The inkblot issue 4 volume 14

Page 14 Valentine’s Day is passé

SPORTS

Page 7 Bilingual students talk it up

OPINION

Page 2 NAHS debuts Snapchat geotag

F E AT U R E S

NEWS

March 3, 2016 PAGE 3: Winter Ball Recap

Page 15 Students play multiple sports

BLOT PHOTO BY MEAGAN MCDOWELL CHS students take part in a conga line at Winter Ball.

Communications High School, Wall, New Jersey

Volume 15, Issue 4

www.THEINKBLOTNEWS.com

Compatibility test says love is, in fact, a game

By JACKIE GELLER Love is in the air here – or at least on paper.

The junior class brought back their annual Compatibility Game to spread some cheer before Valentine’s Day. Junior adviser and fitness teacher Ginny Clevenger has run the event with her classes since 2005, since the idea of hosting a school-wide game was hers.

Junior Class Council Member Kathryn Willis of Tinton Falls said she is a fan of the game.

“It’s always been a nice, fun thing to get people in the mood for Valentine’s Day,” Willis said.

Students were given a questionnaire with inquiries ranging from their hobbies to their opinions on love at first sight, and then they later had the option to buy their result sheets for $2. Willis said the profits from the fundraiser will go toward major events for the juniors next year, such as prom, the class trip and the senior dinner.

“All that we really have to worry about is getting the word out and getting people to participate, which hasn’t been a huge challenge,” Willis said. “Mrs. Clevenger is a great help with organizing the results and physically sending them out.”

The answers were sent to a company that looks at each person’s answers and calculates their dream match and worst nightmare, along with the school’s most compatible girl and guy.

This year, the most compatible girls were EE, GC, JF, KE and ND, while the five most compatible guys were AC, AW, JW, LM and TR, Clevenger said.

Sophomore Christina Flynn of Middletown said she thought the junior’s fundraiser was successful this year.

“I know, for me at least, it’s very funny to see who you are ‘compatible with.’ I will definitely participate in the compatibility test next year,” Flynn said.

Junior Matt Miller of Wall said he thinks the test is an opportunity to meet new friends.

“I think the compatibility test is a fun and cute little way to meet somebody you haven’t necessarily talked to at CHS before,” Miller said.

BLOT PHOTO BY SARAH TAKASH

Ginny Clevenger, the Teacher of the Year Award for the 2015-16 school year, oversees her sophomore class during a game of volleyball.

Clevenger honored as Teacher of the Year

By MATT MILLER Junior Class Council Member Kathryn Willis of Tinton Falls said the Class of 2017 wouldn’t be the same without its adviser, fitness teacher Ginny Clevenger.

“She gets things done and plays a key role in council while still allowing us to run things the way we want to.,” Willis added.

“Certainly we would find it a lot more difficult to function if we didn’t have her, and I’m glad she is being recognized,” Willis said.

Clevenger won the Teacher of the Year award for the 2015-16 school year.

School nurse Dorothy Condon was also recognized as the Faculty Member of the Year.

The honor is given to teachers and supporting staff members who go above and beyond their duties in the school system to give students the best learning experience possible, Principal James Gleason said.

Both Clevenger said Condon said they were surprised but grateful to be Teacher and Faculty Member of the Year.

“I guess it’s nice to be recognized. I don’t really like any sort of recognition, but it is nice to be appreciated,” she said.

BLOT PHOTO BY SYDNEY FOO SIAM School Nurse Dorothy Condon in her office. Condon was recognized as Faculty Member of the Year after she was selected by a committee at the district level.

To be awarded the title, teachers, students and faculty members are asked to submit letters of recommendation to Gleason.

“I notify the staff as well as the students, so I send an email out to all. Then, I request letters of recommendation. I put a deadline on that, and once the due date is here, I collect all the letters that have come to me, and I forward that to a committee that’s composed up at the district level,” Gleason said.

The committee then selects a Teacher and Faculty Member of the Year.

Once the staff members are selected, they are notified and invited to a reception in their honor.

The district also supplies them with $500 each to spend within the school or for an educational purpose.

Clevenger said she plans to invest the money in new gym equipment or possibly a class iPad. Junior Sarah Lang of Monmouth Beach said she thinks very highly of Clevenger and is happy she was recognized.

“Mrs. Clevenger has proved that she is a great teacher by passing on her passion of physical fitness onto her students, including those who had disliked gym and sports before taking her class,” Lang said.

Junior Abigail Silva of Neptune said she thinks Condon was rightfully awarded as well.

“I think it’s very impressive that she acts as a teacher and also the school nurse and that she takes on two roles.”

Condon said she truly appreciates engaging with CHS students on a daily basis.

“I really enjoy working with the kids here, so it’s just nice,” Condon said. “It’s a nicey nice thing.”

Informational program at CHS seeks to bring “Monmouth in Focus”

BLOT PHOTO BY KAT HOLTZ Senior Nick Haaf of Colts Neck is one of five upperclassmen who serve as camera operators for “Monmouth in Focus.”

By ARIELLE COHEN Eleven CHS juniors and seniors were selected from a pool of applicants to work with the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders to create the “Monmouth in Focus” program in the newly-renovated broadcast studio.

“Monmouth in Focus” is an informational program featuring the Board of Chosen Freeholders that informs residents about happenings within county borders, Principal James Gleason said.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders is composed of five elected residents of Monmouth County who are in charge of both legislative and executive affairs, according to the Monmouth County website.

They are also in charge of the “Monmouth in Focus” program, hosted by Cynthia Scott.

The show was previously produced at Brookdale Community College, but the program was moved to CHS after the TV studio remodel, TV teacher

Jennifer Cornine said.

She also serves as the adviser of the program.

“It only made sense for the Freeholders to come take a look at us, and they were thrilled with what they saw, thrilled with the technology that’s at CHS … [they] were very confident the kids at CHS would be able to get the job done well for them,” Cornine said.

Cornine acts as a liaison between the Board of Freeholders and the student-run production team and supervises, provides a

input and guides them, she said.

But the show is mostly run by the students.

“Monmouth in Focus” is produced after school in the TV studio on the first Wednesday of every month, with its first shoot finished on Feb. 3, Cornine said.

Senior Tommy Fletcher of Wall serves as the program’s director.

[See MONMOUTH IN FOCUS, from Page 1]

2

the inkblot march 3, 2016

The Inkblot is on Snapchat!

We asked you to send us snaps using the CHS geotags – and you didn’t let us down. Here are some of our favorites.

Add us at theinkblotnews.

NAHS puts Communications on Snapchat map

By KYLIE LAMB The National Art Honor Society has found another creative outlet for students: the Snapchat geotag filters.

After hearing of similar competitions, NAHS Vice President Mike Hom of Manalapan said he thought having students design filters would be a fun way to get more people involved in the club.

Members submitted designs to the council, who narrowed the entries down to the three best based on style, color, placement and portrayal of the school, NAHS adviser Shelley Ortner said.

Those three were then brought to Principal James Gleason, who approved the filter he thought represented CHS in the most imaginative way.

Ultimately, NAHS and Gleason selected the design by junior Julie Alter of Freehold.

“Though I originally decided to make one for the hour of service towards the club, I liked how my design developed,” Alter said. “I wanted to simply show all the

BLOT INFOGRAPHIC BY JULIE ALTER

Survey of 248 students on Jan. 27, 2016

programs offered by the school, and I think the blue color scheme brought it together.”

The day after the winning filter was debuted, a second, non-NAHS-affiliated filter was added.

Art Editor Sally Bonecki of Middletown said at a meeting on Jan. 20 that she thought the addition of another filter was slightly disrespectful.

“We just think they should’ve considered their disrespect towards those who rightfully submitted their designs and were not chosen,” she said.

“They avoided the whole process while we were trying to choose the right design that best represented the school.”

NAHS member and senior Jennifer Villavicencio of Asbury Park disagreed.

Snapchat allows multiple filters for one location. and “having two doesn’t take away from the NAHS filter,” she said. “Although they didn’t submit through the contest, the school’s approval isn’t required to submit to Snapchat.”

Alter said she doesn’t mind.

“It could’ve just been an honest mistake by someone not in the club,” she said. “It’s fine, and both filters look good.”

“Somewhere, Nowhere” finds its place at CHS

By ALLIE BEEKMAN and AVERY LIMA The Drama Club’s spring production of “Somewhere, Nowhere” is scheduled for April 29, 2016. Senior Olivia Keavey of Shrewsbury will direct.

“Somewhere, Nowhere” is a fulllength play made up of four one-act plays, where the characters change and grow as they try to decide whether to stay close to home or not after high school. Keavey said the decision to perform this play had a lot to do with the actors.

“We wanted a bigger show that was a comedy, and we think we have great actors, so we wanted to choose a show that we felt could show off their acting jobs,” she said.

The Drama council chose Keavey to direct after she starred in three Drama Club productions in the past, taking on roles as Martha Cratchit in “A Christmas Carol”, Agent 99 in “Get Smart” and Juror No. 3 in “Twelve”. Producer and senior Olivia Malesco of Middletown said Keavey was a great choice.

“Our past director … had other responsibilities in the spring, and she ended up stepping down, and we just looked at who we thought would be the most qualified.

“We talked a lot about it, and we thought Olivia would just be a great choice since she was such a wonderful actress in

Your support helps The Inkblot maintain its financial independence.

thanks our donors

We sincerely appreciate your continued support.

Interested in becoming a patron or subscriber of The Inkblot?

Please contact Managing Editor Tommy Fletcher for more information or a sign-up form.

Deborah Alfano The Alter Family The Badaracco Family Laurie & Ken Bender Jerry Brown Richard & Linda Bionecki The Bruneau Family The Collins Family The Compagni Family The Cooney Family The Davis Family The Dellis Family The DeRose Family The DeStefano Family The Escueta Family The Fenniman Family The Ferarro Family The Fletcher Family The Garelli Family The Gibson Family The Harris Family The Harvey Family The Hennessy Family

The Hession Family The Howes Family The Judge Family The Klemm Family The Lalor Family William & Maria Lamb The Lang Family The LaRoche Family The Lautenberg Family Joseph & Roberta Lipanovski The Macri Family The Mannion Family The Mauer Family The McDowell Family The Miller Family The Moore Family The Mopsick Family The Morton Family The Mullan Family The Nastasi Family The Neuwirth Family The Nolan Family The Padala Family

The Paglia Family The Pardee Family The Rademacher Family The Raymond Family The Robinson Family Stacy & Howard Ross The Ryan Family Ray & Jody Sackett The Savage Family Sydney Smith & Family The Soltys Family The Spiezia Family The Takash Family The Thomson Family The Thompson Family The Topper Family The VanBrunt Family The Wallach Family Gary M. Wheeler, D.M.D. The Wilenta Family The Winzer Family The Wren Family Donna Yaron

the last couple shows,” Malesco said.

Several returning Drama Club members, including sophomore Jonathan Slovak of Spring Lake Heights, said they have enjoyed working on the production so far.

“Drama Club this year has been fun and laid back. We have a lot of new members, and everybody is getting to know each other,” Slovak said.

Freshman Gia Caruso of Howell is also a returning member of the Drama Club.

“The show always turns out great, and the actors are so wonderful … the whole experience is so great. I’d recommend it to anyone,” Caruso said.

Assistant Director and junior Annie

Ruoff of Monmouth Beach said the roles for “Somewhere, Nowhere” were easier to cast than the club’s fall production, “Twelve.”

“We definitely have a bigger cast for this one, and I think the different thing about the characters is a lot of the characters in the show are teenagers, and so the roles were almost easier to cast because we didn’t have to think about stretching the age gaps,” Ruoff said.

Keavey said she’s confident that the show will be a success.

“I think we have a great cast; we have great people working behind the scenes. I think the show’s going to come together,” Keavey said.

[MONMOUTH IN FOCUS, from Page 1] “The Freeholders come in and provide the script and pretty much everything else. We basically put the show together, and it’s my job to make sure everything works out,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher’s right-hand man is junior John Hennessey of Middletown, who is the show’s technical director. “‘Monmouth in Focus’ is an invaluable opportunity for me to apply what I learn in class to a real world work environment,” Hennessey said.

Other staff include juniors Jack Mannion of Belmar on audio, Linda

Badaracco of Lincroft on teleprompter, Kat Holtz of Hazlet as a production assistant and Leo Ross of Fair Haven and Sam Bender of Neptune as camera operators.

Seniors Kelly Kay of Monmouth Beach, Connor Duffy of Freehold and Nick Haaf of Colts Neck also act as camera operators, and Cayla Harris of Manalapan runs graphics.

The “Monmouth in Focus” program “gives students that are working on the program real-world experience,” Gleason said.

“That is just invaluable, especially if they are looking to pursue a career in media.”

