Obama Announces Opinion on Gay Marriage

May 29, 2012

Last week President Barack Obama openly announced that he is pro gay marriage.

A few years ago, when Obama was first running for president, he mentioned that he felt that the gay community had the right to marry but did not want to make an official statement about it.

Newsweek Magazine has stated that Obama believes this because when he was younger, he went to a church that was supportive of all ethnicities and sexuality along with the fact that Obama’s own parents, a white mother and an African father, had a marriage that was discriminated against when he was a child because it was not orthodox at the time.

Obama has long believed that the gay community has the right to marry just like his parents did because it is a constitutional right involving personal freedom.

Some people believe that Obama made the official statement to support the gay community and finally voice his opinion; while others believe that it was all a tactical way to gain votes for the upcoming election.

“It could hurt his political campaign, and it was probably best not to say anything because it is [so controversial]” stated Taka Wang, a junior at Carlmont.

Many Carlmont students have taken this issue to heart and have begun to discuss it in both academic and personal atmospheres.

One history teacher, Patricia Braunstein, has even assigned her students a debate about this topic.

Julia Albertson, a sophomore in Mrs. Braunstein’s Western Civilization class, stated that “it was really brave of [Obama] because it could make or break his election.”

Obama’s official statement has made a tremendous difference in the gay community, people now feel like their humanity has been affirmed and that they are no longer outsiders.

Rachel Burry, an openly queer sophomore at Carlmont, said that, “I did not choose to be this way, [and] I know that being gay is against a few religions, which will effect the vote regardless of separation of church and state. But I am really just a person like any other, expect I don’t have the same rights.”

Burry’s statement expresses a thought that most people in the gay community have had, that they do not have the same rights as heterosexual people.

Obama’s statement could change our entire society if he is to be reelected, the of equality for the gay community is in the hands of our nation’s voters and only time will tell if  freedom of marriage is to come to the United States.

http://www.scotscoop.com/20444

Swim season sendoff

May 8, 2012

As swimming season came to a close, the Carlmont Scots decided to make one last big splash in a pool filled with Peninsula Athletic League final swimmers last Saturday, when both the male and female junior varsity teams took first place overall in the league.

The junior varsity girls, who were previously ranked third in the league, beat the top two ranked teams by exactly 161 points, coming out of the pool as league champions. The boys were ranked second in the league prior to PAL finals, but technically tied for first, also came out as league champions by a staggering 175 points.

The coach, Jim Kelly, expressed his joy by saying, “I could not be happier with the way we swam yesterday,” in an email to the team.

As shown with their results, the Carlmont junior varsity swimmers put in everything they had to show the other schools what the Scots can do.

However, not only did they show other schools, but they also showed themselves. In a race against the clock, girl’s junior varsity 200 yard medley relay beat all other competitors with a time of 1:58:55. The team, comprised of Mariah Tao, Elizabeth Staton, Samantha King, and Kristen Denney, all of whom are freshman, won not only PAL with their time, but also qualified for Central Coast Sectionals and beat out the other Carlmont medley team by 1:07:06.

Sadly, the boys' 200 yard medley relay did not show the same force and pulled a backwards Michael Phelps when they missed the qualifying time by a fraction of second. But, Carlmont’s boys will be represented by Nico Camerino in the 200 IM, Jordan Tang in the 100 Back, and Joe McGill in the 100 Breast.

Not only will the 200 yard medley team of freshman be representing the girls, but also by Kristen Denney in the 50 free, Mariah Tao in the 100 Back, and Elizabeth Staton in the 100 Breast.

These swimming Scots will continue to practice until CCS this Friday.

http://www.scotscoop.com/19998

Scots make a splash

Apr. 27, 2012

Carlmont's swim team faced off against Aragon High School on April 26, in their  last meet of the season before Peninsula Athletic League finals.

Aragon, ranked fourth in the league, was thought to be one of the better teams that the Scots rivaled but Carlmont pulled through in most divisions coming out on top.

"They were a good team," said junior varsity swimmer Hannah Carney, "especially their varsity boys, but our frosh-soph team dominated their events."

The Scots swam their hardest, making tremendous efforts and achieving numerous personal records.

