Finola Jackson

Position

Writer

Graduation

Class of 2025

Finola Jackson is a writer for the Berkeley High School Jacket. In her free time, she co-teaches the Willard Mathlete team and plays in the BHS orchestra.

Stylized drawing of an airplane circling a globe with a signpost reading "SAT".

BHS Students face long travels, location changes, to take SAT

News

With a low availability of SAT exam spots in the Bay Area, many Berkeley High School students must take their SAT exam at far away testing locations. This can be a burden to students financially and in regards to transportation.  Magnolia Hougan, a BHS junior, shared that she took her SAT exam in Los Angeles

ADL files federal complaint against BUSD, alleging anti-Semitism on campuses

News

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center released a complaint alleging that BUSD has failed to sufficiently address harassment and discrimination against Jewish-identifying students at elementary, middle, and high schools in the district.

A sunbaked road in CA shows the heat waves that swept through the country this summer.

Extreme summer weather: Students face an irregular climate 

News

At 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, Linden Koshland awoke to a sharp knock at her grandmother’s front door. It was a nightwatchman from the neighborhood, informing residents that a massive fire had started east of downtown Lahaina, Maui.

A hand in a grey sleeve is pressing an elevator button for the first floor.

BHS admin strive towards comprehensive ADA accessibility

News

When the fire alarm sounds, thousands of Berkeley High School students flood through crowded hallways, with little more than a few inches separating bodies.

Admin works to update School Safety Plan

News

The California Education code mandates that all public schools annually submit an updated and reviewed Comprehensive School Safety Plan to the state by March 1.

Students work on homework in the BHS Black Scholars Center

Black Scholars Center expands, gains growth in attendance

News

The Black Scholars Center at Berkeley High School hosts students on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, during seventh period in M-110, to offer academic support in a community based environment.

Athlete Profile: Camille Jacala

Sports

Camille Jacala is a junior at Berkeley High School, and captain of the girls varsity volleyball team. Jacala started playing volleyball at 13, inspired by her mother, who also played.

Camille Jacala

Athlete Profile: Camille Jacala

Sports

Camille Jacala is a junior at Berkeley High School, and captain of the girls varsity volleyball team. Jacala started playing volleyball at 13, inspired by her mother, who also played.

An illustrator of a photo of two people, with "#1" medals in the background

Parental guidance steers legacy athletes

Sports

Mason Mullen, a junior at Berkeley High School, was encouraged to start competing in track and cross country by his mother, who competed in college and qualified for the Olympic trials.

Two students sitting in front of a lake

BHS Students Celebrate Ramadan With “Spirituality and Joy”

Features

“When you see someone starving on the street, it’s like getting a glimpse of what they have to go through on a daily basis,” said Academic Choice junior Afnan Saleh on fasting during Ramadan.

Leticia Amezcua is a parent engagement specialist.

Breaking Barriers: BHS Parent Resource Center Supports Marginalized Families

Features

In high school, Leticia Amezcua, Berkeley High School’s engagement specialist, noticed that her school provided few resources for parents with limited English proficiency.

Switch to Infinite Campus Proves Difficult

Features

After a semester with Infinite Campus, the grade portal that replaced Illuminate Education, teachers and students alike are finally adjusting to the change.

BHS Principal Juan Raygoza operates the new and more effective bell and PA system.

​​Berkeley High Replaces Bell and PA Systems To Mixed Reviews

News

A new bell and public address system made its debut at Berkeley High School on December 6, 2021, to decidedly mixed reviews. While teacher and student sentiments about the new bell sound range from critical to positive, the system now makes it possible for classes to start and end at consistent times, and

BFC and the city provide free health services to unhoused people, including vaccinations.

Berkeley Free Clinic, City Offer Vaccines to Unhoused People

News

Unhoused people face many challenges surrounding receiving medical care in traditional health settings, such as high costs, stigma and discrimination.

The lock to the courtyard housing the welders was found broken after welders were stolen.

Thousands of Dollars Lost After Welders Stolen From BHS

News

Welders with a combined worth of approximately $8,500 were stolen from Berkeley High School campus between the afternoon of October 8 and morning of October 11.

Students at Bishop O’Dowd walked out to protest sexual harm in a movement that shares similarities with the one at BHS.

Schools Follow in Footsteps of BHS Sexual Harm Movement

News

Students at several Bay Area high schools have organized walkouts and movements against sexual harm in recent weeks.  Both Oakland School for the Arts and Bishop O’Dowd High School students, in particular, have organized these events.

Many students at UC Berkeley rely on financial aid.

Student Financial Aid Bill Opposed by California Department of Finance

News

Governor Gavin Newsom will decide by October 10 whether to make financial aid more accessible to low-income students by signing Assembly Bill 1456, which reforms the California Student Aid Commission’s financial aid program.

‘We Need Reinforcements:’ BHS Reacts to Lack of Substitutes

News

Low pay, COVID-19 risk, licensing barriers, and the difficulty of the substitute teaching job all mean that fewer and fewer people are applying for substitute positions.