La Quinta High School, like many other high schools, offers its students the opportunity to graduate in three years instead of continuing on to their fourth year.  This is not a well-known option as...

Question: How long did you work at La Quinta High School? Julie Van Vacter: Just under 20 years. I started in February of 2002.  Q: So you weren’t a teacher—you had more of a faculty job, yes? JV:...

A few weeks into the school year, a new teacher arrived at La Quinta High School and is ready for what is in store for him.  Scott Di Lorenzo was in luck when he began searching for a school in need...

After a year-and-a-half, students and staff have returned to campus. Yet when the halls were always empty during remote learning, the kitchen was always open.  Due to COVID-19, the kitchen staff worked...

Loneliness. Guilt. Shame. Hopelessness. Signs of a struggling student aren’t always easy to see, but Elena Labastida is trained to know them all. Labastida has been the school’s mental health therapist...

As fast fashion continues to manufacture clothing, not a lot of people understand the impact of their purchases and the consequences that come with it. Social media has become a big influence on the industry...

In room 710, unfinished clay projects line the counters.  Terry Kauffman, clad in his mask and plaid blue button-up shirt, looks back at the quote written on a yellow poster atop his back wall, before...

Choruses of bargaining with teachers for less homework, more local crisis and domestic violence hotlines added to the back of student IDs, students noticing the phrase “mental health” being heard in...

On a Tuesday morning, a man arrives at room 513 and is ready to have a great first year. Wearing a sweatshirt and jeans with white shoes, he begins to go over the warm-up in the beginning of class.   Joshua...

When people walk into room 706, students can be heard cheering and their controllers clicking and clacking while they play Rocket League, Halo, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and many more. It’s Thursday...

La Quinta High School welcomed students back to school for in-person this school year after a year of learning remotely via Zoom. As staff and students began to find their way back into the normalities...

Halloween is widely known and celebrated around the world and enjoyed by many cultures and people. Although due to COVID-19, many people’s Halloween plans were canceled. This year, some people found...