Just like the tests they have been taking, two of the Carlmont swimmers became stars yesterday afternoon when they broke school records.

Sophomore Gene Schrek broke the record time held in the 50 yard breast stroke in a thrilling race against some of Aragon's best, continuing his ever lasting winning streak.

Shortly after, sophomore Isabella Paragas beat her opponents in the 100 yard back stroke, shattering a school record that she previously held.

Other Carlmont swimmers used their best efforts to achieve qualifying times for Central Coast Sectionals, which for many is a great accomplishment.

With PAL finals being just around the corner, the swimmers have begun to turn their attention to the upcoming finals.

http://www.scotscoop.com/19629

Scots swim to victory

April 13, 2012

On Thursday, April 12, the Carlmont swim team faced off against the school rivals, Sequoia High School, in their fifth league meet of the season beating their opponents in all divisions except varsity girls who lost by one point. For some of the swimmers the meet was thought to be an easy win, but the splashing Scots were a little surprised by the tough competition.

Pre-meet, Pierre Llorach voiced an optimistic opinion of Carlmont's success when he said, "They have a couple really good people so it might be a little challenging, but I think we will come out on top."

The Scots started off the meet strong, with their cheer that goes to the beat of "Shots" by L.M.F.A.O. The team came to make this their cheer when Avi Vigdorchik created the chant after Jim Kelly, the coach and school math teacher, asked swimmers to recreate their supposedly dull team cheer.

Some highlights of this meet include two Central Coast Section qualifying times by the varsity boys  200 meter free relay team and varsity girls medley relay, along with a school record made by sophomore 

Isabella Paragas in the 100 meter backstroke race.

The swimming Scots have two more meets until PAL finials rolls around the corner. The team will face off against Menlo-Atherton on April 19.

http://www.scotscoop.com/19149

Swimming Scots beat wet Wildcats

Mar. 23, 2012

Thursday afternoon, Carlmont’s swim team won their third league meet of the season against Woodside High School.

The swimming Scots kicked this season off with another great start and are now tied for first in the Peninsula Athletic League.

Carlmont did exceptionally well against Woodside’s fierce completion, coming out of the meet with wins for all four teams.

The most anticipated race was by far the relays, which proved to be the most exciting and completive of all events on Thursday.

The most intense of these races was the girls’ junior varsity 4 by 50 meter B team race, comprised of Marissa King, Hannah Carney, Hallie Frietas, and Kaitlyn McGrath. These four girls swam their hearts out and beat the A team’s time by one second.

Sarah Fecher, a sophomore on the junior varsity team, commented about the meet saying that, “[The Scots] are doing really well. We win most of the time, and I think we improved a lot from last year.”

This year the swim team coach, Jim Kelly, the activities director and a math teacher at Carlmont, has stepped up the workouts that the swimmers do. To insure physical aptitude, Kelly has his team swimming 5,000 meters per day.

However, with PAL just around the corner, Fecher has informed us that their team will soon be tapering their workouts so that they do not burn out for the tough competition ahead.

http://www.scotscoop.com/18725

Technology changing the lives of people with disabilities

March 6, 2012

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Disabled child using iPad

Many people view technology as a way in which society is able to accomplish more feats such as multitasking, being entertained, and learning.

“Technology has made great progress in the educational field and has come a long way in a short amount of time,” stated Franklin Rice.

Now more than ever the number of children who use technology such as computers, phones, iPods, and iPads is increasing.

Studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government have found that 9 in 10 children from the ages of 5-17 use some type of technology daily.

Certain types of technology, such as iPads, have progressively become more useful as apps for education are created.

Many students with disabilities have found that learning on an iPad by playing educational games increases their ability to retain information.

Schools for children with disabilities have begun to expose their students to technology earlier on in life and have noted very good results.

“Rather than for entertainment related purposes, children with disabilities can use technology to gain opportunities they might not have had otherwise,” continued Rice.

Technology for some of these kids is the best, sometimes only, way they can learn and preserve information.

