COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
JUNE 2021 FREE
COVID blues
Fighting for equality
Member of the Class of 2021 reflects on a senior year in lockdown
High School North junior hosts an LGBTQ+ podcast
BY DANI SAKRAN
BY SAM SCIARROTTA
Niha Haldo is an advocate. The High School North junior, a queer woman, uses her voice to speak up on behalf of people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. Now, she’s doing that on a larger scale. Last year, Haldo launched “Queerocracy: the Politics of Being Queer,” a podcast that works to examine the intersection of politics and the queer community through local, national and international analysis. It’s the perfect combination of Haldo’s interests, she said. She hopes to attend law school in the future and is passionate about public policy—anything to make the “world a better place,” she said. “The podcast was started because I personally am a very big advocate for equality,” she said. “I’m involved in a lot of different activities— Black Lives Matter, advocacy for people of color. Me being a queer individual living in a town that is not very accepting is very difficult, and I thought that by starting this podcast and being open about my sexuality, it would get more folks in the LGBTQ+ community here, See PODCAST, Page 4
The Pirates girls’ volleyball team went an undefeated 10-0 during the regular season. Pictured are Varsha Gollarhalli (left), Alisa Vukovic, Shakthi Sreenivas, coach Dan Bower, Skylar Hendrick, and Sibana Gonzalez. (Photo by Robin Lange.)
A team to remember
Pirates girls’ volleyball squad goes 10-0 in regular season play BY RICH FISHER
In looking beyond the talent, beyond the dedication and beyond the coaching, Varsha Gollarhalli felt there was a truly intangible ingredient in the High School South girls’ volleyball team’s success this year—fun.
“When we just go out there and play the sport because you love it and it’s such a joy to play with all the other girls,” she said, “we definitely end up playing so much better than if we put so much pressure on ourselves to not make too many mistakes and play almost timid and scared.” The Pirates were none of those things as they went 10-0 in the regular season and 11-1 overall, with their lone loss coming at Cherry Hill East in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals. South
was named the Times of Trenton’ Team of the Year while senior outside hitter Alisa Vukovic was Player of the Year. Granted, it was a shortened season moved from the fall to early spring due to COVID-19, but it will long be remembered. “Coach (Kevin) Lynch and I, every time we’d watch some of the games we’d look at each other and say ‘Wow that was a dirty hit, that was nasty,’” head coach Dan Bower said. “Some of the plays they set See TEAM, Page 6
Editor’s note: High School South senior Dani Sakran has been an editorial intern with The News since February as part of the WW-P School District’s senior options program. Through Senior Options, she received high school credits while working to learn about newspapers and considering whether she wanted to study journalism in college. In the article below, Dani reflects on what it’s been like to live through a final year of high school like no other. *** Ever since I was a freshman, I have looked forward to my senior year of high school. The trips, prom, graduation— it seemed like a dream to be a senior. Unfortunately, my senior year was robbed from me by COVID-19. Before quarantine, I’d wake up at 6 a.m. and look forward to going to school. It was the social aspect that made school attractive to me—not the academic one. My friends and I would schedule dates where we’d hang out after school, and at night I would study until I understood the material from all my classes. Don’t get me wrong, when it was first announced at the See SENIOR, Page 5
SEE WHAT JOAN’S UP TO!
1179 NEWARK, NJ
Joan Eisenberg
SEE OUR AD ON PG 6
Office:609-951-8600 Cell: 609-306-1999 Owner/ Sales Associate
See Ad On Page 13