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Erika Chow

Newtonite

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

◆ Wednesday, June 10, 2009 • Volume 88, Issue 8

Class of 2009 graduates N

BY MATT KALISH ewton North’s Class of 2009 celebrated the end of its high school years at graduation tonight in Boston College’s Conte Forum.

Family Singers began the program with “America the Beautiful” by Katherine Lee Bates, Class of 1876. Then senior Miriam Raffeld sang the National Anthem, and senior Janay Mitchell interpreted it.

Principal Jennifer Price welcomed students, faculty and parents, and graduating EDCO and English Language Learning students gave greetings in American Sign Language, Cantonese, German, Lugandan, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

After Family Singers sang “The Road Not Taken” from Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana,” city and school system officials gave greetings.

Then, senior Danielle Kutas, the class president, gave the senior tribute to English teacher Stephen Chinosi, math teacher Dennis Klem, librarian Kevin McGrath and Barry house secretary Karen Tobin, and presented the senior class gift, which is financial aid for school events and money for the library.

English teacher Helen Smith, the adviser of this newspaper, then spoke for the faculty.

Next, Price presented the Principal’s Plaque to Cabot’s Restaurant. This plaque is for a person or group of people in the

Newton community who have made outstanding contributions to the students, faculty and programs at Newton North.

Seniors then presented awards to their classmates.

Jackson Davidow presented Adina Hemley-Bronstein with the Charles Dana Meserve Fund Award. The award is for an outstanding scholar who has made great contributions to the school.

A member of the varsity crosscountry, indoor and outdoor track teams, Hemley-Bronstein was a Guidance Aide and a member of Athletes Serving the Community, Mentors in Violence Prevention and the singing group Northern Lights. She is a national Latin and Spanish exam gold medalist.

The Senior Cup honors students who best represent the ideal Newton North student in terms of character, involvement in the community, personality and scholarship.

Jonathan Berman presented the Boys’ Senior Cup to Mark Ward. He is a Guidance Aide and a member of the YES group for black males where he is known as the “Wise Elder.” He has been studying drums at the Berklee College of Music since 6th grade.

He plays in Jubilee’s musical ensemble as well as for his church, where he is a peer leader.

Kathryn Pellegrini presented the Girls’ Senior Cup to Tina Brin. A Peer Tutor and a teacher’s assistant in English Writer ’s ◆continued on page 3

ELLEN SARKISIAN English teachers Stephen Chinosi and Melissa Dilworth have won this year ’s Paul E. Elicker Award for excellence in teaching.

The award honors two teachers who show an appreciation and knowledge of the subject matter, exemplify teaching that stretches students’ minds and have standards that inspire excellence.

Chinosi said a quotation he heard when he was 14 motiMatt Kalish vates him most: “To teach is to Stephen learn twice.”

Chinosi “That’s what I love about teaching,” he said.

“I do want to spend the rest of my life learning. That’s why I started Senior Year Project and the biodiesel project.”

Chinosi grew up “between Brooklyn and Philadelphia.” He said his parents were immigrants from Italy.

He attended the University of New Hampshire as an undergraduate and studied African literatures at the University of Wyoming.

Before coming to Newton North in 2005, he taught in Danvers and Bedford.

Currently he also teaches a literature course at Southern New

Hampshire University.

“The culture that is Newton North, the faculty and students and city, all combined is what makes this a unique learning environment,” he said.

English department head Tom Fabian said Chinosi brings enthusiasm to his teaching.

“Steve Chinosi’s passion for the classroom seems boundless,” he said. “His outstanding commitment wrings meaning out of every experience here at Newton North.”

Dilworth has a bachelors in English from William Smith and a masters teaching from Simmons. She began teaching here in 1997.

Fabian said Dilworth brings intelligence and perspective to her courses.

“Melissa Dilworth is a terrific teacher who really puts her heart and soul into making sure Matt Kalish that students Melissa understand the Dilworth power that literature and film hold for expanding our imagination and humanity,” Fabian said.

“She’s gotten many students through a process of realizing that they really can understand the material on the deepest levels.”

Two teachers win Elicker awards

BY

Countdown in the caf: Senior Andreas Rotenberg crowdsurfs Wednesday.

SFA modifies rules for open campus

REBECCA HARRIS Sophomores and juniors who receive N’s could have open campus with their housemaster’s approval and if the grade behind the N is above a D under a recommendation to the principal.

Wednesday, May 27, the Student Faculty Administration Board voted 11-6 for a proposal from sophomores Mercer Gary, Jared Kalow, Emma Leader and Ana Mijailovic that removes the N from factors that limit open campus.

The N-rule says students get no credit if they miss too many classes.

Before this proposal, sophomores and juniors were ineligible for open campus if they received D’s, F’s, N’s, I’s or incompletes.

“The restrictions on open campus were designed to help students who are struggling academically,” the proposal says.

“Placing students in study halls who are struggling with attendance but not struggling in classes seems counter-intuitive BY

in brief and irrelevant.”

English department head Tom Fabian said he disagrees that a student could achieve academically but still receive an N, calling it “an oxymoron to say that a student receiving an N is in good academic standing.” ◆ See editorial page 2

vocating the prevention of child sex slavery.

Representatives from the organization will drive the car across the country and to Canada this summer in the Let’s Get Real Road Trip.

The trip will raise awareness in efforts to “drive away the child sex trade,” Kantar said.

Science Team wins medals in Nationals

MARENA COLE Science Team brought home two medals from the Nationals and placed 22nd out of 62 teams, said senior Nathaniel Gilbert, the president.

According to Gilbert, the medals were in Junkyard Challengeand in Remote Sensing, a test on satellite imagery analysis.

The team also placed ninth in an event called Write It Do It. “They’d never done it before, so placing ninth was really good,” said science teacher Barbara Gibson, who accompanied the 22-member team to Augusta, Ga., with science teacher Ann Dannenberg and parent Jason Gilbert May 15 and 16.

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Minga to host after-school event

MARENA COLE Students can help splatter paint a car for Minga, said junior Rebecca Kantar, the Minga Club president.

The car will be outside the building after school Friday, she said.

Minga is an organization adBY

Teddy Wenneker

opinion

2 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Ucal McKenzie, counselor, head coach of boys’ soccer

Saying thank you

ELLEN SARKISIAN Ucal McKenzie, a counselor and the boys’ varsity soccer coach, died of heart failure last Saturday, May 30. He was 32.

He had been playing soccer at the Joe Moakley Park in South Boston with his club.

Describing Mr. McKenzie in a statement the school released, English teacher Inez Dover called him “a unique presence and an unsung hero who took up any task that was put before him.

“He was an incredibly talented counselor who connected with each and every one of his students. Counseling was not a profession for him, but a calling.

As the coach of boys’ varsity soccer, he showed “a tenacious spirit that was shared with each member of the team,” the statement says.

“The spirit of his words and actions buoyed his team in victory and defeat. His selfless manner and nature inspired us all.

“He was dedicated and committed to our Newton North community as exhibited by his work with many different people.

He was a Peer Mentor adviser, he coordinated the Senior Faculty Scholarship Committee and he advised the Break Dancing Club.

BY

Shira Bleicher

At Pops Night: Music teacher Adam Grossman receives flowers from senior Miriam Raffeld as a thank you on behalf of the seniors in the orchestra Thursday, May 21. A violinist, Raffeld won the Henry Lasker Memorial Music Award.

Rule modification makes good sense

O

riginally, the rationale behind restricting open campus was to help students with academic difficulties and to narrow the achievement gap.

Study halls can be helpful when students are having academic difficulty. They can provide a structured environment to focus on work.

However, they can do little to help a student with poor attendance. Being in a study hall can’t prevent a student from being late to class or cutting one either.

Therefore, study halls serve only as a punitive measure for students with

editorial N’s.

We support the Student Faculty Administration Board’s decision to modify the criteria for open campus qualification.

Now, sophomores and juniors are ineligible for open campus only if they receive a D, F, or Incomplete.

Students with N’s are eligible for open campus, as long as they have the approval of the housemaster and their grade behind the N is above a D. The rule is now more consistent with the original idea—to help students achieve, not to punish them.

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 News editor — Marena Cole News analysis editor — Georgina Teasdale Arts editor — Alicia Zhao Feature editors — Emily Amaro, Jay Krieger On campus editor — Olivia Stearns Sports editors— Meredith Abrams, Josh Bakan Photography editors — Shira Bleicher, Gaby Perez-Dietz, Teddy Wenneker Graphics managers — Prateek Allapur, Peter Taber-Simonian Advertising managers — Joe Connors, Chris Keefe Business manager — Chris Welch Circulation managers — Caleb Gannon, Dan Salvucci Adviser — Helen Smith Production advisers — Sue Brooks, Tom Donnellan

News staff — Rebecca Harris, Rebecca Oran, Steven Michael, Fatema Zaidi Features staff — Jacob Brunell, Ilana Greenstein Sports staff — Evan Clements, Nicole Curhan, Emmett Greenberg, Jeremy Gurvitz, Elliot Raff Arts staff — Eliana Eskinazi, Kate Lewis News analysis staff — Kellynette Gomez Art staff — Julia Belamarich, Puloma Ghosh, Anna Kaertner, Hannah Schon Photography staff — Anna Gargas, Helen Gao, Jaryd Justice-Moote, Lucy Mazur-Warren, Jesse Tripathi Circulation staff — Spencer Alton, Jackie Assar, Rebecca Kantar, Sydney Massing-Schaffer, Stoddard Meigs, Brooke Stearns, Daniel Tabib Production staff — Max Fathy, Emily McLaughlin, John Synott, Alison Wu

The Newtonite staff brings 16 issues a year to camera readiness for a circulation of 3,000 and goes on line daily during the academic year.

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 Newtonite@newton.k12.ma.us.

To find the Newtonite online go to www.thenewtonite.com.

family photo

Ucal McKenzie

in memoriam “His vibrant and passionate spirit echoed throughout the halls of Newton North. He never missed a moment to give of his time. He gave his time to us as if he held eternity in his hand. He never said no.”

Most of all, the statement says, Mr. McKenzie loved his wife and his family: “He was a loving husband and a gentle human being. It was said, ‘There never was any heart truly great and generous that

was not also tender and compassionate.”

Born in Jamaica, Mr. McKenzie came here in 1992.

He had played soccer at Ross High in Brentwood, N.Y. At Suffolk, he was a midfielder in Division III. Mr. McKenzie worked as a senior accounts receivable coordinator for Documentum, Inc., and as a fiscal assistant for the Boston Public Health Commission. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Suffolk in 1998 and a master’s in mental health counseling from Lesley.

Before coming to this school in September, 2006, Mr. McKenzie had coached soccer and been a counseling intern at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.

He took over as head coach in 2007 from athletics director T.J. Williams, now retired. The team made it to Divison I Sectionals in 2008 and 2009.

Also, Mr. McKenzie was a member of the Carico Soccer Club and a coach in the Valeo Futbol Club and Academy.

Mr. McKenzie leaves his wife Suzanne and his family.

Services for Mr. McKenzie were Saturday at the New Beginning Church of God in Dorchester with a reception here afterward.

Robert Mitchell taught Latin as well as Ancient Greek Celebration of his life to be Saturday, June 20

ELLEN SARKISIAN This school will celebrate Robert Mitchell’s life Saturday, June 20 in Lasker Auditorium at 1 p.m.

Mr. Mitchell, a teacher of Latin and Ancient Greek, died Wednesday, May 27 of melanoma.

He was 60.

During his final weeks, faculty and retirees visited his bedside to help him through his last days and nights.

Born in Boston, Mr. Mitchell earned his bachelor’s degree in Latin and his master’s in Latin and Greek—both with distinction—from Boston College.

Mr. Mitchell could read French, German, Italian, Old English, Sanskrit, Spanish and Swedish.

Before coming here in 1990, he taught at Beaver Country Day School, Weymouth South, Boston Latin, Waltham High and St. Sebastian’s, as well as at Johns Hopkins, Franklin and Marshall College, Brown and Regis.

He also spent time laying railroad track in Pennsylvania and worked in construction in Boston, including the Central Artery Tunnel Project.

One of Mr. Mitchell’s colleagues, Michael Zilles, a teacher of English and Spanish, said “Bob Mitchell believed Newton North was the best high school in the world.”

He said in the the school’s official statement that Mr. Mitchell “was fiercely intellectual, uncanBY

Corrections:

file photo

Robert Mitchell

in memoriam nily erudite, a teacher who held himself and his students to the highest of standards, and kept in contact with many of these students as they went off to study classics at elite colleges and universities.

“Bob gave his whole to any student or colleague who asked for his help.

“He asked for the best, gave his best, and anyone—anyone— who wanted to join him felt his welcome.

“Bob taught methodically and chaotically.

“The routine from day to day never varied: seniors in his AP

In the May 15 edition on page 11, the cheerleaders in the picture are sophomore Corrine Beatrice, junior Melissa Forster, junior Rian Murphy and junior Michelle Ng. Also, we incorrectly reported that the Student Showcase raised $35,000. It actually raised $3,500.

In the Mirettes issue, published as an insert to the May 15 edition, Helen Smith is incorrectly named as a writer.

class knew that they would be responsible for 30 lines of Virgil every night, and every day— up to and including the last day of the last term of their last year in high school—they would spend with the text, heads down, reading, translating, interpreting, entering into, as he put it, the Roman mind.

“Yet Bob also knew when to ask his students to raise their heads and join him on one of his tangents, excursions to the battlefields or libraries or political intrigues of the Roman Empire, the monasteries of medieval Europe, Dante’s Inferno, Dickens’ London, or the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“In his classroom, he let students know where they were and what they were doing, but they never knew where they might end up. It was an adventure.

“Perhaps most telling about Bob was not only how much he knew, and how well he communicated what he knew, but also his undauntable good will.

“But he did much more than this: he raised and cheered us all. He reminded us that the life of the mind—life—is fun and exciting.”

Mr. Mitchell leaves his sister Anne-Marie and his brother Richard.

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 newtonite@newton.k12. ma.us. 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

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Shira Bleicher

First-Year Forum: Michael Ball, Michelle Kielty, Zoe Tucker, Katie Miner and Kortney Sumner, all’08, share their post-grad experiences in an on campus progam Wednesday, May 20.

Grads in First-Year Forum JOE CONNORS After high school it’s essential to make new friends, take responsibility and adjust to life away from home, according to the speakers in the First-Year Forum.

Jakob Backer, who goes to SUNY/Purchase, said he signed up for a living community, which is a program that he said allowed him and everyone in his dorm to be in all the same classes.

“I lived in a suite with seven other guys, and it was nice to make space of our own,” he said.

Along with Backer, speakers were Michael Ball, Michelle Kielty, Katie Miner, Sarah Sagan, Kortney Sumner and Zoe Tucker —all ’08. Counseling interns Julia Kafrissen and Chrissy Maloney were the moderators of the forum Wednesday, May 20.

The moderators asked the panelists about the new freedoms that they acquired after high school, but Ball, who is in the BY

on campus U.S. Marines, talked about basic training: “getting up at 4 in the morning every day and having to get dressed by the numbers.”

Backer, however, said that his first class didn’t start until 12:30 in the afternoon.

“For me there were a lot of things I didn’t have to do any more, like waking up early or going to class early,” he said.

Moderators asked how homesickness affected the panelists’ contacts with friends and family.

According to Sagan, who attends Vanderbilt, “People were surprised, but I loved being far away.

“The busier you are, the more you’re involved on campus and the less homesick you become.”

Miner, who attends Merrimack, said, that living on campus “formed stronger friendships, and I felt close to my friends in

college.”

Sumner, who attends Skidmore, said she was homesick, but that homesickness helps communication with family and friends.

Kafrissen and Maloney ended the forum by asking the speakers to give advice to the audience.

Backer said that those going to college need to save their money and to figure out how to balance their budgets.

According to Sumner, the farther away you are from high school, “the more you forget about it.”

“It doesn’t matter about your rankings, titles, or test scores,” she said. “You’re in college.

“You should also make yourself seem successful and think for yourself.”

Sagan said people should stay in touch with friends.

“Relationships change over time, but with a solid foundation you can still maintain a good relationship,” she said.

Brothers find World War II sub ALICIA ZHAO While the Abele brothers were tossing a football outside their house in Newton Highlands in September, 1942, they heard that their father had disappeared.

“Our mother came out and told us that we had a telegram,” said Bruce Abele.

“It said that the USS Grunion, a submarine commanded by our dad, had not been heard from and was thought to be lost.”

It remained missing for 65 years, he said.

In a presentation Tuesday, May 26, Abele described how he and his brothers Brad and John BY

on campus

searched for the USS Grunion.

He showed a video, which he narrated, about the search process.

Abele said the Grunion had arrived at Pearl Harbor June 20, 1942. It had embarked on its first mission to the Kiska Islands in Alaska July 10. It was never heard from again.

But Abele said that he and his brothers found a note on one of the Grunion websites from Yusaki Iwasaki, a Japanese historian, who had translated an article by a Japanese commander.

“It turns out that there had

been a confrontation between an unidentified American submarine and a Japanese cargo ship named the Kano Maru,” Abele said.

According to the article, when the Kano Maru had fired back at the submarine, the submarine sank.

With this new knowledge, the three brothers went on two searches for the submarine, one in 2006 and one in 2007, Abele said. They located the submarine in 2007 and identified it based on the style of the ship, the fact that it was the only U.S. submarine lost in that area and because it was in the predicted location.

Advice about driving safely OLIVIA STEARNS Auto accidents are the No. 1 cause of deaths among teen-agers, said Brandon Bogart, the founder of In Control Driving.

“Ninety-three percent of car crashes are due to errors made by the driver, either in judgment or skill,” Bogart said.

“That means that all of those accidents are preventable if drivers get the right training.”

In a presentation Wednesday, May 27, Bogart talked about In Control Driving and gave safe driving tips.

Bogart, who is also a professional race car driver, helped to create this driving program in 2006 because he said he thought that there was a lot of critical information missing from regular driver’s education courses.

BY

on campus “All the skills we teach are things that can only be learned behind the wheel, not in a classroom,” Bogart said.

He offered tips about driving to keep in mind: ◆ One car length behind the vehicle in front of you for every 10 miles per hour you are driving is not enough. Always use the three-second rule. ◆ Vision out of the rear of a car isn’t always clear and a driver generally cannot see farther than 50 feet, so try to avoid backing up. ◆ Airbags deploy at 250 mph, so if your hands are not correctly positioned on the wheel you risk punching yourself in the face at 250 mph.

◆ Seatbelts help during a crash, and help keep you positioned in your seat while turning a corner or swerving. ◆ Look as far down the road as possible to increase reaction time. ◆ Anti-lock brake systems are the No. 1 feature to help avoid accidents. Do not pump your foot on the anti-lock brake systems.

Push down as hard as you can. ◆ Do not swerve away from an obstruction. Instead, slam on the brakes. ◆ Sports utility vehicles are not safer than cars. They are harder to stop, tend to roll over and are more difficult to turn. ◆ Do not drive if you are overtired. Driving after less than four hours of sleep is the equivalent of driving drunk.

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 3

Class of 2009 graduates

◆ Story continues from page 1 Workshop, she belonged to the Human Rights Board and was a representative to “C3,” a coalition of the principal, assistant principal and faculty members, that defines and develops programs.

Tiffany Mui presented the Phi Beta Kappa Award for academic excellence to Danylko Villano. A member of cross-country and outdoor track, he belonged to Asian Culture Club, Environmental Club, Film Club and Philosophy Club. He received the Kennedy Award for the best junior thesis in the AP division, a gold medal in the National Latin Exam and placed in the top six nationwide among non-native speakers in the National French Exam.

Andreas Rotenberg presented the Dickinson Memorial Award to Jared Forman. The award is for a senior boy who demonstrates great improvement in athletic competition, sportsmanship, character and skill. A member of the Science Team and a teacher’s assistant in chemistry, Forman was a captain of cross-country, wrestling and outdoor track. He also was a Boston Globe all-star, Boston Herald all-star and News Tribune all-star for cross-country.

Ward presented Nathan Wainwright with the Gary Elliott Prize for the Performing Arts.

A member of the improvizational troupe, Spontaneous Generation, for four years, and its co-director this year, Wainwright has participated in 13 productons, beginning with “Chicago” and ending with “Urinetown,” as well as performing in the Newton Summer Stage program.

Inricka Liburd presented the Helene Breivogel Award for citizenship, sportsmanship and improvement to Michele Kaufman.

A representative to School Council, Guidance Aide and Mentors in Violence Prevention, Kaufman started for three years on the soccer team and set a state record in the long jump, as well as school records in the long jump and 300m hurdles. She was on the sprint medley team this year, which finished third in the

Nationals. She was a Bay State Conference all star in spring, 2008 and a News Tribune All Star.

Kaufman was captain of indoor and outdoor track this year.

Paris Mongo presented Tiffany Mui with the Margaret South Award for courtesy, courage and unselfish enthusiasm. A class vice president for the past three years and the business manager of the yearbook, Mui is a member of the Asian Culture Club and Business Club and played softball all four years.

Will Feinstein presented Kayla McQuade with the Rotary Club William Rockwell Memorial Career and Vocational Technical Education Achievement Award.

The award is for a student who has been a model of excellence in his or her technical-vocational field of interest.

McQuade majored in the early child development program and has been a part of it since freshman year. She also received the Diane Antonellis Childcare Scholarship Award.

Ann Staulo presented the Wendell R. Bauckman Award to Danielle Kutas. The award is for giving unselfishly to the school in many areas.

Kutas was president of the Class of 2009 for the past three years, a member of Guidance Aides and Mentors in Violence Prevention, and one of two students on the Crisis Team.

Tina Brin presented Jackson Davidow and Mongo with the Lenny Zakim/PTSO Human Rights Award. The award is for students who exemplify Zakim’s beliefs in reaching out across different racial and religious groups.

Captain of Mentors in Violence Prevention and president of the Gay/Straight Alliance, Davidow directed “The Illusion” and was an assistant director of ”A View from the Bridge” and “Raisin in the Sun.” Mongo was the captain of the cheerleaders and a member of the varsity indoor and outdoor track teams. Also, she was a leader of the Black Leadership Advisory Council.

MARENA COLE Juniors, sophomores and freshmen have elected officers for next year.

“The speeches were good, and the classes voted with conviction,” said history teacher Albert Cho, who runs the elections with math teacher Cheryll-Ann Lane.

For the Class of ’10, Eliana Eskinazi returns as president with Rocco Donohue, Jeffrey Handler and Zoë Talkin as vice presidents.

Jonathan Bressler, Ezra Cohen and Camilla Jackson are representatives to the Student Faculty Administration Board with Melissa Anderson as the alternate.

For the Class of ’11, Nicole Goldberg was elected president.

Kevin Barisano, Emily Cetlin,

Molly Doris-Pierce and Amy Ren are vice presidents.

Jared Kalow, Emma Leader and Ana Mijailovic are representatives to the SFA with Mercer Gary as the alternate.

For the Class of ’12, Mario Tavolieri returns as president.

Stephanie Brown, Ian Mark, Bernard McSally and Jon Paul Roby are vice presidents.

Shelton Cochran, Jesse Tripathi and Allison Wu are representatives to the SFA with Gabe Dreyer as the alternate.

Junior Ben Miller and sophomore Remi Torracinta are representatives to the School Committee and sophomore Jing CoxOrrell is representative to the School Council.

Classes elect officers BY

Congratulations Jonathan Lee

Class of 2009 Love, Henry, Linda and Kristen

arts

4 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tragedy eerie, exciting ‘Macbeth’ production impressive

ALICIA ZHAO achine guns, desert camouflage and eerie, white-clad witches made for an exciting production of “Macbeth.”

Under the direction of Dev Luthra, students from both high schools performed in the 26th Shakespeare production in South’s Seasholes Auditorium Thursday, May 14 through Sunday, May 17.

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Kristof Janezic

Father and Daughter: Sophomore Skylar Fox, as Caldwell B. Cladwell, welcomes junior Julia Mandel-Folly, as Hope.

Kristof Janezic

Enjoying themselves: Senior Nate Richardson as a rebel, freshman Emily Paley as Little Sally and junior Corey Robins, in the ensemble, share a laugh.

Musical lively, comedic, uplifting W

KATE LEWIS ith lively singing and dancing, “Urinetown” kept audiences laughing, even in some of its darkest moments.

This musical went on stage Thursday, May 28 through Sunday, May 31 in the little theatre under the direction of seniors Rachel Bronstein and Rachel Gore.

Set in the future, “Urinetown” tells of a world in which drought has decreased the water supply and people must pay to use public bathrooms.

Executives at the Urine Good Company run the public toilets, enjoying life while the poor citizens suffer.

Narrating the story, Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, a poor street urchin, also participated as characters in the plot.

Junior Jordan Ascher played Officer Lockstock as a classy and haughty police officer, and freshBY

Times editor on Pulitzer team

ALICIA ZHAO Jodi Rudoren ’88, formerly Jodi Wilgoren, was part of a New York Times team that won a breaking news Pulitzer for coverage of the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Rudoren is a deputy metro editor at The Times.

She said she “pitched in here and there,” but that the key reporters were Danny Hakim, Serge Kovaleski, Willie Rashbaum and Ian Urbina. Carolyn Ryan, who graduated from Weymouth South 1982, ran the coverage.

“I didn’t have any particular official role,” Rudoren said. “I BY

review

man Emily Paley was a charming little girl as Little Sally.

The two soon introduce the “poorest, filthiest urinal in town,” Public Amenity No. 9.

Running this urinal are the strict Ms. Pennywise, played by junior Hayley Travers, and her assistant Bobby Strong, played by junior Ryan Vona. Bobby is a custodian, and Vona portrayed him as a youthful dreamer.

When Bobby’s father, played by senior David Waldinger, is short on change and cannot pay, Ms. Pennywise refuses to let him use the bathroom.

Desperate, Mr. Strong relieves himself on the street, breaking one of the city’s laws. As the police force arrived and took him to Urinetown, a penal colony from which offenders never return, the audience laughed at the absurdity.

The scene then changed to

graduates in the news did whatever was needed at any given moment.

“There were probably 30 people involved over the life of the story.

“It was a triumph of teamwork, and of old-fashioned journalism presented in newfangled ways.

“We had all kinds of onlineonly interactive features.”

After her team posted the story on The New York Times website, Rudoren said, the home page flashed on every television channel.

“I couldn’t be prouder just to sit next to the people who really

Congratulations James You did it!

Caldwell B. Cladwell, the CEO of the Urine Good Company, welcoming his daughter Hope.

Sophomore Skylar Fox portrayed Cladwell as arrogant and hungry for money but adoring of his daughter. Junior Julia MandelFolly played Hope as an ingenue eager to help her father.

Later, Hope meets Bobby on the street and the two fall in love.

