![Two girls carry bags filled with clothes and supplies they gathered from the Westwood Recreation Center, one of the many facilities serving as an evacuation shelter during the fires. Marco Huitron, a volunteer at the center, said that he is willing to help and give back to the community. “The integrity, the love and the honor that we have here on the Westside — West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Palisades, Venice, just literally on the coast side — it just has given us such a good family and community feel that it’s only within my want [to help],” Huitron said. “Help is everything that we need, especially in these times.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/two-girls-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)
A group of U-High students gathers each week to play Dungeons & Dragons, an activity that they believe helps build community and imagination. As they step into the roles of their characters, the game becomes a way to strengthen real-life relationships — and for these students, the fantasy world serves as both an escape and a space to connect, proving that even in a digital age, storytelling and collaboration can bring people together.
This story was originally published on U-High Midway on January 22, 2025.
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