Costumes and candies vs. COVID-19
Veda Bollapalli, Guest Writer
October 23, 2020
It’s that time of year again. The moon rises in painful deliberation, barely hiding behind that shadowed tree. Just faintly, in a distance, a wolf lets out a small cry from its lips. It rings louder than the silence in the air, and at once everything is set into motion. The monsters come out and roam fr...
The effects of distance learning on mental health
Jay Dugar, Managing Editor
October 23, 2020
Between a lack of social and physical connection and all the additional stressors caused by the pandemic, it is no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a toll on students’ mental health. According to Oak Park High School counselor Julie Ross, the mental health effects of distance learning w...
Academic honesty: Transmitting trust through a screen
Olivia Dods and Amanda Dermott
October 23, 2020
In response to distance learning, teachers have tweaked and refined their assignments and tests to minimize potential cheating. Trust is a core part of teaching any class. Even in person, with a teacher nearby to monitor most tests and assignments, cheating still poses a threat. Academic honesty throu...
Could a COVID-19 vaccine be mandatory?
J. R. Servais, Guest Writer
October 21, 2020
As researchers come closer to finding the vaccine for COVID-19, there are questions of whether we will need a vaccine to return to normality. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 65% of the population would take the vaccine. Can governments make the vaccine mandatory and what rights do people hav...
Oak Park’s local band, Cheach Billin
October 8, 2020
When the time came to interview the members of the band Cheach Billin, each Zoom Meet square was filled by a face of the band. Trumpeter Vir Kolpe, ‘silly saxophone’ Liam Case, previous bassist Ali Wilson, trombonist Daniel Conway, ‘keyes’ Nate Trux, guitarist Amit Maish, drummer Bob Emrich,...
Get outside and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic
Navya Batra, Digital Media Manager
October 8, 2020
The majority of my quarantine has been spent in my room behind my laptop screen or lying in bed for hours. It wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I really pushed myself out of my house to actually do something. It was hard, but worth it. I know it seems like a ton of effort to just go anywhere, but...
Discovering the forgotten history of OPHS land
Shoshana Medved, Ombudsman
September 25, 2020
If not for the faint murmur of a car’s engine, the sounds of Oak Park would have whisked me into another era entirely. The chirping of crickets trickled into my ears; the fluttering of a duck’s wings looped endlessly through my mind. As I gazed into our high school’s empty parking lot, I couldn’t...
California wildfires taint the skies
Daisy Calderon, Photo Editor
September 25, 2020
Your vision grows hazy as clouds of smoke surround your home. The sky, though normally a soft blue is tainted with hues of red and orange, both combining in an intricate dance around each other. If one didn’t know better, then this could easily be misinterpreted as a scene on the planet of Tato...
Learning during a pandemic
September 25, 2020
To limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, all students in the Oak Park Unified School District are partaking in a distance learning model for the first quarter of the 2020-21 school year. This plan was finalized through a ParentSquare blast on July 15, to start the year virtually on Aug. 10. The California De...
Remembering Nicholas Mark Fahn
Shoshana Medved, Ombudsman
September 25, 2020
Nicholas Mark Fahn, Oak Park High School Class of 2012 alumni, died on August 20, 2020. An athlete, student and coach, Fahn was recognized for his contagious smiles and his compassion, according to his former counselor Julie Ross. “Nick would make you laugh,” Ross wrote to the Talon. “He always...
Profile: New special education teacher, Alyssa Santos
Hayden Brown, Senior Staff Writer
September 25, 2020
Alyssa Santos is Oak Park’s newest special education teacher moving from Las Vegas, Nevada. In a search to find residency closer to her family, she stumbled upon Oak Park. “I looked around the Southern California area and found out that Oak Park was one of the top schools in the state,” Sa...
If you’re someone who likes to dress up on Halloween, you know that 2020 poses several extra obstacles which are making the process of finding a costume even more of a...
The Los Angeles Dodgers have broken their World Series drought of 32 years, winning their fourth game with a score of 3-1 in Game 6 of the first to four series against the...
Creativity is still alive at Oak Park High School, although the classes may look different. Distance learning has forced the visual arts programs, including drawing and painting,...
A blueprint for the return to on-campus learning with a hybrid model was approved by the Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Ventura...