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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston, MA Permit No. 54523
Volume 34, Issue 3 140 Brandeis Road Newton Centre, MA 02459
Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper · Newton, MA · Established 1984 · October 6, 2017
Signs of the Times Students question the purpose and effectiveness of value posters Michelle Cheng & Sebastian Tsao Editor-in-Chief, Sr. News Editor “I don’t really know what the signs are supposed to do.” When senior Hannah Phan first saw posters reading “Show Respect,” “Listen First,” “Take Responsibility” and “Choose Kindness” in each of her classes, she questioned their intent. “Are they supposed to make us feel guilty when we’re doing something wrong?” she said. “Or is it just there to show that the school is doing something?” “They seem a little out of nowhere,” senior Karin Alsop added. After incidents of hateful and disrespectful comments last year, administrators sought to communicate South’s core values, principal Joel Stembridge said. The faculty generated a list of statements relating to South’s values, and students in a later meeting brainstormed how students and faculty should ideally interact. “Those lists, amazingly, were so similar. They really matched, and so that became the basis of the four phrases,” photo illustration by Netta Dror
POSTERS, 5
Establishing purpose proves critical for student learning Rachel Gu & Kimia Tabatabaei Sr. Centerfold Editors
Plato theorized in the fifth century BCE that “the purpose of education is to give to the body and to the soul all beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.” Although experts often debate the effectiveness of various teaching methods, Plato’s claim from almost 2,500 years ago continues to reflect a fundamental goal of education — to develop students’ natural abilities and encourage them to think independently. “I think the purpose of education is
to empower folks to live their best lives,” English teacher Kelly Henderson said. “It’s also teaching folks how to think, how to manage one’s time, how to accept others’ point of view and how to ask questions — how to live in a world that doesn’t look and think like you do.” According to history teacher Jamie Rinaldi, teachers’ attempts to understand how students learn best only result in more uncertainty. While neurology may point educators in the right direction, he said, many questions remain unanswered. “One thing that we still don’t really understand about the human brain is how
it works,” he said. “How do you verbalize thinking? Why do you know the things you know? Why do you draw the conclusions that you draw? Where do original ideas come from? What’s the thought process that allows original thinking to happen?” Because there exists no perfect formula to consistently inspire a deeper level of learning in students, Rinaldi said, teachers remain unsure of how to improve their classes. “I think teachers still struggle with the idea of how to teach thinking,” he said. “Maybe the best you can do is to watch how your students draw conclusions, to really monitor the moments when they seem the
most engaged, most curious [and] most introspective and then try to replicate those conditions.” While teachers struggle to determine how to best interpret the teenage brain, a recent study by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), comprised of 115,000 superintendents, principals and teachers from more than 128 countries, found that when students ask questions, engage in group discussions and understand the purpose of learning the topic at hand, they gradually develop an appetite for learning. LEARNING, 12
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
New Charter
Students and politicians debate new proposed charter to be voted on Nov. 7
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Galit’s Treats South parent opens new bakery in Newton Centre, providing a stress-free space
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Booster Club
Athletes discuss Booster Club’s contributions despite limited recognition
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NEWS 2 EDITORIALS 6 OPINIONS 8 CENTERFOLD 12 FEATURES 15 FUn page 19 SPORTS 21