Each year, students take on Quest, a year-long passion project where students propose and explore topics of their own choosing. This year’s Quest will culminate in the Quest Expo, held on Apr. 15, which will feature presentations and opportunities for students to explore and admire each other’s endeavors.
Clothing as a Canvas – Anna D. ’29
For her Quest project, Anna D. ’29 has been taking undecorated clothing items and using different artistic means to bring them to life. Working across a wide range of materials—from bleach to embroidery—she’s produced pieces like a white T-shirt inspired by Tyler The Creator, and jeans featuring detailed portrayals of a tiger, ocean waves, and koi fish.
“It’s adding whimsy to blank clothing items,” said Anna.
Water Rockets – Mo C. ’27
Drawing from previous Quests and classes, Mo C. ’27 has been building and launching small rockets made from emptied soda bottles.
Throughout the process, Mo says he’s been able to take his knowledge from his classes and integrate it into the project: “It’s been neat to see how I can apply my math knowledge to solve a problem in the real world and make something work,” said Mo.
San Francisco: Cultural Enclaves – Sean L. ’29
Sean L. ’29 has spent his Quest time exploring San Francisco’s cultural enclaves and compiling all of his findings into a local travel guide. The project started with a primary focus on Chinatown, but quickly expanded to include North Beach, the Mission District, Castro, Japantown, and more. A typical enclave exploration for Sean starts with a quick round of research on the area. From there, he plans a travel day where he will visit unique locations in the enclave, such as restaurants and local landmarks. Finally, he combines his observations of the area with additional research to complete his journal entry for the location.
Fall Risk Smart Insole – Zoe K. ’28
Zoe K. ’28 entered Quest with one goal: to ensure the safety of senior citizens at risk of falling. With many of the current products on the market being clunky, heavy, and inconvenient for many seniors, Zoe has spent her time developing an insole to track the wearer’s movement and health. Her current prototype consists of the hardware and sensors of the insole itself, as well as the software that goes into creating the app connected to the hardware. In the future, Zoe hopes to keep iterating on her design to make it more accessible for seniors and their caregivers to use.
Slice of Sunshine Bakery – Sophia A. ’26 & Sydney L. ’26
For their Quest project, Sophia A. ’26 and Sydney L. ’26 decided to turn a shared hobby into a business. The two had long bonded over a love of baking, and frequently visited each others’ houses to experiment with new recipes. Later, they decided to channel that passion into building a business: Slice of Sunshine Bakery, a pop-up store specializing in butter mochi.
On Mar. 25, Sophia and Sydney held their first bake sale in the cafe, offering rich, chewy slices of mochi in a variety of flavors: matcha, guava, black sesame, and original. Going forward, both seniors hope to continue holding pop-ups in San Mateo, with a portion of all proceeds going to the SF Marin Food Bank.
Marine Biology Notebook – Ella Y. ’29
From what was originally a blank notebook, Ella Y. ’29 has created a captivating piece of art based on her love of marine biology. Each page of her notebook is filled with detailed research, intricate watercoloring, and comprehensive notes on multiple different marine species.
Throughout the project, Ella has focused on the details: conservation efforts, geographical locations, habitat, and much more. Ella chose the project through her passion for marine sciences, and focused on a goal of learning more about species to which she has a personal connection.
