Graduation Special V98

The Newtonite ◆ Wednesday, June 5, 2019 • Volume 98

Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460

Senior class bids North farewell with commencement celebration

What’s Inside Year In Review

See a timeline of the notable speakers, student initiatives, and events from this past school year. ◆ Page 3

News Stories

Read about renovations to the school store, the closing of the snack bar, the Class of 2019’s senior gift, the talented students who have received awards, and the three teachers who were recognized this year for their hard work. ◆ Page 5

Retirements

As some of North’s teachers bring their careers to an end, read about their future plans, favorite moments, and advice for students. ◆ Pages 6-8

Scholarships and Awards

Ian Dickerman

The Class of 2019 celebrates as the clock ticked down to the final seconds of senior year at Countdown in the SOA last Thursday morning.

Read which seniors have been honored this year with a scholarship or award. ◆ Pages 14-15

Sophia Zhou The Class of 2019 concluded its senior year this afternoon, becoming the 159th graduating class of this school.

The graduates took their seats as Wind Ensemble performed “Pomp and Circumstance,” by Edward Elgar, conducted by music teacher Richard Labedz.

The ceremony began with Family Singers, conducted by Adam by

Grossman, singing “America the Beautiful,” by Katherine Lee Bates, a member of the Class of 1876. Senior Rene Miller then sang the National Anthem and senior Ian Ip Sit signed it in American Sign Language.

After principal Henry J. Turner welcomed guests, English Language Learning and EDCO seniors greeted attendees in American Sign Language, Portuguese, Luganda, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Haitian

Creole, Korean, French, Hebrew, Albanian, Italian, and Mandarin.

Next, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Superintendent David Fleishman, School Committee member Bridget Ray-Canada, and president of City Council Marc Laredo spoke to the graduating seniors.

Senior class president Maya Mathews then presented the class gift—window cranks for classrooms and the restoration of NNHS let-

ters from the old building—and the senior tribute to dean Scott Heslin.

Rachel Donnellan spoke on behalf of the Class of 2019. Then, history and social sciences teacher David Bedar spoke for the faculty.

After, faculty and students presented awards to notable seniors.

At the end of the ceremony, seniors received their diplomas, marking the end of their time at this school.

Awards Charles Dana Meserve Fund Award Emma Klein and Laura Schmidt-Hong Presented by Lauren Gobler and Jack Goldsmith The award honors an outstanding scholar who has made outstanding contributions to this school. Klein and Schmidt-Hong each received an engraved tray and scholarship.

Dickinson Memorial Award

Newton Rotary Club William Rockwell Memorial Career and Vocational Technical Education Achievement Award Kamilla Salazar Presented by Kyle Fieleke The award recognizes a student majoring in a Career and Vocational Technical education course who uses his or her technical skills to better the community.

Salazar received a plaque.

Senior Plans

Curious to know where the graduating class is headed? Look inside for the seniors’ post-high school plans. ◆ Pages 16-17

Cost of North

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to go to North? From field trips, sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars, the cost adds up.

Read about the price many students pay to receive a “free” education. ◆ Pages 20-21

Senior Statements

Theodore Burba Presented by Annie Tobin The award honors male students who have shown great improvement in athletic cooperation, sportsmanship, character, and skill. Burba received an engraved bowl.

Phi Beta Kappa Award Jack Farley Presented by Joelle Sugianto The award honors an outstanding scholar for academic excellence. Farley received a certificate and scholarship.

Hear from seniors as they reflect on their four years and provide insight for current students.

Gary Elliot Prize for the Performing Arts

Principal’s Plaque

◆ Pages 23, 25, 27, 29

Rene Miller and Andy Bean Presented by Niajah Hyppolite and Filippo Menozzi The award recognizes students for their dedication, creativity, talent, and love for the performing arts. Miller and Bean received certificates.

Helene Breivogel Award Ashley Wang Presented by Kyle Ray-Canada The award is given to a female who improves in athletic competition and demonstrates character, skill, and sportsmanship. Wang received an engraved bowl.

Lenny Zakim/PTSO Human Rights Award Hayley Cline and Iman Sayeed Presented by Drew Bookman and Samson Kampler The award honors students who pursue a greater understanding and appreciation of human differences. Cline and Sayeed each received a certificate and scholarship.

Margaret South Award Maya Mathews Presented by Lillian Hacsi The award recognizes students for their courtesy, courage, enthusiasm, and unselfish service to North. Mathews received an engraved bowl.

Sally Brickell, co-president of Newton North PTSO Presented by Henry Turner The award is presented to a person or group of people in the Newton community who have made outstanding contributions to the students, faculty, and programs at this school. Brickell received an engraved tray.

Senior Cup Dominion Emmanuel and Achille Ricca Presented by Alastair Poole and Kiara Rubino The award recognizes students for character, scholarship, involvement in the school community, and personality. Faculty members nominate students for this award and the senior class then votes on the nominees. Both Emmanuel and Ricca received engraved bowls.

V. James Marini Award Yahni Lapa Presented by Jane Alandydy The award recognizes students for their strong work ethic, academic growth, and committment to diversity and helping others. Lapa received a certificate and scholarship.

Arts Wraps

Throughout the year, Theatre Ink, the music department, and the arts department have put on shows and performances.

Read more about them inside. ◆ Pages 34-35

Sports Wraps Read about the athletic seasons and hear from players and coaches as they reflect on their accomplishments throughout the year. ◆ Pages 36-38

opinion

2 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

North’s flex culture creates social divide

Walking through North, the hallways are filled with students wearing Patagonias, carrying AirPods, and drinking from S’wells. Over the last several years, trends have emerged surrounding these expensive items, which give students clout. By flaunting these items, students at North are in some way or another, “flexing.”

editorial When students flex these products, whether it’s intentional or not, it’s not about fitting in, it’s about not being left out.

Even though it may feel like the practice of flexing has only recently developed, it has long been a part of American culture.

Ten years ago, flexing meant pulling out your slick-looking iPhone 4. Ten years before that, it meant blasting your music on a new CD player. Thirty years ago, it meant popping a cassette in your brand new Walkman.

The only reason flexing seems so prominent today is because it has a name—and a platform in social media. This platform increases our ability to flex to a wider audience because everyone in the school is connected— something that was not the case 10, 20, or 30 years ago—while also increasing our exposure to others’ flexes. This heightened exposure results in heightened stress.

As this flex culture grows, it bleeds into our academic life.

In addition to the brandishing of jackets and water bottles is the brandishing of stress. Participants in this culture, even unknowing participants, compete over who has the most essays due tomorrow, who stays up the longest studying for a test, or who leaves a project to the latest minute.

The foundation of this stress is an ever-present competition among peers, and our stress levels are taken as a measure of our commitment to this competi-

tion. Despite talk of a balanced life, academically and socially, we continue to overwork and overload ourselves in order to fit in with our single-minded peers.

In conforming, however, we force ourselves to stand out rather than stand together. In his recent op-ed piece, New York Times columnist David Brooks argues that instead of bonding over shared stress, people often interact based on “gestures designed to generate a response.”

By flexing the way we manage our workload, students fuel the competition in an attempt to win it.

While we understand that by pushing our limits, we are attempting to leverage ourselves over our peers, students exposed to this culture worry about feeling socially and academically inferior. To cover up feelings of deficiency, these students will play up their own stress. Or, as Brooks writes, “these attention-grabbing tactics” create “a climate that causes more pain” and prevents “things that create genuine companionship.” In the case of this academic stress culture, students appear to be finding companionship in the shared experiences of stress, but the reality is a cutthroat competition between peers in which we cause pain everytime we flex our study practices.

For students, this academic flexing normalizes a culture of extreme stress where students work themselves into a frenzy over their workload. This frenzy then carries beyond academics into extracurriculars, where students continue to flex their stress caused by these activities. As each participant orients their life to gain leverage over others, the cycle perpetuates.

To combat this, we must establish our own priorities. Once we understand what is right for us, we can best serve our own goals, needs, and mental health.

We should focus not on flexing to others, but on satisfying ourselves.

The Newtonite The Newtonite, founded in 1922, is the news source of Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460.

Editors-in-chief — Jake Forbes and Sophia Zhou Managing editors — Jacques Abou-Rizk, Zoe Goldstein, Carolyn McDonald Arts editors — Sophie Fredberg, Isabella Lecona, Arjun Shatkin, Amy Xue Features editors — James Dun Rappaport, Kathy Mitchell, Helen Xiao News editors — Dea Cela, Maya Demissie, David Feng, Sophie Murthy, David Ren, Yesha Thakkar Opinions editor — Skyler Bohnert Sports editors — Griffin Bond, Emily Dhadly, Jeremy Frankel,

Nichol Weylman-Farwell Graphics editors — Skyler Bohnert, Ruchik Trivedi Photo manager — Ian Dickerman Photo editor — Cameron Kellstein Business/advertisements manager— Isaac Tang Advisers — Tom Fabian, Derek Knapp, Amanda Mazzola Photo staff — Ella Bailey, Joel Schurgin Social Media coordinator —Amy Xue Graphics Staff — A.J. Chau, Jai Khurana, Kayley Somers

The Newtonite staff does all its reporting and photography to post content daily to its website, thenewtonite.com. Sign up for The Newtonite’s monthly email newsletter on its website. In addition to the graduation special, The Newtonite publishes a spring special, a first day of school special, a club special, and a midyear special.

To place an advertisement in the online or print version of The Newtonite or to contact us by phone, please call 617-559-6273. Readers can also reach us at thenewtonite@gmail.com.

Letters

The Newtonite serves as a designated forum for student expression. Readers are invited to submit guest articles and letters to the thenewtonite@gmail.com.

The Newtonite reserves the right to edit all letters, which must have the writer’s name and a student’s class and homeroom.

Sophia Zhou

Sophomore Alexa Rossi completes a math assignment on her school-issued Chromebook Monday, Jan. 7.

School needs to train teachers to justify cost of Chromebooks Emily Dhadly Newton Public Schools (NPS) launched the 1:1 Laptop Initiative this year, giving all sophomores a Lenovo 300e Chromebook in hopes of providing students with access to a computer at home and at school. According to the NPS website, the program aims to “improve access to a wider variety of resources, provide additional ways of teaching creativity and critical thinking skills, and challenge students to adapt to new learning environments.”

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column Chromebooks are beneficial to our high school learning experience because they allow students to work online without teachers needing to find a laptop cart or book a computer lab in the library. While the program has led to many positive changes in the North community, the responsibility of maintaining the Chromebooks, and the high cost for the school, set expectations that the program has not fully met.

Earlier this year, my history teacher passed around worksheets and told us to take out our Chromebooks. Minutes later, everyone was on a computer researching the Western Front and completing an online interactive about the conditions of the trenches during WWI. In this situation, having our Chromebooks allowed us to learn about the content in a creative way rather than listening to a lecture as usual. We could fill out the worksheet as we read at our own pace rather than take notes from a lecture where students might have felt left behind.

English teacher Pamela Pistiner said she is “really happy that everybody has access to technology in the classroom. It makes it easier to change a plan at the last second and have kids start working in class on a writing assignment.”

However, sophomore teachers do not seem to use the Chromebooks enough to justify their cost. It is also hard to make full use of the Chromebooks due to students not bringing them to school or bringing them uncharged. As a result, teachers do not plan activities around the computers, and then students don’t want to carry their Chromebook to school if it is unnecessary, creating a continuing cycle.

The Chromebook Loan Agree-

ment, which all sophomores signed when they received their Chromebook, includes a statement saying that students are expected to “make every effort to have a charged laptop ready for the school day.” Yet, because this rule isn’t enforced, students slack off, leaving teachers unable to complete computerized assignments.

Furthermore, it is hard to take full advantage of the Chromebook program during class because the computers are mainly useful for essays, research, or projects, which students often complete at home.

During classes, I rarely take out my Chromebook to do a computer-based activity, usually because teachers aren’t sure when and how to incorporate them into classes.

This lack of Chromebook usage seems to be true for a number of my peers.

“I think that Chromebooks should be used more during class.

I think that especially if we are taking notes in history, there is no use in writing on paper when we have Chromebooks because it will be a more productive class since typing is faster than writing,” said sophomore Alex Filipova.

Some teachers don’t feel comfortable implementing Chromebooks into their curriculum because of students’ ability to access the rest of the internet. “The thing that’s most difficult is having a class full of kids behind a screen and not really knowing what’s happening on their screen without me standing behind them. What would be nice was if there was a way that certain websites were accessible and maybe others weren’t,” said Pistiner.

Efforts on the part of the school to develop more curriculum around the use of the Chromebooks seem to be inconsistent. According to Pistiner, teachers had a professional development day instructing teachers on how to make use of Schoology and other computer activities. “We did have a professional development day where we looked at Schoology and various activities that we could do in and out of the classroom and that was very helpful, especially for people who were not very familiar with Schoology.”

Yet, math teacher Derek Hogan said of the Chromebook program, “I don’t think there’s been good curriculum developed around it, but it’s nice for MCAS though.”

According to district coordinator of the Chromebook implemen-

tation Thomas Gwin, North has hopes of “providing professional development for the teachers so they have a better understanding how they can use them for instructional purposes.”

The cost of the 1,100 chromebooks distributed to North and South sophomores this year totaled $310,000. While that money has gone to good use by providing students with equitable access to technology, an amount of money that significant could be put to other uses such as increasing teacher salaries, updating the current technology, or even improving school lunch.

Despite these initial problems with the program during this first year, the school plans on expanding the program. Instructional technology specialist Chris Murphy hopes that the extension of the program to the rising sophomore class will help solve some of these problems.

“Hopefully the culture will be that once everybody is using them more, people will come with them charged as was mentioned in the agreement that they signed in the beginning saying that they would bring them charged, but it’s just one of the realities,” he said.

Hogan agreed that student responsibility for the Chromebooks is a problem. “I always say to myself that I should use them more often, but the problem is that if I want to have a lesson where they are going to go online, I have to make sure to give them a couple days’ notice,” said Hogan. “Even if that happens, inevitably there are going to be a few kids that don’t have it, so you have to account for that.”

In the future, the school plans to “keep giving them out to each class so eventually each student in the school will have one and continuously monitor the progress and find ways to improve it,” said Murphy.

To make full use of the Chromebooks, teachers should receive better training on how to build the use of Chromebooks into their classes and students should be expected to bring the Chromebooks, as well as find ways to do work online to limit the use of paper. In addition, the committee that is representative of each department at North should meet with the teachers before the next school year starts to plan curriculum around Chromebooks so that they can be used enough to justify their cost.

news

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Arts hallway floods Sept. 8, 2018

Water flooded the arts hallway and courtyard after heavy rain caused the drain pipes to overflow from the arts hallway to the ramp on Main Street. The area, as well as the G and H stairways, were closed for the entire day.

New furniture installed on Main Street Mid-September, 2018 In response to an SFA bill, the administration placed tables and chairs in the Tiger Drive entrance creating new spaces for students to do homework, eat, and relax.

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 3

Year In Review

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease breaks out Sept. 11, 2018

After five of North’s football players were diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, several students wore gloves and face masks to school. Jokes followed on social media.

Joelle Sugianto

To learn more about all of these events, check out our website for full coverage!

Graduates present benches on Main Street as senior gift Oct. 10, 2018 Carpentry students installed wooden benches on Main Street as part of the Class of 2018 senior gift.

Fire Alarms This Year

School Committee assesses history curricula at hearing Nov. 27, 2018

Joelle Sugianto

Faculty stand out in solidarity with history teachers Oct. 11, 2018

Faculty members stood out before school in support of history teachers following accusations of anti-conservative and anti-Semitic bias in history curricula.

Students honored at Human Rights Awards Dec. 4, 2018

Seniors Dominion Emmanuel, Nathan Persampieri, and Joelle Sugianto received the Newton Human Rights Award from the Newton Human Rights Committee for their work in helping promote equality and combat discrimination.

The School Committee rejected a petition that called for a halt to teaching biased history curricula, an increase in transparency in its selection, and the termination of superintendent David Fleishman. The School Committee voted 9-0 against the petition brought by residents alleging anti-Semitic and anti-conservative bias.

Oct. 12, 2018

Inside a bathroom

Oct. 17, 2018

APT files public records request Dec. 10, 2018

Ella Bailey

Dukakis speaks to students on community engagement

History teachers missed classes due to a public records request filed by Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) which asked history teachers to present emails discussing Holocaust and Nazism in curriculum, as well as various handouts, materials, and curriculum documents.

Ian Dickerman

David Hogg speaks on gun violence Feb. 7, 2019

Activist David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, spoke to students about gun violence, advocacy, and civic engagement.

Dec 18, 2018

Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis encouraged students to participate in civic Committee proposes new Sophomores receive Chromebooks engagement while discussing schedule the importance of voting Jan. 7, 2019 and staying involved in the Feb. 4, 2019 Sophomores received Lenovo 300e Chromebooks community.

A faculty committee finalized a new to use at home and in the classroom as part of the schedule proposal, to be implemented as Newton Public Schools “1:1 Technology Program.” early as the 2021-2022 school year, that The students will keep the laptops through the reduces the number of classes each day, summer and up to the end of their senior year. lengthens the blocks, and shortens the total hours of the day.

CCES hosts trivia night March 7, 2019

The Center for Civic Engagement and Service (CCES) held its firstever Trivia Night to raise money for CCES and the Ty Vignone Student Travel Scholarship.

Lawsuit filed against NPS officials

Jan. 24, 2019

Student vaping in the bathroom

Feb. 28, 2019

March 15, 2019

North’s Next Generation Voices club organized a march to advocate for action against climate change. The march started at North’s theatre entrance and made its way to City Hall, where Mayor Ruthanne Fuller praised the students for their concern.

Joel Schurgin

March 14, 2019

Faulty smoke alarm

April 22, 2019 Smoke in the cafeteria

Kennedy speaks on civic engagement

NPS teachers march to settle new contract

April 26, 2019

April 1, 2019

Yesha Thakkar

City plans installation of solar panels at North Compiled by Jacques Abou-Rizk Designed by AJ Chau

Unknown

Students organize climate march

March 12, 2019

Newton residents filed a lawsuit against Newton Public Schools officials for allegedly failing to remove bias, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic material from the high school history curriculum.

March 31, 2019

Newton teachers marched from North to the Education Center to advocate for a settlement to their contract.

Dec. 3, 2018

5 p.m.

Popcorn in TV Media Arts room

State retracts MCAS question The State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education opted not to grade an essay question from the Grade 10 ELA MCAS after complaints calling the prompt inappropriate and insensitive. The question, based on a passage from The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, asked students to write from the perspective of an openly racist white woman who is conflicted about helping a runaway slave.

Fourth floor boys’ bathroom

Summer, 2019

North will receive solar panel canopies, similar to the ones at South, over the Lowell Avenue parking lot this summer. The canopies will cover much of the parking lot, and the energy produced from the panels will go directly to the school.

Congressman Joe Kennedy III discussed the meaning of civic engagement in Newton and how students can stay involved in both city and state politics.

April 26, 2019 Boys’ bathroom

May 13, 2019

4:30 p.m.

Non-NNHS students smoking marijuana in bathroom by Barry House.

4 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

advertisement

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

SUPPORT

NEWTON EDUCATORS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS

Will you help us persuade the mayor to settle a new contract?

Please take the following actions: • Call or email Mayor Ruthanne Fuller (617.796.1100) (rfuller@newtonma.gov).

Ask her why she is not fully funding our schools.

• Display a “Support Newton Educators” lawn sign. Request one here: bit.ly/NTALawnSign Nine years ago, when the City of Newton was struggling with the effects of the Great Recession, the Newton Teachers Association made sacrifices to support the schools. But now, in much improved economic times, we are still being asked to sacrifice.

That’s not fair. We give our all to your children and the Newton Public Schools.

Now we need your support.

If you would like more information about how you can support our campaign, please email us at NTAPresident@newteach.org.

news

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 5

Class gift improves School store moves location school atmosphere

David Ren The Class of 2019 will leave behind its legacy at North with a two-part senior gift. The class will pay for the letters spelling “Newton North High School” to be mounted above the main entrance and also provide window cranks to each teacher.

The metal NNHS letters were originally mounted on the outside of North’s old building. The Class of 2019 will pay for installation of the letters onto the overhang outside the Tiger Drive entrance. The cost is covered as part of a joint effort with the Class of 2015, which had also set aside money for this purpose.

“Putting the letters back on the school is going to be special and something that will be there all of the years after us,” said senior Morgan Britt-Webb, a vice president alongside Sam Meiselman, Joelle Sugianto, and Phillip Teixeira DaSilva.

Window cranks are the second part of the senior gift and will be provided to all teachers throughout the school.

“The window cranks are a silly gift because, as people that by

have been at the school know, people can’t open the windows in most classrooms, so they can’t provide correct temperature working conditions,” said senior class president Maya Mathews.

For reasons that remain something of a mystery, most of the classrooms have not had window cranks for the past few years.

Vice principal Amy Winston said she ordered 100 window cranks last year and distributed them to the department heads to hand out to teachers.

“If it was a nice day out, I think it would be beneficial and relaxing to the students to be able to open and close the windows,” said freshman Jay Sapers-Sydney.

According to Mathews, the class ordered additional window cranks and, at press time, planned to distribute them into teachers’ mailboxes.

“I think the senior gift is a great tradition,” Beals House Dean Scott Heslin said. “I think it’s a final way for the seniors to give back to the community that’s really supported them for the last four years.”

file photo

The NNHS letters were featured above the entrance to the old North building.

Sophomores Matthew Hassan and Callie Ross shop at the school store Thursday, May 30.

Jacques Abou-Rizk

Dea Cela The snack bar in the cafeteria will be replaced with the school store over the summer as North, along with the rest of the district, switches food service providers this summer.

The district is switching back to Whitsons Food Service once the current food service contract with Sodexo expires. As a result, the snack bar will be closed and the school store will move into the space by the first day of school next year, according to principal Henry Turner.

The district is required by federal regulation to review its food service contract every three years, said Grants and Operational Manager of Newton Public Schools Steven Marshall.

While many students frequented the shop for coffee or a snack, they will still have a range of food options at school to choose from.

“I think it was a nice option and they had a relatively good variety

of snacks that people actually like,” said sophomore Juliette Catlin. “I think that the school already had the cafeteria, vending machines, and the Tigers Loft so it’s not completely necessary for it to be there, but I think it was nice to have it.”

Business teacher Robert Kane said he thinks that with some remodeling, the store could attract many more customers and maximize profit in the new space. “We’ll spend some of our money utilizing the carpentry students, for them to build and enhance the interior of the store,” he said. “We’re going to re-create the inside design with shelving and displays.”

Although the school store has in recent memory been run by business teacher Ellen Novinsky, who is retiring this year, Kane said that Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students will now be responsible for the operation of the store.

“I would love to see a program where there are more students who

are involved in marketing as well as the selling in the school store,” said Turner.

The new location will hopefully help FBLA to develop the business and raise more money for their club.

“The school store is in a closet right now, so it’s not in a great place,” said Turner. “This gives an opportunity for it to re-establish itself.”

FBLA has raised approximately $3,500 this year through fundraisers and donations, according to junior Christina Zhao, the club’s head of marketing and human relations.

Most of the club’s current profits come from their online sales, including a version of Monopoly called Newtonopoly, which is their most popular online item.

According to Kane, the increased profit would go towards its Vollin B. Wells Scholarship, which FBLA awards every year to a senior involved in business education at North.

Phelan Scholarship Award, won by senior Will Kritzer. The award was named after a former world language department head to honor students who take more than one language.

For the math department’s annual awards, six seniors were highlighted at the ceremony Thursday, May 23. According to math department head Jennifer Letourneau, students can be nominated by any math teacher during their time at North. They are then chosen for this honor in their senior year based on those nominations.

The department awarded senior Greg Licholai the Big Heart Award, which is given to “the math student who shows a consistently high level of participation and effort in math regardless of their math ability,”

according to the award description.

The CTE department gave out 26 awards to 57 seniors at its ceremony Thursday, May 16. Senior Max Roy, a Major 3 drafting student, won the CTE Outstanding Student of the Year Robert Faulkner Memorial Scholarship, which acknowledges a student with leadership qualities, work experience related to their career of study, extracurriculars, and community involvement.

Students were recognized for their achievement and improvement in writing at the English department awards ceremony Wednesday, May 29.

Senior Ophelia Baxter was awarded the Helen Smith Award, which is given to a student who went the extra mile and learned the

most serving the school newspaper.