Visit TheInkblotNews.com for continuous breaking news, updates, polls and more.

3

the inkblot march 3, 2016

BLOT PHOTO BY CATHERINE ESCUETA

From left: Juniors Sarah Lang of Monmouth Beach, Elizabeth DeFuria of Manalapan, Sydney Foo Siam of Millstone and Kathryn Willis of Tnton Falls danced to “The Cotton-Eyed Joe” at Winter Ball 2016.

Winter Ball takes CHS out for a night in NYC

BY JULIA PARDEE Rome wasn’t built in a day. But somehow, New York City was built in a high school cafeteria in under four hours.

For this year’s Winter Ball on Jan. 8, the Class of 2018 brought the Big Apple to CHS with preparations beginning nearly six months before the event, sophomore Class President Ebbie Shim of Spring Lake Heights said. The theme was “Winter in the City.”

“We actually started back in June, but we really went in-depth in August when we had a little meeting at Barnes and Noble,” Shim said.

“From there, we started in September. First, we thought of a theme. Then we thought of special commit-

Preparation for Winter Ball begins in August.The a council meets at a Barnes and Noble.

tees, and then we kind of went from there.”

Council members led each of the four special committees: food, ticket sales, advertising and decorating.

Shim headed food, while Vice President Jackie Geller of Manalapan took ticket sales and Council Members Matt Avena and Christina Alfano, both of Middletown, led advertising and decorating, respectively. Council Member Maura DeRose of Belford served as the special event planner.

The class council led the committees, Spanish teacher and Class of 2018 adviser Karen Britto said. Preparation for the event was a joint effort between the class council and the sophomore class, she added.

“They worked very hard – not just the council but a lot

The Council and class members decide on the theme – “Winter in the City”.

BLOT PHOTO BY SARAH TAKASH Sophomores Emma Wilenta of Wall, left, and Audrey Mannion of Brielle hang up the final decorations before the start of the dance.

Committees form to work on food, ticket sales, advertising and decorations.

of volunteers from the class. There were particularly a lot of students that helped out with decorations,” Britto said.

With lots of help and enthusiasm, Shim said the set-up for the event was more upbeat than stressful.

“It was actually really fun. [The council] all met in the cafeteria, and we gave a little pep talk. We sang happy birthday to Jackie, and we split people up into different sections, like who was going to decorate different things, and from there, we kind of worked until we were done.”

With the Class of 2018’s months of preparation, Britto said the night was worth the hard work since the event raised over $3,000.

“The students really, really worked tirelessly to make sure it looked amazing, and it did,” Britto said.

Volunteers meet the afternoon before the dance to set up and make final plans for the dance.

BLOT PHOTO BY CATHERINE ESCUETA Freshmen Grace Treshock of Monmouth Beach, left, and Bridget Woodrow of Belmar dance together during the “Winter in the City”-themed dance.

The Class of 2018 raises over $3,000 for their senior prom and class trip.

BLOT PHOTO BY CATHERINE ESCUETA Juniors Catherine La Roche of Ocean, left, and Abigail Silva of Neptune party with a group of their friends in the center of the dance floor.

Contributions to this page by Mark DiSpigna

cluos l

4

Creating a club requires dedication, time

By SAMANTHA DELLIS While there are numerous clubs at CHS, not every hobby and interest is represented. Creating a new club may seem intimidating to some, but four students actually did it – creating two clubs in the past few years.

Junior Steven Topper of Ocean said he realized the need for a Chess Club during his sophomore year.

“I sent out a survey to the school about an idea for a chess club or chess team.

There was a lot of support and people filling out the survey, and I even got an offer to help out with creating the club from John Hennessey, our current co-president,” Topper said.

From there, Co-Presidents Topper and junior John Hennessey of Middletown

asked a few teachers to advise the club before physics teacher Steve Godkin agreed to oversee it. This year, the Chess Club enlisted 20 members at the Club Fair and currently has about nine regular members, Topper said.

“Chess Club has given me the opportunity to bring together a group of people to do something they enjoy.

I have had a blast playing alongside and against the others in the club and hope to continue playing with them for the rest of our time here,” Topper said.

Co-Presidents of the Fashion Club, juniors Karly Nolan of Bradley Beach and Julia Pardee of Freehold said they thought of the idea for their club during sophomore fitness class.

“The process of actually

Club Briefs

BLOT PHOTO BY SARAH TAKASH

BLOT PHOTO BY SARAH TAKASH

From left: Junior Annie Ruoff of Monmouth Beach, seniors Olivia Keavey of Shrewsbury and Olivia Malesco of Middletown and junior Rebecca Cleffi of Manasquan will partake in the spring production of “Somewhere, Nowhere”.

BLOT PHOTO BY MEAGAN McDOWELL

Junior Kierin Rogers of Keansburg donates blood in this year’s NHSsponsored blood drive, hosted by the Central Jersey Blood Center.

By EMMA HECHT After hosting the Halloween Dance and raising money from two other fundraisers, the freshman council is now focusing on hosting some activities to unite the class as a whole.

The council is considering hosting a movie day after school and is open to other ideas.

The class color will be turquoise, and class apparel is on sale.

Meetings are held every Tuesday during the second half of lunch in room 202, and all class members are invited to attend.

Nolan and Topper both said creating a club involves giving time and effort, but it’s worth the trouble if you are passionate about what you do.

“If you want to create a club, make sure it’s about something you really enjoy doing, because you’ll end up putting a lot of effort into your club. Don’t just do it to get leadership hours – that’s no fun,” Nolan said.

“Stick to your idea.

There’s always someone else who shares the same ideas as you and will either attend, help out with or help lead that club alongside you. Even if you start with an unofficial club, just a group of people who likes doing something together, you could create a club of people who share the same interest,” Topper said.

CCC

The DV Club discusses events at their weekly Monday meeting.

Freshman

starting the club was easier than I thought, especially since Fashion Club is unofficial. All Julia and I needed was an adviser and a room to hold meetings in. Everything that came after was much harder,” Nolan said. “I didn’t realize how much time went into organizing a 20-minute meeting, which, for us, usually includes researching trends and trying out crafts and making food to bring in.”

Nolan said it’s nice to be a part of a club entirely based on interest.

“Since it isn’t a serious environment, no one is really there to get community service hours or to add it to a list of extracurriculars. It seems like students show up because they just want to be there, which makes us so happy.” she said.

By SAMANTHA DELLIS The Cultural Communications Club volunteered at Special Olympics bowling Feb. 6 in Lakewood.

The club is plans a Zumbathon in March, which will cost $10 to attend.

All proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

CCC’s primary focus is the Cultural Festival, said club adviser Sabina Campbell.

The festival will take place on April 8.

Food donations and performances are needed for the festival, and anyone interested should contact either Council Member Julia Feigus or President Sam Dellis.

Breakfast sales will continue every Friday morning and exit sales will continue every Monday afternoon.

All proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Cookie, chips and salsa donations are also being accepted and should be dropped off in Sra. Campbell’s room.

Digital Video

By ANGELINA CHENG and MARISSA HO The Digital Video Club is currently making music videos with songs that were assigned to them

by DV teacher David Salowe. Each group is working on a different video.

Freshman Kail Ying of Manalapan said that he is filming his first video.

“I am producing a coming of age/youth romance film in the form of a music video,” Ying said.

Senior and Digital Video Club member Jane Maloney of Middletown said that other club members are making 5x5 documentaries, which are films made of five five-

Sophomore

By KYLE GALVIN The sophomore council met to announce that Winter Ball had profits of over $3,000. After expenses for the event were accounted for, such as the cost of hiring a DJ and any food the council had to buy using class funds, the total class profit was $2,700, according to Class of 2018 Council Member Maura DeRose of Middletown.

All volunteers were thanked for helping with any contribution they made.

The next major sophomore class event, Battle of the Bands, which will be held on April 20.

Junior

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Instructional Council changes DEAR schedule, funds fridge

By JULIA PARDEE Instructional Council met in January to discuss various issues prevalent at CHS. For several years, official clubs have requested to fund a locked refrigerator exclusive for club fundraising events, and the Instructional Council organized this purchase.

The refrigerator will be placed in the cafeteria in the upcoming weeks, Principal James Gleason said.

Additionally, DEAR has also been lessened in frequency from a weekly basis to a monthly one, due to its impact on classes and student input.

This schedule change was implemented with the new semester.

Instructional Council is also beginning to select summer reading books.

second clips.

The club is also encouraging all filmmakers to submit anything they’ve made to several film festivals, Maloney said.

Drama Club

By TORI FERRARO and MARIE SCHOBEL The Drama Club has decided to perform the play “Somewhere, Nowhere” for its spring production.

Performances are planned for the last weekend in April at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove.

Senior Olivia Keavey of Shrewsbury is directing the play, while senior Olivia Malesco of Middletown serves as producer.

The cast list is posted outside of the TV/Radio Studio.

Lit Mag

By KAROLINE WINZER At the beginning of 2016, the Lit Mag made a New Year’s Resolution — to make club meetings more engaging for their members, said Editor-in-chief and senior Darcy Darbin of Middletown.

To do it, Lit Mag has introduced author presentations to their meetings.

Formerly, members would respond to timed writing prompts about random subjects, such as “rain” and “dawning.” But now, the club’s staff gives author presentations instead.

The presentations include explanations of an author’s life and writings. Then together, the club cumulatively reads an excerpt of the author’s work.

Members are then prompted to write a piece inspired by the author’s writing style and content. These piec-

es are due by the next meeting, where the pieces are shared and a new author is presented.

“The new set-up will involve the club members more and give students a fun chance to exercise their creative writing abilities in school,” Darbin said.

Freshman Connor Martin of Spring Lake Heights is a member of the Lit Mag and said he enjoys the new meeting structure.

“The author presentations have helped engage and teach members while attracting new ones,” Martin said. “A knowledge of famous authors is important to develop your own personal style.”

NHS

By SARAH LYNCH New and old NHS members divided into committees on Jan. 13, including beautification, public relations, fundraising, tutoring and the blood drive.

The NHS Blood Drive campaign began with a visit from Jessica Law, a blood drive representative, informing junior and seniors of participating in the blood drive on March 1.

Parents are also invited to participate in giving blood and should contact NHS adviser and math teacher Justine Lane for more information.

NHS also hosted an herb workshop on Feb. 18 and 19.

Photo Club

By TORI FERRARO and MARIE SCHOBEL The Photo Club plans workshops about fashion photography to prepare for CHS’s annual fashion show on Friday, March 4.

Winter Ball photos were also uploaded to Google Drive.

Class Councils

By SARAH LYNCH The junior class council, with input from the grade, narrowed down their list of potential prom locations to less than 10.

Class adviser and fitness teacher Ginny Clevenger and the council have also been communicating with the rest of the class about class trip ideas. The Compatibility Game results, a fundraiser hosted by the Class of 2017, were available for purchase on Jan. 28.

Junior class exit sales continue to be held at the end of the school day on Tuesdays.

Senior

By CAYLA HARRIS The senior council is currently beginning prom preparations.

Class committee heads were also assigned.

Justin Ortiz of Middletown and Olivia Palmieri of Millstone will head the Decorations Committee, Alyssa DiNatale of Howell will head Advertising and Julia Rongo of Middletown will head Logistics.

The council and Decorations Committee heads will visit Trump International Golf Course later this month to plan setup and layout.

the inkblot march 3, 2016

AP Calc to sophomore physics: a tough course for every grade

By SARAH LYNCH Despite a uniform all-honors curriculum, certain classes at CHS seem to challenge students more than the rest.

Guidance counselor Sandra Gidos said that there is a specific class for every grade level that students tend to struggle with every year.

“Freshman year … English I and History classes are the ones that students find hardest during their transition. Sophomore year, hands down, it would be Physics,” Gidos said.

“Then, junior year, it’s a mix, because students are in different math classes. But by senior year, Calculus or AP Calculus are some of the things I will hear from students.”

While the majority of students may struggle with traditionally ‘hard’ classes, students have different feelings overall on whether core classes or electives are more difficult.

Senior Tanner Richardett of Tinton Falls said core classes at CHS have always been a bigger challenge than theme-based classes to him.

“The subjects taught in our electives at CHS have always come pretty naturally to me, since I was pretty much raised using and teaching myself the technology we use,” Richardett said.

Junior Jaime Tirrell of Long Branch said she felt differently.

“Electives are more challenging for me, because they are in my desired career field. I want

to make sure that I am doing my absolute best to see if I have what it takes to work in the communications field,” Tirrell said.

Junior and senior years, students can choose electives.

Tirrell said she chose challenging electives in her junior year to start narrowing down on a career path.

“I figured I would see what I love doing and rule out what I don’t like doing in high school, for free, rather than waste a lot of money in college trying to figure out what job I want to do.”