Hope encourages Bobby to listen to his instincts and fight for justice in “Follow Your Heart,” their inspiring love duet.

The next morning, Bobby steps up to lead a rebellion against the the Urine Good Company. In his anger, Cladwell orders the police to capture Bobby and escort him to Urinetown. After the police reveal that there really is no Urinetown, they throw Bobby from a building.

In his descent, Vona earned laughs from the audience by dramatically spinning himself down

a flight of stairs.

When the actors danced and sang, audience members could feel their energy.

Senior Melanie Greene directed the six-piece band of clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, bass, keyboard and drums, and seniors Molly King and Jesse Wilson did the choreography.

Costumes by seniors Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt and Fiona Stoltze contrasted the two social classes.

The poor wore tattered, mismatched clothes in dingy earth tones. Meanwhile, rich officials were in neat, clean-cut suits.

Sets by junior Chris AnnasLee reflected the poverty of the setting, including dirt-covered walls with graffiti and a network of bronze pipes.

“Urinetown” raised awareness about issues including corporation corruption and conserving the environment.

made it happen,” she said.

As a student here, she was advertising manager, news analysis editor and editor in chief of the Newtonite. In addition she served on the Student Faculty Administration Board.

Last year, Tishler worked on a Super Bowl commercial, and with his team won an Emmy Award for it.

“We produced a commercial that led up to the beginning of the game,” he said.

“The theme was that all of the players and their family members came from different parts of the country and shared the same dream: to participate in the Super Bowl.”

Currently, Tishler said, he is directing and producing a documentary on Lil Wayne, a rapper.

During his time here, Tishler played basketball, soccer and tennis, wrote for the Newtonite and served on the Human Rights Board.

Sports special leads to a second Emmy

ALICIA ZHAO Ben Tishler ’95, a director, producer and writer, has won his second Emmy Award for “24/7,” a sports series he produced last year with a team of 22.

“We worked on this series for HBO,” Tishler said. “The show involved us following two boxers in the four weeks leading up to their fight.”

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review

In the story, Macbeth meets three witches who predict his future. He is skeptical at first, but after the first prediction comes true, Macbeth’s greed surfaces and he wants more. With assistance from his wife, Macbeth proceeds to kill his best friend, the king and others who get in his way.

South senior Alex Caron portrayed Macbeth as easily tempted and morally conflicted.

In a scene right before he kills Duncan, Macbeth’s guilt overcomes him and he sees a dagger floating in front of him.

The three witches also appear, holding the dagger, coaxing Macbeth to take it.

South sophomore Madeline Schulman played Lady Macbeth, communicating her ambitious, dictatorial personality with a commanding presence.

However, in an especially impressive soliloquy towards the end, she finally reveals her guilty conscience.

Schulman showed Lady Macbeth in a frazzled psychological state, and delivered her lines hysterically, seeming to be on the verge of breaking down. She kept trying to wipe invisible blood off of her hands, but it wouldn’t come off.

Thudding drumbeats in the background intensified this emotional scene.

Meanwhile, the dead king’s son Malcolm plots against Macbeth for revenge.

Sophomore Derek Butterton played Malcolm as a compassionate man who knows that he is the rightful king.

Costumes, lighting and the set gave the tragedy a modern look, emphasizing the timelessness of the story.

With costumes by Martha Heller, all the men wore camouflaged military wear and large boots. At more formal events, they wore tuxedoes. As for the women, they had on elegant dresses throughout the performance.

Accentuating their magic, the witches wore white, flowing gowns to match with their white faces.

With hues of blue and purple, lighting by senior Kristof Janezic was effective in capturing the mystical nature of the witches’ cave.

The set by South junior Ariel Shvartsman showed an abandoned city damaged from a war.

Construction sites, wasteland and broken brick walls filled the set.

Convincing and well delivered, this production made for an exciting evening.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 5

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6 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

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“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.”

—Anthony J. D’Angelo, Author

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

BRODERICK, BANCROFT & GOLDBERG attorneys at law

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retirements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 7

Carol Kerrissey cites students as inspiring C

CHLOE JUDELL-HALFPENNY ounseling department head Carol Kerrissey said that seeing how her students grow up and change the world has inspired her throughout her career.

“Former students, some now in their 40s, have stayed in touch and let me know what they were doing,” she said. “I have watched students who were always engaged at every level of what they did during high school go on to do amazing things.”

Kerrissey said she has been especially moved by her work with students who have faced adversity.

“I’ve watched students over the years deal with family problems, homelessness, eating disorders, drug addiction and pregnancy,” she said.

“It has been inspiring to see that they were able to confront their challenges and move on.”

Born in New London, Conn., Kerrissey graduated from Milton High in 1965. She earned a bachelor’s in French at American International in 1969.

Kerrissey began her career as a French teacher at the old Weeks Junior High, and she came to Newton North as a counseling intern with Maureen Prokopy and Jay Snape in 1973, the year of this building’s opening.

While interning, Kerrissey continued her studies at Boston University from which she graduated with a master’s in counseling psychology in 1974.

That year, she began working with all grades kindergarten through 12 as a counselor in Lexington. She also trained as a family therapist at the Cambridge Family Institute from 1977 to 1980. She was certified as a school psychologist in 1980.

Kerrissey pursued her education further at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she earned a master’s in administra-

tion, planning and social policy in 1985 and a doctorate in 1988.

She left her position in Lexington in 1990 when she became K-12 director of guidance and counseling of the Westwood Schools. She returned to Lexington as director of guidance in counseling in 1997.

Kerrissey said that she enjoyed the opportunity that these positions offered her to help students from all grades.

She said the broad age range of students provided her with a

MARENA COLE nglish teacher Nancy Kranes said she disagrees with the schoolmaster in Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times” when it comes to studentteacher relationships.

“According to the character, students are vessels, and you just need to pour information into them,” Kranes said. “I think that a student is a person first.”

Kranes said she likes teaching sophomores the most.

“That’s the first year when students really have to be disciplined in their work,” she said. “If they get a good foundation in close reading and disciplined writing, it makes it easier for when they’re juniors, seniors, in college and beyond.

“It’s a challenge to prepare them, but it’s an enjoyable challenge.

“When I was a student, I always wanted to know the pieces that made up a big idea. To get to

powerful learning experience.

“Over the years, I had worked with a lot of disenfranchised high school kids and after talking with them, I came to learn that they often hadn’t felt connected to their schooling or to an adult in their schools since elementary school,” Kerrissey said.

“I then worked in elementary schools to see the transition when kids start to lose that spark and begin to struggle academically.

It was a valuable experience that informed the work I do with older

students.”

Kerrissey came here in 2001 as head of the counseling department.

She said that her work with the students and staff here reflects her values.

“I believe in fairness, openness and trying to engage with people in a meaningful way,” she said.

“I’m interested in embracing life with all its challenges, the good and the bad. I encourage everyone I work with to work hard, to reach beyond what they think they’re able to do and to never give up, even if life presents challenges that seem unfair or overwhelming.”

Her colleagues here said they have felt the influence of these values.

Beth Swederskas, Kerrissey’s successor as department head, said Kerrissey dedicates herself to her work.

“She has a work ethic and commitment that are unparalleled,” she said. “She has a wealth of knowledge and helped provide both support and advocacy for the department. She always strives to do what’s in the best interest of students.”

Kerrissey said that she has seen some changes in students over the course of her career.

“Kids are kids, but they’re more sophisticated than they used to be,” she said. “They have a much larger sense of independence and a greater ability to think critically about issues.”

Kerrissey said she especially noticed this quality at Lexington, where she participated in a democratic school program that teachers and students ran collaboratively called Education Without Walls, similar to Newton’s old Murray Road.

“It was a unique and careerdefining experience,” she said.

“Students and faculty designed courses together every year. Students even helped teach

classes if they were experienced or knowledgeable about particular topics.

“I taught psychology courses, jewelry-making class, women’s studies, and I co-taught some English classes. It was an exciting, stimulating educational experience.”

However, Kerrissey said, greater stress affects students today.

“I see in my work that students have more pressure on them that manifests itself in a variety of ways,” she said.

“Sometimes there’s tension in families, or often kids have difficulty applying themselves in school.

“It reflects some of the greater stresses in society.”

Kerrissey said that she will miss the vibrant community within the school.

“I’ll miss the whole essence of the school,” she said. “It’s an exciting place, and I will miss the wide range of opportunities that it presents. I’m especially sad to say goodbye to my students and colleagues in the department.”

Kerrissey said she will continue teaching courses in the graduate counseling departments at Cambridge College and Suffolk.

She will also serve as director of a grant-funded project through the education collaborative, ACCEPT. The project will coordinate mental health services between schools and community agencies.

Kerrissey said she will leave behind a counseling department that sets a standard for quality.

“This school’s counseling department is a model for other counseling programs throughout the country in the great range of programs and the support that it offers,” she said.

“I get to leave knowing that I contributed to the building of that model.”

that big idea and to really understand the material, it’s essential to know structure and appreciate the beauty of the language.

“My hope is that students recognize that learning is a process, and that to learn well takes patience.”

Kranes grew up in Lexington and earned a bachelor’s degree from U.N.H. She was an adjunct professor at Massasoit Community College in Brockton for three years in the early ’90s. She earned her master of arts and literature in 1997 from Bridgewater State.

Kranes came to this school in 1993. Since then, she has taught all curriculum levels to sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as the Harlem Renaissance elective.

She also worked on the school’s Active Anti-Racism Committee in the mid ’90s.

“We had honest, open discussions about diversity and issues in the school concerning race, gender, sexuality, etc,” she said.

“It led to the creation of the Leadership class and of Breaking Barriers Day. “That was the best of what Newton North represents. The open-mindedness of our school exemplifies the best of what education can be.”

Kranes said one of her favorite aspects of teaching here is the culture.

“I love Newton North,” she said. “I love the diversity and the fact that teachers really care about the students.

“The English department is a great department because we have so many different voices.

People are always working to see how we can improve.

“I like coming in each day and seeing students and friends and listening to what’s going on in the hallways.

“Newton North is just a vibrant environment. Some are good days, some are bad, but it’s always a welcoming place.”

One of Kranes’ interests here has been performance. She has acted in four faculty/student plays, most recently “The Guys” in 2006 with special ed department head Walter Lyons. The play commemorate the events of September 11, 2001.

From 2005 to 2007 she was acting English department head with English teacher Peter Capodilupo.

“My two years working with her were so enlightening and so refreshing,” Capodilupo said.

“She has a burning curiosity for all things literary and all things human.

“If education were music, with her experience, she could touch all the notes and chords and work with all the harmonies in any educational chorus.

“When she was involved with the school committee at Bridgewater, she worked with the needs of teachers and balancing the budget.

“She had so much experience on both sides that she could see more deeply on both sides of a problem.”

Referring to a visit from a team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which approved the school for accreditation, Kranes said it was an extremely difficult time to be department head.

“We had to look very carefully at our curriculum and gather evidence to support our choices for what we teach,” she said.

“No one likes doing it because it’s very arduous work, but our department pulled together and came up with a very good report, and we’re recognized as a very strong department.”

English department head Tom Fabian said Kranes was helpful in making the transition when he became department head in 2007.

“She was able to show me the ropes,” Fabian said.

“Brenda Keegan had been department head for 15 years, and the previous department head, Mary Lanigan, had been there for 42. The empathy Nancy showed me helped me make that transition.”

Keegan said Kranes has been “a wonderful friend and source of support to me and many others at Newton North.”

“Nancy is one of the best teachers I know in the traditional mode of helping students become excellent, close readers,” she said.

“Whenever a student or parent asked me to assure a student would learn to write well, I always assigned that student to Nancy.”

BY

Shira Bleicher

“I believe in fairness, openness and trying to engage with people in a meaningful way,” says counseling department head Carol Kerrissey.

Nancy Kranes says school is welcoming, open-minded BY

E

Shira Bleicher

“My hope is that students recognize that learning is a process, and that to learn well takes patience,” says English teacher Nancy Kranes.

8 â—† Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

retirements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 9

Peg McGowan cites rewards of Work-Study W CHLOE JUDELL-HALFPENNY hen Work-Study coordinator Peg McGowan was about to retire last fall, she said, she happened to run into a former student whom she had advised 18 years ago.

“He was a successful electrician, married, with a house and two kids,” she said. “Yet he still recognized me.”

McGowan said helping her students succeed is what kept her coming back each day over the past 24 years that she has worked here.

“I could see students who may have been struggling academically in school take on something new,” she said. “They find something they really care about and become successful.”

She said that working here also offered her a constantly changing atmosphere.

“I never did the same thing every day,” she said. “Even my approach to students has changed as they’ve changed over the years. You have to adapt to their changing concerns.”

In 2005, McGowan’s niece, Elle Beyer, came to live with her and attended this school after evacuating New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

“The community gathered together and made her feel welcome,” she said. “They’ve been supportive of me and my family.

It symbolized Newton North to me. People help you when you’re in need of support.”

Born in Norwood, McGowan graduated from Walpole High in 1969, then earned a bachelor’s in BY

special education from Bridgewater State in 1973 and a master’s in vocational education from Boston College in 1981. She was married one year later.

She began her career teaching in Farmington, N.H. for one year, went to Medway for three years, and then turned her sights toward career and technical education, teaching at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin.

In 1984, McGowan came to Newton as a Work-Study coordinator for alternative programs at Newton North and South.

“I helped students get into the working world,” she said. “I helped them find jobs and complete résumés. The resources here were tremendous. Any concerns, any questions I had were answered.”

This wealth of resources has continued to grow and offer support since she began working here, she said.

In 1987, McGowan took a fulltime position here in the New Start program and as a teacher in the Vocational Academic Cluster, a program designed for vocational majors. In 1989, director of vocational education Dan Malia hired McGowan as the coordinator of Cooperative Education and Work-Study.

As coordinator, McGowan oversaw all programs related to Work-Study, including those in business education, music, photography, stage and art, and techvoc. She was also a job coach.

“I would go out and set students up at a job in the community,” she said. “I would make

sure that it was a fit and ensure that labor laws were covered.

“It let them learn things and have an experience they wouldn’t necessarily be able to have at the high school.”

McGowan said her position required her to maintain communication with employers who hired students in the program.

“Job coaches keep weekly logs of their work,” she said. “I would do monthly evaluations and visit each student’s job site, keeping in touch with employer.”

She said that her responsibilities also included supervising the LINKS and in-school Connections Work-Study programs.

“Connections sets up special education students with projects within the school,” she said.

“They have jobs in mail delivery, the copy center and the library.”

Special education department head Walter Lyons said McGowan helped bridge special education and work study.

“She has always taken every student as an individual, looking at how they can integrate into the work force in a safe and productive manner,” he said. “She’s helped them find their potential.

It’s not just getting them a job but helping them learn how to adjust to the workplace, behave in a job, and really perform and succeed.”

McGowan also served on the Graduation and Awards Committee and as the liaison with the cosmetology program at Waltham’s Blaine Beauty School.

In addition, McGowan worked with representatives from the

Shira Bleicher

“People here are life-long learners,” says Work-Study coordinator Peg McGowan.

Mass. Rehabilitation Commission and was also responsible for transitional planning under Chapter 688, which grants students special education services until they either graduate or turn 22.

Graphic arts teacher Tom Donellan ’90 said he has enjoyed working with McGowan as both a student and colleague.

“She helped shape my life from high school on to my profes-

sional life,” he said. “She helped me with structure. You know if you give something to her, she’ll get it done.”

McGowan, who retired October 1, said, “One of the great things about this place is that there’s always something new to learn.

“A new idea, a new theory or something new to be discussed.

People here are life-long learners.”

gram for each student.

In addition to JV volleyball, Perkins has coached the varsity cross-country and downhill ski teams, and the JV and varsity girls’ tennis teams.

Perkins said she appreciates having had the opportunity to chaperone students to Belize and to have taken students to ski in France and ski areas in New England.

Former athletic director T.J. Williams said that Perkins is “very passionate about teaching and passionate for lifetime skills.”

“She also practices what she teaches and I have witnessed on many occasions what she taught and the results of what she taught. She was, and I’m sure still is, a very big advocate for the wellness side of physical education.”

Also, current athletic director Tom Giusti said Perkins has made a lasting impact on this school’s physical education, health and wellness department.

“She has always tried to provide a positive learning environment so students could improve their ability to balance physical activity with psychological, social and spiritual wellness,” Giusti said.

“Jan is an outstanding teacher and coach who clearly communicates with her students and fellow staff members. She is always prepared and treats everyone with the utmost respect.”

According to physical education/health/wellness coordinator Courtney Albert, Perkins has had a great influence in her teaching.

“She was my mentor when I got here,” she said. “The first year I was here, I really struggled and if I hadn’t had Jan to go to, I might have picked a new career.

“We collaborate all the time.

I’ll come into the office after class and tell her about something I did in class, and she will like the idea so much and do it in her class the next day. Sometimes it’s the other way around.

“I am really going to miss her next year.”

During Perkins’ 26 years at Newton North, she said, she has witnessed changes.

“I have seen the school overall become more structured and more calm,” Perkins said. “Also there are more different programs to help meet the needs of a more diversified group of students.”

Perkins described this school as a caring place with a sense of community.

“It is a place where one can take risks, learn and grow from them,” Perkins said.

There are moments in Perkins’ career here that she said explain what teaching is all about.

“A student wrote to me after having graduated, thanking me for holding him accountable to following rules,” Perkins said.

“Watching a student during a class activity interact and talk with classmates who otherwise might not do so and having the student comment positively about the experience is always uplifting to witness.”

During retirement, Perkins said, she plans to travel around the United States. She said she also hopes to play more tennis.

She recently took up sea kayaking and wants to do more with that.

Perkins said she will also be looking for volunteer work. Since Perkins is a certified personal trainer, she said, she hopes to put it to some use.

Also, coaching a varsity tennis team again is on her to-do list.

She also wants to spend more time with family and friends.

Jan Perkins says she has witnessed changes

PATRICK ALVES ack at the old Warren Junior High, Jan Perkins had 90 girls in her physical education class.

“There was not as much teaching as there was crowd control,” Perkins said.

At one point, for instance, the students didn’t want to have class, so they all started chanting “No gym,” repeatedly, in unison, she recalled.

“I left to get help,” Perkins said. “When I came back, the students had all left and gone outside.”

Pe r k i n s g r a d u a t e d f r o m Waltham High in 1970 and earned a bachelor’s in physical education from U. Mass. Amherst in 1974. Later, in 1987, she earned her master’s from Bridgewater State.

She began teaching at Warren in 1975, and when Warren closed in 1983, Perkins came to work here.

“Half of the school was new that year because that was the year 9th grade became part of the high school,” Perkins said.

“It was chaotic trying to find out what to do and where to go but also exciting because of the new opportunities of working with high school students. As soon as I arrived, I was the coach of the JV girls’ volleyball team.”

In describing her daily routine now, Perkins said it is the same as when she started except less hectic.

“I come in early and do last minute planning for classes and check e-mails,” Perkins said.

“During my free periods, I follow up on students’ absences and speak to counselors about students and do some setting up for classes.”

Perkins said her teaching philosophy is continuing to evolve.

“It has changed from thinking BY

B

Teddy Wenneker

“By focusing the mind, we can create positive, physiological changes in the body,” says physical education/health/wellness teacherJan Perkins. that a teacher needs to be the disseminator of information to one that allows the students to have more of a part in their own learning with the teacher providing access to information and setting up the learning environment in different ways,” she said.

Perkins said her favorite class is Wellness Activities, a course that she designed 10 years ago.

“I decided to start Wellness to provide the students with a class that would teach them how to take stress off their lives and teach them about the mind and

body relationship through yoga, meditation and deep breathing,” Perkins said.

“By focusing the mind, we can create positive, physiological changes in the body.”

Another course she said she enjoys teaching is Lifetime Activities because the sports students play in the class are her favorites, including badminton and golf.

She said she also looks forward to Personal Fitness because there is the possibility that she might be able to work one-onone, developing the proper pro-

retirements

10 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Gretchen Sandbach aims to help students like math

JAY KRIEGER ath teacher Gretchen Sandbach starts her classes with students doing warm-up problems.

Then there’s an explanation of the previous night’s homework.

Test and quiz dates are on the whiteboard as an itinerary.

Sandbach said her philosophy of teaching is that students should feel comfortable asking questions in class and that they should feel that tests are fair and based on the material she has taught.

“I enjoy teaching math because I like seeing kids excited about understanding the material,” she said.

Sandbach said her definition of a good student is that the person cares about understanding the material and works hard.

“I hope that all of my students are respectful towards me because I’m respectful towards them,” she said.

Moments that define teaching for her, she said, are times when students are excited about understanding the material they are learning.

Born in Kentucky, Sandbach said she often moved because her father was in the Air Force.

She attended 11 different high schools.

She received a bachelor’s with a major in chemistry and a minor in math from the University of Kentucky in 1965. She also has BY

Gaby Perez-Dietz

“I like seeing kids excited about understanding the material,” says math teacher Gretchen Sandbach.

M

a master’s in statistical research from Boston University.

Sandbach started teaching in international schools in Belgium and Taiwan. She came to Newton in 1967 and taught at the old Bigelow, Meadowbrook and Weeks Junior Highs. She began teaching here in 1986.

When she first started teaching at Newton North, it was the beginning of having technology in schools, she said.

“Some students had calculators and some didn’t, but the calculators were very limited in capacity,” she recalled.

Since she began here, Sandbach said, she has taught every math class with the exception of 503 pre-calculus, Trigonometry and AP. “My favorite classes to teach are pre-calculus 517, 518, 519 and College Prep because the students work very hard and I like the material,” she said.

Math department head Cyn-

thia Bergan said Sandbach “has made many contributions to the school and is a tremendous colleague.”

“She is the ultimate professional by being a highly experienced teacher with cutting edge skills, and she is generous with her knowledge and materials,” Bergan said.

“She has been the driving force behind many sophomore courses.

She is able to teach the state curriculum while helping struggling students pass the MCAS. “Her years of experience combine with the ability to stay current in teaching methods, and she produces great materials to share with colleagues.”

Sandbach said she plans to travel and also to volunteer at Cabot Elementary School.

“If I could be a math teacher again, I would be, so I could interact with students and teachers who range in age and because math is fun for me,” she said.

Pat Simon says differences are OK

JAY KRIEGER atricia Simon, a special education aide, said the best place for teen-agers to develop their potential is Newton North.

“The students don’t realize how lucky they are with support, and they are also expected to give back to the community,” she said.

“Special ed students have become more secure, but it can still be difficult for some of those with special needs to come into the big high school.

“All students should feel comfortable, and it’s our jobs to show them that it’s OK to be different.

We’re all different, and we are all worthwhile.”

Simon was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Silver Spring, Md. She attended high school at Quantico, a military base in Virginia.

In 1947 she began studying music education at Oberlin, and in 1949 she left to be married.

She earned her bachelor ’s degree in psychology and her music education certification at MacMurray College in Illinois in 1966.

In 1973 Simon’s son was killed in Vietnam, and she said that was when she started working with Golden Star Parents for Amnesty, an organization for war resisters.

Later she worked for the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign.

She earned a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School in 1988, and worked as a teacher aide at South and then as a teacher’s assistant at Burr Elementary Schhol in 1989.

In 1995 Simon became the director of religious education at First Parish Unitarian UniversalBY

P

courtesy Pat Simon

“All students should feel

comfortable, and it’s our jobs to show them that it’s OK to be different,” says special education aide Pat Simon.

ist Church in Waltham.

She started working at Newton North in 2003.

“The best part of working in the school system has been that kids and I get along, and I get to see the progress they make over the years,” she said.

“I find teaching here has been rewarding and a worthwhile use of time. I was always learning new things from students and teachers.”

Walter Lyons, special education department head, said working with Simon was valuable “because of the empathy and care she showed towards the students she worked with.”

“I enjoyed the one-on-one talks with her and really got the sense of her insight and understanding of the students she worked with,” he said.

Now Simon volunteers for the U.S. Department of Peace Campaign. She is the coordinator of the Massachusetts branch.

retirements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 11

Helen Smith says it’s fun to teach BY

BEN PLOTKIN

“W

hen in doubt, leave it out.”

Wi t h p r a g matic advice such as this, Helen Smith teaches English and advises the Newtonite, this school’s award-winning newspaper.

Now Smith is retiring after 44 years as a teacher and 35 as a newspaper adviser.

She has advised the paper since Volume 52.

“The point of the Newtonite and of all the teaching I have done is what Mary Lanigan told me when she asked me to advise it,” she said, referring to the retired English department head. “It is to teach students to take responsibility for their own expression.”

Having graduated from the Winsor School in Boston in 1960, Smith majored in history at Smith College and graduated in 1964.

She began teaching 6th grade that year in Acton.

After time out to have children, some part-time tutoring and three years teaching 9th-grade English at Winsor, she came to Newton High in 1971.

In 1973, Lanigan asked Smith to work with the Newtonite.

Smith, who won the Meserve Award for excellence in teaching in 1983, said she began advising with next to no experience in the field of journalism.

She audited a summer course, Advanced Newswriting and Editing, at Boston University.

“The teacher was George Sullivan, who was on the Globe sports desk,” she said. “I tried to write down every word he said.”

It was from Sullivan’s course, Smith said, that she learned the fundamentals.

In addition, she said, majoring in history made understanding journalism easier.

“History connects to journalism in a major way,” Smith said.

“If not for people recording it and reporting it, most of what we call history now wouldn’t exist.”

In 1978, Smith began taking members of the Newtonite to New York for the annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association convention.

She began teaching at Columbia during the summer and during the convention in 1983, and in 1998 she became president of the Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers’ Association.

Smith also worked as a consultant for the Newton TAB during 1979-1980 on the advice, she said, of a parent of two editors, Jack Calechman.

“Jack decided it would be a good idea if I worked for the TAB to get a first-hand look at community news reporting,” she said. “It was a great lesson to me to see how important the business side is.”

Smith said that one of the most enjoyable parts of journalism is its unpredictability.

“You never know what’s going to happen from day to day, or even minute to minute,” she said. “And any story, no matter how tame it may seem, can be controversial if you mess it up. “‘The readiness is all,’ as Hamlet says. You have to be adaptable, and that’s both challenging and really rewarding if you get it right.”

She cited the aftermath of the Blizzard of ’78 as an example of readiness and successful teamwork.

“The Newtonite has never come out late, not once,” she said.

“Kids from Auburndale hiked the copy over to kids in New-

Teddy Wenneker

“The point of the Newtonite and of all the teaching I have done is to teach students to take responsibility for their own expression,” says English teacher Helen Smith. tonville who hiked it to Newton Corner, and I drove it over to the printer in Belmont.”

Smith said another lesson she has learned from advising the Newtonite is the importance of playing the local angle.

