v88i16 by The Newtonite

Newtonite

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Newton North High School, 360 Lowell Ave., Newtonville, Mass. 02460

◆ Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 • Volume 88, Issue 16

Newton honors life of King HILARY BRUMBERG Both the city and this school will host their annual events to honor the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. within the next week. The English department coordinated the annual writing assignment for sophomore English classes, according to English department head Tom Fabian. Today, the honorable mentions will be introduced and the winners will read their essays at an award ceremony in Lasker auditorium. “This is really the kind of writing that needs an audience,” Fabian said. “It’s nice to have a contest just because it helps students get recognition for their writing skill.” The project required students to choose a “personal hero and convince us that he or she embodied the spirit of Dr. King,” according to the assignment sheet created by English teachers. The essays were judged on the quality of the writing and the writer’s ability to both make points and tell stories, according to Fabian. This year ’s winners were Courtney Leahy, first place; Pamela Chen, second place; and Maleeka Pearson, third place. Honorable mentions were Shelton Cochran, Clare Doolin, Jenny Hamilton, Evan Harris, Maggie Heffernan, Mira Netsky, Bethany Schubert, Hannah Stubblefield-Tave and Fatema Zaidi. Monday at 10 a.m., Our Lady Help of Christians church will host the 42nd annual citywide celebration, according to fine arts coordinator Richard King. Mayor Setti Warren will be the guest of honor of the event. Interim superintendent V. James Marini will introduce the students from this school, Bigelow and F. A. Day. The students will read reflections. According to King, the Newton All City Honors Chorus Treble Singers, Newton South’s Harambee Gospel Choir and Myrtle Baptist Church’s The Love Tones will provide live music. This event is co-sponsored by the City of Newton, the Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony and the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association. BY

Environmental club sets up recycling

MARENA COLE This school now has singlestream recycling, according to senior Naomi Genuth. “Single-stream recycling means you can mix paper, plastic, glass and anything else recyclable in one bin,” Genuth said, who is an ofﬁcer of the club with seniors Carissa Chan and Emily Denn. “We want our school to be a greener place, and one great way BY

Teddy Wenneker

“Mom Sketch”: Freshmen Ian Lund and Michaela Burla-Shulock portray distraught parents in “Freshman Cabaret” Friday, Jan. 9 in Lasker auditorium. See related stories on page 4.

Committee makes plans for move ELLEN SARKISIAN Approximately half the furniture in this building will not move to the new school, said principal Jennifer Price. “The furniture may not be moved because it is damaged, broken or its quality is poor, or it does not meet the standards of the ﬁre code,” she ﬁle photo said. Jennifer First, it will Price be considered whether the item could be reallocated, for example, to another school, Price said. “Then, the city lets people know there are city items that are surplus, and people can purchase them,” she said. “After that, it becomes the property of the contractors.” The move will be completed by July 15, said English teacher Liana Kish, who is a co-chair of the Move Committee with special

education aide Mark Wadness. Price and department heads are in the process of assigning spaces in the new building, and the city is in the process of procuring a mover, Kish said. The Move Committee has at least one member from each department of the school, she said. The staff is in the process of reviewing the inventory of items for each department and will conﬁrm and revise the inventory lists as needed, she said. The inventory lists, as well as the list of special items in each department, will be used to create a request for a proposal from moving companies, after which the moving company will be chosen, Kish said. Heidi Black, the administrator of high school construction and strategic planning, will then meet with movers on the state contract list to talk about the scope of the job, she said. “The lists will also be used to determine what furniture, fixtures and equipment need to be

ordered,” Kish said. “A coding system will be created to ensure that boxes are moved to the right place in the new building.” Black has been meeting with all department heads to determine which departments have specialty items that need to be moved, Kish said. “Specialty movers will be hired as needed,” she said. Each piece of furniture was labeled with a sticker: green means the item will be moved, tan means the item might be moved, red means it is not moving, not suitable for and or item does not meet code, and blue means it is a personal item, Kish said. If items that will not be moved are personal items, staff may take them home. For any remaining items, the city is required by law to go through the surplussing process, Kish said. Consultants inventoried the furniture and labeled it according to its quality, Black said. The city will have the mov-

ers in place by early spring, she said. “Once we have movers in place, we will be able to speak more speciﬁcally and take them to meet the different people to speak to about the move,” Black said. “For special equipment, for example ﬁtness and career and tech equipment, the vendors will be contacted so a specialist can disassemble the equipment, the movers can transfer it to the new building and the specialist can reassemble it,” she said. “There really will not be a need for specialty movers, other than to move chemicals. “We will need to use vendors to disassemble equipment and then reassemble it, but there is virtually no need to have a specialty mover. The regular movers can do most every move,” she said. There will be approximately two purge days, when faculty can dispose of unneeded paper goods, each month starting in February until the end of the year, Kish said.

in brief

roJam, a concert to raise money and environmental awareness, March 26 in the little theatre.

Pledging is part of Your Skin Is In, a contest sponsored by the Melanoma Foundation of New England. Not tanning includes not intentionally laying out in the sun and using tanning beds, Eskinazi said. “If 70 percent of our senior class, 322 students, pledge, we could win $500,” she said. “However, if we can be the school with the highest percentage of pledges, we will win $1,000. “Also, if we are one of the ﬁrst

150 schools to have 70 percent of the class pledge, we will win two day passes to Six Flags, which will be rafﬂed off.” Any money the class wins will go towards the prom, she said. Students have until February 14 to pledge. They can pledge online at http://www.melanomafoundationne.org/skinpledgeform2010.php Last year, over 70 percent of the Class of 2009 pledged not to tan and won $1,000 for the prom.

to do that is through recycling,” Genuth said. The Environmental Club organized a recycling system for this school, Genuth said. Homerooms are now being asked to empty their small recycling bins into the larger green bins on Main Street. Anything that is recyclable can go in the bins, she said. Additionally, the Environmental Club will host the annual Envi-

Seniors pledge not to tan before prom

MARENA COLE Seniors are pledging to not tan before prom, according to Eliana Eskinazi, the class president. “It is an incredible cause and it is important that people are educated to learn more about the consequences of tanning, and it is a great way to raise money for prom!” Eskinazi said. BY

Look Inside the New Building — See Pages 8 and 9

opinion

2 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Pledge against tanning There’s nothing more satisfying than a win-win situation.

editorial By pledging to not tan before prom this year, there’s the perfect opportunity to take advantage of one. Through the “Your Skin is In” contest sponsored by the Melanoma Foundation of New England, our school can win money that goes directly to the cost of the prom. It can make a large and lasting impact for you and our school. Really, though, it depends on all you seniors. If 70 percent of the class pledges not to tan, we could reap in $500 for prom. But that’s not all. We can double that amount if we can get the highest percentage of pledges the quickest. Sure, you may have to surrender that sun-kissed look, but you still have beneﬁts that lie ahead. On the health side of the issue, you avoid the risk of developing a serious form of skin cancer, such as melanoma. Answer this. Would you rather make the popular choice or the smarter choice in the long run? Through the contest, our school can show how conscious people are becoming of their own health. In addition, the extra money can contribute to a great senior prom for the Class of 2010.

Teddy Wenneker

Clock strikes midnight: Freshman Ellie Wenneker throws confetti over Times Square as the new decade begins.

Students, faculty discuss midyear exams GEORGINA TEASDALE At the end of second semester, some teachers give midyear exams. Students and teachers have varied opinions on whether students should take midyears. BY

Faculty:

Tom Barry, history: “It may depend on the subject. It may be more critical in a foreign language class or math or science. I don’t personally give them, but I can see why some teachers do.” Emilio Mazzola, foreign language: “A Newtonian couple years Tom Barry ago it used to be the case that all teachers gave midyears. Then we moved away from that. “I didn’t like that. For a full year course, we’re always assessing anyway. I don’t see the advantage of them. It puts more stress on the teacher.