Richardett said he had his intended major, Music Industry/Technology, in mind when choosing electives for his senior year as well.

“I chose Advanced Physics primarily because of the major I’ll be in when I go off to college … which is going to require engineering-level physics,” Richardett said.

“I figured getting a head start on it by taking Advanced Physics my senior year would give me an upper hand when I have to do more complicated work in college.”

Gidos said she feels college plays a major role for rising upperclassmen while choosing their electives.

“They want the students to be challenged, from what I read and what I hear from college admissions reps. It’s the number one thing that they look for,” Gidos said.

Senior helps develop new video game

By JUSTIN BOLDT Senior Josh Ehling’s mentorship experience has been more than just a game.

During the past few months, Ehling of Freehold has worked with N-Fusion Interactive, a video-game developing company based in Manalapan.

The company, founded in 1997, serves to bring “new and exciting entertainment experiences to a wide audience,” according to its website.

At N-Fusion, he has been playing an important part in the development of a new game, “Ember.”

It’s an isometric RPG (role-playing game) that N-Fusion has been working on for around 10 years, Ehling said.

“What’s cool is I got to beta test through the game.”

One of his tasks is keeping track of any issues that pop up while playing the game.

“I was keeping comments,” Ehling said. “These

BLOT PHOTO BY MEAGAN MCDOWELL

Senior Josh Ehling completed his mentorship at N-Fusion in Manalapan.

aren’t just comments like ‘Oh, that was a cool thing’ – this was critically analyzing every aspect of the game.”

Mentorship teacher Bill Bengle said Ehling’s choice in of N-Fusion was a unique one.

“I believe he was only the second student to actually work with a gaming company, which is pretty cool,” Bengle said. But “cool” or not, the

mentorship was fitting.

“Students are encouraged to go out and seek a business based on their own career goals and interests,” Bengle said.

When it comes to careers, Ehling said he sees this as a great opportunity for a job.

“What better way to look at game development than to work at a game developer,” Ehling said.

ROVING

REPORTER

Freshman Liam Marshall of Sea Girt “The Bahamas, because it’s so peaceful and relaxing.”

1 in 300

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM LAROCHELLE

LaRochelle competes at Miss Teen New Jersey

By ELIZABETH KLEMM Sophomore Sam LaRochelle of Middletown stood confidently as Juror No. 10 in the Drama Club’s fall production of “Twelve,” but standing confidently is no longer acting for her.

LaRochelle competed in her first pageant last Oct. 16.

LaRochelle didn’t place in the Miss Teen NJ pageant, but said she was up against many girls who had much more contact with pageants as well as coaches and agents.

“It was a great experience nonetheless,” La Rochelle said. “I found it empowering, and I definitely left with more confidence than I had originally.”

“I would love to compete in more pageants if I could find the sponsorship,” LaRochelle said.

She said she would stick to pageants within the Miss Universe Organization, who also run the Miss Teen NJ pageant.

LaRochelle’s mom introduced the pageant to her as a scholarship opportunity.

She researched the event and decided to take part because “they’re actually a lot different than you would think.”

LaRochelle said that pageants are based on the “poise with which you walk and your confidence,” instead of appearances.

Judges awarded scores based on the three portions of the event: interview, swimsuit and evening gown, LaRochelle said.

“The most point-based system is the interview, which is where they get to know who you are, and that isn’t seen in any of the televised versions,” LaRochelle said.

She said she believes this contributes to stereotypes about pageants.

Within the swimsuit portion, judges awarded points based on confidence and a healthy body for the contestant’s body type.

The evening gown portion of the competition was critiqued based on poise and an elegant walk, LaRochelle said.

The competition was preceded by a seminar that provided contestants with interview tips and a quick lesson about how to walk properly.

The interview tips included not to smell too heavily of perfume and to be open and honest with the judges, LaRochelle said.

The Miss Teen NJ pageant was a weekend-long event where LaRochelle met many people.

“I had a roommate that was super sweet … and I made a lot of friends there, and I still keep in touch with a lot of them, so it was a lot of fun,” she said.

In addition to meeting new friends, the Miss Teen NJ pageant helped LaRochelle acquire new confidence.

“I felt important in a weird way. I was taught to walk with confidence, and that’s really cool,” she said.

Q: If you could live in one place forever, where would it be and why?

Sophomore Courtney Kushnir of Colts Neck

“I would probably live in Brooklyn, because it’s not right in the city, but it’s close. It’s also close to my family here.”

5

Junior Anna Vernick Senior Kat Garelli of Ocean of Monmouth Beach “I would honestly stay in Asbury “I would live in Croatia, because there are a lot of bees.”

Park. I love traveling, but this is where I’m home.”

INTERVIEWS BY ALEXANDRA WEITZMAN BLOT PHOTOS BY ALLIE KUO

6

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Teachers in years B.C. (before the classroom)

From Venezuela to Australia, staff members recall their vocational endeavors in former lives

By CAYLA HARRIS You know that odd feeling you get when you see a teacher outside of school? When a part of you realizes that – shocking! – teachers have a life outside of the classroom?

Many CHS teachers don’t just have lives outside of the classroom now – they’ve had lives in the past that have had nothing to do with the classroom at all.

Radio teacher Bill Bengle said he’s had a job consistently, for the exception of six months in college, since age 11. Just some of the fields he dabbled in include landscaping, waiting, reporting and engineering.

But Bengle’s favorite job was as an airborne traffic reporter for Shadow/Metro Broadcasting Services.

“Nothing beats being able to watch the sun rise out of the ocean from two thousand feet. I flew in a Cessna 150 airplane and spotted traffic problems from the air and recorded radio reports over the two-way radio. I was able to learn how to fly and get my pilot’s license,” Bengle said.

This is now Bengle’s sixth year as a teacher at CHS. “My original vocational impulse was to teach, and [I] pursued that just out of college before going back to school for communications and getting involved in radio,” he said. “At the time, I felt I didn’t really have anything of value to teach and prefer having come back to teaching after 20+ years in an industry.”

Spanish teacher Sabina

CC PETRONAS

Spanish teacher Sabina Campbell worked at Pickman, a ceramic factory, for two and a half years. The company was located in the Cartuja de Sevilla, pictured above.

Campbell said she had several interesting jobs before she became a teacher, including a job for Pickman based in the Cartuja de Sevilla in Spain and another job in Venezuela as the personal assistant to the president of Max Factor.

Years later, Campbell moved to the United States, learned English and had a family.

She knew she couldn’t return to her previous jobs that required constant travel, so Campbell started working as a teacher for Headstart, a “free program for preschool boys and girls ages

three and four,” according to the Lakewood Township website, where the program is based.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in teaching, which she took classes for while working at Headstart, Campbell made the switch to CHS in January of 2003.

She said many of her social skills now, as a teacher, stem from her previous jobs, where she was constantly interacting with new people.

“I can insult you in a way that you end up thanking me,” Campbell said. “I never had a problem

with parents here … I joke a lot with the kids. I never had a problem with people.”

U.S. History I teacher Bill Clark held several different jobs before becoming a teacher. The longest was 10 years in service for the U.S. Navy.

Clark also spent two years as a program adviser/individual aide at Bancroft Neurohealth, the job he said was his favorite.

“I worked with brain-injured and disabled adults,” Clark said. “[It was] beyond fulfilling but so demanding on top of teaching

and advising clubs.”

Clark held this position while teaching, a field he got into about 15 years ago after he “really, really needed a change.” He has been teaching at CHS for approximately eight years.

Math teacher Justine Lane started her career as a radio design engineer for a mobile company that would later become Verizon Wireless.This job in engineering, and later in sales, brought her across the globe – but first to Australia.

“I was … writing a proposal for a license to run cellular in Australia for almost a year,” Lane said. “They were privatizing the phone company and then offering more competition.”

Lane also spent time working abroad in Belgium and Greece, but after these projects ended, she settled down in the United States.

After getting married, having children and staying home for 11 years, Lane decided to return to school to get her teaching degree.

“I was making six figures by the time I was 29 years old, and I had given up all of it to be home with my kids,” Lane said.

“I wanted something that was very balanced, and my kids were all in school, and so, you know, I thought that at least teaching would put me on their schedule.”

Lane said she went into teaching hoping she would like it, but now, she loves her job.

“It’s not the most glamorous job, but I laugh more than anybody at work,” she said.

Students listen to music from a variety of sources

By ALEXIS COLUCCI Downloading new songs. Arranging playlists by favorite artists. Putting your headphones in and turning up the volume.

Listening to music is all too familiar, especially for students at CHS with long bus rides.

But, while most students listen to music, not everyone listens in the same way.

Sophomore Christina Flynn of Middletown prefers to use apps like Soundcloud or Spotify.

“I like apps better than iTunes; there’s more freedom and no cost,” she said. “The cost affects whether I use something because I don’t like paying for music.”

Junior Rachel Fenniman of Ocean uses apps, too.

“I can get a better rate on them than on iTunes, and they have everything. The only real pro to iTunes is the consistency of what they have.”

For the same reasons as Flynn and Fenniman, sophomore Jack Lipanovski of Tinton Falls said he uses music

apps to avoid costs, although he sees the flaws in them.

“I use Spotify because it’s free, but with iTunes you can take your music wherever and choose whatever song,” Lipanovski said.

Freshman Kaitlyn Hammond from Wall said she prefers iTunes.

“The cost is worth it. You don’t need Wi-Fi or cellular data for it, and most of the songs are actually pretty cheap.

Apps use Wi-Fi and data, plus they cost a lot, which isn’t worth it,” Hammond said.

Freshman Luca Montana of Holmdel said he sees the pros and cons of using music apps.

“Spotify has everything, but instead of just buying a song, you have to pay monthly,” Montana said.

Junior Rebecca Madeira of Howell said she feels the same.

“I used Pandora for a bit. I feel kind of bad, but why pay a dollar for a song when I could get it for free?” Madeira said.

BLOT INFOGRAPHIC BY JULIE ALTER

Survey of 248 students on Jan. 27, 2016

7

the inkblot march 3, 2016

For bilingual students, two is better than one

By ALLIE KUO It is estimated that over half of the global population speaks more than one language fluently.

About 26 percent of the U.S. population speaks a language other than English at home, according to data from the United States Census Bureau as of 2015.

And just under 12 percent of our CHS population speaks a language other than English at home, according to results from a Jan. 27 Inkblot survey.

A quick Google search for “bilingualism” comes back with links to dozens of articles that explain the benefits of speaking more than one language, which include developmental and cultural advantages.

Being bilingual “can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even

shielding against dementia in old age,” according a March 2012 New York Times article by opinion writer Yudhijit Bhattacharjee.

Bilingual individuals either grow up speaking multiple languages at home or acquire another language later on in life, according to the Linguistic Society of America.

Junior Liz Srulevich of Holmdel said she has spoken Russian since she could talk.

“English isn’t my first language; I learned it in daycare,” Srulevich said.

Many bilingual speakers, like Srulevich, learn a second language through direct exposure from places such as school.

Senior Jen Villavicencio of Asbury Park learned English in preschool and spoke Spanish, her first language, with her parents at home.

New drivers are permitted to learn

By SAMANTHA HOGAN and CATHERINE LIANG As a vocational school that prepares students for careers and the future, CHS lacks one ‘real-life’ class that most regional high schools have: Driver’s Education.

But CHS students have found different ways to acquire driver’s education, such as studying it by themselves.

One in five teens in the United States get their license without a driver’s ed program, according to a study cited in 2012 by the Huffington Post.

Junior Rebecca Madeira of Howell is one of them.

“I didn’t find it very challenging,” she said. “I went to [the DMV], I grabbed a copy of the book because they have a bunch of them for free ... I read it, and a day or two before the test, I took a couple practice tests online.”

Sophomore Lauren Spezia of Manalapan takes the after-school driver’s ed course held at CHS, taught by Just Rite Driving School.

“It’s very long. It’s three hours after school,” she said. “But I’m learning a lot, and the teacher is very nice.”

For some students, the $150, 11-week course held at CHS isn’t worth the time.

Sophomore Samara Ghali of Colts Neck is also taking the course after school and said she doesn’t like it as much.

“It honestly is a scam, because you could pay less money to get the book and not spend hours stay-

ing after every week, hours that I don’t have,” she said.

Senior Peter Hjelm took the same driver’s ed class two years ago, but his was held at the Academy of Allied Health and Science.

“It definitely was helpful, because I did pretty well on the test part,” he said.

“It’s a lot of hours that you have to do, but I didn’t have to study at home. It was just taking a class.”

Junior Noah Lipton of Ocean, who transferred to CHS from Design Academy in the beginning of the year, took driver’s ed at his home high school.

