As the audience entered the large Santa Rosa High School auditorium, the lights dimmed, the crowd quieted, and the speakers took the stage.

As the 2022-2023 school year comes to a close, Maria Carrillo High School seniors are busy making plans for the future. One of the toughest choices for seniors is figuring out what to do after high school. Maybe it's attending a trade school, taking a gap year, finding a job, going to the Santa Rosa Junior College, applying to and picking a four-year school, or one of the many other available avenues. With so many valid options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed making a final call. However, our school’s seniors seem ready to tackle anything as they prepare for graduation and beyond.

The most commonly used AI image generators have long been paid services, costing up to $15 per month just for one account. But finally, Microsoft, the exclusive provider of cloud computing services to OpenAI, has released their new image generation AI called Bing Image Creator.

The college admissions process in the US was more competitive than ever this year, with Common App alone receiving a staggering 7 million applications, a 30% increase from the 2019-2020 application cycle before COVID-19.

“Value life, not violence” is the rallying cry of a movement that has spread through the student community in the Santa Rosa City Schools district.

Santa Rosa, along with most of the Bay area, has experienced an uncommon drenching over the past few months, leading to Maria Carrillo High School students bundling up and sheltering under umbrellas. Wondering why? Most of the rain has been caused by atmospheric rivers, a weather phenomenon that can stretch across hundreds of miles of land.  Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow streams of moisture-laden air that flow through the atmosphere. These rivers, which can extend for thousands of miles, carry enormous amounts of water vapor from the tropics to other regions o f the globe, including California. When an atmospheric river makes landfall in California, it can bring torrential rainfall, strong winds, and severe flooding. The impact of atmospheric rivers on the state's population and infrastructure can be significant, causing widespread damage and disruption.

In response to several incidents over the past few weeks including the death of junior Jayden Pienta at Montgomery High School, Maria Carrillo High School students held a walkout on Friday, March 3, which garnered the participation of hundreds of students. Some even joined from other schools, including students from Santa Rosa and Montgomery High school as well as Rincon Valley Middle School. Participants demanded better safety protocols, new alarm systems, and improved communication between staff and students.

In the wake of the stabbing of Jayden Pienta, a Montgomery High School junior, several hundred Maria Carrillo High School students took matters into their own hands, walking out of their fourth-period classes to take a stand for schools around Santa Rosa. In response to the recent increase of threats and other concerning incidents in Santa Rosa City Schools, students in association with the organization Value Life SRCS, arranged a protest demanding change that included a walkout from fourth period classes and a march down Montecito Avenue toward Middle Rincon Road and back.

A fire alarm was pulled in the women’s locker room at Maria Carrillo High School at approximately 10:15 a.m. on March 1. Once students were evacuated to the football field and attendance was taken, students went to their third period classes without a break. But that was not the only threat to student safety at Carrillo on Wednesday.

As thick smoke billowed through and above the J building at Maria Carrillo High School, an evacuation alarm sounded and students in their fifth period classes evacuated to the football field at 2:33 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 23. By 2:40 p.m., Principal Monique Luke sent an email through ParentSquare to MCHS parents, teachers, and students that there was a fire in the yard of the scene shop at the back of the theater building.