By: Ainsley Northrop 

People Editor 

Freshman Hayley Strahs is starting off her first year of high school strong with a rigorous schedule and optimistic attitude. Not only is she taking seven classes, but she has also already joined various extracurricular activities including Color Guard, Choir, and various clubs. During Color Guard practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and even Saturdays, you can catch Strahs hard at work, “on the choreography for the full marching band field show” and more. 

Some of the clubs Strahs has joined include The Wildcat Review, Friend for a Friend club, Speech and Debate, and the UNICEF club. Strahs expressed her excitement for all of the above and explained her particular interest in Speech and Debate, stating “[she] heard about [Speech and Debate] from [her] friend whose sister is in it. Strahs also added that she “likes talking and building arguments, so [she] thought, ‘why not try it?’” Speech and Debate has intrigued Strahs for nearly half a year and she is thrilled to finally give it a try.

In addition, Strahs is a long-time participant in local musical theater programs. Since she was around eight years old, she has performed in countless productions, her favorites including both Shrek and Freaky Friday performed with the Los Gatos Youth Theater. She played the role of Donkey in Shrek a few years ago and this past summer played Dr. Ehrin — the spunky high school principal — in a production of Freaky Friday.  In addition to musical theater, Strahs adds to her performance skills by participating in the Concert Choir elective at LGHS. Though Concert Choir is the first level of choir at our school, Strahs has plenty of experience from her three years as a part of Fisher Middle School’s choir. 

When asked what inspired her to take each of her three electives, Strahs explained, “with choir, it was something that I was already interested in; for Spanish, I had already taken Spanish one; and with journalism, I really wanted to try something new and really love writing.” In Multimedia Journalism, Strahs is currently working on a project where she is listening to the podcast 365 Days with mxmtoon and writing about it. 

Not only is she continuing her current talents, but she is also branching out to new interests this year. Strahs even exclaimed, “If I find something that looks interesting or that I want to do, I’ll join it. What have I got to lose?”

Even though she has an activity-packed schedule, Strahs still finds time to listen to music, practice singing, and read her favorite books, including Solitaire by Alice Oseman. 

Seeing how she balances her schedule of rigorous honors classes and activities, you can be certain that Strahs is already thriving at LGHS and is ready for the years to come.