Fly guys: students turned Amateurs in aviation
Stop comparing everything to the holocaust
Page 4 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA
Volume 72 No. 4
March 4, 2022
Making the jump: Varsity basketball player goes DI
Page 8
Page 12
spoke.news
Photo Illustration by Aren Framil, Maya Shah and Ben Shapiro/The SPOKE
By Jui Bhatia, Katherine Lee and Shreya Vaidhyanathan, Beats Editor, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Co-Webmaster Editor’s note: as a privacy measure, one student wishes to remain anonymous. Their alias is indicated with an asterisk (*). When the bell rings at the end of eighth period, sophomore Luc Beauparlant switches off school mode and focuses on his passion: sports. Playing both hockey and baseball since elementary school, the dual-sport athlete learned the ins and outs of managing time and establish-
ing a routine. For one half of the year, Beauparlant prioritizes ice hockey; the other half, he prioritizes baseball. From staying on-task with homework during his free periods to giving his all during practices, Beauparlant concentrates on maintaining his grades and improving his athletic performance. He does everything he can to prevent falling prey to one of an athlete’s greatest hurdles: sports burnout. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the continued demands of a sport without rest or recovery can cause chronic stress and sports burnout. Consequently, athletes can experience an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, resentment toward their sport and lower levels of achievement due to poor
performance. Loss of motivation is a common effect when student-athletes feel forced into their sport, either by social pressures or their parents. Robert Brill, a member of Moravian University’s Department of Psychology, acknowledges the complex nature of how sports burnout manifests in high schoolers. “The main symptom is withdrawal, and that withdrawal can manifest physically, emotionally, socially or a combination of those three,” Brill said. “Students don’t feel like they have the ownership of being in the sport, (and) it eventually wears them down.” Senior and runner Karis Blagden feels that sports burnout can be caused by athletes overworking themselves to a point of physical and mental
exhaustion. Blagden has seen teammates lose motivation because they lack a goal or achievement in mind, leading them to lose sight of why they play their sport. “It (sports burnout) happens when you don’t realize when you need to cut back, and, over time, that can lead to not wanting to continue (playing),” Blagden said. “I’ve definitely seen people go through it. Sometimes, after they reach a certain goal they had, they just stop and they don’t feel like they want to push themselves anymore.” Sports burnout affects student-athletes in high schools all over the country, and Conestoga is no exception. Many athletes, like senior and runner Vicente Peña, feel that burnout impacts their performance and causes self-doubt. “It’s very common with
people who find themselves trying everything they can every day to (improve), and then feeling that they don’t get that result,” Peña said. “You get tired of the whole entire process, (and) you’re just like, ‘Why am I doing this? Why do I feel like this is getting me nowhere?’” The added pressures of time management, social demands and academic constraints exacerbate the issue of burnout in high school athletes. Immaculata University Health Nutrition and Exercise Science Chair Kelly Stalker finds that burnout at the high school level is caused by a variety of factors affecting students’ relationship with their sport and how they manage time. “It (sports burnout) happens in that high school age,
College Board enacts major SAT changes Mareska Chettiar Staff Reporter
The College Board is making major changes to the SAT, effective from 2024 onwards in the United States and from 2023 onwards internationally. This includes shortening the test time from three hours to two, removing the no-calculator math section, going completely digital and reducing the length of reading passages. “I think College Board is doing this for student flexibility,” said guidance counselor Brian Samson. “With electronic distribution, tests will still be taken in school but will also be taken at test sites. It also sounds like (College Board) will open up more days to take it at an alternative test site.” Overall, the changes hint at a standardized test that is more student-oriented. The test will soon be fully online, taken on personal devices or those provided by schools and testing centers. There are precautions in place to save answers and ensure a student does not lose their work if a technical issue aris-
es. However, some students maintain that the current format is superior. “As someone who has taken the paper test, they are easier for me,” junior Daniel Richard said. “When you go digital, there are a lot more distractions. A paper test just seems more beneficial.” The new digital SATs also feature shorter passages in the English section. Opposed to the conventional long passages with various questions attached, the test now comprises individual paragraphs linked to a single question. This decrease in the number of questions, despite the reduction in overall test time, allots more time per answer for test takers. “We have yet to see if it will benefit the students, but it seems like that is what (College Board) is trying to do,” Samson said. The changes come amidst a growing test-optional trend in college admissions. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the fairness of standardized testing, many colleges no longer require students to submit test scores like the SAT. The new SAT, now shorter and
when (athletes) are realizing, ‘Okay, I can’t be a three-sport athlete anymore and still keep my grades up. And with all these clubs and activities that I want to participate (in) in high school as well, how am I going to do all of that?’” Stalker said. “That’s when they start having to make those decisions and realizing they can’t balance everything.” Senior and swimmer Jordan Smith* attests to having experienced and witnessed burnout at Conestoga. From what they have seen, it comes from the college recruiting process, overtraining at a young age and not achieving personal goals after hours of taxing training. “If you work for an entire three months and (perform) like crap, that’s totally demoralizing because you feel like
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Mareska Chettiar/The SPOKE
On the grind: Junior Daniel Richard takes a version of the traditional SAT for practice. Per the changes recently announced by the College Board, the traditional test will soon go virtual. Other updates include a reduction in test length and elimination of the no-calculator math section. man Quinn Donahue said. “It (the digital SAT) might be less of a stressor for some people, and colleges going SAT-optional definitely open up a lot more opportunities for people attending college
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TESD goes mask-optional Ben Shapiro
more accessible, encourages students to take standardized tests regardless. “I feel like standardized testing is starting to become less of a priority, but kids will obviously still take it,” fresh-
you put in three months of work for nothing,” Smith said. Class of ’20 alumna Lucy Wydeven, a sophomore and swimmer at the University of Pittsburgh, remembers sports playing a much bigger part in her life during her time at Conestoga. While this stress led Wydeven to lose sight of her passion for her sport, her college’s club team has given her the chance to rekindle her love for swimming by having a more flexible training schedule. “I think burnout for me specifically was being rundown (in high school) and not enjoying the sport as much as I did when I was younger. (At college) I’ve been able to see why I loved swimming so much when I was little and get back into it,” Wydeven said.
later in life. I think (the digital SAT) is a good thing.” For those who decide to take the SAT, updated practice tests for the digital version will be available starting in the fall of 2022.
Effective Feb. 28, the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District removed its mask mandate, allowing students and staff to have the option of not wearing a mask while on district property, buses and vehicles. This followed the CDC changing its guidance for public K-12 schools last Friday, as it no longer recommends a mask-mandate in schools of low- to medium-risk of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC identified three levels of community transmission: low-, medium- and high-risk. T/E will remain mask-optional unless Chester County moves into the high-risk level, as guided by the CDC and stated by principal Dr. Amy Meisinger in an email blast on Feb. 27. As mentioned by superintendent of schools Dr. Richard Gusick in a Feb. 25 message to district families and staff, TESD maintains that those who test positive for COVID-19 are to remain
in isolation for five days and wear a mask for 10 days. Even if the student is symptom-free, they are prohibited from returning until day six and must wear a mask until day 10. With the mask mandate gone, Conestoga is reintroducing the cafeteria tables during lunch, allowing for students to sit within six feet of one another. Students will still have the option for socially-distanced seating during lunch, via a designated portion of the cafeteria and Room 142. However, the small gym will no longer be available as a space in which students can eat. As Meisinger’s email bast stated, if a student has a condition that requires a specific medical accommodation, families are encouraged to reach out to the school nurses to discuss the particular situation. Additionally, the email noted that teachers will not adjust classroom instruction by changing seating or separating students in class based on whether they wear a mask.