“You have to think, ‘How are we going to report this so that it will be palatable to high school kids?’ You can’t just cover ‘The Iraq War.’ You have to invest yourself enough to search for someone from Newton or who went to a Newton high school who served in the war. That’s the kind of outlook you need.”

During Smith’s tenure as adviser, the Newtonite once produced a Russian supplement, Our Voices, as well as a French supplement, Mirettes, which came out last month in its 28th edition.

She said that the idea that it would be fun to try journalism in another language and the interest of her late colleague, French teacher Dave Phelan, accounted for Mirettes.

Our Voices resulted from an interest in the Russian language.

Smith audited Russian classes with Lucien Weisbrod here for six years.

Counselor Larry Allen, who has known Smith since he began working here in 1976, said that he is “not only a friend of hers, but a strong admirer of her as a person and as a leader.”

“She’s genuine,” he said.

“There’s absolutely no pretense about her.”

Allen praised Smith’s courage and integrity in her interactions both with her students and with her peers in the scholastic and journalistic worlds.

“In everything she does, Helen has a mission,” he said. “She wants you to be confident about what you’re doing, and if you’re not fully confident in it, she wants you to get to a place where you can be.”

Allen said that Smith has “demonstrated courage and bravery in defending the First Ammendment. Her legacy will live on in all her students, but I have been fortunate to become her friend and her ally, and I will miss her deeply.”

Retired English teacher Norm Walker said that working professionally with Smith “was no different than a kid working with her on the Newtonite.”

“She was and is very honest,” he said. “She has the smarts to know if you’re making a mistake, and the guts to tell you if you are.”

Walker said he met Smith when she began teaching at Newton High in 1971.

“She later co-taught with me for a while,” he said. “She was a confident and dedicated person, even as a new teacher.”

Walker said he and Smith cotaught a Propaganda Techniques course and a junior English course for several years before he left Newton to move to New Hampshire.

“I didn’t have much to do with Smitty directly in her role as adviser, but sometimes I’d be wandering around on the first floor and would pass by her room, and I could always tell if someone had just made a mistake,” he said.

“The room would be completely quiet, and there’d be this one kid sitting there with a big ‘Uh-oh’ written all over his face.

“She was tough with teachers and with kids, but that was healthy. Every system needs someone who isn’t afraid to give it to you straight.”

English department head Tom Fabian said that “as someone relatively new to this school and the English department, I’ve really felt the impact of Helen’s presence here.”

“She set the foundation for what I’ve come to see as one of the primary institutions in this

building,” he said.

“The Newtonite is a critical presence in this school as it is among scholastic newspapers in this country.”

Fabian added that he believes Smith “is also an incredible teacher of writing and literature.”

Edmund Sullivan, the executive director of CSPA, said that Smith is “very professional, very dedicated and very detail-oriented.”

“Her work has informed and inspired hundreds, if not thousands,” Sullivan said, citing Smith’s editing of CSPA’s “Springboard to Journalism” textbook as a prime example.

“That book is one of the staples for teachers of scholastic journalism, and that’s Helen’s work,” he said.

“She has been a steady voice for students and advisers of the scholastic press for decades.”

In addition to “Springboard to Journalism,” Smith has edited or co-edited more than a dozen publications, including “Student Newspapers: Managing the business Side,” “The Official CSPA

Beyond Newton North As part of her work as adviser, scholastic journalism advocate and English teacher, Helen Smith has taught in programs beyond this school.

“Without this school and the values it represents in terms of the First Amendment and freedom of inquiry, I wouldn’t have had the nerve,” Smith said.

Locally, she has worked with Youth Opportunities Boston to help produce the YO Journal and at Boston University as a lecturer and executive director of the New England Scholastic Press Association.

In the former Soviet Union, she worked with colleagues from the Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers Association teaching journalism and producing publications in Budapest, Hungary; Bucharest, Romania; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Vosteri and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

She has returned to Kyrgyzstan eight times, through the ACCELS/ USAID program and through the American University of Central Asia, where she teaches and edits publications.

For the past two summers, she has worked in Zambia in the Communities Without Borders program.

—BEN PLOTKIN Stylebook,” “Scholastic Newspaper Fundamentals,” this school’s faculty and writing handbooks, and “Journalist’s Handbook” for the New England Press Association.

Norman Moyes, a professor at Boston University and colleague of Smith’s, praised her no-holdsbarred approach to advising.

“Helen’s an incredible dynamo, able to do five different things at the same time and do them all well,” he said.

“There are very few people in this world who can go all-out, and Helen’s one of them.”

Moyes, who works with Smith in the New England Scholastic Press Association, said that the organization is “incredibly lucky” to have her help.

“Bob Baram, who founded the association, was the one to bring Helen into it, and thank God he found her,” Moyes said. “We needed her vitality.”

In speaking about Smith, Moyes paraphrased a line from Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” saying that “‘Gladly did she learn, and gladly teach.’”

Smitty’s Paper Plumbs the Depths The Grand Canyon rips southwest landscapes.

Below, we freeze in place; a river rages past; In light close to pain a wide crack gapes; Cliffs cast shadows; land gets dark fast.

The Carlsbad Cavern is full; stalactites drip; Sharp stalagmites, cold spears, jam up the dark.

Hot and wild, bats race out their ship, They whirl across night sky, hungry, stark.

The Newtonite’s a canyon, a cavern, a full moon Clasping the sea, the Centaurus, grasping tides; Some secret lies beneath the dark lagoon.

Smitty demands her crew probe all sides: Plumb the depths in shadowed light; light the cave, A Ptolemaic sphere; seize hold the heaving wave.

—NORM WALKER FOR HELEN SMITH, 2009

12 â—† Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Graduation special

Senior section Erika Chow

◆ Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 13

Congratulations and best wishes Dear Class of 2009, Congratulations!

It is with great pride that we, the faculty and staff of the Newton Public Schools, celebrate the commencement of the next phase of your educational and personal journeys.

We hope that you take the lessons you have learned over the last 13 years as you confront

the myriad of challenges and opportunities that await.

I spoke tonight about metamorphosis and the importance that education plays in your ability to change.

It is clear that change will be part of your journey once you leave Newton North.

Some of these changes will be

personal, some technological and some economic.

Whatever change lies ahead, your success will be defined by your ability to adapt to these changes.

I hope that Newton North has given you a solid educational foundation that will equip you for change and that you will embrace

the challenges that lie ahead with confidence.

Thank you for all you have contributed to Newton North over the last four years.

This community is defined by its students, and you have collectively and individually left an important legacy.

—JENNIFER PRICE, PRINCIPAL

Jennifer Price

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You can be proud of accomplishments Best wishes to the Class of 2009! It has been a pleasure working with you over the past three years.

I will fondly remember the Class of 2009 as my first graduating class at Newton North. I hope that you are as proud of your academic achievements as you are of the way you took care of each other.

The respect, kindness and care you have shown your classmates set a wonderful example for future graduating classes.

As you take the next step in your journey, remember to make good decisions and take advantage of all that is available to you personally, socially and academically.

And always remember to

Aaron Sanders

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treat others with respect and kindness.

— AARON SANDERS, BARRY HOUSEMASTER

You’re a great class

Greetings: Senior Tiffany Mui joins her softball teammates as she waves from a float in the Memorial Day parade on its way through Newtonville.

Good luck to the Class of 2009.

You have been a great class and have so much to offer as you pursue your dreams and your future.

I myself am a Newton High graduate (Class of ’72 — ancient, I know), and the one thing that I have learned since I’ve grown older is, don’t worry so much about what others think.

Most of these people you worry about won’t have any part in your life.

Learn not to judge people before you even have a chance to know them.

You limit yourself so many life experiences by doing so.

Be kind and compassionate and give of yourself because the

rewards you receive by doing so far exceed the others’ opinions.

—KAREN TOBIN ’72, BARRY HOUSE SECRETARY

days in grades 3 and 7 and 12 and all the grades in between, and all the summertimes that interrupted the flow of your formal education with those two wonderful months that grace the school calendar to which our bodies and minds have become accustomed.

Think about the small and great successes you have experienced. And don’t forget the problems you have faced, and how working through them, however you did it, helped bring you to where you are today.

Today you are here. Right now.

You feel the tense excitement of the present because you have one

foot planted in the past and one foot striding toward the future.

It is hard to say goodbye, yet you want to step ahead. You are ready, whether you know it or not.

Trust me, you will soon discover the value of your education and childhood in Newton, no matter how much you moaned and groaned about them while you were living them.

Some people will tell you the future is bright. Others bear a dimmer outlook, filled with worry and fear. I say it is neither—only that it is there for the taking. You will make of it what you will. You

are the author of your own life.

Today I join you in possession of these mixed and complicated feelings as I, too, head off to new challenges.

Members of the faculty and staff, I honor you for your dedication to your students and thank you for your friendship to me.

Family members and citizens, be proud of these men and women.

Class of 2009—be kind to those around you, respectful of those who are different from yourself, and true to your dreams.

Congratulations!

—JEFFREY YOUNG,

Teddy Wenneker

Karen Tobin

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Think of all your successes; be true to your dreams

Jeffrey Young

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I know something about moving on.

I started as superintendent in Newton when you, the members of the Newton North Class of 2009, were in 1st grade.

It must be quite amazing for you to sit back today and think about what has happened in your life since you sat at that miniature elementary school furniture and learned how to read.

Just think about that for a moment—how much you have read since you first learned how to do it.

Add to that the friends who have come and gone, your school

SUPERINTENDENT

faculty statements

14 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Do your part to dispel prejudice

Create a better you Dear Senior Class, Life may be difficult, but this is a great time. This is a time to celebrate, reflect and celebrate some more.

Congratulations on completing this part of the story. In television terms, this is a season finale for teachers, a story and narrative that will continue in the fall season with a few casting changes.

For you, it is a series finale.

Starting in the fall, regardless of your plans, you’ll be in a new setting with a new cast of characters and challenges.

Rarely in life do we get such an opportunity to start with a clean slate and a score of zerozero. It’s the closest thing to a do-over in life. Take advantage of it.

You can be whoever you want

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Albert Cho

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to be; it is the classic American story of liberating yourself from the shackles of history.

Be the student-athlete, the debater or punk-nerd.

You have no constraints and no reputation. It is Extreme Makeover: You Edition.

Create a better you. As always, watch “Friday Night Lights” this fall.

“Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.”

— ALBERT CHO, HISTORY

to the Class of 2009: Remember to step out of your comfort zone.

Post high school is a time for you to find new interests, develop new friendships.

Remember that Newton and Boston are just small segments of a global community.

Try to see the world through the lens of a different culture and a different perspective.

You will inherit a world that still has the problems of racism, sexism, homophobia and antiSemitism.

Do your part to destroy stereotypes and break down any barriers that keep people from reaching their full potential.

Try to judge people by their character and not by their possessions or designer labels.

Paula Diggs

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Remember that the truly “educated” realize how much they still have to learn.

Don’t automatically follow the crowd because the crowd can do some pretty stupid things.

Have the courage to be your own unique person even if you are labeled “ weird.”

The world is filled with difficult problems and there is a need for people who think outside the box.

Get rid of any bad habits that have adversely affected your high school career.

Be proud of your accomplishments, but remember that you can feel pride without putting someone else down.

Finally, remember to thank the people who helped you along the way such as family, friends and teachers.

—PAULA DIGGS, METCO COUNSELOR

Look beyond the obvious to the Class of 2009: What a time to graduate!

Turning on the evening news or opening the morning newspaper, all we read about is the uncertainty of our times and the economic catastrophe we are faced with.

People are losing their jobs, their homes and their faith in the future.

I can imagine it is scary 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

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Gregory Drake

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 paths.

But I would argue that it is times of uncertainty that cre-

ate the greatest opportunity for young people.

Now is precisely the right time to take a chance and follow your passion.

If your teachers at Newton 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?

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

Not sure how to write a college essay?

The most effective essay is rarely dramatic; it focuses on something specific and compelling about a student.

I work with students to uncover a specific memory or event that becomes the vehicle to a deeper story.

And that is where the writing begins.

BA from Yale University, Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa MAT from Brown University Five years teaching history at Newton North High School Six years tutoring: Writing, history, English, research papers, organization Abigail Nields Hillman College Essay Advisor and Writing Tutor

www.AbigailHillman.com

Wednesday, June 10. 2009

Matt Kalish

Michael Fieleke

faculty statements

Seek deepest truth in your heart Dear Graduates, Today marks an important transition.

Many of you will be leaving home soon. You will choose your own schedule.

You may feel as if your life finally belongs to you.

There is great freedom arising.

But if you are anything like me, with that freedom comes some trepidation. This freedom begs the question posed by Mary Oliver: “What is it you plan to do with your wild and precious life?”

The good news is that you don’t have to believe what anyone tells you.

You’ve outgrown us

There are no “shoulds” that can govern your life.

The bad news is that there are no “shoulds” that can govern your life!

Maybe you ask, “Who has the time to do all of this soul-searching? I’ve got a life to live!”

But buried beneath all of our superficial goals and busy agendas, sometimes we catch a glimmer of some deeper meaning calling to us. I would suggest that fear often prevents us from listening to that “still, quiet voice.”

Sometimes that voice is so quiet, so still, that we confuse it with nothingness.

We are frightened to turn too deeply towards what could be the

e.g. no open campus for sophomores, and you affected what I hope will be lasting cultural change.

You had a “Bring it” kind of persona, and bring it you did.

I get quite attached, as you know, and it can be hard to see those you’ve watched grow get ready to leave.

It’s time. You’ve outgrown what Newton North can offer you, and that’s how it should be.

Keep that “Bring it” attitude!

—MATTHEW FORD, COUNSELOR

Matt Kalish

Matthew Ford

Appreciate what you have; take care

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“ You have brains in your head.

“You have feet in your shoes.

“You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

—Dr. Seuss Remember what you have learned, be true to yourself, think of others, appreciate what you have and take care.

Christine Potter

CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

you: Life-and-Death are of supreme importance. Time passes swiftly by. Do not squander your life.”

As you look back on your years here, you can probably see how quickly time passes by.

My greatest wish for you is that you never take this life we share for granted, that you treat every moment as an opportunity to live from the deepest truth of yourself.

And so I ask you: What is the deepest truth of yourself? What life will you create from the shared fabric of our being?

With great affection, —MICHAEL FIELEKE, ENGLISH

You have what it takes to help make this world a much better place.

I feel fortunate to have had the pleasure of working with you and getting to know you over the years.

Best of luck to you!

—CHRISTINE POTTER, COUNSELOR

Everyone wants to know why we’re here.

For me, it’s all about we, the people…the ones P resident Obama calls “mutts.”

My Methodist mom’s family was from Germany, England, Ireland and Scotland. In joining the D.A.R., my mom’s mother found out she was related to Betsy Ross, Abraham Lincoln and slaves from Central Kentucky.

On the other hand, my Jewish dad’s family is from Poland, Belarus and Romania, and now some live in Israel.

One, a great-aunt, joined the American Communist party back in the ’50s when it was dangerous. I learned to speak Yiddish with my father’s Jewish mother since I was her only non-Jewish granddaughter.

My former husband’s family still lives in Mexico, including in-laws from France and Spain.

His dad’s father, Don Jorge, was originally from Mosul, in Northern Iraq.

With all that family history, my children are first generation Americans on their father’s side, and are related to the original Americans, since the time of the American Revolution, through

Deb José

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my mom.

Yes, we’re mutts, just like you.

That’s the key. We’re all different. Use the glorious differences.

Celebrate them. Have fun with them.

The people you treasure and who love you — take care of them.

They will be your strength.

And for me, the answer to life’s biggest question: I know that they, all the people I love and who love me, they are why I am here.

—DEB JOSÉ, ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Reach out to be a good friend

Live long; good luck Two fish are swimming down a river and run into a concrete wall.

One fish says to the other, “DAM.” In life you will encounter your own concrete walls.

The things you have learned at Newton North will help you navigate around them.

Good luck, Class of 2009 and congratulations.

“Live long and prosper.”

— SCOTT ROSENHAHN,

void of our inner selves.

But maybe you, like me, also intuit that there is nothing more important than seeking the deepest truth of our heart.

Our loved ones are growing older. So are we.

If time is escaping us second by second, what could be more important than looking deeply within to find the meaning of our lives?

There is a Buddhist admonition shared by a ghost who has returned to encourage us.

This poor ghost sees us all alive but can no longer join us in this great project, so he calls to us the following words: “Let me respectfully remind

Cherish differences

Hold onto that ‘Bring it’ attitude Wow, you are my third class to graduate from Newton North, which means I am getting old!

I know this isn’t about me. It’s YOUR graduation after all.

I guess you don’t think of these things until something like this hits you. Anyway, Class of 2009, you entered Newton North with a personality and reputation that preceeded you, and for that I have always found you a blast to work with.

You appropriately challenged some long-standing traditions,

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 15

Teddy Wenneker

Scott Rosenhahn

Congratulations! It has been my pleasure and privilege to have worked with you over the past four years.

You have been a hard-working group that has been fun to get to know.

It seems like just the other day you were in my office during the fall freshman seminar sitting quiet and uncertain about what high school would be all about.

Now it is time to move on. I hope you can truly appreciate this special time in your life and in doing so you should acknowledge family, friends and the people in your life who have supported you through your high school experience.

As you move forward, try to challenge yourself and move out of your comfort zone. Be eager to engage new people in your life.

Matt Kalish

Tom Sheehan

Turn off your cell phone—stop texting, look around you and expand your experiences.

Some of the most rewarding times in your life will come from

circumstances and situations that initially seem difficult and full of uncertainty.

It is these moments you should embrace and move toward because you will come out the other side a stronger person with an improved sense of yourself and a deeper sense of your capabilities.

Don’t be a passive onlooker in your own life. Be an active participant. Take action toward your dreams, passions and difficulties.

Along the way try to reach out to people and be a good friend or support someone who needs it.

Have fun and don’t forget, “Take care of business.”

All the best to all of you!

Thanks, —TOM SHEEHAN, COUNSELOR

On threshold of next part of your journey

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Betsy Posnick Waksman

To the Class of 2009: Savor this time, your time, to reflect on all that you have accomplished since you first walked through the doors of Newton North High School: the papers and projects you have written and presented, the challenges you set for yourselves and ultimately achieved, and the obstacles you have overcome.

Your experiences took place in the halls, in the classrooms, on

the fields (wherever they were!), on the stage, in meetings and clubs, and in quiet corners of our beloved building.

Some were life-changing, some opened your eyes to seeing something or someone in a new way, others perhaps you’d like to forget, but all of them are now part of your life stories.

Now you stand on the threshold of the next phase of your journey.

Whether you already have one foot on the path you have prepared, or you are still in the process of figuring out which way to turn, endless opportunities are yours for the taking.

And so I offer you these words, with the hope that they might help guide you as you soar: Find opportunities to bring a smile to yourself and others.

Know that in every moment you can choose your reaction,

your response and your outlook.

Commit yourself to give your best, whatever it is.

Be curious.

Take care of our planet.

Congratulations, Class of 2009!

You have the talents and skills and energy to take it all on. Go for it!

—BETSY POSNICK WAKSMAN, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE

16 â—† Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Deana, you should be so proud for all that you have accomplished. Your achievements are exceptional.

Boston College, Boston University, Suffolk University, Bentley University and Lasell College.

Congratulations! xo

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

parent statements Always be true to yourself

Follow your dreams When asked to write a few words to the Class of 2009, I began to reminisce about the speech I made when I graduated in 1980 from Easton High School in Pennsylvania.

I remember speaking to my own class about reaching their goals and following their dreams.

And now that my daughter is graduating, I feel that I would like to send the same message to the Class of 2009.

Times don’t change all that much, do they?

Newton North has provided you all with an amazingly diverse and robust education to prepare you for the beginning of your lives as young adults.

In addition, the teachers are experts in their fields and care deeply for your well-being.

Lastly, the extracurricular op-

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 17

Remember your successes

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Mita Banerjee

portunities have provided you with ways to get involved in the school community and become well-rounded individuals.

You have the foundation to make your dreams come true.

It has been a joy watching all of you grow in front of my eyes.

Now it is your time to fly and to follow your hopes and dreams.

It is the time to take a few risks in order to reach your goals. Go for it.

I wish you a life of happiness and health. Best of luck to my daughter, Maalika, and to the rest of the senior class.

—MITA BANERJEE

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

You are a remarkable class of students with a collective abundance of talents and gifts.

I have had the unique opportunity to observe this as both a parent and a counselor at Newton North. I welcome this opportunity to offer what I have learned from many of you as students and friends of my daughter, Anne.

Your class will be remembered for its contributions of creativity and kindness to your community.

Your extensive community involvement is a reflection of your simple kindness.

You have been a class of students with a remarkable work ethic for which no day was long enough.

Your interests were varied and your curiosity was well matched with hard working teachers, counselors and coaches who

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Jane Kenslea

shared your energy to learn and teach others.

Many of your weekends were filled with academic responsibilities, theatre and music productions, volunteer commitments, career and tech ed. projects, artistic creations, athletic events, internships, Work-Study placements, clubs, organizations and last but not least time with

friends.

Your class organized extensive fundraising efforts to secure funds for travel abroad and group community service projects. You are a class that believes in teaching what you have learned and sharing what you have earned.

Your class is not afraid to challenge political, social or spiritual ideologies, and over the years you have learned to do so with grace and respect toward those whose beliefs differ from your own.

As a whole, you are a compassionate group of students who strive to be yourselves while welcoming opportunities to help others to do the same.

You are leaving your fellow students and staff at Newton North with the lesson that hard work for the sake of human kindness is never to be feared.

As you leave Newton North and go your separate ways, continue to be true to yourselves and to each other, for that is the “greatest accomplishment.”

The Class of 2009 will be greatly missed for years to come.

—JANE KENSLEA

Make sure to keep fundamental lessons in mind

I remember my graduation from high school.

My class of 750 was a sea of blue and gold on a windy football field with rickety bleachers and long, uncut grass.

We all contributed to the low murmur of excitement, fidgeted nervously and secretly prayed that nothing embarrassing would happen on the journey to the podium to shake hands with the principal.

I don’t really remember what the speakers said that day. I’m sure the speeches were all wellcrafted and well thought out: words of wisdom that instructed us to seize the day, be careful and live up to our potential.

We weren’t sure where we were going, but as young women we were getting the message that we could, and should, conquer the world.

After all, some of our oldest educational institutions had just gone co-ed, the women’s liberation movement was in full swing and there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do.

Yes and no, as we were to find out.

While we were encouraged to go forth, do great things, make connections and contribute to society, I have also learned that while those things are great (when they happen), they don’t completely define success.

Also, and perhaps most important, it has become clear to me that you can’t do it all— at least not all at once.

It’s the small things and your attitude that will make the biggest difference in your life.

Swing for the fences, as they say, but don’t forget that it is often fundamental things, and the things you take most for granted, that will have the biggest impact.

Here are a few lessons I have learned—some the hard way.

Many have said it much better than I ever could.

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

— Dalai Lama, 2005.

Not getting what you want is not always a failure. It can be an experience that will take you down a path you might never have explored. Don’t be afraid

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Claudia Wu

to investigate the unknown and unfamiliar. Often you’ll be glad you did.

“Everyone hears what you say.

Friends listen to what you say.

Best friends listen to what you don’t say.”

— source unknown Having good, supportive friends who know you really well, encourage you and accept you for

Anything is possible This year has been memorable

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John Davidow

Subscribe to the Newtonite Call Caleb Gannon and Dan Salvucci at 617-559-6274

All the best to the Class of 2009.

It’s a year in history that will forever be remembered for the historic change that took place in Washington when the nation’s first African-American president

was elected to office.

What better lesson than for the Class of ’09....Anything is possible and any of you can make history!

Congratulations to you all and best of luck to you in the future.

— JOHN DAVIDOW

Congratulations to the Newton North

Class of 2009 and

Good Luck on all of your future endeavors

Representative Kay Khan

who you are is more important than I can say.

You don’t need 20 of them. If you have two or three, you are blessed. Hold on to them.

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

— Benjamin Franklin A good reputation is invaluable, and first impressions are much more important than you think.

Have good manners. Good etiquette goes along way—and there isn’t enough of it these days.

Moreover, as Mark Twain said, “Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

“There is no labor a person does that is undignified if they do it right.”

— Bill Cosby Enough said. Everyone deserves your respect. You need to earn theirs.

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

— Albert Einstein As any athlete knows, it is a bit of talent, but mostly persistence

and dogged determination that rule the day.

Remember the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise wins every time.

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

— Wayne Gretzky Try to live up to your potential and don’t be afraid of failure— even if you think you won’t be successful. Sometimes you will be.

“Nothing is impossible if you have a little bit of faith and a big role of duct tape.”

—Sister Act, Touchtone Pictures, 1992.

Be creative, think outside the box and have faith in yourself.

You can do more than you think you can.

And finally: “The world is run by those who show up.”

— Robert B. Johnson Show up and make a difference in someone’s life. Exercise your right to vote, if you have it, and get involved. You owe it to yourself.

We’re all counting on you.

—CLAUDIA WU

18 â—† Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

city statements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 19

Take time to say thanks To the class of 2009: Congratulations!

After four years of hard work, late nights, meeting deadlines, taking exams, writing papers and involving yourself in the Newton North community and beyond, you have achieved your high school diploma.

Now that this feat is accomplished, you will be heading off to face your next challenges.

As you do, you are bolstered by the quality education you have received in Newton.

The dedicated and talented teachers, counselors and administrators who have instructed and supported you throughout your time in the Newton Public Schools have provided you with an outstanding foundation upon which you will build the rest of your lives.

I hope you take the time to thank them before you depart.

The outstanding Newton North Class of 2009 has achieved much in the classroom, on the athletic fields and in our community.

We know that going forward, your contributions to the world will be plentiful as well.

Congratulations and best of luck to each of you.

Very truly yours, —DAVID B. COHEN, MAYOR

file photo

David B. Cohen

Graduation signifies start of a new journey in life You are about to close one chapter of your life while opening a new and exciting chapter full of adventure and promise.

Your graduation from Newton North is a culmination of hard work and perseverance.

You have approached academics with high standards and have shown wonderful achievements in the arts, theatre, music, Model UN, science competitions, athletics and more.

These accomplishments are truly a reflection of your commitment to excellence and a willingness to hold true to your goals.

courtesy Fred Gross

Fred Gross

As you look back at the chal-

lenges you faced and accomplishments you achieved, you have a lot to be proud of.

As you look forward, it is a good time to reflect back on this chapter of your life.

There were many people who supported you during this journey from kindergarten through high school.

Whether it was a teacher volunteering to run a club, a parent helping to fundraise or build the backdrop for the Celebration event, serving on the School Council, PTSO or other committees, they volunteered their time

and resources to help make your experience that much better.

There is an important lesson here, where giving of oneself can make a difference to another.