Eight students received five awards at the history and social sciences department awards night Thursday, May 23.

A committee of history teachers chose the winners of the awards in a meeting earlier this year, according to interim history department head Albert Cho. Juniors Emily Davis-Morin and Zoe Goldstein won the Kennedy Prize, which honors the students with the best junior theses.

The science department gave out engineering awards Friday, May 17. Senior Michael Rideout won Engineer of the Year, which is “given to a senior that is dedicated to engineering and innovation,” according to engineering teacher Scott Rosenhahn.

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Departments recognize student accomplishments Sophie Murthy Every year, each academic department at North honors individual students’ hard work and determination with awards, certificates, and scholarships, which are given out at various ceremonies toward the end of the school year.

Recognitions are given out from the math, history and social sciences, English, world language, career and technical education (CTE), and science departments.

According to CTE department head Kathleen Duff, the awards are meant to “recognize the amazing students for who they are and what they’ve accomplished.”

She added, “It’s to honor a culmination of the kids’ experiences.

Some of the work of the kids is so impressive. The hard part is picking by

and choosing. Every senior should be commended, but obviously, we can’t do that.”

World language department head Nancy Marrinucci said that the awards recognize students in all class levels for their hard work.

“When I first came in as department chair many years ago, we were giving an award for students who got A’s for four quarters, and it wasn’t very inclusive,” she said, adding that, since then, many departments have added awards to acknowledge a wider group of students’ work.

The world language awards, which were given out Tuesday, May 21, honored around 80 students who took Chinese, French, Italian, Latin, or Spanish.

One such award is the Dave

Teachers’ hard work honored with annual awards

Maya Demissie “I hit my voicemail, and it was Henry Turner’s voice on the phone telling me to call him back,” English teacher Nick Grant said. “I immediately thought, ‘oh boy, what did I do in class today?’”

Principal Henry Turner, however, was actually calling to congratulate Grant on winning the Paul E. Elicker Award, which celebrates teachers who display a deep appreciation and knowledge of subject matter, stretch the minds of students, and inspire excellence in all students.

As part of an annual celebration of Newton educators, Grant, by

along with science teacher Peter Hamel and French teacher Isabelle Ronfard, won awards for their hard work and dedication to teaching. Hamel won the Brenda Keegan Award for inspiring students to think both “critically and creatively,” and Ronfard received the Charles Dana Meserve award for excelling in and out of the classroom.

Although all three teachers have varied teaching styles and methods, each one connected deeply with their students.

Freshman Sage Pollack said that Grant “makes sure everyone is on top of their learning.” She added,

“When we have assignments or people are struggling with things, he’ll make sure to personally reach out to them and help them.”

Junior Christina Zhao said that Hamel always strives to minimize students’ stress as much as possible. “He’s super calming. He’ll ask you about your day, and then he’ll jump in on your conversations and add his own thoughts,” she said.

“He does things aside from chem that makes you feel like he actually cares about you.”

Emily Moss ‘17, who received the student Meserve award at her graduation, nominated Ronfard after taking AP French her senior

year.

Students receive the award for outstanding academic performance and community service. The student in turn nominates the teacher who had the greatest influence on them.

“She combined a really deep commitment to the students and their lives and their well-being, with a commitment to the French language and culture and teaching us in the best way possible,” Moss said.

Teachers responded to the awards with a combination of surprise and feelings of inspiration.

“If one’s colleague or one’s

community puts you at a certain level or thinks positive thoughts about you, my sense is, I have to meet the standard that other teachers who have won the award have set,” Grant said.

Hamel said he hoped to impact his students’ lives outside of the classroom. “I want my students to not only learn about chemistry, but I want them to go on and have meaningful, fulfilling lives where they challenge themselves and grow,” he said.

“There is no question that I feel honored,” Ronfard said. “I’m going to surf on the wave that it created until I retire.”

retirements

6 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Batt provides individual support, care to all students

By Sophie Fredberg “Any adult who cares about the student that they work with, is so valuable to the Newton North Community—so people like Mrs. Batt are almost irreplaceable,” said senior Maya Shyevitch. After 19 years at North helping track, register, and manage students and their documents, registrar Nancy Batt will be retiring.

This year, when Shyevitch was struggling with her transcript, she went to Batt for help. Shyevitch’s transcript was too long, so Batt “did some formatting magic to make it shorter. It took so much stress off of my shoulders,” said Shyevitch.

She added, “It was a small detail on her end, and it could have been so easy for her to ignore it, but she noticed it and she took the time to fix it.”

Assisting students with their transcripts, as with Shyevitch, was just one of Batt’s many responsibilities. Over the years, Batt has had the difficult job of managing over 2,000 students and their information each year. Her duties included creating and keeping student records, collecting data, such as AP and SAT scores, for the school

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profile, making grade changes, and integrating new students into North data system.

Helping Shyevitch shorten her transcript was just one example of the kindness towards students Batt brought to her job as registrar. According to guidance department head Beth Swederskas, Batt found time to help individual students despite her many responsibilities, often providing valuable input regarding students’ paths to graduation. “I really appreciate her saying, ‘How can we help this kid?,’” said Swederskas. She added, “When

you have over 2,100 students that you have to manage in a very large school, being able to set aside time and talk about individual kids has been really special.”

Retired guidance counselor Larry Allen said he appreciated that same caring energy. “She’s got a very special personality. She knows how to engage kids and they learn something in the process,” he said.

“It’s not just a transfer of paper—it is a teaching moment about taking care of yourself. The school is going to lose someone very special.”

Batt grew up in Swanzey, New Hampshire and attended Monadnock Regional Middle-High School. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1979.

“I got used to a bigger climate in college, and the thing to do when I graduated was to move to Boston because it was the closest city to New Hampshire,” said Batt. “My college roommate and I got an apartment in Watertown, and we got jobs in Boston.”

Her first job out of college was keeping student records at Watertown High School. “Watertown only had 600 students, so it was the

size of one of the grades here. Everybody knew everybody,” she said.

Since Batt started working at North in 2000, the climate of the school has become more fastpaced. “I think that people are rushing around more than they used to,” she said. Yet, Batt’s devotion to committing time to students has stayed the same throughout her time at the school. She said her favorite part of her job was when students stopped by to meet with her.

“She’s got a very special personality.

She knows how to engage kids and they learn something in the process.”

- former guidance counselor Larry Allen “I enjoyed getting to know them. I like to ask them personal questions so they loosen up a little,” said Batt. “I want to laugh with them so they learn something.”

Throughout her professional

career Batt carried the same approachable disposition to her relations with colleagues and friends.

For example, Batt usually began her day by meeting school treasurer Suzanne Spirito, a longtime friend, at the top of Tiger Drive and walking into school together with their coffee cups. “Nancy is a warm and caring person, but most of all, she is a good friend,” said Spirito.

“We just work well together and she’s always been really helpful to me. She always helps me with anything I ever ask her for,” Spirito added.

After expending so much energy on others at North, Batt hopes to spend time on her own passions during her retirement. She said she plans to paint and take photos.

“I have not been able to do these things I love half as much with a job, so I am excited to start in the summer,” said Batt. She also has a house in Maine that she hopes to visit more often.

Batt said she will enter her retirement holding onto the “great memories” she made at North. “I am going to miss these great people, and I am going to miss all the friends I made.”

Sweeney relates students’ lives to school curriculum Arjun Shatkin In his early years at North, science teacher Daniel Sweeney saw a student that exuded the same level of love for science that he did. “I would notice this student looking way ahead the way I used to look at a science book, just immersed in the science book,” Sweeney said.

“If we’re on chapter three, this student, she was on chapter 17.”

Through this student, and many more like her, Sweeney was reminded of his fundamental love for science.

During his 32 years at this school, Daniel Sweeney, who retired this past October, taught kids how to enjoy science and dedicated his teaching to connecting in-class assignments to the real world.

While at North, Sweeney taught everything from biology to physical science—even astronomy during his first several years at North.

However, Sweeney said he enjoyed teaching chemistry the most.

“It was my favorite, mainly because there are a lot of labs that could be applied to everyday things,” he said.

Science department head Heather Haines complimented Sweeny on his ability to create engaging lesson plans. “He was a really knowledgeable guy when it came to chemistry and integrating new technology and labs into his classes,” said Haines. “He taught CP for a really long time and he was really beloved by students who had him and who he helped.”

Growing up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Sweeney was interested in science at an early age. He had a birdhouse as a child where he would inspect the baby birds and by

watch them grow up. But, his curiosity in birds and science ultimately manifested itself in the seventh grade when he received his school science book. Sweeney said he flipped ahead in the book during class to look at diagrams of birds.

“He would always praise you, he would always make me feel like I’m the best teacher in the world.”

- science teacher Tatyana Osipenko

“It didn’t matter where we were in class, I was ahead looking at what they showed further on in the book,” Sweeney said.

According to Sweeney, his passion for teaching stemmed from helping his friends learn to ski and then using his instructional skills from skiing to helping his classmates at school.

“I used to always tutor the kids, friends, and stuff like that back in high school,” Sweeney said.

“They’d call me up to help them with their homework, so I was really teaching way back in high school.”

Sweeney studied biology, chemistry, and physics at Salem State University where he majored in secondary math and science. Sweeney went on to receive master’s degrees in counseling and also in business at Salem State.

Before teaching at North, Sweeney taught oceanography and alge-

bra at Newburyport High School and Marblehead High School.

Sweeney started teaching at North in 1986. He said his first classroom in the old building opened out onto Main Street. The old building was designed to funnel students and faculty through Main Street, which allowed Sweeney to meet many people during his first year.

In meeting new students and teachers, Sweeney found it was beneficial to relate teenagers’ outside interests to science when teaching.

For instance, Sweeney would bring his class down to Art Morning to see their work and teach students the chemistry of various art media.

“They could see how the paint was made. We did experiments on different art products to show how the chemistry is blended into different products,” said Sweeney.

He added that connecting science to students’ lives gave him a glimpse into their interests and talents. “You know kids, but then you know them better, and you become surprised at how talented they are, not just in chemistry but in some of the other fields that they’re doing.”

Science teacher Tatyana Osipenko, a coworker of Sweeney’s, said that she was inspired by Sweeney’s method of teaching.

“He made sure that his students enjoyed learning science, but he didn’t dumb it down,” said Osipenko. “He made it balanced and that’s my favorite part of his teaching.”

Sweeney’s students and coworkers also described him as an approachable and welcoming guy.

“He was always very patient. He would always explain things to you and take the time to explain things

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the

to you if something was wrong,” said sophomore Lily Wood, one of Sweeney’s students.

“He would always praise you, he would always make me feel like I’m the best teacher in the world,” said Osipenko.

Sweeney retired this fall to give his full attention to his elderly mother.

“My mother comes first,” Sweeney said. “If you ever get a chance, the best thing you can do is take care of your mother, especially if she’s 102.”

Sweeney said he enjoyed teaching at North so much that he never wanted to leave. “I really liked the

school. I liked to be there. I didn’t ever want to take a day off,” he said. “So it was really a struggle for me to have to leave at the beginning of the year.”

Osipenko said Sweeney will certainly be missed. “He enjoyed teaching so much. His students were getting it from him, his enthusiasm,” she added. “They became enthusiastic in his class, and they loved his class.”

When reflecting on his time at North, Sweeney was enthusiasting, saying, “I think about the school a lot because it’s a nice place,” Sweeney said. “North is about as nice as you’re gonna get.”

retirements

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 7

Putzeys pulls from past experiences to aid students

By Helen Xiao Most afternoons during her 16 years at North, long after most students and teachers had left the building, French teacher Suzanne Putzeys could be found in her classroom looking over lesson plans and student papers. A few hours earlier she would have been working with individual students, helping them with content they did not fully understand from that day’s class.

Students and colleagues of Putzeys noted that her love for the classroom and helping students drove this display of dedication, which was prevalent throughout her years at North.

Putzeys officially retired last October after having worked as a French teacher and as a longtime coordinator of the French exchange. Although retired, Putzeys has still remained involved with the school by substituting for French classes during this year’s French exchange.

“I am very passionate in my classroom, and it’s because my teaching is passionate, too passionate sometimes,” Putzeys said. “I love talking to individual kids, and I love the classroom. I love working with kids who come for help, are struggling, but want to do better, and you can sit with them and show them how.”

According to world language department head Nancy Marrinucci, Putzeys’ supportive nature and her love for the classroom drove her passion for teaching.

“She would always go the extra mile for kids who needed help, and she would stay as late as she needed to as long as the student was willing to be there,” Marrinucci said.

Putzeys said her favorite part about teaching at North was X-blocks. “I loved X-block and helping individual kids, especially those who struggled but came to X-block or after school for help, and I think that those were always my favorite moments at North,” Putzeys said. “I love the faculty and

the classroom, but what I’m really going to miss about North is the individual kids.”

According to junior Dina Gorelik, “Putzeys was always supportive of figuring out how to make sure that you can do your best work.”

By James Dun Rappaport The sounds of splashes, chatter, and diving boards wobbling filled the pool area as physical education teacher Kirsten Tuohy watched over her swim class. As the year comes to an end, few moments remain when Tuohy will circle the pool, watching over her students— she is retiring at the end of this school year after 23 years of teaching at North.

in the pool. She did everything she could to ensure that each student felt comfortable in the water, even jumping into the water with them when she felt it was needed.

During her time at North, according to physical education teacher Robert MacDougall, Tuohy spurred students to achieve their potential, forged personal bonds with coworkers, and spent much of her free time helping with the swim program. To many, she fully embodied the concept of Tiger pride.

“I always tell kids when they’re going to have Ms. Tuohy that she could be the best teacher they’ll ever have,” said MacDougall. “She is who she is, she is honest, and they appreciate it. There is nothing she won’t do for kids as long as they ask.”

According to junior Anna Rahilly, a member of the girls’ swim team, “She cares about each individual student. She has had a lot of students go through her classes and has helped many improve their swimming abilities.” Rahilly added, “She is doing a very important job in teaching people how to stay safe in the water.”

Tuohy attended UMass Boston, and received her undergraduate degree in 1992. She also earned her graduate degree in education from Boston University. After teaching at Concord-Carlisle High School, Tuohy came to North in 1996.

In addition to teaching at North,

“I love talking to individual kids, and I love the classroom. I love working with kids who come for help.”

- French teacher Suzanne Putzeys Putzeys’ support impacted students in the classroom, but so did her background and love for literature, said Marrinucci. “She taught the curriculum but in a different way through enriching it through her own experience, through her passions, through her love of literature and much more. Her enthusiasm and passion also rub off on the students, further making her class a unique experience.”

Before coming to North in 2002, Putzeys lived on three different continents, in five different countries, and moved a countless number of times. She is currently a citizen of Belgium, and she speaks and understands four languages—French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Putzeys was born in the Belgian Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aside from speaking French, Putzeys grew up learning Swahili, which she said she sadly lost later on in life. At the age of seven, Putzeys was evacuated to Belgium to live with her grandparents after uprisings that led to the liberation of the Congo.

Not long after she moved to Belgium, Putzeys was reunited with her parents and moved to Portugal, then to England, and then back to

Portugal. During these years, Putzeys attended three different high schools before graduating from Lycée Français of Lisbon in Portugal to earn her baccalauréat, a French high school degree, in 1972.

Putzeys subsequently attended Université de Louvain in Belgium for her undergraduate degree in Applied Psychology, and then came to the United States in 1977 to conduct research in the graduate program at Northeastern University. Soon after, she and her husband started a family.

Putzeys began teaching at North “totally by accident.” Before teaching full time, Putzeys was a substitute for French classes during exchange trips. By then, her four children had graduated from high school, having all attended North.

With her experience as a North parent, Putzeys said, “It was very comfortable when I first started teaching at North. I had been part of the PTSO and stuff, and so I was used to the environment and climate.”

“She taught the curriculum but in a different way through enriching it through her own experience.”

- world language department head Nancy Marrinucci However, according to Putzeys, she had never really considered teaching as a career while growing up and attending school. “When I came to the U.S., my main goal was to do research, research on animal behavior and experimental psychology,” Putzeys said. “My background was not in teaching at all.

Teaching came much later.”

Having traveled throughout her life and having learned multiple languages along the way, Putzeys

said she believes that students are exposed to a larger part of the world when they learn another language. The real-world advantages of knowing a foreign language mirror Putzeys’ teaching philosophy—that everything taught should be useful.

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“When it comes to teaching languages, it is really hard in this country because people don’t feel the need to speak another language,” Putzeys said. “My passion and motivation are driven by the fact that I speak several languages myself, and I’ve discovered that with knowing more languages, you can reach more people.”

Similarly, Marrinucci noted that Putzeys’ focus on communicating clearly in French stemmed from Putzeys’ own travel-filled past. “I just always have considered her a citizen of the world,” said Marrinucci. “She has lived in many different places and is multilingual, and enriches the curriculum with all of her experiences and passions.”

Putzeys’ focus on oral communication gave her the reputation of producing students with the best French pronunciation, according to students and staff.

Echoing Putzeys’ emphasis on the importance of oral speak-

ing, Gorelik said that every day at the beginning of Putzeys’ class, students would pair up and chat together in French, strengthening their speaking and listening skills.

In general, “her class was a rigorous experience but also a very rich interdisciplinary experience,” said Marrinucci. “Her teaching style is intense, but also energetic, and enthusiastic.”

Senior Maria Herwagen, who took Putzeys’ French 3 Honors class sophomore year, said Putzeys always maintained a large presence in the classroom. Although sometimes intimidating, her teaching was incredibly helpful to students, and their French improved tremendously during her class, Herwagen added.

“She really was just a phenomenal teacher,” Herwagen said. “She gave us such a solid foundation for the rest of the honors curriculum, and while she was intimidating, unlike a lot of the teachers, it was because she really, really cared about her students succeeding.”

According to Marrinucci, Putzeys’ passion and her experiences influenced other teachers and their teaching. Putzeys added that she will also miss the faculty at North, who have in turn impacted her.

“One of my favorite parts about North is the group of teachers,” Putzeys said. “I think they all care about what they do, and they are all interesting people with interesting stories.”

Since retirement, Putzeys has been travelling to visit her grandchildren all over the globe. She has also been reading more, exercising more, and enjoys taking long walks and hanging out with her dogs.

Putzeys hopes to have left the North community with “high standards in French, constant motivation for students, and a mindset to want to travel and reach others around the world. Learning a language is not to get into college. It’s to broaden your horizon as a young adult.”

Tuohy leaves lasting mark on students, fellow faculty

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Throughout her time at North, Tuohy has taught AM Swim, Aqua Fit and CPR, Career Wellness, Lifeguarding, Sexuality and Health, and Water Games. In all these classes, Tuohy focused her attention on encouraging students to do their best, nowhere more so than

Tuohy coached the boys’ swim team for ten years and the girls’ swim team for 21 years. She said she loved the competition and becoming close with team members.

“I love the people, and the competition. I’m even still in touch with some of the people. It was fun, I miss it a little bit,” Tuohy said.

“She has had a lot of students go through her classes and has helped many improve their swimming abilities.”

-junior, Anna Rahilly While Tuohy was known as an excellent teacher at North, she was also a humorous co-worker.

Physical education teacher Lauren Baugher said, “We always try to play pranks on each other in our office, and that’s something that I’m going to miss. She always makes me laugh.”

Baugher also commented on Tuohy’s thoughtfulness. “Any time she sees anything Tigers, she buys it for my girls,” Baugher added. “My girls love her. She’s just a great person.”

Tuohy also inspired other teachers to step out of their comfort zones. “She gives me a lot of confidence in my teaching ability to

tackle things that I may be a little bit unfavorable with,” said MacDougall.

He added, “She’s a straight shooter. She’ll tell you what she thinks. She won’t be mean about it, she won’t sugar-coat it, but she will tell you how she feels about certain things.”

During her retirement, she plans to go boating around the New En-

gland area and continue to teach lifeguarding and fitness training for adults.

As she ends her time at North, Tuohy shared some wise words for her students. “Hopefully you’re thinking about things beyond the personal bubble, thinking of the greater world that’s out there. It’s exciting, and you guys are fun.”

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8 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Callahan helps students to progress, learn new skills David Feng, Zoe Goldstein Once during his years at North, special education teacher John Callahan faced a student struggling in English class who “burst out into tears, saying, ‘I can’t do this.’”

This year, Callahan watched as that student crossed the stage at graduation with the self-confidence and academic skills he helped instill in her during their four years together. He cited this student’s growth as one of the many of his favorite memories from North, memories of students coming into their own.

He added, “It’s really special watching her graduate this year, seeing how far she has come.” by

“He’s quite good at scaffolding for these kids so they can be successful. special education teacher, Stephen Hess Callahan has helped hundreds of students like this one during his 22 years at North. He will retire at the conclusion of the current academic year. As an academic support teacher, his role has been to assist students with their classwork, especially those who struggle both

academically and in life outside of school. As such, Callahan said that his position came with many opportunities “to connect with a lot of the kids.”

In this role, Callahan emphasized commitment, energy, and work ethic, according to his colleagues and friends. He brought individualized attention and dedication to the students with whom he worked, teaching them academic skills such as how to keep track of assignments. Yet, Callahan went further. He was always determined to learn about his students as people and helped them to find success.

“Often he’s dealing with kids who’ve struggled in the classroom,” said special education teacher Stephen Hess, adding that “he’s quite good at scaffolding for these kids so they can be successful.”

According to Hess, Callahan’s strengths are “advocating for kids that have a tougher time with their academics, making sure they have equal access to the curriculum, and being very supportive and helping kids being successful overall, learning study skills and management skills.”

As for himself, Callahan said he “enjoys the energy of teenagers and loves being around them.”

This enthusiasm fed his love and devotion for his job. He added that he enjoyed “talking to students.

Sometimes the best part of that is informally, and not in a classroom setting, and really getting to know them.”

Similarly, special education teacher Mary-Ellen Hurd, Callahan’s co-worker, said that Callahan was “very devoted to the students.”

She added that he “works with a student, each individual student to their needs, so that they can be the best they can be.”

“He works with a student, each individual student to their needs, so that they can be the best that they can be.

- special education teacher, Mary-Ellen Hurd Callahan grew up in Hastings, New York and attended Hastings High School. He studied as an undergraduate at Bard College and later went on to receive a master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 1988. Callahan’s first teaching job was at the Full Circle High School, an alternative school in Somerville. After seven years there, Callahan took a special ed-

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ucation position at North in 1997.

From the beginning of his time at North, Callahan enjoyed collaborating with students. He started work at North as part of the New Start program, which is similar to the current Pilot program. Then for four years he ran a program called the Network Program, which Callahan characterized as “pretty rewarding” because of his ability to build close relationships with students through activities such as field trips.

According to Callahan, the program “was with a small group of students who were interacting a lot.

We did a lot of stuff as a group.”

Over the years, Callahan has also taught English and history classes.

Another highlight of Callahan’s career at North was his effort

to raise awareness for causes about which he is passionate. He said that near the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, for instance, he worked to make sure the war was “an issue that the school took on” in such a “difficult time.” Callahan organized speakers and lessons for the entire school. “I felt like we were a part of something that was wrong, and now it is recognized as being wrong by most people,” he said. “I had the personal responsibility as an American to present the information to the students.”

As Callahan heads into retirement, he said he will miss “the social environment” and “the energy that the students bring and how they keep me in touch with everything that is going on.”

Yet with his free time, he said he hopes to play guitar, take classes, and learn languages. “I want to stay active academically,” he said. Callahan also plans to work on several “fixer-upper” houses.

After all his years at North, Callahan said he hopes to leave the school with “a positive feeling that people should work together and be good to each other.” Reflecting on his time as a teacher at North and his teaching career in general, he added, “I think teaching is a great profession. I mean, it won’t make you rich, but you’ll never end your career saying you wasted your life.”

Novinsky highlights real world applications in class Kathy Mitchell Every day during lunch, business teacher Ellen Novinsky sits at the school store on Main Street.

She sells all types of North merchandise, ranging from stickers to sweatpants.

“I see her smiling at that table every day,” said freshman Ashley Tan. “I bought a sweatshirt from there once and she told me it was too big. She wanted the one I bought to be the perfect size. She’s really nice.”

Students will no longer see Novinsky’s friendly, familiar face on Main Street when she retires this spring after 44 years of teaching.

While most students know her as the manager of the school store, Novinsky plays an important role in North’s business department.

