Branham Bear Witness, 1570 Branham Lane, San Jose, CA (2026)

09/05/2026

The girls flag football team played against the Andrew Hill Falcons on Thursday, leaving with a 53-0 win.

Early into the game, sophomore Taylor Williams made defensive plays to set up the Bruins’ offense. This allowed senior Autumn Burns to carry out a touchdown for the Bruins and be the first to get on the scoreboard. An additional point conversion scored by senior Sydney Short added to the Bruins’ points, 7-0.

By the second quarter, the Bruins continued to attack with additional touchdowns and point conversions by Williams and Burns. Short proceeded on the offensive plays by scoring two touchdowns, bringing the score to 41-0 by halftime.

For the second half of the game, Short continued to be a dominating player with a clean interception to add another touchdown to the score sheet. Later, the Bruins decided to make changes by substituting sophomore Audrey Taylor into quarterback. With Taylor in the lead, she supported the Bruins’ score margin by assisting Williams for their final touchdown to end the game in a final score 53-0.

Additionally, JV won 19-0.

The Bruins will travel to the Pioneer Mustangs on Tuesday, with varsity starting at 7 p.m.

Reporting by Vanessa Perez

09/05/2026

The girls volleyball team went up against the Piedmont Hills Pirates on Thursday in a nonleague game, securing a 3-0 win.

Kicking off the opening set, the Bruins battled aggressively and took an early lead. Kills by junior Gunjan Joshi and senior Katelyn Kiratsous contributed major points during the first set. After some crucial blocks and all around defense, the Bruins took the first set 25-14.

Seizing momentum from their win in the first set, the Bruins started off the second set with fierce offense. However, the two teams kept bouncing points back and forth, leading to a tied score at 12-12. The Bruins found their spark again and with a couple of stand out aces from freshman Iona Kwon and senior Sophia Liu, they captured the second set 25-17.

After opening the third set with a single point, the Bruins were met with resistance from the Pirates, making the score 1-3. Senior libero Teagan Cummings made some vital digs that pushed the Bruins back into the set. With big swings from freshman Malia Bradley and blocks from senior Valeriya Tomkiv, the Bruins closed the final set 25-18.

Additionally, JV won 2-0.

The Bruins will play their next game at home against the Presentation Panthers next Tuesday with JV at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 6:45 p.m.

Reporting by Mahi Deo, Anvita Prabhune and Kendall Ladd

09/04/2026

The flag football team played their first home game of the season against the Santa Teresa Saints on Tuesday, bringing home their first win of the season, 38-0.

The Bruins first gained the ball after a 30-yard punt by the Saints. Senior Sydney Short threw the ball to senior receiver Autumn Burns, who scored a touchdown to give them a 7-0 lead. The Saints got the ball back, but sophomore Taylor Williams intercepted the pass and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Bruins a 13-0 lead to end the first quarter.

Freshman Louise Gautier started the second quarter by sacking the Saints quarterback to turn it over. Short and Burns drove the ball 40 yards downfield to get the Bruins closer to the end zone. After multiple runs by the Bruins, Short threw the ball to Williams, who scored a touchdown, giving Branham a 19-0 lead into halftime.

The Bruins kept their lead after halftime with Short returning the opening kick for a touchdown, giving the Bruins a 25-0 lead. Freshman defensive player Olivia Steinhauer blocked passes and sacked the Saints’ quarterback, keeping the 25-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Bruins scored two more touchdowns to end the game 38-0.

After the game, Williams talked about the team’s main goal for this season.

“We definitely need to win league champs again because we were almost undefeated last year, and we are expected to win [Division 1 CCS Championship].”

Additionally, JV won 23-6.

The Bruins will play the Andrew Hill Falcons with JV at 4 p.m and varsity at 5:30 p.m.

Reporting by Hayley Foss and Vanessa Perez

09/02/2026

Can you draw better than this? Consider becoming a Bear Witness Artist!

This is your opportunity to create various illustrations to support the award-winning journalism publication at Branham.

If you are interested, fill out the Artist Interest Form at bit.ly/BWArtist26 (link in bio) by Wednesday, September 9. If you have any questions, contact Art Editor Amelia Martorano ([email protected]).

09/02/2026

Senior Lucia Nguyen pursues her passion and creativity through digital art, oil painting, art programs and many other avenues.

Nguyen has been drawing since before she can remember, and she began digital art during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, she has taken AP 2D Art and Design and created an art account in her sophomore year where she posted short-form video content in the form of comics.

Nguyen attended a pre-college program for illustration and a life drawing course to help develop her technical skills at Otis College of Art and Design this summer. She has changed her art methodology numerous times, becoming a multitalented artist, and has received a lot of praise from others.

“I did oil painting for about two years. I'm resuming it for college art supplementals, to submit with my application,” Nguyen said. “So I've been doing more traditional art like painting recently.”

Aside from her achievements in art, she enjoys using her art diary, where she documents her personal experiences to turn her talent into more of a hobby.

“I take a lot of AP classes, and that stresses me out sometimes, so it encourages me to do art to de-stress,” Nguyen said. “I think it definitely gives me time to relax and do something that isn't device-related because I've gone back more into doing traditional art.”

Although unsure if she will pursue art in her future, she finds that art is important to shape and display how she views the world.

“I just like how I don't just have to use my eyes to interpret the world around me,” Nguyen said. “I can draw how I see things, because I especially like drawing people a lot, and with people I know, I can depict them in a way that's kind of personal to me from my experience with them.”

Reporting by Amelia Martorano and Emiliano Gonzalez

08/29/2026

The football team went up against the San Mateo Bearcats on their Best Buddies night yesterday and lost 21-42.