“There were only five kids in my class because of weird scheduling,” Lipton said. “But the teacher was nice and everyone passed.”

Some CHS students want the same thing – to incorporate driver’s ed into the curriculum.

Junior Jenna Cohen of Freehold said the course should be held during school hours.

“I think it shouldn’t be an after-school course, because some people can’t stay, and then they have to do it on their own, unfortunately,” Cohen said.

Spezia said that not having the course during school “makes it very difficult” to take one after hours, especially for students who live far away from school, like herself.

Freshman Marissa Ho of Marlboro agreed.

“I think we should have one.

It’s safety for teens,” she said.

“My dad would teach me how to read and write in Spanish, while speaking came naturally,” Villavicencio said.

Exposure and immersion are two keys that aid in the learning of any language, especially a second or third one, according to the Linguistic Society of America.

Freshman Sebrina Gao’s first language is English, but she was able to learn Mandarin Chinese through her family.

“Both my parents immigrated from China when they were about 20, so Chinese is their first language, and when they raised me, they talked to me in both languages,” Gao said.

Her grandparents, who took care of Gao until she was 10, could only speak Mandarin, Cantonese and Fujianese.

“Through them, I learned how to speak Mandarin and understand Fujianese

and a bit of Cantonese.”

Languages can also break down many barriers, and bilingual individuals find that they are able to appreciate different cultures and form strong connections with others who share a common tongue.

Russian has affected Srulevich’s taste in film and art.

“I’m familiar with the culture, so I can appreciate it more when it’s portrayed in the media,” Srulevich said.

Gao said her knowledge of two languages has also proven to be beneficial, since she is able to communicate with relatives when she visits China without fear of language restrictions.

“I understand most of what other people are saying. I can find my way around, and it’s just cool knowing another language to communicate in,” Gao said.

Family size impacts lifestyle

BY ISABELLA CAVAZZONI Almost half of CHS students go home to greet one sibling. A little less than a third go home to two.

The average family size in the United States, as of 2010, was about 2.58, according to the Census.

But very large or very small families can alter personal lifestyles.

In 2010, families spent an average of $370,000 per child from birth to the age of 17, plus the cost of college tuition, according to Forbes.

Freshman Elizabeth Shanley of Fair Haven has a total of seven people in her family, including herself and four other siblings and step-siblings.

Shanley said she has experienced first-hand how much her large family costs.

“It’s definitely hard for my parents to keep up with the daily bill of supplying our family’s demands … we spend $500 on food every week,” Shanley said.

“But they work really hard to be able to give us what we want and need.”

Junior Emileigh Evans of Wall lives with her mother.

“Everything is cheaper, like groceries ... We get to do more, simply because it’s cheaper when there [are] less people – the same with traveling,” Evans said.

Junior Jack Warner of Spring Lake said he has become accustomed to his crowded house of seven.

With brothers off at college,

BLOT INFOGRAPHIC BY SALLY BONIECKI

Survey of 248 students on Jan. 27, 2016

he said his home has become quieter.

Still, Warner looks forward to his own move to college in a couple of years.

“We tend to run out of computers. I have a computer in my room and there are many days during the week when there is even someone in my room … I can’t even have privacy in my own bedroom,” Warner said.

In college, “I can finally have some more privacy than I do at home.”

In terms of privacy, only child Evans said she feels she is

sometimes under her mother’s microscope.

“When there’s only one other person living with you, you both are constantly aware of each other, so, being the child, it feels a little bit like I’m always being watched,” Evans said.

Junior Jarod Danscuk of Howell said he believes he definitely reaped the benefits of being an only child.

“I lack someone within 35 years of myself to talk to around the house; however, in turn, this helped me develop an ability to talk to adults,” Danscuk said.

Design Academy offers students opportunities, challenges

By VICTOR RIVEROS Though most CHS students enter the school in ninth grade for a fouryear journey, that’s not the only way to get a diploma from the MCVSD academy.

The Design Academy program provides an opportunity for art-minded students to join CHS during their junior year, but some face adjustments as they make the transition from their respective hometown schools to CHS. Senior Kacey Cielecki of Spring Lake Heights, who applied freshman year but joined the Design Academy in her junior year, said she faced difficulties adjusting to the curriculum at CHS. “Math was hard, because they made me learn different math subjects. We didn’t cover some things in

my other school, so it was difficult,” she said.

Senior Ivette Rafael of West Long Branch faced similar changes transitioning from her home school, Shore Regional.

“It took some time to get used to because of the different teaching styles I was used to,” Rafael said.

Junior Noah Lipton of Ocean, who said he joined Design Academy due to the lack of art options at his hometown school, also faced challenges adjusting to the school’s overall attitude.

“I had to get used to the amount of people. There wasn’t as much joking or interruptions during class,” he said.

For Design Academy students such as Rafael, joining a class that has

already been together for two years can also present social challenges.

“Initially, I was more close to other Design Academy students because I had more classes with them. More towards the second half, I was able to become friends with more people,” she said.

Cielecki said the transition was facilitated by current CHS students from her hometown.

“I knew Jess [Cooney] so it was easy to come in, because she introduced me to all of her friends. But I still hang out with my old friends,” she said.

Lipton also experienced a similar assimilation to the school’s social atmosphere.

“Fortunately these guys took me in. The people here are nice,” he said.

BLOT PHOTO BY AUDREY MANNION

Junior Isaiah Drake of Spring Lake Heights came to CHS this year as a member of the Design Academy.

8

the inkblot march 3, 2016

High School Relationships With Valentine’s Day just days behind us, the Inkblot takes a look at the dynamics of high school relationships.

Student relationships pose unique dynamic

BLOT ART

BY ANNA ROBINSON

By JACK MANNION Romantic relationships can be difficult at any age, but high school students must deal with challenges specific to their demographic.

Sixty-one percent of all high school students have reported being in a relationship, according to a 2014 survey conducted by the website Stage of Life, a website that examines community experiences.

But 60 percent of high schoolers believe that high school relationships have a negative connotation attached to them, according to the same survey.

Often, relationships that begin in high school are short-lived, a 2015 Psychology Today article reported.

Sophomore Brandon Kalika of Middletown said that relationships typically don’t begin to last long until students are upperclassmen.

“Usually, upperclassmen relationships are legitimate because they’re older and almost in college. Underclassmen relationships, especially freshmen, are the ones that usually don’t last long,” Kalika said.

One of the difficulties associated with relationships is finding the time for them.

Junior Courtney Rademacher of Wall has been in a relationship with CHS alumnus Matt Recchia of West Long Branch for over a year.

After Recchia left to attend St. John’s University, Rademacher said she has to make sure she’s free when he is home from school.

2013: 3 million Americans met their longterm partner online

“Since he’s usually home at least once a month, I just make sure I’m free to hang out,” Rademacher said.

Similarly, some students must sacrifice time spent with friends in favor of their romantic involvement.

“My friends also know that I don’t get to see him a lot, so they understand if I can’t be with them when he’s home,” Rademacher said.

Another issue with the actual act of going on a date is driving. Because younger students can’t drive, they must seek other modes of transportation.

Kalika commented on this, calling the inability to drive a “huge drawback” because it limits the types of dates that couples could go on.

While underclassmen worry about the restrictions that driving puts on their relationships, upperclassmen also face issues while dating in high school. Seniors in relationships must deal with being separated when attending different schools.

Seniors Tanner Richardett of Tinton Falls and Julia Rongo of Lincroft were voted Class Couple this year, and next year they each plan on attending different schools.

“I think the biggest challenge will definitely be coping with the distance and maintaining constant communication,” Richardett said. “It’ll almost be like high school was practice, but college is game time.”

BLOT ART

BY SALLY BONIECKI

1999: Speed dating developed in Los Angeles by a rabbi

High school sweethearts have potential to turn sour

By MIA GALLO and GREER SHANLEY Teens see the perfect high school romance in books, movies and television shows every day. But not every high school sweetheart story is as tragic as Romeo and Juliet’s or as perfect as Troy and Gabriella’s. Sometimes, they’re just stories.

Freshman Connor Martin of Spring Lake Heights said that he is more focused on his grades and extracurriculars in high school than on a relationship.

“Although I’m not particularly optimistic about high school relationships, I wouldn’t completely rule one out,” Martin mentions.

Senior Lizzy Thornton of Keyport has been in a relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan Iosue of Keyport, for three years.

Thornton said that if you continue your high school relationship into college and eventually out of college, you truly see the best and worst of each other and you can ultimately grow as a couple. Thornton said she’s very optimistic when it comes to marrying her boyfriend.

“Although I don’t know what the future holds, I can totally picture my boyfriend and I being [married] high school sweethearts,” Thornton said.

Sophomore Brandon Kalika of Middletown is keeping

an open mind and said he doesn’t know what will happen regarding relationships within the next two years.

“I think a high school sweetheart is fun until the inevitable moment comes where you two part ways, and it might be hard not to see that person in school every day,” Kalika said.

Sophomore Rachel Wolson of Bradley Beach has been dating her boyfriend for three years and said she’s hopeful they can make it to marriage.

“The people that marry their high school sweetheart are really lucky to find someone at such a young age,” Wolson said.

In the end, high school sweethearts just met their other halves a little early.

“Even if we never met, and we didn’t have the relationship that we have today, I know deep down in my heart that our paths would have eventually crossed,” Thornton said.

BLOT ART

BY SALLY BONIECKI

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Relationship violence affects one in three teens

By LARA GRANEY Thirty-three percent of adolescents in America are victims of sexual, physical, verbal or emotional dating abuse, according to DoSomething, an organization for social change.

That’s one in three.

A CHS student who has been in a violent relationship shared their story. The student asked to remain anonymous for concerns of privacy.

“I definitely think that from the start it was toxic. My feelings for this person weren’t thoroughly evaluated enough to develop a committed relationship with them. It was very rushed, and violent and obsessive behavior began on their part early on due to that,” the student said.

In an online survey of 101 CHS students, about 3 percent said they have been in a violent relationship, and about 18 percent said they know someone who has been in such a relationship.

Approximately 1.5 million American high schoolers say that in the past year, someone they have been romantically involved with has deliberately struck or physically harmed them, according to DoSomething.

“Teen dating violence is so common now; so many of us are dealing with underlying emotional issues, attachment issues and identity issues already,” the student said.

Being a victim of teen dating violence can cause health problems, according to the CDC. “Youth who are victims are more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, engage in unhealthy behaviors, like using tobacco, drugs and alcohol or exhibit antisocial behaviors and think about suicide,” according to CDC.gov.

The CHS teen said they were an example of these “unhealthy behaviors.”

“It was a vicious cycle that pushed me into a very dark haze in which I started to look upon myself with disdain and even disgust,” they said. “I felt guilty and low, and I started acting recklessly. It took a really long time to get out of this rut, and I’m still dealing with it today.”

In New Jersey, a violent romantic relationship between teens below the age of 18 is not considered domestic violence. One of the parties must be either emancipated or over the age of 18, according to the Division of Criminal Justice.

1920s: Movie dates a popular outing for couples

So if New Jersey legislation doesn’t always protect abused teens, there is the question of what should happen when they are put in these dangerous situations.

healthy relationships versus unhealthy relationships, red flags … where to go, how to seek help,” she said. “But the problem that I have with this unit is it’s at the end

“... before we accept others into our lives in such a big, committed way, we need to first complete ourselves ...”

“Parents should take just as much initiative to talk to their children about relationships as schools do and/or should,” the student said. “And in school, I’d say having there be a chapter in health class on this topic would be pretty effective in informing these teens of the potential risks.”

In the same CHS survey, approximately 82 percent of students said there should be a conversation about teen dating violence. Fifty-one percent of those students recommended that this issue be addressed both in school and at home.

Dorothy Condon, the school nurse, teaches Health III to juniors, which includes a unit regarding healthy relationships.

“The unit that I cover is all about

1825: First dating agency not run by Church developed in London

BLOT ART

BY SALLY BONIECKI

1950s: “Going steady” a popular phrase for couples in serious relationship

9

Victorian Era: Written marriage proposals most common

of the semester. It kind of gets crammed up with everything, so sometimes I don’t always cover everything.”

But, she added, most juniors have Condon senior year as well, and then she’s able to finish anything not covered the previous year.

Condon also said that February is Dating Awareness Month.

“We do it to feel complete,” the CHS teen said about starting unhealthy relationships. “But we need to learn that before we accept others into our lives in such a big, committed way, we need to first complete ourselves and ensure that we know what it is we want and need and that we know the difference between the two.”

Dating

through the years Information from: facts.randomhistory.com; independent.co.uk; genealogy.com; teendiaries. net; mic.com; metronews.ca

BLOT ART

BY ANNA ROBINSON

Long-distance relationships challenge students

By ANNA ROBINSON When a partner is distant, it may feel like they’re a million miles away. And other times, they’re just a million miles away – literally.

