The Lion's Roar 35-3

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VOL. 35 ISSUe 3

the LION’S

CurRiculuM

CLASH

page 2 Newton School Committee and community support history department as curriculum faces criticism

By Dina Zeldin

Graphic by Alice Zilberberg

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Newton South High School Newton, MA

· Est. 1984 · October 19, 2018

NEWS page 2|October 19, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

news@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 3

CurRiculuM

CLASH Newton School Committee and community support history departments as curriculum faces criticism

O

By Dina Zeldin

ver the summer, junior Elie Berman spent three weeks discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with teens from around the world at Seeds of Peace camp in Otisville, Maine.

“We were never going to reach a solution, but we were given the opportunity to share our stories and experiences with one another to hopefully be heard, which is something that a lot of kids didn’t ever get the chance to do,” she said.

Berman’s “dialogue group” met for several hours each day, and she said that through their conversations, she and other American teens gained insight into the lives of teens facing the conflict in Jordan, Israel, Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza.

“People would either open with a story about their lives, open with something that they had been thinking about through the last number of hours, ... or they would respond to something that had been said the day before, but there was always, always something to talk about,” she said. “The first dialogue, I was in tears for quite a bit of it because I was thoroughly overwhelmed by the fact that I don’t have to live this conflict, especially not daily or to the extremes that these people do.”

At school, however, Berman said her teachers rarely mention the conflict in any of her classes. In recent years, history teachers have largely skipped over the IsraeliPalestinian unit that is typically studied at the end of the 10th grade Modern World History course, denying Berman and other students the chance to learn about the conflict in a classroom setting.

“In my history classes, we’ve barely touched on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at all,” senior Yarden Levy said. “Different teachers teach different things, … but from my experiences, it was never more than just a part of the class in which the teacher said ‘there is a conflict’ and didn’t even go into ‘why,’ ‘what’ or ‘how.’”

Revising the Curriculum

According to Superintendent David Fleishman, teachers taught the unit at their own discretion before the 2016-17 school year, when NPS stopped teaching the the unit to revise materials.

“Curricula should always be revised,” he said. “Right now, that unit is not being taught, and it’s going to be updated.”

History department head Jennifer

Morrill said that the original unit had become outdated. “[The] goal [of the original unit] was to allow kids to think about [and] to understand the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian unit and to think about different kinds of proposals,” she said. “[The] unit was no longer current because we needed to bring in the current situation more, and too much had changed politically in recent years, and so we decided at that point that we need to stop teaching it to create time to revise it.”

The first account of flaws in the NPS curriculum relating to the Israel-Palestine conflict was noted in the fall of 2011, when a parent voiced concern about materials his daughter was reading for her ninth grade World History class. NPS removed the passage in question — part of a series of resources called the Arab World Studies Notebook (AWSN) — prompted, but uninfluenced, by the parent’s complaint. After thorough review of the curriculum, NPS removed all AWSN materials that following winter.

“There was a notebook, [the AWSN], that we were using that had become antiquated and out of date, so ... we found better and more recent materials to teach what we were teaching,” principal Joel Stembridge said.

Now that the unit has been temporarily halted, the history department is restructuring the unit completely, Morrill said.

“We want to, in the process of revising that unit, do it very carefully and make sure that we are putting our very best work forward,” she said.

History teacher Faye Cassell, who taught the Modern World History course during the 2017-18 school year and is teaching Global Modern World History this year, said that the department is considering several factors as it revises the unit.

“As a department, we are looking at our materials, especially because it’s one of those units that you actually do have to look at quite constantly [since] there are so many things that are happening everyday,” she said. “We are considering [whether] we are using our most up to date sources and articles. [We’re] thinking about what the state require[s] us to do, … what is necessary as a historical base and what’s going on in the world.”

As part of the process, the history department has recognized major perspectives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that it will use to outline the improved unit, Stembridge said.

“We teach that there are multiple views

on the Middle East and we have some curriculum sophomore year that we’ve carefully crafted to share not just opposing views, but the fact that there are actually four, or even eight, or even more ... views, depending on one’s religious orientation or one’s ethnic origination,” he said. “We bring in evidence [from] those different views.”

The revision of the Israeli-Palestinian unit is just one element of the history department and state’s shifting focus toward contemporary material. The newest Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, released on June 26, encourages schools to teach about current events, Morrill said.

“We’re going to teach more about current events, not less, as a history department, and I think the new [state] frameworks that have just come out; we need to revise our curricula based on them [because they] are pushing teachers to teach more recent history,” she said. “They have us coming much closer to the present in world and U.S. history.”

Morrill said she expects the revision process to last several school years.

“History teachers are going to be studying the frameworks very carefully to ... first understand what [they’re] calling for. … We’re going to have to look at all of our courses, ninth through 11th. … The first part of the process is thinking about our overall curriculum,” she said. “That’s a two to three year process, and during that process we’re going to be looking at certain units that are particularly tricky so that we do them well.”

For guidance in the Israeli-Palestinian unit, Morrill said she’s interested in planning a faculty training day.

“I talked to the [history] department chair of Brookline and they had done some work with a local university. He funded some teacher days, and I think it’s worth [it] for us to do that as well, and so I want to follow suit now,” she said.

Stembridge said he is believes in the history department’s ability to revise the curriculum in a comprehensive manner.

“I have a lot of confidence in them to be very careful in our selection process. … We’re not perfect, and we could make mistakes, and it’s okay to make mistakes. We certainly try not to, and there are high stakes,” he said.

“Right now, it’s really important that we get this right. I think our teachers do a great job of that. ... There’s still a process by which students and parents can challenge materials that they feel are biased and are concerning, and we will evaluate that.”

and previous lessons and school events that the groups deemed controversial.

Panelist Talia Ben Sasson-Gordis, ADL Senior Associate Regional Director, said that the ADL would like to see “updated materials,” “credible sources” and “appropriate content” in the updated curriculum. She added that, although curriculum revisions are underway, bias still impacts NPS. “Things have changed, but ADL would not say these issues have been resolved,” she said at the forum.

A group in attendance at the forum, Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), which aims to resolve political bias in American high schools and universities, has questioned Newton’s history curriculum since the 2011 AWSN incident.

On Dec. 13, 2013, APT obtained parts of the curriculum relating to the IsraeliPalestinian unit in the Modern World History course and the Islam unit in the Ancient World History course after filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Since 2013, APT and other parties have filed thousands of dollars worth of requests, and received all materials — worksheets, readings, presentations and emails — that pertain to the two units, APT’s director and Newton resident Charles Jacobs said.

Most of the materials from the FOIA requests are now publicly accessible.

To handle the FOIA requests, the School Committee hired an additional secretary to redact the names and other identifying features of students and teachers, School Committee chair Ruth Goldman said.

All costs associated with a FOIA request are paid for by the groups filing the request.

In the fall of 2013, APT took out an ad in several local newspapers that identified several texts, handouts and maps in the Newton curriculum that it claimed showed the antisemitic and anti-Israel bias. The ad also criticized Fleishman and then School Committee chair Matt Hills.

In 2017, CAMERA published excerpts from North and South’s history curricula accessed via the FOIA requests in “Educating Our Youth: How a U. S. Public School Curriculum Skews the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Islam,” a compilation of materials they deemed inappropriate, biased or inaccurate.

Along with the FOIA requests, the organizations have called on the School Committee to be more transparent as the curriculum is revised.

“If NPS came forward with their progress, we wouldn’t have these questions,” Sasson-Gordis said at the Oct. 9 panel.

Expanded Scrutiny

NPS Response

The history departments at North and South, however, have long faced scrutiny from parents and outside groups claiming alleged left-leaning, antisemitic and antiIsrael bias.

On Oct. 9, the Israeli American Council (IAC) ran an “Informational and Educational Forum on the NPS Middle East Curriculum” featuring panelists from the IAC, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). The forum discussed issues of transparency among school administrators, approaches for developing a new curriculum

The School Committee recently published an informational “Frequently Asked Questions” page on the NPS website about “Teaching Controversial Topics.” In the FAQ, Newton administrators maintain that the groups’ claims misrepresent class materials and the reality of the classroom.

“These baseless claims, often reliant upon materials and documents taken out of context, are misleading and only serve to denigrate the hard work and professionalism of our skilled and dedicated faculty,” Fleishman wrote in a Sept. 17 letter to parents, to which he also linked the FAQ. “They have a selection bias in how they’re using information,” Stembridge said.

October 19, 2018|page 3

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|News In one instance, a teacher presented a series of maps with U.S.-recognized borders of the state of Israel that came from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) website. The citation did not appear in the FOIA documents.

“These maps were issued by the PLO propaganda unit, but whoever, whether it was [the] teacher or whoever gave it to [the] teacher, ... stripped all of that information from that map to make it appear less biased,” Ilya Feoktistov, executive director of the APT, said. “They had to have spilled white out in very strategic locations in order to make this a printing error.”

“Middle East Day” held at Newton North in March of 2018, also attracted attention. The event, organized by students in a Middle East focused senior elective course and supervised by North history teacher David Bedar, aimed to educate students on a variety of topics through guest speakers and outside sources; the panelists at the Oct. 9 forum believe that the day disproportionately featured events with a pro-Palestinian bias.

Leaders of the organizations have aired their concerns at School Committee public comment sessions, but the School Committee has not investigated all claims, Goldman said.

“Public comment is for people to come and state their reasoning, and depending on what the issue is and how relevant it is to the district, we will follow up or not, but we’re not under any obligation to follow up,” Goldman said.

A Lawsuit Unfolds

On Aug. 9, Education Without Indoctrination (EWI), an organization associated with the APT, filed a lawsuit against the School Committee, EWI attorney and member, and Concord resident Karen Hurvitz said.

“They [the members of the School Committee] don’t respond, but worse than that, they don’t acknowledge that people have ever come before them and expressed these concerns,” Hurvitz said.

The lawsuit focused on the Massachusetts Open Meetings Law, which ensures that all governing bodies make their meetings accessible and available to the public.

One of the provisions of the law is that the minutes — or notes — of all meetings are documented.

“We looked at the minutes of all of the meetings; no speaker was identified and the topic of conversation was never mentioned and a summary of the content was never included in the minutes of the open meeting,” Hurvitz said. “There were at least maybe nine or 10 meetings where this controversial issue was addressed. No comment, no discussion of it by the School Committee members or the Superintendent, and moreover, it was deliberately omitted from all of their minutes.”

While all School Committee meetings and public comment sessions are recorded, broadcasted and made available online by NewTV, the School Committee is amending the minutes from Jan. 1, 2018, when the new School Committee took over, Newton’s director of community communication Ellen Ishkanian, said in an interview with the Newton Tab. Hurvitz said that the changes in School Committee practices resulting from the lawsuit have made the School Committee more accountable.

Nonetheless, the history departments have not been impacted by the legalactions.

“This lawsuit is about the Open Meetings Law, not the curriculum,” Ishkanian said in the Tab interview.

“It’s sort of a lot of energy put into something that just is really [just] making a

mountain out of a molehill,” Goldman said.

Targeted Attacks

Now, two of the organizations — EWI and APT — are targeting the School Committee directly. In his letter to parents, Fleishman said that “In recent months, the attacks have grown increasingly and unjustly personal.”

“Some would characterize this as harassment … [Their] emails have been quite nasty to central administration and to the legal department at the city. So it’s created a lot of work. … Most of the emails that we get … are not from Newton or Massachusetts,” Goldman said.

Teachers have also been personally attacked: towards the end of the 2017-18 school year and into the summer, Bedar experienced extreme online scrutiny for his role in “Middle East Day,” he said.

“I fully plan on reading more, updating, revising. … I’ve spent time doing that, but a lot of my time … toward the end of the school year, I couldn’t help my students as much ... get ready for their final exams and so forth, but I could have done more had I not had to deal with all of this,” he said.

“Ultimately, I care more about my students than I do about my own online reputation.”

With the threat of online harassment, some teachers are avoiding teaching controversial topics.

Junior Amy Xiao said that her sophomore history teacher purposefully avoided a conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“My teacher last year specifically told us he wasn’t going to talk about any of that. … He just said … ‘I can’t risk it,’ [and] that struck a chord with me last year.”

Student Voices

Current and former students, like ‘18 graduate Michael Ryter, publicly supported the School Committee, history departments and NPS faculty as the harassment and lawsuit unfolded.

Ryter, who spoke at the public comment session of the Sept. 17 School Committee meeting, said he encourages other students to voice their support. “[Outside organizations] are alleging that Newton Public Schools leadership intentionally creates and uses curricula with antisemitic bias and with liberal bias, and ... although kids in classes can take issue with ways they’re taught from time to time, I think pretty much all students, at least my classmates from my year, would agree that there’s no conspiracy or systemic bias,” he said.

“Publicly supporting our history teachers in light of these false allegations is really important because of the important work they do. Learning to read and critically analyze multiple sources to form our own evidence-based opinions is a crucial thinking skill and it’s essential to develop these thinking skills so that [we] can apply them to other parts of [out] academic and professional [lives].”

Student and parent support, Ryter said, is especially important for the reputation of NPS, which he said is being harmed by the allegations.

“It’s important that we show that we strongly support our history teachers, [so] that they continue teaching this way, and so we can continue to encourage qualified history teachers to take jobs in the New-

ton schools,” he said. “My … fear is that, if you are a history teacher ... and you’re looking for a place to get a job and you hear about what’s going on, that doesn’t make you want to work in Newton.”