The Bearcats struck first with a touchdown in the first quarter, followed by a Bruin turnover that gave the Bearcats a 0-7 lead. The Bruins turned it over again, which led to another Bearcat touchdown to make it 0-14.

Junior quarterback Andrew Ho ran it in for a touchdown in the second quarter to make it 6-14. However, the Bearcats responded with another touchdown to give them a 6-21 lead heading into halftime.

At halftime, the Best Buddies club danced to the “Cha Cha Slide,” and the cheer team performed a routine at midfield.

In the second half, the Bruins threw an interception that led to another touchdown, making it 6-28 for the Bearcats. The Bearcats piled on another turnover that led to a touchdown, bringing it to 6-35 in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Bruins would score two more touchdowns to end the game 21-42.

After the game, head coach Tommy McMahon said this was a tough game, but one to learn from.

“[San Mateo] executed very well up front, first and foremost, and those are things that we struggled at tonight,” McMahon said. “I'm excited for the boys to have an opportunity to bounce back from this and take it as a learning lesson and get better for next week in the first spot.”

Additionally, JV won 14-7.

The Bruins will play the Ann Sobrato Bulldogs next Saturday.

Reporting by Cain Cheng

08/29/2026

Girls volleyball is officially back on the court, as the Branham Bruins were matched up against the Harker Eagles on Thursday, where they lost 2-3.

Going into the game, the Bruins and Eagles both have had historically competitive matchups, and this one was no different with the two teams exchanging points back and forth the first set, though the Bruins fell short 28-30.

In the following set, sophomore Evie Park heavily contributed to the team’s success with multiple kills and a trick play to lead Branham to a 25-11 win, tying it at 1-1.

The following two sets would have the Bruins and Eagles trading points, as the teams were set up for a fifth set after the Eagles won the fourth 25-11.

Despite their effort, the Bruins fell short in the fifth set 15-9, resulting in their first loss of the season.

Head coach Heather Cooper spoke on the bond that the players share with one another.

“The one thing I noticed with this varsity squad is that they are extremely a good sisterly bond,” Cooper said. “I think that's going to make a difference on the court.”

The Bruins will play their next game at home against the Piedmont Hills Pirates next Thursday with JV at 5:30 p.m and varsity at 6:45 p.m.

Reporting by Brayden Gassmann

08/28/2026

Branham hosted their annual Back to School Night on Wednesday, an event where parents are presented with the school's environment, teachers and the overall year ahead.

The night started with an introduction in the main gym where Principal Beth Silbergeld outlined the school’s values, logistics and important administrators on campus. Afterward, parents had 10 minute sessions in each of their student’s classes to learn about their teacher’s background and curriculum.

ASB Senior President BeEmnet Amare, who has volunteered at Back to School Night for the past 3 years, enjoys supporting parents and giving them directions to classes despite the swift and sometimes overwhelming communication style.

“My experience is the best because I've been doing this a lot,” Amare said. ”I think that through the years I've known exactly what to say to parents and how to say it.”

To new Assistant Principal Rachel Fainstein, Back to School Night gives insight to parents and guardians on how to support their students.

“I think for some adults, having a face to a name can empower them to reach out if they need extra support from that teacher at home,” Fainstein said.

Amare has met many new faces of parents that help connect her to the student community through Back to School Night.

“I've had one instance where there was this one family I helped all three years,” Amare said. “Their son is going into college now, and so I met him through his parents, and it was cool to get to know people through that.”

Fainstein enjoys that Back to School Night can be a place to meet parents and students and help strengthen the Branham community.

“Education's a very powerful thing, and it can be even more powerful when there's a community supporting students,” Fainstein said. “Seeing that come together I think is pretty awesome.”

Reporting by Emiliano Gonzalez and Amelia Martorano

08/25/2026

Branham will be implementing digital bathroom passes in September of this year.

Classrooms currently use physical, lanyard bathroom passes. However, due to more students wandering the halls in recent years, administrators have decided to begin use of online bathroom passes. These passes, known as FlexiPass, will be located on FlexiSched.

Assistant Principal Scott Savory mentioned the multiple ways that students can access the passes.

“It will be a digital hall pass that you will be able to generate through FlexiSched, and this could be either generated by your teacher, by the student or in a kiosk manner, which would be set up on a Chromebook in your class,” Savory said.

Savory believes this new system will allow students to see the duration of their break easily.

“They can see it right there on their computer instead of having to physically go back, walk and see the paper,” Savory said. “I think it's more accurate data keeping.”

When a student uses one of their five daily bathroom passes, hallway monitors will receive a notification. Monitors will be notified when a student is out too long, and they will be able to identify students in the hallways and ensure they are supposed to be out at that time.

Administration hopes that the new bathroom pass system will encourage students to stay in classrooms rather than wander the halls.

“We want to make sure that we're giving the opportunity for students to be in class more and not be out as much,” Savory said. “Which then also allows students that need to use the restroom to actually be able to use the restroom, and they're not overflooded with students at the same time.”

Savory emphasizes that the program will allow students to take breaks when necessary, but preserve a safe, distraction-free learning environment.

“It's not that we don't want you out of your class,” Savory said. “Definitely get out of your class, get the break that you need, but we don't want it to take away from your learning, which can then ultimately cause a distraction to other classes and teachers.”

Reporting by Amy Gunaseelan

08/22/2026

Host Brayden Gassmann gives a quick preview of what the 2026 fall sports season will look like and some of its key players.

Reporting by Brayden Gassmann
Editing by Patrick Hartford

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