If you’ve been avoiding Christmas music, you can now listen guilt-free without it interfering with your Apple and Spotify annual listening breakdown. While we might not be a music subscription service, we do have some statistics to share with you, the reader, that we have been gathering all year. We crunched the numbers and tallied the top stories. Without further ado, here is the 2025 Oak Leaf Rewind.
Top 5 most viewed stories
From breaking records to documenting dissent, here are our top five most viewed stories of 2025:
- Police arrest SRJC employee for allegedly stalking VP by Reid Carpenter.
Jordan Mead’s arrest sparked a series of articles after he allegedly stalked SRJC VP Kate Jolly. Mead is currently being held on felony stalking charges, amongst other charges.
- 2. Brittany Force breaks world record at Sonoma Raceway while Anderson, Hagan and Gadson lead their categories heading into Saturday By Yna Bollock and Nick Vides.
Brittany Force broke the world record in Sonoma for fastest NHRA Driver in history, clocking a 3.645 ET at 343.16 mph, becoming officially, again, the fastest woman in automotive racing on earth. A few weeks after publishing, Force broke the record again in Indianapolis, clocking a whopping 3.690 ET at 343.51 mph. The Oak Leaf has been covering the NHRA Sonoma Nationals since 2021.
- Thousands gather all across North Bay for second day of No Kings protests by The Oak Leaf Staff.
After a tumultuous first half of the year, citizens from all over The Bay Area showed up and out to protest the current White House administration.
- Dance students and faculty protest instructor accused of abuse, misconduct and retaliation by Oliver Kindt.
This was the top investigative story of the year. Oak Leaf Editor-in-Chief Oliver Kindt covered a protest against SRJC Dance Coordinator Casandra Hillman, who students and faculty accused of misconduct and abuse. Nearly two dozen protestors gathered outside of dance company auditions. Hillman went on paid leave following the protest and has remained absent from classes since, citing “fear for her safety.”
- Thousands gather across Sonoma County for ‘No Kings’ protests by Debbie Van Dyke, Cristan Molinelli-Ruberto, Kevin Terlizzi-Bowes, Hana Seals, Nick Vides, and Oliver Kindt.
The first “No Kings” protest this year was the largest-scale protest The Oak Leaf has covered in recent years. Reporters were sent all over the North Bay Area, including San Francisco.
Top 5 Countries
Yes, The Oak Leaf had viewers from outside the United States.
- The United States
- China
- Hong Kong. While this is technically a “Special Administrative Region,” the site in which The Oak Leaf runs on, School News Online (SNO), tallies this area separately from China in its analytics.
- United Kingdom
- Singapore
Top 5 States
We knew that California knows how to party, but our No. 2 state left us scratching our heads.
- California
- Virginia
- Texas
- New York
- Washington
Top 5 U.S. cities
Santa Rosa wasn’t a surprise to us, but check out the other ones.
- Santa Rosa, CA
- San Jose, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Ashburn, VA
- Los Angeles, CA
The Oak Leaf staff also took part in an internal poll to show off their top Spotify or Apple songs and albums.
Top Artist
There was not a single repeated top artist amongst Oak Leaf staff. Artists ranged from global pop star Taylor Swift, to Sublime and Kendrick Lamar. Other artists included were Morgan Wallen, Radiohead, Benson Boone and Role Model.
Top Album
No repeats here either amongst staff. Albums included “Folklore” by Taylor Swift, two self-titled albums; “Sublime” and “Jungle,” as well as “Pleased to Meet Me” by The Replacements.
Top Song
Continuing the trend from previous categories, not a single song in any Oak Leaf staff’s top three crossed over with another member. Top songs included “Sex Beat” by The Gun Club, “Why Don’t We Just Dance” by Josh Turner, “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift and “Olympian” by Playboi Carti.
Top Magazine Production Song
Many songs were suggested for this section and yet again, none crossed over with another staff member’s suggestion. The best way to describe the newsroom during the late semester dash to get the fall edition ready to print would have to be “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton.