In a few months, with great eagerness and enthusiasm, you will be entering college, a new career or the military.

You will meet new people from similar and different backgrounds.

Take the time to get to know these people and offer your hand of support.

Whether it will be a roommate

struggling with an academic assignment, a colleague trying to understand a work-related system or a fellow soldier trying to live up to prescribed standards, take the time to step out of yourself and volunteer your support to help another person succeed.

Congratulations on your graduation from Newton North and we wish you the best of luck on your new journey.

—FRED GROSS. CO-CHAIR OF THE NEWTON NORTH SCHOOL COUNCIL ON BEHALF OF THE NEWTON NORTH SCHOOL COUNCIL

Newton North spirit remains strong over time

Marc Laredo

file photo

Last Thanksgiving weekend, I attended my 31st high school reunion.

Here is the bad news about the Newton North Class of 1977.

Although some of us like to think that we look the same as we did three decades ago when we walked along Main Street, the facts are that our hair is turning gray, we have slowed down a bit and we are no longer cool.

Our children may fit in here but we do not.

But the Classes of 1977 and 2009 share something that soon

no one else will be able to experience: We both spent our high school years attending the current Newton North.

When I entered this building as a sophomore in the fall of 1974 (Newton North was a three-year school back then), it still felt new, although many of its inherent flaws were there.

The Class of 2009 has had to endure four years with a wornout building and now ongoing construction.

Despite the changes in the physical structure, much remains

Remember friends you made

Congratulations!

While it has been many years since my own graduation day at Newton North, I remember the pride I felt receiving my first cap and gown.

I recall thinking about how different I was on graduation day than I was when I made my first timid walk down Main Street as a freshman.

These four years may be among the most formative of your lives too, and you have grown probably more than you realize.

Three things to keep in mind: 1) Remember to thank the people who made it possible for you to reach this milestone.

Your family, friends and your elementary, middle school and Newton North teachers and administrators have all influenced who you are and how you view the world. Without their wisdom, guidance and support, you surely

Check out our website every weekday at www.thenewtonite.com

file photo

Jeremy Solomon

could not have achieved the success you celebrate today.

2) Many of you signed yearbooks in the past few weeks with

“I hope we remain friends.”

Your high school friends can be lifelong companions no matter what adventures await you.

You have shared a common experience with your high school friends, and even when you change and grow in the coming months, years and decades, I hope you remember how much you care about your fellow classmates today.

They will always be part of what you call home.

3) I believe the wise man who once said: We don’t regret the things we do; we regret the things we don’t do.

To the Newton North Class of 2009 from an old alumnus, I hope you go on to achieve great things and reach all of your goals. Get out there and make us proud!

—JEREMY SOLOMON ’88 DIRECTOR OF CITY COMMUNICATIONS AND POLICY

the same in this building.

We have an outstanding group of teachers and staff.

The academic opportunities remain rigorous and diverse.

Extracurricular activities continue to flourish as evidenced by the championship banners hanging in the gymnasium and the numerous theatre productions that we put on each year.

Tiger spirit is alive and well!

Indeed, in many ways this is a better school than the one that I attended.

We are a far more inclusive

and tolerant place, embracing children of all backgrounds and abilities.

As we all soon say goodbye to this building, its spirit will continue to live on in the generations that follow us.

I hope that in the years to come, as you attend your own reunions, you will look back on your high school experiences fondly, remembering all that is great about Newton North.

Congratulations!

—MARC LAREDO ’77 SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR

This school a good place to begin

Wishing you success

courtesy R. Lisle Baker

R. Lisle Baker

Dear members of the Class of 2009: On behalf of the members of the Newton Board of Aldermen, I want to extend congratulations to each of you.

Graduation ceremonies are indeed a commencement of your life after high school, and we are proud that you have begun it here.

We wish each of you success in your future endeavors, whatever they may be.

—R. LISLE BAKER PRESIDENT, NEWTON BOARD OF ALDERMEN

20 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

A

Abbott, Morgan—Nichols Abromowitz, Dan—Princeton Ackerman, Daniel—Carleton Adelsheim, Sara—George Washington Adelson, William—U. Colorado Agaj, Olta—Boston College Alie, Luke—travel Altieri, Elizabeth—undecided Altman, Meital—Bryant Alves, Patrick—U. Kentucky Ambrosi, Jeffrey—U. Mass.

Amherst Anderson, Christopher—Gettysburg Arsenault, Samuel—Boston College Asaley, Michael Asher, Eve—Kenyon Atamian, Jennifer—Simmons Avery, Samantha—Boston University

B

Babenko, Alina—Mass. Bay Banerjee, Maalika—Tufts B a n k s , J o s e p h — We s t f i e l d State Barclay, George—U. Mary Washington Barnicle, Nora—George Washington Barossi-Pesarini, Loriane Bauer, Kelvin—Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Bayes, Jeremy—Ithaca Beit-Aharon, Miriam—SUNY/ Stony Brook Bell-Gurwitz, Rebecca—Bard Belschner, Joseph—American School for the Deaf Berkowitz, Matt—NYU Berman, Jonathan—Loyola College in Maryland Bethune, Brittany—Berklee College of Music Bibuld, Vincent—Champlain Binder, Alexandra—U.N.H. Blauer, Mark Bloomberg, Matthew—Landmark Bloomstone, Adam—Muhlenberg Bock, Samuel—Hampden-Sydney Boudreau, Mark—Lasell Bradley, Jeff—Sacred Heart Bradley, Joshua Brandon, Hagai—Roger Williams Brin, Tina Broderick, Nellie—U. Vermont Bronstein, Rachel—Barnard Brown, Eric—Cornell Brown, Louis—Nichols Brown, Royce—Washington U. Browne, Chanel Bryson, Stephanie Bukenya, Sauda—Bunker Hill

C

Cadogan, Michael—Mass. Bay Cala, Ambela Calamare, Patrick—Bucknell Campero, Gwedolyn—Babson Camuso, Kelli—Adelphi Carrera, Patrick—McGill Carson, Erika—Mount Ida Caruso, Andrew—U. Mass.

Dartmouth Caruso, Brianna—Mass. Bay Caruso, Joseph—Mount Ida Caruso, Michelle Caspi, Gil—Roger Williams Cassidy, Benjamin—U. Michigan Castagnino, Joseph Caudill, Caitlin—Art Institute of Boston Cedrone, Nina—Mass. Bay Chan, Chun Chan, Jolie—U. Connecticut Chan, Sandra—Boston University Chen, Tony—Trinity Chen, Xiao—U. Mass. Boston Cheong, Agnes—Clark Chow, Erika—U. Michigan Chow, Winnie—Brandeis Chu, Marcus—Boston University Clark, Alexander—Elon Clott, Allison—Springfield Clott, Andrew—undecided Coakley, Brendan Cochran, Anton—Boston Uni-

Wednesday, versity Cohan, Gregory—Pomona Cohen, Douglas—George Washington Coleman, Tyler Collins, Michael—Mass. Bay Colston, Derek—Newbury Conescu, Reva—undecided Connors, David—U. Maine Cooke, Caroline—U. Southern California Cooke, Elizebeth—Oberlin Cossaboom, Andrew—work Crevier, Erik—University of Waterloo Cucchi, Melissa—Northeastern Culici, Leighton—U. R. I. Curran, Darron—undecided

D

Dadmun, Wilton—U. Mass.

Amherst Daniels, Rebecca—George Washington Darsigny, Sarah—Union Davidow, Erica—Boston University Davidow, Jackson—McGill Deacon, Atenia DeGroot, Phoebe— Smith Dekel, Tom—U. Mass. Boston DeNucci, Brianna—Bridgewater State Diamantopoulos, James—Salve Regina Diaz, Aileen DiDino, Alicia—U. Mass. Dartmouth DiDino, Christina—Franklin Pierce Dill, Hayley—Savannah College of Art and Design DiMambro, Isabella—Smith College Dinsmore, Thomas—Washington U. Doherty, Brianna—Fitchburg State Dolor, Kendra Donnini, Olivia —NYU Donovan, Brendan—Temple Donovan, Carrie—Philadelphia U. Donovan, Timothy—Bentley Dorfman, Jonah—McGill Dotan, Eden—Skidmore Dover, Sophie Doyle, Matthew Doyle, Rebecca—Wells Dreyfus, Eli—Skidmore Dukhovich, Anna—Tufts Duncan, Sophie—Wesleyan Dunton, Alyssa—military

E

Earle-Coppola, Deana—Lasell Efstratoudakis, Erica—Parsons Engelke, Philip—Yale Englander, Julijana—Duke Essinger, Jordan—U. Indiana

Seniors on Main Street: In the front row are Jake Moran, James Krasker, Christopher Pankins, Ele Pappas, Tim Donovan, Jeff Bradley, Brian Tully, Ross Matthews, Jordan Essinger, Brian Wolfe, Eth

Congratulations to

Fagan, Zachary—U. Hartford Fan, Tuen—Brandeis Farina, Matthew—Barry Feinstein, William—Wesleyan Felts, Susannah—U. Texas Fernandez, Martin Fleischer, Alison—Syracuse Fleming, Beth—University College London Flores, Marilyn Floyd, Stephanie—Endicott Fontaine, Monique—ColbySawyer Forman, Jared—MIT Friedmann, Lauren—year off Fritz-Kill, Zachary Fulwiler, Neil—U. Pennsylania

Gilbert, Nathaniel—Brown Gitzen, Mitchel—Wentworth Glantz, Paul Godenzi, Franca—NYU Goldman, Ethan—Clark Golin, James—Brown Gonzalez, Louis—Boston College Gore, Rachel—Clark Grassian, Benjamin—U. Miami Grasso, Brianna—Mass. Bay Greenberg, Isaac—U. Delaware Greene, Melanie—NYU Grewell, Shane Grossman, Andria—college Guarino, Charles—Westfield State Gumen, Maria—Bay State Guyer, Jonathan

G

H

F

Gabriel, Richshelle—Framingham State Gallinelli, Alessandro—Bryant Gant, Samuel—Haverford Gao, Hui—U. Mass. Amherst Garcia, Sarah—Boston College Gargas, Nolan—Berklee College of Music Gazarian, Christopher—Skidmore Gazarian, Douglas—Bard Gentile, Nicholas—Roger Williams Gentilucci, Molly—Regis Gialtouridis, Andrea Gilbert, Kristin

Haber, Noam Hamann, Tiffany—Mount Ida Hamilton, Daniel—U. Rochester Hansell, Alexander—American U. Hansen, Alyssa—U. Vermont Hausman, Julia—U. Mass. Amherst Hayashi, Robin—Rhode Island School of Design Heffernan, Brian—Mass. Bay Heilbron, John—Harvard Hemley-Bronstein, Adina Herman, Benjamin Ho, Ryan—Northeastern

Holland, Kirsten—Elon Hollenberg, Adam—U. Michigan Houston, Jeffrey Howe, Alice—Smith Howes, Christopher Huang, Alexander—U. Mass.

Amherst Huang, Henry—Boston University Hunter, Kadeem Hunter, Kayin—Westwood College of Anaheim

J

Janezic, Kristof—Ithaca Jasset, Wayne Jean, Jenny—Johns Hopkins Jernstedt, Hannah—Boston University Jewett, James Johnson, Theodore Jones, Forrest—U. C. Berkeley Judell-Halfpenny, Chloe—Pomona

K

Kaluzhny, Daniel—Bryant Kane, Victoria—Tulane Kaplan, Jesse—Harvard Kaplan, Russell—Berklee College of Music Kasaija, Sadat Kaufman, Michele—Bowdoin Keefe, Sean—Coastal Carolina Kenslea, Anne—Georgetown Kent, Anthony—work

Kessler, Molly—Suffolk Keyes, Harrison—U. Vermont King, Lucas—travel King, Molly—Wake Forest Kirson, Kate—U. Syracuse Kloczewiak, Anitra—U. Mass.

Boston Knotts, Casey—Mount Holyoke Konyavsky, Polina—Lesley Korchmar, Rosemary Kornetsky, Emma—Haverford Kostka, Sean Krasker, James—Boston College Kuh, Chloe—Williams Kuh, Elias—NYU Kulla, Daniel—Tufts Kunze, Trinity—Rochester Institute of Technology Kurland, Eli—Lehigh Kutas, Danielle—SUNY/Binghamton

L

Lai, Thomas Langham, Chloe—Columbia College Laprida, Mayra Lavalle, Sarah—Colby-Sawyer LeBlanc, Patrick—LaSalle Ledani, Shira Lee, Jonathan—Boston College Lee, Roscoe—college Lee, So Jin Leone, Dario—Merrimack Levin, Adam—George Wash-

, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆21

Perez, Geoffrey—Springfield College Perides, Sophia—U. North Carolina Asheville Perreault, William—Grinnell Pescosolido, Savanna—Middlesex Community College Petitti, Marisa—post-grad Piccirillo, Daniel—undecided Pine, Robert—Mass. Bay Pini, Vanessa—U. Mass Amherst Plotkin, Benjamin—SUNY/ Albany Popma, Christopher—George Washington Posno, Arliene—Boston University Poster, Jonah—Holy Cross Prata de Lima, Walmiro Press, Grant—Ithaca Pullen-Schmidt, Jasmine— Maryland Institute College of Art

Q

Quadir, Maria—Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Quek, Janling Quinn, Julia—Duke Quinn Cervantes, Luis—travel

R

Teddy Wenneker

ena Skaletsky, Diana Salvucci, Julia Quinn, Eric Brown and Hasan Zaidi. Behind them are Charlie han Goldman and Matt Berkowitz.

o the Class of 2009 ington Levy, Charlotte—Skidmore Lewis, Skye–Suffolk Li, Rui Feng Liburd, Inricka—Hamilton Liebendorfer, Maura—Oberlin Link, Natasha—Tufts Lombardi, Edward Looper, Pascal—McGill Loxha, Krenare—Barry Lukoff, Genevieve—Dean Luttmer, Jason—Unity Lynch, Molly—Hampshire

M

MacKenzie, James—Coastal Carolina Mackowski, Daniel—U. Illinois Madden, Ryan—undecided Mahoney, James—Elon Majewski, Benjamin—postgrad Malloy, Paul—W. Virginia Manopoli, David—Emmanuel Manzo, Jesssica—Suffolk Mao, Pakdey Marion, Alexa—Tulane Marriro, Craig Martins, Maximillian—U. Mass.

Amherst Marzilli, Sandra—Loyola University Chicago Mashal, Elizabeth—U. Delaware Masterman, Alison Matthews, Ross—Trinity Mayville, Emma—Dickinson Mazhbits, Alexandra—NYU

Mazur-Warren, Jacob—Skidmore McAuliffe, Andrew McCann, Christopher—college McCarty, Rachel McGoldrick, Ian—college McGrath, Mary—Smith McKelvey, Emily—Duke McLaughlin, Caitlin—Roger Williams McQuade, Kayla— undecided McSally, Madelaine Medin, Leah—Mass. College of Art Medoff, Jacob Menninger, Elias—George Washington Miller, Jazmynne—year off Mital, Parv—U. Illinois Mitchell, Janay—Roger Williams Mongo, Paris—U. Mass. Dartmouth Moody, Kristen—Newbury Moran, Jake—Mass. Bay Morris, Brodie—St. Mary’s College of Maryland Moscatelli, Anthony—year off Moses, Alicia—Suffolk Moss-Hawkins, Genevieve— Brown Mucci, Stefani Mui, Tiffany—U. Illinois Muldoon, Shawn—ITT Tech Mullarkey, Lauren—Boston College Mullen-Neem, Francis—Boston University

Munroe, Devin—Mass. Bay Murphy, Kathleen—U. Richmond

N

Neray, Hart—Washington U. Ngo, Cartier Nicholas, Gabriel—Tufts Norcross, Andrew—Baylor Notis-McConarty, Colin—Boston College Novikov, German

O

O’Connell, Olivia—Syracuse Obinna, Stephen Ortiz, Linda—U. Louisville Overaker, Rozanne—travel

P

Pan, Lisa—Carnegie Mellon Pangburn, Margaret—undecided Pangburn, Olivia—Simmons Pankins, Christopher—Johnson and Wales Pappas, Charles—Bryant Park, Rebecca—NYU Parmenter, Lily—University of the Arts London Pasquarosa, Dominique—work Patel, Nikita—Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Pattison, Brittany—college Paul, Julien—Boston University Pellegrini, Kathryn—Salve Regina

Rabb, Rachel—Lasell Raby, Annabel—McGill Raffeld, Miriam—Mount Holyoke Ranti, Carolyn—Brown Reder, Henk—work Reibstein, William—U. Arizona Reid-Dotson, Sayyid Resnicow, Samson—U. Vermont Richardson, Alanna—U. R. I. Richardson, Nathan Rivers, Josh Robinson, Charlotte—Ithaca Rochkind, Justin Romich, Trevor—Cornell Rooney, Brittany Rosenberg, Scott—Providence Rotenberg, Andreas—Washington U. Royzen, Mikhail—Center for Digital Imaging Arts at B.U. Rundlett, Lillie—Northeastern Russo, Joseph—Boston College Ruttan, Andrew—military

S

Saltus, Eva—U. Mass. Amherst Saltus, William—U. Mass. Amherst Salvucci, Alessandro—Stonehill Salvucci, Diana—U. Mass. Amherst Samellas, Catherine—Bentley Sampson, Jacob—college Sanchez, Ariany Sanchez, Sarah—Northeastern Sandler, Max Santana, Ashley Santiago, Cynthia—American U. Sarid-Segal, Raanan Schauer, Sam—Washington U. Schlichting, Elizabeth—undecided Schubert, Victoria—year off Scorzelli, Jonathan—Northeastern Seaman, Elizabeth—Arizona State Sears, Joshua—undecided Segal, Melanie—Ithaca Seideman, Emma—U. Delaware Seldin, Margaret—Washington U. Shin, Dong Yeop—travel Silverman, Alexander—U. Rochester Silverman, Molly—McGill Silverman, Peri—U. Michigan Simmons, Jordin Simonis, Lucas—U. Mass. Amherst Skaletsky, Elena—Bentley Stanko, Andrew Staulo, Ann—U. Mass. Dartmouth Stavins, Daniel—U. Rochester Stevens, Sarah Stoltze, Fiona—Mass. College

of Art Stubblefield, Jessica—U. Tampa Stubblefield-Tave, Rachel— Northwestern Sylvia, Emily—George Washington Szerlip, Daniel—work Szeto, Anthony—Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

T

Tang, Jacob—Brandeis Taylor, Amanda—Ithaca Teixeria, Nathalia Temple, Trevor—undecided To, Kevin—U. Mass. Amherst Tocci, James—Salem State Tocci, Leonard—U. Southern NH Torracinta, Simon—McGill Tow, Samantha—Champlain Toyias, Nicholas—Stonehill Tracey, James—Syracuse Treddin, Joseph—Culinary Institute of America Trieger, Courtney—Westfield State Trombi, Jason—work Tu, Tianchi—Brandeis Tully, Brian—Auburn U. Turner, Alexandra—Wheelock Turner, Edmund—Coastal Carolina Turner, Garrett—year off

U

Uberti, Daniel—work Uberti, William—Mass. College of Liberal Arts

V

Vahalia, Rohan Varadian, Nevart—Babson Vasiliadis, Nicholas—Bentley Vianna, Derrick—Indiana U. Villano, Danylko—U. Pennsylvania Villavicencio, Seth Vitagliano, Hallie—Wheaton

W

Wainwight, Nathan—Boston University Waite, Donald Waldinger, David—Vassar Wang, Bing—U. Chicago Ward, Mark—Berklee College of Music Waters, Jasper—Pratt Wei, Michael—Drew Weilburg, Elizabeth—U. Michigan Whittum, Andrew—George Washington Wiggin, Jolyn—Roger Williams Wilson, Jesse—George Washington Wolfe, Brian—U. Mass. Amherst Wong, Kyle—Tulane Woodberry, Geoffrey—Keene State Wu, Jennifer—U. N. H. Wu, Pak—Worcester Polytechnic Institute Wyler, Samuel—travel Wynn, Mariah—New Hampton School

X

Xu, Yanzhe—U. Illinois

Y

Yan, Kevin—Wentworth Ye, Junxiong—The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University Yoffie, Ariel—Barnard Young, Ashley—Boston University Yu, Jun—undecided

Z

Zaidi, Hasan—U. Mass. Amherst Zeliger, Alisa—Clark Zhao, Xinyu—Cornell Zheng, Allan—Northwestern Zhou, Angelina—Tufts —C OORDINATED BY MARENA COLE , DAN SALVUCCI AND CHRIS WELCH SPECIAL THANKS TO WILL ADELSON, CAITLIN CAUDILL, JAMES KRASKER, PASCAL LOOPER, MIKE ROYZEN, ELENA SKALETSKY AND JOE TREDDIN.

awards

22 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Senior prizes, scholarship recipients Margherita Acchione Scholarships Alessandro Salvucci Nicolas Vasiliadis Diane Antonellis Childcare Scholarship Kayla McQuade Celia Arovas English Awards Jackson Davidow Auburndale Community Chairitable Foundation Scholarships Elizabeth Altieri Melissa Cucchi Nicholas Gentile Adina Hemley-Bronstein Forest Jones Harrison Keyes Danylko Villano Jeffrey M. Banks Memorial Scholarship Edmund Turner David Barboza Memorial Scholarship Joseph Banks Ron Barndt Scholarship Tianchi Tu Carlos Barrera Memorial Scholarship Patrick Carrera Sandy Bartzak Award Jeffrey Ambrosi Edward Beatty Award Wilton Dadmun Celia Betts Award Jacob Sampson

Stephen Bottomley, Murray Road Annex Award Andrea Gialtouridis Stephen Bottomley, Photograph Rebecca Daniels Robert Braceland Memorial Award Timothy Donovan Charles E. Brown Scholarship Award Benjamin Plotkin Lt. Stafford Leighton Brown Memorial Scholarships George Barclay Matthew Berkowitz Matthew Doyle Zachary Fagan Marjorie Byers Scholarship Rachel Stubblefield-Tave Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Scholarship Ateria Deacon William Saltus David Casavant Culinary Arts Scholarship Award Joseph Treddin Alex J. Castoldi Memorial Scholarships Carpentry Joseph Banks Theatre Arts Phoebe DeGroot Kristof Janezic Chaffin Educational Fund Scholarship Awards Loriane Barossi-Pesarini

FG # 3 è

Il Numero Uno

Tina Brin Chanel Browne Sauda Bukenya Ambela Cala Gwendolyn Campero Kelli Camuso Nina Cedrone Xio Qing Chen Atenia Deacon Tuen Fan Maria Gumen Jeffrey Houston Christopher Howes Kadeem Hunter Kayin Hunter Hannah Jernstedt Polina Konyavsky Inricka Liburd Krenare Loxha Jessica Manzo Craig Marriro Christopher McCann Leah Medin Paris Mongo Alicia Moses Christopher Pankins Vanessa Pini Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt Ariany Sanchez Melanie Segal Dong Yeop Shin Jessica Stubblefield Leonard Tocci Joseph Treddin Courtney Treiger Tianchi Tu Brian Tully Edmund Turner Derrick Vianna Allan Zheng Greg Chan Scholarship Fund Patrick Alves William Saltus Robert Chernis Drama Awards George Barclay Rebecca Daniels Rachel Gore Adrian Colasacco Scholarship Rui Feng Li

David Costanzo Award Jared Forman Caroline Costello Scholarship Sarah Darsigny Theresa L. Cram Scholarship Brittany Rooney Seth Daigle Memorial/ P.T.S.O. Scholarship Xiao Qing Chen D.A.R. Good Citizenship Award Xinyu Zhao Andrew Dealy Memorial Scholarship Patrick LeBlanc Robert Dephoure English Memorial Scholarship Benjamin Plotkin Bobby Donahue Scholarship Fund Award Colin Notis-McConarty Dover Girls’ Scholarship Inricka Liburd Robert Faulkner Career and Technical Student of the Year Scholarship Joseph Treddin Frank Federico, Jr. Memorial Award Walmiro Prata de Lima W. Eugene Ferguson Math Award John Heilbron Howard Ferguson Memorial Scholarships Tiffany Hamann William Uberti Peg Festinger Memorial Award Tiffany Mui Margaret Flaherty English Award Nicholas Gentile Haskell C. Freedman/NTA Scholarship Fund Anne Kenslea Meredith Ghattas Scholarship Carolyn Ranti Mary G. Gianferante Award for Citizenship

Michele Kaufman Golden Hammer Award Garrett Turner Guidance Aide Awards Melissa Cucchi Sarah Sanchez Rev. Haywood Scholarship Edmund Turner Kathleen Henighan Child Studies Achievement Award Nina Cedrone Horlick Educational Fund/ ESL Award Xiao Qing Chen Charlotte Howard/Claflin School Scholarship Kendra Dolor International Club Award Sadat Kasaija George Jessup Scholarship Amanda Taylor Elizabeth Jewett World Language Scholarship Anne Kenslea Jubilee Award Mark Ward Barbara Killion Awards Skye Lewis Sarah Sanchez Max Kolb Memorial Award Vincent Bibuld Mary Lanigan English Award Danylko Villano Edward Lareau Scholarship Achievement Award Sarah Sanchez Henry Lasker Memorial Music Award Miriam Raffeld A. Peter Leary Memorial Scholarship Michele Kaufman Deborah E. Lebovidge Scholarship Atenia Deacon Thomas Leonard Music Scholarship Patrick Alves Baron Hugo Lira Memorial Music Scholarship

Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

Congratulations to David and all the Theatre Ink seniors for their fantastically energetic, creative work over 4 years!