Unlike most kids, technology is special and important to these children. Technology has improved the lives of millions of children and will continue to do so.

http://www.scotscoop.com/18173

Carlmont loses in CCS

Feb 23, 2012

Carlmont crashed out of the CCS playoffs on Wednesday after losing to Santa Teresa (4-1) in South San Jose. 

Carlmont was no match for the Saints as they took a commanding 2-0 lead into halftime and did not look back.

Mistakes have marred the Scots all season and it was no different against Santa Teresa. Unfortunately defensive and goal keeping mistakes were present again on Wednesday.

The Carlmont attacks were not very threatening either, Carlmont failed to score till the last 15 minutes when Julian Smith nodded on a free kick to get the Scots on the board.

However, it was too little too late for the Scots who squandered an opportunity to move on in CCS, when it was the first time in two years that they have qualified for the tournament. If Carlmont would have won they would have advanced to play arch-rival Menlo Atherton in the next round.

Carlmont cannot hang their heads for too long, qualifying for CCS was an accomplishment in its own and next year can be looked to with much optimism. Most of the team is returning and another run at CCS is expected.

The Carlmont soccer program is not fully finished though, the lady Scots who possessed a first round bye in CCS play Monta Vista on Saturday at Terra Nova High School.

Nickola Milkovki J

http://www.scotscoop.com/17607

Carlmont soccer loses to San Mateo

Feb 8, 2012

Carlmont Varsity soccer players lost 1-0 in their game against San Mateo on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in their fourth loss of the season. Carlmont Varsity is now 5-4-1 in the PAL standings.

San Mateo players started off strong, steadily moving toward the Carlmont goalie, Zack Wooster, and pressuring the back-line as soon as the game commenced.

Gavin Chase, Eric Smith, Han Li and Justin Quan all put forth their best efforts to keep San Mateo away from scoring; but nonetheless San Mateo scored the single goal of the game during the first half and continued to play strong and keep their lead.

Carlmont players, however, had a noticeably better second half and were able to keep their goal safe from the attacking Bearcats.

Unlike last Friday’s game against Burlingame, this game was much more mellow and less eventful but will still impact the team as a whole.

Both Burlingame and Woodside High Schools also lost in their games on Wednesday, therefore not affecting Carlmont’s PAL standings.

Without an enormous amount of effort from every player Carlmont’s Varsity soccer team will be unable to make it to CCS. The team now turns their sights to a honorable win at Woodside this Friday.

http://www.scotscoop.com/17061

Carlmont soccer destroys M-A

Jan 26, 2012

Wednesday afternoon the Carlmont JV soccer players beat Menlo-Atherton 3-1 in their seventh league game of the season. Carlmont JV is now 6-0-1 in the PAL standings. 

Gabriela d

Carlmont started off the scoring when, sophomore, Mitchell Jang received a sublime through ball by, sophomore Graham Godwin, Jang ran onto the pass and slotted home for the Scots.

Carlmont dominated the possession in the first half, with the Bears having little to no opportunities on 

Carlmont’s goal. Carlmont goalie, Jared Fitzpatrick was only called upon a couple of times to make the big save for the Scots. But, when needed he came up big, blocking the Bears only real scoring opportunity.

Carlmont went up 2-0 when Jang scored another goal off of a redirection on goal that caught the M.A goalie completely on surprise.

It was 3-0 at halftime when Brandon Magpayo navigated his way along the goal line and found Jake Retchless open at the penalty spot. Retchless kept his cool and put the Scots up by three.

With Carlmont in cruise control by halftime Coach Will Stambaugh opted to put in his bench for the second half. The Scots played with an all freshman lineup for the majority of the remainder of the time.

Carlmont’s reserves ended up giving up a late goal, but it was enough for the victory as the Scots won 3-1.

Being in the drivers seat as they are in first place the Scots must now turn their attention to playing Sequoia, the second place team, this Friday.

http://www.scotscoop.com/16653

The fight for classroom control continues

Dec. 7, 2011

English teachers attended a school board meeting today to voice their opinion on the increasing loss of control in their own classrooms.

The Sequoia Union High School District held a vote to decided if it should pilot a program in English I/II Strategic (support) classes during the second semester that would give teachers specific guidelines, reading materials, and strategies with which they must teach.