Newtonite The Newtonite, founded in 1922, is the newspaper of Newton North High School, 360 Lowell Ave., Newtonville, Mass. 02460. Editors in chief — Eli Davidow, Matt Kalish, Ellen Sarkisian Managing editor — Prateek Allapur News editor — Marena Cole Sports editors — Meredith Abrams, Josh Bakan Arts editor — Alicia Zhao Features editor — Jay Krieger On campus editor — Olivia Stearns News analysis editor — Georgina Teasdale Photography editors — Shira Bleicher, Gaby Perez-Dietz, Teddy Wenneker Production managers — Max Fathy, Ben Hills Advertising managers — Chris Keefe, Jack McLaughlin Business manager — Chris Welch Circulation managers — Caleb Gannon, Dan Salvucci Exchanges editor — Peter TaberSimonian Adviser — Kate Shaughnessy

Production advisers — Sue Brooks, Tom Donnellan News staff — Ilana Greenstein, Rebecca Harris, Stephen Michael, Rebecca Oran Features staff — Emmett Greenberg, Jacob Brunell Sports staff — Evan Clements, Nicole Curhan, Jeremy Gurvits Arts staff — Eliana Eskinazi, Kate Lewis, Fatema Zaidi News analysis staff — Kellynette Gomez Art staff — Julia Belamarich, Puloma Ghosh, Anna Kaertner, Maia Levoy, Stephen Lu, Maddie MacWilliams, Hannah Schon Photography staff — Helen Gao, Anna Gargas, Jaryd Justice-Moote, Edan Laniado, Jesse Tripathi, Matt Victor Circulation staff — Spencer Alton, Alison Berkowitz, Stoddard Meigs, Omar Pinkhasov, Michela Salvucci, Stephanie Vitone Production staff — Graham Stanton

The Newtonite staff does all the reporting, production work and photography to produce 16 issues a year for a circulation of 2,500. To place an ad in the Newtonite or contact us by phone, please call 617-559-6274. Yearly subscriptions cost $20. Readers can also reach us at thenewtonite@gmail.com. To ﬁnd the Newtonite online go to www.thenewtonite.com.

“I think for semester courses it’s appropriate, as a ﬁnal.” Gretchen Sandbach, math: “I’m not really fond of 10th graders having midterms, because they have so many tests, but I think it helps students on the ﬁnal because it gives them a midyear checkpoint.”

Seniors:

Nik Klebanov: “It depends on the class. In a math class or an AP class, it helps students remember information from the first two terms.” Gilberto Richardson: “I Newtonian don’t think so. Yasmina It puts more Samaha pressure on the student, and you’re forced to study everything from September to second semester. I think ﬁnals are enough.” Yasmina Samaha: “I like midterms because as you’re learning material sometimes the units

aren’t connected, so it helps you remember them and keep up your skills at doing them.”

Juniors:

Sam Blair: “It seems like a pretty good analysis of how the student is doing and how he is comprehending the information in the long run.” Helen Gao: “Math classes should have midterms because units are very separate from each o t h e r. E n g lish classes shouldn’t have midterms because it’s not something you Newtonian should have to Sarah Mead review. I’m not sure about history or science.” Ashley Luce: “It doesn’t really help me.” Sarah Mead: “They don’t treat them like ﬁnals, so there’s less preparation time and you start third term with a big test.”

Sophomores:

Robert Babbit: “I think they’re an important part of making sure students are up to date with the material.” Justin Keefe: “I guess they should give midterms, but I don’t really like them. You have enough tests during the year.” Zach Levin: “Teachers should give midyears, so kids can remember what they learned at the beginning of the year.” Katherine Rogers: “There is some use in a midterm because it gives the student incentive to review and make study notes that help with the final but it’s a large source of stress.” Emma Rosenfield: “It prepares us for finals, and it’s better to have more grades to get the average for the term.”

Freshmen:

Maya Ingram: “I think they should be less stressful and we should just review the material.” Devon Lamm: “I think teachers shouldn’t give midyears. Finals test you on everything, so you shouldn’t have to take a second test.”

Learning languages in China SHENGNAN WANG When our Chinese exchange group came here, almost everyone was surprised by our English. In fact, we still have problems in the language, but it seems that our English is good enough as we are foreigners. In China, kids take English class since the third grade, and more and more kids start learning English even earlier. Such as me, I had English class since I was in kindergarten! At schools, English is one of the most important subjects. Although students are divided in two types, science and liberal arts at high school, both of them will take an English test in the university entrance tests. It means all Chinese students must learn English at least for nine years. It is also important in the university entrance test, therefore everyone wants to do well in it, as almost everyone spends a lot of time to work on it. There are no second foreign classes at Chinese schools. As we have already paid a lot of attenBY

guest column tion in English, there are not so many people who want to learn another one—it is too hard and stressful! In fact, parents in China don’t want their child to learn another foreign language. Because they think it is hard to be ﬂuent in English, students just concentrate on studying English instead of learning more languages. We must learn English as a foreign language. From the Chinese point of view, once you learn a language, you should learn it as well as you can. And English is useful in the world. In the United States, students always start learning one or more foreign languages at middle school—while I have already learned English for almost seven years. There are also various choices for Americans. Students have more choices and more freedom, but they have less time to study and their level will be lower at the same time.

Now it easier to understand why Americans are surprised by our English—we spend much more time and pay much more effort in English. Although Chinese and English are in the different language systems and English is not easy, we still make much progress. It is just because of our effort, not because we are geniuses or English is easier than Chinese. Chinese is not that hard if you’re hardworking and determined. Good luck! Enjoy learning Chinese.

Letters Readers are invited to submit guest articles and letters to the editor. Letters should be put in the Newtonite box in Beals House or emailed to thenewtonite@gmail.com. The Newtonite reserves the right to edit all letters, which must have the writer’s name, class and homeroom. The Newtonite serves as a forum for student opinion.

news

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 3

Charlene Beh wins Meserve for teaching MARENA COLE For English teacher Charlene Beh, this year’s winner of the Charles Dana Meserve Award for excellence in teaching, students are her biggest inspiration. “My students are very inﬂuential, because I see them everyday and because they make me rethink what I do,” Beh said. “When they ask me questions or show me something I can do differently, that has a huge impact.” Currently, Beh teaches junior and senior English classes, and Creative Writing to juniors and seniors. She is also an adviser of the Asian Culture Club. Beh graduated from Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls, New York in 1992. She earned a Bachelor’s in English from Yale in 1996, and a Master’s in teaching from Harvard in 1998, where she did her teaching at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. She came to North in 1999. Beh said that literature has always been one of her passions, so teaching was a natural choice. “I’ve always loved English,” she said. “I’ve always loved talking about books. I had this degree in English and wanted to keep working with literature. “Teaching at a high school seemed like a good mix of being BY

Teddy Wenneker

“My students are very inﬂuential, because I see them everyday and because they make me rethink what I do,” says English teacher Charlene Beh. able to work with adolescents and literature that I enjoy.” English department head Tom Fabian said that Beh’s deep critical understanding of literature makes her a great teacher. “That critical understanding is really the result of a striking

intelligence, and she uses it to open up books for students,” Fabian said. “She’s tough, and she’s funny, too. That’s really what you need to be a good teacher. “She really brings just a remarkable awareness about what

ite class, and a kind of haven to me,” she said. “It’s somewhere I can learn more about my chosen career, not only graphic design, but the business aspects as well. “I love the class because it’s run very much like a small business ﬁrm with real clients, and actual deadlines so it doesn’t feel like you’re doing work for grades, but for a legitimate purpose. “Ms. Brooks has taught me so many things aside from Design—life lessons that I’m positive have me more prepared for the future. “In the end, Design and Visual Communications is just another example of the opportunities Newton North has presented me with.” Four other seniors were nominated for this award: Automotive Technology major Joseph Kiddie, Culinary Arts major Amanda Lau, Carpentry major Ricky Lu and Technology/Engineering major Daniel Smith. “Each one of our students goes through a rigorous interview process, and unfortunately only one can come away a winner,” said Diana Robbins, career and vocational technical education department head. “Receiving a nomination reﬂects the caliber of work ethic, leadership and commitment that each one of these students shows,” she said. To become the Career and Vocational Technical Educational Outstanding Student of the Year, Robbins said, nominees must ◆ have a 3.5 cumulative av-

erage ◆ have good attendance ◆ demonstrate technical competence in their career ﬁelds ◆ have career and technical education-related work experience ◆ possess leadership qualities ◆ have demonstrated respect for human differences, and ◆ be involved in their community and in extracurricular activities. Automotive teacher Paul Wagner nominated Kiddie for his outstanding attitude and his willingness to help others. “Any time there is a challenging job to be done, our ﬁrst thought is that Joe and his team are the ones for the job,” Wagner said. “Joe’s most outstanding quality is his attitude and willingness to help others.” Culinary Arts teacher Lisa McKinney nominated Lau for her dependability and class participation. “Amanda is by far one of the highest ranking students in culinary,” McKinney said. “She won the outstanding student award in both her sophomore and junior year and participates in many events,” among them being ‘Death by Chocolate,’ a competition and fundraiser for the Rotary Club, she said. Carpentry teacher Garrett Tingle nominated Lu for his tremendous progress and ability to overcome obstacles. “He is a highly skilled and diligent student who helps out fellow

