![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
Head baseball coach and PE teacher Bryan Resnick created his YouTube channel Domingo Ayala in 2009 as a casual hobby with friends in the dugout. Now, with over 223,000 subscribers and a total of 42 million views, his lighthearted pastime has become a thriving community.
The idea for his channel emerged when Resnick was in college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after he was inspired by jokes between his baseball teammates to create exaggerated baseball parodies. As his channel developed, Resnick created over 200 videos with a humorous twist, all starring his alter ego: Domingo Ayala.
“Playing baseball and being around your baseball teammates is kind of like a family,” Resnick said. “You’re having fun with them, and you goof around with them. [The channel] just came out of being around those guys every day and just having fun with my teammates.”
The channel first gained popularity in 2011 after Resnick posted a viral parody video of over 3 million views titled “How to Hit a Home Run.” Since then, his content has expanded to other platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook. While his channel occasionally features guest appearances of his friends or MLB players, Resnick remains the driving force behind his channel, dedicating hours to filming and editing each video.
Renick’s humor allows viewers to connect with his content and brings levity to baseball so viewers of all ages can enjoy his videos.
“I found [his channel] when I was eight, and it was really funny,” baseball player and junior Cooper Marinelli said. “He brings the funny side of baseball because I feel like baseball is too serious now, and he brings the fun back.”
While this popularity has allowed Resnick to collaborate with big names in baseball, such as former MLB player and current coach Troy Percival, his channel also allows the Portola High baseball team to bond with each other through inside jokes and references, according to baseball player and senior Rider Cooper.
“We always like to take quotes and say it during practice and just yell out funny things when someone does something that relates to the quote,” Cooper said. “The team loves it, and we all know about it and can crack jokes.”
Over the summer, Resnick plans on creating more videos and traveling to different batting facilities in places such as Portland, Nashville and Seattle to perform as Domingo Ayala live for children. His channel is a platform to connect with people who enjoy the game of baseball, being a way to find the humor within the sport and express his passion for content creation.
“It makes me feel good about what I do because, at the end of the day, that’s why it was created,” Resnick said. “It was me and my teammates, having fun on the baseball field and our downtime and making fun of the things that sometimes are stressful in the game of failure. It can be stressful, but you sometimes have to sit back and make fun of yourself.”
This story was originally published on Portola Pilot on May 30, 2024.