El Estoque Online, 21840 McClellan Road, Cupertino, CA (2026)

12/16/2025

The MV Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble held their winter concert “Sounds of the Season” on Friday, Dec. 5, in the auditorium. The concert featured various festive songs, such as “Christmas Favorites” and “Polar Express,” as well as “Sleigh Ride,” performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Junior and bass clarinetist Vedant Patel believes that all performers did a good job at keeping the melodies audible, but could have improved their intonation. Although he felt that he struggled with his rhythm and dynamics, he still believes that the concert went well, and that the intensive practice and effort that went into the performance paid off.

“My favorite memory in band this year is playing this concert,” Patel said, “We had really good pieces to play, and we got to play ‘Sleigh Ride,’ which was really fun. It felt nice being able to share playing music with other people and being able to see people enjoy listening.”

Photos and reporting by Melody Lin and Amberly Sun

12/07/2025

Varsity Boys Basketball defeated Overfelt High School 69-42 on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The Matadors established an early 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, capitalizing on early turnovers by OHS, and expanded that advantage to a 41-21 deficit by halftime. MVHS maintained the large lead throughout the second half to claim the dominant win.

While Head Coach Wade Nakamura said the Matadors’ gameplay has improved since the previous two games, he emphasizes that defense is still something that “has to get better for the team.” He is focusing on addressing the team’s mistakes early on in the preseason so the team will be in a better position heading into the postseason.

“We’re not supposed to be a finished product right now,” Nakamura said. “We’re a work in progress. The goal is to just improve a little bit each day and each time out, so that by League we’re better, and hopefully qualify for CCS. That’s always going to be the goal of every team I coach.”

Photos and reporting by Ethan Yang

12/03/2025

Varsity Boys Soccer fell to Homestead High School 5-3 on Wednesday, Nov. 26. As one of the toughest teams in the league, HHS was a challenge for Head Coach Pancho Tzankov and MV to overcome. In the first half, MVHS’s defense struggled, allowing HHS to sneak three goals. However, in the last 15 minutes of the game, MVHS was able to up their offense and score two goals by switching one of their defenders with an offensive striker.

Tzankov says MVHS had only 15 players this game, compared to the usual roster of 27 players, which led to each individual becoming more tired due to a lack of substitutions. Despite this setback, Tzankov is very proud of the players in this game and is looking forward to the rest of the season.

“This is a very good start to the season,” Tzankov said. “I try not to be too harsh with the people who made the mistakes, so they get motivated and move on to the next play. But now, we have to sit down and analyze what happened to fix some issues we have. We’ll learn from those mistakes, and our team is going to become much better.”

Photos and Reporting by Raj Thapliyal and Owen Liu

12/03/2025

Varsity Boys Basketball won 53-47 against The Harker School in their season opener on Wednesday, Nov. 26. After a tense first quarter, MVHS was down 8-14. However, with an increase in full court pressure, MVHS was able to turn the game around, ending the second quarter leading with a score of 25-21. Continuing the momentum, MVHS got its offense flowing, running in transition and attacking the basket to bring the lead to 42-32. In the fourth quarter, both teams played good defense and scored shots, though MVHS still maintained its lead to win the game.

Moving up to the De Anza league this season, senior co-captain and center Sean Foo shares that the team has been preparing to play stronger teams by working on their communication in order to have faster and more effective ex*****on earlier in the game.

“We know that the people we’re gonna be playing against are bigger, stronger and faster,” Foo said. “Personally, I’ve been trying to get more active and more physical with people. I did that through my offensive rebounds I got today and some of the post work I had. But as a team, we’ve all been trying to play a little harder, whether it be getting loose balls or better defense. We fought really hard, no matter what the score was. Everyone was working hard in defense, getting to the boards, everything.”

This sentiment is reflected by senior co-captain and point guard Ryan Shen, who hopes to improve his own endurance and play harder throughout the game to support the team more consistently. After the team’s first real win, Shen shares that, though there is still a lot of room for improvement within the team, he has an optimistic outlook on the rest of the season.

“I feel like we’re gonna be good this season,” Shen said. “I hope to make a good run in the playoffs as well as probably make it deeper into CCS or NorCal this year.”