On Oct. 11, teachers, parents, residents, students and NPS administration, including Fleishman, rallied outside of North to show their support for the history department.

“People in Newton should be very upset that outside groups are trying to interfere with your education,” Bedar said. “Almost everyone I’ve heard from that has anything to do with the actual Newton Public Schools, whether it be parents, or other teachers or students — most of them students — have been very supportive of what we do, and understand that we try to give [students] a good experience [in history classes].”

Committing to Controversial Topics

History teachers and students insist that controversial topics like the IsraeliPalestinian conflict belong in classrooms.

“The topics that kids need to know the most about and to be the most informed about and to make their own opinions about are these controversial topics. If [teachers are] not addressing them at all, then we’ll just have a bunch of ignorant kids,” Xiao said.

“It’s not, for us, about any one single unit, … so in the end we want to teach a way of thinking about the world and a way of approaching what’s happening right now with an analytical lens that questions sources, thinks about perspectives and bi as and understands cause and effect in

a complex way, so we don’t tell stories that are so simple that they actually aren’t true — that’s the goal of the history department,” Morrill said. “It is a loss that we haven’t been able to teach this unit for the past few years and because of that we are committed to [doing] it well and we’re going to do it in a way that, hopefully, our process is transparent enough that people have faith that it’s a good unit.”

The School Committee supports the history departments’ efforts to teach controversial topics.

“The question becomes: do we just back away from teaching controversial topics or ... do we teach them? What we’ve said we would do is use sources ... from well respected publications, add primary sources, respect a variety of perspectives from students, as objective[ly] as possible,” Goldman said.

“That’s what we strive for.”

While the curriculum has been called into question, Berman said she will continue to educate the community on what she learned from Seeds of Peace camp.

“As an American, I feel like it’s my responsibility to try to educate the people around me and [be] able to say over and over ‘as an American, I can’t give you those perspectives, [but] here are some things that I heard that were personal stories.”

This December, Berman and another Seeds of Peace camper are planning to teach a class at LimmudBoston, an annual Jewish learning festival, to share their new friends’ stories. “[We’re going to] talk about our experiences, answer questions and probably be pretty darn vague, because the whole experience is kind of vague,” she said. “There is no one right answer, there’s no one opinion, but at least by telling people our stories, we’re doing something.”

photo by Netta Dror

page 4|October 19, 2018

news|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

South puts keypad locks on all outer doors Walter Boyce, Julian Fefer, Daniel Li & Frank Liu News Contributor, News Editor, News Reporter, News Contributor

Following the mass shootings this year in schools across the country, South has installed locks with numbered keypads on all outer doors of the school. The doors stay locked at all times except the early morning near the start of school.

Faculty and staff can enter the building with their ID badges and students must enter a code to unlock the doors.

Some, however, like sophomore Gilad Kestenberg, question the efficiency of the initiative.

“I think the purpose of locks is to keep people out, but I don’t think the locks are really that effective in terms of protection,” Kestenberg said.

Senior Isabel McGinnitie said she thinks the locks are futile in quelling her fears.

“I and every other student at this school have been taught that if we see someone trying to get into the school we should open the door for them,” she said.

Some students and teachers argued that the locks are ineffective because they allow all student, no matter of intention, to enter.

“I know it’s trying to stop adult school shooters, but what if a student has a gun?” senior Naomi Liftman said.

Although students remain critical of the locks’ effectiveness, Vice Principal Candice Beerman said that the locks can only help prevent shootings to a certain degree.

“We can’t prevent [shootings] 100 percent of the time, but by doing this we are limiting the access to people who don’t belong in the school,” she said. “Unfortunately if a student has bad intentions they can certainly get in the school, but what

we are also doing within the school is trying to make sure that every student has an adult or someone that they are strongly bonded to, so that if it was one of students that was feeling this

“I think it’s for heightened security.

Prior to this anyone could walk into the building at any time very easily,” he said.

English teacher Alan Reinstein said that the keypads and locks help the mentality of students even if it is not an air-tight security system.

“I think there’s an optical benefit to the schools having tighter security,” he said. “I would [argue] that it’s more cosmetic than utilitary.”

Normandin added that safety is imperative to allow students to succeed without fear of shootings at school.

“I think that in general its good for schools to be secure ,” he said. Locks are just a security measure. You always want to feel safe, feel protected,” he said. “I think it’s an overdue measure.”

Kestenberg, however, said he believes that the money that financed the lock and keypad initiative could have been better spent on other security measures.

“If they got another security guard, I could see it being a lot more effective than a lock,”he said. ung ro “The school should invest T ric ic by E graph more money into security cameras, because I know there are certain parts of the school that aren’t very well covered,” sophomore Sophie Gu added Beerman said that the keypads are the access because it seems to send the signal that first of several initiatives meant to increase schools are not as safe as we want them to be,” student safety at school.

“They are a step in the right direction, he said.While the added security has received some pushback from students and faculty, we know that they are not perfect, but hopemath and physics teacher Ryan Normandin fully in the future we can further increase student security.” said the locks are for the better. way then at least we would get a heads up.”

History teacher Robert Parlin said that the locks represent the upsetting and increasingly popular idea that schools are no longer safe. “[I am] very sad that we feel like we have to take this step to limit

Lime bikes receive skepticism and support Alex Merkowitz, Rachel Wei & Dean Zhang News Contributor, News Reporters

Last July, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller implemented Lime bikes throughout Newton, a system that allows people to rent a bike or scooter to reach their destination. To use this program, bikers download the Lime app and link their credit card. After biking, the user can leave the bike anywhere, as long as it does not obstruct traffic. The cost of the bike is $1 for 30 minutes or $29.99 per month.

Surrounding towns — ­ Arlington, Bedford, Belmont and Chelsea — have also enacted the Lime program. Although Lime required Newton to place multiple bikes around the city, the cost of the implementation was entirely funded as a company operation.

History teacher Andrew Thompson said the program will benefit the community as a whole.

“It’s intriguing,” he said. “I like the innovation and attempt to encourage a sharing economy. I like that it can encourage people to have a more sustainable way to get around.”

Junior Misha Leyfer, the leader of Bike Club, said he is very excited about the

program and its impact on the environment.

“I am so happy that they exist. It’s just so nice to see that Mayor Fuller is taking initiative on this kind of environmental aspect,” he said.

“People will be more able to ride Lime bikes instead of driving, and that’s better for the environment,” junior Jay Park added.

Sophomore Vlad Martinez said that the Lime bikes are easy to afford and simplify transportation.

“I personally do not use Lime bikes as I have my own bike, but I see how other people enjoy them, especially people who can’t afford to buy their

own bike,” he said.

Leyfer added that it would be great if Lime bikes were readily available for students and teachers on streets surrounding South.

“We noticed that a lot of parts of Newton are hot-spots for Lime Bikes, like Newton Centre, for example. We were thinking that we could make South a hot-spot, which I think would be cool,” Leyfer said.

“Although I do appreciate the concept of Lime bikes, one problem that I think many users could face is that their availability is not infinite. Sometimes the Lime bikes might not be in the location of a person when they need it,” Park said.

Thompson agreed that although the program is taking a step in the right direction, further measures have to be taken to fix the transportation issues in Newton.

“I think it’s an interesting idea, but it’s definitely not a panacea for the many transportation problems facing Newton and other communities,” he said.

“I’ve heard in a number of cases, Uber meant that fewer people were taking public transportation and were instead taking Uber or Lyft. It’s not necessarily solving

the problem of too many [of] us driving our cars.”

Science teacher Sally Rosen warned that while Lime bikes will get damaged, she believes that the benefits of the program outweigh the chances of misuse.

“A small portion of individuals will abuse it. I heard that they found one in the Charles River, in Boston,” she said. “I think [the program] is a step in the right direction.”

Despite the systematic flaws, Park believes that those who use bikes in Newton will use the bikes responsibly.

“I trust that if they learn to do the right thing, then this system will work out,” Park said.

Thompson said he also hopes that the city will make changes to make biking safer for students.

“A lot of Newton is not set up for safe biking yet, so how do students safely get into the neighborhood and how do they get through the dangerous maze of cars in the parking lot to lock up their bikes?” he said.

“The city has been talking about putting in more bike lanes for a little while, but I’m afraid they aren’t going to be able to keep up with that as much as they anticipate.”

Although Thompson has reservations, he said he is optimistic about the initiative.

“I would love to see our city and the surrounding area do more to make biking safe, and to encourage a culture of biking.”

photo by Netta Dror

October 19, 2018|page 5

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|news

Students campaign for Question 3

Schoology Update PERI BAREST & JULIAN FEFER

Peri Barest & Shoshi Gordon

News Editors

News Editor, News Reporter

Ever since they were 15, senior Leo Friedes said they have struggled to decide which bathroom to use, often opting for men’s or gender-neutral bathrooms. Question 3 on the Massachusetts midterm election ballot, which asks voters whether they want to keep or repeal a law that prohibits gender identity-based discrimination in public accommodation, threatens to take away Friedes’ ability to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable using.

“This bill protects the right of people like me to use the bathroom that we feel fits closest to our identified gender. Without this law, I would have to use the women’s bathroom instead of the men’s or a genderneutral bathroom,” they said. “Question 3 wants to get rid of that [because of] very thinly veiled transphobia.”

The law, first put in place in October of 2016, requires any public place with separate areas for males and females to allow full access and use consistent with a person’s gender identity. It also prohibits public places from using advertising that discriminates based on gender identity. A “yes” vote on Question 3 will keep in place the existing protections for transgender people, while a “no” vote will repeal the law and take away the protections.

President of the Gender and Sexuality Awareness (GSA) club, senior Jasmin Rotem canvassed for the Yes on 3 campaign and said she hoped to make a difference even though she is unable to vote. She volunteered for a phone bank with Freedom for All Massachusetts, the organization spearheading the Yes on 3 campaign.

Junior Elie Berman, who also canvassed for Yes on 3 through Keshet, a national organization that works for LGBTQ inclusion in Jewish life, said that when canvassing, she aims to talk to people who are undecided.

“There were a few people who we really got talking to and they definitely seemed kind of ambivalent, but we believed that after having a conversation with us, they’d be a little bit more inclined to vote ‘yes,’” she said.

Senior Alana Axelrod-Freed advocated for the Yes on 3 campaign by both canvassing and volunteering at a phone bank.

“I did get a few people who responded, all of them were really enthusiastic and were … grateful for being called,” Axelrod-Freed said. “Calling people on the phone was terrifying, but I [felt that] this is so important.

I have to do this.”

Mason Dunn, co-chair of the Yes on 3 campaign and executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), said that his role has consisted of canvassing, hosting phone banks and traveling around the state to give talks about the importance of transgender rights.

“A lot of responses that I’ve had are people wondering how this even happened, how we are voting on the rights of a small, stigmatized community like the transgender community in a state like Massachusetts, that is so well known as an LGBTQ inclusive [state],” Dunn said.

Kaden Mohamed, co-chair of the steering committee of the MTPC, said that the law is the first piece of statewide legislation that protects transgender rights in public accommodations.

“If we repeal this legislation here, it sends a message to the rest of the country that these laws don’t matter and that it’s okay to treat transgender people differently,” he said. “It’s important for all the trans people that live here and it’s important for the whole

What’s New? In early October, Schoology released a major website update and made minor changes to their ios app. Some of the changes made include:

1

Improved ability to highlight text in multiple colors while taking or managing an assessment

2

Added ability to reorder lists of courses and groups that appear in drop-down menus

3

Improved experience for instructors authoring course materials with new alert messages when designated due dates fall outside of the course’s grading period

4

Updated display of the distractor rationale (explanation as to why an answer is incorrect) for multiple choice questions

5

Updated calendar view in ios, improving the look and feel of the app

6

Added ability to view badges and receive notifications when badges are earned

7

Improved color scheme - now a lighter shade of blue

photo illustration by Netta Dror

country to send the message that discrimination is not okay.”

For freshman Hannah Stober, the law is protecting individuals’ human rights.

“Transgender people are people too. I don’t see any reason that they shouldn’t get all the rights we have. They’re human beings and they deserve everything [cisgender people] have,” she said.

Dunn added that the repeal would have unexpected repercussions.

“If we remove gender identity [as a protected class], then … you’re allowed to be transgender at home, you’re allowed to be transgender at work, but we don’t want to see transgender people in public spaces like parks and libraries,” Dunn said.

According to Friedes, repealing the law could have a significant mental impact for transgender people.

“It’s going to have this very negative effect on the mental health of these people because if you’re forced to go in the locker room with girls if you identify as a boy, that can cause something called gender dysphoria,” Friedes said. “[It] is where you feel like you don’t look like, or you aren’t, who you are in your head, there’s this disconnect between reality and what you think and from personal experience. It can send you down this loophole which can actually end in anxiety and depression.”

Axelrod-Freed added that they know someone who was able to come out because this law made her feel more comfortable and protected.

Junior Izzy Klein said that a change on the state-level will minimally impact Newton.

“It definitely wouldn’t enact direct change in Newton because we do have city officials who are very pro-trans and who definitely do protect the trans members of our community and a lot of local establishments who do as well,” she said.

Regardless of the vote’s outcome, all public schools in Massachusetts are required to protect all students, including LGBTQ students, history teacher and GSA advisor Robert Parlin said.

