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The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

The official student news site of Westview High School

The Nexus

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief

Grace Tseng (12) is in her fourth year as a part of The Nexus. She is also a member of Mock Trial and Writers’ Workshop. In her spare time, Grace enjoys writing nondescript Goodreads reviews and playing the electric guitar.

All content by Grace Tseng

Here’s where we’re headed…

Jillian Sinder and Grace Tseng May 31, 2024

American University Jillian Sinder Haven Teudt Arizona State University Nicholas Buchanan Ashley Carr Natalie Danzig Zahabiya Esmail Michael Friedman Matthew Hines Marissa Kanoya Aaditya Kulkarni Estella...

Review: The Nexus

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 31, 2024

It’s foolish to think that I could summarize my four-year career in The Nexus with “thumbs up” or “thumbs down,” and yet I feel compelled to at least try. I think I owe it to this publication.  As...

Letter to Freshman Self: Grace

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 31, 2024

Dear Grace,    As I remember you, you’re waiting — waiting for an awkward silence to fill the Zoom classroom after everyone else has already spoken before offering your opinion, waiting...

Exploration of extracurriculars develops Comstock’s, Kennedy’s senses of self

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 31, 2024

Before Maddie Comstock (12) knew anything else about herself, she knew that she was a writer. As her younger brother and the other kids in the neighborhood opted to play outside, 5-year-old Comstock spent...

Four-day school week would decrease fatigue, increase drive to learn

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 3, 2024

Next school year, Westview will offer an on-campus, college-accredited Cultural Anthropology course in partnership with Palomar Community College. Students will attend classes during first period on Tuesdays...

Political controversy is not a valid reason for censoring free speech

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 3, 2024

Unlike most college valedictorians, Asna Tabassum may never know what it’s like to stand before a sea of her peers and deliver a commencement speech. Despite the fact that she’s earned her opportunity...

Phelps terminated as PUSD superintendent

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 3, 2024

The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education voted unanimously to terminate the contract of Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps, effective immediately as of Tuesday. This vote took place after...

School board places PUSD Superintendent Phelps on paid administrative leave

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief February 16, 2024

Following Superintendent Dr. Marian Kim Phelps’ paid administrative leave, which started Feb. 1, Associate Superintendent of Student Support Services Greg Mizel was appointed as the Poway Unified School...

Inflated housing prices force people out of Peñasquitos

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief January 26, 2024

When the sky is still tinged with a blueblack, pre-sunrise darkness, Gabriel Sanchez (11) begins his morning routine. He wakes up at 5:45 a.m., showers, gets dressed, brushes his teeth, and then makes...

Foreign language and fine arts credit combine, adhere to CA Education Code

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief January 26, 2024

  Effective at the start of this school year, Westview students are required to take 10 combined credits of fine arts, foreign language, or career technical education (CTE) pathway courses for...

Kang sells her art for 2k

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief December 22, 2023

After displaying her charcoal art piece “Halemeoni” (meaning ‘grandmother’ in Korean) at the Del Mar Fair in her sophomore year, Judy Kang (12) did what she does with all of her other completed...

Steel discovers love for teaching, helps TK students at ESS program

Steel discovers love for teaching, helps TK students at ESS program

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief November 16, 2023

Growing up, Sevilla Steel (12) spent more hours in classrooms than anywhere else. From accompanying her mom to meetings in the teachers’ lounge to visiting her dad’s high school classroom, Steel—being...

Miss Dalia shares snacks, support

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief October 6, 2023

Unlike every other desk in the Wolverine Center, student support specialist Dalia Yacoub’s desk faces the door. It’s a conscious decision made by Miss Dalia and the counseling team so that she...

Daily Pledge of Allegiance to fulfill Education Code

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief September 15, 2023

Effective as of Tuesday, Westview will now start each day with the Pledge of Allegiance led by the front office over the loudspeakers. While the Pledge of Allegiance previously only occurred on Mondays...

Ramaprasad investigates supernovas at Yale program

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief August 25, 2023

For 5-year-old Gowri Ramaprasad (12), the highlight of her every morning was listening to her parents read aloud the daily NASA news releases. Entranced by the thought of space exploration, Ramaprasad...

Staff grapples with excess instructional minutes

Grace Tseng and Jillian Sinder June 2, 2023

Due to an excess of approximately 1,311 instructional minutes, Westview has accumulated this past school year, we will be having minimum days on Monday and Tuesday. Annually, California high schools are...

GOLD hosts solo, ensemble Command Performances

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 5, 2023

For a Saturday morning, the campus was bustling. Students in black dresses, suit jackets, and button ups rushed onto campus and lugged instrument cases  into the band room, where trumpeters played...

Robotics team seniors savor final season

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief April 7, 2023

Throughout the past five years JJ Siu (12) has been a part of First Tech Challenge (FTC) team Gear Up, many facets of the experience have been variable—the game manual, the robot’s design, Siu’s...