she’s teaching and the students to whom she is teaching it. She shows a clear commitment to making sure every student knows what’s important.” One of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching are the conversations that classes have, Beh said. “After a good class, I can see something new in a book that I might have already taught ﬁve or six times already. “Also, I love being able to work with students to improve their writing. Watching them revise it and it being that much more powerful is always really rewarding. “It’s also great that I get to know 80 people—80 minds and 80 personalities—every year.” Dedicated students also make teaching enjoyable, she said. “For the most part, people here are motivated, smart and invested in their learning,” she said. “I’m always impressed by the vast number of extracurricular activities that students are involved in here.” An enjoyable memory of teaching for Beh is a discussion a class had about The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. “In a sophomore class I had ﬁve or six years ago, people got really, really interested, and we had really good conversation for

a class and a half. “Somebody started with saying that they felt the representation of men in the book was problematic, and we ended up having an extended conversation about gender, sexuality, race and class. Another fond memory is of a unique present students gave her. “One of my sophomore classes gave me a pair of sneakers at the end of the year,” Beh said. “They were a great group, interesting, motivated, enthusiastic, and throughout the year I felt really blessed to have them as students. “That they wanted to get me something as a class and that they picked these really cool, stylish sneakers just blew me away. “I’ve held onto this pair of sneakers for eight or nine years now, and when I’ve had a bad day, I’ll sometimes just go and take a peek at them to cheer myself up.” One of Beh’s favorite books to teach is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. “I really enjoy the personal and creative writing that students do around it,” she said. “They may not all love the book, but I feel like the conversations we have around it are really good.”

Senior named outstanding tech student of the year

MATT KALISH Senior Tal Shemesh has won the Career and Vocational Technical Education Outstanding Student of the Year Award. Shemesh is currently a Design and Visual Communications major. She was nominated by Design and Visual Communications teacher Sue Brooks for her outstanding creativity, hard work and moral characteristics. “In the sense of moral characteristics, Tal inspires through example,” Brooks said. “She is a natural leader. “For the last few years I have had the privilege of watching her grow and show her leadership in class. “At one point in her junior year, the class was doing a project where we had to meet deadlines, and it was on a Friday afternoon that I realized the class wasn’t in good shape to meet the deadlines,” she said. “Tal came into my room after school that day and told me she couldn’t start her weekend off the way that class ended and asked me what she could do to help. “That next Monday, she came in with eight of the most beautiful sketches I have ever seen, and when they were turned in the client asked for no changes, something that rarely happens.” Shemesh said she initially decided to take Design and Visual Communications because it combined drawing and computers, both of which she loves. “Throughout the years I’ve taken it, it has become my favorBY

Watch senior PRATEEK ALLAPUR star in Shakespeare Room 311 E-block

Shira Bleicher

Outstanding Student of the Year: Interim superintendent V. James Marini presents senior Tal Shemesh with her award. students purely because it’s the right thing to do,” Tingle said. “He is a doer, not a talker.” “More than a few adults have stopped me in the hall and told me how great Ricky is, and as a teacher I have to take notice of that.” Technology and Engineering teacher, Scott Rosenhahn nominated Smith for his passion for

robotics and engineering. “Dan is one of the most active members on Ligerbots, the Newton robotics team, and travels to every competition,” Rosenhahn said. “He is always the ﬁrst to step up and volunteer.” ◆ MARENA COLE CONTRIBUTED TO THIIS STORY.

arts

4 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Gaby Perez-Dietz

Freshmen in theatre: Sierra Beatrice, Sydney Appelbaum, Alex Gribov, Nick Rodriguez and Meagan Crowley act in a skit during “Freshman Cabaret.”

Freshmen discover talents in Theatre Ink AUDREY DEROBERT With its affectionate nickname “Froshcab,” “Freshman Cabaret” is Theatre Ink’s only all-freshman show—ﬁlled with songs and some original sketches, Facebook and phobias, Monty Python and lots and lots of freshman talent. Sophomore Maddie Cetlin, who codirected with sophomores Caleb Bromberg, Pamela Newtonian Chen and SoCaleb nya Douglas, Bromberg said the show is “really all about youth.” “It’s about being young and in love,” she said. Included in “Froshcab” were songs such as “Unwritten” by BY

Natasha Bedingfield, “We Are Golden” by Mika and “I Won’t Say I’m In Love” from the Disney movie Hercules. In addition, the directors choreographed and wrote several of these sketches and dances. This year’s cast consisted of a “whopping 47 freshmen,” Cetlin said. “Some of them have never done Theatre Ink, or even theatre at all, but they’re so talented,” Cetlin said. Bromberg also exclaimed, “ We were expecting a small village, not this whole city of freshmen! “So many of them are going to keep performing.” Six freshmen already have, with roles in “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, “Twentieth Century” by Ken Ludwig and “Caligula” by Albert Camus.

It doesn’t end there, however: two freshmen are in “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller and another 15 will perform in the school musical “Cabaret.” Some of the freshmen who have been immersed in theater this year are Eliza Burr, Ella Cohen and Lexi Dissanayake. While all three are in “Froshcab,” Burr also worked backstage in “CalNewtonian igula” and will Maddie play a role in Cetlin “Cabaret,” and Dissanayake juggled three minor roles in “Caligula.” All three said that they love being a part of Theatre Ink. Dissanayake likes that it’s “a lot

more professional” and that it “feels more real,” while Cohen cites the “really good directors,” “more talent” and “more dedication” as what she likes about the program. “It’s a family—a very talented family,” Cohen said. “You go to the shows and you just leave feeling awed. I want to do that; I want to awe people.” However, all three girls agree that fewer freshmen tend to be cast in Theatre Ink shows compared to upperclassmen. Cohen said that this happens because freshmen have less experience. “Upperclassmen have more experience both in Theatre Ink and outside of it,” Cohen said. “I think that does make it harder for freshmen to be a part of Theatre Ink.” Additionally, Adam Brown, director of Theatre Ink, said that

there are fewer freshmen who audition for shows compared to upperclassmen, so it makes sense that fewer freshmen have roles. Besides that, he said that sometimes freshmen are not as prepared for mature roles, have less experience or do not have strong auditioning skills. Still, “We try not to look at age or class,” he said. “In each show you have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors all in the show together.” To those freshmen who haven’t yet been cast, Brown gives this advice: “Go to workshops and seek me out for feedback,” he said. “Find out what worked and what didn’t so you’ll be stronger when you come back.” The Class of 2013 has some serious talent. These future stars of Theatre Ink are ready to awe.

‘Freshman Cabaret’ ﬁlled with spontaneity, humor, creativity PERRIN STEIN A class of small children sat on the stage as freshman Julia Belkin taught them the ﬁrst thing about singing from The Sound of Music. “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start,” Belkin began. “When you read you begin with, ‘ABC,’ when you sing you begin with...” Then, the curtains opened, the lighting immediately changed to red and the entire cast broke into a rendition of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The surprising opening set the mood for “Freshman Cabaret,” which went on stage Thursday, Jan. 7 and Friday, Jan. 8 in Lasker auditorium. The directors, sophomores Caleb Bromberg, Maddie Cetlin, Pamela Chen and Sonya Douglas, worked with 47 freshmen to put on the show, which featured skits, songs and dances. BY

Skits

“Thug Life,” a clever skit by Bromberg, incorporated stereotypes to garner laughs from the audience. Andy Frank played a thug bullying a group of “losers.” Every time he bullied them, his targets would respond with comebacks that amused the audience. Written by Douglas, “Singles

review Night” began with Katie Wu dramatically talking about how her horoscope said she was going to meet a special guy. After Wu’s monologue, Mauve Sockwell walked on stage and told Wu about how she met her special guy at Whole Foods’ “Singles Night.” Sockwell then used accentuated arm movements to tell her story engagingly.

Songs

Another highlight was “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingﬁeld. With strong, clear voices, Michaela Berla-Shulock and Anna Nemetz alternated the verses while other girls sang and danced in the background, livening up the song. A group of girls sweetly sang “We Are Golden” by Mika. During the song, Kristian Sumner sauntered to the front of the stage and announced, as if through a megaphone: “We are not what you think we are. We are golden.” These lyrics sent across the message that teenagers are all special in their own way. At this point, the cast’s energy level was so contagious, the audience responded to the performance with cheers and applause.

