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The Student News Site of Torrey Pines High School

The Falconer

  • For further questions, please email [email protected]. Stories will not be posted over the summer break. Please check back on Aug. 11 for stories.
The Student News Site of Torrey Pines High School

The Falconer

The Student News Site of Torrey Pines High School

The Falconer

Claire Zhou

Claire Zhou, Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Design

An equal parts music and riddle enthusiast, junior Claire Zhou enjoys listening to music by Clairo, Big Thief or ​​Adrianne Lenker while solving puzzles on The New York Times. For her second year on the Falconer, Zhou looks forward to maintaining the publication website with the addition of crosswords and other design features while continuing to cover stories in the Carmel Valley community. Outside of the newsroom, she is involved in the Peer Tutoring and the school’s math club. When she’s not in school, Zhou enjoys reading work by Paige Lewis, attempting to write poetry and growing her collection of annotated crunchy literature. Otherwise, she can be found volunteering at a local senior center or binging Gilmore Girls. Someday, Zhou will attend culinary school with her younger sister.

All content by Claire Zhou
The school honors Ava He-Schenk (12) and Ansu Perez (12) with the scholar-athlete award, which awards two student-athletes holding a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 while participating in various sports. Perez played varsity football, wrestling and track and field for shot put and discus, while He-Schenk was a captain of varsity stunt cheer, competition cheer and part of varsity sideline cheer and track and field. Photo courtesy of Scott Perez.

Q&A: Scholar-athletes

Claire Zhou and Jessie Chen May 27, 2026

The school honored Ava He-Schenk (12) and Ansu Perez (12) for the scholar-athlete award, which is given to two student-athletes from each school in the district holding a grade point average (GPA) of at...

The Falconer's weekly crossword.

Sudoku May 20, 2026

Claire Zhou, Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Design May 20, 2026

PM_Config.PM_BasePath = "https://puzzleme.amuselabs.com/pmm/"; Constructed by Claire Zhou using the free sudoku puzzle builder from Amuse Labs

The Falconer's weekly crossword.

Sudoku March 25, 2026

Claire Zhou, Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Design March 25, 2026

Constructed by Claire Zhou with the free sudoku puzzle generator from Amuse Labs

Steve Heimler, better known as the creator behind “Heimler’s History,” breaks down complex, years-long history curriculums into easy-to-follow, simple and humorous videos. After nearly three years, the Falconer returned to interview Heimler on his philosophy regarding teaching, learning and earlier life.

Q&A: Heimler’s History

Claire Zhou and Jessie Chen January 20, 2026

Before thousands of students cram for their Advanced Placement exams, they open their computers and scour YouTube. For more than 1.15 million teachers, students and history enthusiasts, that means...

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