ASB, Coastal Charms arrange Women’s History Month events

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief March 17, 2023

Juliet Kim’s (9) morning was off to a nerve-wracking start. After complications with organizing a list of female staff members and a growing worry that she hadn’t ordered enough flowers for everyone,...

Art by Ella Jiang

Intertwined

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief February 10, 2023

Perceived as one, twins live in parallel Up until her 18th birthday, Nasha Mavandadi (’21) chose her birthday celebrations every other year. Every birthday that ended with an even number, Nasha invited...

 David Azcona (12) practic-es sword-fighting during rehearsal for CETA’s high school theater festival, Jan. 10. WVTC decided to per-form the fight choreogra-phy from their production of The Three Musketeers. Photo by Grace Tseng.

Theater wins Best Ensemble at festival

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief January 26, 2023

David Azcona’s (12) heart sank. The moment he saw the stage at Los Osos High School, he knew that the number of performers in the Three Musketeers sword-fighting scene would barely be able to fit. However,...

GOLD performs in MC tournament

GOLD performs in MC tournament

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief November 18, 2022

The sound of gears clicking blared from speakers as GOLD stood in formation at the Mt. Carmel field tournament, Oct. 29.  For eight continuous minutes, the students maneuvered formation changes and...

Student endorsement: Rob Bonta for attorney general

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief November 1, 2022

As a member of Westview’s mock trial team, I have been deeply invested in the upcoming election of our state’s next attorney general. Since the attorney general represents the people of California...

Acing the Audition

Acing the Audition

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief October 10, 2022

As soon as school ended, Siena Naylor (10) rushed into the theater, which was already packed with students plastering blue and white name tags across their chests and huddling over clipboards where...

(From left to right) Sawyer Balcombe (11), Isabel Rosa (11) and Cinco Webb (11) ask one another prospective interview questions in preparation for their internship interviews. Poway to Palomar Middle College students each

Reuney, Kadali attend Poway to Palomar Middle College

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief September 16, 2022

The Poway to Palomar Middle College (PPMC) opened its campus to their inaugural class of 37 high school juniors, August 15. PPMC is the first middle college in the Poway Unified School District (PUSD),...

Ryan Herrod (12) runs towards the endzone as teammates defend the ball against Olympian football players. After falling behind by three touchdowns by halftime, the team held Olympian scoreless in the second half but was unable to muster an offensive attack. Photo by Amy Wang.

Football kicks off

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief August 26, 2022

Westview kicked off the year with a 21-0 loss against Olympian High School, Aug. 19.  The game started strong, but the team was unable to keep up their momentum. Safety Fares Krichati (11) caught the...

William Balais (9) dead lifts during lunch in the weight room, April 27. He aspires to break the school's deadlift record.

Balais finds community, confidence through practicing weightlifting

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 6, 2022

On school days, William Balais (9) wakes up at 6 a.m. to make himself a quick breakfast of avocados and eggs on toast before riding his electrical bicycle to his local YMCA. There he’ll spend his...

The Girltelligence Executive Team hosts a panel with female PUSD officials in honor of Women’s History, March 23. They discussed the pressures placed on women in the workplace and how to deal with discrimination. Panelists (from left to right): Gowri Ramaprasad (10); Sarah Dean (12); Nitya Baratam (11); Sydney Hubbard (12); Shawntanet Jara, Director of Equality and Improvement at PUSD; Tina Ziegler, Principal; Carol Osborne, Associate Superintendent; Darshana Patel, San Diego County School Boards Association President; Christine Paik, Chief Communications Officer for PUSD.

Girltelligence, ASB celebrate women

Robbie Gray and Grace Tseng April 8, 2022

Growing up, Sydney Hubbard (12) always felt that there weren’t enough places where she could find support as a woman. It was only two years ago that Hubbard really found a community with the app,...

Nayak, Gupta win science contests

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief April 8, 2022

When Ayush Nayak (11) was in elementary school, he often rushed home after school to sit in front of his parents’ old computer and watch video after video about computer hardware. As the computer’s...

Nayak serves as San Diego County School Board student representative

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief March 18, 2022

As a defense witness for Mock Trial, Aadya Nayak (11) has always had a passion for learning about the legislative system. Now, as the student representative for District 5 of the San Diego County Board...

After performance during tryout week, Chien, Snyder make teams

After performance during tryout week, Chien, Snyder make teams

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief February 18, 2022

As Frederick Chien (10) was warming up for baseball tryouts, he tossed a ball back and forth with his teammate Matthew Ramirez (10). With each toss, he stepped farther away from his teammate, feeling more...

Richard Tseng (11) prepares a school lunch to give to a student. The help of student workers allowed more concession stands to reopen. Photo by Byron Tran.

Tseng, Cheruvallath serve meals as cafeteria workers

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief January 28, 2022

As Richard Tseng’s (11) second period AP Computer Science Principles class was coming to an end, he quickly answered the last few questions on his test paper before dashing to the cafeteria. Unlike...