At the meeting, people reviewed the effect of mandatory benchmark exams on student work along with pacing guides, and choices of literature for the future.

Core novels would be chosen for English I Intensive courses from the California ninth-grade English Language Arts' Recommended Reading List, based on both interest and readability of the Sequoia Union's ninth-grade students.

Many English teachers, especially those who teach ninth and tenth grade English, do not like the strict borders in which they can teach because they feel it takes away their own power to control their class.

Teachers also feel that with all the newly required changes in the curriculum many of their students will be discouraged from creativity, interactive work, and set on a pace much to fast for their own learning abilities.

"People in regular English have it easier, but they aren't dumb and they should still read [as much as the advanced students]," said Melissa Talgo, an AS English II student.

If the pilot classes were to succeed the English I Intensive courses offered in the Sequoia Union High School District would become catch-up courses and the novels read by students would increase in difficulty as the student progresses through each unit.

Some students have expressed a sense of relief when hearing that they might not have to read hard novels because it is not as fun as doing activities in class.

There is a possibility that benchmark exams and pacing requirements will also be required for science and social studies classes in the year 2013.

There are many new changes coming to Carlmont, so if anyone feels they need to support their opinion then join the faculty at the board meeting.

http://www.scotscoop.com/15437

Varsity volleyball goes down with a fight

Nov. 18, 2012

On Thursday, the Carlmont girl’s varsity volleyball team traveled to Milpitas High School to compete in the third round of CCS qualifiers against Menlo-Atherton High School.

The Lady Scots went out strong but lost all three games scoring 13-25, 12-25, and 20-25. For the seniors, this was their last time representing Carlmont. It marks the end of their high school volleyball careers and the end of a remarkable season for the entire team.

Before playing the team was given a speech by one of its co-captains, Torika Ramulo. In the speech 

Ramulo expressed her love for the team and tried to excite her fellow players.

The Lady Scots were excited to play against M-A, the only other team in the league that they have lost to, and had strong hopes to crush them on the court so they Carlmont could move on to CCS.

Soon after the first game begun, the Bears took a five point lead that steadily increased. The first match was very intense for the Scots and the Bears who battled it out many times in the season as the top two teams of PAL standings.

After being crushed in the first game the Lady Scots were left disparaged, hoping that if they played with all their effort they could pull out a win.

The Carlmont girls all played extremely well in the third game, utilizing their best players at height of their game to come to only a five point loss.

The Lady Scots walked off the court dignified and proud of the great season they played, looking forward to a chance to set new heights next year.

Libero, Ashley Duba dives to save the ball

http://www.scotscoop.com/14225

Seniors go out with a spike!

Dominique Berrios

The girls volleyball team continued their winning ways Wednesday night after winning 25-23, 25-17, and 25-17 against Half Moon Bay High School. The team, which will now be advancing to CCS, held their senior awards ceremony prior to the game.

Ashley Duba, Torika Ramulo, Shelby Vance, and Kendall Beebee were the four seniors honored at last night's emotional season ending tradition.

Christina Rice expressed how deeply the game meant to the rest of the team, "We really wanted to win the game for our seniors, so they could go out on top."

After awarding the four seniors the team posed for a picture to  commemorate the moment, soon after the game began.

Carlmont started off the game with a two point lead after strong serving from Kallan Bedard and great kills by Charlotte Jackman.

Half Moon Bay made a great comeback keeping the score tied until the twenty-third point when Carlmont stepped up their game and gained a two point lead.

In the second game both teams continued to play very strongly. There were a few serving errors on both sides but overall it was a good game for both schools.

Intent on winning their senior game, Vance and Ramulo worked together to give Carlmont a 4 point lead within the first few minutes of the third game.

The team now turns their attention to a hopeful deep run at Central Coast Sectionals.

http://www.scotscoop.com/13317

Killing on the Court

Oct. 19, 2011

Carlmont girls varsity volleyball team played their ninth league game against Woodside High School yesterday. The game, which was supposed to be a blow out, went perfectly fine until the third game when 

Woodside made a huge come back keeping the score tied until the 19th point. Carlmont once again won their games with scores of, 25-18, 25-13, and 25-18.