Mohamed, however, said he is worried that while transgender students are protected in school, they will not be protected offcampus if the law is repealed.

Michael King, a member of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said that one of the No on 3 campaign’s main arguments is that the law will put women in an unsafe position and allow for easier sexual harassment.

“We believe that there’s a better solution to this issue, and that this particular law just goes too far,” King added.

King said that he put out social media videos and did radio spots in order to further inform people about his concerns.

Axelrod-Freed said that for the past

two years since the law was first enacted, there have been no incidents of transgender people harassing others in bathrooms.

Susan Huffman, the vice-chairman of the Newton Republican City Committee, agreed, adding that the law currently targets single-sex facilities.

“People will still have access to the facilities that they want to go to just based on what sex they are, not [their] gender identity,” Huffman said. “Stores and fitness centers can establish whatever policy works best for them and for their clients.”

Junior Josh Cafaro said he does not think the law should be able to restrict the rights of private businesses by telling them who they have to serve.

Dunn, however, said he is concerned that transgender people will face discrimination if the law is repealed, adding that a survey conducted by the MTPC found that 65 percent of transgender people in Massachusetts have experienced discrimination in a public space.

Parlin added that the law might make everyone, especially transgender people, feel more comfortable.

“I personally believe people would feel more unsafe if a trans man, someone who had a full beard and looks like me, was forced because of the law to go into the women’s room,” Parlin said. “I think if you talked with transgender people, you can’t help but come away without realizing ... that the protections ... are there because transgender people are the ones who are vulnerable.”

Mohamed said that the majority of his campaign has been focused on educating people about what it means to be transgender and what the law actually does.

“There are a lot of people who were very unfamiliar with trans identity,” Mohamed said. “They’ve never met a trans person. They don’t really know what it means to be a trans person, so that’s another layer of the education that the campaign has really had to work on.”

Parlin said that Question 3 should encourage all students to understand the vulnerability of their rights.

“I hope students are just made more aware of the fact that this is now on the ballot and legal protections can be taken away based on the majority will,” he said.

Axelrod-Freed added that it is increasingly important for students to be conscious of local elections and ballot questions.

“These decisions could have effects on you. They’ll definitely have effects on me and my friends,” Axelrod-Freed said. “They could have effects on people you know or care about, and soon you’ll be voting. It’s important to be aware of that.”

The Roar asked students about their thoughts on the new Schoology update:

“I think the new version is more accessible, but I like[d] the old version because it was easier to see things.”

- Jocelyn Canton, ‘22 “I see all these pictures and the new design features and it all looks like social media to me. It was perfectly fine before so I’m unsure what they tried to do when they redesigned it.”

- Andrew Li , ‘21 “I got pretty used to it quickly, but I feel that there was nothing wrong with the old format.”

- Hector Daniel, ‘20 “I know a lot of people really hate it, but I personally … don’t really mind. …

I do have teachers who, this is their first year using Schoology, and starting the year off with the old version and then switching to the new one could be really burdensome.”

- Kaleigh Yee, ‘19

EDITORIALS page 6|October 19, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, Issue 3

High schoolers are too young to carry the emotional baggage that stems from online dating services Anyone who’s walked through the backstage hallway — affectionately deemed ‘The Makeout Hallway’ — during lunch block witnesses a well-known truth about high school: It’s the perfect setting to test relationships. Traditionally, these experimental pairings would form organically, through friendships and mutual acquaintances. Recently students have ventured to unchartered territory to find partners, turning to dating platforms like Tinder, Bumble and many more. While these platforms may expand students’ scope of potential mates, high schoolers are too young for online dating services, and the services ultimately lead teens to pursue unnatural relationships.

In itself, the ‘dating’ half of online dating is somewhat of a misnomer. Apps that target young age groups aren’t helping users foster long-term relationships. They aren’t especially aiming for short term relationships either. Most of the time, when a young person joins an online dating service, they are looking for physical fun — be it sex or just a quick hookup. The basis of the relationship relies initially on physicality, and while people may pursue

this type of relationship later in life, a teen’s first experience with dating should take more of a holistic consideration of their chosen partner. Without the proper time and attention to fostering a relationships, teens may be left with an empty and superficial view of dating.

online-daters must live with the lingering fear that their ‘hot new girl’ is an old man in a sweatsuit. Yet, even if onlinedaters manage to quell these fears through photos or FaceTime, they still must cope with a certain lack of authenticity. People adopt fake personas online, whether they

Now, instead of linking their self-worth to an arbitrary number of likes or comments, teens will link their confidence to the left-or-right swiping finger of a horny stranger.

This exclusively physical aspect of online dating not only denies users a full relationship experience, but can exacerbate students’ self esteem issues. With the constant pressures of social media, teens already place an unnecessary trust in the internet’s judgement of their bodies. Now, instead of linking their self-worth to an arbitrary number of likes or comments, teens will link their confidence to the leftor-right swiping finger of a horny stranger.

The relationships garnered online, moreover, are not always genuine. All

do so intentionally or not. Unless potential partners see each other in real-life situations, they will not be able to fully know and appreciate one another.

Let’s be honest: generations of young people were able to make it work before us. Teens today should find these real-life social situations easy to come by. We go to a school of nearly 2,000 students, all of similar ages. Students don’t lack options, and if they feel like they do, they should work on branching out in real life first rather than escaping to the online world in

search of validation.

The tangible effects of online dating go further than the emotional repercussions. Online dating can put users in vulnerable situations even when users are members of the target age-group. If you throw a naive adolescent into the mix — someone lying on the 18+ user agreement — the risk increases exponentially.

Besides the inherent stranger-danger of meeting someone who you only know from a few online conversations, Tinder’s sexual expectation may nudge young users toward risky and unhealthy scenarios.

While adults have more experience under their belts, and may be better equipped to detect a situation heading south, inexperienced teenagers most likely are not.

Day by day, technology spreads its influence over students’ lives. While traditional dating may seem daunting, it’s a necessary experience for teenagers to have.

In this case, the easy route is not the best route. While technology is an effective tool in uniting people, there have to be limits.

The intimacy of a relationship is a special bond between two people; let’s not lose that in the loud world of the internet.

Volume XXXV The Lion’s Roar Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper 140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief Catherine Granfield Ilan Rotberg

Managing Editors Eu Ro Wang

Dina Zeldin

Section Editors Features

Sophie Lewis Carrie Ryter

Editorial Policy

The Lion’s Roar, founded in 1984, is the student newspaper of Newton South High School, acting as a public forum for student views and attitudes.

The Lion’s Roar’s right to freedom of expression is protected by the Massachusetts Student Free Expression Law (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 71, Section 82). All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Lion’s Roar in no way reflects the official policy of Newton South, its faculty or its administration.

Editorials are the official opinion of The Lion’s Roar, while opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lion’s Roar. The Lion’s Roar reserves the right to edit all submitted content, to reject advertising copy for resubmission of new copy that is deemed acceptable by student editors and to make decisions regarding the submission of letters to the editors, which are welcomed.

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News

Peri Barest Julian Fefer

Sports

Centerfold

Sophie Goodman Dorra Guermazi

Graphics Managers Ellen Deng Alice Zilberberg

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Opinions

Chunyu He Caleb Lazar

Aron Korsunsky Jackson Slater

Copy Editor Jennifer Wang

Photo Manager Netta Dror

Faculty Advisers Ashley Chapman Faye Cassell

October 19, 2018|page 7

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Desk

Finding joy in juniorship: EDITOR’S a tale of fruit snacks and fulfillment DESK from the

Dina Zeldin

Such Thursday afternoons yielded impassioned debates as my friends and I sought to find out which fruit snack flavor I spent the eve of junior year in was superior. Two years later, with a certears. Summer was officially over, and my peers and I were headed into the infamous tificate of gummy connoisseurship, I can say with confidence that the quality of fruit climax of high school doom. I envisioned snacks was erratic and unpredictable, and myself in the next nine months overwhelmed by a hurricane of test-prep books, therefore the best fruit snack flavor cannot be pinpointed. essays and Naviance scatter plots.

If it had been several days since the Sophomore year was just a warm-up vending machine had been restocked, the punch compared to the WWE smackdown fruit snacks would be stale. We (obviously) junior year was shaping up to be. I thought that if I could just push myself to the extremes, I would get into my dream school: suffering seemed inevitable if I was achieve my goals.

But for all my nightmares, my junior year hasn’t been that bad. There have been rough patches, but I’m determined to make ate them all anyways, but on those dry the most of a notoriously unwelcome expe- days, the red raspberry ones were always the richest, having somehow kept their rience. I’m challenging myself to value the moisture. Raspberry is an engaging history small moments. As the time I have left in class discussion or a satisfying math probhigh school dwindles, it’s more important than ever to shift my focus to the details — lem; raspberry is a spark of encouragement in otherwise stale classes. a skill that will be helpful even when high Peach was the other go-to. From the school has passed. Keeping up the small tangy assortment, peach was soft, palatthings that make me happy will add some able and almost plummy. While lime and flavor to the repetitive nature of school, the lemon were overpowering, peach was helping me avoid getting disillusioned in comfortingly dull. Peach was an art class the long run. after many hours of math and sciences — a Freshman year, my friends and I esflavor I didn’t fully understand until now. tablished a weekly tradition of sharing two Last month, I signed up for my first bags of Welch’s fruit snacks every Thursart class.

It seemed counterintuitive, espeday. After a studious physics long block, cially given that many of my friends had we would head to the vending machines dropped their electives to make room for and stuff our quarters into the coin slot in multiples of $1.25. Following the purchase, APs. I hadn’t planned on becoming an artist, and I don’t plan on using art to fortify we would retreat to the 9000s, feasting on the activities section of my college applithe literal (albeit artificial) fruits of our cation. Yet somehow, art class has turned arduous labor.

Managing Editor

sit, remembering the previous week’s festivities. Those lunches were like a seemingly wasted free block — full of laughter and procrastination.

The most memorable fruit snack Thursday, or “Thruit Thnack Thursday,” took place in the spring. We were no longer the same lost freshmen who thought it was cool to buy candy from a vending machine, but were not yet confident sophomores grown out of our old idiosyncrasies. We got to the vending machine right as they were refilling it, and the employee rewarded us with five free packets. All free fruit snacks taste great!

To our dismay, sophomore year ripped apart the tradition when it assigned my friends and me to different Thursday lunches. Yet we are luckily reunited in from the rest of the school day. In most other classes, the assignments I submit are junior year and plan to spend the next graded purely by the number of correct an- months savoring the rich flavors of Welch’s swers. The artistic process bears no correct and milking every minute of our shared free blocks. Each fruit snack is its own answers; its main value is the joy it brings flavor, and each flavor will always be tinted to me. Similarly, fruit snacks aren’t about their form or flavor — some are misshapen with snippets of high school.

Freshman year was difficult in its own and molten together, and others, especially way, and junior year presents itself with grape, are grainy — they’re about the atmosphere they create when they interrupt new challenges to conquer. It’s the little, fruit-snack-sized moments that determine the monotony of the school day.

On some Thursdays, especially when how we handle challenging experiences, and junior year is certainly no exception. I I was sick or exhausted, I could barely want my memories of junior year to consist taste the difference in the flavors. After of more than just the anxiety and stress that not being able to properly smell, taste or notoriously define it. It’s easy to fall into the breathe for several days, a Thursday fruit trap of assuming that high school is just a snack fiesta was comforting. Eating fruit single rung on the ladder to college. While snacks while sick is comparable to a light it’s important to prepare for the future, I week of homework: not quite as great as want to focus on appreciating where I am a homework-free break, but a welcome now. Let’s find joy in the little moments, breath nonetheless. On other Thursdays, like art class or a fruit snack break. we forgot to bring money, and we would into the most meaningful two hours of my week.

There’s something soothing about drawing a still life. It’s slow and contemplative; the final product is less important than the effort I put into it. I know my shading is splotchy and the lines seldom follow the shapes in front of me, but every class, I sit down and concentrate for an hour without checking my phone or cramming other homework.

Art gives me a change of pace

It’s the little, fruit-snack-sized moments that determine how we handle challenging experiences, and junior year is certainly no exception.

JOIN THE R AR Come to a meeting any Monday J block in room 1201 to see what The Roar has to offer:

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Improve your technique by shooting sports games, school events and staged illustrations.

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OPINIONS page 8|October 19, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 3

DO LEVELED CLASSES DIVIDE SOUTH’S COMMUNITY? NO

YES

W

By Alex Macarthur

e all know the chatter that follows the return of a test. As soon as students receive it, they turn to their classmates and whisper “what grade did you get?” and “what questions did you get wrong?” Even though teachers often tell students to keep grades private, the entire class soon knows who got the best score and who got the worst. This grade paranoia occurs especially in the latter years of high school, creating a hostile environment where students are constantly comparing themselves to others. While this phenomenon cannot be attributed to just one cause, leveled classes have contributed significantly to South’s notoriously rigorous and stressful environment.

Leveled classes have created an environment that caters to student needs and ability, making the education system more equipped to meet the students’ diverse learning needs. They are also, however, inherently divisive, and they create an unhealthy competitive environment.

Students regularly fill their schedules with as many honors and AP classes as possible in an attempt to outperform their peers.

While removing leveled classes isn’t a feasible solution, it is important that we recognize the problems that come with them.