Jennifer Stone and Bob Waldinger

Our Best Wishes to You & Anna, Kirsten, Eva, Jillian, Jesse, Nate and Jackson !!!

awards

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 23

Senior prizes, scholarship recipients Russell Kaplan Beverley Logan Scholarships Kendra Dolor Jason Luttmer Barbara Sulkin Lourie Memorial Scholarships Harrison Keyes Daniel Mackowski Jonah Poster Nevart Varadian Richard H. Lovell Scholarships Vincent Bibuld Caitlin Caudill Derek Colston Mikhail Royzen Donna Mandatori Memorial Scholarship Award Caitlin Caudill V. James Marini Scholarship Colin Notis-McConarty Thurgood Marshall Award Paris Mongo Richard Mechem Award William Feinstein Miriam Meyer Award Alisa Zeliger Mitchell Nathanson Memorial Award Susannah Felts Newton Aldermen Awards Anne Kenslea Andreas Rotenberg Newton Educational Secretaries Scholarship James Tocci Newton Firefighters Association Scholarship Patrick LeBlanc Newton Lions Club Scholarship Maura Liebendorfer Newton METCO Community Scholarship Awards: Academic Achievement Awards Kendra Dolor Jeffrey Houston Paris Mongo Mark Ward Geoffrey Woodberry Newton METCO Academic Excellence Award Inricka Liburd Newton METCO Helen and George Bresnahan Award Inricka Liburd Newton METCO Pacita D.A. Hayes Memorial Leadership Awards Kendra Dolor Paris Mongo Newton North High School Honor Roll Scholarship Maalika Banerjee Newton North Photography Award Nolan Gargas Newton Police Memorial Scholarship Mark Boudreau Newton Rotary Community Scholarships Julijana Englander Inricka Liburd Newton Rotary Scholarship and Tool Awards Alicia DiDino Brendan Donovan Newtonian Scholarship Anna Dukhovich Newtonite Scholarship Jacob Tang Dorothy Novack Memorial Scholarship Awards Tom Dekel Jason Luttmer Oak Hill/Nonantum Children’s Memorial Scholarships Eva Saltus Bing Wang William O’Brien Scholarship Fund Adina Hemley-Bronstein Phil Ochs/Alan MacDougall Award Maalika Bannerjee Orr Foundation Awards Jeffrey Ambrosi Derek Colston Timothy Donovan Dario Leone Charles Pappas James Tracey

Gaby Perez-Deitz

Career and tech ed. awards: Senior Walmiro Prata de Lima receives the Frank Federico, Jr. Memorial Award Thursday, May 14 from automotive teachers Paul Wagner and Art Kadehjian.

Kyle Wong David Outerbridge English Award Justin Rochkind Vicki Patterson Memorial Scholarship Tina Brin Peltier History Prize Julia Quinn Perkins History Prize Kathryn Pellegrini Rosanne Perlmutter Scholarships Forrest Jones Andrew Norcross David Phelan World Language Award Jackson Davidow Christopher Polci Memorial Scholarship Anton Cochran Ellen Raphael Awards Tina Brin Rebecca Doyle Nathan Alden Robinson Memorial Math Awards Daniel Kulla David Waldinger Nathan Alden Robinson Memorial Music Award Melanie Greene Susan Rosenzweig Scholarship Marilyn Flores Giovanni and Louisa Rossi Scholarship Fund James Tracey Martin Rossman Scholarship Rachel Bronstein Helen M. Ryan Award Sophie Dover Saint Mary of Carmen Society Scholarship Sarah Lavalle Chuck Sakakini Scholarship Award Ross Matthews Mary Sapienza Award

Dong Yeop Shin Tom Schaefer Award Rachel Stubblefield-Tave Michael Scheller Memorial Scholarship Maximilian Martins Clinton H. Scovell Fund Scholarships Nora Barnicle Miriam Beit-Aharon Melissa Cucchi Leighton Culici Isabella DiMambro Rebecca Doyle Anna Dukhovich Christopher Gazarian Douglas Gazarian Robin Hayashi Maximilian Martins Sandra Marzilli Alexandra Mazhbits Olivia O’Connell Benjamin Plotkin Jonathan Scorzelli Ann Staulo Danylko Villano Jim Shea Memorial Fund Jonathan Berman David Shoul Memorial Scholarship Christopher Howes Ellen Silk Scholarship Christopher Gazarian Frank Simmons Award Morgan Abbott Raymond Smith Music Award Eli Dreyfus Reginald E. Smith Memorial Award James Mahoney Social Science Club Award Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt Leslie Solomon Scholarship Thomas Dinsmore Gail Stein Scholarship Kayla McQuade Saul Stern Music Award

Congratulations Gabe!

Elizabeth Cooke Robert B. Swett, Jr. Fund Awards Rebecca Bell-Gurwitz Andrew Whittum John Temperley Graphic Arts Awards Alicia DiDino Brendan Donovan Thornton S. Thomas Poetry Award Angelina Zhou Richard Thompson EDCO Award Janay Mitchell True Value English Scholarship Gil Caspi Marcia Tyman Memorial Scholarship Award Michelle Caruso Daniel Uberti Memorial Scholarship Daniel Uberti Maria Libera Vallone Italian Cultural Scholarship Olivia O’Connell Waban Improvement Society Student Scholarship Ann Staulo Alice M. Warren Scholarship Awards Gwendolyn Campero Kelli Camuso Jessica Stubblefield Kara Warren Memorial Scholarship Paris Mongo Vollin B. Wells Business Scholarships Jessica Manzo Tiffany Mui Arliene Posno Edwin H. Wiest Memorial Scholarship James Krasker Philip J. Wolf Theatre Awards Jackson Davidow

Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt Women’s Club of Newton Highlands Scholarships Jeffrey Ambrosi Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt Drama Medals Daniel Abromowitz Elizabeth Alteri Patrick Alves Jennifer Atamian Samantha Avery George Barclay Miriam Beit-Aharon Sandra Chan Reva Conescu Elizabeth Cooke Rebecca Daniels Jackson Davidow Atenia Deacon Phoebe DeGroot James Diamantopoulos Alicia DiDino Hayley Dill Brendan Donovan Carrie Donovan Sophie Dover Julijana Englander William Feinstein Beth Fleming Neil Fulwiler Christopher Gazarian Rachel Gore Melanie Greene Julia Hausman Robin Hayashi Brian Heffernan Kirsten Holland Jeffrey Houston Alice Howe Kadeem Hunter Kristof Janezic Jesse Kaplan Russell Kaplan Michele Kaufman Harrison Keyes Lucas King Molly King Casey Knotts Danielle Kutas Chloe Langham So Jin Lee Inricka Liburd James MacKenzie Emma Mayville Ian McGoldrick Caitlin McLaughlin Paris Mongo Genevieve Moss-Hawkins Tiffany Mui Lauren Mullarkey Kathleen Murphy Gabriel Nicholas Andrew Norcross William Perreault Jasmine Pullen-Schmidt Annabel Raby Miriam Raffeld Nathan Richardson Eva Saltus Sarah Sanchez Raanan Sarid-Segal Lucas Simonis Fiona Stoltze Rachel Stubblefield-Tave Jacob Tang Simon Torracinta Daniel Uberti Rohan Vahalia Nathan Wainwright David Waldinger Bing Wang Michael Wei Jesse Wilson Jennifer Wu Pak Wu Ariel Yoffie Ashley Young Jenny Zhao Angelina Zhou

Congratulations to our Sarah!!

We are so proud And Congratulations to the Class of 2009 – especially to our Italy and Mobile girls and all of our old Horace Mann friends.

Change the world!

Love, Ray, Dave, Jesse and Amelia

Much love, Mum (Patti), Daddy (Jim) & Ben

editors’ columns

24 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Enjoy your friends; start making memories F

our years of high school seems like a long time, especially to us.

We’ve only been living for about 18 years, which means that high school has taken up more than a fifth of our lives.

High school seemed as if it would never end for us. How could it?

We always had more work to do. Then there was the whole future-planning process that we all had to go through before we could ever leave.

But even as we put the stamps on our envelopes and hit the “Submit” button on the Common App. website, how could we fathom that high school was actually going to be over?

Not just high school either.

How could we imagine that this entire 13-year grade school era would reach its end point?

It’s hard to remember a time before we started going to school.

It seems like forever.

But as impossible as it sounds, we’re all done now. All that stuff that was never going to happen has happened. It’s all over. Think about how many years it’s been and put that in the context of how long we’ve lived.

I’m going to stop using the royal “we” now.

The past school year has been

a daze to me. It started off like any other, but then I started to feel the year slipping away from me.

That feeling of “High school will never end” slowly faded. It was replaced with “High school is almost over, and I can feel the end.”

I panicked a little bit. It’s not the school part I really worried about ending. I know I’m going to keep learning things in the next four years and for the rest of my life.

The scariest thing to me was the fact that when I went off to college, I wouldn’t see all the friends with whom I’ve built relationships over the past several years.

My new mission was born: I would spend as much time with everyone as I possibly could and soak in every moment of it before it was too late.

I began to walk the hallways with this new attitude of appreciating absolutely everyone. More hugs, more hanging out, more new activities. I did everything I could to be with friends and make new memories.

In the process of doing so, I found myself making new friends as well. I’ve met some unbelievably cool people I wish I had met earlier.

Newtonian

Will Feinstein

There are a lot of things I wish I had done earlier. I wish I had started my band sooner so that we could have done more shows. I wish I had shot more video and taken more pictures.

I felt as if I should have tried to make a bigger impact before it

was too late.

Then I had a realization. It’s not too late.

Yes, high school is over and a new era is beginning. But that new era is just a continuation.

Nothing is ending. There’s no deadline on being with all these people. We’ll still have our whole lives to spend with them.

I mean this will be the last time that we’re all together like this, but we’re not going to lose touch so easily. Facebook, guys.

Facebook friends for life.

Remember how four years seems like a lot? How 13 years seems like forever? I was going somewhere with that.

Then think about the adults in your lives. How long have they been doing their jobs?

You’re going to encounter people who have been teaching for more than 20 years. Twenty years! Then there are your grandparents who have been married for maybe 43 years. YEARS! And you thought your oneyear anniversary with your high school girlfriend was impres-

Take advantage of chances to dabble, explore, experiment

S

David

University of Maine, Orono is lucky to have you!

We’ll miss you Congrats, Mom, Dad, Nicole, Joe and Michelle

Congratulations and Good Luck to Adam and the Class of 2009.

o. It’s about quarter to 4 on a fine May day, and I just remembered that I have to write up a little something for inclusion in the graduation issue.

Naturally, I’ve put it off until the day before it’s due because we journalist types work best under pressure.

Everyone knows that...it’s why we do what we do. We’re masochists.

But how much truth is actually in that statement?

It sounds pithy, to be sure, but thinking about the past four years of my life, I’m left wondering what percentage of the social and academic experiences I had was with genuine growth in mind, and what percentage of them was undertaken simply for the sake of having war stories to tell—the “You think you’ve got it rough?

Listen to this...” mentality.

And to be perfectly honest, I think a fair portion of it was for the sake of the latter, for the sake of cultivating a faux-jaded attitude. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that

family photo

Ben Plotkin

that attitude was a singularly unpleasant one.

There’s a reason that we meet very few genuinely jaded people of our age. As teen-agers, we are by nature extroverts, and being an embittered extrovert is just fanciful code for being a nasty person with a need to share that nastiness with the rest of the

Congratulations James!

world. And that, at least in part, was me.

So with all of that said, if there’s anything I would say to the rest of the student body, it would be this: Do things not just because they need to be done, but because you want to do them.

Have a sense of wonder at every new task before you—in fact, don’t call them tasks. They aren’t.

As cliché as it sounds, they’re opportunities, chances to discover something vibrant and invigorating.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that these four years are the freest we’re ever likely to be.

After high school come decisions that will shape every aspect of our futures, but for these four years, as we stand on the cusp of adulthood, we’re still free to experiment and dabble.

The point? There’s too much life out there to afford to be jaded about it. From hereon out, doors start closing, avenues of experience seal themselves off.

This is your last chance to be an explorer. Don’t waste it.

—BEN PLOTKIN

Kirsten,

A special thank you for “Anything Goes,” a great senior year memory. You are multi-talented.

Good luck with the PGM, at CCU. We are proud of you!

Eric, Nate, Mom and Dad

sive...

For people who have continued to live out their lives, four years is nothing. Four years to a 48-year-old guy is like a February to you.

While high school was an amazing time, it isn’t going to amount to much in the long run of our lives. There’s just so much time left to do all the things we haven’t done yet.

Still, like any part of life, we need to just make the best of what it was, and live with no regrets.

My advice to any younger kids reading this is to start making memories right now. Meet as many people as you can. Build relationships. Go out and do things. Start right now.

And to everyone who just graduated, the same goes to you.

Why wait? Life doesn’t wait for you. Eras start and end, but really it just keeps moving forward.

It never stops. It just keeps going.

Congratulations to my beloved Class of 2009.

—WILL FEINSTEIN

Love, Mom, Dad, Amanda and Alex

May all your dreams come true.

Love, Mom, Dad and Ben

25 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

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Deana

X0

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

2009

The “Gang” – Bobby, Dino, Dominique, Liana, Frank, Jon OPP, JiEun, Jessica, Victoria, Marco, Remo, Lilly, Sean, Jimmy, Pat, Katie, @Eastside & Tri-City (Donʼt forget) Frankie Beans, Nicky, Willie, Buster, Caesar, Honey Boy, Katrina, Mario, Angel- Mozie & Axel

We love you!

Congratulations Deana <3 from your friends 0X

DEANA COPPOLA

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

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Congratulations, Brian Love, Mom, Dad, Sarah, David and Julie We are so proud of you!

art goes here

Your friendships do count Bear with me.

By the time we have our first reunion, some of us will be dead. This is absolutely a fact.

We’re not looking at 10 or 20 or 30—don’t be ridiculous—but two, or three or four.

Out of a class of, what, 475? that’s less than a percent. That’s tiny. Except that with the possible exception of the group of us going into the armed forces, we’re more or less equally likely to be offed.

Isn’t that terrifying? Isn’t it awful? It’s not going to be you, of course. You’re too smart for that.

So you’ll come back to this reunion and whoever this is will have a framed picture of themselves, maybe even their senior portrait and a candle, and people will sign something, maybe, or just hang around and talk about them.

It won’t be one of your friends, either, so maybe you’ll only drift over for a little bit.

Wait, no, stop, shut up. It might be your good friend from way back, who picked up something nasty while traveling abroad doing his First World duty and ended up getting sick.

What an awful image.

It might be your ex-girlfriend, who caught a chunk of falling masonry in the back of the head, and burnt out slowly in a hospital bed.

And (of course I needed a line break for this) it might be you, who caught a knife under your second rib because you happened to use all the cash you had on you on a lovely dinner date and a subway ticket.

As monstrous, inevitable and sheerly staggering as this is, it’s straight impossible to keep it in mind constantly without being kind of broken down by it. Instead, most of us feed it to ourselves in doses to shock us into clarity or to help us ride out similarly horrid states, but the bulk of the time we shut it out.

We lock down and live for the moment.

That’s the real crux of it, right?

Because once we step out into the “real world,” we acknowledge it, we validate it and the possibility of the world being anything but as we’ve come to know it is gone.

It’s the same reason we avoid looking at assignment sheets even as the due date creeps up because there’s that glimmer of a

Newtonian

Dan Abromowitz

possibility, irrational as it is, that it’s not real, that it doesn’t even exist, that the 15th is actually the 35th of next month and you’re fine, so go out and play.

So what you get, and here is where this gets important, what you get is this phenomenon that we’re seeing lately: the craze for nostalgia and the shortening of the turnover time.

The ’90s bring us together like nothing else.

Bring up “Hey Arnold!” in a crowded room and the positive response is overwhelming.

Sidebar ads on Facebook hawk “Legends of the Hidden Temple” shirts. The first video, and I mean the very first video, on Collegehumor’s main page today is a “DuckTales” parody (Remember “DuckTales”? What a great show!).

You know, when 1,691,959 people were your age, Pluto was a planet.

As the end of school looms larger and less like an idea and more like a deadline, while at the same time the world becomes significantly more frightening day by day (I am not exaggerating on this second point at all), we duck and cover to avoid taking that step into the danger zone.

Baking funfetti cake and pickup games of Bananagrams and buying your friends footie pajamas and using a picture of your four-year-old self as a profile picture and Razor scooters and singing along with the songs that 92.9 was playing 10 years ago when they come on are in vogue.

It’s the real deal, it’s the place to be and it’s not hard to see why.

Which do you talk about, given

a choice: classic Nickelodeon, or how frightened you are that you’re going to end up working at an airport rent-a-car?

But get a grip! Shake yourself!

Ask yourself: “Is this perpetual ‘eight years old’ what I really truly want?” and here’s why.

You only have so long to make friends.

I’m sure for the last few years you’ve had that running mental list, maybe not consciously, of people, cool people, people whom you want to matter to you, and with these last few months maybe you’ve even approached them, directly or no, whatever, I don’t care.

The fact is there are some amazing people here whom you may never see again—how scary is that?—whom you have one last chance to connect with.

But as that whole first chunk was meant to bring to your attention, these people could die.

They could die and all you’d have is the lingering regret and maybe a typed list to attest to how much you wanted to be their friend.

So stop not making new friends and make new friends. But—here is where the thesis all comes together—do not make friends by being you at age eight.

Yes, we all loved “All That” back when Keenan and Kel were on it, and obviously it’s a great ice breaker, but the bad news is we get stuck in that spot.

When we mire ourselves in our common history, we ignore the points where we split, where we became ourselves. When we’re all just another drop in the big pop culture pool, we can’t be real people.

We can’t connect on a concrete and emotional and meaningful level because children can’t do that. We’re too busy having picnics and buying “Drops of Jupiter” on iTunes.

If we want these new friendships to matter and last beyond the big bad cutoff point, they have to be real person friendships.

This regression is plain and simple because we are scared.

And the world is an absolute screaming terror vortex.

Be the first one on your block to stop huddling with action figures and stand up and straighten out and put on a suit and become a functioning adult.

Take it one day at a time if you have to. Let yourself adjust, but please, please, please do it. I want to be your friend.

—DAN ABROMOWITZ

For your own good

Teachers here expect hard work

Family photo

Joe Banks

The most important thing I have to say about the English program at Newton North is that the teachers are encouraging.

At times they will seem to be giving you tons of homework and overloading you with essays, but they are only trying to make you the best you can be at English.

Halfway through my freshman year was when I came to this realization, and it made all the difference to me.

Before I realized that my

teachers were there to help me, I thought I did not need school to be a successful person.

My teachers made me realize that I need English for every part of my life, so I learned to do my best in school.

My advice for 9 t h graders coming into Newton North is to not give up and although it may seem like your teachers are being unfair at times, in the end it’s for your own good.

—JOE BANKS

More to Class of 2009 than meets the eye

We are unique The graduating class that I am a part of is not like any other class that has passed through the halls of Newton North.

When one regards the Class of 2009 at Newton North, one usually observes the academic excellence or even the skilled athletes who are part of this graduating class.

However, there is more to the graduating Class of 2009 than what meets the eye. We are made up of amazing students with great potential, with many being strong leaders of the community that we call Newton North.

The list of leaders within this class goes on and on, seeming as if it were to go on forever. From student government to the classroom, this class does not fail to provide bodies that could improve the world that we see today, moving us into a bigger and brighter future.

As a student representative on the Student Faculty Administration Board I have seen firsthand how amazing many of my classmates are and how many have great ideas to share with the world.

I can be assured that fellow student government officials and I, through the years, have seen much of what the Class of 2009 can offer.

We have seen the excellence of this graduating class firsthand and all of the amazing people who make up our class.

We would not have made it to this point if it were not for the faculty who have enhanced

Matt Kalish

Willie Adelson

our high school experiences.

Even though there is an award given out for the best teacher in the school, I personally feel that each one of my teachers deserves some sort of award for the jobs that they have done with all their students.

I especially would like to thank the counselors who have helped students grow and prosper throughout high school.

As we all go our separate ways, we will always remember the good times and the bad times of high school.

No matter what, the Class of 2009 has left an impressive footprint on the history of Newton North as one of its greatest groups of bright young minds about to enter the world.

Some day we will look back on this class and see how amazing it truly was.

—WILLIE ADELSON

Try predicting the unpredictable When I first entered this school, I was a tall, lanky, awkward boy who wore glasses.

Now, at the end of my tenure, I am a really tall, lanky, awkward boy who wears contacts to hide his blindness and knows some stuff.

Clearly, things did not turn out as I had expected.

In fact, I did not see myself sticking with swimming, picking up hiking or befriending those who are now my closest companions although these aspects of my life are now vital to me.

As an underclassman, goals are useful for becoming successful, but following a strict plan for yourself will slow you down and take away from your experience here.

There are endless, unanticipated changes everyone undergoes over these four years.

Follow what inspires you.

High school is a time for dis-

Gaby Perez-Dietz

Luke Alie

covery and change, so do not decide what courses you will take, which teams you will play on or whom you will spend time with too far in advance.

Predict the unpredictable.

—LUKE ALIE

senior statements

28 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Take advantage of opportunities

People are always saying throughout your four years at Newton North that this school is different from other high schools, and you always think to yourself, “What separates this school from any other high school?”

Is it that there are close to 100 clubs? So many sports, plays and recitals that you can’t possibly choose which to be a priority?

More classes that you desperately want to take than can physically fit into a day?

Or simply having your class so large that at graduation you will shake hands to introduce yourself for the first time to a peer next

to you?

What really makes Newton North different from other high schools is having the ability to be the person you want to be and not be confined to a one-path-fits-all environment.

When I entered freshman year, I thought I had a clear plan on what I would want to do academically and extracurricularly in high school and to experience a little of everything.

But soon into my freshman year, I realized that I had a passion for the humanities. Newton North allowed me to expand this by taking two languages and

No need to fret Sometimes people think I’m a freshman. I don’t really blame them. I’m barely even five feet.

When I walk by the red lockers where all the frosh sit, I generally have to crane my neck to make eye contact with them.

OK. So I may not have grown physically since freshman year.

But Newton North has allowed me to grow in confidence.

As a freshman, I was afraid of almost everything and everyone. I was convinced that I’d be laughed at if I tried to make new friends, connect with teachers or share my ideas with the class.

It took me a long time to realize how wrong I was. By the end of sophomore year I realized what a warm, accepting community Newton North really is.

And I have those two departments tucked away in the basement—theatre and music—to thank.

Theatre was especially intimidating for my little (well, littler) freshman self.

Although it was my passion, putting myself out there in front of upperclassmen was hard for me. For most of the process during “The Crucible” in October of my freshman year, I was pretty clueless.

I didn’t understand much about the program, from the games played before rehearsal to the notes I’d receive. I tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible during the rehearsal process.

But as time went on it was hard to stay hidden. I started to talk to my cast mates and realize how much we had in common, even if they were older, wiser and much, much taller.

We shared a common goal: making the show the best it could be. And some of the upperclassmen took me under

Newtonian

Rachel Bronstein

their wing, offering advice about auditioning, help with my math homework and other pearls of wisdom.

I left “The Crucible” more confident and a little less afraid of the unknown.

The next year I was faced with a similar situation when I was one of three sophomores in Jubilee.

Every day, I feared the possibility of my only other friend in the class not being there.

But it was inevitable that I would be left alone from time to time.

It was, of course, uncomfortable at first.

But as the year went on, I realized again that I had it all wrong.

The other members of the chorus were welcoming, accepting and warm.

Class of 2013, take heed. You may feel tiny here – as if you don’t have a place.

But there’s a place for everyone here, no matter how small she may be.

—RACHEL BRONSTEIN

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eventually three social sciences in senior year.

Newton North has not only prepared me for college, it has allowed me to feel as if I were already in it.

These classes have given me a firm foundation in the area I hope to pursue.

My time at Newton North has also allowed me to experience visual design, a field that at the beginning of high school I doubt I would have considered.

It was by chance that I entered into that class as a freshman, but it was by choice that I continued with it all four years.

So when people tell you that Newton North is unique, it is unique in that there is no standard tenure as a student.

Whether it is creating a club to watch your favorite TV show with friends, decorating Main Street the Sunday before Thanksgiving or just trying to finish that last Otis Hill in track, Newton North is simply whatever we choose it to be.

Thank you to all the teachers who taught us, mentored us and enriched our lives throughout these four years, and congratulations to my classmates of the Class of 2009.

—JONATHAN BERMAN

family photo

Jonathan Berman

Try something new and have fun

Challenge yourself, but enjoy your time here Unfortunately, the competition has never been tougher to get to a top tier college.

In order to be considered for acceptance into these colleges, a student needs a transcript that not only shows that he or she has taken multiple AP and Honors classes, but has excelled in them.

I was aware of this constant pressure throughout my four years of high school but enrolled in just one AP class in both my junior and senior years.

Even though I took only one AP class each year, it took a lot of time and plenty of work to keep up in these classes.

I can’t imagine the time and effort a student taking multiple AP classes must dedicate to homework to complete all of the assigned work.

My advice to future students at Newton North is to challenge yourself, work hard, but enjoy high school and don’t get hung

up on getting straight A’s in every single class.

Many times during lunch, I have heard people talking about how they stayed up until 2 in the

morning finishing an assignment, or I see students slumped over an uncompleted homework assignment, taking a quick nap.

That is not how you should go through high school. It’s important to try hard in your classes, but don’t overdo it and burn out before college. Enjoy being in high school, try new things and have fun.

Newton North offers so many different clubs and student organizations, and it is a shame not to take advantage of them.

Get involved in a club, act in a play or play a sport, but don’t spend every waking hour of your day studying in hopes of being one of the few who are accepted into an “elite” college.

I’m not saying that high school is a time for slacking off and not trying hard, but it’s important to take time out to spend time with your family, your friends and to actually enjoy high school.

—MELISSA CUCCHI

Moving here in 8th grade, I hated Newton. I hated how it’s called the Garden City; how it’s the safest city; how diverse people think it is.

Yet over the past five years, I have learned to love Newton too.

I love taking the T to Boston; being closer to my extended family; walking (or running) to school.

And I love Newton North.

I wish to express my deepest thanks to everyone who has made my experience here so positive.

I’d like to thank students, past and present, who have inspired me in a variety of ways.

A great part of my high school education was learning from about 15 students whom I have worshipped as role models. As I graduate, my sole hope is that I

have passed down to my successors what they taught me.

I’d like to thank the faculty members who have held me together these four years: Ms. Verre, Ms. Lichtman, Mrs. Dover, Mr. Brown and Ms. Wieder.

It is because of their love and support that I have been successful at Newton North.

I’d like to thank my friends.

Especially this past year, they have been true sources of care and enjoyment. I feel grateful to have formed these meaningful friendships in high school.

I’d like to thank my family, and especially Eli, for their love.

Most of all, I’d like to thank them for moving to Newton. It was the best decision.

—JACKSON DAVIDOW

Jackson Davidow

Newtonian

Melissa Cucchi

Thank you for making my experience a positive one

Eli Davidow

Congratulations Isabella!

Subscribe to the Newtonite

We love you and are proud of you!

Call Caleb Gannon and Dan Salvucci at 617-559-6274

Mama, Papa and Antonia

senior statements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

‘Oh what? Oh Nine!’

In the blink of an eye your high school career is over. During these four years there have been good times and bad times.

That’s how high school goes.

They can’t all be good days.

But when they were good, they were great. I had some amazing teachers who inspired me, and I know they will continue to inspire others.

I made new friends who turned into best friends. I know that the friends I’ve made will stay in touch as we go our separate ways after graduation.

I loved playing on the sports teams at Newton North. I discovered which sports to continue throughout the years and which ones to let go.

In the beginning, softball was a sport that I played for fun.

It turned out that softball would be the sport where I would give my all to be the best I could be.

I developed a love for the game and tried my hardest throughout winter, spring, summer and fall to improve my game.