Dances

Skilled tap dancers took the stage for a performance of “Love Me Two Times” by The Doors. The song was upbeat as the dancers used short, accentuated taps to represent this cheerful excitement. One of the most impressive acts, “DotA” by Basshunter reverberated through the auditorium as dancers stood behind a large bed sheet, only their silhouettes visible. Suddenly, the sheet was ripped down and boys in striking, multicolored shirts started dancing to the pulsing music. The boys performed a variety of movements that had the audience laughing, such as holding riﬂes in an assembly line, as if to hunt zombies, and ripping off their white shirts to showcase their colored ones. The show ended the same way it began: with enthusiastic spontaneity. Groups of girls and boys alternated to sing the song “Kid Inside” by Craig Carnelia before the lighting changed to red and the entire cast began doing an abridged version of “Thriller.” Ending in full circle, “Freshman Cabaret” displayed the talents of this year’s freshmen through the theme of growing up.

Teddy Wenneker

Singing: Freshman Madeline Murphy solos during “Freshman Cabaret,” which went on stage last Thursday and Friday.

arts

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 5

Writer lectures on jazz history MARENA COLE Contrary to popular belief, Newton has a rich jazz history, according to Bob Blumenthal, “Newton doesn’t come to mind when the subject is jazz,” Blumenthal said. “Many people don’t think there’s much of a jazz history here.” Blumenthal, a Grammy awardwinning author and journalist, gave a presentation here last Thursday, Jan. 7 on the Newton connection to jazz history as a part of the Huntington Lecture Series. One musician Blumenthal discussed was Steve Kuhn, a pianist. Kuhn was born in 1938 in Brooklyn, but grew up in Newton. Kuhn went on to perform in New York with various acts, Blumenthal said. “He was the first pianist in John Coltrane’s band,” he said. “He played with Stan Getz and with Art Farmer.” Blumenthal played Kuhn’s 1984 solo version of “Airegin,” a Sonny Rollins composition. “I thought it gave a great example of Steve’s sound, his beautiful touch, his melodic instincts and his technique.” The piece was intricate and fast-paced, displaying Kuhn’s technical abilities as a pianist as well as his improvisational abilities. Blumenthal then talked about two of Kuhn’s classmates: Dick Sudhalter, a trumpet player who was also born in 1938, and Roger Kellaway, a pianist who was born in 1939. “They all attended Newton High at the same time, before there was a North or a South,” Blumenthal said. Sudhalter, who died in 2008, is primarily remembered for three books that he wrote, Blumenthal said. “He wrote a book called Bix: Man and Legend, which was the ﬁrst extended and serious study of the legendary cornetist Bix Biederbecke. “He also wrote a book about Hoagie Carmichael, and he wrote a fairly controversial book a couple of years ago called Lost Chords: White Musicians and their Contributions to Jazz, 19151945.” Kellaway has played around the country, but has spent the majority of his career in Hollywood scoring ﬁlms, Blumenthal said. “In the jazz world, he is perhaps most known for a group he had called the Roger Kellaway Cello Quartet. “It was a piano trio with cello added, and it was an early attempt to synthesize jazz and classical music within one ensemble.” A piano solo from one of his compositions, “Remembering You,” was played at the end of every episode of All in the Family, Blumenthal said. Blumenthal played “I’m Smiling Again,” a recording from 1998. The piece was written by Kellaway and featured Sudhalter on trumpet. Sudhalter soloed expressively with Kellaway playing underneath, and together they had a sound that felt as if it came right out of a New Orleans jazz club. BY

Gaby Perez-Dietz

At rehearsal: Jubilee Singers prepare for their upcoming concert “Never Alone,” which will be next Saturday, Jan. 23.

Jubilee Singers to perform Jan. 23 ALICIA ZHAO With themes of struggle, sorrow, triumph and praise, the Jubilee Singers will present a wide variety of African diasporic music, said music teacher Sheldon Reid, its director. “As usual there will also be a focus on the importance of community,” Reid said. “Our message is that no matter what you are going through, you can make it. “You are not alone. You are a part of something greater.” Jubilee’s annual winter conBY

cert, titled “Never Alone,” will be next Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in Lasker auditorium. Music selections will range from spirituals such as “Somet i m e s I Fe e l Like a MothNewtonian erless Child,” Sheldon contemporary Reid gospel such as “Friend” by Israel Houghton, classical hymns

Sheldon Reid “We hope to see everyone there, as it is the last Jubilee winter concert in this building and we want it to be a big celebration with all our friends.” such as “Amazing Grace,” and Reid’s original compositions. The concert will also feature the Harambee Choir from South as a special guest. Reid said that he hopes for the concert to “not only be fun, but a source of encouragement for those going through hard times.”

“We hope to see everyone there, as it is the last Jubilee winter concert in this building and we want it to be a big celebration with all our friends,” he said. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. They are available in the music ofﬁce, from any Jubilee member and from Reid.

Students direct new musical troupe ALICIA ZHAO With 18 members, this school’s “Cabaret Troupe” performs a variety of contemporary musical theatre, said senior Hayley Travers, a director with j u n i o r Ke l l y McIntyre and sophomore Jon Paul Roby. “There is a sketch comNewtonian edy troupe, an improv troupe, Hayley and now we are Travers happy to say, a contemporary cabaret troupe,” Travers said. The troupe performs music written within the last 10 years, Travers said. “What has been so great about having a contemporary repertoire is that some of the music we perform is composed by students in college,” she said. “The lyrics they write speak so clearly to what we, as high school students, experience.” Not only do the pieces range from solos and duets to small group collaborations, “the show also has some really exciting BY

Gaby Perez-Dietz

Belting out: Senior Corey Robins rehearses with the rest of the rest of the ‘Cabaret Troupe’ for their ﬁrst performance.

numbers involving the whole cast,” Travers said. “All the songs have to do with the struggles we face in high school, whether it be a comic situation or something with a little more depth,” she said. According to Travers, McIntyre decided to create the troupe. “She had a fantastic vision to have a group of great musicians as well as actors to perform contemporary musical theater, which is not often used in a high school setting,” Travers said. After this, the directors began holding auditions. “We were looking for more than just a great voice,” she said. “We were looking for someone that could truly connect to the piece they were performing.” Having settled on its members, Travers said that the troupe plans to have two shows this year. The troupe was to have debuted yesterday, and the second performance is still being determined, Travers said. For the future, Travers hopes for the troupe to put on their own weekend shows as well as small workshops.

19 students participate in districts festival ALICIA ZHAO Nineteen students from this school took part in the 2010 Mass. Music Education Association Eastern District Senior Festival Saturday at Boston Latin. The fact that these students were selected is very signiﬁcant, said ﬁne and performing arts department head Todd Young. “The competition has a fairly BY

Todd Young “To me, that was the real exciting part—having the students take that risk and really persevere. ” small percentage of acceptance and it is a real honor to be accepted,” Young said. According to Young, the music department originally sent more than 30 students to the auditions in December.

“Compared to last year, more students auditioned this year,” Young said. “To me, that was the real exciting part—having the students take that risk and really persevere.”

In addition, 10 of the accepted students received a recommendation to audition for the All State competition. These students are: seniors Paul Batchelor, CC Holm, William Richards, Camilla Shearman and Hayley Travers, juniors Ellen Goldberg, Carissa Lin and John McGaffey, and sophomores Laura Cooke and Rosie Sokolov.

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Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Students will receive 10% off their order Monday-Friday before 4 p.m. until June if they show their student ID.