Throughout her career at North, she has taught Marketing and Management, Entrepreneurship, Microsoft Office, and Money Matters, all of which are electives that offer students a preview of the professional business sector.

“The students love her energy and her excitement regarding the subject matter,” said business teacher Robert Kane.

Novinsky’s attitude towards her classes can be seen in the various projects she assigns to her business students. For example, in the Entrepreneurship course, Novinsky had students develop a business run by a sole proprietor or a partnership.

She walked the students through the steps to creating a business, starting with generating a business idea.

Junior Ben White and sophomore David Morefield decided to work as entrepreneurs of a clothing brand promoting eco-friendly products that appeal to all generations.

“On the brochure we included our logo, our products, our mission statement of why we are here, and more,” said White. “We included everything a customer would want to know before purchasing a product from our company.”

According to Novinsky, “It’s by

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similar to Shark Tank, so the students get to pitch their business, and I get to be one of the sharks this year.” In addition to her creative teaching style in the classroom, Novinsky provided students with countless learning opportunities. She brought them to business presentations in the auditorium and helped organize the Reality Fair with Kane. During this event, which has taken place for the past three years, students learn how to budget through a simulation like the Game of Life. Novinsky’s favorite station to work at is the Wheel of Fortune, where students spin a wheel to receive salaries between 200 and 1,000 Newton bucks.

Business courses don’t lend themselves to long lectures, according to Novinsky. “In education, if you have the background, you would know that ten minutes is the attention span of a person. I spend about ten minutes explaining things, then I give the students a project to reinforce what they learned,” she added.

Novinsky grew up in Waverly, New York. She graduated from the Boston University School of Education in 1975, majoring in business education. After college, she received her second Master’s of Education from Lesley College in 1989. She also received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study

in 1993.

Novinsky began teaching business classes at Newbury College in 1975 after graduating from Boston University.

“I had a sister-in-law who was a teacher, and she was teaching business classes. When I was at Boston University, I went and watched her one night while she was doing an evening school class. I just thought, ‘maybe that’s what I want to teach, business,’” said Novinsky.

Novinsky made the switch from teaching at Newbury College and Aquinas College to teaching at Newton North High School in 1999.

“I was nervous because I knew North had a top faculty, and when I heard everybody speaking, I was afraid to get up and speak,” said Novinsky. “Everybody was so wellversed, and they were so comfortable. Now, twenty years later, I’m just as comfortable in front of all of them.”

Novinsky’s confidence and experience at North make her a considerate and approachable teacher and colleague. “Ellen is a very joyful, helpful person who has definitely enabled me to become a better teacher,” said Kane. “I’m going to miss her ability to keep me informed and updated with news and notes regarding school. She’s a person who’s always willing to do what you ask.”

According to Novinsky, the diversity of the North community is what has motivated her to continue teaching. “Everyone has such a varied background, and they’re so talented, especially the students,” she added.

While Novinsky said she is “going to miss the routine, the students, and the faculty” of North, she has exciting plans for the future.

About five years ago, a friend of Novinsky’s mentioned a job as a tour guide at Fenway Park.

Novinsky decided that guiding tours sounded intriguing. But, she couldn’t get an interview.

“I thought, ‘I’ll never get in!’”

said Novinsky. “I later went on Indeed and sent my résumé in after seeing Fenway tours was advertising. An hour later a woman from human resources said she wanted to interview me. After the interview, all I did was wait. When I got the email from human resources I was so excited that I had been accepted.”

Looking back on all of her memorable experiences at North,

Novinsky has learned to always approach the world with a positive outlook.

“If I’m going to leave behind anything with this school, it’s going to be to have a good sense of humor,” she said. “Don’t let things get you down, find something about it to laugh about. You know, I’m always laughing about something that goes wrong… or at myself!”

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

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Newton North, The Newtonite â—† 9

10 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

community statements

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Push through setbacks Take learning experiences forward on journeys to success Dear Class of 2019: Warmest Congratulations on your graduation from Newton North High School! This is an important milestone and a momentous time as you begin another chapter.

One thing I know for sure, the friends, the support and the education you received in the Newton Public Schools and here at Newton North has prepared you well for wherever your future takes you.

Already your accomplishments have been many. You’ve had a commanding presence on the stages of Theater Ink and on the fields, tracks, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and rinks over the course of your high school careers. The Science Olympiad Team continued to dominate, your commitment to social justice and cultural awareness has made a difference.

We’ve seen terrific debaters and outstanding academic achievements by honors students, and seen struggling students and those with challenges achieve so much. Those of you who spoke

Dear Class of 2019, Please accept my congratulations as your time in the Newton Public Schools draws to a close. I hope your educational experience has been a time of both academic and personal growth.

As you reflect on your high school experience, may you remember the teacher that sparked a passion, the adult in the building that helped you through a difficult time, or the fellow student who inspired you to accomplish things you never deemed possible. We are lucky in Newton to have students,

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up to advocate for climate action were true leaders. Through it all, you’ve stood together.

There will be so many more accomplishments. Life will be filled with tremendous highs and, inevitably, there will be lows.

Know that we, your Newton North community will always be here for you, no matter the disappointments and the wrong turns. We will always be your soft landing.

I can’t wait to see where you lead us in the years ahead.

—Ruthanne Fuller Mayor of Newton

Grow new connections by helping other people Congratulations to the Great Class of 2019. On your graduation day, I have but one simple challenge to you: See those around you who aren’t seen and help them smile.

Newton North is a large place and you are a large class, but for many of you there are larger places and classes on your horizon in school and in work. When you are members of these large groups of people, take a step back and look carefully at the people around you.

Look for those peers who aren’t seen, look for the invisible people and reach out. Take a moment in the quiet to help those around you smile. Your efforts, however small, will make a difference, I promise. I have seen it first hand. When you take a moment to say hello, it matters.

Connections and relationships are what really matter in school and in life. Make those connections matter. Build those relationships with all types of people. Take a moment and be the light for someone

faculty, and staff with diverse backgrounds and life experiences. I hope that you had the opportunity to learn from them and to view life from a different perspective. This will no doubt serve you well as you take your next step.

It is our sincere hope that the Newton Public Schools has given you a strong foundation to pursue your passion and inspired you to be a lifelong learner.

Best wishes as you begin the next chapter.

­—David Fleishman Superintendent­­

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Express kindness for a bright future Congratulations class of 2019 on graduating from this outstanding high school. Newton North is a special place where you have many opportunities for new experiences.

You engaged in our diverse electives and numerous extra-curricular options. During your four years, teachers, counselors, coaches, and other adult mentors asked you to take risks and develop new skills.

Looking back to when I first met you, three years ago, I am quite impressed by how much you have developed and the great legacy that you are leaving at Newton North.

Mr. Mark Aronson was your principal freshman year, and he gave me great advice when I first met him 10 years ago when I was a first-year dean at Newton South.

He said that you should always do the little things for people because

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they go a long way in building relationships. He said whenever a student asks you to open up his/her locker, you should go and do it as you just built a positive relationship with that student. These words of

wisdom are not only great advice for educators, but for any of us. For every small act of kindness, you are making a difference. So please remember to pay it forward.

Finally, thank you for your leadership as we continue to grow as a school that supports all students.

This year you have demonstrated what it means to treat one another with respect. You proved the skeptics wrong and established Main Street as a place where students can have a place to hang out that is respectful and (relatively) clean. Additionally, you have been great upstanders and leaders in all aspects of this school. Thank you for what you have done to Newton North and best of luck in your future. Go Tigers!

–Henry J. Turner, ED Principal

Influence change with individuality

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else. I hope that you leave North having built a million and one connections and now you are ready to build connections and relationships in the world outside of North’s walls. Congratulations and Good Luck.

—Amy Winston Vice Principal

Dear Newton North Class of 2019, I offer you my heartfelt congratulations on your graduation from NNHS. Your entire academic experience, since your first day of kindergarten, has been in preparation for this moment. Take the time to reflect upon how far you have come, not just academically, but on a personal level, and savor this moment. You have earned it.

During your tenure in the Newton Public Schools, the world has experienced unprecedented change on many levels. Global events and disruptive technologies have forced society to adapt the way we live, work, think and communicate with each other. As an 18-year-old, you have grown up in a world where the only societal constant has been change. Success and happiness in this modern world requires a completely new and previously unconceived set of skills that did not even exist 20 or 30 years ago.

As a Newton North graduate you should feel confident in knowing that you are better prepared than most, with the skills you need

to effect positive change in this constantly evolving and ever changing world. Although you may not realize it now, Newton North is a unique ecosystem that offers many opportunities that do not exist at other schools. These opportunities reside in both the tangible academic and extracurricular offerings as well as in the more subtle ways that we as a community value our diversity and inclusiveness. This NNHS experience, combined with your unique talents, passion, and drive, will help guide you towards the greatest expression of yourself in this ever-changing world.

Starting today, you are the architect of your own experience. While I am certain many of you could not wait until the day arrived when you could choose your own path, opportunity can also create challenges in deciding which fork in the road is most appealing. Take the time to reflect upon what makes you unique, what you love to do and how best to use these special talents to help guide our society to a better place while affording you a life of prosperity and happiness. Our collec-

Dear Class of 2019, We are honored to join the chorus of those wishing you success as you continue on your journey to adulthood.

You have had the privilege of spending four years in a beautiful new high school with diverse offerings. You may have started out with trepidation, wondering how you would make your way, but you have gained confidence and a sense of ownership during your time in the school. We hope you have adopted a growth mindset and been willing to experience failure as you attempted new things. You will learn from these setbacks and from opportunities to revise your work and change course.

Newton North has been enriched by signs of your civic engagement; your participation in clubs, athletics, academics, volunteer efforts, theatre, art, and music, among other activities, has strengthened the school community and set an example for younger students. By volunteering and getting involved, many of you have shown your desire to be active citizens.

We hope that you have also grown in your ability to make good decisions through your friendships and through guidance from parents, guardians, teachers, coaches, and counselors. We also hope that the “Just Think: Teens Making Smart Choices” expos and events

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tive hopes and future rests in your able hands and I, for one, am truly grateful that it resides there. You are more than equal to the task.

Best wishes to each and every one of you on your accomplishments on this, your graduation day, and in the future.

Warmest Regards,

—Karen Cutone School Council co-chair

Support positive community actions have introduced you to a community of support that is always available. We know that you will carry with you what you have learned in all capacities as you continue your life journey.

We wish you well in the future beyond the walls of Newton North High School.

You have made us, and the families we represent, proud.

Congratulations!

—Sally Brickell, Valerie Pontiff, and Agi Sardi Newton North PTSO co-presidents

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

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Newton North, The Newtonite â—† 11

12 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

faculty statements

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Devote energy to true passions, Stay true to your core embrace the uncertainty of life values by being kind

To the Class of 2019: What a time to graduate! Turning on the evening news or opening the morning newspaper, all we hear about is the uncertainty of our times and the political discord facing our country. People have become anxious, disheartened and many have lost their faith in our institutions. I can imagine it is scary

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to think that this is the world that you will soon find yourselves trying to navigate.

I can also imagine the pressure you feel to “do something practical” with your lives. In times of uncertainty it is natural to want to play it safe. Why study art history, when a degree in accounting will offer you better job opportunities in four years? Why pursue your passion for service when others implore you to think about your retirement? These are very real questions—ones that many are faced with as they find their path. But I would argue that it is times of uncertainty that create the greatest opportunity for young people. Now is precisely the right time to take a chance and follow your passion. If your teachers at North have taught you one skill, I hope it is to look beyond the obvious, past the conventional and to think for yourself.

In this spirit I urge you to continue forging your own path—despite your fears or the pressures of practicality. When will you ever have another chance to do anything you want, to pursue any passion, to explore any interest? Why be disheartened, when you can use your skills and energy to not complain about the world’s problems, but actually do something to solve them.

The energy that you have filled the halls, classrooms and events at North with is powerful enough to continue making a difference. Get started!

But above all, don’t be worried that you still haven’t figured out what you want to be when you grow up—there are plenty of us on the faculty who still don’t know either.

—Gregory Drake History Teacher

Celebrate differences while chasing individual ambitions

To an amazing class: I have had the privilege to have taught some of you, and thank you for allowing me to “float” next to you during these precious years in your lives. Why “floating?” Richard Dawkins has said, “Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. Some people find that thought disturbing.

I find the reality thrilling.” So we are like clouds? No matter “what” we are, we are very different, every atom of us, from yesterday to today, from last minute to this minute, and from four years ago to now. The matter that formed us will continue to gather and disperse and make who we are in the future. As random as it sounds, we do have a choice of some of the “matter.” So control what you can control, make good choices, and let go of the others. Sometimes things happen for a reason, and some lessons cannot be avoided and have to be learned

through mistakes. Don’t be afraid to shed tears and show your frustration. We are all human and have feelings. But please also reflect and seek positive “matter” to form another you.

When making a choice, what differentiates one from another is not the nine-to-five job. Rather, it is what you do with your time after work. The sooner you have put in the 10,000 hours, the sooner you will achieve the goal of your choice.

It could be an avid research project, it could be seeking your passion for art, and it could be your devotion to understand cultural differences. It could also be mindfulness. Besides all that, try to spend some time volunteering. It rewards us internally, and keeps us hopeful.

Congratulations, Class of 2019!

Fly like a cloud, and live the life that your parents and teachers have never lived before. Be the positive energy and “matter” of the world,

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be the change you want to see, and be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Enjoy the well-deserved summer. The world is a better place with you in it!

—Yixing Lew Chinese Teacher

Admire authentic dedication by respecting genuine efforts To the Class of 2019: It has been my absolute pleasure to work with and learn from you during your four years here at Newton North High School. You are such a talented, dedicated, and driven group of students. You have earned the “hardos” nickname.

I have loved connecting with you in a variety of ways. Whether it’s assisting the award winning TV Media Arts students bring their video projects to life, capturing the moments of the year advising the yearbook

and the newspaper, coordinating the Advanced Placement exams, or serving as a class advisor, I feel I have gotten to know all of you.

As you move onto the next phase of your journey, keep up your drive and dedication I have no doubt that you will go far in life. I will miss you all. Don’t forget—“Amanda Knows…” If you ever need anything please reach out.

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—Amanda Mazzola Class Advisor

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Class of 2019, It’s hard for me to believe that four years have come and gone. It goes so quickly. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you all, and watching you grow and mature into the amazing

young adults you have become.

Some of you may be heading to the military, some to work, and some to college. I have no doubt that whatever path is next for you, you will do great things and make a positive change in our community and our world. I know that my world is a little better for knowing each of you, and I hope that I made a positive difference in yours.

Go out and make this world a better place. Be Kind Be Honest Make good decisions and succeed!

—Cheryl Stover Beals House Administrative Asst.

Seek help from others to gain understanding Thank you Class of 2019 for being such a wonderful group to teach. Congratulations on all the hard work you have put in to make it here today. You have accomplished so much, and yet, there is so much more out there for you to learn and experience. As you set out on your next journey, I would like to share one of the most important lessons I have learned: You don’t need to have all the answers, and when you do need help, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Seeking out feedback and information can help you grow, and can sometimes make life easier. If you are going to college next year, get to know your professors; go to their office hours with specific questions to ask them. Also, set up study groups with your peers, so you will have a comfortable place to ask questions, and maybe share what you have learned. If you are going to have a job or are enlisting in the military next year, ask your supervisor what you can do to improve your work.

Constructive criticism is meant

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to help you get better, and people will appreciate a humble attitude and a willingness to learn. Asking questions can open up whole new vistas of understanding, so find good mentors, and just keep asking questions.

—Amy Donovan Math Teacher

Remember experiences for all future endeavors Dear Class of 2019, Congratulations! I cannot believe how fast our four years together have flown by. I have grown more and more impressed with each passing year. All of the studying you have completed, the games you have played, the performances you have delivered, the projects you have created, the awards you have won, and the cultural awareness assemblies you have developed and attended, have all helped you become who you are. You are ready to accomplish great things in the future. As you know, you are my first class. You will always be special to me, and I truly hope to hear from all of you in the future. Thank you for everything you have taught me and for helping me become a better ed-

ucator. It has been a true pleasure.

Best of luck,

—Scott Heslin Dean of Beals House

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Choose courage over comfort, remember your journey Class of 2019, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time learning with all of you. I cannot wait to see the amazing accomplishments this group of students achieves in the future. You all are going to change the world one way or another and I will be reaching out for my front row tickets! Please don’t forget the little people along your journey!

I just recently watched a Netflix video called, Brene’ Brown: The Call to Courage, and so many of her ideas are similar to the messages I’ve

tried to pass along to my students.

If you haven’t watched it yet, please check it out or watch her TedTalk.

Brown talks about how bravery arises from engaging with our deepest vulnerabilities. Over the last four years, I have seen many of you demonstrate bravery regularly, step outside of your comfort zone, continuously challenge yourself and take chances. Brown states, “Courage is what makes winners— not other people’s opinions of you.

Winners are those who have tried,

and lived, the most.”

As you embark on a new chapter in your lives, remember to continue to choose courage over comfort, knowing the greatest aspects of life will always make us stretch. Do one thing each day that makes you nervous, practice gratitude, meditate, trust your gut, and take care of your physical and mental health. Set big ambitious goals but remember life is not just about checking off boxes. It is about experiencing each moment

as it comes and finding spaces for kindness, love and happiness. Ask for help when you need it. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you, always have your back, and make you forget about your phone. Trust your preparation and remember you are enough and deserve the best! It has been an absolute honor to be your teacher and coach. Best of luck!

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—Courtney Albert P.E. Teacher

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

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Newton North, The Newtonite â—† 13

awards

14 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Students receive scholarships, awards Margherita Acchione Scholarships Noelle Nicolazzo Arrianna Proia Amp It Up! Design Challenge Ryan Curtis Tammie Zhu Diane Antonellis Child Studies Scholarship Jessica McGarvey Auburndale Charitable Community Foundation Scholarships - The Village Bank Natasha Sharma Shaelyn Fitzgerald Noelle Nicolazzo Kiara Rubino Jeanette Hurwitz Arrianna Proia Jordan Jasset Caitlin Agnew Jason Balfour Award Kamilla Salazar Jeffrey M. Banks Memorial Scholarship Achille Ricca Guy Michaely David Barbosa Memorial Scholarship Joseph Torcasio Joao Aquino Vieira Bryan Bernfeld Scholarship Maya Shyevitch Sandy Bartzak Award Henry Sobieszczyk Edward Beatty Book Award Cheryl Nong Coach Jim Blackburn Track Scholarship Theodore Burba Forrest Kaplan John Boston Scholarship Jeanne Duong Joseph Silagi Charles E. Brown Scholarship Award Rene Miller Marjorie Byers Scholarship Lian Bruce CAAN-NCLS Chinese Language & Culture Study Award Joe Huang Robert W. (Beep) Calabro Football Scholarship Matthew Malec David Casavant Memorial Scholarship Tara Eldredge Samuel Schwartz Alex J. Castoldi Memorial Scholarship Malcolm Foster Bianca Spataro Harper Stein

John Chaffin Educational Fund Scholarship Awards Vitoria Alves Alianna Arias Melissa Atocha Kyla Barbosa Angelina Bellevue Isabella Ceriani Shaniay Chatelain Cade Poirier Xu Chen Derek Chen Olivia Cloran Kevin Coc-Martinez Jamica Crawford Ryan Curtis Riley Desmarais Angelica Disla Holguin Robert Doherty Jeanne Duong Guervara Fleuridor Jeremy Freed Casandra Gong Miguel Gutierrez Myles Hoffman Tina Huang Jeanette Hurwitz Niajah Hyppolite Jordan Jasset Taylor Johnston Yahni Lapa Joyce Li Angela Lin Julia Lowe Maya Mathews Bianca McMullen Oscar Mendez Sosa Tamara Morais John Nicolazzo Cheryl Nong William Peirce Aliana Ralph Finnegan Ross Kamilla Salazar Aviva Savitz Ian Ip Sit Kiley Smyth Sarah Sorto Cancino Jahmeachi Taylor William Tobin Nicholas Tocco Amanda Vainio Alejandro Velez Cunhao Wang Yuanjia Wang Marcus Yuen Katie Zhao Tammie Zhu Greg Chan Scholarship Fund Kevin Coc-Martinez Oscar Mendez Sosa The Robert Chernis Drama Awards Achille Ricca Kiley Smyth Maria Herwagen

Imani Bibuld Michael Chilewick Award David Mucci The Adrian Colasacco Memorial Scholarship for Automotive Technology Cade Poirier The Adrian Colasacco Memorial Scholarship for Carpentry Joseph Torcasio William Connor’s Team Above Self Award Christian Hahm Emma McKee Liz Costa Delfino ’65 Memorial Scholarship Sarah Sorto Cancino David Costanzo Award Alastair Poole Caroline Costello Memorial Scholarship Olivia Schertzer Seth Daigle Memorial/PTSO Scholarship Nora Lyons Andrew Dealy Memorial Scholarship Sarah Zeidan Tom DePeter Memorial Scholarship Eve Martin Ben Borhegyi Mariah DeVito Direct Federal Credit Union’s Values in Practice Scholarship Angelica Disla Holguin Bobby Donahue Scholarship Fund Award John Nicolazzo The Gary Eliot Performing Arts Award Andrew Bean Rene Miller Robert Faulkner Outstanding Student of the Year Scholarship Award Maxime Roy W. Eugene Ferguson Math Award Abagail Bianchi Howard Ferguson Memorial Scholarships Gabriel Appelbaum Jordan Jasset Kevin J. Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Scholarship - Cambridge Kiley Smyth Haskell C. Freedman/NTA Scholarship Fund Rachel Donnellan Fuller Scholarship - Second Church Jessica Chen Meredith Ghattas Scholarship Rachel Sidmore Bobby Giovannucci Scholarship Award Jeremy Freed

Golden Hammer Award Joao Aquino Vieira Joseph Torcasio Rev. Howard Haywood Scholarship Dominion Emmanuel Kathleen Henighan Achievement Award Naila Ahmed Nancy Shyavitz Holczer Scholarship Jeanne Duong Honey Dew Donuts Scholarship Anisha Aziz Horlick Educational Fund/ELL Award Vitoria Alves Charlotte Howard/ Claflin School Scholarship Lauren Gobler The Intrepid Drafter of the Year Award Ian Roth Edward Aybar Elizabeth Jewett World Language Scholarship Iman Sayeed The JT Dedication Award Ava Waters Jubilee Alumni Award Rene Miller Drew Bookman Lanna Kelley Memorial Scholarship Katerina Filipova Olivia Coen Max Kolb Memorial Scholarship & Book Award Nora Lyons Krutter Family Graphics Community Service Awards Samantha Steenstrup Declan McGarry Partridge The Land Family Scholarship Sarah White Edward H Lareau Scholarship Jessica McGarvey Henry Lasker Memorial Music Award Miki Shibuya Deborah E. LeBovidge Scholarship Adrian Cunha Thomas Leonard Music Scholarship Malcolm Foster Barbara Hugo Lira Memorial Music Scholarship Andrew Bean Adam London Memorial Scholarship John Nicolazzo Barbara Sulkin Lourie Memorial Scholarships Shaniay Chatelain Finnegan Ross

Ian Dickerman

Students and their families choose from a variety of food at Asian Culture Night Saturday, April 27.