The first game started with Woodside gaining a three point lead. Shelby Vance, senior, and Kallan Bedard, junior, worked hard to score the team points; bringing the Scots to a 10-8 lead. Carlmont continued to score points despite many serving errors, but only because Woodside's team was unable to work in unison.

Bedard continued strong making two aces and three kills before retiring to the bench. A few Carlmont sophomores were subbed in such as Amelia Tupou who made an ace and two kills pushing the team to a seven point lead of 21-14.Vance made the winning point with a blazing fast kill from the left side putting the score at 25-18.

The second game began with Carlmont taking a five point lead over Woodside, who continuously tried to make come backs. Again Woodside had manly difficulties with the team and their plays, Carlmont continued to dominate on the court until the last point when the game got very intense.

Woodside played very strongly when it came down to the last point of game two, they scored two points on the Scots and gave Carlmont fans a scare. Everyone eyed the courts intensely as the ball whizzed around until finally coming to rest with Woodside after one of Bedard's fast kills.

Woodside continued their hot streak in the third game keeping the score tied until the 19th point when 

Carlmont pulled out ahead after a combined effort of Amanda Morris, Kallan Bedard, Charlotte Jackman, and Ashley Duba.

Lady Scots dominate on the court

Oct. 7, 2011

Gabriela d

Carlmont’s varsity volleyball team earned the school to yet another win on Oct. 6 against San Mateo High School with scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-20.

The first game was very intense for the Lady Scots as both teams remained tied until 15 points in. Shelby Vance and Torika Ramulo both took charge and lead the other Scots a two point lead that slowly increased to a seven point lead. By the end of the first game Ramulo had 7 kills and Vance had 6.

Carlmont had a few problems with serving but they got over it quickly with switching in new players. Both teams continued to have problems with hitting the net throughout the first game which continued through the second and third but decreased substantially.

In the second game the Scots took over automatically with a 5 point lead. San Mateo had a few good players that continued to score for them but the Carlmont girls still came out on top.

Charlotte Jackman also played well contributing a point to the team’s score and helping complete many hits.

Vance was the star of the third game, scoring 4 points for the girls and making 6 kills. The game was close but yet again the senior players took control and the team ended with a 5 point win.

The Scots will play their next game against Half Moon Bay High School on Oct. 10.

http://www.scotscoop.com/11612

Scots dominating on the volleyball court

Sept. 21, 2012

Carlmont's girls' volleyball team played their first league game yesterday against Burlingame High School, the two time defending PAL league champion. The Scots came to a win with 25-20, 25-23, and 25-20.

In the first game, Amelia Tupou and Kendall Beebe were setting while hitters Shelby Vance and Kallan Bedard scored continuous points.

The girls started off the first game with a 10 point lead, which progressed to a five point win after Vance made 14 kills and Bedard made nine kills and 12 digs.

The second game included middle blocker, Torika Ramulo and Charlotte Jackman. Libero Ashley Duba held the back row together making 14 digs, a few kills, and some aces.

Burlingame had a hard time keeping up with Carlmont’s long rallies in the second game, and had a few problems with the net but eventually worked up to 14-8 lead. The Scots came back and won the game with the final score of 25-23.

Except for a few problems with serving and defense, overall, the Lady Scots played a good match. Many of the players believe that there is room for improvement, but they are proud to be on a team that they know can work hard and continue with a good season.