340 Walnut St. Newton, MA 02460 (617) 965-2801 www.ajisushibar.com

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Talk of the

Critic’s Corner 16 Blocks Bruce Willis and Mos Def star as a worn out alcoholic cop and a criminal in this exciting, albeit paint-by-numbers, thriller. Detective Jack Mosley’s (Willis) assignment is to deliver Eddie Bunker (Def) to court so that he can testify against supposedly dirty cops. What follows are chase scenes and shoot outs, and while these scenes are well choreographed and well scripted, you get a sense of déjà vu—you’ve seen all this before. While 16 Blocks is entertaining, it certainly doesn’t stray from any other action ﬁlms out there. However, it features above average acting as well as a somewhat surprising twist at the end. —Rent

Panic Room You never think that someone will break into your house until it happens. Luckily for new homeowners Meg and Sarah Altman, their recently bought townhouse

comes equipped with a state-ofthe-art panic room. The acting is superb; not only can you sense the protagonists’ (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart) fear and anxiety, you are given a rare look at the robbery from the perpetrators’ (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam) point of view. While the movie will have viewers sitting on the edge of their seats until the very end, the ending is somewhat abrupt. —Rent

Righteous Kill Honestly, how can any movie that has Robert De Niro and Al Pacino be bad? Yet director Jon Avnet manages to do the impossible by delivering a mangled script, poor plot and an ending so obvious, you know what’s going to happen an hour before the movie is over. De Niro and Pacino star as two veteran police ofﬁcers who are assigned to a case involving a series of murders. The plot is laughably mundane. Rob Dyrdek and Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent, ﬁll the supporting roles, and surprisingly,

Teachers’ Picks

Mr. Drake

Favorite Artists ◆R.E.M. ◆The Beautiful Self ◆U2 ◆Ten Thousand Maniacs ◆Fettes Brot

Favorite Movie ◆Gallipoli

Favorite Show ◆Mad Men

Tiger

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 11

Ms. Craig-Olins Favorite Artists ◆Bonnie Raitt ◆Tom Rush ◆Mary McCaslin ◆Bob Dylan ◆Edward Elgar

Favorite Movie ◆The Secret Life of Words

Favorite Show ◆24

Jumble:

Administrators Edition Jackson does an adequate job. This was undoubtedly one of the worst ﬁlms I saw all year. It is an unfortunate example of a movie with talented and prominent actors that can’t help save an abysmal ﬁlm. —Pass

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Hilarious from start to finish, this Guy Ritchie film doesn’t let up with brutally funny dialogue and witty and dark-humored characters. Memorable characters include an unlicensed boxing promoter trying to get his fighter to take a dive, a mad Russian and a crime boss trying to extort the boxers. The story is hectic, with characters with several agendas intertwining. Snatch, filled to the brim with personality and originality, is a rare gem that is overshadowed by big blockbuster movies. The all-star cast includes Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Alan Ford, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt and Jason Statham. —Buy —Jay Krieger

Mr. Allen

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Did you know?

Matt LeBlanc ’85 played one of the lead characters in the award-winning television show Friends. According to his fan site, in high school, LeBlanc won the Golden Hammer, a carpentry award. After graduating from Newton North, LeBlanc attended Wentworth Institute of Technology for one year before moving to South Florida to pursue a career in modeling. Due to his success as a lead character in Friends, LeBlanc was nominated for multiple awards.

Favorite Artists ◆James Brown ◆Johnny Pacheco ◆Ralph von Williams ◆Johnny Mercer ◆Aretha Franklin

Favorite Movie ◆Saving Private Ryan

Favorite Show ◆Have Gun-Will Travel

Newtonian

Hot Stuff

Samantha Alpert and D’Jaidah Wynn

12â&#x2014;&#x2020; Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

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Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 13

Tigers win with offense

Wrestling needs to improve defense, captain says JOSH BAKAN Wrestling, 9-3, is strong on offense, but has to work on defense, said senior Sam Shames, a captain with senior Alex Westlund. “We’ve been more aggressive on offense, and it’s been showing up in our matches,” Shames said. “When we’re defending, a lot of times, we’re not able to score from our defense.” Tomorrow, the Tigers visit the Weymouth Tourney, a tournament with 22 or 23 teams, coach John Staulo said. “At this time of year, it’s a good opportunity for tournament experience,” Staulo said. “It’s well-run, organized and competitive.” Wednesday, the Tigers host Wellesley, and then they visit a quad meet at Weymouth, Saturday, Jan. 22. “Wellesley is in a rebuilding process,” Staulo said. “They have a former football player BY

from the school as their new coach. Their link with the football team has quickly increased their numbers.” The Tigers will face Milton, Norwood and Wellesley at their quad meet. Tuesday, Jan. 25, the Tigers host Walpole, which “has some tough individuals,” Staulo said. In recent action, Natick beat the Tigers 54-9 at Natick Wednesday, Jan. 13. “There were a lot of close matches but they’re the number five team in the state,” Staulo said. Saturday, Jan. 9 at the Belmont Tourney, Shames finished first at 112, senior Jake Gannon finished fourth at 145 and Westlund finished fifth at 135. The Tigers beat Braintree 4930 Wednesday, Jan. 6 at Braintree. “We won the match, but we didn’t wrestle very well,” Shames said. Tuesday, Dec. 29, members

of the Tigers participated in the Lowell Tourney, a two-day tournament. Shames finished third at 112 after an upset elimination in the semi-finals. Westlund made it to the second day, and senior Adam LaFleche at 140 won two matches. Wednesday, Dec. 23 at South, the Tigers beat the Lions 36-31 in an annual match-up that’s “always a great tradition,” Staulo said. The Tigers came back from a 31-12 deficit after getting some pins, Staulo said. Tuesday, Dec. 22, the Tigers beat Dedham here 50-18. “Dedham is a favorite to be in the running for the state championship, but they’ve had a couple injuries,” Staulo said. Saturday, Dec. 19, the Tigers visited a quad meet at Plymouth North where they beat Norton 39-22, beat Nauset 47-15 and beat Plymouth North 48-18.

Teddy Wenneker

Before Natick: Senior Sam Shames picks up sophomore Jordan Long during practice Monday, Jan. 11.

Girls’ gymnastics undefeated while boys start off slowly BY IVAN AND

MCGOVERN JACOB SCHWARTZ

Boys to host Lowell

Switch leap: Junior Victoria Mirrer practices her beam routine in the SOA Friday, Dec. 11.

After a shaky 0-1 start to their season, coach Steve Chan still expects boys’ gymnastics to win about 50 percent of their meets and to ﬁnish in the top half of the league. “I expect a lot of hard work, effort, and dedication. And people to try their hardest,” said senior Buzz Cochran, a captain with senior Justice Hedenberg. Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Tigers will host Lowell. Chan said that it should be a close matchup, although it is hard to know because the Red Raiders have a new coach. Friday, Jan. 22, the team will face off against Burlington at home. In their ﬁrst meet of the season Friday, Jan 8, the Tigers fell short to Andover’s Golden Warriors as Andover scored 132.5 to the Tigers’ 123.1. Hedenberg scored a personal record on the vault with an 8.1. According to Chan, Hedenberg has played a key role so far in the season. The team’s inexperience has been evident, as they aren’t as

JOSH BAKAN Boys’ track, 2-0, has started the season strong in all events, coach Jim Blackburn said. “ We have a lot of strong events,” Blackburn said. “We’re strong in the shot put, in speed events and in distance events.” Recent notable players are seniors Conor Ebbs in the shot put, Jake Gleason in the mile, Ben Kiley in the 300, 4x400 and

and sophomores Young Guang and Swardiq Mayanja are among the top ten shot-putters in the Bay State Conference, Ebbs said. A weak event is hurdles because “we only have two returning members,” Ebbs said. The returning members are Guang and senior Faisal Mayanja, he said. Thursday, the Tigers face Brookline at the Reggie Lewis

Shira Bleicher

polished as opponents with returning competitors, Chan said. Although they lack experience, the team tries their best and is very enthusiastic. “They always practice hard,” he said. The Tigers were to have visited Salem, NH, Wednesday and Braintree Thursday.