Kevin Coc-Martinez Richard H. Lovell Scholarships Tammy Yang Jesus Rodriguez Jason Arteaga Mackenzie MacDougall Kiara Rubino Donna Mandatori Scholarship Award Hayley Cline Richard Mechem Award Mariana Batchvarova Robert Mitchell Scholarship Emma Klein Newton City Council Scholarship Jason Alpert-Wisnia Newton Centre Women’s Club Scholarships Stacey Caira Jamica Crawford Jasmine Lin Sandy Stover Memorial Newton Educational Secretaries Scholarship Ryan Curtis Newton Firefighters Association Scholarship Nicholas Busa N e w t o n M E TC O A c a d e m i c Achievement Awards Alianna Arias Jason Arteaga Newton METCO Academic Excellence Awards Kyla Barbosa Aliana Ralph Alejandro Velez Abel Yohannes Newton METCO Helen and George Bresnahan Academic and Cultural Award Kyla Barbosa Aliana Ralph Newton METCO Pacita D.A. Hayes Memorial Leadership Award Aliana Ralph Abel Yohannes Newton Rotary William Rockwell Memorial Award Kamilla Salazar NNHS Future Business Leaders of America Student of the Year Shaelyn Fitzgerald NNHS Design Award Katie Zhao Newton North Television Award Maya Mathews NNTV Producer of the Year Award Nicolas Quintana The Newtonite/Helen Smith Scholarship Ophelia Baxter Nonantum Neighborhood Association Scholarship Awards Conan Devlin Mackenzie MacDougall D o r o t hy N ova k M e m o r i a l Scholarship Awards Kseniya Perepada Angelina Bellevue William O’Brien Scholarship Fund Iris Su Phil Ochs/Alan MacDougall Awards Jacqueline Yee D av e O ’ C o n n o r M e m o r i a l Scholarship Henry Bonenfant Mary O’Malley Award Finnegan Ross Anita-Mist Gunnarsson Orr Foundation Awards Nicholas Tocco Myles Hoffman Benjamin Libraty Abel Yohannes Will Kharfen Rosanne Perlmutter Scholarship Isabella Ceriani David Phelan World Language Award William Kritzer Nathan Alden Robinson Memorial Math Award Benjamin Gobler Nathan Alden Robinson Memorial Music Award William Lockeby-Catalano

awards

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Giovanni and Louisa Rossi Scholarship Fund

Social Science Club Award Melissa Atocha

Cunhao Wang

Gail Stein Scholarship

Nathan Persampieri Ryan Restuccia

Saul Stern Music Award

Susan Rosenzweig Scholarship Ro t a r y C l u b o f N e w t o n Anthony J. Bibbo Community Scholarship Aaron Xu Abel Yohannes

Rotary Club of Newton Martinson Award Jonathan Rosenstrach

Rotary Club of Newton President’s Award Benjamin Gobler

Chuck Sakakini Scholarship Award Eric MacDonald

The Thomas Schaefer Theatre Award Taya Frishman Julia Greenblatt

Michael Scheller Memorial Scholarship Alianna Arias

Clinton H. Scovell Fund Scholarships Anisha Aziz Mariana Batchvarova Mary Ann Bees Lian Bruce Stacy Ciara Cory Gelb-Bicknell Madelyn Heespelink Maria Herwagen William Kharfen Emily Mansfield Jacob Moustafa Robert Doherty Natasha Sharma Linden Tager Maya Waldman

Ellen Silk Scholarship Kiara Rubino

Frank Simmons Award Drew Bookman

Raymond Smith Music Award Madeline Ranalli

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 15

Kiara Rubino Hongru Ni

John Temperley Scholarship Arrianna Proia

The Theatre Ink BacRow Scholarship Leah Lakomski

Theatre Ink Special Recognition Awards Amar Ahmad Maia Alberts Madeleine Alexander-Latta Corey Gelb-Bicknell Gabrielle Glass Benjamin Gobler Niajah Hyppolite Jacob Kingsley Anna Jones Filippo Menozzi Nora Lyons Katya Obeid Lisa Pennel Nathan Persampieri Cecilia Powderly Jaden Prince Renee Dwyer Rachel Shereda Rachel Sidmore

Theatre Ink Outstanding Achievement Awards Tea Baum Mary Ann Bees Xu Chen Celia Friedman Rebeccaa Lev Lucas Pratt Madeline Ranalli Abby Roll Andrew Ruttenberg Laura Schwartz Maeve Slack-Watkins Kacy Sullivan

Richard Thompson Award John Sullivan

Thornton Swain Thomas Poetry Awards Astra Yu

Joelle Sugianto

Junior Ruby Delaney molds clay on the wheel in ceramics Wednesday, Sept. 12.

Joe Gross Finnegan Ross

Tiger’s Loft Bistro Community Service Award Brenden Sarchioni

The Tranchita Leadership Award Yahni Lapa

Marcia Tyman Memorial Scholarship Award Mykhaylo Berezyuk

Daniel Uberti Memorial Scholarship Julia Lowe

Maria Libera Vallone Italian Cultural Scholarship Sarah Sorto Cancino

Vollin B Wells Scholarship Award Ashley Wang

Philip J. Wolfe Theatre Awards Adam Campbell Maimouna Sarr Maya Lozinsky Carolann Leger

Women’s Club of Newton Highlands Kyla Barbosa Niajah Hyppolite Compiled by Arjun Shatkin

senior plans

16 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Congratulations Class of 2019 H Haber, Zoe

The following is a list of the graduating students’ plans for next year. Students with no information accompanying their names either did not submit information or requested that their information not be included in this special.

A Abraham, Henry

Ackerman, Miles—St. Lawrence University Adam, Hunter—Merrimack College Agnew, Caitlin—Franklin Pierce University Ahmad, Amar—Rhode Island School of Design Ahmed, Naila—Northeastern University Alandydy, Jane—United States Coast Guard Academy Albert, Emma—American University Alberts, Maia—Harvard University Alexander-Latta, Madeleine—U. California, San Diego Ali, Hanad—Suffolk University Alirezaei, Armin—Brandeis University Allain-Farrell, Christopher Alpert-Wisnia, Jason—New York University Alves, Vitoria Amsden-Iuliano, Calder—Year off Anderson, Georgina—Syracuse University Andrade, Jada Antia, Gyaan—Case Western Reserve University Appel, Alexandra—U. Vermont Appelbaum, Gabriel—UMass Amherst Aquino Viera, Joao—UMass Boston Arango, David­—Boston University Archer, Benjamin—Emory University Arias, Alianna—UMass Boston Armstrong, John—McGill University Arteaga, Jason Atocha, Melissa—UMass Amherst Attar, Talia—Cornell University Avramovich, Sivan Aybar, Edward—Massachusetts Bay Community College Azadzoi, Arianna—UMass Amherst Aziz, Anisha—UMass Boston

B Baack, Angela—Bryant

University Barbosa, Kyla—St. John’s University Barboza Ancalle, Henrry— Massachusetts Bay Community College Batchvarova, Mariana—U. Connecticut Baum, Tea—Northwestern University Baxter, Ophelia—Colby College Bean, Andrew—Dartmouth College Bees, Mary Ann—Clark University Bellevue, Angelina Benedict, Coleman—Tulane University Bennett, Rosa—UMass Amherst Berezyuk, Mykhaylo— Rochester Institute of Technology Berger, Alexander—Skidmore College Betts-O’Rourke, August— Boston University Bianchi, Abagail—Boston College Bibuld, Imani—Emmanuel College Bickford, Michael—Drew University Bledsoe, Isabel—Tulane University Boatswain, Kenneth— Massachusetts Bay Community College Bobby, Brian—Cornell University Bonenfant, Henry— Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Ian Dickerman

Students gather in line for final check out moments after celebrating Senior Countdown Thursday, May 31.

Bonyhay, Benjamin—Purdue University Bookman, Drew—Xavier University of Louisiana Borhegyi, Benjamin—U. Montana, Missoula Bosco, Marielle Braithwaite, Jude—American University Brightbill, Audrey—George Washington University Britt-Webb, Morgan—College of William & Mary Brockman, Viola—Brown University Brown, Erik Bruce, Lian—American University Bueno, Mia—Boston College Bunch, Ariana—Fitchburg State University Burba, Theodore—Duke University Busa, Nicholas—Bridgewater State University Bustos, Thalia—San Diego Mesa College Butera, Justin—Merrimack College

C Cai, Nathan—U. Virginia

Caira, Francis Caira, Stacey—Bryant University Campbell, Adam—Becker College Campbell, John—Colgate University Carey, Erin—Providence College Carrasquillo Gonzalez, Michael—U.S. Marines Castleman, Joshua— Massachusetts Bay Community College Cavalcanti, Veronica— Dartmouth College Ceriani, Isabella—U. Delaware Chamberlain, Aidan Chan, Jessie—U. Pittsburgh Chan, Joseph—Massachusetts Bay Community College Chatelain, Shaniay— Framingham State University Chen, Derek Chen, Jessica—Northwestern University Chen, Xu—UMass Amherst Cherry, Glen—Springfield College Chin, Alexis—Case Western Reserve University Chu, Alexandra—Northwestern University Clarke, Cameron—U.S. Navy Cline, Hayley—Mount Holyoke College Cloran, Olivia Coc-Martinez, Kevin—UMass Boston Coen, Olivia—U. New Hampshire, Durham Cohen, Jonathan—Rochester Institute of Technology Connerney, Stella Conte, Emily—Salem State University Conti, Jordana—American University

Cooke, Joshua—Syracuse University Coomber, Ethan—Colby College Cornish, Michael—Emmanuel College Corrigan, Layla Cox, Matthew—U. Mississippi Crawford, Jamica— Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Cryer, Robin—University of British Columbia Cunha, Adrian—Empire Beauty School Curtis, Ryan—UMass Amherst

D D’Agostino, Cassandra—UMass Amherst Daley, Robert—Boston College De Rivera Hill, Julian—Boston Architectural College Deandrade, Thiago Dekel, Yael—UMass Boston Deodato, Michael—Wentworth Institute of Technology DeRocco, Matteo Desmarais, Riley—U. Colorado, Boulder Devine, Aidan DeVito, Mariah—Mount Wachusett Community College Devlin, Conan DeVol, Lucas—Work Diaz Sanchez, Paula—UMass Boston DiSciullo, Thomas Disla Holguin, Angelica Dobies, Abigail—U. Michigan Doherty, Robert Dolgoborodova, Liubov Donnellan, Rachel—Bentley University Douglass, Theodore—U. Texas, Austin Downey, Marguerite—Mount Holyoke College Dufresne, Thaddeus—U. Maine Dukovski, Petar—Fisher College Duong, Jeanne—Tufts University Dupont, Lawrence Dutton, Aiden—Massachusetts College of Art and Design Dwyer, Renee—Roosevelt University Dyer, Evan

E Eldredge, Tara—Lesley

University Elgart, Isabelle—Richmond, The American International University in London Elhauge, Nicholas Emmanuel, Dominion—Roger Williams University Eroglu, Sarah Evangelakos, Emily— Connecticut College Evans, Dylan—U. Rhode Island

F Falk-Judson, Naftali—Tufts

University Fan, Jason Farley, Jack—Cornell University

Farrar, Aiden—Georgia Institute of Technology Fauman, Alexander—U. California, Santa Barbara Federmann, Kaylee—Berklee College of Music Ferre, Gabriela—Bryant University Fieleke, Kyle—Boston University Figueiredo, Jason—Boston College Filipova, Katerina—UMass Amherst Fitzgerald, Christian—U.S. Coast Guard Fitzgerald, Sean—Babson College Fitzgerald, Shaelyn—UMass Amherst Fleuridor, Guervara—Regis College Flint, Claudia Fong, Carson Foster, Dylan—U. Colorado, Boulder Foster, Malcolm—University of North Carolina School of the Arts Fredberg, Samantha—U. California, Los Angeles Freed, Jeremy—Roger Williams University Friedman, Celia—Stevens Institute of Technology Frishman, Taya—New York University Frissora, Cameron

G Gahm, Ethan—U. Virginia

Galdston, Seth—U. Chicago Geis, Matthew—Tulane University Gelb-Bicknell, Corey—Brown University Getchell, Robert—Work Gibbs, Olivia—U. California, San Diego Gillum, Mikayla—U. Vermont Glass, Gabrielle—Boston University Gobler, Benjamin—Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gobler, Lauren—U. Connecticut Goldberg, Benjamin—UMass Amherst Goldsmith, Jack—The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gong, Casandra—UMass Amherst Gonzalez Gatica, Wilmar Gonzalez, Isabela—U. Southern California Goor-Aryeh, Benjamin— Stonehill College Graham, Jacob Granger, Scarlett—Bentley University Greblick, Alexander—U. Alabama Greenblatt, Julia—Barnard College Gregorian, John Gross, Joseph Guekguezian, Jonathan— Skidmore College Gunnarsson, Anita-Mist Gutierrez, Miguel

Hacsi, Lillian—Pitzer College Hahm, Christian—Boston University Hajjar, Sophia—American University Halpern, Kyle Hamel, Chase—Ecknerd College Hao, Richard—Skidmore College Harrison, Charlotte—Mount Holyoke College Hass, Andrew Hauser, Marc—Work Hecht, Alexis—Grinnell College Heespelink, Madelyn—U. Vermont Hennessey-Roberts, Alexandra—Tufts University Herlihy, Willis—Northeastern University Herwagen, Maria—Babson College Heschel-Aronson, Avigael— Clark University Hiltz, Jennifer—Stonehill College Hiltz, Olivia—Stonehill College Hiranandani, Sarah—Colgate University Hoch, Nicholas—Colorado College Hoffman, Myles—Belmont University Hoffman, Sarah—Skidmore College Horsik, Tyler—UMass Lowell Hosford, Erin—Rochester Institute of Technology Huang, Joe—Northeastern University Huang, Nathan— Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Huang, Tina Huang, Zhi Xuan—U. California, San Diego Hunt, Maximilian Hurwitz, Jeanette—American University Hyppolite, Niajah—UMass Amherst

IIacuzzi, Jonathan JJasset, Jordan—Sacred Heart University Jiang, Steven Joffe, Elijah—U. Pennsylvania Johnston, Taylor Jones, Anna—Scripps College Judge, Dylan—American University

K Kaluzhny, Amy—Temple

University Kampler, Samson Kann, Steven—UMass Amherst Kaplan, Forrest—High Point University Kellman-Fennell, Amos Keren, Roni—U. New Hampshire, Durham Kernan, Pascal Kett, Hannah—U. Virginia Kharfen, William—Temple University Kiel-Zabel, Alex—U. Vermont Kim, Hyesuk Kim, June—Boston University Kingsley, Jacob—Dartmouth College Kingsley, Samuel—UMass Amherst Klein, Emma—Swarthmore College Knight, Jacob—Framingham State University Konforty, Adi—U. Vermont Korin, Eli—Suffolk University Kotsonis, Julian—The University of Tampa Koutsouris, Iliana—North Carolina State University Krantz, Derek—Northwestern University Kreiman, Tobias—Columbia University Kreppein, Benjamin—Case Western Reserve University

senior plans

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Kritzer, William—Johns Hopkins University Krylov, Alexander—Columbia University Kurth, Alec Kwass, Liza—U. Colorado, Boulder Kwong, Nicole—Simmons University

L Lakomski, Leah

Lam, Grace Lapa, Yahni—Brandeis University LaRosee, Erik Leav, Alison—Tufts University Leger, Carolann— Massachusetts Bay Community College Lehrer, Jacob—Wentworth Institute of Technology Leo, Marco—High Point University Leone, Elizabeth—Suffolk University Lev, Rebecca—Tufts University Levi, Nov Li, Joyce—UMass Amherst Libraty, Benjamin—U. California, San Diego Licholai, Greg—Carleton College Lin, Angela—UMass Amherst Lin, Jasmine—Bentley University Lin, Paggy—UMass Dartmouth Liu, Angela—Bentley University Liu, Hannah—Brandeis University Lockeby-Catalano, William— Bellarmine University Lopez, Juan Lovera, Rosmery Lowe, Julia Lozinsky, Maya—Scripps College Lund, Chloe—College of William & Mary Lyons, Faith—Year off Lyons, Nora—Johnson & Wales University

M MacDonald, Eric

MacDonald, Sophia—Year off MacDougall, Mackenzie— Florida Southern College Macht, Henry—Virginia Polytechnic Institute MacLean, Emma—Roger Williams University Malec, Matthew—Boston College Manley, Kelley—The University of Tampa Mansfield, Emily—Providence College Marcus, Eli Markert, Claire—Sacred Heart University Markert, Grace—Sacred Heart University Martin, Eve—University of Oxford Mathews, Maya—Hamilton College McCabe, David—Boston College McDonagh, Catherine—U. New Hampshire, Durham McDonald, Erin—Endicott College McDonough, Graeme—Tufts University McGarry Partridge, Declan McGarvey, Jessica— Massachusetts Bay Community College Mckee, Emma—Middlebury College McMaster, Cameron—Johnson & Wales University McMullen, Bianca—Regis College Mehra, Benjamin—U. New Hampshire, Durham Meier-Ewert Mullington, Emma Meier-Ewert Mullington, Karl Meiselman, Sam—Washington University in St. Louis Mendez Sosa, Oscar— Framingham State University Menozzi, Filippo—Universita Bocconi Merino-Ramirez, Marisa— UMass Boston Micalizzi, Olivia—U. Vermont Michaely, Guy Milet-Carty, Rene

Miller, Edward—UMass Amherst Miller, Josef Miller, Rene—The University of the Arts Mitelman, Michael Miyashita, Naoyuki Moncreiff, Colette—Lewis & Clark College Montague, Sophia—Colby College Moore, Amanda—U. New Hampshire, Durham Morais, Tamara Morales, Jaivelisse—Bay Path University Morgan, Audrey Morrison, Julia Moustafa, Jacob—Massachusetts Bay Community College Mucci, David Mui, Evan Mullowney, John Munoz Vallim, Guiherme Musson, Kristen

N Negrotti, Christian—Bryant

University Ni, Hongru—Boston University Nicolazzo, John—Bryant University Nicolazzo, Melanie— Bridgewater State University Nicolazzo, Noelle—U. New Hampshire, Durham Nielsen, Carter—U. California, San Diego Nielsen, Isabella—U. Maryland, College Park Nizamuddin, Sonia Nong, Cheryl—University of Toronto Norwitz, Sam—Washington University in St. Louis

O O’Guin, Bobbi—Lasell College

Obeid, Katya—UMass Amherst Obeid, Nadya—UMass Amherst Orilla, Andrew Osborne, Katherine—Bentley University Ou, Yuqi Ozkol, Efecan—Massachusetts Bay Community College

P Pagana, Nicolas—Fitchburg

State University Papakonstantinou, Melina— Tulane University Parkman, Alida—University of Denver Patel, Trisha—UMass Lowell Peirce, William—Bridgewater State University Pemstein, Ezra Pennel, Lisa—McGill University Perepada, Kseniya—UMass Boston Perl, Raz—Roger Williams University Perrin, Jared Perron, Rafael—Boston University Persampieri, Nathan— Massachusetts Bay Community College Plaster, Laila Pleynet, Martin—McGill University Plummer, Jonathan—Berklee College of Music Poole, Alastair—Amherst College Potter, Molly—U. Connecticut Powderly, Cecilia—Skidmore College Pratt, Lucas—Boston College Prince, Jaden—The New School Proia, Arrianna—Bridgewater State University Proia, Marisa—Salem State University Provetti, Adriana Pula, Ina—Lasell College

Q

Qian, Jonathan Qiu, Alex—UMass Amherst Quinn, Lauren Quintana, Nicolas—University of Waterloo

R Ralph, Aliana—UMass Amherst

Ranalli, Madeline—Harvard University Ratnofsky, Ethan—Grinnell College Ray-Canada, Kyle—Hampton University Restuccia, Ryan—Worcester State University Reyna, Katarina—Connecticut College Riak, Matthew Ribeiro, Savio Ricca, Achille—Ithaca College Rideout, Michael—Worcester Polytechnic Institute Ridi, Leonardo—UMass Lowell Rinfret, Dominique—McGill University Rivero, Alexander—U. Miami Rizvi, Syed—Clark University Rizza, Giovanni Robertson, Alexandra— Georgetown University Rodriguez, Jesus—UMass Boston Roll, Abby—New York University Roover, Hailey—Tufts University Rosario, Crismellys Rosenstrach, Jonathan—U. Colorado, Boulder Rosenstrach, Sarah—Year off Rosensweig, Avery—Colby College Ross, Finnegan Roth, Ian—Boston University Roy, Maxime—Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rubino, Kiara Ruttenberg, Andrew— Washington University in St. Louis Ryals, Sophia—Middlebury College

S Salazar, Kamilla—Johnson &

Wales University Sales, Steve Salguero Mejia, Manuel Sanchez Garcia, Roger Sanchez, Alex Sanson-Gomez, Daniel—Lesley University Sarandrea, Christian— Emmanuel College Sarchioni, Brenden—U.S. Marines Sarr, Maimouna—Boston College Savitz, Aviva Sayeed, Iman—Middlebury College Scanlon, Liam—Tufts University Schechter, Kenneth—East Carolina University Schertzer, Olivia—Lasell College Schindler, Ethan—Rochester Institute of Technology Schmidt-Hong, Laura— Massachusetts Institute of Technology Schwartz, Jacob—Virginia Polytechnic Institute Schwartz, Laura—Case Western Reserve University Schwartz, Samuel—U. Nevada, Las Vegas Sharma, Natasha—Barnard College Sheier, Tomer—UMass Lowell Shereda, Rachel—Work Shibuya, Miki—Simmons University Shyevitch, Maya—McGill University Sidmore, Rachel Siegelman, Alexander—College of Charleston Silagi, Joseph—Washington University in St. Louis Silva, Andressa—Amherst College Simmons, Cecile—U. New Hampshire, Durham Simmons, Chelsea—The University of Tampa Sit, Ian Ip—Rochester Institute of Technology Situ, Andy Siverhus, Kaitlin Skylstad, Rose—Syracuse University Slack-Watkins, Maeve— University of St. Andrews Slater, Rachel—Bryn Mawr College Smyth, Kiley—Chapman University Sobieszczyk, Henry—

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 17

Ian Dickerman

Seniors Connor Daley, Alison Leav, and Morgan Britt-Webb row in the Physics Phloat boat race Wednesday, May 29.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Solari, Nicole—Fairfield University Solomon, Anna—Pitzer College Song, Hayoung—New York University Sorto Cancino, Sarah—Toni and Guy Hair Academy Spataro, Bianca—Framingham State University Stavridis, Nikolaos—U.S. Air Force Steenstrup, Samantha— Northeastern University Stein, Harper—New York University Stern, Miles—Boston University Steudel, Simon—Colorado College Steyn, Raphael—Boston University Stolzenthaler, Hannah— Skidmore College Su, Iris—Harvard University Sudyenkov, Arthur Sugianto, Joelle—Boston College Sullivan, Chelsey Sullivan, John—Boston University Sullivan, Kathryn—American University Sullivan, Robert—Wheaton College Sumner, John—U. Colorado, Boulder Sung, Declan—Amherst College Suriel, Ashley—Suffolk University, Madrid Svensson, Patrick— Northeastern University

T Tager, Linden—Indiana

University, Bloomington Tai, Daisy Tam, Ming—Brandeis University Tan, Canhua Taylor, Dante—Wake Forest University Taylor, Jahmeachi—Salem State University Teixeira DaSilva, Phillip— Cornell University Thompson, Daniel—U. New Hampshire, Durham Tilman, Ethan—Massachusetts Bay Community College Tobin, Annie—Northeastern University Tobin, Nicholas—U.S. Navy Tobin, William—Springfield College Tocco, Nicholas—UMass Amherst Torcasio, Joseph—Western New England University Tu, Maxwell—Tufts University Tverskoy, Mitchell—UMass Amherst

V Vachon, Liliana—Merrimack

College Vainio, Amanda—UMass Dartmouth Vanderpool, Talia—The Ohio State University Vecchione, Meghan Velez, Alejandro—Boston University Velez, Jovel Visciano, Angelo Vorbau, Jonas—Quinnipiac University

W Waitz, Isabel—Massachusetts

Institute of Technology Wajsfelner, Kieran—Savannah College of Art and Design Waldman, Maya—Northwestern University Walsh, Sabrina—U. Colorado, Boulder Wang, Ashley—Harvard University Wang, Cunhao—UMass Amherst Wang, Jason—Boston University Wang, Nina—Massachusetts Institute of Technology Waters, Ava—Vassar College Watson, Sophia—U. Connecticut Weiss, Benjamin—Union College Weiss, Rebecca—Drexel University West, Charlotte—George Washington University White, Sarah—U. Vermont Whitehouse, Cole—Williams College Wilson, Thomas—Western New England University Winton, Kenison—Connecticut College Wong, Alison—Northeastern University Wong, Melissa—Suffolk University Wong, Ty Wu, Jason—Boston College

X Xu, Aaron—UMass Amherst

Xu, Yun—Fashion Institute of Technology

Y Yang, Tammy—Simmons

University Ye, Chen Yee, Jacqueline—Tufts University Yeh, Philip—UMass Lowell Yesepkin, Timothy—UMass Amherst Yohannes, Abel—Boston College Yong, Vanessa Young, Jordan—Case Western Reserve University Yu, Astra—New York University Yuen, Marcus—UMass Amherst

Z Zabchuk, Alison—Work

Zeidan, Sarah—Nichols College Zhang, Hechen Zhao, Catherine Zhao, Katie—U. Michigan Zheng, Alina—Wellesley College Zhong, Alina—Bentley University Zhou, Adam—Boston University Zhu, Tammie—Worcester Polytechnic Institute Zou, Joy Zucchero, Grace—Marquette University Zuckernik, Eliana— Northwestern University compiled by

Helen Xiao

18 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

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Newton North, The Newtonite â—† 19

20 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 21

Uncovering the cost of a “free” public education According to the North mission statement, community members “strive for excellence in academic, vocational, athletic, and artistic endeavors.” While this is a noble goal, many of these endeavors come with a steep price tag. Between school supply needs and extracurricular participation, students and families spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on their “free” public education. In a city with a household income 104 percent above the national median, there is some expectation that all students can easily pay for these programs, yet this is often not the case. We on The Newtonite wanted to better understand the costs that the average student encounters over the course of a year and how this school helps to alleviate these costs.