http://www.scotscoop.com/10444

Questioning the source: What can you trust

  Belief by definition is confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.
  As humans we believe what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. But how do we know what is true and what is not?
  Our ability to separate the truth from the falsities stems from a lifetime of being taught how to determine what we should believe and what we should not.
  “We do not believe everything we see because we know that not everything seen is true, such as movies and television shows, and even set up affairs,” said junior Alyssa Moyer.
  As young children we were taught that the fictional label means something was made up so when thinking about something we tend to look at the label to determine if we should believe it or not.
  Other labels that help us believe things are the label on the sources from which they came.
  “We look at the credibility of a source,” continued Moyer, “by determining how much of a reputation, [or label], it has.”
  For example, the Kony movement was started by both a video and Facebook groups. The video spread like wildfire and the groups grew by the second.
  “So many people got into Kony so fast that it was hard to not believe it yourself,” said Moyer.
  The Kony movement itself had no credible source other than the fact that many people began to  rally in its honor.
  After the Kony movement surfaced, another video of a Ugandan girl saying Joseph Kony has been dead for five years began to spread.
  “I was unsure what to believe since both of the videos seemed credible,” stated sophomore Franklin Rice.
  Articles from many credible and not credible sources including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Lemon Global News, and InfoWars.com published different information of the Kony issue causing more people to become uncertain about the whole thing.
  “There are many different opinions to the Kony matter,” continued Rice, “but that does not change the fact that people are unable to determine which side is more credible”
  The Kony situation is just one example of where people come to the crossroads of choosing between believing and not believing something.
  “We only have three senses that can be trusted without a doubt; touch, smell, and taste,” said Effie Demata, a freshman at Carlmont.
  Studies by Harvard Medical Groups have found that people trust what they touch, smell, and taste the most because nothing in those areas can be fabricated.
  Fiction and gossip have been shown to be the two main reasons that people trust sight and hearing the least among their five senses.
  “People are probably aware of gossip because everyone tells lies so we have gotten used to spotting them,” stated Demata.
  Americans have been shown to be able to differentiate truth from fiction beginning at a young age. Children acquire this skill through books, movies, television, and experience in school play areas.
  These skills are continuously utilized throughout our daily lives without any notice, not only do they become ingrained in the way we think but we never lose differentiating skills.


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Open publication - Free publishing - More april 2012

Campus Cleanliness Compromised

  As many students and faculty members have begun to notice, Carlmont’s campus starts the day off clean, thanks to the hardworking janitorial staff, and slowly becomes a cesspool for teenage trash as students carelessly litter the campus throughout the day.
  “There is quite a bit [of trash] and I would say it’s a problem,” said sophomore Claire McKeefry.
  Most of this trash is accumulated during lunch around B hall, the quad, and the upper quad area where a majority of the students spend their lunchtime talking, eating, and of course letting their trash fall to the ground.
  One of the most disturbing features of these lunchtime activities is that many students take the unwanted portions of the food they have bought from the Pit Stop or student store and throw it around like a plaything.
  B hall, for example, has been littered with trash every single day after lunch. Some of the students who sit there like to throw food at the people who pass by, as if wasting food is a game.
  “I don't think they should spend time during lunch here [in B hall], we have big campus they should go somewhere else,” said Felix Guzman, a chemistry teacher at Carlmont, who’s classroom is within B hall.
  Guzman has noted that there has been some recent murmurs among the Carlmont staff on the controversy over whether the school should restrict students from eating in B hall.
  Guzman continued to explain that the faculty has come up with the idea of closing off B hall to both find out who makes the mess, and to see how much trash on school campus is cut down due to their actions.
  “Hallways are for people to walk through,” said Guzman, “trash and rough games make hallways unsafe.”  
  There have been studies by the California Waste Reduction Program which have noted that schools with the Offer Verse Serve lunch program, in which students are allowed to decline the food they would not eat, have cut down their waste by an average of about 1.5 tons a year.
  If Carlmont were to take on that program much of the school’s waste would be drastically reduced in a small matter of time.
  The second biggest feature of this problem is that students are unaware of where to actually dispose of their trash and recycling.
  “I do not think I have ever seen a recycling bin on campus other than the one behind the school,” said sophomore Cena Cook.
  Due to the fact that Carlmont does not have regular recycling bins, other than behind the school and inside certain classrooms, many students make a habit of throwing everything into the trash.
  A majority of these trash cans tend to overflow leaving students with the choice of walking to another trash can or simply leaving their trash on the ground. Most students pick the latter.
  “To be blunt, I think Carlmont needs more recycling bins; we would not have a litter problem if we just had a few of them,” said sophomore Jake Retchless.
  Studies by the California Waste Recycle Program have shown that schools who adopt regular recycling cans around their campus for recyclables and food have reduced their disposal costs and increased efficiency of school operations.
 If Carlmont were to simply add in a few recycling cans on the more frequented areas of campus the amount of trash on campus would be enormously reduce.
  Even Carlmont principal Raul Zamora has addressed the issue by making a school wide announcement saying, “You might want to pick up your trash to make the campus look like it’s supposed to be.”