The largest of these problems is the divided atmosphere which leveled classes create. Students typically take all of their classes at similar levels, most infamously manifesting the overachieving all-honors or allAP track. Subsequently, students do not have many opportunities to branch out to students with d i f f e rent

course loads. While there are some exceptions, leveled classes create a gap in the student body where students are separated by the rigor of the classes they take.

Since leveled classes are undoubtedly one of the major catalysts exacerbating student stress, students would be less stressed if they were taking only the classes that they were truly interested in at the highest level.

Instead, many students take classes at the honors level that they do not enjoy, but feel forced to take to hold a competitive advantage to their peers.

Perhaps the side effects of leveled classes can be averted with a more specific course selection. The saying “If you love your job you’ll never work a day,” applies to our lives as students as well. If students were able to take fewer classes, but ones that went further in depth and rigor and pertained to topics of interest, the course load would be more manageable, eliminating student stress far more effectively than, say, an earlier start-time.

For too long South has valued academic excellence over the well-being of its students. While leveled classes do provide a more diverse learning experience, they divide the community and promote an unhealthy environment of comparison.

Perhaps if South’s daily schedule and class leveling system were remodeled to be more specialized, we would sustain both academic achievement and mental health.

W

By Matan Kruskal

hen people are placed in a populated setting, they tend to gather in small groups. South is definitely no exception to this phenomenon. Students at South form friend groups regardless of their place on the social or academic ladder. The divisions in the student body are not based on the leveled classes South provides but on students with similar interests.

People who express concern about South’s division simply miss the point: it’s impossible, and frankly daunting, to be friends with everyone in a school of almost 2,000 kids. People naturally migrate to a select group of friends to feel more comfortable in a large institution.

Clearly, South also has a very big grade stigma. Students are constantly overworking themselves because of the pressure they feel from their peers to get all A’s. Every student has experienced this pressure at one point or another. Even straight A students stress about maintaining that achievement. Despite the pressure for academic excellence, leveled classes are not the cause of this phenomena.

South’s student body is undeniably large. Many of the people who pass you in the hallways will be people you do not know. The school’s population is so big that the people in your classes most likely do not line up with the people you mostly hang out with. This large population has two effects. First, the social and

academic lives of South students are wholly separate. Second, other then those who are in your classes and your close friends, one’s knowledge of their peers’ class levels is limited. People are friends simply because they appreciate each other, not because they are taking the same leveled classes. Often when my friends and I are sitting at lunch and discussing our classes, we can easily chat about class, regardless of the differing levels. The majority of students at South take different leveled classes, so there is no clear dividing line.

The root cause of the divided student body isn’t grade stigma; the problem is with the environment, not with the individuals.

Lastly, the benefits of leveled classes far outweigh the potential disadvantages.

The pacing of a course of study is one of the most important factors for a student to be able to thrive. If there were no leveled classes, many students would find themselves unable to keep up with the pace of a class, halting their learning. Other students would become bored in class and therefore develop a sense of indifference, which is also detrimental to their learning.

The main cause of the divided student body at South is not leveled classes.

Feelings about leveled classes don’t penetrate students’ social lives. Although South does encourage academic achievement among its students, leveled classes are certainly not to blame. Leveled classes are more beneficial than they are harmful — they allow each student to thrive in the ideal conditions.

ic by

graph

a Hill

Gemm

October 19, 2018|page 9

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

The romanticized images of high school often advertised by media are too far removed from the realities

By Anya Lefkowitz

E

ver since elementary school, I had thought that high school would be the pinnacle of my entire existence.

Yet, I was so clueless to what was to come that I didn’t even realize the difference between juniors and seniors. As a naive child, my only expectations for high school came from teenage movies like “High School Musical” and TV shows like “Glee” and “Gossip Girl.” I had no other way to form my assumptions. After being thrown into the deep end of high school last September, I felt that the media had tricked me into having unreasonably high expectations.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I had always imagined that my high school experience would match the environment of overwhelming joy and friendship I saw on screen. Although aware that “High School Musical” intends to be a caricature of the high school life and that South wouldn’t always yield coordinated dance routines, I did expect some of the stereotypes that I had seen portrayed in the media. On-screen, students are always split into distinct cliques based on singular interests. In this way, the majority of high school media sets the backdrop: everyone “finds” themselves in high school by discovering their passions.

Yet, already a sophomore in high school, I’m sad to say that I have not yet reached an epiphany regarding what I want to dedicate myself to — who knows if that will come to fruition before graduation.

Even though I am not even at the halfway mark of my high school career, the images of high school I’ve seen from the media have made me feel that I should already have the rest of my life planned out.

Our friends over at East High School from “High School Musical,” Troy and Gabriella, clearly have their futures planned out: Troy will likely find

a basketball-related career and Gabriella will end up in some sort of STEM field.

While high school is definitely a time to start “finding” one’s self, future planning is not the only purpose of school. Glorified by the media as a worry-free easy journey, the media’s portrayal of self-discovery pressures students to rush into the future, unprepared and regretful from missed opportunities. Rather than strictly following a path based on their interests, high schoolers should be able to explore their newfound possibilities and feel comfortable changing their course if something new pops up.

Even if self-discovery was as easy as the media made me expect, finding the time to choose a course definitely is not. The media has made me believe that high school would be a mostly stress-free environment in which I would have time to join as many extracurriculars as I wanted to. Even when I began to face issues of poor time management at the beginning of middle school, I still believed that schoolwork would never interfere with my time for other activities because in “High School Musical,” Troy had somehow had enough time to be an all-star basketball player and play the lead in the school musical, all

while still passing his classes with stellar grades. Neither Troy, nor Gabriella seem to have to worry about getting all their work done. Apparently, they can devote all of their time to extracurriculars, but for me, the effort required to simply go to school and complete homework every night is enough. Stress and anxiety fill the halls of South, especially as an increasing number of students pile up their schedules with honors and AP classes. Academic frustration like mine are almost never shown in classic high school media, creating the false narrative that high school is anxiety-free.

In the same way, the media glosses over the stress of higher education. Even though the “High School Musical” trilogy touches on the topic of college to some extent, it withers in comparison to the level of college talk at South. Before I knew what a GPA was, I had already begun stressing over the idea of college. In a public high school with a prestigious reputation, college talk is extremely sensitive for some students. The majority of South’s Ivy League-bound students challenge themselves from freshman to senior year with the aim of getting into the most exclusive institutions. Even those with less of a focus on esteemed universities often worry about their

higher education prospects. Meanwhile, high school-age characters in the media tend to spend more time focusing on high school drama than on academics, while still managing to be accepted into amazing colleges. Because characters in high school media are usually meant to experience happy endings, getting into a decent school is an unquestioned part of their plot, presenting a severely unrealistic and unhealthy atmosphere.

Beyond the big screen, TV shows like “Glee” and “Gossip Girl” also exaggerate aspects of high school life. While “Glee” is a more accurate portrayal of high school, it definitely depicts some generally untrue teenage stereotypes, like divisions between social groups. The students from the glee club are repetitively bullied and ridiculed — often covered in red slushies that jocks throw at them. At South, I’ve personally never experienced or seen such extreme or public bullying. While athletes are almost always shown in the media as football players who wear their letterman jackets every day to school, South focuses on broader sports and extracurriculars, not solely football. In fact, South seems to promote the hard work and successes of the Speech & Debate, science and math teams as much as that of sports teams.

Although some parts of the media showcasing high school resemble reality, these small similarities do little to make up for the unmatched, romanticised version of high school that the media portrays. Not all high schools are the same, and while there may be reoccuring parallels between media and reality, people should not base their expectations on the false images the media portrays as I had done when I first walked into freshman year.

graphic by Dorothy Dolan

page 10|october 19, 2017

Opinions|THELIONROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Open Campus is Open Chaos

by Julia Freedman & Esmé Kamadolli When a kid gets really good at cutteachers are absent, directed studies and ting paper, do you give them a chainsaw? cancelled classes ensure quiet work spaces Logic tells you hell no. It’s not like you’re are available to them. giving the cherub a pair of safety scissors, It is essential for young adults to and nobody in their right mind would give have time for sleep and sufficient socializathat kid a tool that would only serve as tion with friends; however, these necessian involuntary amputation device. Trust ties all depend on the students’ workload is a good thing to have, but too much is and productivity. If freshmen were allowed too much. Freshmen are excluded under to roam free, it is significantly less likely South’s open campus policy for simithat they would get any work done. lar reasons.

Most underclassmen are still Currently, the school’s Orfiguring out time management. ange Lion handbook states Balancing school work, after that South’s open campus school activities and sleep policy only applies to can prove difficult, so we upperclassmen and tend to need a structured second semester environment where we sophomores. That can get some work out group is allowed of the way. Upperclassto do work in men have spent enough various areas of time in high school the school or even with homework and exleave the school tracurriculars to premises during handle. Giving their free periods underclassmen and cancelled opportunities for classes. Freshman unproductive activigraphic by Emily Zhang and first-semester ties on a regular basis is sophomores, however, do simply counterintuitive. not have the same privilege. Instead, when When a visitor walks into school underclassmen have a free block or their in the middle of the day, they see mostly

empty hallways, and no more than a sprinkling of students peacefully congregating at scattered tables and chairs.

Now, imagine that the next day, freshmen and sophomores are included in the open campus policy, and at one point in the day, unlimited numbers of a student, regardless of grade will be wandering around the hallways wasting time. Since underclassmen have not had the full exposure to high school life and aren’t capable of managing their time, the result would be nothing less than pure pandemonium.

It is fair that upperclassmen have the open campus policy since they are eligible to drive, and overall, are more responsible toward their time management.

Assuming that the open campus policy pertained to every student at South, it would be near impossible to prevent

the majority of students from loitering in spaces that are available to students. There would be a devastating number of students who would roam free within the walls of the school. From a management perspective, it’s just not feasible to have that many students purposelessly roaming the halls.

Freshmen are overwhelmed by the amount of freedom that South offers. It’s understandable for a teen to mess around a little bit with newfound freedoms ­— why South puts restrictions on underclassmen. A middle ground between liberty and regulation must be established. Freshmen should enjoy the freedoms of high school, so long as it’s not to an outrageous extent.

Hence, the school’s open campus policy is justified because it helps the productivity of freshmen and sophomores, without solely sentencing them to safety scissors.

Diversify World Languages “Who speaks another language at home?” At the start of every school year, students are flooded with questions from icebreaker games, one of which asks if students speak with their families. The importance of this question is clear, as The Washington Post reports in 2016 that 15 percent of all English-speaking residents in U.S. also speak another language at home. Despite the prevalence of languages other than English, however, Newton’s annually fluctuating public school budget often finds world languages on the chopping block.

In July 2017, Newton middle schools stopped offering Latin classes.

Regardless of the opposition from both students and parents, the superintendent cut the program with the support of

middle school principals.

While Latin is considered a dying language, its programs should be promoted instead of removed; it is important for schools to reinforce the study of Latin because Latin is the root of many other languages. Learning Latin prevents the extinction of the language, while helping students learn other languages simultaneously.

Latin isn’t the only language losing its place in schools; during the 2017-2018 school year, courses such as Russian III and Latin I were dropped at the high school level. It’s important for South to fund the world language department because cutting programs takes away many opportunities for students.

The lack of diversity in language courses presents another problem.

The Modern Language Association notes that in 2013, roughly 198,000 U.S. college students took a French course, while just 64 studied

Bengali.

Yet, globally, 193 million people speak Bengali, while only 75 million speak French. This discrepancy is a large-scale issue. Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education, found in 2010 that the vast majority — 95 percent — of all language enrollments in the U.S. were in a European language, indicating that the diversity of languages offered is insufficient on a global scale. South focuses too much on European languages, but the majority of the population speaks non-European languages.

So why should South offer more European language courses than other foreign languages?

Somehow, the demand for foreign languages rises at the same rate that Newton cuts the world language budget.

A 2016 NEA Today study found that in, more Massachusetts companies are seeking candidates who speaks more than just one language.

Yet, Americans across the country are falling behind in their language abilities. One percent of American adults today are proficient in a foreign language that

graphic by Ellen Deng and Alice Zilberberg

By Deanne Harris they studied in a U.S. classroom, even though a 2008 national survey found that almost all high schools in the country — 93 percent — offered foreign languages. It is important for students to obtain multiple language skills because in our current market place, companies tend to offer a position to people who are capable of speaking multiple languages.

High schoolers may concentrate on getting A’s in honors and bothering by their GPAs, but many languages like Latin are dying. It is important for students to learn foreign languages and instill a richer understanding of culture. Moreover, it is essential for South to offer a variety of language courses because diversity in language offerings will provide students with more choices, interests and opportunities. Starting at South, more diverse and ample language courses can help set students up for long term success.

campus chatter october 19, 2018|page 11

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

UPGRADE

9 Halloween Thanksgiving

The Lion’s Roar asked ...

Return of the pumpkin spice latte Fall fashion NBA regular season

End of Daylight Savings

“I’m going to try to do my college application.”

- Yi Liu, Class of 2019 “This Halloween, I will do all my homework, and maybe go around the neighborhood asking for candy.”

- Joanna Folta, Class of 2020 “Due to cross country practice, I will probably run 10 miles.”

- Eero Helenius, Class of 2021

NSPA Red Sox crushing it

“I’m going to hang out with two of my friends.

We might watch a scary movie together.”

