![Girls wrestling captain Annalisa Afrifa holds a second place medal she won at the state championship meet her sophomore year. She wears medals she won at individual competitions. “It feels amazing to win,” Annalisa said. “It tells [me] that all my hard work hasn’t gone to waste.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Annalisa-1200x800.jpg)
![Some of the most deadly instances of gun violence have occurred in schools, communities and other ‘safe spaces’ for students. These uncontrolled settings give way to the need for gun regulation, including background and mental health checks. “Gun control comes about with more laws, but there are a lot of guns out there that people could obtain illegally. What is a solution that would get the illegal guns off the street? We have yet to find [one],” social studies teacher Nancy Sachtlaben said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/DSC_5122-1200x800.jpg)
![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)
![French teacher Marieme Toure serves a plate of the Senegalese food she prepared for her AP French Language and Culture class, to senior Faiza Syed. “I never had Senegalese food before,” Syed said. “I thought it was so cool that she was able to bring a part of her culture [and] background to us.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_0798-1200x906.jpeg)
This story contains an alternate format that can only be viewed on the original site. View this story on Scot Scoop News. It was originally published on January 24, 2025.
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Editor-in-chief Jon Mays discusses salt ponds in Redwood City and Foster City for a reporter’s upcoming news story. Mays writes and edits for the San Mateo Daily Journal, which has had a “pretty consistent audience that has grown over time,” according to Mays.
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