Park paints future in art publishing

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief December 17, 2021

Cheeyeon (Chelsea) Park’s earliest memory of wanting to become an artist was  when her grandmother invited an art teacher to her home in Seoul. Crouching around a Korean-style low lacquered wooden fold-out...

Barksdale advances to finals, prepares to defend CIF title

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief October 29, 2021

When she was just 3 years old, Kaila Barksdale (12) could often be found running around a tennis court with a racquet in her hand while her father, coach Keith Barksdale, taught tennis. At the time, Barksdale...

Homecoming to feature arcade games, live music

Homecoming to feature arcade games, live music

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief October 8, 2021

Micayla Lillie (10) dipped her paintbrush into a paint canister and covered the wooden float in a coat of white. Lillie made large strokes that stretched across the board and laughed as classmates...

Darren Zhou (12) looks through a microscope. For his internship, he analyzed thousands of cells at UCSD's biophotonics lab, focusing on calcium cells and their biological response to being cut.

Zhou participates in UCSD biophotonics program, gains insight in biological field

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief August 27, 2021

As Darren Zhou (12) peered through the microscope, his eyes fixated on a single neuron cell. He scrutinized thousands of images, documenting each cell’s response as they were being cut. Interning at...

Dance Troupe performs in-person senior show

Dance Troupe performs in-person senior show

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief June 14, 2021

In the last couple seconds of the senior group dance, the Dance Troupe members hugged one another, then quickly turned away to strike their ending poses. As Dance Troupe captain, Jade Bucci (12), struck...

Principal Ziegler reflects on past four years as principal

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief June 14, 2021

During her first week as principal of Westview in the fall of 2017, Principal Tina Ziegler said that she felt overwhelmed yet excited. Just a few weeks prior to the beginning of a new school year, she...

Dance Troupe members practice in the gym in preparation for a Spring Show. Photo by Alice Chen.

Dance Troupe places first in West Coast Elite Dance Competition

Grace Tseng, Editor-in-Chief May 10, 2021

Dance Troupe Officer Alexis Weldner (12) sat at her desk, her eyes fixated on her computer monitor. Displayed on the screen was a Zoom award ceremony for the West Coast Elite (WCE) Dance Competition...

High school students cheat more in online school

High school students cheat more in online school

Katie Lew and Grace Tseng April 8, 2021

Niki* (12) opened her vocabulary test in February for her English class and immediately switched tabs to a Google document, which was filled with answers for the test. The top of the page began to...

Academic Honesty Policy fails to deter cheating

Academic Honesty Policy fails to deter cheating

Carter Kangas, Katie Lew, and Grace Tseng April 8, 2021

According to a 2015 survey conducted by the International Center for Academic Honesty, 95% of students surveyed admitted to some form of academic cheating. Cheating is a widespread issue that has only...

Cheating in School: Rules, Reasons, and Repercussions

Cheating in School: Rules, Reasons, and Repercussions

Carter Kangas, Grace Tseng, and Katie Lew April 8, 2021

High school students cheat during online schoolNiki* (12) opened her vocabulary test in February for her English class and immediately switched tabs to a Google document, which was filled with answers...

The Nexus staff's 21 book recommendations for 2021

The Nexus staff’s 21 book recommendations for 2021

Art by Grace Tseng Whether to escape, better understand or cope with our chaotic reality, books are especially necessary in 2021. For our first issue of the year, The...

Isabelle and Sofia Rodrigues put together packages to ship out. Their business takes up a specific room in their house, and the girls work together to ship out their merchandise.

Rodrigues sisters start hoodie business, raise funds for ACLU

Amy Wang and Grace Tseng October 22, 2020

The idea first came to Isabelle (9) and Sophia Rodrigues (12) in June. At the time, the murder of George Floyd led to global protests against police brutality, and the Rodrigues sisters were trying...

Political Awareness Club members share thoughts on Vice Presidential debate

Political Awareness Club members share thoughts on Vice Presidential debate

Rachael Hudak, YJ Si, and Grace Tseng October 8, 2020

Following the Vice Presidential debate Oct. 7, The Nexus interviewed Sarina Oshiro (12), Sophia Chiu (12), and Daniel Shaw (12), members of Westview’s Political Awareness Club. Oshiro and Chiu currently...

PUSD, Okolo sisters put forward anti-racism policies

PUSD, Okolo sisters put forward anti-racism policies

Katie Lew, Caitlynn Hauw, and Grace Tseng September 2, 2020

Each day, Ekene (11) and Nene Okolo (‘19) work to educate their followers on Black history that is rarely taught within the school curriculum through their Instagram account @BlackinPUSD. The account...

Instagram Activism: more than just for show

Amy Wang and Grace Tseng July 20, 2020

For any user of the ubiquitous social media app Instagram, it’s easy to see that a change has washed over it in the past few months. Whereas before, my feed was filled with carefully curated pictures...

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