Newton North High School 2019-06-05

Order #19

6:05

Academics......................$435

A year’s worth of school supplies costs a student on average $435. Supplies were based on the North school supplies list from www.myschoolsupplieslist. com. Prices of individual items were taken from www.staples.com. It should be noted that while some items, such as notebooks, are replaced each year, others, like a backpack can be reused over several years.

AP...................................$99

$130

Exchange Trips

Taking an AP exam costs $99, but according to AP coordinator Amanda Mazzola, approximately 7 percent of students receive a waiver. For students receiving free and reduced lunch, the College Board waives $32, and the school covers an additional $13, leaving students to pay $54 per exam. For students taking more than one exam, additional financial assistance is available.

457 Walnut St, Newton, MA 02460

Academics

A graphing calculator costs $130 on average and is the most expensive school supply item. All students are required to have one for all four years for use in math and science classes. However, students are able to check out a calculator from the math department each year for free, no questions asked.

AP Exams

Athletics...........................$741

Theater All students pay a $150 participation fee for every Theatre Ink production. The annual cost of participation is capped at $450, with all fees paid to the school district. Most productions also offer an optional “Bundle Package” to cover extraneous costs such as merchandise, meals during production and tech weeks, and a cast party, which costs $73 on average, paid to Theatre Ink. The average minimun cost adds up to $223. Students receive financial assistance for the participation fee through the district and for the “Bundle Package” through Theatre Ink.

Clubs..............................$265

CALCULATE YOUR OWN Academics

Compiled by Jake Forbes, Jeremy Frankel, Isabella Lecona, Yesha Thakkar, and Sophia Zhou Designed by Kayley Somers

____ x $99 + $435 = $

Theater

+

____ x ($150 + $73) = $

Clubs

Athletics __ x $325 + $402 = $

Most sports at North have a user fee of $325 to pay for field and equipment maintenance and coaches’ salaries. Hockey, football, and lacrosse have a user fee of $425 for additional equipment costs. There is a cap of $975 per family. Many student-athletes choose to buy their own gear, which can cost up to hundreds of dollars. The user fee provides for the use of required gear, like helmets and pads, for students who need it. The bar graph (right) displays the results of a survey of 60 North students reporting their total athletic expenses, including user fee and personal equipment costs. The average total cost including gear and user fee is $741.

Theater............................$223

Exchange Trips............$2,800

North offers 11 distinct exchange programs including five foreign language programs. This year, within the world language department, a total of 45 students paid an average of $2,800 to attend one of the five exchange programs offered. This includes transportation, housing, and excursion expenses but not additional costs such as spending money.

Other exchanges’ costs vary.

In the district as a whole, the Jennifer Price Global Education Leadership Fund (GELF) provided financial assistance for approximately 30 students, or 1 in 8, on the various exchange programs. Although assistance depends on each student’s individual financial situation, on average, GELF covered 65 percent of the cost, according to Global Education Programs manager Samantha Mandel.

Athletics

+$

+

Exchange Trips

+ __ x $2800 = $

Total:_____________________

=

Clubs There are over eighty clubs at North that range in time committment, activity, and cost. At right are four clubs that provide a snapshot of the general cost of participating in a club. The total average cost is $265.

Members of science team do not pay a fee. They participate in a variety of competitions throughout the school year, which cost up to $100 per person. The team covers all fees through several fundraisers, such as raking leaves, selling candy, and hosting bake sales.

$0

Members of the South Asian Student Association pay approximately $15 to cover the costs of outfits for Asian Culture Night. The club fundraises to support its many activities, such as monthly lunches.

NNHS Ultimate, one of North’s club sports, requires a registration fee of $300, which covers tournament fees, jerseys, and equipment. The team fundraises by selling candy and setting up GoFundMe and Snap-Raise pages, relying on these funds to provide financial assistance.

Members of the debate team can pay up to $600 to compete in approximately ten tournaments over the course of the school year. Registration fees vary from $8 to $150 per person and is paid by individual members.

$800

22 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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senior statements

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 23

Reap benefits from obstacles, Appreciate everyone take advantage of initiatives amidst chaotic times I’m a big singing guy. You’ll probably catch me singing on my way to class or even when I’m taking a test. I’m not ashamed of it. I like to sing, and if people judge me for it, so be it.

Along with my hobby of singing, I also love to play sports. At Newton North I played football, basketball, and lacrosse, enjoying every minute of it. Playing sports allowed me to meet my life-long friends and develop my leadership and athletic skills. However, between my freshman and junior years, playing sports and doing homework seemed to be the only activities I participated in. There was never a part of me that wanted to branch out and join a musical or sing in a concert. I was not interested in those activities, and neither were any of my friends.

Since sports occupied my life, the people I surrounded myself with were people who played sports. While this is pretty straightforward, I realized that this was also an issue. Coming into my senior year, I wanted not only to fa-

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miliarize myself with athletes but people with other interests as well.

Therefore, I elected to become a member of the Jubilee Singers.

This turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made at North.

Not only did I make new friends from the “other side” of the school, but I also felt more deeply integrated into the school community. Because of Jubilee, I sang in a handful of concerts, attended four musicals and plays, and became more understanding of the effort and passion of the artists around me.

The problem with Newton North is that there is a wall that separates the “theater kids” from the “sports kids.” If you ask any student at North, I think they would tell you that this wall is very apparent. But it doesn’t have to be, and the wall shouldn’t be here in the first place. I highly encourage you, no matter how old you are, to try to integrate yourself into your whole community.

It took some courage taking Jubilee and singing in front of my friends and teammates, but I couldn’t be happier that I did it.

Placing myself in uncharted waters was hard, and initially, I wanted to back out. Being in unfamiliar territory can be challenging; however, it is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be the very thing you need and the thing you’ve wished for in the first place. So take a chance. Be in uncharted waters.

Break down that wall. You will not regret it.

—Christian Hahm

Push yourself to develop passions The first time I walked into the theatre wing freshman year, I saw a tight circle of people waving their arms and yelling “wah” at each other. Boy, did I hightail out of there. Three terms went by before I dared re-approach the theatre wing in a half-hearted attempt at Playwrights’ Festival. My ten-minute onstage experience as a worm-eating character named Spare Rib left me no less discombobulated, yet somehow I returned the next year, then the year after, and somehow I’ve now written and directed a play and am about to lead my actors in an impassioned round of arm-waving and “wah”-yelling.

What had started out as a reluctant relationship with Theatre Ink blossomed into one of my most fulfilling high school experiences. Playwrights’ boosted my confidence, gave me a platform to express myself, and opened me to long-lasting friendships.

But what if I hadn’t turned around and endured the weirdness.

What if I’d settled into the relative comfort of 501 graded homeworks and first lunch and after-school swim practice?

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We’re told to step out of our comfort zones so many times that most of us just tune out whenever we hear it. “Growth mindset” or whatever. “They” may have tried to drill it inside me, but I’ve come to realize on my own there’s some substance to that cliche: that throwing out preconceptions and trying something new may lead us toward some of the most rewarding friendships, experiences, and passions that we’ll carry forward beyond high school. From wandering into Playwrights’, to being coaxed into Computer Science, to realizing my

love for painting in Art, I’ve opened up new pathways that didn’t exist in my mind when I first set foot on Tiger Drive.

The reality is you won’t love everything (as I realized during my brief stint in Jazz Ensemble 2, swing wasn’t my thing), but you still gain an appreciation for the unfamiliar (reading lead sheets is hard), and discover new things about yourself (I frequent my bossa nova playlist), or reinforce things you may have suspected (I’m still a die-hard classical pianist).

Seniors, some of us may think of graduation as the end, but it’s just the starting point of a life-long journey, and high school should be the opportunity to create as many of these new pathways as possible.

To those who will return to this building next September, embrace the uncomfortable: join, try out, audition, advocate, initiate. After all, what better time to do it than in these four wonderful, stressful, hormonal, transformative years at Newton North?

—Maia Alberts

Be confident in your endeavors

If someone had told my freshman self half of the accomplishments that I have made by my senior year, I would have not believed them. Taking an AP class, being in the big musical three years in a row, and getting into Cabaret Troupe were all things that were deemed impossible for me to do. Looking back to my freshman self, I was a shy, awkward, 15-year-old girl who wanted to seize all of the opportunities that were handed to me. My freshman year, all of the shows that I had tried out for rejected me.

Spending all of my time doing theater in middle school, I was completely lost as to what to do with myself for the time being. On the last day of my freshman year, I had written out a list of the shows that I wanted to be in for the next upcoming years. Looking back on that list as a senior, I’ve checked off most, if not all, of the goals that I’ve set for myself.

If there is anything that I have

learned, it’s that when one door closes, another one opens up for you.Taking in rejection, whether it’s from a loved one, a friend, or even a test can be hard to come back from. Through getting rejected by shows, I have learned the art of accepting my mistakes and pushing myself to do even better the next time. It is not the end. There is always a chance to grow. I would tell my freshman self to not place my own mistakes on my personal attributes but instead, to focus on what you can do better on next time.

To any freshman, sophomore, or junior who is struggling to find confidence within themselves­—I completely understand. In high school, you want to fit in with the crowd and not stand out. Pursuing something that is unique to you is one the best things that you can try and find out within your high school career. Through not being in many shows my freshman year, I found myself being behind stage helping

out with costumes. Confidence has been something that I have struggled with throughout my years in high school. For a long time, I have waited for people to tell me that I was enough. It took me four years to realize that someone cannot give you confidence, you have to reach in and find it within yourself. And once you find the confidence within yourself, do not let anyone take it away from you.

—Nia Hyppolite

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We can all agree that Newton North keeps its students endlessly busy. All of us are either rushing to our next class, trying to sneak in a quick bathroom break, running out of the cafeteria with lunch in hand, or racing to the library to grab a good study seat for the duration of our next free block. I am certainly no different.

Anyone who knows me has only seen me in full force, running down Main Street with my backpack, laptop, and hydro flask in hand. I can only remember a few times when I have genuinely paused to look up and around our beautiful school in action.

On these special occasions, I slow my run down to a walk through Main Street and notice a state championship team on Tiger Drive making me proud to be a Tiger. Also on Main Street, across from the cafeteria, I can hear Jubilee or the Jazz ensemble playing for other students also are passing by; their music sends happy chills down the backs of those who are so proud to know such talented musicians and artists. There are also TV Media Arts reporters flagging down busy students for an interview.

As I walk further down Main Street, I look out through our gorgeous windows across from Carpentry, Engineering, and Automotive to see the beautiful blooming tulips; and on the art quad there are so many awesome people relaxing with friends, working on their next chalk murals, or playing frisbee together.

I smile knowing they are also taking a moment to stop and enjoy our school. Finally, I see kids running across Theatre Ink. in half costume or singing with full voices and strong hearts. It’s exciting to hear the stories their performances tell.

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All Newton North students can agree, the hustle and bustle necessary to make it at North is ruthless. But when we take a moment to stop and enjoy one another’s presence, our efforts become worthwhile.

I hope the Class of 2019 remembers the times in between the chaos; having the opportunity to have met the unique people in our wonderful school has taught me a lot about what we offer the rest of the world. I am intentionally being vague with my statement because there is no singular way Newton North graduates will impact the world but we all, without a doubt, will surprise and delight because our busy high school career has given us the experience and perspectives necessary to be agents of change. So my advice to all of us is to remember Main Street, and remember where our stories began. Being a student at Newton North has been the treat of a lifetime, and to serve our student body as Class President has been such an honor and humbling experience for me personally. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for everyone in the coming years.

See you at reunion Tigers!

—Maya Mathews

Learn from failures to improve for the future Congratulations to everyone in the class of 2019, we graduated from one of the toughest schools in the country! Recently, the US News & World Report named Newton North the 732nd best high school in the country, putting it in the top five percent of high schools in the US. Newton North got this ranking through the many rigorous AP courses offered, the championship-winning sports teams, and our critically acclaimed theater program.

However, it wasn’t any of those things I listed that shaped me into the person I am today; it was all the times I failed.

Some of the most notable screwups of my high school career are leaving my laptop in the middle of downtown Boston with important homework files on it, not studying for my chemistry final then proceeding to flunk it, and straight up deleting footage while filming a documentary in Puerto Rico (sorry Maya). Those screw-ups motivated me to pay closer attention to details, study harder, and organize my time better than any motivational pep talk ever could have. Over time, I’ve learned that failure shouldn’t be seen as a discouraging thing. Rather, failure is the best teacher in the world and shouldn’t hold you back from trying new things.

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For example, I tried taking AP Lang last year despite not being a strong writer. Even though I struggled with every single essay in that class and ended up failing a couple of papers, I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I really don’t want to pursue a degree with a lot of writing in it, but discovered a deep passion for newspaper journalism.

So as you go onward from high school, don’t let the fear of failure get in the way between you and greatness. Take that weird elective or join that team that caught your eye.

Then inevitably in the future when you do screw something up, laugh a little, learn from your mistakes, and just keep swimming.

—Nicolas Quintana

24 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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senior statements

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Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 25

Be appreciative of others’ efforts, spread kindness

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I found that it is difficult to reflect upon our last four years at North. I knew that I had learned a lot in my four years, but I didn’t know what exactly I had learned. I thought back to all the classes, clubs, sports, and activities I’ve been a part of during my time. I wanted to sum them all up in a nice broad statement that made me seem like a very wise man.

However, I just could not do it.

North has simply given me too many experiences both in and out of the classroom to sum up. I learned how to wrestle; I learned how to do calculus; I learned how to “Greengineer;” I learned how

to play ultimate; I learned how to present a speech; I learned how to take apart an engine; I went on ski trips; I learned not to eat in the library; I learned how to rock climb; I learned how to play at a jazz club; I became a lifeguard; I even won a free car. There have been too many incredible experiences in these past four years that it felt impossible to sum them all up.

I found one similarity between all of these moments. It was that a teacher at North had been with me for every single experience. No matter what it was, every great moment I had at North was because of

a teacher. It was not as much what I learned, but more how I learned it.

Whether it was Staulo giving me a hug and telling me I’ll “get ‘em next time” after losing my sixth straight match, Ms. Kavanaugh telling me it was OK to write my sophomore speech about The Big Lebowski, Mr. Hess sitting with me in the ski patrol lodge, Mr. K and Mr. Lutz explaining to me for the fourth time what an axle is, Mr. MacIntyre nominating me for the car lottery to Ms. Baugher reminding me every day how happy she is to see me. No matter what I was doing, every single teacher I have known at North has

shown me that everything works out in the end.

With all the commotion surrounding colleges, test scores, and grades, it is easy to forget that we are not alone. Every step of the way, a teacher has been there helping us get to where we want to be. Even though we are no longer students at North, and they are no longer our teachers, it is nice to know that there will always be a building full of people who care about all of us and are always willing to help us succeed.

—Benjamin Libraty

Believe in advocacy Embrace failures for future success As a freshman coming into Newton North High School, I had set goals for myself and predicted the type of student I was going to be. I wanted to just be an athlete and get good grades and call it a day. At the time, I didn’t really think about joining any clubs or anything because I wasn’t into all that stuff. Something I wish I could’ve done differently is not limiting myself. As a freshman, I limited myself academically and socially. My sophomore year was a bit different because I had been in high school for a year so I had a good idea of how to get things done. However, I still didn’t feel connected with the school.

The event that changed that was the Confederate flag incident that happened my sophomore year. There was a video of a car driving around Tiger Drive, waving the Confederate flag. I was impressed by the way B.L.A.C (Black Student Advisory Council) handled the incident. There was a protest held during a class and the turn out was amazing. Seeing students of color like myself be so passionate about something they believe in sparked a desire in me to do the same.

Junior year was the year when I really got involved in what was going on in the school community. I was one of three juniors in a senior-filled Leadership class, I became a regular member of B.L.A.C. and I was fortunate to be on many student panels based on various topics. Being involved with the community helped me in so many ways. Quick shoutout to Ms. Leong for helping me do that.

She pushed me to be a lot more comfortable with sharing my stories and experiences to large audiences as a black male in society. The Leadership class does a great job of teaching students that there are differences in race relations everywhere, even at Newton North, and some students find that hard to believe. During the African American Identity unit, I shared that as a black male living in Newton, I have to be care-

ful with the way I carry myself. I have to make sure I walk a certain way and always make sure I’m not doing anything that could be misunderstood as a crime. Some of the white males in the class later shared that they’ve never heard that because they never have to worry about that. This class also made me a lot more confident in myself because I was able to take risks and voice my opinion no matter if people agreed or not.

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Now as a senior, I feel so much more confident and a lot more confident talking about my race and the hardships that I’ve experienced because of the color of my skin. I’m usually always in the main office talking about life with all the great adults that work in there. Special shoutout to Ms. Friend, Ms. Ford, Ms. Mansfield, Ms. Winston and all my friends in the main office. Always expect the unexpected, not only in high school, but in life. I didn’t think I would have such a big voice and wasn’t really trying to do anything apart from sports. Always be open-minded and ready to try new things because you never know what you’ll fall in love with. Also, be as kind as possible to everyone because you never know who you’ll need help from and who can make a difference in your life.

Lastly, don’t get distracted from your goals because distractions are roadblocks to success.

—Dominion Emmanuel

Confidence. It comes easy to some while others work tirelessly to obtain it, but it is a feeling that can always be accomplished with time. “What can I do to gain confidence?” is a question I asked myself several times. The truth is it all starts with you. If you do not believe in yourself, no one else will.

I have grown on a number of levels during my time at Newton North. I have learned to not walk up the left side of the staircase unless I wanted to get stampeded by incoming students. I have learned how to navigate through the horrible wireless connections.

But most importantly, I have learned that no one is perfect.

Every person lacks confidence in something at some point in their life, whether it’s a certain unit in class, a position on a team, or a role in a theater production. At the end of the day, we are all high school students. All struggling to walk up to the fourth floor. All zipping around slow walkers in the hall-

ways. All trying to find what makes us unique and happy. All trying to be confident in who we are.

My road to confidence had many twists and turns during my time at North. My confidence was the positive result from negative situations. My sophomore year was my breakout season. I worked my way into a powerhouse of a hitting lineup and I maintained my spot, or so I thought. Yes, I achieved an ounce of success, but I let my negative thoughts creep in. “You can’t do it. Everyone is better than you. They are all counting on you.

Don’t mess up.” Then I choked.

Or the time I sat down at my cold plastic desk as the teacher passed out the thick test packet. I read the first question and my mind went completely blank. I choked.

At the time, it sounded impossible to come through the other side.

You can’t let these failures define who you are. I learned from these mistakes and have become a better person for it. As seniors, we can all

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look back at our moments and realize they have made us stronger and more confident in who we are and what we will become in the future.

Going back to my original question, “what can I do to gain confidence?” You need to fail.

—Mia Bueno

Express compassion for everyone I’m not gonna sugarcoat this— when I got offered to write a senior statement, I was surprised that anyone saw any school spirit in me.

I’m not going to lie either. This year was, so far, the hardest year of my life, both in school and outside.

But, it was also a huge learning opportunity. I realized how hard it is to keep school on track when there are other obstacles in life, which in turn helped me realize how well we are taught by our teachers. Trying to learn material by oneself is extremely difficult, and I envy those who can do that well.

This year, I realized just how important it is to focus in class and do homework. Those seemingly simple tasks can be incredibly daunting when there are big obstacles in the way. One of those obstacles could even be the general lack of understanding of the lessons. Going for extra help, I found, was also a challenge but very important in order to get anywhere with these difficult math units. School is not going to stop for you, so it is up to you to

go and figure out how to get the help you need, whether mental or academic.

time here special. It’s not always the subject matter of a class or the focus of a club that makes it special; it’s the people involved.

It’s the people in your life that make high school special. They’re the ones that help you in times of need and make every school day fun, even if North can be overwhelming sometimes (okay, all the time). The paramount reason I think of my high school experience fondly is because of the people I’ve met; they’re the ones that comforted me at my lowest points, congrat-

ulated me at my highest, and have been with me in my everyday life.

As our time as students at North comes to a close, take a moment to reflect on those that have made your time here worthwhile. Don’t take those relationships for granted.

Tell those around you how much they’ve meant to you the past four years. Make the most of the time you have with those people now.

Wherever you’re going to be next year, talk to the people around you. Reach out to your mentors or teachers if you need to, or even

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Some people have known these things for a while, but it took me an especially difficult year to understand just how important it is to take mental breaks and be aware of how you are feeling, and what you can do to get out of a funk. Newton North has been a very supportive community for me, I feel safe

talking to my guidance counselors about serious issues, and I have friends who will drop anything to be there for me.

These past four years, I have not always felt that. One time I had to leave a class and a teacher found me and I don’t know her name and haven’t seen her since, but she was there for me for that block. That one moment with that one nameless teacher really embodied what Newton North has been – one big support group. Yeah, there is a big stress-culture, and everyone may feel lost at some points. But there are so many people within this building who genuinely care and will take time out of their days to help you out, whether they are your best friend or a stranger.

I am grateful for my time at Newton North, and I hope that we all take this kindness to wherever we go next in this crazy world we all live in.

—Chloe Lund

Respect peers by nurturing meaningful relationships

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As I reflect on my high school career, a few obvious things pop into mind; academics, extracurriculars, and athletics. Newton North is known for its rigor and fantastic opportunities, which gives students the chance to do plenty of cool things. Personally, I’ve travelled to Nicaragua, been a part of TV Media Arts, played soccer, taken challenging classes, and been co-president of film club. And while all of these aspects of my time at North have been fulfilling, if I’m being honest, they aren’t what made my

just to get to know them. Join that club or try that activity you’re unsure about. It sounds cheesy, but you could meet a lifelong friend or partner. It took a few different clubs and classes for me, but eventually I found my niche, and putting in the effort to find my place was so worth it. Make those connections not only because of the opportunities presented, but because forming relationships with other people is what makes life worth living.

—Lilly Hacsi

26 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

senior statements

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 27

Celebrate diversity Explore different opportunities This is a South African folktale my grandfather told me when I was little: Once upon a time in a jungle lived three animals­­­—a monkey, an elephant, and a lion. One day, a quarrel broke out among the three about who was the best animal. The monkey claimed that being fast and agile was best, the elephant was adamant that bigger is always better, and the lion declared that he was the most ferocious animal in the jungle.

Unable to resolve the matter, they headed to the wise owl and posed the same question to him. The owl promised to answer the question provided they undertook a challenge.

Far away across the river, there was a tall tree and a kiwano (a hard-shelled golden fruit) hung from it. It was next to impossible to get the fruit from such a huge tree. But the owl would only answer the question once they brought him the fruit.

So, the three animals set out on their journey to bring the fruit to the wise owl. When they reached the banks of the river, the monkey and lion realized that the river was too deep for them and the currents too strong. The elephant, noticing their distress, told the two to climb on his back, and together they crossed the river. When they reached the tree, the lion and elephant tried to shake the trunk, but it was too large and wouldn’t budge. So, the monkey climbed up the tree, plucked the fruit, and climbed back down. But even with all his effort, the monkey could not open the hard kiwano shell.

And, the elephant was too afraid that he’d damage the fruit to try stomping on it. So, the lion used his razor-sharp teeth to crack open the shell, revealing the fruit.

When the three animals returned, the wise owl asked, “Of the three of you, who brings this fruit to me?” The monkey said he did because he plucked the fruit from the tree. The elephant said he did because he helped the monkey get onto the other side of the river.

And the lion said he did because he opened the kiwano’s hard shell.

At this point, the wise owl stopped the argument and proclaimed, “Each one of you have your abilities and strengths. While one is not superior than the other, individually they are not very effective. But collectively as a team, you have achieved the impossible. All because you used your strength at the right time to do the right thing.”