Girls start 4-0

Girls gymnastics has started its season off well with a four meet winning streak, said coach Jim Chin. Today, the Tigers will face off against Walpole for their second home meet of the season. “They’ve been one of the powerhouses of our league, and it will be a good meet,” said senior Rani Jacobson, a captain with junior Andrea Marzilli. Then the team has three away meets in a row Tuesday, Jan. 19, Friday, Jan. 22 and Saturday, Jan. 26, against Needham, Wellesley and Braintree, respectively. According to Jacobson, “We can ease off a little bit for Needham, because we should be able to win that easily. “Wellesley is deﬁnitely going to be one of our hardest meets of the year. Braintree will also

be close.” The Tigers won their home meet against Framingham Tuesday, Jan. 12, 133.65-130.05. At first, the meet was very close. The floor exercises helped the Tigers get ahead towards the end of the meet, and ultimately brought them to a win, said Marzilli. Freshman Lili Margolin earned personal bests on the beam, the vault, the floor and the all around score, in which she scored 33.5 points. The Tigers broke the team record for the floor exercise Saturday, Jan. 9 in a meet at Natick, based on the top four scores for the floor. The team scored 35.5. At the same meet, freshman Ali Hurwitz achieved personal bests for the floor, vault and beam. However, “there were some inconsistencies,” said Chin. “We only had two girls stay on the beams the entire routine and everyone else had one or two falls.” The team beat Weymouth on the road, Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Tigers won their first meet of the season over Norwood Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Boys’ track to face Brookline, beats Braintree 73-12 BY

high jump and Hao-Kai Wu in relay events. He also noted juniors Ezra Lichtman in the 1000, Isaiah Penn in the 600, Dan Ranti in the mile and sophomore Justin Keefe in the 1000. Ebbs, a captain with Gleason and Wu, said the Tigers are “very strong in the shot put.” Himself, senior Humberto Castillo, junior Ryan Donovan

Center. “They have good distance runners, and they have [senior] Irvin Scott in the shorter distances,” Blackburn said. “Kiley is our top guy right now. If Scott can beat Kiley in three events, that would make a big difference. But we haven’t lost in 12 years, so we don’t expect to lose.” Ebbs said, “From what I re-

member last year, they were very weak in the shot put.” Sunday, Jan. 24, the Tigers will send members to State Relays at the Reggie Lewis Center. There are four members in each running event and three members in the high jump, long jump and shot put. Thursday, Jan. 7, the Tigers beat Braintree 73-12 at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Boys’ swimming, 2-3, working with inexperience JOSH BAKAN Following their second Bay State Conference loss, boys’ swimming, 2-3, will not be able to sustain the league title. “We’re pretty good for the most part, but we need to work harder in practices,” said senior Aidan Breen, a captain with senior Sam Rolfe. “In our meets, we take ﬁrst place in a lot of events, but the BY

other team ends up taking second and third, and that’s what loses points for us,” Breen said. “We lost a lot of good swimmers from last year.” Today, the Tigers host Wellesley. “They always have good stroke swimmers, and they’re always very competitive with us,” coach Amy Richard said. Then the Tigers host Need-

ham Tuesday in their last ever duel meet in the current Newton North building. “We were able to beat them the last two seasons to clinch the league title, so they’d love to get some payback,” Richard said. Tuesday, Jan. 12, Framingham beat the Tigers here 99-85. Framingham is undefeated in the Bay State Conference. Had the Tigers beaten them, they

would both have led the conference with only one loss. Friday, Jan. 8 at Brookline, the Warriors beat the Tigers 99-86. “We got some good times, but it was a disappointing loss,” Richard said. Rolfe finished first in the 200 freestyle at 1:56.91 and in the 500 freestyle at 5:27.43. Sophomore Ben Salwen finished second in the 100 butterfly

at 1:05.91. Friday, Dec. 18 at Natick, the Tigers beat the Red and Blue 104-80. “We lost a lot of seniors from last year, but the remaining team swam well in this meet,” Richard said. Breen finished first in the 200 individual medley at 2:21.40 and in the 100 backstroke at 1:04.31.

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14 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Girls’ hockey to focus on overcoming inexperience MEREDITH ABRAMS Focusing on keeping play simple in games, girls’ hockey, 3-5, is trying to work past inexperience, coach Bob MacDougall said. “We get into trouble when we try to do too much,” MacDougall said. “We just need to put pucks into the net, go after them, and instead of coming up with elaborate plays, just get after the puck and grind away,” he said. However, he said inexperience is a team weakness. “We have some new players in crucial areas, so we’re going to make some mistakes,” MacDougall said. “We have to be consistent in playing three strong periods, because we tend to lose focus on what we’re trying to do,” he said. At Needham tomorrow, the Tigers expect a challenge, MacDougall said. “It’s going to be a real tough game—they’re going to get their players ready, and I hope we have enough to get the win,” he said. Hosting Newton South Monday, Jan. 18, MacDougall said BY

the team is looking forward to a fun game. “It’s going to be a fantastic game, full of emotion, and hopefully we can play inspired hockey and execute,” he said. Wednesday, Jan. 20, the Tigers visit Framingham. “They’re one of the top teams in the league, and going to their place is never easy, but if we do the things we need to do, we could do well—it all depends on the effort level,” MacDougall said. The Tigers host Natick Saturday, Jan. 23 and Braintree Wednesday, Jan. 27. Senior Hannah Jellinek, a captain with senior Kim Gillies, said a strength of the team is consistent effort. “Everyone always works hard and puts forth their best effort,” she said. “We’ve had a rough start, but we’ll do well over the next few games.” Wednesday, the Tigers shut out Brookline 8-0 at home. “It was a good game,” said Jellinek. “They’re a struggling team, but we still put in a good

effort.” A strong point of the game was that the goals were spread out. “A lot of people scored points and assists,” she said. Saturday, Jan. 9, the Tigers defeated Milton 1-0 at Milton, and Wednesday, Jan. 6, the Tigers defeated Weymouth 5-0 at home. Of the game against Weymouth, MacDougall said, “we played very strong, kept it simple and just did much better.” Belmont defeated the Tigers 3-0 Monday, Jan. 4 at Belmont. “We had some good practices and we were playing well, but we made little mistakes that cost us the game,” MacDougall said. Wednesday, Jan. 23, Walpole defeated the Tigers 3-0. “It was a good supporting game, but we came out ﬂat and intimidated, and it wasn’t our best effort,” he said. At Braintree Saturday, Jan. 19 the Tigers lost 4-2. “Braintree is a very strong team, and we just couldn’t match their effort consistently,” MacDougall said. JACOB SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.

Teddy Wenneker

Fighting for possession: Junior Michelle Troy ﬁghts for control of the puck Wednesday, Dec. 16 against Norwood at home.

Boys’ hockey works to gain confidence MEREDITH ABRAMS Despite a strong first line and goaltender, boys’ hockey, 1-8-1, needs a more positive attitude to start winning games, coach Tom Ryan said. “The thing we’re trying to improve on the most is confidence,” Ryan said. “We have to know we can win.” The team is focusing on improving to the point where it can compete in a challenging conference, Ryan said. Hosting Needham tomorrow, the Tigers expect a tough game, Ryan said. “It will be a very difficult game,” he said. “Needham is the best in the league, year in and year out.” Monday, Jan. 18, the Tigers host Acton-Boxborough. “They have an outstanding first line,” Ryan said. The Tigers host Framingham Wednesday, Jan. 20. At Natick Saturday, Jan. 23, the Tigers have a chance to win, Ryan said. Wednesday, Jan. 27, the Tigers visit Braintree. BY

Teddy Wenneker

Breakaway: Senior Harry Metallides handles the puck up the rink Monday, Dec. 29 at home against Lincoln-Sudbury. The Warriors defeated the Tigers 3-2.

Senior Ben Sauro, the team captain, said the Tigers need to improve their work ethic. “As individuals they’re great people, but as hockey players they need to develop more,” he said. Visiting Brookline Wednesday, Jan. 13, the Tigers won 3-2 in their first victory of the season. “We got a key goal in the third period that changed the movement of the game,” Sauro said. The Tigers tied Milton 3-3 Saturday, Jan. 9; at Weymouth Saturday, Jan. 6 the Tigers lost 7-3; Saturday, Jan. 2, Marshfield defeated the Tigers 5-1 at Marshfield; and at home Thursday, Dec. 31 Waltham defeated the Tigers 8-0. Lincoln Sudbury defeated the Tigers 3-2 Monday, Dec. 28 at home; at Walpole Wednesday, Dec. 23 the Tigers lost 7-3; Braintree defeated the Tigers 7-1 at home Saturday, Dec. 19; and at Norwood Thursday, Dec. 17 the Tigers lost 3-2. JAY FEINSTEIN CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.

Boys’ and girls’ JV hockey overcome inexperience Boys to visit Braintree

BY PERRIN STEIN A positive attitude helps the Tigers as they continue to improve their hockey despite their 3-5 record, said coach Felix Lopez. “Some of our players are playing organized hockey for the ﬁrst time. The philosophy is to be competitive. Work ethic is critical,” said Lopez. Despite some of the team members’ inexperience, four of the ﬁve defensemen are freshmen, and the team has several quick forwards. “Young, solid defensemen and quick aggressive forwards could not have come at a better time,” he said. “They will add depth to the varsity team in years to come.” As part of practice, the Tigers are working on passing and skat-

ing agility. To improve, players are practicing a variety of ﬂow and passing drills. “We need to improve our overall hockey sense,” Lopez said. “Experience is our weakness,” junior forward Jack McLaughlin said. “We’ll be able to bounce back with a few hard days’ practice,” McLaughlin said. The Tigers will travel to Braintree tomorrow morning. The team plans to use a close loss to Framingham in late December to help motivate themselves for a rematch game Sunday. Monday, Jan. 18 the Tigers will host Acton-Boxborough. The Tigers will then travel to Norwood Wednesday, Jan. 20 against the Mustangs. Natick will host the Tigers Saturday, Jan. 23.