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Students React to Longer Passing Periods

For:

"I like the schedule change, its pretty sick" -peter johnson freshman #realtalk

Indifferent/middle:"I am okay with it but I'd rather have a longer lunch" -sophia aron sophomore"I didn't even realize there was a change" -julian smith sophomore


Against:"I wish we had a longer lunch ‘cause I take a long time to eat, but I like having more time to get to class cause I don't have to sprint to class" -melissa talgo sophomore




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The Schools best are often ignored

  There has recently been a growth of puzzlement towards why the better performing sport teams at Carlmont are under appreciated and their achievements have gone unnoticed.
 “[The attention] is totally imbalanced,” said Robert Fishtrom, an instructional vice principal at Carlmont.
 After an on campus poll, it was found that there were many different answers to the question: what is the best performing sports team at Carlmont?
 Students voted Carlmont’s cross country to be the premium sports team on campus.
 “[Cross Country] is a sport that isn’t given the credit it’s due, some of the stuff they have accomplished is unbelievable,” said Richard Vallero, a physical education teacher at Carlmont.
 Going into the Central Coast Sectional Division I finals this year, the Carlmont cross country boys and girls teams had each won five of the last six CCS championships, and were both ranked number two in the CCS.
 After winning yet another CCS Division I title both the Carlmont cross country boys and girls team headed off to their tenth consecutive California Interscholastic Federation State Meet.
  “I think they are the best team because they work really hard and are always practicing,” said sophomore Julia Albertson.
  With numerous championships, students feel that cross country deserves a higher title as an accomplished team.
   The next highest voted sport for Carlmont was soccer, both girls and boys.
   “Soccer has done well in the past even though it’s one of the most intense sports at Carlmont,” said Elliot Surrovell, a senior at Carlmont.
  From 2000-2005, the Carlmont soccer program won eight PAL titles. They have continued this season the Carlmont boys teams are rated third in the PAL Bay division, and the girls are rated fourth.
  Other highly rated sports included, track and field, water polo, and volleyball.  
 “Our best team has got to be volleyball. I watch their games and they dominate,” said Shawn Geronimo, a junior.
 For the past six of seven seasons the Carlmont girls varsity volleyball team has made it to the CCS Semifinals, continuing a strong tradition of no more than three losses per PAL season.
    Continuing, softball ranked fifth in the poll and physical education teacher for Carlmont, David Heck, commented, “Softball [has] the most trophies, probably because Jim Liggett (softball coach at Carlmont) has been here so long.”
 In the 36 seasons that Jim Liggett has coached Carlmont Softball it has never been replaced as the powerhouse of the Peninsula Athletic League.
 Liggett, who owns more victories than anyone in California prep softball history, has led his team to eight consecutive CCS titles.
 “Softball is the longest running successful team [at Carlmont],” stated Jim Kelly, a math teacher and the schools activities director.
   Surprising for some students, football was not one of the top rated sports when it came to performance status.
  Several of the students and staff say that it is more the idea of football, not our own team, for the general idea of football being a popular sport.
   The Carlmont football team may be the only school sport that has an assembly dedicated to it, but when most people talk about our football team they tend to speak in a belittling manner.
 "[The reason for this] is the media. The NFL is the number one sport people watch, so it’s a trickledown effect," reflected Heck.
 The Carlmont football team has not made it to CCS sectionals since 1990 and was recently moved to the PAL Lake Division, the lowest of the football divisions, two years ago.
 “In Ocean (the second of three divisions for PAL football) they were not the absolute worst, but they did get bumped down,” said Kelly.
 After being moved down, the Carlmont team began to be successful. Varsity football was ranked number two in the PAL Lake Division this season with four wins and one loss.
  As the list shows, Carlmont sports teams are viewed differently than what it appears. No matter what order, all teams should be given full credit for their contributions and achievements.

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