I want to share this folktale with the class because it conveys a message about diversity that I believe is imperative for all of us to take with us as we enter the world outside high school. The story reminds

us that diversity means a lot more than how we look on the outside and which tribe we come from. It means that as a community, we embrace the heterogeneity that makes us unique, in whatever form our individual differences come in.

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Every day at Newton North, I appreciate the independent thinking that makes our community work. Every morning, I use my classmate’s innovative app to find a parking spot and hear the news from the professionally-produced morning announcements. My commute between classes is brightened-up by all the different student murals on the walls. For lunch, I go to our very own student-run restaurant to grab a delicious meal that a culinary major prepared. In class, I design dodgeball-playing robots to compete against my fellow engineers and marvel at the skill of automotive students taking on much bigger machines! After school, I hop on a fan bus to cheer on our amazing athletes as they lift the state championship trophy or laugh ‘til I can’t breathe at my classmates’ improv production.

Our school truly is a microcosm for diversity of ideas, talents, and abilities. North’s true beauty is not in the majesty of its exterior but in the diversity of its students inside.

So, Class of 2019, I encourage each of you to take your unique abilities and ideas wherever you go, to live with an open mind, to appreciate others’ strengths, and to embrace their differences.When I look at this amazing class, I see a group of motivated individuals of all sorts and “species,” each eager to succeed and impact the world.

But don’t forget, it takes the help of those from all walks of life to bear the golden fruits of success.

—Sam Norwitz

“When a door closes, another one opens,” is one of my mottos.

It doesn’t feel good to be rejected, does it? But sometimes those rejections open up new opportunities you didn’t even know were there. For example, I came to North knowing I wanted to do theatre. I auditioned for Oliver! my freshmen year, but sadly, didn’t get in. I explored many different aspects of theatre, until I found that I could become a Student Producer. I signed up to be a “StuProd” (Student Producer for short) during the Oliver! production, and it was a good experience for me to be able to see what it’s like behind the scenes. I worked on selling tickets, coordinating meals for the actors on dress rehearsal nights, ordering the apparel for the production, and designing the program.

Besides being a Student Producer for the musical, I also got a taste of what it’s like to run the light and sound board during shows. I was exploring the lights for Accession Day and also was the Assistant Sound Designer for Cabaret Troupe, two shows the theatre department

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put on.

Then in my sophomore year, came the opportunity for me to try out for Fiddler on the Roof, the spring musical. Fiddler on the Roof has been my favorite musical of all time since I was ten, so I was eager to try out. Plus, the theater director, Mr. Brown, already knew what I could do. Although I was a pain in the ass at times, he knew I could pull it off.

He cast me as the Rabbi, and that ended up becoming pretty special, and I would like to have the chance to play that role again. I was recognized by the United Cerebral

Palsy organization, along with Mr. Brown, for the Life Without Limits People Who Care celebration, which was pretty darn cool. When you take advantage of different opportunities, you learn what you do and don’t like. For example, in the early years of high school, I had always thought that I wanted to study graphic design. Now I have new passions and discovered new opportunities, and right now, I am not at all interested in graphic arts.

I can’t even begin to express how much Newton North has meant to me. There are SO many opportunities here to take advantage of, and I have no doubt that many, many more will come my way at college and beyond.

I actually like school. I do. It always excites me to get up in the morning and look forward to yet another day and yet another opportunity that awaits me. As I make this transition, I am looking forward to all the many more wonderful opportunities I will have in college and in the future.

—Nathan Persampieri

Embrace teamwork for success

Over the past few months, I have slowly become aware of the high speed train that is taking me out of Newton North. It really hit me when I saw the first senior painting outlined on the third floor hallway.

I had to stop for a second, as memories of my three years in this place flashed before my eyes. Without a doubt, I look back on these three years with a smile on my face. Yet, there are some things that put up a pretty good fight with that smile.

I realize this statement should be enthusiastic advice for the younger classes, but I am sure that my peers writing on this page have done that, and so I would like to take this important platform to share a challenge to my rising seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen.

Individual drive and ambition is what has advanced the world to this point. It is the intelligence and perseverance of individuals that has powered our human society to achieve what no other species has even dreamt of. Yet, our world is quickly changing and, as I see it, the brick building most of us call home has not yet changed with it.

Our future survival and advancement no longer relies on our individual success. It is our communal success that will determine how prosperous not only our lives, but also those of future genera-

tions, will be. And, unfortunately, on the point of communal work, Newton North is still leagues away from where it could be. At North, individual success plagues our everyday life. Anyone who has spent even a day in the building will be able to tell you that it is a pressure cooker where every grade, move and stupid question promotes or relegates you on the social and academic ladder. Some argue that this is healthy competition which leads to academic excellence. Sure, we are an elite school with fantastic individuals. But we remain that: a group of fantastic individuals, unable to really help each other learn and grow since every advantage given to a peer could mean that they could get a college spot or workplace over us. This is hugely perpetuated by the highly competitive nature of college admissions and what has become a hyper-competitive “real” world. But what it means in the end, is that we keep our ideas and advantages to ourselves, never collaborating or communicating for fear of being overtaken. And what has this led to?

The huge friction that we see in our global interactions today. A complete inability to cooperate to solve problems that are much bigger than our personal glory.

But Tigers are stronger than

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that. We are better than that.

So here is my challenge to everyone I leave in this building and everyone who is going to be welcomed into it: help each other, grow with each other. Cry, laugh and cheer with each other. Share your successes but share your failures equally. Be vulnerable. Create an environment where communal success is at least on par with individual success. And thus, create a world where problems can be solved together. For if there are seven billion brains working on a single problem, or even the 2500 incredible ones we find in this very school, we become unstoppable, and the sky is truly the limit.

Go get ‘em, Tigers.

—Filippo Menozzi

Appreciate others, make the most of your high school time Four years in high school is five percent of your entire life. That’s a pretty small part, right? However, in that five percent, I have learned so much that I will carry on with me for the rest of my life. Here are the three main ones that I survived high school with: (1) If you’re struggling, at least struggle with a friend. Have you ever had hours and hours of homework, it’s getting late, and all you wanted to do is sleep? Chances are that everyone else is feeling the same way. So, why not help each other? Ask for those notes that you don’t understand, ask that teacher for an extension, ask for help. The worst thing that’ll happen is that they’ll say no. Just don’t forget to give back and help other people out when they need it too. It’s a winwin situation!

(2) It’s okay to fail. It’s not the

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end of the world if you did bad on that one test. It’s not the end of the world if you accidentally slept in and missed class. Let’s be real, that’s happened to all of us at some point. You’re human, and that’s okay. If your stress is taking over

your life and you can’t think about anything else, that’s a tell tale sign (or a tell fail sign, amiright?) that you need to take a step back and breathe. Remember: five percent.

(3) Work hard, play hard. It’s very difficult to balance everything during high school if you have so much on your plate, but don’t forget to treat yourself! Hang out with your friends, spend time with your family, make some memories. It’s rewarding when you do well in school, but at the same time, you don’t have to miss out on fun times because of it.

When I look back at my four years at Newton North, I remember the friends that I made, the teachers that made me love their classes, and the times that make me smile.

You don’t have to make this 5% the absolute best part of your life, but it certainly doesn’t have to be the

worst. Try your best, enjoy yourself, and just know that the days go slow, but the years go fast. Make it count!

Ah, high school, where do I begin? It definitely has been an unbelievable roller coaster that has changed me for the better.

Starting high school freshman year, I had a completely different friend group than I do now about to graduate. Newton North is so diverse that you find many types of people with different identities.

With this, I got introduced and opened my eyes to a variety of things. With this exposure, in high school, I learned you will walk out the building doors a stronger and better person than you walked in. I grew, changed and learned about who I was and what I wanted in life. You’re surrounded by so many different types of people and

experiences that impact you as a person. Friends are a huge part of this lesson of learning who you are. Whether those friendships last or not, you learn something from that relationship. With every single person you meet, there is a specific reason you met them. You will love, hurt, cry, laugh, etc… but it’s all for a purpose as a lesson for the long run. Not everyone will be in your life forever, or even through high school. This is OK! Simply enjoy the times you had and meet new people, you’d be surprised the friends you make!

I guess what I’m trying to say with all the great people at North, with time you spent here, learn why you met these people and went through these experiences and understand why.

—Jeanne Duong

28 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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senior statements

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 29

Be prepared to make Step outside your comfort zone mistakes, seek advice I cannot believe four years have gone by already! Thank goodness—high school was certainly a bumpy road! Reflecting on these past four years, I’ve witnessed and experienced so much change in both positive and some negative ways. My experience at NNHS was one of incredible personal growth and understanding that I would not trade for anything else in the world.

As I think back to my freshman year, I recall taking the Myers-Briggs personality test and receiving the personality ESFJ or a Consul. People who fall under this personality type tend to be social, loyal, fun, and responsible. When I think back on myself as a freshman, I see all of those characteristics shine through the friendships I had, the work I completed, the sports I played, and how I spent my free time. Essentially, I was your typical Newton North “hardo” who occasionally carved out a few hours to spend with her friends on the weekends. Interestingly, when I took the test again this year, I happened to get the same results. I am still a Consul. Looking at myself now, however, I do not see the same person. Yes, I am still social, loyal, fun, and responsible, but I am also more confident, self-aware, and humble. It was through my experiences at NNHS, whether they were on the cross country team, with the South Asian Student Association, or in the classroom, that I gained these qualities and many others.

Like many of my peers (and most high school students), I struggled to understand who I was and who I wanted to become.

The pressure of constant success, balancing several extracurricular activities, and ultimately striving for perfection was something that I latched onto. This pressure consumes and controls the lives of many students, and I didn’t realize I could manage it healthily until the end of junior year.

Admitting to my parents, my teachers, and ultimately myself, that I needed help and guidance was definitely the defining mo-

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ment of my high school career. I stepped back and looked at how I had been approaching my work for the past two and a half years.

I didn’t need to spend seven hours every night on homework assignments, making them practically perfect, or overly stressing about tests and quizzes. I needed to refocus and redirect the pressure I was feeling so that I could continue to be successful in the way I wanted to. The only way that would happen was if I could separate the idea of asking for help with disappointment.

Incoming freshmen, rising sophomores, juniors, and even seniors, one of the most important lessons I learned at NNHS is that asking for help does not mean you are less valuable as a student—in fact, it makes you a better and stronger one. We are not perfect, nor should we strive to be. When you start to doubt yourself, do not forget all of the hard work and effort you have invested in, and remember that your teachers and families recognize this effort. I am so grateful that we are provided with a plethora of resources and endless support from teachers, faculty, and staff at NNHS. Use them!

It is okay to fail, it is okay to ask for help, and most importantly, it is still okay to push your limits and watch yourself thrive.

—Iman Sayeed

It’s so funny how high school can pass you by. One minute you’re a freshman skipping class because you thought you had a free and the next minute you’re a senior, skipping class because you know you have a test (joking...). Anyways, the one thing that I think is worth writing about is conformity. High school is a time that can either “make or break” the rest of your life... or at least that’s what we think. If you don’t have the right friends, play the right sports, or look the right way, then you can be seen as an outcast. In the four years I have gotten to experience at North, the one thing I am going to take with me is to NOT conform to social norms. Doing things just to “fit in” or so that people will like you is ridiculous. From freshman year to now, senior year, I have watched my friend group expand and shrink.

I think it is important for people to branch out in high school: meet new people, try new sports, or even extracurriculars. That being said, I’ve learned that when you are yourself, people will want to be your friend and you won’t have to pretend to be

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something you are not. Although high school is an important time in one’s life, it is only four years. You don’t need to do drugs, alcohol or other illicit activities (not that people are...) in order to fit in, and if you feel like you have to then you should choose different friends. The people that will miss high school the most in college are the people that stayed within their own friend

groups, and chose to do things that were familiar to them.

College is so different from high school in a number of ways.

From what I have gathered from my brother, my college friends and quite frankly all of “A Different World” and seasons one and two of “Grown-ish” is it’s a time, away from parents, to find, figure out and really get our sh*t together because as parents know—we don’t have it together (as much as we claim we do). No one knows who you are in college, you won’t have the same friends (unless, by chance, you end up at the same school). It will be awkward, scary and all around TUFF but you will be fine.

If I had to give advice in one sentence it would be: don’t be afraid to be different, step out of your comfort zone and don’t do something just because your friends think it’s cool. I know that probably was a run on but hey, I didn’t say grammar rules were one of the things I’ve learned...

—Drew Bookman

Capture life through writing September 7, 2015: “I’m really nervous for tomorrow. I know, everything will be okay, but I hate the unknown. I have NO IDEA what to expect. Wish me luck.” That’s a direct quote from what I wrote in my journal the night before I started freshman year.

Flash forward three years to September 2, 2018: “I feel like this

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is the most excited I’ve ever been for the school year to start because I know what to expect. It’s going to be a tough year, but I just have to trust that it’s going to work out.”

Most of us have things that immortalize elements of our high school lives: old assignments, varsity awards, playbills, pieces of artwork, or even social media posts. These items, however, only capture small parts of our lives, and they lose their meanings as our memories that accompany them fade.

I, on the other hand, have my journals, so everything I’ve experienced and felt during high school—from the mundane to the monumental—is sitting on a shelf in my bedroom, documented in detail.

As I reflect on my four years at Newton North, I’ve begun to read through all of my journals. Some things haven’t changed; I wrote on September 15, 2015 that “55 min. is long for a class. Don’t even get me started on 75 min. blocks” and almost every entry since the beginning of high school has started with just “Tired,” not even an “I’m,” because, well, I was tired. Others, such as my feelings about the first day of school,

impressions of my peers and teachers, reactions to a bad grade, goals for the future, and attitudes toward the unknown, have.

I’ve laughed, I’ve cringed, and I’ve cried. I’ve come across forgotten moments, like the time one of my classmates accidentally shattered a plastic Nalgene water bottle or when during a game of Odyssey Pictionary someone misnamed the wind god “Aeolus” as “Areola” and sent the entire class into a storm of laughter.

I’ve shaken my head at all of my younger self ’s fears and worries because I know now that they amounted to nothing. Most importantly, I’ve realized that these journal entries not only preserve my past and chronicle my growth but also offer irrefutable proof that eventually everything works out the way it’s supposed to, even if that seems unlikely at the time.

So, I urge you to write. And include everything—the sweet, the salty, the sour, and the bitter—because there is so much to be learned from all experiences, and your future self will be grateful.

—Emma Klein

Take advantage of opportunties to find your passions

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Everyone always says “try everything” at North. And I don’t disagree with that; some of the greatest opportunities are available here that can’t be found elsewhere.

However, I would like to suggest that we refine this adage. When the saxophonist Derek Brown vis-

ited Newton North this past year, he detailed his journey to becoming an independent musician, and there was one rule he had that really made sense to me: “Say yes to everything until you can say no to something.”

And this makes a lot of sense in music; for Brown, it meant saying yes to every offer he could—recordings, performances, or workshops—to gain experience and exposure. Once he had this experience, he could determine what was worth pursuing, and then be able to say no. It turned out that as a result of his method, he was able to pull together elements of different saxophone playing styles to create something entirely new: the beatbox saxophone. He then had his goal and was able to turn down other ideas because he knew where he wanted to go.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Firstly, what the heck is beatbox saxophone? In that case, go look up “beatbox saxophone Stand

by Me” on Youtube and come back

when you’re done (personally, I think it’s pretty cool). But maybe you’re thinking bigger, more like: I’m not a saxophonist or even a musician, how does this apply to me?

I would argue that this rule better equips us to deal with modern student life than the simple “try everything.” If you decide to try everything, you will be rewarded, but too often this comes at the risk of doing too many things, leading to stress and fatigue (trust me!). Especially as I moved into the later years of high school there ended up being too much available to me, and if I was still trying new things I would not have time for what I want to do.

For instance, in freshman year I said yes to doing boys’ swimming at North, which I loved for the team dynamic and the friends I made.

The next year, however, I said no: not because I didn’t like it, but rather because I had learned how much commitment was needed and it conflicted with other extracurriculars that I preferred. In contrast to this, I regret not saying yes to more

of the opportunities for student travel at North. I said no because I was worried about missing school, but had I followed Brown’s advice, I might have seen that the benefit from exploring new environments outweighed the cost of having to catch up on school afterwards.

Most importantly, Brown’s rule alleviates my greatest concern with the “try everything” method: that if we spread out all our interests, we miss out on finding something we love and the community and friends that go with it. If we narrow our choices as we go, we can

pursue what we love while still leaving room to explore and experience, which to me is smarter, more rewarding, and above all: more appreciated. The easiest thing to say yes to is a request for help, something that doesn’t go unnoticed here, something that spreads the kindness that this school is all about, and something that could open the path to a whole new corridor of yes’s and no’s and alcoves of the big wide beautiful world waiting to be explored.

—Andy Bean

30 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 31

Discover your passion, take in each small moment Congratulations, seniors! We made it! I think we all agree that life feels pretty good right now. I think we can also all agree that high school is not all butterflies and rainbows.

At the start of freshman year, I did not like North at all. It was too big, too chaotic, either too hot or too cold, and too hard to make friends.

I got more involved in The Newtonite (this paper!) over the past four years, and I didn’t realize when I joined it that it would completely transform my high school experience. Not only did I publish some articles with my name on the byline, but I received a community, lifelong friends (hi Sophia!), stellar advisers (hi Mr. Fabian and Mr. Knapp!), and the simply unforgettable experience

of watching Spongebob the Musical on Broadway. Without the paper, high school would have remained pretty sad.

While this is my personal, miniature ode to The Newtonite, experiences like this are common at North.

Pick any one of my peers and they can tell you how they feel exactly the same way about Theatre Ink, the soccer team, Graphics, or even a class.

This echoes the argument of an editorial we wrote for our Club Day special earlier this year in which we argued that students should find the activities that make you “lose yourself,” losing track of time, worries, etc. and focusing on something that makes them genuinely happy, relaxed, and curious.

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Yeah, do that! But now also make sure that the activity checks one more box.

Find the activity that can be your “thing.” When I think of North, I think of The Newtonite. High school is/was my time on the paper. It was something more than an activity that made a bad day bearable. It was something that made me feel like high school, as a whole, was worth it.

And, when I look back at high school, I won’t remember that one (or a couple) bad grade(s) in calc, but I will always remember CSPA trips in New York, the pure feeling of joy after sending a paper to press, and even the smaller things, like editorial board meetings.

Definitely join a bunch of clubs, sports, new classes, and all. Explore and truly use high school for all that

it is worth. However, don’t just join for the sake of joining. Hunt for that thing (or things) that can be your thing (phew, that’s a lot of things!).

Find something that checks this box and do not lose it.

In the end, I haven’t loved every second of high school, and I doubt that anyone does. I do, however, look back with a positive feeling because I found my “thing” that outweighs every negative imaginable, and you should too.

—Sammy Fredberg Editor-in-Chief Volume 97

Look for joy by simplifying life Celebrate positivity

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Someday I will die. And so will you. And so will every single person, plant, and animal on this earth. That is what I realized in my senior year of high school.

Obviously, I’ve always understood the concept of death, but until recently, I was blessed with the naïve feeling that I was immortal. It’s a feeling most young people with the privilege of a safe life are familiar with. Yeesh, I know. What a way to start off what’s supposed to be an inspirational summary of what high school taught me. But at some point, we all have to face the reality of our own mortality, no matter what we believe comes next. Accepting this fact of life, although it can be challenging, saddening, and

downright scary, might actually be the most liberating process of your life.

You have been blessed, by a God, by nature, or who knows what, to be on this Earth. To be breathing in and out right now.

Much of the time, it may not feel like a blessing to sit through high school classes you didn’t choose to go to, do work you don’t love, or balance all the duties of your life, but I implore you to take this time to investigate what kind of a life you want to live. I don’t mean you should plan now about how you will become a millionaire, or drop your responsibilities and travel the world to become “enlightened,” or even know what you’ll be doing in five years. Instead, use your education to ascertain what you value and the person you strive to be every day.

Whether it’s a seemingly innocuous piece of fiction, a catchy song, a piece of literature, or a person in your life, you will constantly hear wisdom about how to make the most of the time you have. The Beatles told you that all you need is love, Dory told you to just keep swimming, and Mr. Keating told you to seize the day. I can’t tell you what words or wisdom will resonate in your own experiences, but I can advise you to embrace this

period of education and learning in your life, and to continue this education throughout your life. At North, our teachers provide us with an inexhaustible source of wisdom.

Whether you find meaning in the novels you read in English classes, the power to change the world with science or math, the interconnectedness with new cultures that languages provide, or simply in the human relationships you develop and build with teachers, friends, and your family, do not take for granted the buffet of knowledge and ideas you have been provided.

As Albus Dumbledore said, “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.”

Take the time throughout the ins and outs of life to find the words, ideas, and feelings that resonate with you, even if they are cliché or overquoted like “Carpe Diem,” or unsophisticated like a quote from Harry Potter.

Now, along with every other moment of your life, is the time to figure out who you are and what you believe in, so use it well.

—Rose Skylstad Managing Editor Volume 97

Look for adventures after high school to enrich understanding Going into high school, I had the mindset that North would be the pinnacle of my schooling, if not of life. That this was it. That Newton North would be the greatest four years of my life.

Now, looking back, I realize that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Don’t get me wrong, North didn’t disappoint. The people I met, the experiences I had, the tests I failed, for the most part, a lot of it fit the image of high school I had imagined it to be. Yet, I know it won’t end up being the best four years of my life. But North was able to accomplish something else.

This school taught me that there is more to look forward to and achieve in life then just what went on within these doors. Most of the things we did revolved around the idea that we were preparing for something bigger. The classes we took were named after the idea of getting ready for college, the sports we played, the clubs we joined, or the trips we went on. It all centered around this idea of figuring out what the hell we wanted our future

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selves to accomplish in this large and confusing world.

Yes, we were supposed to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day games, Friday Night Lights, Theatre Ink productions, and various Senior Year traditions, but there was a deeper meaning to this school’s madness.

This school changed us. The person I was when I left Bigelow and walked in through Tiger Drive, heading to the auditorium with a bunch of strange faces, is not the

person I am as I prepare to exit stage left at graduation. No one is the same person. It was all to prepare us for life beyond these mural filled walls.

At the end of the day, North will be a distant memory that we reminisce on every once in awhile, but it will also have been a part of our journey that helped lead us to achieve our ultimate goals in life.

That teacher we could always go to for support. That friend that we met in the crowded halls during freshman year. These people and this place is an experience we will never completely leave behind.

North should not be the peak of our lives, yet a part of our adventure that eventually leads all of us to our inevitable peak. Now, we head to the next chapter in our story at college. And I already know that these will be the best four years of our lives.

—Will Kharfen Managing editor Volume 97

by combating stress

Life is like a box of chocolates, the world is your oyster, life is a cabaret—there’s a whole buffet of metaphors about the way the world operates and the way we operate within it.

Now, in an attempt to share the sage wisdom I’ve supposedly accumulated over these past four years, I’ll throw my own into the mix: your time at Newton North is a treadmill, and the most important thing to remember about treadmills is that you can and should and must step off once in a while.

I’ve spent the last four years training myself to be a pretty nimble treadmill buff: I took classes that interested and challenged me, then upped the incline and challenged myself more each year after.

I consumed a 2,000-calorie diet of extracurriculars from September to June, then filled my summers with other activities. I accepted my required intake of standardized tests, then powered through my college application essays with the heady mix of nerves and ambition that only this process can elicit. And I do love this sort of running—the exhilaration and the learning and the breadth and the challenge.

But, in many ways, I’ve spent the last four years training myself to run and only to run. We can reflect on decisions we’re glad we made and on decisions we wish we’d made—and I wish I’d spent more time with my younger sister and less with my homework, wish I’d studied less for the biology SAT and gone outside more last summer, wish I’d explored more athletics and music and art, wish I’d gone to more Theatre Ink shows and school events. I wish I’d stopped for just a second to realize the progress I’ve made as an individual—in adaptability, in patience, in confidence—because I’m in awe of all the ways I’ve grown but largely unaware of when they all happened.