- Yuval Nadler, Class of 2022

Friday Night Lights games

9

DOWNGRADE

photo by Chunyu He

Trench Review

by Nico Henriquez

Cold weather Jacket dilemma Crunching leaves Homework on Halloween Sleep deprivation Heat bills on the rise End of the Term I College app deadlines Dark mornings

What’s your plan for this Halloween?

Twenty One Pilots’s fifth studio album, “Trench,” is a concept album that explores the fictional city of Dema. Similarly to their neighboring album “Blurryface,” the new album deals with the weight of anxiety and depression.

Their lead single, “Jumpsuit,” features a heavy bass guitar throughout the whole song, steering away from the band’s usual upbeat tone in their singles.

At the end of the track, we hear lead singer Tyler Joseph belt into a scream. Although Joseph’s passion emphasizes the severity of the piece, I found myself needing to turn my volume down. The end of the song blends seamlessly into “Levitate,” a track that showcases Joseph’s ability to spit bars. The lyrical substance of the song clutches the significance of using traumatic moments and reconstructing them into something reassuring, causing a person to “levitate.” The two-minute rap is complimented by a fast-paced beat and distorted vocals, reminiscent of Blurryface, a character Joseph named after his anxiety and depression.

The album’s fifth track, “Chlorine,”

allows listener to assume the meaning of the lyrics — “Sippin’ on straight chlorine.”

The listener will likely find themselves

ng ris Ja

y Ch hic b grap

enjoying three minutes of an upbeat, catchy melody, leading into a transition for the last two minutes of the song. These last

two minutes dabble in an echoey, atmospheric vibe. The dramatic sound change would yield a beautiful sound in a concert setting.

Over the past few years, the media has witnessed a multitude of deaths; Joseph explores the idea that if he were to pass, people would treat his death the same way. “Cut My Lip” sheds light on Joseph’s goal to enjoy his life despite its stresses. The bridge climax introduces some new instrumentals that complement the existing ones. “Cut My Lip” is one of the album’s slower songs. Overall, it’s a good song, even though it can sound repetitive at points.

The final track is also a slow song. Like the band’s previous closing songs, “Leave the City” is a wonderful conclusion to the album. The lyrics are sad. Yet optimistic, which deal with America’s internal issues.

“Trench” is an impactful project that deals with the influence of depression and anxiety, much like Twenty One Pilot’s other albums. Through the ukulele, drums and Joseph’s vocals, Twenty One Pilots certainly met my high expectations with their much anticipated alternative album.

swipe right As technology’s reach grows, students venture into the world of online dating

W

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi

hen senior Rachel Williams* first explored the online dating world, she was a freshman. Her intentions, however, were not initially geared toward establishing a romantic relationship; rather, she was looking for people with whom she could talk and connect with. While exploring various dating apps, she curiously stumbled upon the app “Hot or Not,” an “online rating site that allows users to rate the attractiveness of photos submitted voluntarily by others.”

On the app, she connected with someone who she thought was her age, and they began to talk. When she and her parents dug deeper into the person’s profile, however, they made a jarring discovery.

“It was a 60-year-old man, and he’s done it before to other teenagers,” she said. “I was scared sh*tless.”

Stories like Williams’ are not uncommon. Many users on dating websites are often victims to lies that people behind a screen tell, creating fake profiles and sending out false information about themselves. According to the Scientific American, “54% of online daters believe that someone else has presented false information in their profile, and 28% have been contacted in a way that left them feeling harassed or uncomfortable.” Tricking someone with fake online profiles is so common that the term “catfishing” has evolved over time to describe this situation.

Following the advent of online dating sites, the internet has become an increasingly popular tool for the formation of online romantic relationships, where people can connect with just one swipe.

According to Brooke Foucault Welles, an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern, teenagers are prone to using dating apps because of the increased presence of social media in their lives.

“There’s evidence that young folks are using what adults might consider a more traditional social media,” Welles said. “So of course, [young people] are going to use the same technology that they use to connect with their friends to connect with potential romantic partners.”

Junior Alex James* added that offline relationships may be more impersonal because it’s easier to put yourself in a vulnerable position online as opposed to in person. “[Talking face-to-face] makes everything more special, and especially in the beginning it might make things harder, but I think that’s what dating should be,” he said.

“It is so much easier [to be] behind a screen and say, ‘I like you’ [because] you don’t have to deal with the emotional repercussions that

come with being vulnerable in person.”

Welles said that online dating is not only easier because of the buffer to rejection, but also because it can connect the user to more people than are available in real life, and do so much faster. “[On] social media, … you maintain much bigger social circles. People just have more friends now than they used to because you can keep track of them,” Welles said.

According to dating and confidence coach Nick Notas, dating apps provide teens with more options for possible partners.

“I think it has opened people’s eyes because there are lots of people that they connect with,” he said. “I hope in the long term, it

“I think any tool that allows you to expand your social circle and meet people beyond just your high school or your community ... is positive” - Ken Deckinger, founder of JessMeetKen and Hurry

helps people not settle out of comfort or just because somebody is available.”

Junior Mike Smith* said that the sheer number of people on online dating platforms makes it easier for LGBTQ students to find potential partners.

“For gay kids like me, it’s much easier to find volumes of people that you can actually date online, [rather] than in real life [where] there are just not very many,” he said.

Senior Abigail Stone* said that dating apps have cut out many awkward and confusing interactions between her and other users.

“If you meet up with someone in person, you have to go through, ‘maybe they like me, maybe they don’t like me. Do they think I’m attractive?’” she said. “[With] dating apps, it’s just straight to the point.”

“I would say [online dating] establishes different connections. In this era, … it’s less authentic, but [more] effective. It gets the job done quicker,” James said.

Smith added that students often use dating apps to set up short flings as opposed to finding long-term relationships.

“I think a lot of people don’t use it intending to create relationships and actually get a boyfriend or girlfriend. They’re just using it for hookups,” he said.

“You’re trying to find something special, which basically never happens,” he said.

Senior Julia Mellon*, who has used dating apps since she was a junior, students often overestimate the apps’ effectiveness.

“I feel like there is an assumption that

you can always go online and find someone, and that’s not necessarily true. You still have to put yourself out there and talk to people,” she said. “You still have to be a good person and not be rude.”

Part of the problem, Notas said, is the disconnect between users.

“It’s easy to misread cues because we lose the emotion, the body language [and] tonality of the communication,” he said. “I think in general, when we can’t see somebody, it’s easier to treat them differently. … We just don’t feel the same need to be as respectful, or as communicative or as thoughtful about the way we handle those interactions.”

Mellon agreed, adding that technology can create a space where users can neglect the emotions of the person on the other side of the screen without consequence.

“Our generation has never really grown up without the internet, especially since a lot of us have grown up in Newton, and it’s definitely affected how we talk to each other and how we interact,” she said. “I feel like there is that benefit of just talking to someone, but that also comes with ‘I can just talk to someone, and I can say whatever I want,’ and that’s not necessarily a good thing.”

Notas added that before venturing into the online dating world, teenagers should first approach the idea of dating with a goal of offline social-strengthening.

“I think a lot of people go on [dating apps] and they’re like, ‘how do I impress the other person? How do I come off really funny? How do I engage them? How do I be witty?’ And there’s a lot of pressure and expectation to perform and be good enough, and I think that takes a lot of the fun out of the experience,” he said. “I would say think about what kind of conversations excite you and what types of people you want to talk to… and then [the relationship] becomes a lot more organic and natural.”

The pressures of online dating can be detrimental to teenagers’ self-esteem, Welles said.

“Kids are spending time projecting what they believe is an ideal mate. That triggers all sorts of performative gender norms.”

Welles said. “I worry a little bit that we are pushing this false narrative that there’s a formula or an algorithm to find your perfect mate. It just turns out to not be true when we do research.”

Another issue that students face when on dating sites is the stigma surrounding the usage of the apps. Smith says that although students may not face stigma, adults do. In fact, his aunt and met online.

“I think people who use online dat-

ing for finding relationships, like especially adults, … people sometimes want to hide that [and] they’re not very open about the fact that they met each other online,” he said. “But in terms of just high schoolers use of online dating … I don’t think there’s too much of a stigma there.”

Notas said that the apps are useful for gaining relationship experience. When a user starts to take the other person’s disinterest personally, however, issues may arise.

“I think the problem [starts] when you start putting all your worth in a stranger’s hands that you don’t know,” he said. “Then it just builds this pattern of, ‘man, I must not be good enough for people’ and ‘I must not be interesting enough or pretty enough,’ and it just doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

According to Welles, dating apps can amplify a user’s pre-existing issues.

“Whatever underlying issues you have in the offline world are magnified in the online world,” she said. “If you tend to be an insecure person in the offline world, then interactions via social media are going to make that worse.”

“Folks who maybe aren’t in a healthy place to be dating in general shouldn’t be using the apps either,” Welles added.

Jennings said that online dating only works for extroverted teens.

“I’m a pretty outgoing person, so it’s fun and exciting for me to talk to new people all the time, but for someone who’s shy, [it] would definitely be very overwhelming,” she said.

Welles said that people often hold preconceived notions about the people they want to date, but their fabricated ideas do not necessarily align with the people they would choose in real life.

“There’s a certain chemistry in real life, and you either feel it or you don’t,” Jennings said.

An app was created, however, for these online dating norms to be less daunting for to adhere to. Shortly after meeting his future wife through a mutual female friend, Ken Deckinger launched a website that allowed women to introduce their male friends to other women using the site, called JessMeetKen. “The premise was that women know how to present men better than a man can present themselves, so by having a woman post the guy up there, she knows how to, essentially, market him better than he knows how to market himself,” he said.

Deckinger added that weeding out inauthentic users is difficult on online platforms.

“I’m all for people expanding their social circles and meeting people. I think any tool that allows you to expand your social circle and meet people beyond just … your community is positive,” he said.

“Everyone should exercise caution, and teens in particular who use any type of app, that ... introduces you to other people, … need to make sure that the people on the other end are who they say they are.”

Williams said that she was able to quit the Hot or Not app.

“I think to myself, ‘Why do I need this?

Why can’t I go and make real friends with real people?’ So I’ll stay on for a couple days, and then I’ll go offline,” she said.

According to Stone, teens run the risk continued on next page

In October, The Roar surveyed 196 students through an anonymous, online questionaire.

Have you ever used a dating app?

YES (19%) NO (71%)

What grade did you start using dating apps?

BEFORE NINTH GRADE (8%) NINTH (21%) 10TH (26%) 11TH (26%) 12TH (19%)

Have you had sexual relations with anyone you met online?

YES (29%) NO (71%)

Would you use dating apps at some point in your life?

YES (75%) NO (25%)

Graphics and Page Design by Alice Zilberberg *Note: Due to the potentially illegal nature of underage students using online dating services, names have been changed to protect students’ identities.

swipe right As technology’s reach grows, students venture into the world of online dating

W

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi

hen senior Rachel Williams* first explored the online dating world, she was a freshman. Her intentions, however, were not initially geared toward establishing a romantic relationship; rather, she was looking for people with whom she could talk and connect with. While exploring various dating apps, she curiously stumbled upon the app “Hot or Not,” an “online rating site that allows users to rate the attractiveness of photos submitted voluntarily by others.”

On the app, she connected with someone who she thought was her age, and they began to talk. When she and her parents dug deeper into the person’s profile, however, they made a jarring discovery.

“It was a 60-year-old man, and he’s done it before to other teenagers,” she said. “I was scared sh*tless.”

Stories like Williams’ are not uncommon. Many users on dating websites are often victims to lies that people behind a screen tell, creating fake profiles and sending out false information about themselves. According to the Scientific American, “54% of online daters believe that someone else has presented false information in their profile, and 28% have been contacted in a way that left them feeling harassed or uncomfortable.” Tricking someone with fake online profiles is so common that the term “catfishing” has evolved over time to describe this situation.

Following the advent of online dating sites, the internet has become an increasingly popular tool for the formation of online romantic relationships, where people can connect with just one swipe.

According to Brooke Foucault Welles, an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern, teenagers are prone to using dating apps because of the increased presence of social media in their lives.

“There’s evidence that young folks are using what adults might consider a more traditional social media,” Welles said. “So of course, [young people] are going to use the same technology that they use to connect with their friends to connect with potential romantic partners.”

Junior Alex James* added that offline relationships may be more impersonal because it’s easier to put yourself in a vulnerable position online as opposed to in person. “[Talking face-to-face] makes everything more special, and especially in the beginning it might make things harder, but I think that’s what dating should be,” he said.

“It is so much easier [to be] behind a screen and say, ‘I like you’ [because] you don’t have to deal with the emotional repercussions that

come with being vulnerable in person.”

Welles said that online dating is not only easier because of the buffer to rejection, but also because it can connect the user to more people than are available in real life, and do so much faster. “[On] social media, … you maintain much bigger social circles. People just have more friends now than they used to because you can keep track of them,” Welles said.

According to dating and confidence coach Nick Notas, dating apps provide teens with more options for possible partners.

“I think it has opened people’s eyes because there are lots of people that they connect with,” he said. “I hope in the long term, it

“I think any tool that allows you to expand your social circle and meet people beyond just your high school or your community ... is positive” - Ken Deckinger, founder of JessMeetKen and Hurry

helps people not settle out of comfort or just because somebody is available.”