Many CHS relationships turn long-distance after graduation. Couples face the inevitable question: will they stay together in college?

Alumni Caroline Yasenchak and James Waring, both of Manasquan, decided they would, even with the 230mile gap between them. Yasenchak, a freshman at the University of Connecticut, and Waring, a sophomore at Lehigh University, met on the bus to school five years ago before dating two years later.

“I think the worst part about it is not being able to share certain events with each other,” Yasenchak said. “For example, making Dean’s List was just a ‘woohoo’ over FaceTime instead of a dinner together. Acing a test I was stressing over wasn’t a hug in person, it was just a bunch of balloon emojis.”

Long-distance relationships pose a geographic barrier between couples, often limiting in-person interaction.

Over 40 percent of long-distance relationships end in a breakup, according to Statistic Brain Research Institution.

Senior Matt Morton of Howell said long-distance relationships are usually unreasonable, especially when a couple is in college.

“They all definitely come to an end eventually,” he said.

But despite the inconveniences, recent studies have found that long-distance relationships can strengthen romantic bonds.

Dr. Crystal Jiang, of the department of communication at the City University in Hong Kong, claims that a couple facing a long-distance relationship will benefit from their efforts.

BLOT INFOGRAPHIC BY JULIE ALTER

Survey of 248 students on Jan. 27, 2016

“Long-distance couples try harder than geographically close couples in communicating affection and intimacy,” Jiang told the Telegraph in a July 2013 article.

In the end, Yasenchak said, it’s worth it.

“Oh, it’s so worth the trouble. I still get butterflies, and I count down the days until we see each other again,” she said.

Waring, who said his peers often tell him he’s “messing up” for having a long-distance relationship in college, agreed.

“I don’t think that they understand. College is great, but it’s great to have someone who is always on your team, even if they are four hours away,” Waring said.

Yasenchak and Waring aren’t the only college couple dating long-distance. In fact, 32.5 percent of all college relationships are long-distance, according to the same Statistic Brain survey.

And some, like for senior Connor Duffy of Freehold, start in high school.

Duffy has been dating his girlfriend, a CHS alumna, for a year and a half. When his girlfriend graduated CHS last year, Duffy said they decided to keep dating even though she would live 45 minutes away.

“It’s like keeping a close friendship. We just talk all the time, and it maintains itself,” Duffy said.

But not everyone has a happy ending.

U.S. History I teacher Bill Clark said his 17-year marriage ended due to long distance while he was on a tour in the navy.

“Distance is still distance, and nothing can overcome miles between you,” Clark said.

To keep the love alive during time apart, Waring shared some advice on the commitment it takes.

“Always make time for each other. No matter how busy you are, if you love someone, you can never be too busy to spend time on them,” he said.

arts

10 Students remember the legacy of David Bowie

By SALLY BONIECKI David Bowie, 69, legendary singer-songwriter, actor and icon who died on Jan. 10 was a true Renaissance man whose mark on pop culture will continue long after his passing.

Bowie was remembered at CHS when junior Leo “Dish” Ross of Fair Haven, on his monthly radio show called “Deep Dish, hosted a special Bowie tribute show during lunch on Jan. 12, dedicating the entire show to Bowie.

Ross invited all CHS Bowie fans.

“I thought I should do something to memorialize him, because I know a lot of people in our school like him,” Ross said.

“It was good. It was like a party.”

Bowie’s life is an accumulation of pure artistic energy. He made social dissonance popular before the punk scene picked up and supported his constructed image through all media genres.

Originally starting out as rock vocalist Davie Jones, Bowie adopted the stage name in order to, according to Major Tom himself, avoid confusion with the Monkees’ Davy Jones.

His 1969 single “Space Oddity” kickstarted his career as one of the most popular experimental artists of the late 20th century.

Bowie’s sensationalism took the world by storm. From the controversial cover of “The Man Who Sold the World,” which featured Bowie laying across a couch in a dress, to his UK chart-topping success as the character Ziggy Stardust, to the iconic Aladdin Sane lightning bolt, he ruled the glam scene of the 1970s. With the ‘80s came a more electronic music era and Bowie’s true beginnings as an actor.

Hits like “Let’s Dance” and “Fame” continued to obliterate the UK charts, and Bowie’s performances in “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” alongside Japanese electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and the Jim Henson-George Lucas collaboration “Labyrinth” remain memorable.

After a few solid releases in the 1990s and a short break in the early 2000s, Bowie returned with another UK no. 1 album, “The Next Day”, in 2013. His final release, “Blackstar,” was released on Jan. 8 of this year, Bowie’s birthday. It is his first album

the inkblot march 3, 2016

CC BY-SA 3.0

David Bowie, who died on Jan. 10 at 69 years old,shoots his music video for “Rebel Rebel” in a Dutch television show in 1974.

to hit No. 1 on the American charts and his ninth on the UK charts.

A jazz-influenced art rock composi-

tion, “Blackstar,” accompanied by Bowie’s Broadway show “Lazarus” is avant garde and a fitting goodbye.

Chelsea Market is tops among food halls

By ALLIE KUO A food hall is a fascinating culinary haven – it’s where you can find avid food connoisseurs dodging around hungry tourists who are trying to decide between the crêperie or the Cajun café on the corner, all under one large roof.

The trendy sibling of the classic mall food court, food halls are filled with vendors that cater to a variety of palates, diets and wallets.

With options ranging in both price and cuisine, food halls pro-

vide people with an assortment of curated gourmet foods without the commitment of a traditional sit-down restaurant.

These establishments have gained popularity in recent years, popping up in cities all over the country.

Yet many have been around since the early 1900s, such as Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, according to a CNN article about food halls.

Chelsea Market, just north of Greenwich Village, is one of

Review

Visit Japan’s Design Festa: interactive gallery is one of a kind

By KELLY LONG If you travel to Japan, you must make your way to the city of Harajuku. There, you will find the Design Festa Gallery. You’ll know it by the scaffolding that juts out and stretches across the length of the building’s face.

Drawn in, you’ll find the building drenched in even more fun and poppy paintings and graffiti before you enter the gallery itself.

The gallery is actually made up of several small galleries featuring exhibits from independent artists.

I enjoyed walking around and seeing every room be completely different from the next – or even different from one part of the room to the other. The artists were there with their displays, sometimes working on a piece right there, sometimes selling, always there to welcome you and thank you for taking a look.

From one room, I bought two zines from a girl from Singapore that made small talk with me while I looked around. As soon as I had time, I checked out her Instagram and found out that we liked a lot of the same people and things, even though we were from two opposite sides of the world. I definitely enjoyed this a lot more than if I had been by myself in some huge museum.

Many times, there’s a divide between the artist – and their art – and the audience, especially when students are all too often only learning about and analyzing pieces by deceased artists.

Design Festa Gallery corrects that by bringing the artist and viewer together, making it a much more personal experience. The art and display becomes interactive, the artists gain more recognition and the viewer has an experience they can remember.

the most well-known food halls in New York City. It opened its doors in ‘97 and now has 6 million visitors a year, according to its website.

I was one of those visitors last summer, when my family and I stopped in for lunch. The choices were overwhelming.

Signs for stalls and restaurants hung high over the heads of people walking around, who were probably as indecisive as I was. How is one supposed to pick between Mexican-Japanese tacos or Australian meat pies?

In the end, we tried both – at Takumi Tacos and Tuck Shop, respectively.

Our stomachs pleasantly filled, we walked a couple hundred yards to L’Arte Del Gelato for some dessert, passing by a bakery, an Italian deli and a small seafood market.

Some food halls, unlike Chelsea Market, are cuisine-oriented, such as Eataly, the Italian marketplace in New York City, or China Live, which will open later this year in San Francisco.

These focus on one culture’s

food, rather than a variety of cuisines.

Celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain is set to open a food hall in New York’s Meatpacking District that’s inspired by Asian night markets, according to The New York Times.

The growing number of food halls means more opportunities to discover something new or devour an assortment of culinary offerings.

If you don’t like one option, you can just walk a few steps over to another stall.

Chris Rock hosts #OscarsSoWhite

By LARA GRANEY Sunday Night Football. Diane Sawyer’s Interview with Caitlyn Jenner. The most recent Democratic debate. In terms of viewers, the Oscars smoke them all.

On Sunday, Feb. 28, millions of people from over 200 countries tuned into ABC to watch the 88th Academy Awards.

“Spotlight” won Best Picture.

It’s the story of the titular group that worked for the Boston Globe and uncovered sexually abusive priests in early 2000s Boston, according to the official Oscars website.

This was the year when five-time nominee Leonardo Dicaprio finally won his Oscar, for the highly-acclaimed “The Revenant” that lead with 11 nominations, including Best Picture. Dicaprio plays Hugh Glass in the film, a 17th century hunter on a journey for revenge in the unsettled American west, according to the official Oscars website. The other nominees for Best Picture were “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Martian”, “Room” and “Spotlight”.

Freshmen Alexis Colucci of Middletown said she thought that Best Picture should’ve been awarded to “The Martian”, a sci-fi flick about a man stranded on Mars.

“The way that they put the film together and made it entertaining, since the book had little dialogue, was amazing,” Colucci said.

Senior Isabella Olaguera of Ocean said that it’s hard to pick a favorite out of the nominees because the films are so different.

“Even though I think ‘Room’ is

my favorite in terms of acting, I think ‘The Big Short’ might win because it told a complex true story with such a fascinating approach,” she said before the big night.

Chris Rock hosted the show, but many people don’t want him to, due to the absence of diversity in the nominees this year. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee boycotted due to the controversy, and many Twitter users are using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Academy officials declined to

comment on this lack of diversity to the New York Times.

Manohla Dargis, a film critic, told the New York Times that “the primary reason the Oscars are so white this year and most years is that the movie industry is overwhelmingly white.”

Although the issue of race was highly debated, Chris Rock took the opportunity to crack jokes.

“You realize, if they [the Academy] nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job,” he said in his opening monologue.

arts 11

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Wearable tech is here and getting better

By GREER SHANLEY and GRACE TRESHOCK Ever since the introduction of the Apple Watch in September 2014, technology-hungry fans have been anxious to get their hands on this new smart watch.

Apple claims that “with Apple Watch, important information and essential features are always just a raise of the wrist away.”

We have to admit, it makes for a great slogan. But does the technology meet this standard?

Freshman Kevin Clark of Spring Lake said he agrees with Apple’s claim.

“My Apple Watch definitely makes my life easier. It tracks the weather, tells me what I have to do everyday and keeps track of my heart rate and fitness. I would say it’s pretty useful,” Clark said.

The watch was released to fans in April 2015, and 1.4 million watches were purchased during the first month, according to Time.

Apple is not the only company creating innovative products of wearable technology.

The popular fitness brand,

CC BETH BUCZYNSKI

Fitbit, came out with a new band called “Blaze” in 2016.

It encourages people to “get fit in style” as reported by Fitbit.

“One of the first things we learned in this industry is that

fitness is personal – and if something isn’t your style, you won’t wear it,” said James Park, one of the developers of the technology.

Blaze can be used to track one’s daily activity, monitor a

Review Theatre seems lily white, too

By ELIZABETH DeFURIA I have been amassing a Playbill collection since elementary school, taking trips to Broadway with family or absconding with a friend to one of New Jersey’s many playhouses on the weekends.

It didn’t hit me until recently that nearly everything I’ve seen has been excessively white.

If you’re wondering if I’m going to mention “Hamilton,” it’s coming.

Don’t worry.

The 2015 Tony Awards, which aired last June, included over 100 nominees in 29 categories and hardly a single person of color among them. In fact, only one person of color took home an award, Asian-American actress Ruthie Ann Miles for her featured role in “The King and I.” It’s a state of affairs that composer, lyricist and actor Lin Manuel Miranda knows all too well.

The “Hamilton” writer and star told PBS News Hour’s Jeffrey Brown last November that, “there’s only three great roles for Latino men in musical theater … I wrote something that had so many parts for Latinos, because there’s a void there.”

“Hamilton,” a historical musical about the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, features a cast composed almost entirely

sleep schedule, map out routes to run using its built in GPS and display incoming calls, texts and reminders.

Senior Mithu Sankar of Manalapan said her whole fami-

ly uses the Fitbit. Sometimes, she states, they “compete to see who can get the most steps” for motivation.

“There’s a Fitbit app where you can track food and water too, which is cool,” Sankar said. “I definitely think it’s a great motivator to get active every day and stay healthy.”

Fossil has also newly released a wearable technology line called “Q”. Q includes display smartwatches, activity trackers and non-display smartwatches, according to their website.

