Benjamin Grimes (Class of 2023) joined The Voice in his sophomore year and enjoys playing basketball and chess in his free time.
![Playing the role of high school student Jim Wang, Asian American actor Ben Wang delivers an announcement in the newly released TV show "American Born Chinese." According to Rosalie Chiang, an actress who plays Suzy Nakamura in the show, the increase in cultural representation in Hollywood has had a positive impact. “The Asian community in Hollywood is expanding, [and] the film industry is definitely going in the right direction,” Chiang said. (Photo: Disney Plus)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/162467_1336_v1_5a287da0-900x600.jpeg)
![Senior Lara Lew-Strass talks to two Duveneck Elementary School students during Early Childhood Development’s field trip to the school. According to ECD teacher Hillary McDaniels, the trend of dropping enrollment can actually bring some benefits for schools.
"We're [the district] primarily funded through our property tax dollars," McDaniels said. "Overall when our enrollment shrinks that actually, should be more money per student, not less money per student. But there's also the concept of being fiscally responsible which is important to our district as well, so you need to find that balance." (Photo: Leena Hussein)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_3318-900x675.jpg)
![A group of seniors participate in the senior spikeball tournament during lunch Wednesday on the Quad at Palo Alto High School. Field Day—an annual school-wide tradition—will take place during lunch Friday on the Quad to close out a week filled with festive dress-up days for the senior class. According to senior Will Barney, he is looking forward to one of the last school events hosted by the Associated Student Body. “I think it [Field Day] is an awesome idea,” Barney said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to de-stress towards the end of the year. If students are able to spare the time, I think it’s a really good opportunity to clear the mind before finals begin.” (Photo: Leena Hussein)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_2243-2-755x900.jpg)
![Mind Matters organizer and biology teacher Elizabeth Brimhall explains the route of the 5K walk and run Saturday morning on the Quad. According to Brimhall, she hopes the event will help build awareness for mental health issues and establish a supportive community at Palo Alto High School. “I'm hoping people will have fun out here today, walk with their families, and feel a connection to the school campus,” Brimhall said. “[I hope we] recognize that we're all as a community kind of working towards this goal of improving mental health for everyone." (Photo: Jonathan Chen)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/brimhall-900x599.jpg)
![A student goes up for a layup in the 2020 staff-versus-students basketball game. According to senior Caden Domingo, who will be playing in the game, events like these bring the Paly community together. "I think it [the winter rally] does a lot for students' spirit," Domingo said. "There's a lot of school pride in winning against the staff." (Photo: Kira Sterling)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/basketball_edited-1-900x619-1.jpg)
![The Palo Alto High School Vikings celebrate after their victory over the Seaside Spartans in the Central Coastal Section semifinal playoff game Friday night at Palo Alto High School. According to senior captain defensive lineman Vainga Mahe, the team looks forward to facing the Monterey Dores in the finals. "Since day one of us being here, we've been aiming for a ring," Mahe said. "That's really just our mentality right now. Just getting past this final, getting past NorCal, going to states, getting a ring." [Photo: Leena Hussein]](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DSC_0006-900x600.jpg)
![The senior class of 2022 cheers after they get a trivia question correct. Associated Student Body Director Steve Gallagher said that he particularly enjoyed the trivia game. “I like the trivia just because it was really creative,” Gallgher said. “so [it’s] my favorite; I always enjoyed trivia.”](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/edit1-38-900x599.jpg)
![Senior small forward Matt Corrigan defends against a Titan guard in a home game against Gunn on Saturday. The Vikings narrowly lost to a buzzer beater, 31-33. According to senior point guard Max Bonnstetter, the tough loss served as motivation for the team to continue to improve. "I'm proud of my team," Bonnstetter said. "But we're taking this [loss] and we're really gonna remember this and use it as motivation."](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/palygunn-07-900x666.jpg)
![Palo Alto High School freshman shooting guard Natalie Neumann drives past Homestead point guard Naomi Chow in the Paly-Homestead game Tuesday at home. According to Head Coach Scott Peters, the game followed a stretch of three canceled games due to the Omicron variant. "The three teams we were supposed to play [were] all canceled, postponed because of COVID,” Peters said. (Photo: Jonathan Chen)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/COVER_girls_basketball-900x706.jpg)
![Viking senior quarterback Danny Peters runs past a Wildcat defender in Friday night's 0-49 homecoming game loss against Los Gatos. Peters said that the Vikings’ lack of teamwork was a major factor in their loss. “Everyone should have been thinking together as a team and I think that's just what should have happened,” Peters said. “And today, [it] was not — it was all individual stuff and we all got in our own heads and it just didn't work out.” (Photo: Jonathan Chen)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/edit1-50-900x659.jpg)
![Junior Ryan Lee moves a wooden beam on Tuesday for the Class of '23's Spirit Week float outside the Palo Alto High School science building. Students and volunteers have been working together to craft their floats after school. According to Associated Student Body Coordinator Steven Gallagher, float building has received lots of support. "There's been a huge amount of time put into this by students, staff, and parents just to make this [float building] happen," Gallagher said. "I'm just grateful for all the time people have dedicated towards us." (Photo: Jonathan Chen)](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/edit1-27-900x599.jpg)
![Wildfires in California are causing poor air quality throughout the Bay Area throughout the warmer seasons. Palo Alto Unified School District recently announced air quality protocols, stating that indoor COVID procedures will be temporarily suspended when the air quality index reaches 151. [[i think bc this photo was from that one day last year that was crazy it might be either a little weird to have it here or a little weird that it's not mentioned that this was from one of the days last year when the smoke was similarly bad, i would recommend finding a way to solve one of those 2 issues? lmk if u need more guidance on it]] Some community members, including Palo Alto Educators Association President Teri Baldwin, have expressed concerns about COVID safety on smoky days. "We worry about the situation of students in a room with doors and windows closed and no masks when eating," Baldwin stated. "We don’t believe that the ventilation system will keep students safe from spreading and/or contracting COVID inside without a mask." [[i think this quote was earlier on in the story so i'd recommend finding and using a different one]] Photo: Ethan Chen](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Image-from-iOS-900x675.jpg)
![Senior Siddhartha Sahasrabuddhe prepares to pass the ball during the Viking's rivalry game against Gunn Saturday. Although the team lost, 7-10, head coach Ethan Look said he wants to come out stronger for the last few games of the season. "We just got two games left here for finishing out the rest of our league," Look said. "[We have] Wilcox on Tuesday and Los Gatos for senior night, and we'd like to win both and just finish strong on that note, playing the last two games with this group. So we want to give it everything we got."](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/DSC_0127-900x527.jpeg)