Junior Mike Smith* said that the sheer number of people on online dating platforms makes it easier for LGBTQ students to find potential partners.

“For gay kids like me, it’s much easier to find volumes of people that you can actually date online, [rather] than in real life [where] there are just not very many,” he said.

Senior Abigail Stone* said that dating apps have cut out many awkward and confusing interactions between her and other users.

“If you meet up with someone in person, you have to go through, ‘maybe they like me, maybe they don’t like me. Do they think I’m attractive?’” she said. “[With] dating apps, it’s just straight to the point.”

“I would say [online dating] establishes different connections. In this era, … it’s less authentic, but [more] effective. It gets the job done quicker,” James said.

Smith added that students often use dating apps to set up short flings as opposed to finding long-term relationships.

“I think a lot of people don’t use it intending to create relationships and actually get a boyfriend or girlfriend. They’re just using it for hookups,” he said.

“You’re trying to find something special, which basically never happens,” he said.

Senior Julia Mellon*, who has used dating apps since she was a junior, students often overestimate the apps’ effectiveness.

“I feel like there is an assumption that

you can always go online and find someone, and that’s not necessarily true. You still have to put yourself out there and talk to people,” she said. “You still have to be a good person and not be rude.”

Part of the problem, Notas said, is the disconnect between users.

“It’s easy to misread cues because we lose the emotion, the body language [and] tonality of the communication,” he said. “I think in general, when we can’t see somebody, it’s easier to treat them differently. … We just don’t feel the same need to be as respectful, or as communicative or as thoughtful about the way we handle those interactions.”

Mellon agreed, adding that technology can create a space where users can neglect the emotions of the person on the other side of the screen without consequence.

“Our generation has never really grown up without the internet, especially since a lot of us have grown up in Newton, and it’s definitely affected how we talk to each other and how we interact,” she said. “I feel like there is that benefit of just talking to someone, but that also comes with ‘I can just talk to someone, and I can say whatever I want,’ and that’s not necessarily a good thing.”

Notas added that before venturing into the online dating world, teenagers should first approach the idea of dating with a goal of offline social-strengthening.

“I think a lot of people go on [dating apps] and they’re like, ‘how do I impress the other person? How do I come off really funny? How do I engage them? How do I be witty?’ And there’s a lot of pressure and expectation to perform and be good enough, and I think that takes a lot of the fun out of the experience,” he said. “I would say think about what kind of conversations excite you and what types of people you want to talk to… and then [the relationship] becomes a lot more organic and natural.”

The pressures of online dating can be detrimental to teenagers’ self-esteem, Welles said.

“Kids are spending time projecting what they believe is an ideal mate. That triggers all sorts of performative gender norms.”

Welles said. “I worry a little bit that we are pushing this false narrative that there’s a formula or an algorithm to find your perfect mate. It just turns out to not be true when we do research.”

Another issue that students face when on dating sites is the stigma surrounding the usage of the apps. Smith says that although students may not face stigma, adults do. In fact, his aunt and met online.

“I think people who use online dat-

ing for finding relationships, like especially adults, … people sometimes want to hide that [and] they’re not very open about the fact that they met each other online,” he said. “But in terms of just high schoolers use of online dating … I don’t think there’s too much of a stigma there.”

Notas said that the apps are useful for gaining relationship experience. When a user starts to take the other person’s disinterest personally, however, issues may arise.

“I think the problem [starts] when you start putting all your worth in a stranger’s hands that you don’t know,” he said. “Then it just builds this pattern of, ‘man, I must not be good enough for people’ and ‘I must not be interesting enough or pretty enough,’ and it just doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

According to Welles, dating apps can amplify a user’s pre-existing issues.

“Whatever underlying issues you have in the offline world are magnified in the online world,” she said. “If you tend to be an insecure person in the offline world, then interactions via social media are going to make that worse.”

“Folks who maybe aren’t in a healthy place to be dating in general shouldn’t be using the apps either,” Welles added.

Jennings said that online dating only works for extroverted teens.

“I’m a pretty outgoing person, so it’s fun and exciting for me to talk to new people all the time, but for someone who’s shy, [it] would definitely be very overwhelming,” she said.

Welles said that people often hold preconceived notions about the people they want to date, but their fabricated ideas do not necessarily align with the people they would choose in real life.

“There’s a certain chemistry in real life, and you either feel it or you don’t,” Jennings said.

An app was created, however, for these online dating norms to be less daunting for to adhere to. Shortly after meeting his future wife through a mutual female friend, Ken Deckinger launched a website that allowed women to introduce their male friends to other women using the site, called JessMeetKen. “The premise was that women know how to present men better than a man can present themselves, so by having a woman post the guy up there, she knows how to, essentially, market him better than he knows how to market himself,” he said.

Deckinger added that weeding out inauthentic users is difficult on online platforms.

“I’m all for people expanding their social circles and meeting people. I think any tool that allows you to expand your social circle and meet people beyond just … your community is positive,” he said.

“Everyone should exercise caution, and teens in particular who use any type of app, that ... introduces you to other people, … need to make sure that the people on the other end are who they say they are.”

Williams said that she was able to quit the Hot or Not app.

“I think to myself, ‘Why do I need this?

Why can’t I go and make real friends with real people?’ So I’ll stay on for a couple days, and then I’ll go offline,” she said.

According to Stone, teens run the risk continued on next page

In October, The Roar surveyed 196 students through an anonymous, online questionaire.

Have you ever used a dating app?

YES (19%) NO (71%)

What grade did you start using dating apps?

BEFORE NINTH GRADE (8%) NINTH (21%) 10TH (26%) 11TH (26%) 12TH (19%)

Have you had sexual relations with anyone you met online?

YES (29%) NO (71%)

Would you use dating apps at some point in your life?

YES (75%) NO (25%)

Graphics and Page Design by Alice Zilberberg *Note: Due to the potentially illegal nature of underage students using online dating services, names have been changed to protect students’ identities.

page 14|October 19, 2018

centerfold|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

continued from previous page of being catfished, or tricked into believing someone’s fake identity, when they use online platforms. She said she had been catfished when she started chatting with someone on Instagram.

“He never wanted to FaceTime. ... I'd be like, ‘can you send me a picture of you doing like a certain thing?’ [And] he never did,” she said. “I was heartbroken.”

According to Notas, concerns about personal safety and ingenuine users deter people from using online dating apps.

“One of the biggest concerns I hear with clients is ‘this person wasn't who I thought they were,’” he said.

Notas said that teens should try meeting new people in person before downloading dating apps.

“Start by building out a social life for yourself first. I'm not against [online dating] by any means, but my first advice would be if you're 16 or 17 years old, ... meet each other and go to parties and find new hobbies,” he said “I think that's always the first avenue.”

Notas added that the internet, through its low-risk chatrooms, has discouraged

teenagers from socializing in real life.

“I think it was invented to make us more social, and I think it has often done the opposite. It's made people more willing to stay inside, less willing to go to social events and proactively introduce themselves to people,” he said. “In the long term, it's kind of isolating us.”

Deckinger, however, said dating online ultimately helps people find connections.

“Dating sites have played a role in bringing technology closer to us,” he said.

“Human nature is to connect with people and to socialize.”

Ultimately, Williams said, though online dating websites have many risks, the person who uses them ultimately decides whether or not the app is worthwhile.

“It all depends on the person because some people have better relationships with those that they've met online, and other people are more focused on people that they meet in person,” she said. “For me, right now, I'm focusing on who I meet in person because I know who they are. I know what their intentions are. With online people, for me, I don't know what their intentions really are.”

Advice from the Experts The Roar talked to three relationship experts to get advice for teens thinking of using dating apps

Nick Notas - Dating Coach

“T

he number one thing I would say is to not rush into things with anybody. I think when you're younger, you're more susceptible to wanting to find connection and wanting to be cool and wanting to be dating someone and wanting to impress somebody else. I would say just know there's no rush — you're 17 and you just want to find somebody to hang out with and have good time — you're not ready for much more. I think it's good to have that experience and not have any other expectations."

Ken Deckinger - Founder of JessMeetKen

“T

he advice I would give this: It's great to meet people. It's great to explore other types of introductions outside of your community because it just opens the world to you, but you need to vet those people and make sure that they are who they say they are. If you are going to meet someone in person, don't do it alone. Make sure you're in public place the first time because you just have to be safe."

Brooke Foucault Welles - Communications Studies Professor

“W

e are starting to see girls who consume a lot of Instagram images and have some self-esteem problems. ... We put our best pictures [on online dating apps], so if you spend a lot of time looking through, you might feel a little bit bad about yourself, ... but do be mindful that those images are not exactly real." photos courtesy of Brooke Foucault Welles, Nick Notas, Ken Deckinger

FEATURES page 15|October 19, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

FEATURES@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 3

THE

COMMON

APPLICATION

The Roar follows four seniors with different interests as they navigate the college application process and will reveal their identities and college plans as they make their decisions

By Sophie Lewis and Carrie Ryter

R

yan* said that although he enjoyed his tours at Cornell, McGill, UMass Amherst and Williams, he plans to apply early decision to Brown University in Providence, RI. He cited the school’s curriculum, designed to encourage students to develop individual programs of study, as a factor of his decision.

“Having the open curriculum, I’ll focus on one thing but also not have to give up on the other things I really like,” he said. “I’ve been doing something with music more or less for as long as I can remember, so I definitely hope to continue.”

While the November 1 early decision deadline is fast approaching, he said he feels prepared to meet it.

“Getting a head start in summer was helpful because I don’t feel like I’m overburdened [by] my full application a month before the application is due,” he said.

Ryan said that he hopes to study statistics in college, after being exposed to the subject his junior year.

“I interned at a hospital and helped with some research, [and with] research papers, you always need some sort of statistics. I’ve never really understood what many of them meant, and then after taking statistics last year, everything made a lot more sense,” he said.

“I really like how statistics can help explain the unexplainable,” Ryan added.

Ryan said that spending time with his peers has helped him relax, despite the stress that comes with applications.

“You always know that there’s [someone] who you can go to if you do feel overwhelmed … who is going through the same thing and is there to help you,” he said.

M

illy said she feels prepared for the November 1 early action deadline when she will apply to several schools, including Northeastern University, Southern Methodist University, UMass Amherst and University of Michigan.

“I’m trying to tie up all the strings to the few supplements that I have left and wait for the magic to happen,” she said.

“I’m excited for people to read my work.”

Despite making progress on her application over the summer, Milly said that she found the school environment to be more conducive to writing essays.

“School is what makes me work even harder, so being in the school community, being around other people — talking about politics, talking about books, talking about movies — is what makes me a better writer,” she said.

The key to increasing her test scores was a change of scenery, Milly said.

“I had to end up going to New Hampshire for this because there were no spots available here, but it ended up being a fun time,” she said. “I just relaxed and it was kind of a ‘just for kicks’ thing and it ended up working out.”

Milly said that while she still loves the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt and plans to apply to the two regular decision, she is currently focusing on her target and safety schools.

She added that she advises her fellow seniors to appreciate the little time they have left together.

“Savor every single moment,” she said. “I know it sounds so cliché, but we’re not gonna have these moments in a few months.”

O

wen* said he has begun writing supplemental essays for the schools where he is applying early action: Boston College, Elon, Northeastern and UMass Amherst.

He said, however, that those schools would not be ones that allow him to play Division III baseball in college, as the schools that have a roster spot for him require higher test scores than he currently has — he took the SAT in October and may retake it in November.

Owen said that he is also looking at colleges that are part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference and that he is most excited about Tufts University.

“I just loved the campus, and the vibes I got from there were really good. I felt like I could visualize myself there and obviously the academics there are extremely good,” he said.

“If my test scores are up to where [the coach] wants them to be, then I would probably apply to Tufts [for] early decision two,” Brandon added.

He said that waiting on his test scores to apply to colleges, in particular Brandeis, came with unforeseen consequences.

“They said ... ‘We want you to play at Brandeis and I don’t know if you’re going to have a spot at Brandeis if you wait on the test scores,’ so I was being pressured in that way,” he said.

He added that he tries not to discuss college or scores with classmates.

“They’re on their own path ... because the college process is a very individual process,” he said. “[You] do the stuff that you have to do.”

B

graphics by Alice Zilberberg

ailey* said she decided against applying early to any school, after originally considering an early application to Yale University.

She said that she plans to apply to Yale regular decision, in addition to Bard College, Julliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College and Sarah Lawrence College, and plans to major in piano performance.

Bailey said her decision to withold her application was prompted in part by her upcoming piano recital. “[The recital is] including my artwork ... in addition to my music, and I have a bit of synesthesia, so it’s inspired [by] what I taste when I hear things,” she said. “I want to put that on my college app just because that’s such a big part of who I am. ... If I’m applying to a school as big as Yale, I want to give it my all.”

Bailey said that she was disappointed by her SAT scores and added that Sarah Lawrence and Bard appeal to her because they are test-optional.

“They know that some parents are behind their kids,” she said. “Other kids aren’t so fortunate to have that support.”

Bailey said that she is currently working on rewriting her essay to make it more representative of her growth.

“I was going to write about my journey [playing piano] over the summer and ... what wasn’t always with me was this streak of anger that made me so furious at what was going on in the world,” she said.

