The official website of the The Pen
Senior Makenzie Jordan was sitting on the bleachers one Saturday at a track meet, staring out at the field when inspiration struck her. Makenzie saw all the shoes lying on the field, and she immediately envisioned a school wide shoe drive with hundreds of pairs up for donation. That night, Makenzie, her mom and her …
In addition to playing the piano, violin, oboe and bassoon, senior Jason Griffin composes music. Griffin first began composing at age nine when he would improvise and make little melodies on the piano. At 14, Griffin started receiving composition lessons from William Kraft. As a sophomore, Griffin applied to the LA Phil Composer Fellowship Program, …
Self-diagnosing is becoming in the U.S. According to a survey taken by the Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. revealed that 35 percent of adults in the U.S. have used the Internet to diagnose their medical conditions. School nurse Wendy Keller says that students also do this in lieu of visiting a doctor. “I think …
Nearly five years ago, junior Richard Hu’s father, Dr. Zhicheng Hu, an American citizen, went on a business trip to China. He has yet to return. Chinese police detained Dr. Hu, an award-winning automotive engineer and holder of 48 patents, because one of his competitor companies accused him of misusing trade secrets and “stealing technology.” …
On April 19, math teacher Christian Kim hosted an apologetics seminar, using science to defend Christian beliefs. Senior Josephine Lin, one of the event’s coordinators, said that Kim had wanted to hold the talk for a long time. However, “since Mr. Kim is a teacher, he’s not supposed to talk about his faith [during class],” …
Some Peninsula students volunteer their time to give back to communities near and far. Over the spring break, junior Michael DiMatteo and freshman Mariah Watts traveled with 50 members of their church, The River, to Ensenada, Mexico. Working with the organization Baja Bound, the group’s goal was to build a home for a small family …
As numerous Peninsula students have families living in South Korea, the impact of North Korea’s heightening threats is evident even thousands of miles away. Though these threats are no the first of their kind, they have still led to a variety of reactions from Korean students at Peninsula. To start, some students do not feel …
Texting and social media are arguably the biggest current influences on writing. English teacher Ann-Marie Voegtlin says the new way of socializing is “rushed” and “lacks intimacy.” “Social media and texting in particular encourage an informal, ‘abbreviated’ style of written communication, not only in today’s youth, but [among] adults as well,” Voegtlin said. “Perhaps more …
Although this is only sophomore Shreya Ramayya’s second year taking Chinese, she is one of 24 high school students in the United States who has been selected to participate as a finalist in the eighth annual “Chinese Bridge” U.S. High School Student Speech Contest at the Confucius Institute. Ramayya will travel to the University of …