El Estoque Online, 21840 McClellan Road, Cupertino, CA (2025)

07/08/2025

On Sunday, June 29, a crowd of members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community marched down Market Street in San Francisco to celebrate the annual Pride Parade. The celebration began at 10:30 a.m., continued through the afternoon and showcased a variety of performances. Attendees watched as organizations such as Girl Scouts of the USA waved giant pride flags and handed out rainbow-colored merchandise. To hear more about community updates and stories, including our Pride Parade photo essay, sign up for our newsletter at elestoque.org.

06/07/2025

MVHS held its graduation ceremony for the graduating Class of 2025 on Friday, June 6. The ceremony formally began with the walkouts of MVHS faculty and Honor Roll members of the Class of 2026 hoisting purple and white flags to commence the entrance of graduates. Continuing with speeches from MVHS alum ’25 Ali Malik, Principal Ben Clausnitzer, FUHSD Board of Trustees President Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto and the 2025 Class Office, the ceremony also included performances from MVHS Band and MVHS Choir. As graduates walked onto the stage to receive their diplomas and took pictures with Nakano-Matsumoto, resounding cheers erupted from the audience and from fellow graduates.

From the graduation ceremony, MVHS alum ’25 and 2024-2025 ASB Executive President Peter Chen hopes that future graduating classes will take away the inspiration to make more impactful high school memories. While Chen believes that his time at MVHS was academically rigorous, he cherishes his memories of school events and activities, and encourages his peers to do the same.

“There’s so many classes, but the stuff I remember from high school isn’t going to be some test or some class,” Chen said. “It’s always going to be going to prom, or going to Homecoming. I hope that everyone still has fun, because no matter how hard school gets, that’s the stuff I remember.”

Photos and reporting by Kate Yang

06/01/2025

The M***a Vista Dance Team finished its season with the “Barbie”-themed Spring Show on Friday, May 30. Throughout its three-hour program, the team shifted moods and styles, including a kids’ fundraiser set to “Speed Drive,” a character dance with red suits and scissors inspired by the movie “Us” and the closing number, “I’m Just Ken.” Solo performances included seniors and captains Lotus Wu and Alyssa Yang, junior Ellie Wang and sophomore Kara Wong. Wong also presented a duo with senior and captain Allison Chang. Adding a cultural flair, the show was interspersed with segments from Bhangra, Andaaz and Raas as well as two appearances from the Korean Culture and Dance Club.

The night ended with a series of emotional speeches from dance team members to the graduating seniors, as well as one from Head Coach Joy Lee to the team. Lee sees the show as a celebration of the team’s progress this season and says the end of the season is bittersweet, particularly since she has coached this graduating class since she joined in their sophomore year.

“When they were sophomores, that was when I was learning how to be a coach myself,” Lee said. “It became a lot about the balance between coach and student leaders of the team — a lot of it was very collaborative. This group of seniors just became so responsible, and they became so on top of things — there are 17 of them and one of me, and they were able to really balance that out for me.”

Photos and reporting by Sophia D’Sa and Aprameya Rupanagunta

05/28/2025

Advanced and Honors Drama students performed “Retold,” their final show of the year, on Friday, May 23. The show featured three student-written, student-directed plays: a political comedy about a mayoral election, an adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” and an adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” followed by three short films from Playwriting Club members. Seniors Aayushi Ayalasomayajula and Emily Martin auditioned for end-of-year awards with solo performances of “All I Want” from “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” and an original animatic accompanied by a song, respectively. The night ended with the Segal family giving their annual Andrew Segal scholarship award to Martin, and Drama teacher Hannah Gould giving the annual Excellence in Drama award to Ayalasomayajula.

As a stage technician for the show, Martin worked for the last month not only on her own animatic but also on designing sets and costumes for the three main productions. She says that despite a couple of awkward pauses, the show went extremely well, especially considering that the class had just over a month to prepare.

“I was a little bit panicked, ‘How am I gonna do this?’” Martin said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish all the costumes in time, and they were building a really huge set for this. I was staying after school so much, and I felt kind of overwhelmed by it. There was a lot of work and not a lot of time, but I think this was definitely the best performance I’ve done.”