“I wanted to put that into my college essay because ... colleges need to recruit people that want to solve problems.” *Names changed to protect students’ identities

page 16|October 19, 2018

Features|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Turning the page

Senior electives and varied literature work to diversify South’s English curriculum

By Simone Klein and Claire Slack

E

nglish teacher Kelly Henderson said that in a discussion with a black student about “Things Fall Apart,” a book featuring predominantly black characters, the student said she had to shift her thinking to realize that the characters looked like her after originally picturing them as white.

“I’ve seen students react when they have a character that looks like them, or thinks like them, or sounds like them or has experiences that they have had, and the way that they respond is really powerful because a lot of times it’s new,” Henderson said. “That inspires me to keep going.”

In recent years, South’s English department has diversified their literature curriculum through senior elective courses that feature books written by diverse authors with diverse characters, yet English department head Brian Baron said that there is still room for improvement.

“We hear the cry for more diverse literature and we’re trying. It just doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a multi-pronged process,” he said.

He said he has been working on re-designing South’s English curriculum to feature a variety of experiences rather than specific texts, a philosophy that has reduced the number of required books for each grade level and given teachers more freedom in choosing their books.

According to Henderson, teachers tend to choose books based on implicit and outdated ideas about classes.

“The challenge for a lot of English teachers is we tend to teach what we read or we teach what we were taught, and that is one of those insidious ways that systems of white male supremacy perpetuate,” she said. “I’m very conscious of that feeling when I think I want to diversify the voices and perspectives in my curriculum, but I don’t want to let go of these books that I love, and I have to realize that that is me exercising power and privilege in an unhealthy way.”

Fortunately, the department has not yet had trouble finding funds for new books, English teacher Joseph Golding said.

“Baron … is excellent at pulling resources together to get us 25 to 40 copies of a book to try,” Golding said. “That part is not an obstacle.”

Besides the addition of diverse literature across grade levels, the department has developed senior elective courses that focus on historically marginalized groups of people, including Women in Literature and African American Literature.

“I signed up for [Women in Literature] because I’m really interested in women’s issues and … literature about women’s issues,” senior Talia Harlow said.

“I haven’t experienced a very diverse English curriculum, which is another reason why I wanted to take this class. It does diversify my experience [and] my perception of literature.”

English teacher Jeanette Robertson said that when she asks her sophomore students which one of the sisters in “In the Time of the Butterflies” they relate most to, male students voiced concern.

“Every year I hear … boys say, ‘well, how am I supposed to relate to any of them, I mean they’re girls, right?’” she said. “They haven’t had to do that before in literature because most of the books have male characters.”

METCO counselor and AfricanAmerican Literature teacher Katani Sumner said students express frustration about only getting to experience a diverse set of voices ­— and, for many, see themselves reflected in literature ­— during their final year at South. “[With] most books you can approach them as [either as] something that reflects who you are, or [as a] window into someone else’s world,” Sumner said. “We need to give people both options. So if you’re a student of color, how often do you get a chance to have a mirror experience

when you’re reading a book?”

Senior Ben Powdermaker, who takes African American Literature, said that the class has enabled him to empathize with his peers of color.

“This was the first time in school where I haven’t been [in] the majority,” he said. “It has changed my perspective on how other people who have never been the majority in their classes might feel all the time.”

“In African-American Literature, what’s so incredible and so important … is that there’s a wide variety of character types and it shows white kids that there’s a great amount of diversity within the black community, and it gives African-American ... and Latinx students a real opportunity to see a variety of people whose experiences and outlooks resemble theirs,” English teacher David Weintraub said.

Golding said that the course empowers students to view the AfricanAmerican story as a quintessential aspect of American history.

“One of our colossal holes in our sense of who we are as Americans is that we separate the African-American story from the American story,” he said. “Instead of marginalizing it, we should be placing it at the dead center of who we are as people in this country.”

Powdermaker said that classes like African-American Literature are an important and necessary contrast to traditional classes.

“If we don’t have what we call these specialized classes, then really we will mostly be taking a specialized class on the white American experience,” he said. “It’s [just] not specialized to us because it is what most of the kids at South are, which is white.”

Sumner said students in all grades can benefit from more diverse courses.

“We need to look at overhauling the curriculum because it doesn’t benefit white students to only hear about white people,” she said. “We’re not developing global citizens if they only know one perspective.”

Golding said that the department is also re-evaluating the purpose of classic literature in the curriculum.

“I don’t care if a book is young adult or if it’s from 10,000 CE, if it makes you walk around in somebody else’s shoes [and] that’s a good thing,” he said. “I’m not sure [the classics] are doing the most important work that books do.”

Sumner said that another issue with the classics is their outdated language, such as the use of the N-word in “Huckleberry Finn,” a classic book read by most juniors.

“I’ve heard kids, particularly black students, express that they feel uncomfortable with how many times the N-word is used in the book,” she said. “If there’s one or two black students in the class it shouldn’t be up to them to say, ‘it makes me feel uncomfortable.’”

Baron said, however, that classic novels remain a key component of English literature.

“I’m not ready to completely throw out Shakespeare and Dickens and Fitzgerald,” Baron said. “They’re valuable, but I think they need to live alongside more contemporary voices and voices of women and people of color.”

Henderson said that removing some classic novels is not a risk to the English curriculum’s comprehensiveness.

“We are never going to remove enough of the dead pale males to make it so that white male students feel like they’ve never seen themselves in literature,” she said.

“There always is an uphill battle when you try to change things.”

graphic by Alice Zilderberg

October 19, 2018|page 17

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Features

All in a Day’s Work Students balance the demands of being a full-time student while holding jobs during the school year

By Sophie Lewis and Carrie Ryter

L

ast year, when he worked between 20 and 25 hours per week at Subway in West Roxbury, he wasn’t able to go home until after closing the store three nights a week, junior Ben Reinstein said.

“I’d go straight from school to work, so I would wake up at 6:30 a.m., and I would get home at 10 p.m., at which point I had no interest in homework or studying. I would just go to bed,” he said. “That really affected my grades and my performance at school.”

Reinstein said that he has cut back on his work hours this year, working about 10 hours each week in order to leave more time for academics.

“Once school started, I decided to take a lot fewer shifts because junior year is a big year and I needed to focus on my schoolwork this year rather than my responsibilities at Subway,” he said.

For many students, balancing parttime jobs with schoolwork is challenging, but the knowledge and lessons that they learn from their jobs make the experience valuable, according to college and career counselor Kathleen Sabet.

Sophomore Sonakshi Das, who spends two days a week working at Robert T. Lynch Municipal Golf Course, said that her parents played a major role in her decision to begin working.

“My parents and I started thinking about my future, [including] college,” she said. “We thought it would be best for me to start saving up now.”

Junior Jessica Wu said money was a driving factor in her decision to work at Lumos Debate and tutor, in addition the experience and resume-boost that she would gain.

Reinstein said that earning money on his own has been an important experience.

“Having that money in your pocket available that you earned is much more refreshing than having money that your parents gave you,” he said.

He added that although he enjoys his job, the responsibilities have added to his stress.

“It’s the same responsibilities as being a student. You need to be punctual, you need to listen [and] you need to memorize what you need to do with your shift, and that component of work added on to the stress of school made it really difficult to focus on myself and my happiness,” Reinstein said.

Freshman Kate Utin, who runs birthday parties at Energy Gymnastics on weekends, said that a need for personal time has pushed her to work on improving

photo illustration by Alice Zilberberg

her time management skills.

“I always look at the work schedule … for the next month … and then I’ll plan things around that and make sure I have time for myself,” she said.

Sophomore Damian Mathews agreed that his strict work schedule at Bill’s Pizzeria has helped him learn to manage his time well.

“Having a schedule to work around is really nice because if I had no work I would have come home today and watched a ton of YouTube and played Fornite,” he said. “But I came home and I’m about to go to work, [so] I need to get stuff done.”

Senior Isabelle Gloria, who works six hours a week at the Chestnut Farms stand at the Boston Public Market, said that she has found it difficult to manage working around schoolwork, college applications and extracurriculars.

“I do theatre, so during the week I come home after six almost every day, so it really is a crunch to do homework and then go to sleep at a reasonable time,” she said. “Especially with college stuff, ... I’m going to need more time, so I’ve had to reduce the number of hours I work in order to balance that.”

Wu said that she has sometimes had to sacrifice her schoolwork for her job and visa versa.

“There [have] definitely been times where I’ve had to neglect my schoolwork because I have to [work]. Other times, I don’t end up planning a lesson for the person I tutor because I have to do homework,” she said. “During the summer, it’s a lot easier because you don’t really have

other responsibilities [and] don’t feel the stress of schoolwork … on your shoulders.”

Das said that balancing school with work has been easier than balancing school with extracurricular activities.

“Jobs usually have more flexible hours and they understand if you might want to take a day off,” she said. “Coaches [get] a little bit mad if you miss more than two or three practices.”

Matthews said, however, that he has had a different experience with extracur-

with adults.

“One time when I had a dance recital, … I was scheduled to work that same day so I emailed [my boss] a month in advance [and] they emailed the wrong person to confirm, ... I started freaking out and my parents didn’t help me at all, I had to figure it out all by myself,” she said.

“While it was stressful in that situation, it’s helped me ... deal with [other] situations.”

“Whenever you have a tough customer or you have someone who takes their frustration out on you, they’re never angry at you, they’re always angry at something else,” Reinstein added. “I don’t think South or a school environment is really able jjjtto teach that.”

Sabet said that work experience teaches valuable skills, specifically those not taught in the classroom. “[Students gain] self-confidence that [they] have something to contribute to the world and that learning takes place outside of the classroom too,” she said.

“Every 16-year-old should have a job just to get some insight of what contributing in a workplace or work environment feels like,” Reinstein said.

Gloria added that working has enabled her to build a sense of independence. “[I am] realizing that I already have the capability to go and apply for jobs and get a job,” she said. “I don’t have to pay for rent but I know if I have to, I can get a job where I can do that.”

“Every 16-year-old should have a job just to get some insight of what contributing in a workplace or work environment feels like.”

- Ben Reinstein, Class of 2020 riculars.

“When you have an extracurricular, ... there’s not really a boss you have to talk to, it’s your own commitment to it, but … when I commit to a shift, I have to go in that day. I have to work,” he said.

Sabet said she is not sure that many South students know where to find resources abour job opportunities, an issue that she said she is trying to solve by making it clearer to all students that the College and Career Center is not exclusively for seniors.

Matthews said that he has gained a lot of social skills from working.

“Some customers will get mad and you have to be okay with dealing with that,” he said. “Being able to deal with people is an awesome skill to have down the road.”

Utin said that she has learned through her job for herself how to interact

Additional reporting by Jibek Kelgenbaeva, Iris Yang and Ellen Zhen

Joy

page 18|October 19, 2018

Features|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

A Jump For One School, One Question event serves as a forum for the South community to focus exclusively on joy

By Ellyssa Jeong, Natasha Nagarajan and Siya Patel

F

or sophomore Lucy Dutton, a highlight of the One School, One Question (1S1Q) event was the opportunity to attend a dog panel, which she said was full of happy students playing with happy dogs.

“The puppy there was just jumping on everyone and playing with a tennis ball,” she said. “It was cool how you could just walk around and meet dogs and there was nothing you specifically had to do. …

Everyone wanted to be there.”

The 1S1Q event, now in its third year, featured a keynote speaker, small-group book discussions and a variety of student and teacherrun panels. The activities focused on one central question that was addressed in all of the school-wide summer reading book options: What brings you joy?

English department head Brian Baron, who presided over the organizing committee, said that the event was successful despite the question’s unorthodoxy.

According to senior Isaac Chapin, this year’s question was a positive change from previous years.

“It’s very broad because everyone’s joy comes from a different place and it’s ... very personal,” he said. “Each person considers the question in a different way depending on who they are and what their experience has been.”

Baron said that the question was chosen to provide a neccessary uplifting experience for the South community.

“We were all feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders and everything was very heavy,” he said. “There’s a lot of terrible news going on [and] we thought joy was the thing that people needed most.”

“I don’t think as a school community we were ready to dig into something that was heavy and dark, we wanted something

that was a little bit more uplifting because we felt like that was missing,” he added.

Chapin, the president of South’s improv comedy troupe, Children of the Candy Corn, said that the 1S1Q activities, including his group’s interactive performance, added to the day’s mood.

“People like to laugh,” he said.

“Sometimes [our act is] unexpected to us as well, … and the audience always laughs when we laugh during a scene. … I always love bringing people joy; I love hearing the

served enjoyed and appreciated the event, although not everyone came to school for it.

“We don’t normally have days around here that are essentially just goofy and fun, and that’s what that was.” he said.

“There would be a greater sense of unity if everybody was … together. … It’s a little disappointing that we bemoan the fact that we don’t have school spirit when we have opportunities to do things that will bring spirit, and people just don’t participate.”

Math department head Divya Shannon said that she is interested in getting students involved in jsuch events to prevent as many from skipping future ones.

While this event was effective, Hardiman said that South must work harder to increase joy.

“I would say this was a wonderful start, [but] we could incorporate more activities on a smaller scale … over the course of the year,” he said.

Baron agreed that 1S1Q should not be the beginning and end of South’s joyous environment.

“Nothing that you do on one day is going to solve anything as major as a cultural shift. It can be one piece of that, but if you’re going to change the culture in any given way you’re going to talk a lot about it over a long period of time,” he said. “Hopefully this can help, but I’m under no allusions that South is a different place than it was.”