I earned my spot on varsity and I’m proud of our team and how hard we worked. I plan on playing in college and it’s all

Newtonian

Brianna DeNucci

thanks to my experience on the Newton North varsity softball team.

Newton North’s school spirit is one thing I will never forget.

We have the best school spirit I’ve ever seen. At the football games under the lights and at the basketball games there was always a sea of orange.

I am proud to say I will be a graduate of Newton North. I hope

I left an impression on the teachers and coaches whom I met and worked with.

The lessons I’ve learned from the teachers and coaches at Newton North have prepared me for anything life throws at me.

I remember all I kept saying was “I can’t wait for high school to be over,” but now I don’t believe that’s true any more.

Thinking about college and how different everything is going to be is scary.

But you have to grow up sooner or later, and I believe that in going to Newton North I have gained that sense of maturity to be able to live in the real world.

To the froshes, good luck and enjoy every minute of your high school experience.

Newton North is the best high school to spend your four years.

These are the years you’ll remember, so keep that in mind as you make the difficult decisions that you will face.

And to my seniors of OH NINE, good luck next year with whatever you decide to do.

“Oh what? Oh Nine!”

We did it!

—BRIANNA DENUCCI

No regrets about this school

Everyone told me that high school would fly by, and that I should enjoy it while it lasts.

I didn’t believe that it would actually go by so fast, but it truly has.

I cannot believe that it is senior year and I am graduating from Newton North.

It seems like only yesterday when I was a timid freshman trying out for the soccer team with all the upperclassmen.

Taking part in the Newton North tradition of excellence, spirit, success, sportsmanship and pride has been truly an honor.

Not only did I get to know my peers in all different grade levels by playing soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse at Newton North, but I also established life-long friendships with these teammates.

I learned many valuable lessons including balance, commitment and sportsmanship. Playing sports at Newton North is like being part of a large family, and you gain a sense of belonging in a big school.

One of the best things about Newton North is its incredible spirit.

It is the best feeling walking the halls of Newton North dressed in some crazy team spirit outfit and knowing that your teammates are wearing the exact same thing.

It isn’t just sports teams who dress up in team spirit. Actors dress up during production week, Model UN and Debate Club members dress up on debate days, and the entire school dresses up during Spirit Week.

Team spirits are all about showing your Tiger pride, having a good laugh at yourself and having fun.

mistakes.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me get involved and take risks at Newton North High School. I am proud to have been a Newton North Tiger.

These past four years have been fun and rewarding, and I leave Newton North with no regrets.

—ALYSSA HANSEN

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 29

Being on a team made senior year outstanding

Proud to play Tiger softball My four years at Newton North cannot be described in just one word.

My high school experience has been the highlight of my life thus far.

Everyone told me that these years would “fly by” and they sure did.

I remember stepping into Newton North as a freshman thinking four years here wouldn’t be too bad, and they weren’t.

At Newton North I had many opportunities handed to me, and taking advantage of them made high school an amazing experience.

I played softball during these years and I experienced a familylike bond with the team.

As the years went by, the team grew more together as a family and made being on a team comfortable.

Playing with such an awesome, spirited group of girls made my senior year outstanding.

I am so proud of how far our team has come. Softball does take a lot of self-sacrifices and time, but I wouldn’t spend that time any other way than with the team.

Being on a team has helped me become more comfortable with meeting new people and is an experience I will never have again.

I encourage the incoming

courtesy Tiffany Hamann

Tiffany Hamann

classes at Newton North to take advantage of the opportunities they have.

Never give up anything because you never know what kind of outcome it can have on you.

To the incoming seniors, keep your heads in the game still. Don’t take anything for granted your last year.

To the Class of 2009, we did it. Congratulations everyone and good luck next year.

I wouldn’t want to spend my four years of high school at any other school.

—TIFFANY HAMANN

Newtonian

Alyssa Hansen

Fun is what Newton North is all about.

It is about finding what you love, whether it’s sports, art, music, theatre or otherwise, and running with it. Follow your passions.

Try new things.

Newton North offers an incredible range of classes and there are so many different student groups and clubs available for students.

Join a club. If you can’t find one you like, start your own.

Take classes that interest you, but also try taking classes you may not otherwise take.

Who knows? You may end up loving it! Challenge yourself. Get to know your teachers.

The teachers at Newton North are outstanding, and they truly care about the students they teach.

The two biggest mistakes you can make at Newton North are not getting involved and not taking risks. Don’t make those

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2009!

Congratulations to Matthew and his former Peirce classmates and to the entire Class of 2009! the Berkowitz Family

Mayor David B. Cohen

senior statements

30 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Student-directing a wonderful experience I started my freshman year on the soccer team and wandered into the “theatre area” only after the season ended.

I auditioned for “The Princess and the Pea” with the Finger Paint Players, a tiny improvisational group that traveled to elementary schools and libraries, performing for young children.

Here, I got hooked on acting and continued auditioning for shows.

I was in the Shakespeare plays, the children’s theatre troupe and some other performances here and there, but I was by no means a lead or a star.

And then at the end of my sophomore year, a friend began talking about applying to direct a play.

I had never been in a studentdirected play, but I had an image of the student directors as

Newtonian

Kirsten Holland

the truly elite group in Theatre Ink—in other words, way out of my league.

Still, my friend Eva and I began reading plays and immediately fell in love with Agatha Christie’s

famous murder mystery, “And Then There Were None.” We decided, despite the odds, that we would apply to direct it.

Quite honestly, I’m not sure why we thought we had any chance. Nonetheless, we worked hard to write what seemed like an endless application and then to prepare for two high-stakes interviews.

And then it was a Tuesday in May at 8:57 p.m.

Eva and I were on the phone with each other, saying things like, “We’ll still be friends if this doesn’t work out,” or just freaking out a little. At 9 I clicked refresh, and lo and behold, there it was: “And Then There Were None,” directed by Eva Saltus and Kirsten Holland.

We rejoiced, and I think I speak for the two of us when I say that directing was one of the

Try something different The first day of freshman year started off great until it was time to go to each of my classes for 20 minutes.

While I successfully managed to go to my A-block class, it was all down hill from there as I interpreted the course number on my schedule to mean room number.

Apparently room 212 is not a French classroom?

The first day of sophomore year was slightly more successful, since I made it to my first two blocks before accidentally going to D-block instead of C-block, causing me to go to all of the wrong classes for the day.

You may think that I would have had it down by junior year, but that would be asking for too much.

Ergo, I took the wrong free block and managed to miss three classes that day.

The first day of senior year

Newtonian

Michele Kaufman

would have gone perfectly had I not gotten lost on the first floor while showing around a homeroom of freshmen, conveniently at the same time telling them they

would know their way around the school in just a few weeks.

These experiences are probably more embarrassing than meaningful, but after four years I think I have got the hang of Newton North.

Though it is overwhelming at first and all too easy to sit back and simply go through the motions of high school, this proves to be too boring.

Newton North has an endless amount of different groups and activities to get involved in, and you are guaranteed to get cool points for telling people you play badminton or are on a dodgeball team.

Whatever you choose to do, remember to not take these opportunities for granted. So I leave Newton North on this note: Try something new. You never know what you may find in it.

—MICHELE KAUFMAN

Everyone here has a chance I’ve never really been exceptionally good at anything.

I lack all artistic skills and my idea of playing a sport is an intense game of Monopoly.

I’m not a good actress and I have no idea how to sing on key.

However, in my four years at Newton North, that’s never set me back.

I’ve never felt unable to do something that I’ve wanted to do; I have found only encouragement in this building, and though I have sometimes had failed endeavors, I have not once been discouraged enough to stop.

I have learned, I have been taught, to try again, perhaps in a new way.

So maybe I’m not the best soccer player, but that doesn’t matter.

I’ve found out what I am good at—I am pathetically organized, and this, I have discovered over the past four years, is my hidden (natural!) talent, and the people at Newton North have provided me with about 1,000 ways to embrace it.

This is exactly what makes

Newtonian

Danielle Kutas

Newton North unique. Everyone here has a shot, and we’ve all been encouraged to do something that means something.

As we’ve done here, I am confident that we will continue to make a mark wherever we go while still remembering our roots at Newton North and the people who make it such an amazing place.

SMALL JOB SPECIALISTS QUALITY WORKMANSHIP WWW.CHERKASHOMEIMPROVEMENT.COM

508-799-5788

So thank you to all of the teachers, the administrators, the custodians and everyone else in the building who has helped shape our four years of high school.

Specifically, thank you to Mrs. Swederskas who has been there constantly to help me with whatever crisis I was going through.

You have been one of the most helpful people in the building, and I don’t think that I would have made it out alive without your confidence in me.

To continuing Newton North students, make sure you take advantage of this unbelievable school, but make sure also to keep in mind that though it may be easy to overwhelm yourself, it is far more worth it to do only the things you love.

We made it through together.

—DANIELLE KUTAS

most incredible experiences we have ever had.

Maybe because we felt as if we had virtually no chance of getting this spot, we tried and worked that much harder to prove ourselves.

Thank you to Mr. Brown for teaching me much of what I know about acting, directing and life.

Thank you to Mike BarringtonHaber who demonstrated a passion for the technical aspect of theatre that Eva and I came to rely on.

Especially, thank you to Mom, Dad and Ben, who showed me undying support, no matter what I tried or how ridiculous my ambitions may have seemed to them.

I truly believe that Newton North is unique in what it has to offer, and I find it sad that there are students including me who have fallen victim to the “college

system.”

I know that I and others in my class have shied away from courses and opportunities that seem quite intriguing simply because colleges will not classify them as “good” or because they are not factored into our GPA’s.

I left my comfort zone and took Theatre Arts 1 at the beginning of my freshman year, and I am now convinced that it ignited my passion for theatre.

I encourage anyone who reads this to pursue things that interest you and not simply to view high school experiences as means to an end.

Try something new just because.

Strive for something great no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Who knows? You may just get there!

—KIRSTEN HOLLAND

Coaches, teachers make this school great

Saying thank you for opportunities Looking back on my four years at Newton North, I can’t help but notice how much I have grown.

Newton North has affected me in so many different areas that I leave this school a completely different person.

In my first week of classes, I was totally intimidated by the workload and demands of my teachers.

Once I was able to get a grasp of how things worked in the classroom and with the help of my teachers, I was able to succeed in my studies.

All of my teachers expected the most out of their students and loved the subject they taught.

Their enthusiasm and willingness to help were instrumental in helping me succeed in the classroom.

I remember the first day of freshman football tryouts. I was a weak, scrawny little kid and had no clue what I was doing.

Now, four years later, I leave high school a mature young man who understands the value of hard work, knowing that anything can be accomplished if you set your mind to it.

I have all my coaches, teachers and friends to thank. You have influenced me in so many ways.

Athletics have been a big part of my life the past four years.

I have made a lot of friends through my participation in sports and I have so many memories to bring with me to college next year.

I have learned a lot of things from athletics that aren’t typically taught in a classroom, such as

Newtonian

James Krasker

mental toughness, making quick decisions under pressure and how to work as a team in accomplishing common goals.

Four years sounds like a long time, but it feels as if I blinked and it was over.

These have been the best years of my life, and I have so many stories that I will never forget.

My friends have taught me so much and it has been quite an experience.

As this phase of my life ends and I prepare for the next one, I want to say “Thanks!” to my teachers and coaches who have helped, guided and coached me during these past four years.

You are the ones who make Newton North the incredible school that it is.

—JAMES KRASKER

We should be proud

Together, we survived high school I never thought the day would come when I could reflect on my entire high school experience.

For the longest time I have been feeling that this day couldn’t come quickly enough, but now I am being flooded with an enormous mix of emotions.

I can’t help but feel relieved because after four years it is finally over.

Both sadness and fear hit me next because I know I will lose my connections with some of my

good friends.

The last emotion that pours over me is a huge sense of pride.

This sense of pride is not only for myself, but for the entire Class of 2009.

Whether we feel as if our four years here at Newton North were a success or not, each and every one of us seniors should be proud that we were able to survive and grow through this experience we all shared.

—PASCAL LOOPER

Matt Kalish

Pascal Looper

senior statements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 31

Find your niche and build a family

Ali Masterman

As I entered Newton North on my first day of freshman year, the building’s size was overwhelming and daunting.

I felt invisible in the massive sea of students.

However, over time this building has become my home and the students my family.

I have found that while there are nearly 2,000 students here, Newton North has an outlet for everyone.

Whether you enjoy playing

basketball, fighting for your peers on the Student Faculty Administration Board, singing in Jubilee, acting in a school play or organizing charitable fundraisers, you’ll find a place to belong; you’ll find your Newton North family of which to become a part.

In my case, I’ve found a number of families. I play basketball and field hockey; I was an editor of the Newtonite and a dedicated member of the Mentors in Violence Prevention program.

I have made friends through my involvement in these activities whom I know I will carry for the rest of my life.

The most important thing is just to find your niche (or niches).

And when you have, the once massive building begins to feel less daunting.

To those of you with more time left at Newton North, take advantage of all of the opportunities you have here and appreciate your friends and family as much

I am writing to tell you my experiences at Newton North have been awesome. I am enrolled in the EDCO program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and I am from Brockton.

I have been attending Newton North since my freshman year. I have really enjoyed my four years here and wish I could stay longer, but I cannot. I don’t know where I would be if I had not found this outstanding school.

I am hard of hearing and I will be attending college next year to continue my education with a focus in business.

Being at Newton North has really shaped who I am today.

I am a strong student and I have learned and gained a lot from being here.

There are some great teachers here, and I have had the best support over the last few years.

I want to thank my program

for being there for me and for helping me be a great student as well as a young adult.

I really want to thank all of my interpreters I have had and Erika Guarino and Debbie Knisell for helping me and putting up with me since my freshman year. I really appreciate everything they have done for me.

My advice to the entire student body is be the best you can be.

Never give up and always seek

help when you need it whether it’s school work or personal issues because Newton North and the EDCO program are full of great staff.

Always pursue your goals because without goals you will not be a success.

Thank you again and good luck to everyone in the senior class in their future endeavors.

—JANAY MITCHELL

Newtonian

as possible.

To the Class of 2009, I think we can all agree that we would be lucky to find college campuses as open, diverse and accepting as the one we’ve inhabited for the last four years.

So let’s celebrate our successes and cherish the time we have left. Before we know it, it will be gone.

—ALI MASTERMAN

Pursuing goals can bring success

family photo

Janay Mitchell

It is never too late to learn about yourself School bells, slamming lockers, high-pitched gossip and groans over homework assignments are just a few of the details that define a normal day as a high school student.

But when the day is finally over, you’re relieved to get the chance to hang out with your best friends and enjoy quality time with your family at home—I know I am.

Ever since my first day of high school back in September, 2005, each day has slowly yet quickly passed by, and because of that, I appreciate every moment that I spend with the people whom I care most about.

Nevertheless, getting involved in Newton North’s community has afforded me a remarkable experience.

Even though I have always placed Newton North before myself, I have had so much fun meeting and working with old and new classmates in and out of the classroom.

During my high school career, I truly enjoyed being a class officer, Mrs. Tobin’s assistant and a devoted Tiger softball player.

Reflecting on my adventures at Newton North during my final year of high school, I remember staring at certain grades on my report card in disbelief, fighting and laughing with my closest friends, and accepting my first varsity letter on the Lasker auditorium stage.

Regardless of the chaotic roller coaster ride that I have steered down Main Street for the past four years, I would never trade my journey for anything because I have received the values of being a companion, a student, a daughter, a sister and an athlete.

My best advice to both the current underclassman population and the graduating Class of 2009 is to continue understanding yourself through different perspectives by stepping outside of your comfort zone or by chasing your dreams.

The realization of senior year gave me the motivation to accept myself and others as minorities and to participate in a theatre production where I learned to sing, dance and act.

As a senior, I continued to fulfill my responsibilities as one of four vice presidents to the Class of 2009, drop by Barry house’s

Klem for being a triple threat (class adviser, homeroom teacher and math teacher), Mrs. Tobin for being a great mentor, Ms. Baugher for being the most outstanding softball coach and Mr. Kane for being the teacher who has guided me towards studying accounting at the University of Illinois in the fall.

Despite the fact that I have struggled to balance my academ-

Tiffany Mui

ics with my extracurriculars, I appreciate my mom, dad and brother for their love and support because they have sacrificed so much of their time and effort to ensure my happiness.

After doing more than I could handle at Newton North, I am extremely grateful for having the courage and opportunities to commit to activities that I enjoy.

Based on my high school jour-

ney, some will judge that I am a late bloomer, but others will recognize that the rest of my peers and I have a lot to learn about ourselves.

All of us are very capable of exploring our interests, so I encourage you to do so because there is never an end to discovering a new talent or passion that you may have.

—TIFFANY MUI

Newtonian

office once in a while to chat with Mrs. Tobin and enthusiastically play softball with teammates whom I have known since the 7th grade.

However, when college application season rolled around, I thought about aspirations that I wanted to pursue during my last year at Newton North, so I auditioned for the spring musical in December and challenged myself as an Asian-American leader in the Asian Culture Club.

Earning a speaking role in “Anything Goes” without any prior acting or singing experience and expressing my struggles with my culture and ethnicity to unknown peers gave me a new sense of accomplishment because I did not know that I had the strength in me to take profound and life-changing risks.

High school is about defining one’s identity, and I have yet to fully secure even my own because I know that it is a task that will take a long time to complete.

Therefore, I want to remind everyone that “Identity is a process, not a destination,” and I believe that the Newton North community succeeds in helping its students grow and develop their minds, personalities and goals.

I have made it through Newton North because I have taken the time to learn about my classmates, teachers and other faculty members. I owe a lot of gratitude to all of my friends who have helped me mature into a wiser young woman.

I want to thank Mrs. Swederskas for being my counselor, Mr.

These Chinese characters say “yong heng de you yi” which means “eternal friendship”. The Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program has been doing just that since 1979: creating long-lasting, eternal friendships.

You can be part of this expanding, dynamic community by hosting a Bejing Jingshan student in your home for Fall of 09. The students and teachers, who all speak English, are here to further improve their English listening and speaking skills, and to learn first-hand about American education and culture.

If you are interested in learning about the Chinese culture, if you are thinking of traveling to China in the near future, or if you simply wish to extend your hospitality, this is your chance to have direct input about China and Chinese life. Please contact the chair of the exchange program if you are interested in hosting for the Fall of 09 and if you have any questions.

E-mail: Donna_Fong@newton.k12.ma.us Phone: 617.559.6733

32 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

senior statements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Practice hugs and embarrass yourself often Here is a departing senior throwing some mixed musings at you, the Classes of 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Try to make friends with as many people as possible—people in your classes, people who are only acquaintances you want to be friends with, and waiters. They can surprise you.

Practice your hugs and high fives. They are universal signs of affection, and to be good at either is a blessing.

Embarrass yourself often and with gusto. If you laugh at yourself, it’s one more person you can have a good time with.

Make a ray gun of the atomic models they let you use in chemistry. Show everyone. Shoot your friends. Make the sound effect of

the ray gun shooting.

Say yes—people more often regret not doing things than doing them.

Mix it up. Don’t always get a Snickers at CVS. Try a Skor bar or chocolate Skittles because even if it’s gross, it’s an experience.

Smile genuinely at people and they will smile back.

Dance. Try to love to dance, even if you can’t at all. It makes big social situations easier and walks home from school with an iPod more rock-filled.

Tell your best friends that you love them and tell them often. Be supportive of people. Laugh at their jokes, give them confidence when they have a tough choice, and recognize that everyone is

self-conscious even if they don’t seem it.

Keep lists. They’re wonderful.

Music brings people together.

Exchange it, listen to it and avoid hating genres. When you can connect with someone musically, it’s an opening to a friendship.

Don’t get too addicted to anything: coffee, Monsters, Heros, texting, whatever.

Learn that instrument you’ve always wanted to learn. You know the one.

At some point in your high school career, be the guy who caused the smell of popcorn in the halls.

The laws of thermodynamics can be used as an analogy for anything. Even if you don’t like

courtesy Gabe Nicholas

Gabe Nicholas

science, look them over once.

Don’t be afraid to disagree.

People can get so caught up in

what’s going on, they don’t always recognize that they don’t agree with what’s going on, logically or morally.

Be good at birthdays, even birthdays of people you don’t know that well.

Acknowledge that adults deserve your respect and you deserve their respect.

Venture into new media. If you watch a lot of movies, read a play.

If you read a lot of comic books, try a newspaper.

Remember that the Newton Free Library has everything you would ever need from any medium.

Make puns. Lots of them.

Thanks to Mary Lauren Hall, a senior when I was a freshman, for inspiring me to write this.

—GABE NICHOLAS

You never know what will happen until you try Wow! I am graduating this year. I have no idea how four years flew by so quickly.

I can remember my first day and how scared I was. I can just imagine having the same butterflies and twists in my stomach as I walk onto my college campus next year.

I will be a freshman once again. I admit that I am a little nervous about college, but I know it will be an amazing experience just as being a student at Newton North has been.

Newton North is the only place I know where I could have friends who figure skate, sing, dance and play soccer.

It is the only place where everyone can have a group of friends that feels like a second

courtesy Miriam Raffeld

Miriam Raffeld

family to them. I know I have found my second family at Newton North.

I will always remember the unique experiences I have had at

Newton North.

My trips with the music department to Spain and China will be implanted in my memory forever.

I still envision the Great Wall of China every time I close my eyes—the steep stairs where every stone was hand placed and a woman was trying to sell us a ride on a camel.

I laugh every time I think of all the unexpected and crazy times I had both in China and Spain.

I love remembering the sound of the flamenco dancers in Spain.

I can see the bright colors of the costumes: the reds, oranges and purples and the intricate hand movements.

I don’t know how I was so lucky to be able to travel the

world with people I love—my friends from Newton North.

My experience has been unusual and unbelievable.

How many people can say that they toured in Spain and China?

I performed in the Forbidden City Concert Hall?!

I have to remind myself sometimes that it wasn’t a dream. I was able to travel because of the support and confidence that Newton North gives to its students.

I am forever grateful to Newton North for giving me experiences that I will hold onto until the day I die.

My advice to the rest of the Class of 2009 is to embrace college and to be smart. I know our senior class will go on to do great things.

My advice to all of the underclassmen is to make as many friends as you can who are not necessarily in your grade or have the same hobbies as you. Try everything at least once, and don’t let the man get you down.

Always say yes to everything.

Do not be scared to try out for the musical if you are the stereotypical jock or to join any particular club if you think your friends might make fun of you for it.

You never know how much you might love something until you try it.

Thank you to all of the people who have supported me throughout high school . I will never forget my four unbelievable years at Newton North.

—MIRIAM RAFFELD

Congratulations and Good Luck, Newton North Class of 2009!

From Matt Hills, Candidate for School Committee Lisa and Matt are the proud parents of Jessica NNHS ’08, Meredith NNHS ’10, Ben NNHS ’12, Amanda NNHS ’14

Passion for Our Schools Leadership and Experience for Our Future www.matthills.org Paid for by the Committee to Elect Matt Hills Brooke K. Lipsitt, Chair

Peter McKelvey, Treasurer

senior statements

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 33

Shaping your own attitude a key to success “Learning sustains the human spirit.” It is a simple, declarative and seemingly platitudinous statement.

If your experience has been anything like mine, at one time or another you’ve probably come to believe just the opposite: that learning drains the human spirit, that school will inevitably reduce you to a state of numbness, which is a valid conclusion, based on the fact that for years now you’ve sacrificed a great deal of time and energy doing work you would rather avoid.

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I actually like our school’s motto very much and consider it to be exceptionally wise. But that is a relatively recent development.

Prateek Allapur

Andreas Rotenberg

A couple of months ago I probably would have felt different, and my response would

have spoken volumes about the way I lived and learned, about the way I experienced the reality of Newton North on a daily basis.

For most of the time I was incapable of mitigating the ups and downs of high school. I soared with success and sulked with failure primarily because I couldn’t deal with reality on my own terms.

Life was simply something that happened to me. What I’m describing is an inflexible default mindset, ill-equipped to resist the fast moving currents of raw emotion, and thus totally subject to them.

Then I realized something.

We are all born with one way of looking at the world; that

way may be unique, it may be insightful or profound, but it is still singular, which means that without being exposed to alternatives we can never escape our natural state of mind.

Taken on its own, my realization may seem to be unimportant, but in the context of the average high schooler’s life it could be significant.

The ability to control how you see life may be the difference between liking and loathing school.

If you wish to remain on an even keel, you will have to change your approach daily. You may have to think optimistically and cautiously, broadly and specifically, to make it through your four years here.

You may be challenged to consider things as they were, as they are and as they might be. A daunting task, but one I’m sure you have been trained to complete.

After all, you’ve been in school for at least 10 years now, and I would go so far as to suggest that learning intellectual dexterity has been the primary purpose of our schooling.

Few of us will actually use algebra, chemistry or a detailed knowledge of U.S. history in our professional careers. We study those subjects because they add new dimensions to our perceptions of the world.

Study hard. Stay out of jail. I wish you all the best of luck.

—ANDREAS ROTENBERG

’Twas the last day of school Culinary arts It went by so quickly, faster than you know a great program

’T

Mike Blanchard

Molly Silverman

Erika Chow

was the last day of school And up and down Main Street Seniors were celebrating And stomping their feet.

The diplomas were waiting on Ms. Tobin’s desk Everything was all done, even the tests.

The gowns were all hanging, lined up in a row, While the caps sat ready for their big throw.

Girls in their T-shirts, boys in short pants We all showed up early, screaming goodbye chants.

When out on the mall, there arose a loud clatter We all ran outside, to see what was the matter.

And what did we find, out there on the mall But water guns and fun for all.

There were seniors outdoors all ready to play, We had finally done it. Today was our day.

It was time to celebrate and have some fun, To giggle and cry, and remember what we’d done.

We started as freshmen four whole years ago.

It went by so quickly, faster than you know.

We’ve accomplished so much and in so little time Being the best in all things, even beating Brookline.

So Class of ’09, here’s my shout out to you: The smartest, best class; there’s nothing we can’t do.

Happy graduation to all, and to all a good journey.

—MOLLY SILVERMAN

Thankful to Newton North, but also glad to be leaving I’m glad that high school is over, but as far as pleasure-derived-from-liberation goes, this is awfully tepid.

The moment was awaited so anxiously and hyped up to such a degree, yet the days raced towards it so quickly that now, on the cusp of graduation, I haven’t had the time to develop any nostalgia or regrets.

Practically unavoidable, departure from school is only a fact of the world, one that millions before me have experienced, and any personal sentimentality doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this world.

Boy, did that last paragraph ever get tripped up in a pile of existential glop or what? Yeesh.

The truth is, though, I’m happy I’m leaving, I’m thankful to Newton North for letting me come to school every week.

Remember in “Office Space” when that dude was getting interviewed by some fat guy and the guy from “Scrubs,” and he said, “It’s not like I don’t care, it’s just I don’t have any motivation”?

