that is looked up to. ¨And remember - failure is much better than doubt. Never let the “what ifs” be prevalent - focus on the ´what now´. ¨

BBQ for Fundraising!

By Hosuh Hernandez Stelmakh

2/19/25

On the 19th of February, this Wednesday's school day monotony was broken up by a special mini-event for the students and staff. However, it was more than just students and staff coming all together because a little appetizing course was cooking up.

After school and within the cafeteria, food was served to many who prepaid in advance. The food ranged from BBQ ribs and fried chicken to macaroni & cheese, cornbread and deliciously made strawberry shortcake. Drinks like lemonade were also made available, all foods being served at a table in the back. Though people came for more than just the food, it was also for what the food´s funds delivered on and the ones who held this event to begin with. The Black Student Alliance club (also known as BSA), a supportive club that aims to bring good change in the community for black people, held the food event to bring in funds for their club. 

With the club aiming for more awareness on education and bringing positive change, raising money is important to do for activities and more events in the future. Two of the individuals at the stand, BSA´s club President Anayah McBribe (´25) and Vice President Gianna Daniels (´25) gave their input on the matter: ¨We would love to plan more Black Student Union events for next year.¨ And here, not only was more opportunity given for the club to advance their goals for the future, but they gave back to the community in a fulfilling way. 

Sometimes a club needs more than just funds as support. Another individual in the club who was helping to serve food at the event, Brooklynn Choates (´25), shared her words about giving further support for the BSA: ¨I want people to support our club because we don't have a lot of black students at our school, so we made something big where black people can come together and feel as a whole!¨ Giving a further message that support for clubs doesn't just lie in funds, but it also carries into people coming by and some even wanting to help with the club's goals. 

As the next couple of weeks and months pass by, only time will tell what more goodness they will bring around for the community. In the meantime , remember to show support to those around you, especially for the ones who actively wish to make a better difference in the community and world. 

Staying Safe from ICE: What Students Need to Know

By Layla Castillo

2/5/25

As immigration enforcement actions continue across the country, many families worry about staying safe from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Knowing your rights and taking precautions can help protect yourself and loved ones.

One of the most important things to remember is that you have the right to refuse to answer any questions asked, regardless of your immigration status. Minnie Elliott, the school psychologist, states: “Part of being safe is being prepared. If ICE comes to your door; you don’t have to answer and you don’t have to open the door, you have rights.”

Students should also be aware of their rights in public places. Schools, churches, and hospitals are considered “sensitive locations,” where ICE generally does not conduct enforcement actions. But it's always important to stay aware regardless. “I’m very confident that ICE wont show up to public places such as schools or campuses,”  Principal Thomas Newton declares, “But if that were the case; the best thing to do is stay as calm as possible. In fact, we have precautions and protocols in place if such a thing were to happen.”

Carrying an emergency plan is another key step. Families should have a plan in place in case a loved one is approached or detained. This includes knowing who to call, having documents ready, and making arrangements for children. “Having a plan is definitely something I would conduct,” says sophomore Alex Miles. “If ICE were to ever come to my house, I would always ask if they have a warrant before anything.” 

By staying informed and knowing their rights, students and families can protect themselves and their communities from unnecessary harm. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out to local immigrant support organizations for guidance, such as Immigration Advocates Network.

Valentines Spirit Week

By Arianna Randazzo & Sophia Ruttschow

February 12, 2025

All this week, Monterey High School students celebrated the day of love, Valentine’s Day, with several spirit days and activities. Tuesday was “Dress as Your Type Day,” followed by “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink,” Thursday was “Duo Day,” and finally, on Friday, the official Valentine’s Day, it was “Dress as Your Status.”

On Tuesday students arrived at school dressed as what they found attractive. For example, Olivia Wolfe (´26) showed up to school wearing a blue jersey and swim trunks to represent a ¨Frat boy¨, and Clay Bustoz (´26) came to school with a Spiderman long-sleeve and jeans dressed as the ¨Nerdy Type¨.  Some people also decide to dress up as their partner or wear their partner's clothes.

The phrase “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink” is a direct quote and reference to the classic 2000s movie Mean Girls. The main characters, Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, say that they wear pink on Wednesdays as part of their group’s “dress code.” Students were encouraged to wear pink that day, and many did so. 