Monday, Jan. 11 the Tigers lost 3-2 in their rematch against Milton at home. Friday, the Tigers traveled to Milton Jan. 8 and lost 7-4. At the end of winter break, Sunday, Jan. 3, the Tigers had a tight game against Watertown, losing 2-0. The Tigers’ second loss of the season was to Framingham Wednesday, Dec. 30. Despite strong goalkeeping, the Tigers lost 6-3, Lopez said. At Watertown Sunday, Dec. 20, the Tigers lost their ﬁrst game of the season 1-0.

Girls’ JV hockey 1-4

OLIVIA STEARNS Motivation and excitement helped girls’ JV hockey, 1-4, become a better team, according to coach Victoria O’Connor. “They take away something valuable from each game, each BY

practice, and then apply it the next time they are on the ice,” she said. The team’s biggest challenge is that they tend to be inconsistent in their intensity and conﬁdence, she said. Unfortunately, the team will not be attending their usual games in Martha’s Vineyard this year because the tournament is not being held, said junior Emma Mahoney, the captain. Tuesday, Jan. 19 and Saturday, Jan. 23, the Tigers visit Wellesley in what could be a challenging game, Mahoney said. “We played teams which are similar to Wellesley earlier this season, so if we play like that again, we might have a chance,” she said. O’Connor said that Wellesley is an experienced team. “In the past, they have not

been a ‘learn to play’ team like us, so they will definitely challenge us to skate hard and play strong defense,” O’Connor said. The Tigers defeated Needham 5-0 in their first win Monday, Jan. 11 at St. Sebastian’s. “Every single player fought hard in that game to secure the win,” said O’Connor. At home against Framingham Friday, Jan. 8, the Flyers defeated the Tigers 4-1, with junior Lucy Mazur-Warren scoring the first goal of the season. Against Walpole Wednesday, Dec. 23 and at Dedham Sunday, Jan. 3 were very tough teams, O’Connor said. “Their benches are deep, whereas our team is girls who are either brand new to the sport or only have one to two years under their belt,” O’Connor said.

sports

Friday, Jan. 15 2010

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 15

Defense a strength for girls’ basketball, 8-1 MEREDITH ABRAMS Playing games with intensity from start to ﬁnish is a focus for girls’ basketball, 8-1¸ said coach Hank DeSantis. “We need to improve, to play hard and to start games like we ﬁnish them,” DeSantis said. “We’re getting better,” he said. “We are just worrying about details and trying to improve every aspect of how we play and defend BY

at a high level.” Hosting Needham tonight at 6:45, the Tigers expect a close game. “All the games against Needham last year were battles, and this one is back-to-back with the boys before us, so we hope fans will come out and support us,” DeSantis said. The Tigers visit Framingham Tuesday. “We hope to take away

their better players and do better this game,” DeSantis said. The Tigers host Natick Friday, Jan. 22 and Braintree Tuesday, Jan. 26. Senior Lucy Abbot, a captain with Hunt and seniors Sammy Alpert and Monet Lowe, said the team is focusing on playing consistently at its best but has had a great start to the season. “We play really unselﬁsh and

work together as a team, and we’re still pushing ourselves to do even better,” she said. The Tigers defeated Brookline 64-52 Tuesday, Jan. 12 at home. “It was an ugly game,” DeSantis said. “There were a lot of fouls and turnovers, and we didn’t rebound as well as we needed to.” Against Milton Friday, Jan. 8 the Tigers won 46-26, and at

home Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Tigers defeated Weymouth 64-26. In the Garden City Classic Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 30, the Tigers defeated Brighton 66-22 Tuesday and lost 51-49 to Newton South Wednesday. The Tigers defeated Walpole 59-41 at home Monday, Dec. 21 and the Wamps 72-54 Friday, Dec. 18 at Braintree.

JV girls’ basketball to host Needham

Three pointer: Freshman Madison Beatrice dribbles around a Brookline defender Tuesday, Jan. 12 at home. The Tigers won 41-33.

HILARY BRUMBERG Thanks to the hard work they have put in, JV girls’ basketball, 6-2, is starting to work as a cohesive unit, coach Angela Manfredi said. The team’s goal is to play for the varsity team and improve it, according to sophomore Alison Berkowitz, a captain with sophomore Kayla Farina and freshman Madison Beatrice. “When people play well, their reward is to sit on the varsity bench,” she said. The Tigers visit the Needham Rockets today. According to Manfredi and Needham coach Dean Putnam, this will be a tough game, because the teams have contrasting strengths and weaknesses. Fast breaks are a strong area for the Tigers, according to sophomore Lydia O’Conner. The Rockets have been practicing long and hard to prevent that offense, Putnam said. Manfredi said the Tigers have trouble “playing solid defense throughout the course of an entire game.” On the other hand, one of

the Rockets’ highest priorities is defense. “We try to be a great defensive team ﬁrst—we put a lot of emphasis on team/help defense every day in practice,” Putnam said. Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Tigers will face the Flyers in Framingham. The Tigers will then play two consecutive home games: against Natick Friday, Jan. 22 and Braintree Tuesday, Jan. 26. Tuesday, Jan. 12, the Tigers defeated Brookline here, 41-33. In Milton Friday, Jan. 8, freshman Jillian Doherty shot three points to tie the game with about one minute remaining, varsity coach Hank DeSantis said. The Tigers came back and won, 3633. Although they didn’t perform their best, the Tigers defeated Weymouth 31-26 Tuesday, Jan. 5 at home, according to Manfredi. They were led by Farina, who scored 12 points. The Tigers beat Walpole Monday, Dec. 21 at home. Friday, Dec. 18 at Braintree, the Wamps beat the Tigers for their second loss of the season.

BECKY KALISH With hard work and effort as strengths, freshman girls’ basketball, 1-6 is working hard to improve team skills and unity, coach Laurie Arcovio said. “We have the most aggressive bunch of girls I’ve ever seen out on a court, and they have such great defense and effort,” she said. “We still need to work on

home Tuesday, Jan. 5, Walpole at home Monday, Dec. 21, at Braintree Friday, Dec. 18., and Norwood here Tuesday, Dec. 15. High scorers on the team have been Caroline Loftus and Christine Raymond, Arcovio said. The Tigers beat Framingham Friday, Dec. 11. “The game against Framingham was an especially good one,”

Arcovio said. “Our offense was the best it’s been, which helped our win. The scores of the games after that have kept getting closer and closer. “These girls also have such great effort and attitude,” Arcovio said. “They also work very hard and get on the ﬂoor to dive for the ball more than any other group of girls I’ve seen.”

Teddy Wenneker

Freshman girls’ basketball,1-6, looks for team skills BY

boxing out on defense, because this is the one aspect that repeatedly gets us.” The Tigers visit Needham today. The team will play at Framingham Tuesday, Jan. 19 and will host Natick Friday, Jan. 22. “Our skills and fundamentals could always be improved,” Arcovio said. “I hope for our level of

play to improve, but also just for the girls to have fun out on the court.” The girls defeated Brookline at home Tuesday, Jan. 12. The Tigers had a very close game at Milton Friday, Jan. 8, losing in overtime by only two points. On a four game losing streak, the team played Weymouth at

Girls’ track, 2-0, relies on depth MEREDITH ABRAMS Depth is a major strength for girls’ track, 2-0, despite some inexperienced new members, said senior Sam Gluck, a captain with senior Jaya Tripathi. “We have a lot of athletes who are strong across a couple of different events,” Gluck said. However, she said, “We still have people new to their events, but they’re making strong improvements.” Thursday, Jan. 21 the Tigers face Brookline. “They have some strong athletes, but usually we have more depth than Brookline does,” Gluck said. The Tigers will compete in the State Relays Sunday, Jan. 24. “Generally it’s our most anticipated event,” Gluck said. Against Weymouth Thursday, Jan. 28, the Tigers expect a close meet, Gluck said. This year’s team is still developing the mix of upper- and under-classmen, coach Joe BY

Tranchita said. “We’re still working on the chemistry between veterans and new members,” he said. Some members competed in the Dartmouth Relays Friday, Jan. 8 and Saturday, Jan. 9 at Dartmouth College. The Tigers placed second overall. Junior Margo Gillis placed second in the 1000, and Forbes placed ﬁrst in the long jump and triple jump, and second as member of the 4x200 relay team with senior Ariana Tabatabaie and sophomores Steph Brown and Kayla Wong. In addition, junior Emily Hutchinson placed second in the high jump. The Tigers defeated Braintree 65-17 Thursday, Jan 7. “They were just a weaker team, so we did pretty well,” Gluck said. Thursday, Dec. 17 the Tigers defeated Needham 69-17. The Tigers were to have face Framingham yesterday.