Photos and reporting by Sophia D’Sa and Giljoon Lee

05/27/2025

In the April issue of our magazine, our Arts & Entertainment section reviewed five new and popular items at Trader Joe’s. Ranging from ice cream mochi to candy, our staff left detailed comments and ratings for each item. Swipe to see the mini-reviews — read the full story in our physical magazine or online at the website in our bio!

05/26/2025

Following Senior Sunrise at the beginning of the year, Senior Sunset took place at the MVHS upper field on Friday May 23 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Marking the end of senior year, the event served as a bonding moment for the class of 2025 as they got cozy in blankets, played games on the field and ate pizza and popsicles. While the seniors engaged in a variety of different activities ranging from frisbee to cards, they all came together to take class photos and put stickers on a large map to show where they are going to college.

As the sun set on high school for the class of 2025, senior Manvika Gopalasetty reflected on her highlight of the year, a moment that had only occurred a few days prior. This memory was the recent spirit day where people wore white shirts to get signed by their peers. For Gopalasetty, the shirt signing allowed her to reconnect with people she hadn’t spoken to in a while and see the class of 2025 more united than ever. Preserving relationships is something Gopalasetty has grown to value throughout the year, as she compared her Senior Sunrise self to Senior Sunset self and recognized how much she has changed as a person.

“I have realized that some things don’t go right in life and that it’s really important to just move on,” Gopalasetty said. “There’s so many bigger things in life that are more important, like your friends and family, and I think I’ve grown to care about that a lot more.”

Photos and reporting by Radhika Dharmapurikar and Sana Karkhanis

05/26/2025

The MVHS Athletic Senate hosted its annual Senior Athlete Signing ceremony on Tuesday, May 20 during lunch in the rally court. The event celebrated MVHS athletes who committed to play a sport in college. MVHS athletes took photos with friends and family before enjoying donuts afterwards. In total, the Athletic Senate identified 15 MVHS athletes who have committed to play their sport in college, eight of whom attended the signing ceremony.

Senior Tanay Parikh, one of the event attendees, plans to attend Carnegie Mellon University for cross country and track and field. He hopes to earn all-American honors at the NCAA Division III Championships, where he plans to run the mile, 3000-meter run and the 5000-meter run.

“This sport means a lot to me because I’ve spent so much time doing it and have made many memories,” Parikh said. “It means a lot to me to be able to continue running after high school and be able to keep improving and making more memories.”

Photos and reporting by Anika Bhandarkar and Eric Zhou

05/26/2025

MVHS hosted Animal Assisted Happiness, an organization that brings out animals to help people destress, during lunch on Wednesday, May 21. Students interacted with a variety of animals such as guinea pigs, bunnies and chickens. According to AAH volunteer Margaret Butko, the animals are trained to interact with kids and Butko loves watching the animals and students interact.

“The whole mission of Animal Assisted happiness is to bring a million smiles, and so it’s hard not to smile when you see and pet a goat,” Butko said. “I love the squeals, when someone has never seen a certain animal before, or maybe they had one growing up on a farm. Kids love to see them and hear their stories.”

Photos and reporting by Niveda Hari and Aprameya Rupanagunta

05/24/2025

Senior Ethan Lien’s passion for golf has transpired from a young age, where he was first brought out to a golf course by his brother, who also plays golf. Since then, Lien spends a large amount of time each week playing rounds of golf, practicing at the range with coaches and participating in junior tournaments every so often. Lien enjoys playing golf for various aspects — the relaxing tempo of golf, the potential competitive scene and each course’s ethereal views of nature, one of his favorites being Bandon Dunes in Oregon.

While Lien acknowledges that golf may not be as physically demanding as other sports, Lien thinks golf can be just as challenging or even more due to the emotional endurance necessary to complete the course.

“Golf is very different from other sports because it requires a lot of patience and a lot of mental strength. It’s hard to control your thoughts when you’re out there on the course for four, five, six hours. It’s really about staying in the present and trying to just focus on the shot in front of you.”