Thursday’s spirit of  “Duo Day” encouraged students to pair up with their friends or partners and dress as iconic/popular character duos. A couple of examples seen were Westley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride, Enid and Wednesday from Wednesday, Luigi and Mario, and much more! Clay Bustoz matched with her friends as Mort and King Julian. 

This year Valentine's Day is on Friday and on that spirit day the theme is ¨Dress as Your Status Day ¨ which just means to dress with a certain color that represents your status. The colors are pink, white, and purple. Purple means  ¨It's complicated¨, pink means ¨ You´re taken¨ and White means ¨You´re single.” MJ Calinap (‘26) commented on the spirit day, saying “It’s fun if you're in a couple or single but not the ‘complicated’ one, that probably just makes people feel bad.”

This spirit week was met with decent participation and opinion from the school community. Almost every day also involved a lunchtime activity, such as making slime, taking photos, playing competition games, or selling roses. 

Every grade gets to participate in these spirit days, and even the freshmen get excited about the activities they are experiencing in their first year of high school. Daniela Soto (´28) was particularly enthusiastic about Duo Day and she even said ¨I really like it, it's very fun to watch and participate in, especially with the activities, especially Duo Day because you get to see how creative everyone can be!¨

Gianna Desimone ('26) mentioned how Tuesday's theme of “Dress Your Type Day” was fun because it was a way to see what people were into. She had the most fun with the theme for that day ¨I dressed like my girlfriend for that day, it was really fun and I like to see that again next year ¨ 

Behind all of the themes and activities are the leadership kids. They work all year round to get the video announcements, spirit weeks, and more done for our student body. Clay Bustoz (‘26) is a part of the leadership program and reveals that “being in leadership during spirit week is such a fun experience and everyone is so lively and it just really unites people”. 

Overall this week was very fun for the students since the spirit days have usually been very interactive and a great way to get some excitement and spirit from the students. The leadership kids worked very hard to come up with these very spirited themes and activities for the students to dress up for and participate in. 

AMP San Jose Art Museum Trip

By Ollie Wolfe 

February 6, 2025

On February 4, 2025,  Monterey High’s Art-Media-Performance academy was given the opportunity to take a trip to the San Jose Museum of Art. With 41 students in attendance, the AMP academy visited two very different exhibits including North Star by Kambui Olujimi and Beta Space by Patty Chang and David Kelley.

Beta Space was a grand and unique experience. According to the San Jose Museum of Art’s website, it was meant to demonstrate “multimedia exploration of the dynamic entanglements between humans, animals, minerals, and machines”. Alongside Beta Space was Kambui Olujimi’s North Star, a gorgeous exhibit in which the art is made entirely of models that have been placed nude in a zero-gravity chamber. The two exhibits were very different in terms of the art itself, which led to a beautiful experience shared amongst the AMP students. 

However, despite the beautiful art shown in the San Jose Museum of Art, there was a major push factor within the museum itself. The tour guides assigned to lead us underestimated our maturity. AMP senior Henry Lewis stated,  “I felt like we were treated as if we weren’t even in high school and like we’ve never been to a museum before. The guide assigned us to only two exhibits and barely let us look at the art for ourselves.” He continued, “They would have us sit in a circle to talk about the art and what it meant instead of letting us wonder about each exhibit and think for ourselves.” Lewis  finished his statement by saying he was quite upset about going to such a museum.

Lewis was not the only AMP student who thought less about the tour guides. Senior Aribo Rodriguez began their statement by saying, “I was super excited about going to an art museum.” Followed up with “What I liked was all of the art, and hanging out with my friends…I didn’t like how the tour guides were all [buttheads], treating us like actual kindergartners… and how they would threaten us if we didn’t listen to them [and] acted like it was the end of the world.”

While the trip was fun for many students who got to spend some time away with their friends and admire beautiful art, the museum staff themselves have some work to do. Rodriguez suggested, “It could’ve been better if they hired new tour guides because what they did was super unprofessional and left a bad taste of what they want–MONEY.” With this information in mind, if any AMP students reading attended the trip and thought differently than the seniors, feel free to reach out to us on instagram @montereygalleon.