High jump: Junior Emily Hutchinson practices Tuesday, Jan. 12 in the SOA.

Shira Bleicher

sports

16 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Boys’ basketball takes on tough schedule ELI DAVIDOW Boys’ basketball and its flawless record will be challenged by a difficult schedule, said coach Paul Connolly. “We can’t take anything lightly,” he said. “We’ll have to stick to our motto of playing hard, playing together and playing smart.” Today the Tigers, 9-0, host Needham for the first time since they played the team in the first round of the post-season last year. In the final 20 seconds of that game, the Tigers edged over the Rockets, winning 42-39. “They’ve got one of the top returning players in the conference in Kerry Hecker,” Connolly said. “They’ll be fired up to be here.” Sunday, the Tigers will participate in the Hoop Hall Classic at Springfield College, taking on St. Frances of Baltimore. “St. Frances is a national type program, right out of one of the best leagues in the Baltimore area,” Connolly said. “It should be a good time for the kids.” Here against Framingham Tuesday, the Tigers will see a soild team, Connolly said. At Natick Friday, a “wellcoached” team will host the Tigers, Connolly said.

game average,” he said. In special news, senior Greg Kelley became the third player under Connolly to eclipse the 1,000 point mark in his high school career. The moment happened in the

Tigers’ ﬁrst game of the Garden City Hoops Tournament Tuesday, Dec. 29 against the Lions at South. The Tigers won 63-58. “That’s quite an accomplishment for a young man,” Connolly said.

Kelley has committed to play at Yale next season. The Tigers won the tournament the following day, beating Catholic Memorial 81-50. Within the Tigers’ depth of talent, two other players to watch out for are sophomore Michael Thorpe and junior Tevin Falzon, Connolly said. “Michael’s a terriﬁc addition,” he said. “He’s got good speed and quickness. “With Tevin, he’s a player really starting to come into his own. Soon, he’ll be putting up doubledoubles consistently.” In other recent games, the Tigers routed Brookline 63-46 Tuesday at Brookline. Kelley, a co-captain with senior Wynn Tucker, earned a double-double with 34 points and 20 rebounds. Here against Milton Friday, “a dominant run in the second half” put the Tigers over the top 69-49, Connolly said. Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Tigers beat Weymouth 74-54 with “a lot of key buckets” from senior Kourtney Wornum-Parker, Kelley said. “We put pressure on them the whole game,” Kelley said. In Walpole Monday, Dec. 21, the Tigers won 83-61.

MATT KALISH Maintaining their game intelligence and improving basic skills are goals for the undefeated JV boys’ basketball team, 8-0, said coach Joe Siciliano. “Coming every day to practice is the most important part,” Siciliano said. “What we do in practice translates into the games, meaning an unproductive practice means a sloppy game,” he said. “As a group, all 14 kids on the team have improved and really stepped up,” Siciliano said. Junior Tom DeStefano said that the team needs to focus on boxing out and being physical. Today, the Tigers play Needham here and Tuesday they face off against Framingham here. Next Friday, Jan. 20, the team travels to Natick and Thursday,

Jan. 26 the Tigers will play at Braintree. “We really want to be an active team, getting open looks and tiring the other team out,” DeStefano said. Tuesday the Tigers won against the Wa r r i o r s a t Brookline 4642. Last Friday, Newtonian the Tigers beat Tom Milton here 52DeStefano 41. “This was a hard-fought game. They ran a good offense, but we persevered in the end,” Siciliano said. The Tigers won at Weymouth 65-40 Tuesday, Jan. 5 against a

team that was “bigger and stronger, but we were better,” Siciliano said. Monday, Dec. 21, the Tigers won at Walpole 52-42 in what Siciliano said was the toughest game of the season. “We were both pressuring each other back and forth and we won the battle in the end,” Siciliano said. The Tigers won 58-46 against B.C. High here Saturday, Dec. 19. “They were a talented team, and it was a great game,” he said. “We fought hard, and we came through in the end.” Friday, Dec. 18 the Tigers beat Braintree 60-43. “We were only leading by single digits at half time, but we stayed disciplined,” Siciliano said.

Teddy Wenneker

Triple threat: Senior Greg Kelley, a captain, posts up against a Milton opponent. Then Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Tigers will have to tame the “monster” skills of Braintree’s P.J. Douglas to defeat the Wamps, Connolly said. “Last time, we did a great job holding down his 25.5 points a

JV boys beat Brookline 46-42 BY

’13 boys work hard in practice JAY FEINSTEIN More practice will help the freshman boys’ basketball team keep up its 7-1 record, said coach John McNamara. According to McNamara, winning or losing doesn’t determine if a game is good or not. It’s more about getting better. “Everything we do is teamoriented. No one person is better than the team,” McNamara said. According to McNamara, defense has been a strength of the team. In three of the team’s eight games, the Tigers held opponents to fewer than 40 points, he said. BY

Teddy Wenneker

Through the lane: Sophomore Michael Thorpe shoots over a Milton defender. The Tigers won 59-49 Friday, Jan. 8.

“We take a lot of charges,” said Jeremy Fathy, a point guard. Visiting Needham today, the Tigers hope to defeat the Rockets. The Tigers will then host Framingham Tuesday and visit Natick next Friday. Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Tigers will visit Braintree again, and Friday Jan. 29, they will host Dedham. At Brookline, Tuesday, Jan. 12, the Tigers suffered their ﬁrst loss against the Warriors. “The loss is very tough on everybody,” said Moshup Galbraith. Hosting Milton Friday,

Jan. 8, the Tigers defeated the Wildcats 45-41. Visiting Weymouth Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Tigers defeated the Wildcats in overtime, 43-38. Small forward Korey Mui scored a last-second shot, tying the score and forcing the game into overtime. At Walpole, Monday, Dec. 21, the Tigers won 59-42. According to McNamara, B.C. High is a good team, but Saturday, Dec. 19, the Tigers beat the Eagles 73-67. Hosting Braintree the day before, Friday, Dec. 18, the Tigers defeated the Wamps 34-27.

Alpine, nordic ski hope for new members to adapt JOSH BAKAN EVAN CLEMENTS Both alpine and nordic are trying to acclimate new members over the course of the season. As alpine struggles with low numbers, nordic builds unity. BY

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Alpine rebuilds

With only six boys and six girls, alpine is rebuilding this season, coach Scott Mighill said. “It’s the lowest number of kids

I’ve had in my 15 or 16 years of coaching here,” Mighill said. “Our goal is to have some fun.” Monday, Jan. 11 at the Weston Ski Track, sophomore Kate Regan finished 16th at 28.78, and sophomore Jackie Comstock finished 38th at 34.25 for the girls. For the boys, freshman Rayan Bezri finished 33rd for the boys at 28.46. Thursday, Jan. 7 at the Weston

Ski Track, Regan finished 16th at 25.85, and sophomore Eli Ashley finished 26th at 27.41 for the girls. The top finishers for the boys were freshman Mark Vrahas in 32nd at 26.72 and Bezri in 40th at 27.75.

Nordic works to acclimate new skiers

Nordic’s goal is “to promote team unity,” according to senior

Rob Lasell, a captain with seniors Leah Cepko, Michael Goldenberg and Zoe Pepper-Cunningham. “We have a lot of new kids, so we need to get them interested in the sport and teach them how to ski,” said Lasell. “But we also have a very dedicated group of kids returning.” Wednesday, Jan. 6 at the Weston Ski Track, Goldenberg and sophomores Stoddard Meigs

and Will Benson were the top three finishers on the boys’ side. They finshed at second, sixth and 20th respectively. Junior Ellen Goldberg, freshman Julia Schiantarelli and junior Tatiana Froehlich led the way for the girls. They finished at second, fifth and 15th, respectively. The boys placed third overall, and the girls finished second.