Not as popular as Apple Watches or Fitbits, Fossil’s Q products also received mediocre reviews. In a December 2015 Gizmag article, writer Will Shanklin said the Fossil Q Founder is more for fashion than feasibility.

“The Fossil Q Founder is an imperfect, but very nice, smartwatch that provides very good value,” Shanklin wrote.

Wearable technology made its mark in 2015 and it’s going to be one of the biggest trends of 2016.

Review

CC 3.0

CC WHOLIVESWHODIESWHOTELLSYOURSTORY

“Hamilton,” a hip-hop musical about America’s Founding Fathers, features a diverse cast and stars Lin-Manuel Miranda.

of people of color.

Junior Annie Ruoff of Monmouth Beach said she found the show’s casting to be integral to its success.

“I think that the casting is definitely giving it more publicity,” Ruoff said.

Believing that representation in the arts should represent the country, Miranda wrote “Hamilton” not to depict 18th century America, but the America of today.

“Let’s make the founders of our country look like what our country looks like now … It looks like, you know, we are – we are every shade and color,” Miranda said.

Its seems like the rest of Broadway has yet to catch up to Miranda.

For instance, the Broadway revival of the musical “Chicago,” set in the racially diverse city of the same name, featured zero people of color in its main cast.

Ruoff suggested that the casting of “Hamilton,” when contrasted with that of the rest of Broadway, contributed to the show’s popularity.

“It’s such a unique thing that they’re doing with that show that there’s no way it wasn’t going to become popular,” Ruoff said.

Friday Save the Dates CCC Festival: 6 p.m. Friday, April 8 Battle of the Bands: 6 p.m. Friday, April 20 Mr. CHS: 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 22 “Somewhere, Nowhere”: 7 p.m. Friday, April 29

Alan Rickman, an actor well known for his role of Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” franchise, poses for fans in 2011. He died Jan. 14 at the age of 69.

‘Diehard’ to ‘Harry Potter,’ Rickman was the perfect villain

By SALLY BONIECKI Suave, intimidating and undeniably individual, Alan Rickman passed away Jan. 14 after a short battle with cancer. He was 69.

While he has had a number of memorable roles throughout his career, a few stand out above the rest.

In 1999, Rickman appeared in the sci-fi parody “Galaxy Quest” as alien science officer Alexander Dane. Playing off classic alien tropes, Rickman arcs from endearing to violently hilarious throughout the film.

As well as Rickman handles comedy, he had wonderful throwback to his theater days as Judge Turpin in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” He blends into the dark style well, turning an average-looking aristocrat into a historical villain with an impressive set of pipes.

But how could anyone discuss this man without mentioning his role as Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” franchise? Rickman cultivates his ap-

pearance as the easily blamable antagonist while secretly setting up Snape’s dual personality.

Series author J.K. Rowling was adamant about having him in the role, going so far as to let him in on Snape’s secrets from the later books before they were published, according to a 2016 Vanity Fair article.

Rickman’s first film performance remains one of his best: Hans Gruber in “Die Hard.” A disturbingly intelligent man with a cold sense of humor, he was the charismatic villain before Loki or Kylo Ren took over the internet.

The best role Alan Rickman ever slipped into, though, is definitely Sheriff George of Nottingham in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” In a subtle combination of treachery and comedy, the Sheriff’s scowls and misdeeds are tantrum-like but terrifying, making the audience suppress giggles in fear.

It’s no wonder the role is so legendary; Rickman only agreed to play the part if it was purely his interpretation.

12

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Modern romance: Stop condemning online dating sites You’ve got a match – and while this person might not be your soulmate, online dating provides a platform for users to find love during this modern age.

Nothing about dating is traditional anymore, so why is it so taboo to meet someone online?

We’ve replaced ‘dinner and a movie’ with ‘Netflix and chill’; it hardly matters whether you met your significant other in chemistry class or on Chemistry. com.

Whether you’re busy at school or work or extracurriculars, we understand that it’s difficult to date. Especially going to a school like CHS, your dating pool can, at times, be very limited. And when you find yourself in these sorts of dilemmas, online dating – yes, even Tinder – can be a morethan-welcome solution.

It’s 2016, and it’s time to stop condemning online dating sites. In an age of rising progressives, it’s really not appropriate to shoot down new ideas in favor of “the old fashioned way.”

Technology has progressed, society has progressed and the mixture of the two is just the next natural step.

In the past, dating had a lot to do with permission, and we’re not just talking “terms of agreement.” Dating was a chain reaction that started with a man and went through the woman’s parents before actually reaching the girl. It was a period of sole emotional connection – because physical connection was saved for marriage – and it lasted until just that time.

In the mid-20th century, dating became more of a light-hearted social act than a serious one. By the time of the experimental ‘60s and ‘70s, hookup culture was the norm and birth control became both available and popular, according to “The History of Dating,” an article published by a website at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Of course, the Internet had yet to reach the homes of millions of Americans, and all meetups were done through other people, but the point is that dating has increasingly become more and more relaxed over time, in the same way that girls don’t wear corsets for that slim figure and boys don’t show up everywhere on horseback.

And so we come to today. Online dating sites often garner a bad reputation from the general public with talk of catfishes, predators and liars.

These are legitimate concerns, sure. But how different is online dating from your typical blind date? We’ve come to an age when every casual meetup isn’t a date with death.

There’s also the issue of seeing relationships that stemmed from a dating website or app as somehow lesser than traditional relationships. Twenty-one percent of Americans still agree with the statement that “people who use online dating sites are desperate,” the Pew Research Center reports.

But it’s not a bad thing to want to use technology to your advantage. We have the ability to connect with people we never, in a million years, would’ve met in the past.

It’s unrealistic to think that out of 7 billion people in the world, your “one” will definitely be waiting for you at your local school or workplace.

That’s not to say that your soulmate is inaccessible. Perhaps they’re just a click away.

BLOT CARTOON BY CHRISTINA ALFANO

Anti-Semitism lingers on campuses, inspires intolerance among students

By JULIE ALTER In 2014, Trinity College Connecticut conducted a survey across 55 U.S. campuses, revealing that 54 percent of Jewish college students had experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is defined as prejudice against Jews, and it is something that’s flying under our radars on college campuses.

College students are notorious for taking bold political stances and making their opinions known. Today, a popular political view resonating with modern, mainly liberal students is opposition to the state of Israel. Anti-Semitism results as a byproduct when these students wrongfully correlate a complex international debate with the average Jews on campus.

For example, according to Anti-Defamation League, of the young adults surveyed, over one third believed that Jews are likely more loyal to Israel than to the United States.

Misconceptions like this use the same baseless logic behind the WWII Japanese-American internment camps and the assumption that all Muslims are associated with ISIS. But recent accounts prove that the anti-Semitic actions taking place on campuses go beyond Middle Eastern politics.

Last February, a student at UCLA was nearly denied from her student council, solely because she was Jewish, according to CNN. The council believed that the fact that she was Jewish would affect her ability to be an unbiased member of the Judiciary Board. Israel was not mentioned.

In addition, throughout 2015 and past years, several colleges and universities reported slurs and swastikas being painted and taped on dorms, sidewalks, fraternities and Jewish organizations.

Rabbi Donald Weber of Marlboro said that the use of swastikas for any political statement is inappropriate.

“When someone paints a Swastika on a Jewish student’s dorm room door, that is not an act against Israel,

that’s an act against Jews,” Weber said.

The swastika symbol, of course, was used by the German Nazi Party, a group that fell out of power subsequently to Hitler’s death in 1945. Israel was not established until 1948.

Here in New Jersey, we tend to associate prejudice with the southern United States, but these occurrences are not taking place where one might expect. Some surprising schools involved in this behavior include Columbia University, Cornell University, George Mason University, and Temple University. All were cited in 2015 as schools with the highest anti-Semitic activity on campus by a Jewish freedom center, Jew Hatred on Campus.

In early 2015, University of Chicago students posted anti-Semitic comments on an anonymous social media app, Yik Yak, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

One post stated: “Gas them, burn them and dismantle their power structure. Humanity cannot progress with the parasitic Jew.” Other posts named specific Jewish students threateningly.

As an effect of such hateful sentiment circulating across the country, Jewish students feel uncomfortable and often unsafe to continue their culture and faith on campus. Many end up living with their religion as a secret.

When Jewish students hiding who they are won’t solve the problem, it will only solve their problem. By being confident and active in their regular Jewish communities, freshmen can enter a college knowing that they are welcome and free to be themselves.

Meanwhile, it is everyone’s job to recognize that religion is not inherently political; knowing how to distinguish Judaism from Israel, likewise for Islam from ISIS, is the first step preventing us and our peers from developing misconstrued views.

CHS – as the next generation of college students, it is our job to root out this problem to prevent any one of us from becoming a victim, or worse, a perpetrator.

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Bullying presentations fail to deliver real messages

By SARAH LYNCH Anti-bullying media has always had a large presence in the schools I’ve attended. Annually, we’d be subject to a bullying prevention presentation, and, each year, I found myself more frustrated with the banality and ineffectivity of these presentations.

In elementary school, anti-bullying videos varied slightly year to year, but essentially followed this plot line: It’s the early 90s, and schoolchildren clothed in brightly colored polyester sweaters fill the scene. Johnny is a quiet boy, but he has one problem: bullies – a group of high school students cast to play fourth graders. The bullies torment Johnny, calling

him names and stealing his lunch money.

Johnny makes the right decision and talks to his teacher. He finds the courage to confront the boys, who admit this whole time they’ve just wanted to be Johnny’s friend.

The credits roll. The End. Now, while I’m sure the directors’ intentions behind these videos were saintly, the poor quality and cheesiness of their creations cheapened the message.

On the other hand, when I was in third grade, my school held a bullying assembly that told the true stories of children who committed suicide because of bullying.

They proceeded to roll a slideshow of family photos of each of the kids.

This sent third grade Sarah into the

bathroom hyperventilating in 20 minutes.

The best part? This assembly took place on Valentine’s Day. So, while downplaying the seriousness of bullying through cheap videos was ineffective, this was downright scarring.

The most effective bullying presentation I’ve seen was run by an organization called “Mean Stinks.” It told the story of a high school girl becoming a bully, and every time she did something mean she would start to smell. The good part: the insults used were more accurate than the hackneyed phrases in the 90s videos. The bad part: the video also came with scratchand-sniff tabs that smelled worse as the girl bullied more. The stench was indescrib-

13

able. I spent 15 minutes in the bathroom attempting to scrub the smell of manure off my hands, to no avail.

Despite the extensive efforts of schools across the country to enforce anti-bullying messages, one out of every four children experienced bullying during the school year in 2015, according to the National Bullying Prevention Center.

Bullying prevention organizations owe it to these kids to cut the theatrics and produce the most effective media they can to prevent bullying. They need to produce material that is realistic and representative of actual bullying that occurs in schools.

The best way to begin doing that is by listening to the kids who are living it.

Ethical zoos can exist with proper legislation

By KELLY KAY For humans with voices, thoughts and opposable thumbs, animal captivity can be a source of controversy. Zoos receive hundreds of millions of visitors per year. It’s been debated for years as to whether or not they’re ethical.

The main argument in support of zoos claims an increased lifespan of animals in captivity.

But these claims are unsubstantiated and inconsistent. Research done comparing wild elephants in Kenya alongside elephants in European zoos determined the average lifespan of a wild elephant to be twice as long or longer than an elephant kept in the zoo, according to ABC News.

But while zoos can be responsible for poor animal treatment, it’s not necessarily the zoos themselves at the root of the problem. The overarching problem lies within the laws and organizations established to protect animals from being abused.

On an international level, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the organization responsible for promoting humane treatment of zoo animals. But many WAZA member zoos have been caught mistreating their animals.

Zoos in Thailand and South Korea have been filmed mistreating animals, and several others across Asia have been condemned for poor conditions, such as beating animals and forcing them to perform dangerous tricks, according to The Guardian.

In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act is the only fed-

eral law that regulates the treatment of zoo animals.

But this act is exclusive; the AWA does not include cold-blooded animals in protection and does not consider the mental health of animals in captivity, according to the Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center.

Enforcement of the AWA is also flawed. The Act gives enforcement responsibilities to the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service and requires yearly inspections of facilities and investigations whenever a complaint is filed.

But there are over 2,000 facilities and only 104 inspectors, the Michigan State University Animal Legal and Historical Center reported. The AWA also does not have a citizen suit provision, which makes it difficult for people to sue on behalf of a zoo animal.

Zoos are getting away with animal abuse every single day.

But there is a way to tell the good from the bad. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums rigorously monitors smaller zoos across North America and “accredits” those that meet specific standards, according to the AZA website.

Locally, Jenkinson’s Aquarium and Central Park Zoo are accredited by the AZA. By supporting smaller, more regulated attractions instead of those in affiliation with ineffective organizations, we can still enjoy the zoo experience with peace of mind that the animals we’re looking at are well taken care of.