Reporting and photos by Fiona Chen and Lora Lee

11/29/2025

The Environmental Education Center at McClellan Ranch hosted its weekly open house on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organized by the preserve staff and park rangers, the class provided children with engaging hands-on activities like petting the animals, including snakes, turtles and spiders, and feeding and observing them. Attendees had the opportunity to explore and interact with local wildlife, creating memorable experiences for the kids and fostering a deeper appreciation for the environment.

As the Senior Recreation Lead and an animal care specialist, Nicole Feskanich has been able to connect more with the community while working at the Environmental Education Center, and hopes to invoke a love for nature within visitors.

“I genuinely enjoy teaching outside of the classroom environment,” Feskanich said. “I’m able to share things that I love about animals and nature with people here. I also get to learn a lot more about nature from the Rangers by taking care of animals here.”

Photos and reporting by Suhana Mahabal and Rafaella Vento

11/28/2025

Varsity Boys Soccer defeated Eastside College Preparatory 3-1 on Friday, Nov. 21, in their first scrimmage of pre-season. The match began with a goal from ECP early in the first half. However, MVHS quickly bounced back due to their strong offense, and ended the first half 1-1. During the second half, MVHS kept possession of the ball for a significant portion of the game. As a result, MVHS was able to score two more goals, taking the win.

Junior and striker Theeran Satish scored the second goal of the game. He believes that the team had more confidence going into the second half, which ultimately resulted in more opportunities to score goals. Satish feels that, regardless of the win, there are areas of improvement to address before the season officially begins.

“It was good to get the win,” Satish said. “We know that we need to play even better in the future, because we’re going to be facing stronger teams, and if we want to win the league, then we have to do more. I think we need to work on our teamwork. It’s more important to play as a team and to understand each other as a team so that we can create chances and convert them to results.”

Photos and reporting by Aprameya Rupanagunta

11/28/2025

The Cupertino Library hosted the Native American Song and Dance Celebration on Sunday, Nov. 23, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event featured cultural dances performed by Neela Samayoa and Naataanii M***albo. They danced to traditional music performed by M***ablo’s stepfather, who sang while playing a buffalo hide drum, then invited attendees to ask questions and to participate in a dance around the room.

The dancers, who wore handmade, ornate dresses they had created with their families, performed cultural dances such as the Women’s Northern Traditional dance, which is traditionally done while waiting for warriors to return from battle. To Anecita Miller, who introduced the performers, being able to share her culture through these performances is a valuable part of her life as a Navajo dancer and active community member.

“A lot of times, when I go into even school settings or educational settings, a lot of folks have this misconception that we are an extinct people, which is not true,” Miller said. “We have a pretty large community, and we’re still living, thriving and carrying on tradition. It’s always really important for us to come to educational settings so that we can share some of the things that are important to us. Today, we wanted to come and share that with the community.”

Photos and reporting by Meghna Dixit and Stella Petzova

11/28/2025

Varsity Girls Soccer won 4-0 against Fremont High School in their season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Coming off a loss in a scrimmage to Westmont, MVHS was looking to bounce back, and beat FHS, the league winners from last year. As the game began, the immediate strong defense by both teams went all the way into halftime as the game was tied 0-0 between both teams. However, coming out of halftime, MVHS emerged with energy, scoring four goals in the span of thirty minutes, to win the game in dominating fashion.

Senior captain and forward Sophia Yamada attributes the second half success to the improvement of the team in finishing goals, being more determined and aggressive on the field, and the mindset shift that occurred during halftime.

“I think our mentality changed,” Yamada said. “Throughout the game we had the same chances, but I think in the second half, we were just more willing to put our body on the line and to actually finish this because we knew we could do it.”

As a team with nine freshmen this season, freshman and center striker Stella Kougiouris reflects that this shift in player dynamics hasn’t been difficult for the team to adjust to. Rather, she shares that developing team chemistry has been simple, with many players having played together before.

“All the freshmen, we’ve all played club together at some point, even with some of the sophomores. We also played in middle school with the girls, so I think it’s an easy transition. We’re all really good friends, and there’s a lot of good energy on the team.” Kougiouris said.

Photos and reporting by Leo Lee and Lora Lee

11/28/2025

Senior Vivana Dave has grown up surrounded by the influence of Indian culture. One of the ways in which she continues to embrace her culture is through henna, a South Asian art form where semi-permanent dye is drawn onto the skin in various designs.