Well, I feel kind of like that, as opposed to a lot of folks who probably feel like Willy at the end of “Free Willy,” only if Willy had the capacity to feel, which he didn’t because he was a whale.

(Actually, did you know killer

Matt Kalish

Danylko Villano

whales are dolphins? It’s true, look it up.)

In all honesty, I bet it’s my own fault that I’m not broken up over leaving Newton North.

Going by what they say, it certainly sounds like we’ve got topnotch staff and faculty and sports and organizations and whatnot, but this is one of those “You get what you put in” deals.

We are all given the opportunity to take advantage of Newton North to the fullest, and doing so probably would have fostered a closer bond between the school

and me.

It’s a shame that my high school career didn’t turn out more like “The Breakfast Club,” but I’m not broken up about it since that movie stunk, and anyway, if I could have my life parallel any Emilio Estevez movie, it’d be “Young Guns II,” not that pile of garbage.

So then, what am I leaving behind? The only things left in the school with my name on it are a couple pieces of writing from English classes, I think.

I’ll have to surrender my seniority to the next generation of bright-eyed, strong-willed idealists who will eventually learn for themselves that it’s much more fun to be lazy than principled.

I’ll miss the feeling of being part of a community more than I will miss any specific individuals.

In general, I think I should just thank everybody for not being too annoying, and, in specific, I should thank Mark Sanders (He knows why.).

But I suspect that like everybody else, I’ll soon just float into the recesses of people’s memories as a specter of time, where every time that someone sees me could be the last time we meet.

I’m like Keyser Söze, “and like that [blows into the wind]: *puff*…he’s gone.”

—DANYLKO VILLANO

As I approach the end of my senior year, I would like a chance to reflect on the past four years at Newton North.

So much has happened to me since my freshman year. I would like to share some of my experiences with you.

When I was younger, I was lucky enough to realize what I wanted to be when I grew up: a chef. While in middle school, I found out about the culinary arts program at Newton North.

I met with Ms. Robbins, director of career and tech ed., and discussed the opportunities that Newton North had to offer.

Then when I went to go visit the school and the culinary arts program, I immediately fell in love with it.

During freshman year in the Culinary Arts Exploratory class, I was amazed with the teachers, students and the entire atmosphere of the kitchen.

What the culinary program had to offer made me fall in love with it. I knew that this program and Newton North would offer me the skills to achieve my goals in the future.

I took the Culinary Major II and III courses my sophomore and junior years, when I had the opportunity to become a teacher’s assistant. I was able to help other students, including freshmen who had never stepped into a commercial kitchen before.

It was at this time when I decided that I wanted to become a culinary teacher.

I was given the opportunity to participate in many food challenges and charity events like the first Iron Chef of Newton and the Rotary Club’s annual Death by Chocolate. These created some of my fondest memories of my time here at Newton North, times that I will never forget.

As a senior, I am a second year Culinary Major III. I was nominated and received the Outstanding Student of the Year Award—the first culinary student in four years to receive this award.

I have been accepted to and will be attending the Culinary Institute of America in New York next year, an accomplishment for which I credit the education of the culinary program at Newton North.

I have made great friends and

Newtonian

Joseph Treddin

formed strong relationships with teachers, including Mr. O’Neill and Ms. McKinney.

People who have also been a key to my success at Newton North are Jane Kenslea and Linda Fries, whose guidance and understanding will never be forgotten.

I will never forget these people and many others who have helped me through the rough times that I had—the people who have always been there for me.

It is these relationships and great memories I will always carry with me.

To the underclassmen continuing here at Newton North, there are a few words of advice I can give to you.

Take a career and tech ed. course and do something that you love.

Even if you decide not to make it a career, you can have a lot of fun, become great friends with teachers and other students, and learn something you would not have had the opportunity to learn elsewhere.

And lastly, enjoy every moment that you have with the friends that you make. Four years seems like a long time, but it ends a lot sooner than you realize.

Cherish each day and make the best of it. These are the times that you will never forget. Make them something that you can always look back upon and smile because that is exactly what I will do in remembering my time here at Newton North.

Good luck to all the seniors in your future endeavors, and the best of luck to the future graduating classes of Newton North.

Enjoy every moment.

—JOSEPH TREDDIN

The Newtonite congratulates the Class of 2009!

sports

34 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Fall teams achieve record of 77-54-15

A

thletic director Tom Giusti said the fall season was a success because of the “equity, fairness and sportsmanship that came from all student athletes and coaches.”

“We wanted to develop our sense of camaraderie and unity, and give experience to athletes,” Giusti said.

The Tigers’ record is 77-54-15 with a winning percentage of .527. Of 10 teams, seven made it to the post-season.

—MEREDITH ABRAMS

Cheerleaders take 4th in Regionals MEREDITH ABRAMS Cheerleading achieved its goal of competing in the Regionals, where the Tigers placed fourth, said Amanda Costa, a cocoach with Adriane Callahan.

“Everyone was really excited,” Costa said. “It was great to know all our hard work paid off. We had high expectations from the first day of tryouts.”

A highlight was the Shrewsbury Invitational November 1, where the Tigers defeated the defending state champion, Sheperd Hill Regional High School, to place first, Costa said.

Senior Caroline Cooke, a captain with senior Paris Mongo, said the team’s greatest improvement was in its confidence.

“We started to realize how much we were capable of, which made us set our goals even higher,” Cooke said.

She and Mongo are Bay State Conference all-stars.

Next year’s captains are juniors Rian Murphy, Michelle Ng and Courtney Ross.

BY

Boys’ cross country finishes at 10-1

ELI DAVIDOW Having finished at 10-1, boys’ cross country had a stellar season, coach Jim Blackburn said.

“We wanted to finish undefeated, but to have a 10-1 record is successful,” he said.

The Warriors beat the Tigers 29-26 October 29 in Brookline.

“We had a great core group of guys who were really strong varsity members,” said senior Jared Forman, a co-captain with senior Dan Hamilton. “We had strength in numbers, and the team had a really good bond.”

Forman, Hamilton and junior Michael Goldenberg are Bay State Conference all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars, Boston Herald all-stars and News Tribune allstars. Sophomore Dan Ranti is also a News Tribune all-star.

Next year’s captains are Goldenberg and sophomore Ezra Lichtman.

BY

Seniors boost girls’ cross country

MARENA COLE With strong seniors and vibrant freshmen, girls’ cross country, 8-2, has had solid participation, said senior Franca Godenzi, a captain with seniors Liz Altieri, Nora Barnicle and Carolyn Ranti.

“We had 37 members this season,” Godenzi said. “In the past, our numbers have been in the low 20s. We bonded well, and that helped a lot.”

According to coach Peter Martin, a season highlight was the Class A Meet November 8 at Franklin Park, where the Tigers placed sixth overall.

“We came a long way, especially with the development of our younger members,” Martin said.

Ranti and senior Rebecca Park are Bay State Conference all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars and Boston Herald all-stars. Ranti, Park and senior Nora Barnicle are News Tribune all-stars.

Next season’s captains are juniors Julia Belamarich, Susannah Gleason, Shoshana Kruskal and Adele Levine.

BY

Field hockey, 0-10-4, improves skills

MARENA COLE Struggling with on-field communication, field hockey, 0-10-4, made a midseason turn-around, coach Celeste Myers BY

Eli Davidow

Setting up defense: The Tigers prepare for the snap while beating Brookline in the 114th Thanksgiving game. said.

“The team couldn’t keep consistency and had difficulty finishing games as strong as it started them,” she said.

“One of our goals was to improve overall skill, and I think we achieved that.”

At Wellesley October 16, the Raiders defeated the Tigers 3-0, a season highlight, Myers said.

“It was a challenging team, and we both played well,” she said.

According to senior Leah Medin, a captain with senior Sandra Marzilli, the Tigers “had a good time and tried hard.”

“We went in as a team, and we came out as a team,” she said.

“By the end of the season, we learned to communicate on the field, and offense and defense connected well.”

Senior Elizabeth Giggey-Mashal is a Bay State Conference all-star.

Next year’s captains are juniors Leanne Luke and Tal Shemesh.

Football beats Brookline 15-7 in OT

SAM SCHAUER Beating Brookline allowed football, 3-8, to end on a high note, coach Peter Capodilupo said.

“We started off losing six games in a row, but we turned around and won three of our last five,” he said.

“We weren’t the most talented team and had a lot of young players, but we worked hard, stuck together, demanded a lot from each other and didn’t give in to fatigue or disappointment. It culminated in a double overtime win against Brookline.”

The season’s turning point came when the Tigers got their first victory here against Braintree, winning 22-19 October 26.

Senior Colin Notis-McConarty, a captain with senior Jeff Ambrosi, said the victory provided the Tigers with the confidence they needed for the rest of the season.

The Tigers beat Brookline 15-7 in the 114th annual Thanksgiving football game, and now they lead the series 56-52-6.

“It’s just as coach Capodilupo says,” Notis-McConarty said. “Brookline is its own season. That’s the one that we’re going to remember.”

Senior Alex Clark and junior Ben Kiley are News Tribune all-stars.

Next year’s captains are juniors Humberto Castillo, Faisal Mayanja, Conor O’Neil and Eddie Pang.

BY

Golf team finishes second in league

KELLYNETTE GOMEZ Golf coach Bob MacDougall said he was impressed with this year’s team, which finished 15-2.

“Going to the Sullivan Tournament for the third time in a row and finishing second in the league were great experiences for the team,” MacDougall said.

Senior Jake Mahoney, a captain with senior William Reibstein, said the season was a success because the team won the BY

Bay State Conference and made the tournament.

Also, the Tigers finished seventh in States.

Mahoney and Reibstein are Bay State Conference all-stars and Boston Globe all-stars.

The team will choose its captains in the fall, Mahoney said.

Boys’ soccer reaches 2nd round of tourney

WILL FEINSTEIN With 16 seniors on its 20-man roster, boys’ soccer finished at 7-7-4.

In the second round of the State Tournament, Madison Park beat the Tigers 3-0 November 9 at Boston English. The Tigers had defeated Billerica 1-0 November 7 in Billerica in the first round.

“We had a great team with a great group of guys,” said senior Eli Kuh, a captain with seniors Eric Brown, Greg Cohan and Jonah Poster.

“It was a great game against Billerica, which was definitely one of the highlights of the season.”

Coach Ucal McKenzie said the Tigers fought hard until the end.

“This was the most fun I’ve had coaching in my career,” McKenzie said.

Brown and Poster are first-team Bay State Conference all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars and Boston Herald all-stars. Poster is a News Tribune Player of the Year.

Brown and seniors Matt Berkowitz and Julien Paul are News Tribune all-stars.

Next year’s captains have not yet been determined, Cohan said.

BY

Girls’ soccer, 5-4-8, fights injuries

KATE LEWIS Despite injuries to key players, girls’ soccer, 5-4-8, was “extremely competitive in every single game,” coach Brian Rooney said.

Two tie games against Weymouth, one at Weymouth September 15 and the other here October 14, stood out, Rooney said.

Both scores were 2-2.

“Weymouth only lost once all season and went all the way to the finals,” Rooney said.

Other season highlights included a 1-0 victory over Wellesley here October 16 and a 5-2 victory here over Dedham October 7.

Senior Chloe Kuh also cited beating Brookline here 2-1 October 20 and 2-0 at Brookline September 22 as highlights.

The group’s closeness and teamwork were assets, said Kuh, a captain with seniors Alyssa Hansen, Genevieve MossHawkins and Julia Quinn.

Quinn is a first team Bay State Conference all-star, and junior Kim Gillies is a second team all-star. Seniors Emma Kornetsky, Michele Kaufman and Anitra Kloczewiak received honorable mentions.

Quinn is a Boston Globe all-star and a first team Boston Herald all-star, and Gillies is a BY

second team Boston Herald all-star. Quinn is also a News Tribune all-star.

Next year’s captains are Gillies and juniors Lee Ford and Camilla Jackson.

Swimmers, 5-6, build unity

NICOLE CURHAN Girls’ swimming, 5-6, created a strong bond, said senior Susie Felts, a captain with senior Ariel Yoffie.

“More people became better at distances and put in a bigger effort,” Felts said.

“Everyone stepped up, worked harder and was more dedicated.”

The team placed 17th at States, 22nd at Sectionals and eighth at the Bay State Conference Championship Meet, said coach Kirsten Tuohy.

Felts, Nevart Varadian and Yoffie, the team’s three seniors, “did a wonderful job of making new swimmers and divers welcome and involved,” Tuohy said.

“It generated a desire in all swimmers to do well.

“The turning point was towards the end of October as people’s times started to come down after a plateau.”

Beating Brookline 98-88 here October 14 was a highlight of the season since this time was the first Tigers beat them in a decade, Tuohy said.

Yoffie was an athlete of the month.

Varadian is a Bay State Conference allstar, a Boston Globe all-star and a Boston Herald all-star.

Next year’s captains are juniors Caeden Brynie, Carissa Chan and Zoë Talkin.

BY

Girls’ volleyball 12-8

ALICIA ZHAO Girls’ volleyball, 12-8, worked hard, coach Richard Barton said.

“Quite a few of our strong players graduated last year, so it wasn’t really clear who was going to set, and we had no major attackers,” Barton said.

“I crossed my fingers that this year’s players would become those people, and they did.”

A highlight was October 22 when the Tigers beat Brookline here 3-0.

“It was a strong match at the end of the season against a team we’d struggled with earlier,” Barton said. “To beat them convincingly was an outstanding achievement.”

The team also aimed to play power volleyball, Barton said.

“Our goal was not just to improve, but to reach an absolute level of play, which we eventually did,” he said.

Building a strong defense was a major focus, said senior Natasha Link, a tri-captain with seniors Allison Clott and Annie Staulo.

“By the end of the season, we established a very good attacking, serving and defensive team,” Link said.

Clott, Link and Staulo are Bay-State Conference all-stars and Boston Globe all-stars. Link, Staulo and junior Kate Bellerose are News Tribune all-stars.

BY

sports

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 35

Seven winter teams see post-season action T

January 20 because “both teams were undefeated,” Perz said.

Senior Luke Alie, a captain with senior Elias Menninger said the Tigers “had really good divers. There are only a few in the league who could beat them.

“I’m so proud of this year’s team and its accomplishments. We managed to improve throught the season, and we were able to drop times.”

Seniors John Heilbron and Dong Yeop Shin and junior Sam Rolfe are Bay State Conference all-stars. Heilbron, Rolfe, Shin and juniors Nick Blenis and Aidan Breen are Boston Globe all-stars and Boston Herald all-stars.

Next year’s captains are Breen and Rolfe.

iger pride showed in the winter sports season, athletic director Tom Guisti said.

“The students put pride into action and exercised good behavior,” Guisti said.

Overall, the winter sports record is 8051-3 for a winning percentage of .597 and seven teams made the post-season.

—MEREDITH ABRAMS

Boys’ basketball, 21-6, in Sectional finals

ELI DAVIDOW With consistency as a strength, boys’ basketball, 21-6, reached the South Sectional finals, said senior Matt Berkowitz, a co-captain with senior Craig Marriro.

It was farthest the Tigers had gotten in the post-season since they won the Division 1 state championship in 2005 and 2006, according to Berkowitz.

To get to the finals, the Tigers defeated Durfee 61-57 March 4, “a big accomplishment,” Berkowitz said.

Coach Paul Connolly said the Tigers’ resilience was a strength.

“We hit a few bumps in the road, and the team found a way to get through things and get everyone on the same page,” he said.

Junior Greg Kelley, Marriro and senior Geoff Woodberry are Bay State Conference all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars, Boston Herald all-stars and News Tribune all-stars.

Kelley and junior Wynn Tucker are next year’s captains.

BY

Boys’ track, 6-0, league champions

Girls’ basketball reaches post-season

MEREDITH ABRAMS Once girls’ basketball got going, the team got involved and exceeded expectations, coach Hank DeSantis said.

“The team was extremely tough offensively, and on defense, the girls held their opponents to under 40 points in five of the last six games,” DeSantis said.

A highlight for the 12-10 team was its defeat of third-seeded North Quincy 51-35 February 25 at Quincy, DeSantis said.

According to senior Hallie Vitagliano, a captain with senior Mariah Wynn, “Over the season, we became able to close out tough games and win as a team, not as individuals.”

Sophomore Brianna Hunt is a first team Bay State Conference all-star, a Boston Herald all-star and a News Tribune coplayer of the year. Vitagliano is a News Tribune all-star.

Next year’s captains have not yet been chosen.

BY

Boys’ gymnastics 0-6

JOSH BAKAN Boys’ gymnastics, 0-6, faced difficulties with injuries and inexperience, coach Steve Chan said.

Junior Justice Hedenberg, a captain with junior Buzz Cochran, was injured all season and Cochran was out for two weeks, Chan said.

“To meet our goal of finishing .500, we would have had to stay injury free, which didn’t happen,” he said.

The team’s most impressive meet was at Andover January 30 when Andover won 123-103, Chan said.

Hedenberg said, “The guys were really pushing themselves. They really pushed each other to work hard.”

Next year’s captains are Cochran and Hedenberg.

BY

Girls’ gymnastics 8-2 JOSH BAKAN Versatility was an asset for girls’ gymnastics, 8-2, coach Jim Chin said.

“We had many girls who did three events,” Chin said.

Senior Arliene Posno, a captain with senior Nevart Varadian, said the team had just eight gymnasts, but the Tigers focused on their routines and got rid of little mistakes.

Beating Walpole 133.9-133 here January 16 was a highlight, Posno said.

“Walpole won the Bay State Conference last year, but all of our routines were perfect, and we tied the school record for points in a meet,” she said.

BY

EMMETT GREENBERG Although boys’ indoor track was 6-0, injuries hurt the team before the State Meet, coach Jim Blackburn said.

“We hoped to win the Bay State Conference and stay undefeated the 12th straight year, and we did both of those things even with the injuries,” Blackburn said.

Senior Dan Hamilton, a captain with senior Sam Arsenault and Tony Chen, said the Tigers “had a lot of close meets this year.”

Arsenault, Chen, Hamilton and junior Ben Kiley are Bay State Conference allstars. Arsenault, Chen, Hamilton, Kiley and sophomore Ezra Lichtman are Boston Globe all-stars, Boston Herald all-stars and News Tribune all-stars. The 4x400 relay of Arsenault, senior Neil Fulwiler, junior Alon Soran and sophomore Isaiah Penn has News Tribune all-star status.

The Tigers have not chosen next year’s captains.

BY

Teddy Wenneker

Against Wellesley: Senior Morgan Abbott, a team captain, handles the puck as the Tigers host Wellesley February 7. The Raiders won 3-0.

Varadian, junior Rani Jacobson and sophomores Andrea Marzilli and Victoria Mirrer are Bay State Conference all-stars.

Next year’s captains are Jacobson and Marzilli.

Boys’ hockey rebuilds

JOSH BAKAN Although boys’ hockey finished 3-13, the team made progress throughout the season, coach Tom Ryan said.

“We improved our puck movement, our attitude and our work ethic,” Ryan said.

According to Ryan, the Tigers’ strongest opponent was Needham, which won here 8-0 February 14.

Senior Pat LeBlanc, a captain with seniors Mike Asaley and Anthony Moscatelli, said the team built unity.

“There wasn’t one player who was doing everything,” he said. “The team was always together.”

Moscatelli and junior Ben Sauro are second-team Bay State Conference allstars.

Sauro is a captain for next year.

BY

Girls’ hockey, 8-8-4, makes tournament

MEREDITH ABRAMS Having learned to skate with heart and to understand what it means to play at the varsity level, girls’ ice hockey, 8-8-4, made progress, said junior Kim Gillies, a captain with senior Morgan Abbott.

The team also improved its puck control, general game sense and skating ability, Gillies said.

A hightlight was beating Walpole 1-0 here January 19, when the Tigers “skated with a lot more intensity,” Gillies said. “We really wanted that win, and we earned it.”

Coach Bob MacDougall also called the season a success because the Tigers “faced lots of adversity with injury and illness.”

Junior Hannah Jellinek is a first team Bay State Conference all-star, and Abbott and senior Amanda Taylor are second team Bay State Conference all-stars.

Jellinek is also a Boston Globe all-star and a Boston Herald all-star. Abbott, Jellinek and Taylor are News Tribune all-stars.

Next year’s captains are Gillies and Jellinek.

BY

Girls finish second, boys fifth in alpine

JACOB BRUNELL Alpine skiing developed new talent under coach Scott Mighill, said senior Harrison Keyes, a captain with seniors Anitra Kloczewiak, Dan Kulla and Maddie McSally.

“We were lucky to have so many talented freshmen,” Keyes said.

The girls rank second in the Mass. Bay Ski League East Conference, and the boys rank fifth, he said.

From the beginning to the end of the season, all skiers on the team became more aggressive and had more success on the slopes, Keyes said.

Kloczewiak is a Boston Globe all-star.

The Tigers have not chosen next year’s captains.

BY

Nordic ski finishes second in league

JACOB BRUNELL Second out of 14 teams in the Mass.

Bay Ski League East, nordic skiing accomplished its goal to “improve fundamentally,” coach Sarah Holton said.

“Beating Dover-Sherborn in the States was a highlight because they beat us every other meet this season,” she said.

Seniors Sam Gant, Chloe Kuh and Jason Luttmer and juniors Leah Cepko and Michael Goldenberg are Mass. Bay Ski League East all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars and Boston Herald all-stars.

Sophomore Ellen Goldberg is also a Boston Globe all-star.

Next year’s captains are Cepko, Goldenberg and juniors Rob Lasell and Zoe Pepper-Cunningham.

BY

Boys’ swimming, 6-0, wins conference

JEREMY GURVITS Boy’s swimming, 6-0, repeated as Bay State Conference champions and got more people into Sectionals and States than last year, said coach Paul Perz.

“It’s hard to see any weaknesses with our team because we were very versatile,” Perz said. “We could put people all over the place.”

The biggest challenge the Tigers met was winning 100.5-85.5 at Needham BY

Experience leads girls’ track

JOSH BAKAN Experience carried girls’ track, 5-1, coach Joe Tranchita said.

“We didn’t win the conference as we hoped to, but we finished second at the State Relays,” he said.

The most impressive performance came from the sprint medley team of seniors Michele Kaufman, Carolyn Ranti and Ari Sanchez and sophomore Margo Gillis, which finished third in the Nationals March 6, Tranchita said.

Kaufman, a captain, said the Tigers were “able to set a lot of personal records because we had a lot of returning members.”

Gillis, Kaufman, Ranti and sophomore Emily Hutchinson are Bay State Conference all-stars, Boston Globe all-stars, Boston Herald all-stars and News Tribune all-stars. Senior Emma Kornetsky is also a News Tribune all-star. The 4x800 with Gillis, Kaufman, Kornetsky and Ranti has News Tribune all-star status.

Next year’s captains are juniors Samantha Gluck and Jaya Tripathi.

BY

Wrestling maintains its winning streak

JOSH BAKAN Wrestling, 10-8, finished above .500 for the seventh straight year, coach John Staulo said.

“Everyone understood the concept of getting to their peak in mental and physical conditioning,” Staulo said.

A season highlight was a quad meet at Catholic Memorial December 13 in West Roxbury where the Tigers finished 2-1, he said.

According to junior Sam Shames, a captain with seniors Hagai Brandon, Tom Dekel and Jared Forman, “Early in the year, kids were trying flashy moves that wouldn’t work and they’d end up losing.”

Shames is a co-MVP of the Bay State Carey and a first team Bay State Conference all-star. Dekel is a second team Bay State Conference all-star. Shames is a Boston Globe all-scholastic, a Boston Herald all-scholastic and a News Tribune co-player of the year. Dekel is a News Tribune all-star.

Next year’s captains are Shames and junior Alex Westlund.

BY

sports

36 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Baseball, 8-12, stays competitive

Coach cites ’12 progress

JOSH BAKAN ffense and pitching improved for baseball, 812, coach Joe Siciliano said.

“We were inexperienced at the start, but we were competitive in every game,” Siciliano said. “We were 8-7 in one-run games.

“Our pitchers threw more strikes and pitched with more poise.”

The top hitters were seniors Leighton Culici, Charlie Pappas and Billy Uberti, and sophomore Alex D’Agostino, Siciliano said.

“Our hitters weren’t swinging at bad pitches, and they worked the count well,” Siciliano said.

“They were more selective with their pitches\.”

Top pitchers were senior Chris Anderson and junior Eric Howard, Siciliano said.

“Eric had an ERA under two, and he developed a curve that he controlled much better with every game,” he said. “Chris threw 70 percent strikes. He developed a two-seam fastball that sank and a great curve.”

According to senior James BY

EMILY MCLAUGHLIN Each player on the 8-11 freshman baseball team learned to be a better teammate, coach Chris Anderson said.

“Everyone has improved on the team, which was our No. 1 goal,” he said.

For instance, the team beat Braintree here Tuesday, May 19 4-2. At the start of the season, April 14, Braintree beat the Tigers 5-4 at Braintree.

Thursday, Needham beat the Tigers 3-2 in Needham, after the Warriors beat the Tigers 54 in extra innings in Brookline Tuesday.

The Tigers were ahead, but at the bottom of the seventh, they lost on a walk off hit.

According to freshman Jeff Howard, a pitcher and shortstop, “Our defense was solid throughout the year, our pitchers threw strikes and if we had hit a little better, we would have won more of the close games.”

BY

Teddy Wenneker

Wind-up: Senior Charlie Pappas pitches against South here Friday, May 22. The Tigers won 11-8.

O

Krasker, a captain with Uberti and seniors Alex Clark and Lenny Tocci, defense was a team strength.

“We didn’t make a lot of errors, and we made quick decisions in the field,” Krasker said.

In the Tigers’ last game of the season Saturday, May 23 in Waltham, the Hawks won 16-3 after the Tigers beat South here 11-8 Friday, May 22.

“We played with metal bats in those games, which we’re not used to,” Krasker said.

Against South, Anderson gave up one unearned run in four innings, and senior Max Martins had five RBI’s.

Wednesday, May 20, the Tigers beat Needham 11-2 after the Warriors beat the Tigers 2-1 at Brookline Monday, May 18.

“Needham ran into a lot of outs, and our pitchers picked off four runners,” Krasker said.

“Eric pitched a great game against Brookline.”

Uberti is a first team Bay State Conference all-star. Howard and Talichi are second team Bay State Conference all-stars.

JV, 13-7, builds its strengths by emphasizing basics STEVEN MICHAEL Focusing on the basics of making plays and hitting the ball helped JV baseball achieve a record of 13-7, coach Steve Jordan said.

“We ended up winning six of the last seven games,” he said.

“All I asked was for the players to play hard, and they played hard every game.”