I can’t completely fault myself for falling into this onetrack mindset. Implicitly and explicitly, the muggy academic ecosystem of Newton North and beyond sends us signals to keep moving forward, to run faster, to increase the incline. Everyone around me is taking so many APs and/or doing so many fancy summer programs and/or putting so much on their resumé; I have do all that and more. If I

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don’t finish this assignment my term grade will suffer and then my final grade and then my GPA; I can’t afford to relax one bit. I need to get a good SAT score so I can get into a good college so I can get a good job so I can…

The unending belt of homework, tests, college applications, SATs, ACTs, and extracurriculars drags us along, and the day-to-day grind distracts us from the people in our lives and obscures from us the progress we’ve made.

To the students still chugging along on Newton North’s treadmill—train yourself to both run and to consciously stop running. Look up from that thing that’s consuming your week, and realize that you can afford to rest and breathe and drink water and towel off and take a nap. (Really, take that nap.) Don’t move so fast and so single-mindedly forward that you forget to look around and take in the view. And to my classmates moving on from the world of Newton North, and especially to my future, all-tooeasily-stressed self—remember this over the next four years, when the treadmills we’ll face will grow even larger, and faster and more daunting.

Certainly, life isn’t and shouldn’t be one wild carousel of fun and games (some people may need to hear different advice—don’t just sit next to the treadmill! Start jogging!), and, certainly, the progress we make is only possible thanks to our smaller steps. But what will feed our soul the most and stay with us the longest isn’t the long hours on the treadmill; it’s the moments when we step off.

—Laura Schmidt-Hong Managing Editor Volume 97

32â—† Newton North, The Newtonite

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Newton North, The Newtonite â—† 33

34 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

fine and performing arts

put out by major corporations.

“It was a four-month long process, and they spent a lot of time dedicating their energy to make sure that it was as funny as it could be,” said junior Iris Wang, a stage manager for the show.

‘Rock of Ages’ mesmerizes with ‘80s rock music, romantic themes

Cameron Kellstein

Senior Amar Ahmad, junior Jennifer Tang, sophomore Aram Brunson, senior Niajah Hyppolite, and sophomore Chika Udemagwuna, plan a heist to steal a racist artifact from a museum in Theater Ink’s production of ‘Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God.’

‘Middletown’ highlights morbid humor through complex themes This year’s fall play, Middletown, ran Nov. 1 through Nov. 3 in the auditorium. Directed by Spanish teacher Dan Fabrizio, the show was characterized by morbid humor and theoretical monologues. “It’s a very, very cool play. It’s kinda trippy, it’s fun, it’s sad, and it’s very emotional,” said sophomore Dylan Fort, who played the town mechanic.

The play pulled back the curtains on a seemingly average town to reveal all the hidden truths of its inhabitants. The two main characters, handyman John Dodge, played by senior Lucas Pratt, and newcomer Mary Swanson, played by junior Leyla Davis, shared scenes that illustrated life and death itself. In one scene, John and Mary lay in hospital beds on opposite ends of the stage, John on death’s door, and Mary about to give birth to a new life.

“Especially as high schoolers, we think about beginnings and ends like ‘when’s something going to start’ and ‘when’s it going to end,’” said Pratt. “I want this show to make people think about the process of how it happens instead.”

‘Big Fish’ creates a fantasy world through parent-child relationships Big Fish, a musical directed by seniors Rene Miller and Kiley Smyth, ran Dec. 5 through Dec. 8 in the Little Theater. The play showcased the talent of its cast and crew members through intricate dances and detailed costumes.

The play told of a tumultuous relationship between a father and son. Edward Bloom, played by senior Achille Ricca, told his son Will, played by sophomore Talia Zalis, tall tales of his adventurous life featuring witches, werewolves, mermaids, and even a giant. As he told his stories, the audience saw them come to life onstage. “Big Fish is a very ambitious show,’ said Miller. “It is very fantastical.”

Along with scenes jam-packed with humor and fantasy, the musical also showcased emotional moments between Will, his father, and his mother, Sandra, played by senior Imani Bibuld. One of these included the number “Magic in the Man,” in which Bibuld’s voice rang out loud and clear.

According to Smyth, “Big Fish dives deep into family issues, confronting our relationships with each other despite our differences. It uses fantasy to pull at the heart-strings of the audience.”

‘It’s Our World’ encourages cast bonding, features freshman actors This year’s Freshman Cabaret, It’s Our World, featured heartfelt musical numbers and goofy skits that left the audiences captivated through each performance. Directed by sophomores Jacy Alpert, Abby Lee, Luke Moskowitz, Bailey MacNeal, Edie Pike, and junior Arthur Motoyama, the show ran Dec.

12 through Dec. 14 in the Little Theater and featured an all freshmen cast.

The show served as an excellent first taste of Theatre Ink for its cast members, no matter their level of experience. “It’s all a very fun and welcoming environment,” said Hunter Young, a cast member. “Everyone is there to learn and have fun.”

According to Alpert, “The best thing about this year’s cast was how many people didn’t know each other and watching the bonds form not only between cast members but with us.”

Rock of Ages, the spring musical directed by Kevin Kline, ran March 14 through March 17 in the auditorium.

“In a sense, it’s a classic ‘boy meets girl’ romance musical,” said senior Andy Bean, who played bartender Lonny Barnett. “But beyond that, there’s friendship and there’s community in the sense that the main location of the musical means a lot to a lot of people,” he added.

The plot followed a Hollywood romance between main characters Drew Boley, played by junior Josh Lev, and Sherrie Christian, played by senior Téa Baum, who meet in Los Angeles in pursuit of their dreams. Beyond the love story, the city is threatened by two German developers who want to rebuild the area. The city comes together to protest construction while Drew and Sherrie fall in love.

With hit songs from the 80s, a live band on stage, and amazing choreography, Rock of Ages was one of the biggest productions Theatre Ink has ever done.

Along with the elaborate props and exceptional costumes, the musical was unique in the fact that it did not use original songs, but rather all songs from the ‘80s. “The show manages to make fun of the ‘80s while still appreciating it,” said Tristan Jensen, a cast member. “It’s really amazing. It’s a really good story with a lot of pop culture references that are still relevant today.”

Improv Jam exhibits audience Spontaneous Generation presents involvement, unique acting styles improv games, comical situations Improv Jam I and II ran Jan. 11 and May 1 in the Little Theater. Members of the Improv Club showcased what they learned throughout the year through improv games and skits. Seniors Andrew Ruttenberg and Corey Gelb-Bicknell directed the show.

Ruttenberg and Gelb-Bicknell assigned numbers to the actors in order to call them up for different improv activities. The directors asked the audience for inspiration on certain scenes.

“I think improv is a great creative outlet because of the encouragements to make decisions you wouldn’t otherwise. By creating in real time, the output is more creatively diverse,” said freshman Hunter Young, a cast member.

Senior Lucas Pratt, a cast member, said, “I think it’s fun to adapt into whatever sort of situations or scenarios you are put in versus having a script. Having that dynamic of not knowing what’s coming next is something that really appeals to me.”

Nitrous Oxide captures audience with relevant social commentary Nitrous Oxide, North’s oldest sketch comedy troupe, presented An Evening of Sketch Comedy in the Little Theater Feb. 7 through Feb. 9. The show was directed by senior Andrew Ruttenberg and sophomore Mikayla Alford.

The intimate setting and the cast’s concise acting allowed audience members to have a closer connection to the comedy.

The show featured satirical and slapstick student-written routines that were complemented by energetic and captivating acting.

“The sketch writing in the show is fantastic,” said Ruttenberg. “It’s a consistently hilarious show that’s extremely diverse in it’s comedy such that anyone who comes to the show will at least enjoy a lot of it.”

Nitrous Oxide skits included relevant and humorous commentary on social issues. The skit “WokePurpp” addressed the faults in the rap industry and a prerecorded mock Pepsi Commercial poked fun at the advertisements

This year’s Spontaneous Generation ran April 3 through April 6 in the Little Theater.

The show, directed by seniors Corey GelbBicknell and Andrew Ruttenberg, incorporated audience participation and showcased the cast’s unmistakeable chemistry in a set of improv games.

Actors and audience members alike participated in improv games such as “freeze,” where viewers could take the place of a cast member in a scene and manipulate it to their choosing. Spon Gen even had a musical at the end where the songs and lyrics were made up on the spot.

“I always love the musical, and we practice a lot to get the musical working,” said Andy Bean, a cast member. “It’s really difficult, but it always comes out as something that I think looks really well put together.”

Spon Gen actors also displayed their quick and comical thinking as improv actors.

Ruttenberg talked about how the cast’s improv skills improved throughout rehearsal.

“It’s just such a fun process because usually, people don’t have a ton of improv experience going in,” said Ruttenberg. “Improv is a very nerve-wracking thing. I remember my first year I was doing it, I was terrified of it. Just watching everyone come out of their shell and become more comfortable through the process is always fun.”

‘Cabaret Troupe’ displays student musical talent, solo performances This year’s Cabaret Troupe, RISE!, impressed with the cast’s dynamic vocal solos and intricate choreography. Directed by seniors Téa Baum and Rebecca Lev, the show ran May 9 through May 11 in the Little Theater.

Cabaret Troupe was a collection of songs with solo vocalists and dancing. The show included a live band that played as a backing track for the singers.

“The strength of the cast was that everyone had something a little bit different to bring to the show,” said sophomore Julianna Walsh, a cast member. “Everyone had their own quirks.”

Cabaret Troupe is normally held in the

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auditorium, but the switch to the Little Theater this year created a stronger bond between singers, dancers, musicians, and audience members alike.

“I liked the concept that everyone in the show had their own personal song instead of there being one lead and an ensemble that follows behind them,” Walsh said. “I guess just the individuality of the cast made it special.”

‘Twelfth Night’ discusses gender expression in Shakespeare’s play Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by South theatre teacher Paige Perkinson and put on by Theatre Ink and South Stage, ran May 16 through May 18 in the Newton South Courtyard.

The play follows twins Viola and Sebastian, played by South senior Avi Fidler and North junior Alex Kolodney, who are separated by a shipwreck.

“With Shakespeare, it gives you a whole different level of theatre. The lines themselves are a lot deeper and a lot of the phrases are different,” said senior Filippo Menozzi, who played Duke Orsino. “It really forces you to really think about what you are saying.”

Perkinson modified the original show to incorporate messages about gender.

“In the show, the idea of queerness is almost celebrated, but especially in our production,” said Fidler. “Our director decided she wanted to make this specifically a queer production with every actor playing their characters as the gender they are in real life.”

Throughout their time acting together, the cast formed a close bond, according to Fildler.

“Everyone in the cast was such a sweetheart.”

‘Adventures’ explores challenges faced in family relationships

Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God ran May 22 through May 24 in the auditorium.

Directed by seniors Imani Bibuld and Achille Ricca, Adventures follows the life of Lorraine Johnson, a woman dealing with not only a divorce, but also the death of her daughter and the impending passing of her father.

According to Ricca, “The show deals with loss, grief, trauma, acceptance, and moving on through the lens of color.”

One thing that sets the play apart from other Theatre Ink productions is that it features a cast of all people of color.

“When I was a freshman, there was a running joke that Theatre Ink would never cast more than three black kids,” Ricca said. “So to have a show where we can be ourselves, unfiltered, and without feeling like we have to code switch, personally, it’s the first time in my theatre career that I’ve felt at home completely.”

Sophomore Neva Hsu, a chorus member, added, “this was the first time in my life that I felt like a person of color.”

Playwright’s Festival to showcase student-run theater productions The 12th annual Playwrights Festival, featuring student-written plays, will run June 6 through June 8 in the Little Theater.

Directed by seniors Julia Greenblatt and Abby Roll, the festival is the only Theater Ink show that is fully student-run.

“We’ve been writing and directing for playwrights since freshman year, but this year we get to coordinate it which is pretty special,” said Roll.

North students write the plays and submit them in November. In April, all the playwrights hold auditions for their pieces, and students are cast for each show.

This year, nine shows were chosen to be performed.

“We have about three or four upbeat, funny plays, then there is a mix of shows that are dark or start off light then have a deeper kind of message,” said Roll. “All of them have some main message that they are trying to say.”

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Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 35

year. We lost so many graduating seniors, but I think we lived up to the expectation,” said senior Ceci Powderly. “We are all so passionate about this, and we love performing and singing, so it definitely shows.”

Springfest features cheerful performances, seasonal selections

Ella Bailey

Seniors Rafael Perron, Andy Bean, and Myles Hoffman perform in the Little Theatre during Jazz Appreciation Day Thursday, April 11.

Harvestfest showcases talented musicians, various music genres

This year’s Harvestfest, the annual fall concert, showcased North’s talented ensembles for two consecutive nights.

Harvestfest I, which took place Nov. 14, featured Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Tiger Bebop, and Jazz Ensemble I, all directed by music teacher Richard Labedz, and Jubilee Singers, directed by music teacher Sheldon Reid.

“People get to see a bunch of different groups coming together to create music, and it’s a really awesome event where everyone can come and have a good time,” said sophomore Rebecca Graham, who plays clarinet in Wind Ensemble.

The second night of Harvestfest, Nov. 15, featured Vocal Ensemble, Concert Choir, Family Singers, and Orchestra. Adam Grossman conducted all the groups.

Senior Lucas Pratt, a tenor in Jubilee and Tiger Bebop, added that he was happy with how everyone performed.

“Harvestfest was a success because it allowed all the music groups to have a performance experience for the first time, which is important for newer members,” he said.

Winterfest unites North’s music ensembles, highlights successes

At the height of their performance season, the music department kicked off their annual two-part winter concert, Winterfest.

Winterfest I featured the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, which performed alongside the Bigelow and F.A. Day bands Jan. 23.

“Nor th is a school that has many opportunities for those who are fond of music,” said senior William Lockeby-Catalano, the clarinet section leader in Wind Ensemble.

“We practice and play almost every day of the school week, and we get to show what we have accomplished at these concerts.”

The Family Singers, Vocal Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Orchestra performed at Winterfest II, which took place Jan. 24.

All four ensembles performed “Hallelujah Chorus,” by George Handel and “Glee,” by Leonard Bernstein. The Family Singers and orchestra performed “Magnificat,” by Antonio Vivaldi and “He Watching Over Israel,” by Mendelssohn.

The Orchestra included some members of Wind Ensemble. All of the ensembles worked together to regulate their sound. Junior Sara Manning said, “I was tempted to play loudly

and unleash, but I had to make a concerted effort to play on the quieter side because of the singers.”

Jubilee concert presents unique music with vocal performances

The Jubilee Concert featured singers who delighted their audience with heartwarming songs and church hymns. Music teacher Sheldon Reid directed the concert, which took place Feb. 2 in the auditorium.

The concert featured impressive vocals and solos from singers such as senior Rene Miller on “Friend of God” and junior Jennifer Tang on “Please Don’t Forget About Me.” “I feel like it’s more nerve-racking to be a soloist,” said Tang. “It’s like an out-of-body experience. You forget what your body is doing, and you just rely on muscle memory.”

Jubilee also kept up their yearly tradition of singing “The Lord’s My Shepherd.” The song was the last of the concert and was a full chorus effort. It even included Jubilee graduates from years past who joined in to end the act on a high note. Like many other songs sung by the group, “The Lord’s My Shepherd” incorporated a call and response between the tenor vocalists and soprano vocalists.

“We were a little nervous going into this

Springfest I and II took place April 10 and April 11 in the auditorium. The productions brought together eight different ensembles to produce two nights of outstanding music which perfectly matched the liveliness of spring.

Music teacher Richard Labedz said, “Springfest can be full of classic works and things people might recognize. What’s unique about it is that I’ve always tried to do something that’s a little bit lighter of a program.”

Some of the lighter performances from Springfest were the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band’s joint performance of “Sun Cycles” and “Corner of the Sky,” performed by the Concert Choir. Both pieces reflected the cheery, charming side of the spring season.

According to freshman Ava Howell, who plays percussion in the Symphonic Band, some of the pieces were very challenging, but, she added, “we got the most out of it afterwards, so it feels like we accomplished something amazing.”

Jazz Day provides educational experience, progression of jazz

Jazz Appreciation Day took place April 12 in the Little Theater where student groups such as Jazz Rock Workshop and Tiger BeBop played an assortment of songs in hopes of sharing their love for music.

Songs throughout the day included everything from older jazz classics to funky pop songs such as “September,” by Earth, Wind & Fire. The tight, lively instrumentals and exuberant solos kept the audience on the edge of their seat and engaged throughout.

“Jazz is all about interacting with the audience, and it’s like a community-based music genre that’s meant to enrich. It’s fun music,” said junior Clark Lakomski, a trombonist. Student performers emphasized the influence jazz has had on other subsequent genres by exploring rock, blues, and R&B songs.

According to music teacher Richard Labedz, “jazz is significant for the history of our music, but I also think it’s important for students to see their peers putting this together.”

Art Morning exhibits student art, Art Awards honor achievement, celebrates seniors’ hard work reward exceptional student talent

Students in art, ceramics, and photography classes at North showcased their work in the Art Wing and Main Street for the annual Art Morning Exhibition May 10.

Teachers brought their classes down to admire the artwork, eat pancakes, and draw with chalk on the sidewalk. According to sophomore Selin Butun, a Ceramics Major, the event was organized by the art department. Students helped by bringing in food and hanging up artwork.

Butun said, “It’s a really fun event and you get to see really cool art. It’s an amazing way to bring the school together.”

A section that stood out was the collection of hyper realistic self portraits by the seniors.

Every detail was meticulously painted on, and they looked like photographs.

Butun said, “It was really nice to be validated by people I care about and being recognized by people I have never met before.”

Art teacher Cindy Massoff said she hopes students learned from art morning. “It’s a wonderful time to express all their talents so that everyone gets to see all their beautiful artwork.

It’s a time to celebrate all of our students.”

The National Scholastic Arts Awards presented awards to four North students for their artwork. The categories included painting, mixed media, photography, sculpture, and drawing.

The awards are Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention. Seniors Jason AlpertWisnia and Jessica Chen, and junior Cory Zhou won Gold Keys. Junior Ella Bailey received an Honorable Mention. Chen and Zhou won Gold and Silver National medals, respectively.

Zhou won the awards for a pencil drawing called “Safe from the Outside.” “It inspires me to continue, especially when I get to see my work displayed alongside the other great pieces that other students from around the country produce,” he said.

Chen won her awards for a pencil sketch called “You Can See Us.” “I’ve never submitted my art to a competition before this year, so it was nice to be recognized, though honestly the artwork itself holds more meaning than an award,” she said. “I think it is all about recognizing what you’ve done for yourself and not what’s impressive.”

Ella Bailey

Junior Sophia Jauniskis throws clay on the wheel in Ceramics Wednesday, Jan. 5.

Pages 34 and 35 compiled by Sophie Fredberg, Isabella Lecona, Carolyn McDonald, Arjun Shatkin, and Amy Xue

36 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

sports

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Fall teams make deep runs in the postseason really well. There were some personal records that day.”

According to Sayeed, there were many days where it was either very cold or extremely warm, but “a lot of people did a good job of staying positive and working hard.”

Freshman Charlotte Kouroriez was named a Bay State Conference All-Star, and junior Helena DaSilva received an honorable mention.

Next years captains are DaSilva and juniors Kendra Abbott, Lucy Bronstein, and Sonya Gelfand.

Field hockey emphasizes group effort, focuses on smaller goals

Joelle Sugianto

Senior Filippo Menozzi attempts to steal the ball during a 3-2 loss against Brookline in the first round of the North Sectional playoffs Friday, Nov. 2.

Boys’ cross country places well at states despite numerous injuries

By Alexander Berger Boys’ cross country, 5-4, placed 10th in the MIAA East Division I Championship.

The team completed a successful season despite being plagued with injuries, said senior Corey Gelb-Bicknell, a captain with seniors Brian Bobby and Jojo Silagi. “For all the injuries we had, people stayed together as a team,” he said.

Silagi was North’s best runner in the MIAA East Division I Championship placing 16th.

Senior Aidan Farrar placed 39th. According to math teacher Shawn Wallace, the head coach, “The team really pulled together and had a great season.”

Silagi was named a Bay State All-Star.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ soccer creates focused program, enjoys successful season

By James Dun Rappaport Boys’ soccer, 14-2-3, lost to Brookline in the first round of the MIAA North Division I Sectionals after ending their most successful season in several years. According to special education teacher Roy Dow, the head coach, the team achieved all of their goals for the season: to make the postseason, win the division, and host a playoff game.

According to Dow, the team’s preseason was the turning point of the season. “The fact that seniors Ethan Coomber, Filippo Menozzi, and Sam Meiselman were the three captains set the tone from tryouts to the last huddle,” said Dow. “It was really a different atmosphere since day one.”

Despite the disappointing sectional loss, Dow was thrilled with the season. “There was a lot of growth as a program. We are trying to improve the program and become more intense and more focused,” he said. “We played a good, fun type of soccer. I think all of the kids enjoyed playing.”

Senior Jude Braithwaite, Coomber, Menozzi, and junior Max Johnston were First Team Conference All-Stars. Senior Coleman Benedict received an honorable mention for League All-Star, and Coomber and Johnston were Eastern Massachusetts All-Stars. In addition, Johnston was named an All-State and Boston Globe All-Scholastic. Dow was named Eastern Massachusetts Coaches Association Division 1 North Coach of the Year.

Next year’s captains are Johnston and juniors Tobey Lowe and P.J. Membrino.

Cheerleading competes at States, develops trust between members

By Jeremy Frankel Cheerleading finished fourth in the Bay State Championship and competed at the

Regional Championships for the fourth consecutive year.

“Our main goal this past season was to create the first successful junior varsity team in NNHS history,” said senior Morgan BrittWebb, a captain with senior Kensie Winton and junior Izzy Day. “We also wanted to place at Bay States.”

According to Britt-Webb, the team hit the “entire routine perfectly at Bay States.” While North did not win, Britt-Webb added that “the top two winning teams’ coaches actually approached our coach and told us that we deserved to win.”

Britt-Webb said that the team’s trust developed throughout the season. “Trust is essential to a cheer team as we are literally putting our lives in each other’s hands,” she said.

She added that this trust led to the success of the team because “we became closer as friends and worked well as a team, which culminated in our perfect Bay State routine.”

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Football qualifies for playoffs, achieves high-profile victories

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Football, 5-6, made the playoffs, but according to senior Nick Busa, a captain with seniors Kyle Ray-Canada, Christian Hahm, John Nicolazzo, and Joey Torcasio, the season “could’ve gone better.” The team “had more talent than our record showed and played a good game in the playoffs,” he added.

Victories over Waltham and Milton, games in which North won 18-0 and 27-20, respectively, were the season’s highlights, according to Busa. “As our rivals, it’s always nice to beat Waltham. And with Milton, they came into the game with a high ranking in the state, and it turned out to be a really good win,” he said.

According to Busa, Hahm’s efforts were crucial for the team’s success. “He was a great player on the field and did a lot off of it,” Busa said. “He organized pretty much everything the team did outside of playing,” he added.

Hahm, Ray-Canada, Torcasio, junior Nolan Boyer, and sophomore Evan Thompson were named Boston Globe All-Stars. Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Girls’ cross country shows grit, bonds well throughout season

By Griffin Bond Girls’ cross country, 2-7, finished 18th at All-States this season. According to math teacher Brandon Mogayzel, the head coach, qualifying for the meet was the team’s goal.

Senior Iman Sayeed, a captain with seniors Jane Alandydy, Olivia Micalizzi, and Natasha Sharma, said that Senior Day was the highlight of the season. “It was a really muddy day and we were nervous that we wouldn’t run as well,” she said. “People pushed themselves and ran

By Dea Cela Girls’ field hockey finished the season 4-13-1. According to senior Emma McKee, the captain, the team “accomplished smaller goals that we set for ourselves from game to game like using the sidelines more or taking more shots.”

According to McKee, the highlight of the season was their last game against Brookline, winning 4-0. “It was a really fun game to end the season on because everyone played really well and we really came together as a team,” said McKee. A turning point of the season was beating Milton by one goal in their Friday Night Lights game. The entire team had been “really pumped up,” said McKee. McKee and junior Darcy Rougeaux were Bay State All-Stars, and sophomore Mary Williams received an honorable mention.

Next year’s captains are juniors Jen Buras and Yunah Jang.

had grown really close together this season.”

Sophomore Karen Tong and freshman Honour Dufresne were named Bay State All-Stars, and senior Katerina Filipova was awarded an honorable mention.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Girls’ volleyball wins second State title, exceeds expectations

By Katherine Mitchell Girls’ volleyball, 21-2, defeated Barnstable in the State finals to win their second consecutive State title.

“It was really nice for all of us seniors to finish our last season as champions,” said senior Ashley Wang, a captain with seniors Hannah Kent and Chelsea Simmons.