She was first introduced to henna through her mother, who has been applying henna on her since she was a child. When Dave first started practicing herself, she had her doubts.

“At first I was really unsure if I was good at it or not, but I just kept kind of continuing with it,” Dave said. “I didn’t really say anything about it until people used to call me out on it. They would say things like ‘Oh, that’s really cool,’ and they would ask ‘could you do it on me?’”

Henna is generally administered through a cone, something that initially challenged Dave as it is difficult to grasp with lack of practice. After spending some time practicing with a pencil and paper, Dave began doing henna on herself, and later expanding to her family and friends. To document this process, Dave started an Instagram account where she shares photos of her different designs.

This year, Dave held a fundraiser in English teacher Megan Voigt’s classroom during tutorial in order to raise money for her club, Serving Handz, which packages meals to deliver to underserved communities throughout the Bay Area. She charged $3 for a henna flower, and used her profits to purchase supplies to make sandwiches for the homeless population in Santa Cruz.

“It brings me joy to see people’s reactions once I finish,” Dave said. “Not just their reactions, but also the whole process of being connected with my roots and through my art talent.”

Reporting by Leah Desai and Sania Nadkarni

Photos courtesy of Vivana Dave | Used with permission

11/24/2025

The M***a Vista-Lynbrook Marching Band held its annual homeshow and senior night on Nov. 18, presenting the program “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which featured favorite pieces from past performances. Unlike previous years, upperclassmen designed their own drill, choreography and music from previous shows.

Senior and head drum major Lauren Moore is proud of what the band has accomplished, noting how long it took, with over 150 hours of preparation from two weeks before school to today. Reflecting on how it all came together, she described the performance as bittersweet, a mix of pride in the hard work and sadness at seeing it come to an end.

“I started Marching Band my freshman year, so watching one of my last ever performances is very sad,” Moore said. “I’m gonna miss a lot of these people. Mentally, I’ve been preparing for weeks, so I’m hoping that I don’t cry at the banquet.”

Photos and reporting by Maahi Dev and Emma Ma

11/21/2025

Drama held the preview performance of its fall production “Antigone” on Wednesday, Nov. 20 in the Black Box from 4:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The official performance occurred on the following two days, with tickets to the last show completely selling out. The play is an adaption of the ancient Athenian tragedy “Antigone” by Greek tragedian Sophocles, and follows the story of protagonist Antigone — daughter of Oedipus — who defies King Creon’s edict that her brother, Polyneices, cannot be buried. It explores the conflict between law and morality, as well as the hubris of its main characters.

Senior Chloe Schiavo, who played Eurydice, queen of Thebes and the wife of King Creon, believed that the performance went well despite small pauses and that the group was able to pull it all together. Her favorite aspect of the play is the symbolism behind the show, and the tech that they did to complement the message.

“At the end of the show when Ismene hands out purple flowers again, it’s supposed to symbolize new growth,” Schiavo said. “I think it’s very relevant today with what’s going on. Especially the speech at the beginning, where King Creon says ‘We’re going to make Thebes greater than ever,’ it really talks about what’s going on in real life. I think it’s just a very relevant play.”

Photos and reporting by Vaishnavi Katukam and Benjamin Zhang

11/21/2025

The City of Cupertino held its second Teen Speaker Series panel at the Quinlan Community Center on Nov. 15. The event featured two financial experts who presented on key aspects of financial literacy. Their advice covered topics from the Rule of 72, which estimates how long it will take for an investment to double in value, to “finfulness,” a method for the mindful handling of money.

Panelist and financial advisor Sunny Wang is grateful to the Cupertino Youth Activity Board for inviting him to speak at their event. Wang highly encourages educational public events, as he recalls knowing little about finance as a teenager. In the future, he is eager to apply his expertise in finance to continue this form of community service.

“I always love the opportunity to make this type of educational presentation, especially to youth,” Wang said. “I always look out for these opportunities, but this time, they found me. I don’t say no to these events because I’m passionate about giving back at this stage of my career. I just hope that today’s presentation provides some kind of value to these kids.”

Photos and reporting by Jonah Chang and Zaid Naqvi

El Estoque Online

12/16/2025

12/07/2025

12/03/2025

12/03/2025

11/29/2025

11/28/2025

11/28/2025

11/28/2025

11/28/2025

11/24/2025

11/21/2025

11/21/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category