BLOT CARTOON BY ANDREW WANG

Crime TV is best when it’s true

By MAURA DeROSE You feel an odd sense of accomplishment after a marathon of your favorite crime TV show. After hours of “Criminal Minds”, “Law and Order”, “Bones” or one of the many other fictional crime shows on television, it’s almost as if you were the one to catch countless murderers.

But something that may be even more fulfilling is watching the true crime shows, such as “Snapped”, “The Jinx” and “Making a Murderer”. These realistic accounts of actual crimes shed light on just how fictionalized some of our favorite shows can be.

While lab results come back quickly and the correct murderer is caught in a matter of days on fictional crime shows, true crime TV shows viewers that this is just not the case.

On shows like “Snapped”, crimes take years to solve. On “The Jinx”, the killer may never be brought to justice. And on “Making a Murderer”, the man behind bars may not even be guilty.

“Snapped” on Investigation Discovery follows police departments across the country as they solve murders. The show features reenactments with actors and interviews with detectives and psychologists. The show delves into the motives behind the crimes and what lead to the murderers ‘snapping.’

“The Jinx” is a documentary series that aired on HBO and tells the story of alleged murderer Robert Durst. He is suspected of killing three people, including his wife Kathleen McCormack in 1990, his friend Susan Berman in 2000 and a neighbor in 2003.

These crimes are the inspiration behind the 2010 film “All Good Things” starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, according to Magnolia Pictures.

Durst was arrested for murder a few days before the finale aired and the final episode featured a shocking possible confession.

“Making A Murderer” is a Netflix documentary series about Steven Avery, a man from Wisconsin who was exonerated after 18 years in prison for sexual assault and attempted murder and then later charged with another murder.Since the documentary premiered, a petition to pardon Avery was signed by 128,000 people and brought to the attention of President Obama.

Check out some true crime shows for your next binge watching session. With accurate timelines, insight into the true science behind crime-solving and real-life mysteries, true crime shows can be just as sensational as your favorite detective shows.

Maybe uncovering the real truth can be even more satisfying than the fictional one.

Oscars alienate minorities, need to diversify nominations

By EMILEIGH EVANS It’s that time of year again: Oscar season. On Jan. 14, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the awards, proving yet again that racism and sexism continue to permeate the very core of Hollywood and the entertainment industry.

This is the second straight year of allwhite acting nominations, and, in the past, there has been a startling lack of non-white nominees. Only 6.7 percent of nominees have been non-white since the very beginning of the awards in 1929, according to Time Labs. From 2010 on, the percentage has slightly increased to 8.3 percent.

The Oscars need to tackle their minority – or lackthereof – problem.

The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite made a resurgence on Twitter in response to this year’s nominations, and several celebrities

have begun to speak out as well.

Lupita Nyong’o is an actress known for her parts in films such as “12 Years a Slave” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. She has spoken out about the lack of diversity, saying, “I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them.”

Celebrity Jada Pinkett Smith, known for the “Madagascar” movies and other acting roles, boycotted the Oscars this year, and her husband, Will Smith, was also not in attendance.

“We’re part of this community, but, at this current time, we’re uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is okay,” Mr. Smith said.

Saturday Night Live aired a sketch poking fun at the nominations on Jan. 24 and ended with “all of the white guys”

winning Best Actor.

Notable films containing African-American actors that were left out of the Best Actor nomination branch included “Concussion”, “Creed” and “Beasts of No Nation”.

Women have also been left out of a large portion of the awards, with a whopping zero female directors, cinematographers and screenwriters nominated this year. In total, only one woman has ever won Best Director, out of four total nominations, according to the Huffington Post.

Behind the entire process is the Academy, a group that, as of 2012, has been 94 percent white and 77 percent male.

In 2013, Cheryl Boone Isaacs was elected as the president of the Academy; she is the first African-American to ever hold the role and the third woman. She herself said that she is “frustrated and heart-broken

about the lack of inclusion” and that it is time for “big changes.”

On Jan. 22, one of these big changes came when the Academy released a plan to diversify the Oscars, with a goal of doubling the female and minority members of the Academy by 2020. Isaacs said that the new plan was a “step in the right direction,” according to ET online.

Chris Rock has also made some big changes following the nomination announcements. Rock hosted the Oscars and reportedly threw out the show he had planned to write a new script that addressed the diversity controversy, the same ET online article reported. He commented on the race controversy several times during the show.

These big changes need to come soon and quickly. The Oscars have an issue with representation, and it’s time they solve it.

14

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Valentine’s Day is not all it’s advertised to be

BLOT CARTOON BY AUDREY MANNION

Health is different for everyone

By PHEOBE DRUMMOND “Healthy” is a very relative term. If I asked anybody to, off the top of their head, define “healthy”, I would most likely hear more “um”s and “like”s than any actual information pertaining to question.

Healthy, by definition, means “in good health.” It’s that simple.

But what makes this an elaborate plight is that there are several different types of health that contribute to overall wellness: mental health, spiritual health, social health, emotional health, environmental health and, maybe the most important of them all, physical health, according to the National Institute of Wellness.

Of course, deeming one type of health more important than the others may seem presumptuous, but if one’s physical health is exemplary, mental and other types of health are sure to follow.

It has been proven time and time again that people in their prime condition are also at increased mental stability. The American Psychological Association understands the link between physical fitness and mental health perfectly. One of its counselors, Jennifer Carter was quoted in November 2011 saying that she “often recommend[s] exercise for my psychotherapy clients, particularly for those who are anxious or depressed.”

Dr. George Sheehan, who was a physician, successful athlete and author, published his New York Times best-selling book “Running and Be-

ing” in 1978. The book explores how body type affects personality. He wrote that an ectomorph, a person with a thin build, is cautious, awkward and withdrawn. The endomorph, a person with a blocky build, is described as affectionate, tolerant and calm.

And though there’s nothing wrong with being either of these, the mesomorph, a muscular, lean person, has always been characterized as confident, energetic, optimistic and dominant.

I think many people would chose the last option of the three.

The dilemma with this idea is that those descriptions are based off of how people are naturally built, but through the motivation of physical fitness, anybody can possess mesomorphic qualities no matter what their genes may dictate. Personally, I am the epitome of the long-limbed ectomorph, but through running, I have mesomorphic character traits.

A perfectly healthy person is not at all a rare sighting. More often than not, people can easily balance the aspects of health in their life with ease.

So what is the secret? There isn’t one particular formula, because everybody is different.

With an individualized fitness routine, everyone can achieve aspects of the desirable mesomorph. It may be as simple as playing one extracurricular sport or joining a kickboxing class. For others, it may take a more extreme cardio program or a personal trainer, but, once you find what

By MARIA MAROKO Like every other child, you probably remember the Valentine’s Days you experienced during elementary school. Every child had to give little paper valentines – hopefully with candy attached – to all the other kids in the class, more than likely with some cheesy pun derived from whatever cartoon movie was popular at that time.

Of course, as a person matures, Valentine’s Day is supposed to represent a celebration of a romantic relationship. But despite the difference in age, Valentine’s Day does not really have any more depth or romantic appeal than it did in elementary school.

Although Valentine’s Day is often seen as a fairly romantic holiday, there’s nothing really romantic about it. Valentine’s Day is nothing more than a shallow, materialistic interpretation of a powerful emotion.

The holiday reduces romance to a simple formula: buy your female partner a gift, and, in return, she owes you sexual favors. This idea is perpetuated by many Valentine’s Day advertisements, such as the 2012 Super Bowl Teleflora ad, in which Adriana Lima, clad in lingerie, tells men that “Valentine’s Day is not that complicated. Give, and you shall receive.”

Even in cases where sexual favors are not expected, the practice of gift-giving on Valentine’s Day is a very stressful – and frequently sexist – one.

Some men believe Valentine’s Day is biased against men, as men are pressured to give gifts without receiving a gift in return, such as Paul Elam, the founder of the site A Voice For Men. Many women and feminists also dislike the holiday, believing it to be an outdated practice steeped in traditional gender roles, according to a 2012 article by Mic’s Mia Pskowski.

Valentine’s Day also has psychological complications

as well. As the holiday often pressures people to be in love, people often find themselves dealing with feelings of bitterness or isolation.

Everyday Health, a website dedicated to helping people identify and resolve psychological issues, marks Valentine’s Day as one of the most emotionally damaging days of the year and stated that a recent poll showed that more than 70 percent of single people stay home and wallow on Valentine’s Day. A Missouri suicide hotline reported having roughly 200 more calls on Valentine’s Day than usual, as stated by reporter Kevin Killeen of KMOX. Of course, the origin of Valentine’s Day is a bit shady as well. Valentine’s Day comes from the Roman festival “Lupercalia”, which celebrated spring by pairing up women with men by lottery, according to History.com.

The women were later whipped, which was supposed to cause fertility. As for the date and name of the holiday, that came from the execution of St. Valentine.

The practice of giving “valentines” came from him giving a note to the girl who visited him before his execution – a girl who was possibly the jailer’s daughter, History.com reports.

Valentine’s Day is not a very appealing holiday. Rather than celebrating love, it creates a superficial, commercialized representation of it. It puts pressure on couples to appease each other in similarly superficial ways, and it makes single people feel unwanted or unhappy with themselves for not having secured a lover. The origin of Valentine’s Day itself is actually rather dark, and it doesn’t seem to be about love at all.

No matter how hard corporations try to convince people otherwise, love cannot be summed up by a box of chocolates and a corny Hallmark card.

Beauty pageant contestants flaunt more than good looks – they inspire individuality

CC KHANH HOA

Dayana Mendoza, former Miss Venezuela, was crowned Miss Universe in the 2008 pagaent.

By ARIELLE HUTCHINSON Contrary to popular belief, beauty pageants are more than a competition to see who looks the most aesthetically pleasing. There are many other components aside from the infamous swimwear portion that are taken into account when the winning girl is chosen.

Pageants are sometimes viewed as demeaning to women. Instead, pageants celebrate women’s beauty and showcase how women can be beautiful and still be intelligent and empowered to use their voices inspire the masses.

Before most pageant contestants are even allowed to compete, they are screened to make sure they have hopeful educational backgrounds and meet the age and citizenship requirements. Then, contestants are thoroughly interviewed by judges to assess personality, according to Pageant Center.

After passing the interview and screening section, contestants must then meet five other criteria in the preliminary scoring segment. A preliminary score is broken down as follows: 15 percent of lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit, 20 percent of evening wear, 35 percent of talent,

25 percent of private interview and 5 percent of onstage question, according to the Miss America Organization.

Lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit only accounts for 15 percent of scoring, but somehow it has become the defining characteristic of most pageants. But as unlikely as it may seem, the swimsuit segment was created to promote health, physical fitness and self-confidence, according to the Miss Universe Organization.

Although pageants aim to promote confidence, many critics would argue that pageants contribute to low self-esteem.

The social media news blog Mashable said pageants only celebrate what our society perceives to be beautiful: mainly white, able-bodied, straight, slim and/or cisgender contestants.

More recently, pageants are challenging societal standards, including and empowering various groups of women.

In 2008, Abbey Curran, who had cerebral palsy, became the first competitor in Miss USA with a disability. In 2012, the Miss Universe Organization began accepting transgender women as contestants.

Ariana Miyamoto became the first biracial winner of Miss Japan Universe in 2014, and she drew attention to the racial discrimination faced by half-Japanese residents in her country.

Most importantly, pageant contestants must pick a platform: a cause they will raise money and awareness about.

Ever since this was implemented by the Miss America Organization in 1989, pageants became a way for women to open up a public forum of discussion of issues.

In 2014, the first Indian-American Miss America, Nina Davuluri, was crowned, and her platform was “Celebrating Diversity through Cultural Competency”.

“I wanted to be the first Indian Miss America, to be that symbol of a new face for the organization,” Davuluri said on Erin Burnett OutFront. “And to let younger girls know that regardless of race, their socioeconomic status, their religion that anyone can become not only Miss America, but anything.”

It’s common for people to say that pageants objectify women, but, when looking at the big picture, that is just not true.

15

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Multi-sport athletes must Seniors still on the hook to complete gym requirement also handle multi-tasking

BY KELLY FORRESTER “I love sports. Sports are my life.”

Freshman Kiera Gill of Wall plays field hockey and skis competitively, so, often times, sports take up a large portion of her life.

Gill plays field hockey year-round for both school and travel teams.

Skiing only takes place in the winter.

Gill said she doesn’t mind constantly playing two sports.

Senior Allie Wheeler of Wall said playing one sport, rather than two, is easier to manage.

Wheeler played a year-long soccer season while also participating in lacrosse last year.

Wheeler said her athletic schedules often collided with her schoolwork.