According to Simmons, the highlight of the season was their win at States. “We played Barnstable at a tournament and we lost to them for the third or fourth time and we were tired of losing,” said Simmons. “The next time we would play them was States and we knew we would have to stay focused for the rest of the season until we met them in the finals again.”

According to Simmons, the Making Strides Breast Cancer walk, and team bonding events such as breakfasts and dinners before and after practice were also highlights of the season.

Simmons and Wang were named Bay State Conference All-Stars, Boston Globe and Boston Herald All Scholastic, and won the Division I Coaches Association Award.

Junior Christina Butera and sophomore Tessa Lanfear received Bay State Conference All-Star awards as well.

Next year’s captains are Butera and juniors Liisa Halloran and Kayla Rigoli.

Girls’ soccer develops positive Golf qualifies for playoffs, falls mentality, advances to Sectionals short of advancing to State finals

By Griffin Bond Girls’ soccer, 5-5-6, advanced to the MIAA North Division I Sectionals for the first time in five years.

According to English teacher Alicia Carrillo, the team’s goal was to “continue to develop our culture of Tiger pride.” To do this the team found traits that they wanted to represent them. The traits–positive, resilient, invested, driven, and energetic–spelled out the word ‘pride.’ She added, “Working towards that goal as often as we could during training and during games propelled us to being the most successful in terms of wins and losses in my four years as coach here.”

One highlight in the team’s season was their win against Natick. “We were catching them in an undefeated phase of the season,” said Carrillo. “The day before we played them we had an unbelievable practice. The most intense, committed, driven, energetic practice that we had had all year. To see the energy from our training appear on the game day field was incredibly satisfying.”

According to Carrillo, “It was the first time we had really tested our resolve and our intensity. We came through with flying colors.”

Senior Abigail Dobies, a captain with seniors Izzi Bledsoe, Bobbi O’Guin, and Annie Tobin, was named a Bay State Conference AllStar and an Eastern Massachusetts first team All-State. Senior Ariana Bunch was named a Bay State Conference All-Star as well as an Eastern Massachusetts second team All-State.

Next year’s captains are juniors Francesca Chinitz, Kate Rooney, and Leah Stonehill.

Girls’ swim and dive advances to States, displays strong work ethic

By Jeremy Frankel Girls’ swim and dive, 8-3, advanced to the MIAA Division I State finals, placing third overall. According to head coach Alex Raasch, the meet was “really exciting.”

Despite finishing in the same position as last year, Raasch said this season was special.

“We lost many talented seniors from last year, and the girls were not projected to do as well as last year,” said Raasch. “But, as a result of the hard work they put in, they achieved their goals.”

Raasch cited the Senior Night meet as the most memorable of the season. “The juniors planned an amazing evening to honor our seniors,” she said. “It was very emotional for everybody there because the girls on the team

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Golf, 8-5, finished their season one shot away from qualifying for the State finals, according to senior Sean Fitzgerald, a captain with senior Andrew Hass. He said that reaching the State finals was the team’s main goal at the beginning of the season.

According to Fitzgerald, the team started off slowly with “two tough losses to Wellesley.” However, the team “rebounded to earn a highlight win” against Needham, he added.

Another season highlight was the team’s “impressive” win against Milton, said Fitzgerald. In the first of those matches, Fitzgerald and junior Pete Delmonico hit holes-in-one just minutes apart.

Fitzgerald praised his team for a “strong” third place finish in the Bay State Conference meet, where the top three golfers represented the school.

He described the team’s performance in the Division I North Sectional meet as “hardfought.” Fitzgerald himself qualified and participated as an individual, where he placed third overall with a 71.

Fitzgerald and Delmonico were both named as Bay State Conference All-Stars, while Fitzgerald was also named as both a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Unified Basketball forges bonds among members, wins final game

By Sophie Fredberg Unified basketball, 1-4, ended its inaugural season with a buzzerbeater to win its final game.

“The point wasn’t to win. It was to make connections with the people you wouldn’t normally be friends with,” said freshman Joe Murphy.

According to math teacher Keith Whelan, the head coach, the Special Olympics affiliated team was created to help students bond through basketball. The team had open enrollment for male and female students with or without disabilities, which helped the team grow and provide opportunities for more students to connect.

“Once the team was fully together, they started to have real chemistry,” said Whelan.

“I did it because I love basketball, and I want to help out with the kids,” said Murphy.

“We wanted to win games, but that doesn’t always happen. We all just wanted to have a good time.”

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

sports

Newton North, The Newtonite ◆ 37

Winter sports overcome competitors in playoffs

Julia Bu

Senior Lexie Chu performs her beam routine during a meet against South on Dec. 14, 2018.

Alpine relies on contributions of new skiers, competes at States

By Griffin Bond Alpine placed fifth in the girls division and seventh in the boys division at the Bay State Conference Championships.

“Everyone was very dedicated and willing to learn and try new things,” said senior Miki Shibuya, a captain with seniors Coleman Benedict, Matt Geis, Maddy Heespelink, and Jonathan Rosenstrach.

On the girls team junior Avery Murphy placed seventh in the Massachusetts Bay Ski League East, and Shibuya placed 15th. Both made the State Team. The boys top finisher was Rosenstrach, who placed 33rd.

According to Shibuya, the team’s goal was “to get a lot of people scoring more varsity points, and we were definitely able to see that.”

This year’s freshman class brought a spark of enthusiasm, according to Shibuya. She added, “They bonded throughout the season despite not knowing each other very well at the start of the season, and they all did spectacularly regardless of past experiences in racing.”

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ basketball quells doubts, progresses to State Semifinals

By Jeremy Frankel Boys’ basketball, 21-6, made it to the MIAA Division I State Semifinals for the first time since 2006.

“A lot of people said we wouldn’t make it that far and that it was a rebuilding year,” said senior Christian Negrotti, a captain with senior Ezra Pemstein. “We proved a lot of people wrong and had a lot of fun along the way.”

The turning point of the season was the game against Cambridge. “We were a little down on ourselves,” said Negrotti after coming off losses to Brookline and Catholic Memorial.

According to Negrotti, North bounced back against Cambridge and “blew them out.” He added that the game “kickstarted a winning streak against Mansfield, Brockton, and BC High.”

Pemstein, Ray-Canada, and junior Tom Andreae were named Bay State Conference All-Stars. As well, Pemstein was named a Boston Globe All-Scholastic. Coach Paul Connolly was named the Boston Globe Division I Coach of The Year.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ gymnastics sets record to win fifth State Championship

By Jeremy Frankel Boys’ Gymnastics, 9-0, won the MIAA Division I State Championship for the fifth consecutive year.

According to senior Michael Mittleman, a captain with South senior Sam Arber, senior Steven Tan, and junior Jake Forbes, the team was proud of their performance in the State Championship. There, they achieved the highest MIAA score in history with 193.2.

An obstacle that the team faced, according to Mittleman, was “some minor injuries throughout the season.” He added that the team “always gave it [their] all” despite the setback.

Forbes and sophomore Matthew Hassan were named Boston Globe and Boston Herald

All-Scholastics. Head Coach Bill Martin was named Boston Globe Boys Coach of the Year.

Next year’s captains are Forbes and others to be determined.

during the season, according to senior Izzi Waitz, a captain with seniors Lian Bruce, Isabella Nielsen, Hailey Roover, and Eliana Zuckernik. “The most memorable moments are always the ones in which the team really comes together and the captains have always been so thankful for the bonds on the team,” Waitz said. She added that a highlight of the season was competing at TD Garden.

In order to achieve their goals, said Waitz, the team made sure to keep open lines of communication with their teammates. “The captains put a lot of effort into making the team a positive place by organizing team dinners, leading warm ups, and making sure to keep up our beloved tradition of team check-ins before every practice,” Waitz said.

Waitz praised the efforts of the whole team in their endeavor to succeed. “Dance is a very cooperative sport and would not be possible without 100% effort from every girl on the team,” she said, adding that “we all have to be on the same page in order to succeed and when we compete it is as one unified force and not focused on the individual.”

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Girls’ basketball comes together Boys’ hockey ends tough season, as a group, ends season strongly hopes for fresh start next year

By Griffin Bond

By Jake Forbes Boys’ hockey finished the season 2-15.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Coaches and captains unavailable for comment.

Boys’ indoor track has perfect season, succeeds despite injuries

By Griffin Bond Boys’ indoor track, 6-0, finished the season undefeated for the 22nd consecutive year.

“We had a lot of injuries across the board in all distances and we were very resilient and people stepped up when they needed to,” said senior Forrest Kaplan, a captain with seniors Armin Alirezaei, Theo Burba, Corey Gelb-Bicknell, Marco Leo, and Henry Sobieszczyk.

Kaplan added that members of the team performed exceptionally against Wellesley. He said, “We beat Wellesley by a couple of points.

It was really close and that really pumped us up to finish the season strong.”

According to Kaplan, in addition to sustaining their 22-year undefeated streak, the team’s other goal was to win the State Championship. The team fell just short of winning, placing third.

Burba took home the Bay State Conference MVP and was named a Boston Herald All-Scholastic. Bay State All-Stars included Sobieszcyk, and juniors Otis Love and Raghav Kadambi. Kaplan earned an honorable mention.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ swim and dive places fifth at conference, puts in hard work

By Jeremy Frankel Boys’ swim and dive, 4-4, placed fifth in the Bay State Conference Championships and 11th at Sectionals.

Senior Jason Wang, a captain with senior Jonathan Qian, said that “everyone definitely gave it their all during meets and everyone was enthusiastic to drop time every meet.”

Wang added that there were “a lot of new faces on the team this year,” which served as an obstacle.

The final meet, according to Wang, was the most memorable of the season. “We knew it was going to be a close one and we really wanted to close out the season strong.”

Junior John Ryan Byers broke the North records for the six and 12 meter dive.

Qian, Wang, and Byers were named Bay State All-Stars, freshman Ryo Vanderpool was an honorable mention, and Byers was the South Sectional diving champion and a Boston Globe All-Scholastic.

Next year’s captains are Byers and juniors Colin Foley, Max Schaefer, and Xander Van Alstyne.

Dance succeeds at competitions through focus on team bonding

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Dance put an emphasis on team bonding

Girls’ basketball, 9-7 made it to the MIAA Basketball Girls South Division I playoffs, but lost in the first round to Bridgewater-Raynham.

“We worked really well together and we just wanted to support each other,” said senior Kelley Manley, a captain with seniors Izzi Bledsoe and Sarah Hoffman.

According to Manley, the team’s playoff appearance was fueled by a strong team chemistry. The goal for the season was to work together as a team and build relationships,” she said. “This year was about bonding and trying to win.”

According to Manley, halfway through the season, “we really started kicking it into gear and working really hard and finally realizing that this is what we want to do and we got to work to reach our goals.”

Bledsoe was named a Bay State All-Star.

Next year’s captains are juniors Caroline Alexander, Taylor Bailey, and Adriana Reilly.

Girls’ gymnastics fights through injuries, wins Conference title

By Jeremy Frankel Girls’ gymnastics, 8-1, placed first in the Bay State Conference Championship for the third year in a row.

“We had a lot of injuries to some really valuable team members,” said senior Lexie Chu, a captain with senior Morgan Britt-Webb.

“However, the rest of the team was able to pull it together to make up for the losses.”

Breaking the school record for the allaround in the meet against Natick was a pivotal moment for the team, according to Chu. “It boosted our confidence a lot and gave us the extra motivation to continue working so hard,” she said.

According to Chu, junior Izzy Day “really stepped it up at the end of the season.” Day sprained her ankle less than two weeks before Sectionals but competed regardless. “Despite being in pain, she put the team ahead of herself,” said Chu. Chu, Day, sophomore Nina Varady, and freshmen Sivan Danziger and Kathy Mitchell were named Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Stars.

Next year’s captains are Day and junior Heidi Matt.

Girls’ ice hockey debuts co-op team, improves during season

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Girls’ ice hockey, 7-8-3, finished one point shy of making the playoffs, which “although disappointing, it was something to feel proud of,” said senior Emma McKee, a captain with seniors Abigail Dobies and Sarah Zeidan. This year was the team’s inaugural season as a combined North and South team and, according to McKee, it “couldn’t have gone any better.”

The combined team had an entirely new coaching staff from years past. This produced an unclear outlook for the team, according to McKee. “Going into this season, we didn’t

know what to expect,” she said.

McKee said that while there was “a tremendous improvement” in performance from the squad, the biggest highlight of the season was seeing the North and South players connect on a personal level. “Our team bonded quickly and we are so thankful to have been able to spend almost every day of the season with our best friends,” the captain said.

Next year’s captains will be juniors Lydia Mastroianni, Lila O’Neil, Taylor Paterson, and Zoe Verdone.

Girls’ indoor track relies on contributions of underclassmen

By Griffin Bond Girls’ indoor track, 3-2, placed sixth in the state this year. According to math teacher Brandon Mogayzel, the assistant coach, “Much of the scoring was done by freshman and sophomores this year. This bodes well for the future but there was definitely a steep learning curve this season.”

Mogayzel added that one of the team’s goals this year was to compete at a high level in the State relays. The team succeeded in achieving the goal, placing fourth, with three of the relay teams qualifying for nationals.

The freshman and sophomore team set a new underclassmen state record in the four hundred meter relay.

According to Mogayzel, the first meets right after the winter break were crucial. “We had a good number of our varsity athletes present over the winter vacation which gave us some good consistency to be able to perform at the top level,” he said.

Three runners were Bay State All-Stars: freshman Charlotte Kouroriez, junior Tessa Bostwick and senior Ava Waters, a captain with seniors Gigi Downey, Ali Hennessey-Roberts, and Yahni Lapa. Junior Helena Teixiera DaSilva earned an honorable mention.

Next year’s captains are Bostwick and juniors Kat Benninger and Andrea Bonilla.

Nordic skiing creates positive attitude, competes at Regionals

By Griffin Bond Nordic skiing placed first in the boys’ division and second in the girls’ division of the Massachusetts Bay East League. The boys’ team placed sixth at states and the girls placed seventh.

At States “it was really a team effort,” said junior Serena Jampel a captain with seniors Phillip DaSilva, Benjamin Libraty, Jojo Silagi, and junior Ali Lee, “Everyone really helped each other out with positivity because Nordic can be mentally tough. We were all cheering for everyone, and I thought that the spirit was great.”

Overall in the league, sophomore Evan Hoch placed third, Silagi placed fourth, and senior Nicholas Hoch placed fifth. On the girls side Jampel, Lee, and junior Ella Bailey all finished in the top ten.

The team sent five skiers to the Eastern High School Championship, which according to Silagi was the most in the team’s history. The five skiers were Silagi, Evan Hoch, Jampel, Bailey, and Lee. Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Wrestling places at Sectionals, benefits from strong work ethic

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Wrestling, 8-9-1, had seven players complete in postseason events and made deep runs into the tournament. Six out of the seven players who qualified for the playoffs reached States, which, according to senior Eric MacDonald, a captain with seniors Alastair Poole and Nick Tobin, made the season “a success.”

MacDonald named Sectionals as the team’s biggest highlight of the season. Sophomore Nate Chandler finished first in the 120 pound weight class. Poole placed second in the 170 pound class. MacDonald placed third in the 152 pound class, sophomore Declan Griffin placed third in the 195 pound class, and freshman Matheus Pires placed fifth in the 225 pound class.

After participating in the state meet, Chandler went on to compete in the New England regional meet.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

38 ◆ The Newtonite, Newton North

sports

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Spring sports build cohesive team environment Girls’ outdoor track falls short of league title despite strong team

Ian Dickerman

Junior Anna Kusiak battles with a defender during a 14-10 win against Ursuline Friday, May 24 All stories are current as of press time. Please see thenewtonite.com for updated post-season results and awards.

Baseball finds success with strong leadership, commanding pitchers

By Jeremy Frankel Baseball, 11-8, qualified for the MIAA Division I Sectional Tournament.

According to Alex Krylov, a captain with seniors Justin Butera and Cole Whitehouse, the team’s goal was “to play up to our true ability and play hard one game at a time.”

Krylov cited pitching as the team’s strength.

“Our pitching has been off the charts with Kenny and Justin leading the way.”

A turning point for the team was when it “hit a tough stretch halfway through the season” but “bounced back and won five of the next six [games],” said Krylov.

He added that the leadership of math teacher Joe Siciliano, the head coach, has been a strength for the team. “Coach Siciliano always preaches putting the team over yourself, so we’ve done a really good job of sacrificing personal gains for the betterment of the team.”

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ lacrosse continues culture of hard work through new coach

By Griffin Bond Boys’ lacrosse, 15-3, looks set to make a deep tournament run this year with the help of Pilot history teacher Nick Pfeifer, the new head coach.

According to Pfeifer, “The guys really embraced the hard work that we wanted to really embed in our culture, this idea of working hard and conditioning.”

The major turning point of the season was at a match against Wellesley. “We had a pretty decent start and then came off a tough loss to Natick where we didn’t seem too ready for it,” said Pfeifer. “We seemed sloppy. We were impatient. Then we came out against Wellesley and did everything the opposite way. It was a huge win,” he added. The game was the beginning of a seven-game win streak for the team.

This year’s captains are seniors Larry Dupont, Christian Hahm, Jared Perrin, and junior Wes Silver.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ outdoor track completes seventh straight unbeaten season

By Griffin Bond Boy’s outdoor track, 3-0-1, finished the season undefeated for the seventh consecutive year.

“We want to stay undefeated in the Bay State Conference every season. We want to win a state championship,” said senior Forrest Kaplan, a captain with seniors Theo Burba, Corey Gelb-Bicknell, Marco Leo, Jojo Silagi, and Henry Sobieszczyk.

According to Kaplan, a highlight of the season was at a meet against Wellesley when the team’s undefeated streak was in jeopardy.

Going into the 4x400, North was projected to lose by 14 points.

Kaplan said, “We needed to win the 4x400 to not lose the meet. We pulled it off and it was pretty amazing.”

Burba added, “That was huge because even though that was a tie, that felt like a win because we were projected to lose by so much.”

Looking to the future, Burba said, “I feel very comfortable handing this team off ” to the underclassmen.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ tennis reaches tournament, sets high expectations for playoffs

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Boys’ tennis, 14-2, hopes to enter the state tournament with the number one seed, according to senior Ben Archer, a captain with senior David Arango. “If we can edge out Brookline later this season, that’ll be a huge upset as they’re easily the best team in the state, and we’d probably take the top spot as a result,” he said.

According to Archer, the team set a goal of “getting a few players as far as possible in the individual tournament.” He added that he has “high hopes” for the group as they continue to fight through the playoffs.

Archer praised the efforts of seniors Gyaan Antia and Matthew Riak. According to Archer, they first came into the starting lineup this season after two players left the squad.

Despite their new roles, Archer said that both Antia and Riak “are doing really well.”

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Boys’ volleyball bonds as team, focuses on State tournament run

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Boys’ volleyball, 15-4, won the International Volleyball Hall of Fame tournament and hopes to carry this energy into the postseason.

Their success was due to the efforts of players to come together as a team, according to senior Jeremy Freed, a captain with seniors Nathan Huang, Declan McGarry-Partridge, Jason Wu, and Aaron Xu. “Overall, everyone is contributing, which is really special,” he said. “There isn’t really one main guy doing everything, and every player makes a difference.”

Coming into the season, the team’s goal was to win the state tournament, and in order to win, Freed explained that the team needs to “focus and come together as a team.”

Although the team is skilled, it needs to concentrate on the game plan. “We have the talent to win, but we just need to execute the plan during each game,” Freed said.

He pointed to the wins at the Rhody Invitational Tournament, the Volleyball Classic Tournament, and a home game against topranked Needham as some of the highlights of the season so far. Those games were important because they allowed the team to play against tough competition, said Freed.

“Our conference isn’t great so when we get the chance to go against teams just as good as us it’s always great. Teams like Needham always push us to play our best and playing in tournaments tests your endurance to play at 100 percent the whole day,” he said.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

By Griffin Bond Girls’ outdoor track, 3-1, placed fourth in the MIAA Division 1 East Championship.

The team relied on a young core. “The number of underclassmen contributing to the scoring” stood out in this year’s team, said math teacher Brandon Mogayzel, an assistant coach. He added, “Our scoring numbers during competition days were mainly underclassmen.”

According to Mogayzel, the turning point for the team was at the State relays. “We had a young team and we didn’t really know what they were going to be like in a competitive situation. The team rose to the occasion,” he said. “We finished third.”

While the team’s 22-year streak of winning the league title came to an end, the team set a new freshman and sophomore meet record in the 4x800 at the Freshman and Sophomore Invitational.

This year’s captains were seniors Emily Evangelakos, Ali Hennessey Roberts, Yahni Lappa, and Ava Waters.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Girls’ tennis achieves success through strong group connections

By Nichol Weylman-Farwell Girls’ tennis, 12-4, focused their energy on becoming closer as a team to find success, according to senior Kat Filipova, a captain with seniors Ally Appel, Avery Rosensweig, and Alina Zhong.

“Because tennis is such an individual and competitive sport, it can be hard to find its team aspect,” Filipova said.

She added, “Little by little, we have learned as a whole to no longer be playing for ourselves, but for our teammates, which has made us a lot closer in the end.”

Filipova pointed to the team’s match against Wellesley as a highlight of the season.

Appel and Filipova “battled” the Wellesley partnership during the first set. Earlier in the match, Rosensweig and junior Sophie Ravina “held on for a three set match” before ultimately losing. According to Filipova, “It was some of the best tennis that we had played all season, even though we lost in the end.” She chose this match in particular because of the energy that the “intense” rivalry between the two teams brought.

Filipova acknowledged the “standout” performances of sophomore Emily Dhadly this season. “Even though she has been battling a shoulder injury, she gives it her all as the number one singles player and we can always count on her for the win in that slot,” she explained.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Softball continues to dominate, qualifies for sectional tournament

By Jeremy Frankel Softball, 16-3, qualified for the MIAA Division I Sectional Tournament.

Senior Mia Bueno, a captain with senior Emma MacLean, said that a goal of the team was to “put the team before ourselves” especially because “sometimes during softball

you can get caught up in your own personal achievements.”

Another goal according to physical education teacher Lauren Baugher, the head coach, was “to improve everyday.”

She added, “We lost some kids last year from graduation so we had some big shoes to fill.”

Baugher added that a highlight of the season was beating Woburn in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Overall the team has “played really solid defense, hitting the ball really well and really doing well running the bases,” she said.

According to Bueno, “a major turning point this season so far was our losses against Braintree and Walpole.” She added, “I think it was a wake-up call for our team that good teams are going to be coming for us and we always have to bring our A-game.”

Bueno said “working together” was a challenge at the beginning of the season for the team due to a lot of seniors graduating.

However, she added that she believes that the team has overcome the challenge.

Flexibility was a key aspect to the team’s success. “A lot of us are able to play multiple positions which has helped our team be able to move around and find what works for our lineup,” Bueno added.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Unified track looks to continue improving after strong first year

By Jeremy Frankel Unified track had a successful first season, according to math teacher Selena Giroux, the head coach.

According to Giroux, the goal for the first four meets was for runners to improve their time from the previous meet, while also having a good time. “Everyone’s always smiling and having fun,” she said.

An obstacle the team dealt with this season was the weather. “Because of the rain, we have not had much practice outside,” said Giroux.

Giroux added that “everyone contributed equally” to the success of the team.

Girls’ lacrosse plays with heart, stays committed for postseason

By Jeremy Frankel Girls’ lacrosse, 13-8, qualified for the MIAA Division I Sectional Tournament.

According to senior Ophelia Baxter, a captain with seniors Riley Desmarais, Fia MacDonald, and Alida Parkman, the team’s goals were to make the tournament and host an opening round game.

Baxter cited a close loss versus Natick as a turning point for the team. “In the end we didn’t come out with a win,” she said, “but the fight and level of intensity that the whole team had let us know how hard we can dig.”

A challenge for the team, according to Baxter was “playing tough teams all season and getting past the physical game and conquering the mental game.”

Baxter said that one of the team’s strengths was everyone’s commitment to helping the team. “Overall there has been team unity and everyone has committed to their position and stepped up,” she said.

Next year’s captains are to be determined.

Ian Dickerman

Junior Declan Gulley sets the ball during a 3-0 game against Braintree Monday, May 20.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

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The Newtonite, Newton North â—† 39

40 â—† The Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 5, 2019