The Oracle

The Oracle newsroom is proud to celebrate whole-publication and additional honors from the Journalism Education Association of Northern California’s 2026 Annual Contest.

Gunn’s student newspaper placed third in the Best of the West Newspaper category, which honors standout papers in their overall work throughout the year. Judges commented that the paper’s submission “covers a wide range of stories appealing to all aspects of readers’ interests” and called it a “well-designed, attractive publication.”

The Oracle also earned the specialty Nicholas Ferentinos Memorial Press Freedom Award, which recognizes the top entry in the “Press Freedom” category. The winning submission included the news feature “Local, district students protest against ICE” by Gwen Domine, Eanam Maor and Ezra Rosenberg, alongside the staff editorial, “Free speech is a fundamental right, not a privilege.” The paper also placed in 13 other non-specialty categories.

“This is a masterfully written piece that brilliantly advocates for and stresses the importance of the First Amendment,” as written in the Judges’ Comments.

The Olympian, Gunn’s student yearbook and Oracle’s sister publication, earned high recognition in the Chronological Spread, Endsheet/Divider/Colophon and Theme/Concept Development Package categories.

These accolades from reflect the dedication of both staff rooms in documenting the 2026-27 school year. The Oracle extends its gratitude to KGB and the Gunn community for the continued support of student media.

Caption and design by Sylvie Nguyen.

With the Class of 2026 graduation ceremony on June 4, The Oracle also wanted to send off its seniors with a post featuring photos from graduation day and this year’s Legacy Party. Congratulations, everyone!

Photos compiled by Athena Gap, Ezra Rosenberg, Mayher Fulani, Melody Song, Sarah Grupenhoff and Vaani Saxena. Design by Sylvie Nguyen.

Applause filled the Spangenberg Theater as senior after senior rose to accept awards and scholarships at the annual Senior Awards Night on Thursday, May 28.

The event began with Assistant Principal Harvey Newland giving opening remarks. Next, presenters including Newland, College and Career Information Specialist Leighton Lang and representatives of awarding organizations handed out 18 different scholarships to the seniors, including memorial, private and community scholarships. The event ended with an announcement and celebration of seniors who qualified as National Merit Scholar finalists and monetary scholars based on PSAT scores and academic achievement.

According to Newland, Lang oversees the year-long process of communicating with different scholarship providers, outputting scholarship application information to students and communicating with recipients of awards and families. For Lang, being able to help students apply for scholarships and navigate the costs of education is extremely fulfilling.

“I get up and do what I love every single day,” he said. “I’m living my dream to be able to give students the opportunity to apply for these scholarships. There’s students who can’t afford to pay to go to school, and they need these other opportunities, and for us to bring these community organizations together that want to do (that) is an awesome thing.”

National Merit Monetary Scholar senior Kabir Mahajan was grateful for the aid and sense of fulfillment from the scholarship.

“It’s really nice to have the financial help of the award, and (receiving the scholarship) is a nice way to end off (my) four years,” he said.

For Newland, the opportunity to emcee the event and see student success was both exciting and inspiring.

“(This event) means a lot to me,” he said. “I have a lot of fun just emceeing it, and just seeing everyone up here for the last time, because they’re going to be going off in different directions (soon) after this.”

Caption and photos by Athena Gao.

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