A year of powerful producers: MCHS, 2025-2026
A collage of photos from the Puma Prensa (Ryan Win-Ruan / The Puma Prensa)
By: Ryan Win-Ruan, News Editor, Aiden Damasco, Staff Writer
The 2025-2026 school year can be called many things, but boring certainly isn’t one of them. From academic achievements and athletic pioneers to district problems and international conflict, Maria Carrillo High School has seen it all.
Autumn of 2025 kicked off, quite literally, with massive sports news: The formation of MCHS’s own flag football team sent waves across the school, quickly becoming a popular addition to Carrillo’s already massive selection of sports.
The fall season also introduced the new state-wide phone policy, which, from the beginning of its introduction to Carrillo was met with mixed reviews from students, but received mostly positive feedback from teachers.
Districtwide, the semester also saw the merging of middle and high school campuses at both Santa Rosa High School and Montgomery High School in an attempt to cut down costs due to the school district’s budget crisis.
The Northern Lights appeared over Santa Rosa during the first two weeks of November, leading to beautiful sights all over Sonoma County. The mixes of pinks and purples over a normally dull sky led to views people will never forget.
On the more positive side, AP Psychology was announced during the winter, and will come to Carrillo next year for the 2026-2027 school year. It will be taught by humanities teacher Beth Cuniberti. Students looking for jobs in therapy or in human resources should keep an eye out for this course.
The winter season also brought about some changes to Carrillo. Poetry Out Loud was redone for the 250th anniversary of the United States, removing many of the original and diverse poems that made Poetry Out Loud special. As such, the event was not held at Carrillo this year.
The men’s soccer season for Carrillo was also hard-fought; during their season, they went up against some of the best soccer teams within the North Bay, such as Rancho Cotati and Ukiah, but with overwhelming support from the Puma community, ended the season with a 5-6-9 record.
In spring of 2026, both the usual and the unique took the stage. Student elections, prom, Mulch Madness, and budget crises are all annual events, but this year, they’ve truly stood out in the minds and experiences of those who participated, with new records, breakthroughs, and highlights unlike any seen before.
The yearly tradition of Senior Assassin began once more in the spring, run by senior Annie Lee. During the 85 day game, 139 were eliminated of the 142 participants, and the prize of over 700 dollars was split between the three winners.
And who can forget AP season, which, in a yearly tradition, the entire month of April is spent studying for, before two weeks of tests. According to an email sent by Principal Amy Wiese, 1,060 were to be taken at Maria Carrillo during this time.
On the more infrequent side of things, the crash at Oliver’s and library renovations have certainly made the year even more unique, if not memorable.
Additionally, this year represents a massive shift in our teaching staff, with quite a few teachers leaving or retiring, including but not limited to: Spanish teacher William Huntsinger, math teacher Diane Holly, chemistry teacher Joy Schermer, science teacher Gale Ligotti, and English teacher Timothy Wolcott. These teachers are an integral part of MCHS’ community and history, and their impact will continue to be felt long after they leave.
Carrillo will also see the departures of our current administrator, Kyla BradyLong, Restorative Specialist Lorna McBade, and Head Custodian Fessehai Woldeslassie, who has been with Carrillo ever since its founding in 1996. The additional spirit and support all of these faculty members have provided to the campus will surely be missed. In addition, College & Career Counselor Kimberly Handel will step down from her position and is slated to become a standard counselor for the 2026-2027 school year.
With all of the news and ground-breaking events of this school year, one can only hope that the 2026-2027 academic year lives up to its predecessor.