“I always had stuff going on with school, so it was kind of a challenge,” Wheeler said.

Although Wheeler always got her work done, she said it was a constant struggle trying

to find time.

Sophomore Megan Stanislowski of Wall agreed.

“I really have to work around the sports in order to finish the work,” Stanislowski said.

Freshman Marisa Harczuk of Tinton Falls said that she’s able to manage her time easily while playing two sports since they occur at different times.

Harczuk plays field hockey and softball, which are played in the fall and spring, respectively.

Junior Tony Moore of Howell said his busy schedule is filled with marching band, soccer and swimming outside of CHS. “Today, I have to get out of school early, and I won’t be home until eight, maybe nine if I stay to practice.”

“Then, I come home and still have homework.

It is a daily struggle,” Moore said.

“I like to play more than one sport, though.

You get to exercise every single day. You get to have new friend groups, meet new people. You never have to be bored.”

Another added bonus to playing more than one sport is a better standing with colleges.

Jeff Tambroni, the head coach of Penn State’s Men’s Lacrosse team, said that playing several sports can be a leg-up over other applicants.

“If we’re considering two players with comparable skills, we’ll take the multi-sport athlete,” Tambroni said in an interview with LAXmagazine.com.

Friend groups are a factor that some athletes consider when taking on sports at their home high schools Freshman Kate Dickenson of Spring Lake Heights plays field hockey and softball for Manasquan High School.

“I like to be able to get to know kids from my home high school and have friends there, not just at Communications,” Dickenson said.

By CAYLA HARRIS “The President’s Challenge is for everyone,” its website says, but at CHS, the President’s Challenge is for graduating seniors.

By April 14, all seniors are required to have logged 20,000 points on the President’s Challenge website. Points are calculated when students record physical activities they’ve completed to presidentschallenge.org.

Potential activities range from walking to snorkeling, and the tracker also asks students for the intensity and length of their exercise.

Completion of the President’s Challenge is a graduation requirement for physical education.

Fitness teacher Ginny Clevenger said that the President’s Challenge is “perfect” for her needs as a physical education teacher, although she’d “much rather have seniors in front of me doing their physical activity.”

“As seniors do not meet the state requirements for physical education time, I needed to create a system for them to continue their overall fitness outside of school and a way for me to be able to track it,” she said.

The President’s Challenge wasn’t always the seniors’ outside physical education requirement, as it didn’t exist when the school first opened; but now, it works well, Clevenger said.

Clevenger also came up with the 20,000 figure for the requirement.

Senior Melissa Martin of Tinton Falls is often on the move while gardening or doing house chores but said that the Pres-

ident’s Challenge can be difficult for some students to complete.

“I think it’s a positive just in general to encourage people to go out and exercise,” Martin said. “But [for] people who don’t necessarily do that a lot, it’s kind of … a challenge and kind of a burden on them as well.”

Senior Justin Ortiz of Middletown created an account on the President’s Challenge website but hasn’t logged much activity since.

But because Ortiz is active in general, he doesn’t think completing the challenge will be a problem.

“I run almost every day, and I go to the gym, and I like to keep moving,” Ortiz said. “I feel like if I stop moving, I’m going to die.”

Senior Johnny Callaghan of Wall said the President’s Challenge is positive, even though he may not need to do it himself.

“I do a lot of active sports outside of school, so it’s better for the students who maybe don’t,” Callaghan said.

Senior Eileen Volk of Manalapan began her President’s Challenge and logged a few activities, including running. She said she thinks the President’s Challenge is a generally good idea.

“I think that the concept itself is really good, because it motivates seniors to stay active,” Volk said. “I think it’s nice that you can pick what your activity is.”

But she also said that the challenge does have its drawbacks.

“For athletes, it’s very easy to make it to 20,000 [points], but for those who aren’t as active, it could be more of a challenge,” she said.

CHS students hit the slopes for winter sports

By MEAGAN McDOWELL CHS is home to 35 skiers, 20 snowboarders and five students who participate in both, according to a Jan. 27 Inkblot survey of 129 athletes.

Sophomore Rachel Wolson of Bradley is a ski instructor at the Snow Camp on Mount Snow with 13 years of skiing experience under her belt.

“The snow, the speed, the adrenaline rush of an unexpected drop or turn. It’s hard to explain, but everything about it just gets me so pumped up and happy,” Wolson said. “I couldn’t imagine my life without skiing, really. It’s part of me at this point.”

Junior Sydney Coneeny of Wall has been snowboarding since she was nine.

“I love to go fast,” Coneeny said.

But with high speeds, skiers may face danger, Coneeny added.

“It’s physically challenging. There are obstacles to avoid like ice, trees and beginners,”

PHOTO COURTESY OF KIERA GILL

Aside from skiing, freshman Kiera Gill of Wall also plays field hockey competatively at her home high school.

Coneeny said. “But there are also elements that add to the ride like jumps, moguls and rails.”

Junior Rebecca Cleffi of Manasquan began skiing when

she was two years old but later taught herself how to snowboard.

“Personally, I think [snowboarding] is easier to control. You

have one board, rather than two skis, and some people will say the opposite, but both your feet are connected to the same thing, so it’s easier to turn yourself,”

she said.

Cleffi started snowboarding at age 13.

“We took a snowboard and went to the top of a mountain and saw what happened, and it worked,” Cleffi said.

But sometimes snowboarding doesn’t come so naturally.

“When I first started snowboarding, I was awful. I fell a lot, and, as a result, I didn’t believe I would ever be good,” Coneeny said.

Other athletes, such as freshman Kiera Gill of Wall, have no desire to try other winter sports.

“I have never tried snowboarding, and I don’t plan on trying it,” Gill said.

“I ski because I’ve been doing it since I was young. I’m pretty talented, and I don’t wanna try anything new since I know how to ski well.”

But Coneeny had a few words to offer to those who want to take up either sport.

“My advice to all beginners: don’t be afraid to fall,” she said.

New athletes encouraged to work hard, play harder

By SHANNON BRADLEY Many kids branch out of their comfort zones in high school. Some do that by joining drama or participating in clubs, but many students achieve this by joining a sports team for the first time.

Senior Nick Brennan of Middletown said his first high school sports season as a freshman was harder than he expected.

“I was just under six foot, chubby and incredibly out of shape,” Brennan said.

Brennan worked harder than he ever had before. He said that he lost 20 pounds alone in pre-season that year.

His first season of high school sports not only helped him to lose weight but also develop a foundation of skills that would take him to his senior year.

“Run more … I would tell little me to condition more, because I wouldn’t have puked as much as I did,” Brennan said.

Sophomore Megan Stanislowski of Wall began swimming for the first time this year. In the past, Stanislowski had played soccer and volleyball but decided to give swimming a shot.

“I have always just [swum] for fun,” Stanislowski said.

But this year, her friends convinced her to swim competitively. “A lot of my friends are swimmers, so they were all like, ‘You should swim; it’ll be fun. We can all hang out.’

And I was like, ‘why not?’”

Stanislowski knew what to expect for swimming because her friends had swum in previous seasons. She said it was hard work but worthwhile because it helped to keep

her in shape for other sports.

She said she intends to continue swimming for Wall in the years to come.

Looking toward the future, sophomore Robert Denny of Keyport has never played a high school sport before but said he intends to change that this spring, when he will try out for boys volleyball. He said that he’s excited to do something new while getting in shape.

“For someone who lives a very, very sedentary lifestyle, I look forward to finally doing something to take up all of this time wasted on video games,” Denny said.

Brennan advised all students thinking of participating in a new sport to “just go for it.”

“There’s no reason to not step on the field and give it everything you can,” Brennan said.

16

the inkblot march 3, 2016

Swimmers make up a small pool of CHS athletes

By EMMA HECHT and CAROLINE MONAGHAN “Finding Nemo”s Dory once said that you have to “just keep swimming,” and some CHS students certainly took her advice.

Senior James Boyle of Avon said he knows firsthand that swimming requires complete dedication, as he swims for his high school team, the Manasquan Warriors.

Although stressful at times, the sport is rewarding for him and he even uses it as a way to relieve stress.

“Swimming is a sport that you have to commit yourself so much to, and this is a school that you have to do the same, in terms of academics, so I definitely see why so many people who come here swim,” Boyle said.

Another Manasquan swimmer, sophomore Meghan Judge of Spring Lake, said she uses swimming as an outlet for stress.

“It relieves stress in a different way, because you are using every muscle in the body, and let me tell you, you sleep really well at the end of the day,” Judge said.

Junior Emileigh Evans of Wall, who swims for her high school team, said time management was another important factor in determining success in swimming.

“You have to be pretty determined, because it’s not an instant payoff. You must be willing to work really hard if you want to

BLOT INFOGRAPHIC BY SHANNON BRADLEY Survey of 248 students on Jan. 27, 2016

be super good at swimming,” Evans said.

Sophomore Erin Wren of Wall swims on both a high school and club team. When asked about time management, Wren said, “it was difficult at first, but by now I have a schedule, and it’s becoming pretty manageable.”

Senior Clay Paley of Howell, a swimmer for Howell High School, agreed.

“I think that swimmers do a very good job of balancing their sport along with school and maintaining their grades,” Paley said.

Along with teaching swimmers time-management skills, swimming also allows participants to stay in great shape, while constantly being encouraged by their teammates.

Junior Rachel VanBrunt of Wall swims for the Wall High School swim team and said it has been a positive experience overall.

“It’s really good exercise, and it’s something that you can always do all your life,” VanBrunt said. “I love seeing my friends from my home school and being a part of the team.”

The intense workouts, 5 a.m. practices and sleep deprivation may not seem appealing to all, but there’s a reason why swimmers put themselves through it.

“It’s just where I’m meant to be,” Evans said.

CHS horseback riders do stable, athletic work

By MIA GALLO When you’re an equestrian, there’s no time to horse around.

Freshman Phoebe Drummond of Little Silver has been horseback riding for eight years.

She started lessons at the age of 6 because she always loved horses, she said. Drummond said that her love for horses has grown over the years.

Drummond, who also runs cross country at her home school of Red Bank Regional, said that horseback riding has a totally different dynamic than that of more conventional sports, because you’re not able to ride whenever you please.

In the end, it’s up to the horse and whether or not it’s willing to work.

Drummond said that, for this reason, horseback riding is a team sport. Without the horse and the human both in sync, you won’t have a successful day of riding.

Senior Amelia Lautenberg of

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLINE RICHTER

Senior Caroline Richter of Cliffwood Beach started horseback riding at Camp Sacajawea when her mom signed her up for lessons nine years ago.

Holmdel began riding when she was 12, but now she spends at least six days a week at the barn, she said.

Lautenberg also said team-

work is a big component of horseback riding.

“The hardest thing about riding is that, no matter what, the horse is always going to be bigger

and stronger than you,” she said.

“The most effective riders are the ones who know how to use their balance and weight along with their strength to tell their horse what to do.”

For this reason, there’s a lot of athleticism involved in being a rider, said all of the equestrians interviewed for this story.

“It is a lot harder than what people think, which is that you just sit on the horse,” Drummond said.

Senior Caroline Richter of Cliffwood Beach has been riding for nine years, and she said it’s a sport where “your whole body is involved at all times.”

“There’s a lot of balance involved, a lot of core strength ... and a whole lot of leg strength,” Richter said.

“The best way to describe it is in the words of my trainer: ‘heels down, chin up, belly in, thumbs up, back straight, tight knees, stretch down, light seat and don’t forget to flow,’ all while

controlling your horse and planning your next moves,” she said.

Horseback riding is now considered a moderate-intensity exercise, according to a 2011 study conducted by the British Horse Society through the University of Brighton and Plumpton College.

Lautenberg said the best part of riding is the people you meet.

“Horse people spend a lot of time together. Between riding, showing and caring for our horses, we put in a lot of hours at the barn,” Lautenberg said. “The other riders I have met over the last six years are some of my best friends, and the trainers are my role models.”

Richter said she favors the relationship a rider builds with their horse.

“It’s amazing to me that you can click with a horse’s personality and bond and be a team with them,” she said. “It’s crazy that you communicate efficiently with a different species without language.”

INTERVIEWS BY ANNIE RUOFF BLOT PHOTOS BY ALLIE KUO

Freshman Kelly Forester of Spring Lake “Ice skating because it’s really fun and you can do a lot of cool tricks.”

Sophomore Megan Stanislowski of Wall “Swimming because you’re getting a really good workout, but it’s still very calming.”

Junior Caroline Collins

of Tinton Falls “I used to like basketball, but I’ve decided that ice skating is just overall a better sport.”

Senior Mithu Sankar of Manalapan “I like ski jump, because it’s fun to watch and they go really, really high and you don’t expect it..”

Q: What is your favorite winter sport?