Sequoyah’s newest stewardship has hit the ground running. Co-chaired by Emily Hodges ’24 and Iliana Muller ’24 and facilitated by Physics teacher Kevin Delin, the Science Ambassadors were born in the hopes of creating a diverse, inclusive, and exciting community bonded over a shared love for science.

Teenagers are often depicted as living in a world of polar opposites. You’re in or you’re out, you’re cute or you’re smart, you’re creative or you’re academic–rarely do we find a portrayal of young adult life that is fluid or multifaceted.

During the 2022-2023 academic year, biology teacher Kate Schafer was the adviser for a 9th grade Social Innovation Program (SIP) group focused on Endangered Species and Habitats. The team’s goal was to have a garden somewhere on the Sequoyah high school campus filled with endangered plant species by the end of the year.

Now in its third year, Sequoyah’s high school pumpkin contest pitted advisories against each other as advisors and advisees worked to create funky, artsy, and intricate pumpkins.

Many Sequoyah high school students hear the Gryphon Ensemble play at Morning Meetings, lunch, and through the floor during class time, but for some, what goes on in the class is a mystery.

“Don’t apologize for that” and “don’t be sorry” are common phrases I hear at Sequoyah and in the world at large—but why? It seems people often have to be reminded to not “over-apologize.” Let’s dive into what it means to over-apologize and see what the Sequoyah community thinks about it. What is it, why is it everywhere, and should we stop it? 

To the casual visitor or passerby, the Sequoyah high school art room tucked into the back corner of campus is rarely noticed, let alone explored. Despite its relative seclusion, however, many projects and pieces are created there everyday.

In Mod 1 this fall semester, Magnus Bjorgum ’24 taught a course exploring the profound impact of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, which was published in 1932. Bjorgum described it as a book about a dystopian future where the world is controlled by one government and the populace is separated into different castes and programmed to enjoy their caste. People then seek out the pleasure of games, sex, and drugs.

High school, both academically and socially, plays a large role—perhaps the largest role—in everyday teen life. So when you look at Sequoyah’s schedule, it can be a surprise to see that the school day only takes up seven hours. But when you factor in additional extracurricular commitments (sports, debate, theater, etc.), along with homework, projects, test prep, and other educational programs, students often find school spilling over into other facets of their lives.

As most Sequoyah students know, we recently received the results of the Challenge Success survey that the majority of the student body took a few months ago. These results were largely positive and something to be celebrated. However, some questions were raised about changes that could be made at Sequoyah, igniting a discussion that will continue into the future. One change that is currently underway regards mastery grading. 

The high school Theater group performed The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 live at the Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena on April 19-23. The play follows Elsa Von Grossenkneuten, a theater financier who gathers a team of actors to produce a new theatrical experience after their previous play was deemed a flop. That play, Manhattan Holiday, was plagued by a mysterious killer, the “Stage Door Slasher,” who stabbed choir girls and has now returned for an encore.  

Global Online Academy (GOA) has been one of the most controversial topics at Sequoyah’s high school for a long time. From the number of credits each class is worth, to the effectiveness of the classes, GOA has split the students into different factions. Some students praise it as a useful supplement to the Sequoyah curriculum, while others question its value.

AI has been a very controversial topic that has been circulating through mainstream media recently. It spiked in popularity in January of 2023 when the first stable version of a program commonly known as ChatGPT was released by OpenAI. ChatGPT allows users to chat with artificial intelligence that provides answers to almost any prompt that is input by the user.

At Sequoyah, every grade goes on a Field Studies trip. The Barefoot Times followed up on the tenth-grade Costa Rica trip orientation to discover what exactly the trip consists of and what students' opinions of it are.

Recently, Sequoyah purchased its first property, 500 S. Pasadena Avenue. It was formerly home to Pasadena Community Christian Fellowship (PCCF), and will now house Sequoyah’s administrative operations including admissions, athletics, the business office, communications, development, Field Studies, facilities management, parent engagement, Summerhouse, and technology.