Lien has been playing on the MVHS Boys Golf team since freshman year, and has now committed to playing at UC San Diego. With playing for a team comes a competitive itch, which Lien has been exercising in golf through playing in tournaments — Lien has made it to CCS every year, regional tournaments three times, and state tournaments two times out of his four years at MVHS. Whether playing golf casually with friends for the pleasant vibes of nature or exhibiting his drive for competition in high stakes tournaments, Lien believes golf’s flexibility as a whole encapsulates him perfectly as a person.

“There’s a time to enjoy both the casual and competitive side of golf, but I definitely enjoy the more competitive side of golf because that’s when you have more pressure and when you know you’re required to execute. That excitement, that pressure — that’s what keeps me wanting to play golf, because although it’s tough and it’s difficult, if you can execute that properly, there’s a great level of satisfaction that you get from it.”

Photos courtesy of Ethan Lien
Reporting by Ananya Chaudhary and Dylan Nguyen

05/21/2025

Varsity Boys Volleyball defeated Soquel High School on Tuesday, May 13 in the second round of the CCS DII Playoffs. The Matadors started the game strong, gaining momentum to win the first two sets 25-20 and 25-21. However, due to injuries in the starting opposite hitter junior Pratham Kannan and starting outside hitter senior Praneel Shah, players were forced to take on new offensive roles, resulting in a 23-25 loss for MVHS. Shah believes that because of the adjustment in roles, it was difficult for the team to adapt quickly.

The Matadors came back in the fourth set with explosive energy, winning the set in part because of two kills and one block early in the set by junior Joaquin Garcia. Shah believes that the energy helped carry the momentum of the team throughout the rest of the game.

“In the fourth set, we kept the energy up as a team, and that was a key factor,” Shah said. “We also did well on defense, and serve receive was also a key part of the game, and being able to get side outs, especially in hard rotations.”

Going into the rest of the playoffs, Shah believes practice will be important for everyone. The Matadors are set to face Sacred Heart Cathedral on Thursday, May 15, so Shah emphasizes the importance of staying mentally prepared, especially during the long drive there.

“We need to make sure everybody is ready to get a kill when needed,” Shah said. We know how well we can play, we just need to be able to execute.”

Photos and reporting by Leah Desai and Katrina Lin

05/17/2025

Softball fell to Cupertino High School 25-3 on Friday, May 9. MVHS ended the first inning with a score of 3-8. However, CHS gained a 22-point lead by the end of the match.

Temperatures soared into the high 80s as the teams played in the brutal heat. Sophomore and right fielder Srikrithi Duggireddy says the outfielders were distracted, which led to missed catches and delayed responses. She also added that the heat contributed to their lack of focus and energy throughout the game.

“The heat was so bad and I felt like fainting twice,” Duggireddy said. “I was out there on the field and was out of breath, and I had to sit down three times. If the heat weren’t here, a lot of us would’ve done a much better job.”

Photos and reporting by Arushi Singh and Arshiya Sen

05/14/2025

Varsity Boys Volleyball fell 3-1 against Los Gatos High School on Wednesday, May 7. LGHS won the first two sets 30-28 and 25-20 respectively, but MVHS bounced back in the third set, winning 26-24. But LGHS started the fourth set with a quick lead and MVHS struggled to come back, resulting in LGHS winning the set 25-9. Senior and outside hitter Praneel Shah noticed that in the three sets MVHS lost, the team fell to early deficits and struggled to close the gap for the remainder of the set.

“We haven’t done a reverse sweep in a while,” Shah said. “It’s where you are down 2 sets and have to win the next 3. We used that as motivation for what we want to do and that goal resulted in us winning the third set.”

Photos and reporting by Manas Kottakota and Eshika Tiwari

El Estoque Online

07/08/2025

06/07/2025

06/01/2025

05/28/2025

05/27/2025

05/26/2025

05/26/2025

05/26/2025

05/24/2025

05/21/2025

05/17/2025

05/14/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category