BY

During the season’s final game at Waltham Saturday, May 23, the Tigers led by three. However, Waltham bounced back to tie the game and won 9-8 in the eighth inning.

Commenting on team strengths, Jordan cited its outfield.

Sophomore Evan Clements in left field and freshman T.J.

Quinn in center field played their positions especially well, as did junior Sam Fogel at first base, Jordan said.

Also, he said the team has had solid all-around players, and he praised Fogel and sophomore Dan Anderson for their leadership.

Sophomore Jake Rosenthal, a third baseman, was the team’s

most consistent hitter, he said.

According to Jordan, the season highlight occurred during an April 24 game at home against Catholic Memorial in which the Tigers scored five runs in the seventh inning for a come-frombehind victory.

“We beat Framingham twice this year in two very close games,” Jordan said.

“Our losses were also extremely close. We lost to Waltham, Xaverian and twice to Brookline in extra innings.”

According to freshman Bobby Grimshaw, the team’s hitting improved.

“In the beginning, we got a lot of called strike threes,” he said.

“We didn’t take the bat off our shoulder. Now we swing more.”

Ciao Italia ~ Celebration ’09 Thank You to the Donors...

Celebration 2009 thanks Newton North parents, Mayor Cohen and members of the School Committee and Board of Aldermen for their time, energy and financial support: Ann & Tom Dinsmore Beth Dunton Fenster Greenberg Family Ford Family Barbara Fain & Jason Gilbert Gluck Family Lisa Greene Margaret & Drew Hannah Christopher Wilson & Greer Hardwicke Carolynn Moss & Dan Hawkins Deirdre & Ed Heilbron Diane & Paul Ho Hohman/Seldin Family

Beth Goldbaum & Jerome Ackerman Anonymous Representative Ruth Balser Chris & Angela Bauer Julia Greenstein & Paul Bleicher Kathy & Dan Broderick Susan & Andy Calamare Ann & John Cassidy Cliff & Canny Chan Chiang Kuo Wu & Tzu Feng Chung Nancy Clark Mayor David Cohen Jo-Ann Suna and William Daniels Georgina Didino

Diane Juliar Steve & Cindy Kane Annette & Bill Kaplan Alberto Godenzi & Brigitt Keller Marc and Roberta Laredo Ledoyt Family Ann & David Levin Libby Maclaren Rob Warren & Sally Mazur McCarty Family Peter & Elizabeth McKelvey Janet & Victor Milione Reenie Murphy Lindsay & Brian O’Donovan

Overaker/Hadeler Family Brian Rosman & Barbara Penzner Beth Nicklas & Jonathan Ribner Alderman Anthony J. Salvucci Dean Anderson & Jean Scarrow Mary Reinke-Scorzelli & James Scorzelli Karen Singer Maryanne Volpe & Chip Trayner Mary Donchez & Paul Wilson Amy & Jeff Wolfe Barbara Newman & Charles Yelen Jonathan and Gail Yeo Terry & David Yoffie

Let’s thank and support our local businesses and civic organizations for contributing $$, raffle prizes and food to the post-prom parties at both Newton North and Newton South: Sponsor Cabot’s Ice Cream and Restaurant Newton Kiwanis Club.

The Village Bank Supporter John Coyle – J & S Mobil LL

Benefactor Aronson Insurance Donor Broderick, Bancroft & Goldberg Newton Firefighters Association

Contributor Newton Wellesley Orthopedic Associates Newton Masonic Associates, Inc. Nonantum Children’s Christmas Party Association R.L. Tennant Insurance Agency, Inc.

Raffle Prize and Food Contributors (partial listing includes parent donors) 5 Guys Restaurant Alpha Hair and Nails Angelo’s Barbershop Anna’s Taqueria Antoine’s BJ’s Steve Bader Baker’s Best Barry’s Village Deli Bellajosie Salon Ellen Bennett Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizzeria (Newton Corner) Big Picture Framing Boston Body Cabot’s Ice Cream and Restaurant

Central Drapery and Dry Cleaning Nancy Clark Clark & White Comella’s Container Store Costco D & A House of Pizza Davis Salon Dellaria Salon Elaine Elion Folklorica Judy Garber Great Harvest Bread Dawn Hunter

Kim’s Nail and Skin Care Sherry Klein Henry Lee Judy Levenfeld Vivian Ling Mango Tango Sally Mazur Linda McLaughlin Minuteman Press (West Newton) Morningsilver Gallery Museum of Science Nestle’s Company Newtonville Book Shop Newtonville Service Station O’Hara’s

Opticians 3 Parrot Pizza Peet’s Coffee Tania Philips Pizzeria Uno Chicago Bar & Grill (Newton Corner) Liz Preston Kathy Robinson Rosenfeld’s Bagels Russo’s Salone Di Bellezza Shaw’s (Newtonville & Auburndale) Shing Yee Restaurant Amy Silberstein Lisa Smith

Starbucks (Newtonville, Waban and Newton Corner) Subway Super Stop & Shop (Pleasant St. & Watertown St.) Sweet Tomatoes Linda Taber Tango Mango Pat Tietbohl & Doug Romich Pascal Torracinta Trader Joe’s Alice Turner Unique Nails and Spa West Newton Pizza and Grill West Suburban YMCA

sports

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 37

Lions beat Tigers 3-1; win tournament

Volleyball reaches Sectional semis

MEREDITH ABRAMS JACOB BRUNELL n a match that drew a sizeable crowd, South eliminated boys’ volleyball, 11-3, in the semifinals of the Sectionals Friday, May 29.

“We played a great match against South,” coach Richard Barton said. “Unfortunately, they played better and beat us.

“Some players on South’s team had perhaps the best game of their careers. Going out there, we didn’t expect some of the South players to play as well as they did.”

Senior Jon Lee said the Lions “have great setters and a very BY

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Teddy Wenneker

S m a s h : Fr e s h m a n L u k e Westman is a Bay State Conference all-star.

strong frontline.”

Last Wednesday, the Lions beat Brookline 3-2 in the Sectional finals here.

“Even though we lost, we really worked together as a team,” Lee said. “We were all determined to be a great team and try as hard as we could in the tournament.”

South coach Todd Elwell said it was “great to see the community unite.”

Last year there were about 500 or 600 people at the match, compared to this year where there were 700 or 800, he said.

“North always has a great program,” he said. “Richard Barton does a wonderful job, and it’s always nice playing North, not just because of his reputation, but because they love the sport and have a great following.

“The quality of play at North is what we strive for, so any time we play together, it’s really entertaining.”

After a first-round bye, the Tigers beat North Quincy 3-0 here Tuesday, May 26.

“We trounced North Quincy with a combination of a powerful attack, strong serving and consistent defense,” Barton said.

Lee said that freshman Luke Westman played well, noting that he got aces.

Friday, May 15, the Tigers beat the Rockets 3-1 in Needham.

“Although the score doesn’t necessarily suggest it, this was a challenging match because Needham started off fast with a win in the first game,” Barton said. “Fortunately, we were able to regain our composure and win the next three.”

Lee, senior Chris McCann and Westman are first team Bay State Conference all-stars. Freshman Gage Neirinckx is a second team Bay State Conference all-star.

Girls’ lacrosse makes playoffs A

ELI DAVIDOW lthough girls’ lacrosse, 9-9 overall, lost to Norwood in the first round of the post-season, the team put together one of its best seasons in recent memory, said junior Kim Gillies.

“Last year, we stayed on a mediocre level,” said Gillies, a captain with seniors Alyssa Hansen, Amanda Taylor and junior Britanny Jaillet. “But this year, we started out the same way, and then we started to win some games. We won seven out of our last nine.

“Overall, it’s the most improvement I’ve seen on any team.”

At Norwood Wednesday, May 27, the Mustangs defeated the Tigers 16-7 in the first round of the post-season.

The Tigers were seeded 11th in the tournament, while Norwood was seeded sixth.

“They had better transitions than they did last time,” Gillies said. “We knew that they weren’t the same team the first times we played them.”

Gillies noted that the first time BY

the Tigers played the Mustangs April 2, the Mustangs won 15-2.

“Those two goals were probably the only two shots we had the whole game,” she said. “Just having offense now is totally different.”

Coach Kim Keefe also cited Gillies’ torn ACL as putting the Tigers at a disadvantage.

“Kim is one of our top defenders,” she said. “It was a major loss because she does an incredible job for us.”

With Taylor in goal, the Tigers improved on defense in the second half of the Norwoord game, limiting the Mustangs to only two goals, Keefe said.

To get into the post-season, the Tigers defeated South Saturday, May 16 12-7 and Braintree Monday, May 18 18-11.

“When we play South, there’s always that intensity,” Gillies said.

“After we beat them, it carried over into Braintree. We dug down deep and we won.”

In a game Friday, May 15, Needham beat the Tigers 15-4.

Both Jaillet and Taylor are second-team Bay State Conference all-stars.

’12 finishes 7-5-1 Coach cites team’s improvement FATEMA ZAIDI Freshman girls’ lacrosse, 7-51, developed the drive to win, said coach Sally Leung ’07.

“These girls are very fast and learn very quickly,” she said.

“We outran our freshman opponents.”

But Leung said that injuries “forced us to play man down and put players in positions where I did not always want to put them.”

The team has improved vastly since the beginning of the season, she said.

“They have done such a good job, and worked really hard,” she said.

Major players continuously have been the goalie, Adi O’Connor, and Danielle Harris and Leah Greene, midfielders.

“Adi consistly has a lot of saves, Leah’s fast and has lots of game sense, and Danielle can maneuver around players,” Leung said.

In the season’s final game the Tigers defeated Needham 15-5 Thursday, May 21 in Needham.

“We were very excited to win the last game,” Kayla McMillen said.

Leung herself graduated from Newton North in 2007 and played lacrosse for the Tigers all four years of high school, varsity for three.

She is also the all-time leader in goals for the varsity team with 98.

ELI DAVIDOW With a good mix of juniors, sophomores and freshmen, JV girls’ lacrosse formed a cohesive group, said coach Celeste Myers.

“Throughout the beginning of the season, we werenot able to execute the simple plays,” she said. “We had to spend a lot of time on the little things.

“But then our weakness became our strength. The girls learned that it wasn’t about winning games, but how we won our games. I’m proud of them.”

A highlight for the 7-5 Tigers was beating Framingham April 29 13-9, according to junior Michelle Ng. In the first game against Framingham, the Flyers defeated the

PATRICK ALVES Culinary arts teacher Lisa McKinney ’81, who co-chairs the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, said she hopes seniors will nominate classmates and coaches.

“Newton North’s Athletic Hall of Fame is remembering today’s athletes tomorrow by giving them recognition for their contributions to the rich athletic

history that Newton is so proud of,” McKinney said.

According to the criteria for athletes to be nominated, they must have graduated at least five years ago.

“They must have been an outstanding varsity athlete and emblematic of solid school citizenship, caring for the school community.

“For coaches to be nominated

they must have been a role model, demonstrating fabulous coaching ability,” the criteria says. “They also must have been a coach at any level for at least 10 years. Only coaches who are not currently coaching at North are eligible.”

McKinney urges people who have people in mind to nominate them. The nomination

form is on the Newton North website.

The 2009 induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame will be November 27 at the Sheraton Needham.

On that evening, there will be 11 new athletes and one coach joining the current 61-member Hall of Fame. ◆ Kenneth Billings ’73

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Teddy Wenneker

Hosting Needham: Sophomore Michelle Craman runs up the field as junior Kim Gillies trails behind. The Rockets won 17-5 Monday, April 27.

JV, 7-5, builds team chemistry BY

Tigers 12-2 March 11.

“They’re one of the best teams out there,” Ng said. “They are always able to catch anything.”

Stand-out players included junior Aida Skelic in goal and freshmen Kayla Farina and Hannah McGoldrick on offense, Ng said.

“They were all solid,” she said.

Hall of Fame seeks nominations from senior class BY

◆ Steve Cononico ’76 ◆ Mariana Creatini ’01 ◆ Fred Dauten ’52 ◆ Chris Drakos ’68 ◆ Chuck Fogerty ’55 ◆ Don Fox ’53 ◆ George Jessup, coach ◆ Steven Leonard ’89 ◆ Gail McCarthy ’72 ◆ Liz Natale ’82 ◆ Mike Tobin ’96

38 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

sports

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 39

Boys’ track gets set for New Englands A

JOSH BAKAN iming to send members to the New England Meet in Burlington, Vt., Saturday, boys’ track, 7-0, has great overall depth and versatility, said senior Dan Hamilton, a captain with seniors Sam Arsenault, Tony Chen and Jared Forman.

Top performers are sophomore Isaiah Penn in the 400, sophomore Ezra Lichtman in the 800, Forman in the mile and

junior Connor Ebbs in the discus and shot put, Hamilton said.

According to coach Jim Blackburn, “We have strength and depth in every event, and we haven’t had any real weaknesses.

We won all the dual meets, so we were pretty strong across the board.”

Saturday, May 30 in the Class A Meet in Andover, Forman placed third in the mile with 4:25, Hamilton placed fourth in the two-mile with 9:42, senior Neil

Fulwiler placed fifth in the javelin with 156 feet and Arsenault won the long jump with 22 feet, 5.5 inches.

At the State Relays Saturday, May 16 in Andover, the Tigers took sixth overall.

The milers, Hamilton, Lichtman, junior Michael Goldenberg and sophomore Dan Ranti, placed sixth.

Arsenault, Ebbs, Forman and Hamilton are Bay State Conference all-stars.

MEREDITH ABRAMS irls’ outdoor track, 7-0, won the Bay State Conference and showed consistent improvement from week to week, said coach Joe Tranchita.

He cited seniors Michele Kaufman, Emma Kornetsky and Carolyn Ranti as key members.

All three are top five career scorers for Newton North, with Kaufman at No. 1 with a total of 367 career points so far.

“They’re great because of consistency,” Tranchita said. “Their performances are consistent from meet to meet.”

Commenting on the New England Meet Saturday, Tranchita said the Tigers planned to send

Kaufman in the hurdles, Ranti and sophomore Margo Gillis in the 800, the 4x400 team of Kornetsky, Gillis, Ranti and junior Ariana Tabatabaie, the 4x800 team of senior Nora Barnicle, juniors Sam Gluck and Jaya Tripathi and freshman Maggie Heffernan, and freshman Stephanie Brown in the pole vault.

At the Class A Meet Saturday, May 30 in Andover, the Tigers placed third overall.

Kaufman was second in the hurdles with a personal record of 15.14. In the 800, Gillis was second and Ranti was third. The 4x400 relay team was first and the 4x800 relay team was fifth.

Brown was second in the pole vault.

“We had an outstanding year that surpasses expectations, what with the new members,” Tranchita said.

“In addition to being undefeated and Bay State Conference champions, freshman and sophomores scored about half our points.”

Team members broke more than 150 personal records this season, he said.

“Depth was a big question coming in, and it was where new people really stepped up and contributed.

“The upside of having so many freshman and sophomores is that they will be coming back next year as experienced veterans and will give us a solid nucleus.”

Visiting the Flyers: Junior Nolan Whitehead does the hurdles Tuesday, May 12 in Framingham. The Tigers won 86-49.

MEREDITH ABRAMS hen the Tigers beat the Lions in a game honoring the late Tom DePeter it was a season highlight, coach Bussy Adam said.

The Tigers won 8-7 in overtime, Adam said.

“We always look forward to the excitement of a cross-town game, and the seniors played exceptionally well,” he said.

“We had lost four of our last five games, and although we didn’t make it to the tournament, we

beat Newton South.

“One of the reasons it was a great win was that it was for a great lacrosse coach,” Adam said.

DePeter had coached at both high schools, and Adam had played for him.

At 9-11 overall, the team improved greatly over the season and will have experience for next year, Adam said.

“We could have played a little better, and it was disappointing that we didn’t make it to the State Tournament, but we came a long

way and the 16 underclassmen got lots of playing time and experience,” he said.

“The kids are much better now than they were nine weeks ago.

“Individually a lot of goals were accomplished in terms of becoming better, more knowledgeable players.”

At Braintree Monday, May 18 the Tigers lost 15-8, having lost to Needham 12-4 Friday May 15 at home.

“They played a lot better then we did,” Adam said of the loss to Needham. “We had 27 turnovers

and lost 12 out of 20 face-offs.”

The team also played a man down, and had seven minutes of penalties.

Against Braintree, the team had the same problems, Adam said, with 26 turnovers and 17 out of 26 face-offs lost.

“Although we didn’t make the playoffs, I enjoyed how we ended the season,” said senior Brian Tully, a captain.

“Throughout the season, defense was a strength of the team,” he said.

“Communicating on offense

BY

Girls’ track, 7-0, wins title G BY

Shira Bleicher

Boys’ lacrosse beats South 8-7 in overtime W BY

Freshmen, 8-9, win six in a row

CHRIS WELCH After winning six games in a row, the freshman boys’ lacrosse team ended its season in a sudden death overtime loss hosting Needham.

The Rockets won 6-5 Thursday, May 21.

“There was a penalty at the end of the game and the coaches agreed that we would play a man down,” said Sam Davis, a midfielder. “We had one less player in overtime, and they scored to win.”

The team, 8-9 overall, went 6-1 in its last seven games.

“We made adjustments after the first few games and then at the end really started to play together,” coach David Curnick said.

“One of our keys to winning was moving the ball into the attacking zone. Our transition offense was also key. We worked

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Coach praises JV

BRIANNA CARUSO Boys’ JV lacrosse, 13-6, took home a 13-2 victory when they played South Tuesday, May 19 at Warren Field in the final game of the season.

“We didn’t allow them to move the ball well around our defenses, and our middies and defenders did a good job,” said sophomore Zach McAuliffe, a midfielder .

Also commenting on the victory, sophomore Taylor McDade said, “We did a really good job staying in contact with each other to get a hold of the ball.”

Coach Stephen Feiss said he saw improvement over the season.

“We really worked on controlling the pace of the game and minimizing turnovers,” he said.

The team’s best game was April 8 against Walpole here, Feiss said.

“We pulled through with a final score of 9-3,” he said.

BY

BY

hard on improving our offense and our defense .”

Tuesday, May 19, the team hosted Walpole in its second to last game and won 11-3.

“We had some great shots, and we played aggressive defense,” Curnick said.

“Josh Woolfe played well for us in goal in this game and all season.”

Commenting on the season as a whole, Curnick said, “The boys really listened and learned from us, and we had a very unselfish team this year. The coaches were supportive of the boys and we had a good season. We also had a balanced team with a lot of good players on both offense and defense.

“There is a lot of potential in this group and I think that there are a lot of talented kids on this team.”

and working as a unit got better as the season progressed, so we turned that weakness into a strength.”

He said the team greatly improved on its ability to recognize a situation on the field.

“For example, finding who on the other team is the weakest link and how to exploit the weakness, or knowing when to push for the goal, and when to pull back and pass around,” he said.

Junior Mike Vaglica is a second team Bay State Conference all-star.

Teddy Wenneker

Hosting Braintree: Junior Alex Talishinsky sprints down the sideline Monday, May 4. The Tigers beat the Wamps 12-1.

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40 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, June 10, 2009

Tennis teams both in tournament B oth tennis teams reached the semifinals of the South Sectionals and were eliminated from the tournament Wednesday.

Girls lose to Wellesley

MEREDITH ABRAMS After Wellesley defeated the Tigers 3-2, coach John Gautschi had praises for his team.

“I couldn’t be prouder of what the team accomplished this season,” he said. “When you go out and play with no regrets and you lose, you lose, but they all did a great job.”

Last Monday in the quarterfinals, the Tigers had defeated Walpole 4-1 at home.

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Jaryd Justice Moote

Backhand return: Senior Anitra Kloczewiak plays second singles.

Softball makes semis C

MEREDITH ABRAMS onfidence and effort brought the softball team to the semifinals of the North Division 1 Sectionals, coach Lauren Baugher said.

Lexington defeated the Tigers 2-1 Wednesday in Lowell.

“We played a great game, and we didn’t give up,” Baugher said.

“We played with confidence and we weren’t afraid, which was awesome to see.”

Monday, June 1 at home against Beverly, the Tigers won 2-1.

“Our infield played really well,” Baugher said citing senior Brianna DeNucci at third base and junior Rae Copan who pitched.

In their first tournament game at Boston Latin Friday, May 29, the Tigers won 3-2.

“Every person had a clutch hit or a clutch play,” said senior Allison Clott, a first baseman.

“Everyone was at 110 percent, and it summed up the season: it showed how far we’ve come on offense and defense, and how much we love and dedicate to this team.”

Copan struck out 13 and at the plate senior Tiffany Hamann was two for four with an RBI and a triple. Clott was two for three with an RBI and a double.

“We had a great season, and we made a lot of progress as a team and accomplished a lot,” Clott said. “I’m really proud of us. There is not one person on the team who did not make a huge difference in every game.”

The Tigers, 17-7 overall, were 14-6 at the end of the regular season, having defeated Needham here 14-0 Wednesday, May 20 and Brookline 10-0 Monday, May 18 at Brookline.

Friday, May 15, Wellesley won 3-1 in Wellesley.

Having finished the regular season at 9-7, the Tigers won 5-0 inBridgewater-Raynham Saturday, May 30 despite BridgewaterRaynham’s 13-2 record.

“There is a strength of league issue,” Gautschi said. “We play in a tougher league, but when you get into the tournament, the record doesn’t mean anything.”

Senior Anitra Kloczewiak, a captain with senior Perri Silverman, said the team improved this season.

“We really became a lot more consistent this season,” she said.

Kloczewiak is a second team Bay State Conference all-star.

Flyers top singles

BY ILANA

GREENSTEIN Strength in singles made the difference for the Flyers, who won 5-0 in the semifinals at Framingham Wednesday, boys’ tennis coach Phil Goldberg said.

“Framingham has three great singles players, but despite the score, we were very competitive and each match was close,” coach Phil Goldberg said.

Last Monday, the Tigers beat BC High 3-2 in Boston.

“Our doubles played very well,” Goldberg said. “They both won in straight sets.”

Toward the end of the season, the Tigers, 10-8 overall, lost three

straight matches. In the Garden City Cup on Tuesday, May 26, the Lions won 5-0. Needham hosted the Tigers on Wednesday, May 20 and won 5-0.Tuesday, May 19, the team visited Wellesley for the annual night match, which Wellesley won 5-0.

Monday, May 18 the Tigers beat Brookline 3-2 in Brookline.

Senior Andrew Whittum, a cocaptain with senior Ben Cassidy said winning was the biggest highlight of the regular season, because after Brookline beat the Tigers 5-0 during vacation he had not expected a victory.

Stein is a Bay State Conference all-star.

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Teddy Wenneker

Safe at third: Coach Lauren Baugher instructs junior Jessica Fugazzotto as the Tigers host Beverly Monday, June 1. The Tigers won 2-1, advancing to the tournament semifinals. “We played with confidence and we weren’t afraid,” Baugher said.

JV finishes 10-9-1 JOE CONNORS JV softball, 10-9-1, won its last two games.

Before winning 9-3 in Needham Wednesday, May 20, the Tigers defeated Brookline here 18-0 Monday, May 18.

Coach Courtney Albert said she was not surprised at the large margin.

“They didn’t get a hit,” Albert said. “Softball really depends on pitching and they kept on walking us.”

According to sophomore Emma Mahoney, an outfielder, BY

the Tigers “are patient at the plate, which leads to many scoring opportunities, and our pitching did a great job overall.”

Two Tiger pitchers, Rachel Miller and Clare Doolin, had a shared no-hitter with seven strikeouts and four walks.

“They both are really strong,” Albert said.

“Clare had a torn ACL and had to use a brace, but she finished the season, and to me, that was remarkable.”

’12 coach cites effort JOSH BAKAN Having played with intensity all season long, freshman softball, 8-6, never gave up no matter what the score was, coach Laurie Arcovio said.

“Communication was a problem, but everyone has improved,” she said.

Another improved skill was the team’s bunting.

“Everyone developed into a really good bunter,” Arcovio said.

Top hitters were Domi Godino, who “has been getting on base the most,” and catcher Christina Taira, “our top power hitter,” Arcovio said.

In their final game of the season, the Tigers beat Needham 29-12 here last Thursday.

Visiting Brookline, the Tigers won 26-9 Tuesday, June 2.

“We were able to get to all the balls in the field,” Keren Dekel said. “Calling outs in the field was a weakness for us, but we’ve improved at that.”

A highlight was losing to Wellesley 7-6 in extra innings at Wellesley, Thursday, May 28, Arcovio said.

“Even though we lost in the eighth inning, we played great small ball,” Arcovio said.

basketball and baseball ◆Chloe Kuh for soccer and nordic ski ◆Elias Kuh for soccer and nordic ski ◆Mary McGrath for ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse ◆Paris Mongo for cheerleading, indoor and outdoor track ◆Sophia Perides for soccer, gymnastics and outdoor track ◆Carolyn Ranti for cross country, indoor and outdoor track ◆Ari Sanchez for indoor and outdoor track ◆Ann Staulo for volleyball, wrestling (manager) and soft-

ball ◆Amanda Taylor for field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse ◆Nick Toyias for football and lacrosse ◆Nevart Varadian for swimming, gymnastics and outdoor track.

For the spring season, nine students won athletes of the month: Hamilton and Kloczewiak, seniors Ben Cassidy, Allison Clott, Anitra Kloczewiak, Chris McCann, Brian Tully and Billy Uberti, junior Leanne Luke, and sophomore Ellen Goldberg.

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Spring athletes win awards for their achievements EVAN CLEMENTS o honor the accomplishments of the spring athletes, students, parents and coaches assembled in the Lasker Auditorium Thursday, May 28.

Mayor David Cohen said that “the athletes continued a great tradition at Newton North this year.”

Seniors Alyssa Hansen and James Krasker won the Williams Connors Award for putting team above self.

Freshmen Katie Caruso and Luke Westman received the SuraBY

T

bian Award for 9th grade athletes, and freshmen Courtney Lahey and Marlin Rainville received the Bartzak-Murphy award for putting team above self.

Twenty-four seniors who earned seven or more varsity letters received plaques are ◆Mike Asaley for hockey and lacrosse ◆Nora Barnicle for cross country, indoor and outdoor track ◆Alex Clark for football, basketball and baseball ◆Sophie Duncan for soccer, indoor and outdoor track ◆Jared Forman for cross coun-

try, wrestling and outdoor track ◆Elizabeth Giggey-Mashal for field hockey and alpine ski ◆Ethan Goldman for soccer, indoor and outdoor track ◆Dan Hamilton for cross country, indoor and outdoor track ◆Alyssa Hansen for soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse ◆Michele Kaufman for soccer, indoor and outdoor track ◆Anitra Kloczewiak for soccer, alpine ski and tennis ◆Emma Kornetsky for soccer, indoor and outdoor track ◆James Krasker for football,