Walsh said that the event nonetheless served as a much-needed opportunity to bring the community together.

“Everyone was just supporting each other,” she said. “I don’t think we’re normally that united at the school, and [in] these panels, where either we have to sing together or watch someone perform or [watch] slam poetry, everyone’s together.”

“The goal was to make people feel good, to think about what makes you happy and to think about doing more of it.”

photos by Alice Zilberberg

- Brian Baron, English department head audience’s laughter.”

Panels like these served to bring people together, junior Allison Walsh said.

“When I went to the culture one, ... they were singing ‘This Little Light of Mine,’ and it was such a happy environment,” she said. “Everyone was united no matter who they were.”

Guidance counselor and AWARE (Mental Health Awareness Coalition) club advisor Chris Hardiman said that students should apply the lessons they learned from the event to their day-to-day life.

“It helps [us be] able to step back and think, reflect and hopefully make changes so that we can incorporate [joy] into part of our school day,” he said.

Hardiman added that joy is often forgotten at South.

“We worry sometimes that students are not doing things that they enjoy, but are only doing [things] to stay on the path of getting straight A’s,” he said.

“The goal was to make people feel good, to think about what makes you happy and to think about doing more of it,” Baron said. “It does fit in with some of the work we’ve been doing about mental health and social-emotional growth.”

Baron said that the people he ob-

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Fun Page

Today's Roaroscope

October 19, 2018|page 19

Look to the stars!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The artistry is in the details. Remember to switch your calculator to radians.

Gemini (May 21- June 20): Find meaning in the little things, but don’t bother to memorize them. They’re not on the test.

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): Spooky season is in the air, and so is the flu.

Cover your cough and bring tissues.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): The hardest is found in the easiest. Don’t let those True/Falses get you.

Cancer (June 21- July 22): Just like your favorite celebrities, D Block is canceled! Don’t show up.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): You learn something new every day, ... if you pay attention.

Aries (March 21-April 19): The truth will set you free. The truth is you can dropout on your 16th birthday.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): The happiness is in the journey, not the destination. Enjoy your walk from 6200 to 1300

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): Seeking love advice? Ask a librarian — they can point you in the right direction.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Staircases too clogged with slow walkers?

Break a leg and take the elevator.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Don’t worry — the driving instructors don’t just hate you ... They hate everyone!

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19): Better to be prepared for nothing, than unprepared for everything. Bring a rain jacket.

Overheard at SOUTH

Embarrassing Roar Staff Montage of the Month:

Yes, we heard you say that.

Carpe Diemist: “So a long time ago, when I was young and stupid.”

Local Timekeeper: “You mean yesterday?”

Standard Junior: “It takes so much effort to smile. I raise my eyebrows but that’s the most effort I’m willing to put in.”

A gentle breeze blows on the fearless chief.

“It’s not just a phase, Mom,” Rotberg said, scrolling through his Google+ chatroom.

Emotional Eater: “The only two men I trust are Ben and Jerry.”

Self-taught Success: “The only two men I trust are Hank and John Green.”

Future Nutritionist: “I’ve had, like, negative one vegetables today.”

Rotberg brushes off the haters, stays groovy. Rotberg prepares for a fun Tuesday night. Rotberg withdraws the last of his funds.

CrosSWord Puzzle A speckling of sundries for the end of a term and the start of a season.

•

1) Stupid test; might get you money, will not get you into college.

2) Disappointing candy dimensions.

4) Quarter of the school year.

6) Added security to entrances and exits.

9) FreeForm spooky movie marathon.

11) South improv troop, contentious candy.

12) Decorative gourd.

13) Recent celebrity guest to the White House.

14) Early binding applications.

15) Candy: Taste the rainbow.

18) -picking. Clogs up your Instagram feed.`

Answers: PSAT, funsize, uggs, term, autumn, keypads, three, ghost, Halloweekend, Naviance, candycorn, pumpkin, Kanye, decision, Skittles, Powderpuff, Snickers, apple, spice, witch, vote, trickortreating.

DowN

Across

3) 2015 choice of fall footwear.

5) British word for the new season.

7) Massachusetts Ballot question. “Yes” would repeal protections for transgender accommodations.

8) Shapeless white halloween costume.

10) Has more scattergrams than the average lab report.

16) Junior girls: If you haven’t ordered your jersey yet, it’s too late.

17) Type of candy. Synonymous with giggles.

19) Bike company; citrus fruit.

20) Second word in the name of a popular fall drink.

21) Halloween costume with a pointy hat.

22) What all 18 year olds should do on Nov. 7.

23) Popular halloween activity; not accepted in high school.

SPORTS page 20|October 19, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

sports@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 3

a spike in the right direction

Girls volleyball team works to rebuild past years’ successes despite a new coach and players

By Jennifer Wang and Luda Zaitsev

A

s of Oct. 15, the girls volleyball team had a record of 6-8. After last season’s playoff run, the team is working to regain a winning record following the departure of the varsity head coach and the graduation of key players.

According to junior varsity girls volleyball coach Hayley Teich, these losses have taken a toll on the relatively young team.

“Because the [team] graduated a lot of seniors last year, one of whom had been playing on varsity pretty much all four years in high school, it’s been hard for them as a team. They’ve got a whole bunch of new players that are on the varsity team, and so not all of the girls have played together already,” she said. “With the loss of really strong [players], they’re struggling to find their footing.”

Junior Sage Winkler agreed that recovering from the loss of standout players has been difficult and demanding of the team.

“None of us [have] been able to step up to the plate to actually become that standout player that … lifts the team up when it’s needed and bring them to victory,” she said. “Without [a standout player], everyone has to work a lot harder to make sure that we’re getting to where we need to be.”

While at first, the devastation from these losses seemed insignificant, they soon began to show, senior captain Maria DiNisco said.

“We did lose a really good player. I don’t think it was prominent to us in the beginning of the season, but when you think about it, she was the one who [helped us],” she said.

Along with the absence of key players, junior Maggie Winters said that the loss of their varsity head coach of 11 years and now men’s volleyball coach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Todd Elwell, has also affected the team’s performance as they look to readjust.

As a result, the girls volleyball team has taken on a new head coach, Victoria Bryan, who has formerly played volleyball at South and at a Division I college.

Bryan said that the position of head coach has offered her the opportunity to teach the lessons she has learned in her years at South to current players on the team.

“The South community was essentially the [place] that raised me. It’s where I got my start to my collegiate volleyball career and volleyball in general. I feel that it was an opportunity for me to have things come full circle,” she said. “I want to give these girls the opportunities that I was provided with.”

Bryan added that her experience at

photo by Netta Dror

Sophomore Maggie Xu and junior Julie Wise reach up for a block during a 3-0 win at home against Cambridge Ringe and Latin School on Oct. 11.

South has enhanced her coaching ability.

“I understand what it means to be a Newton South Lion. I understand the Newton South culture ... and I understand the challenges there are being a studentathlete,” she said. “I [know] what these girls are going through, therefore I feel like I’m able to motivate them better and coach them better.”

Nonetheless, junior Julie Wise said that the adjustment period has been difficult.

“It’s hard to make things go smoothly, but it’s been a little more discombobulated,” she said. “She is definitely trying her best to fulfill [her role] and really see everything, but for anyone stepping into a new coaching position, [it’s] really hard to see the big picture and see how we’re working as a unit.”

Winkler agreed and added that the position of coaching is difficult to master quickly.

“As time goes on, she’ll be able to really help with her own skills in coaching and help us improve our skills,” she said.

“Hopefully, in the future, the team will be able to work in a way that helps us win more games and overall perform better.”

Bryan said she is using player feedback to improve her coaching on the way to the team’s success.

“The girls have given me feedback on things. I’m really open to what the girls have to say, what they want to maintain in

the culture and what they want to change,” she said.

DiNisco said that Bryan encourages the team by believing in the team’s ability to succeed even when struggling with losses.

“She’s helping us by reminding us that there’s still a chance for us. We have been neck-and-neck with these really good teams, and we always lose it because of a negative mentality, and even [when] we have had those losses, she reminds us that we can still win,” DiNisco said.

To address the tough losses in games, Bryan said that she pushes the team to work harder in practice to overcome their shortcomings.

“We work extra hard, and we are extra focused and disciplined because we know we need to improve on these things in order to get better,” she said. “We try to not get down on ourselves, but maintain positivity.”

Winkler agreed that these practices have helped the team get back on track after a tough game.

“When we lost pretty badly to a team, which we should not have lost to, we had [a practice that] was exhausting, but it really worked us to our limits. I thought that was really nice and necessary even though it was really hard,” she said.

Besides the physical aspect of the game, Wise said that Bryan has enforced the idea of strong team support and en-

couragement.

“She really does value team bonding.

She has tried to set up a lot of opportunities where we can go to college volleyball games and team dinners,” she said. “I really like how invested she is in the team.”

Bryan said that she sees her coaching role as similar to the role of a provider in a family, rather than an authority figure.

“We’re one cohesive unit, and it’s my job to give the girls all the tools necessary to succeed not only in volleyball, but also in their future,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s a family journey. We’re a family, and we’re working through it together, and it’s my job to give them whatever they need in order to succeed.”

Freshman Kylee Bedford said that Bryan has comforted her worries of being the youngest player on the team.

“She’s definitely been very supportive.

She knows I’m a freshman, [so] she tries to help me out when she can,” she said.

DiNisco said that this season has served as a rough, but necessary transition into a hopeful future.

“It’s been a rebuilding season, but every team needs that. [A team can] lose good players or lose a coach. It’s something to expect and it will take time to rebuild that team dynamic,” she said. “Growing as a team involves getting used to playing with each other [and] getting more comfortable with our coach. Things will all click together.”

October 19, 2018|page 21

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Sports

UNDER THE LIGHTS

Nighttime sporting events create an electric atmosphere for athletes and fans

By Jackson Slater

T

his fall, South hosted five “under the lights” games: boys and girls soccer games, two football games and one field hockey game.

As South does not have permanent field lighting, the five games were special for both the athletes and their fans.

Although the football team lost 37-0 to division leader Wayland, they defeated Boston Latin 43-8 in their first game. Boys soccer defeated division rival Acton-Boxborough 2-1. In similar fashion, girls soccer beat Brocton in a 4-1 victory. Field hockey, however, suffered a 2-0 loss to Westford Academy.

Senior football captain Brandon Bailey said the lights drew crowds and inspired school unity, no matter the outcome. “[These games] are really good for school spirit,” Bailey said. “I notice the cheering when I’m on and off the field.”

Other athletes attended the events in support of fellow student athletes, despite not having the chance to play “under the lights” themselves, senior golf captain Nick Aircardi said.

“It’s very good for school spirit because it encourages everyone to go, and

The football team stands on the sidelines of a 43-8 Friday Night Lights win against Boston Latin.

Photo by Netta Dror

it is seen as a tradition by many students at South,” he said. “It’d be cool to ... play in that environment.”

According to Bailey, attendance at the “under the lights” games was stellar.

“All four years, bleachers have been filled for ‘Friday night lights,’” Bailey said. “I think they’re really good for school spirit.”

“Generally we have the same either number of people [as other schools] or as many as twice as much,” sophomore football player Austin Chen said.

According to Aicardi, “under the lights” events are favored by students and athletes of all four grades, unlike many other spirit-related activities at South.

“It’s good for students across the board,” he said. “I dont think its exclusive to upperclassmen — it includes everyone.”

Freshman Joe Toyias, a varsity football starter who played in his first “under the lights” games this season, said the “Friday night lights” crowd stood out from other games; Toyias said that the games create a unique atmosphere that can motivate the team.

“A lot of people go to those games,

[and] it’s definitely a different atmosphere,” he said. “Everybody’s excited.”

“When the crowd gets going, we get going, it’s good for everyone,” Bailey said.

“Anyone who has ever played a sport or performed in front of a big crowd knows that if the people who are your audience are supporting you, you lose a lot of that nervousness [and] you gain confidence,” Chen said. “You just play with a lot more energy.”

The highly-charged atmosphere can create some difficulties, Toyias added.

Sometimes, he said, the non-gameplay related cheers hinder his focus on the field.

Bailey said South should hold more “under the lights” events to increase school spirit.

“I think we should have more night games,” Bailey said. “[Lights] would totally up things 100 percent.”

Bailey said, however, that a limited number of “under the lights” games contributed to the electric atmosphere.

“We don’t have [the games] as much, so when we do, everyone goes off,” he said. “It’s just something about the ‘under the lights.’”

page 22|october 19, 2018

Sports|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Coaches and athletes speak cope with adversity during game losses Coaches, like boys varsity soccer coach John Conte, also face the challenge of moving the team ahead after a loss.

Sports Reporter, Sports Editor Conte said that team reflection is Last season, in the third set of the de- crucial in the time following a loss. ciding match against Acton-Boxborough, “[I tell the boys tennis captain junior Nick Hatzisteam to] go home Schoch lost 7-5. and reflect.

“Immediately after, I felt disappointment. I felt regret. Maybe I should have hit What you think you that volley down the line instead of crossdid well, court. Maybe I should have went for my serve more,” he said. “But after some time, and what I realized that what happened happened, so you think you can do I must learn from it. I can’t change it after differently the match.” to help the Athletes like Hatzis-Schoch face team,” he adversity in their sports when they lose. said.

Losses are inevitable, but the ability to Girls cope with losing allows athletes and their freshman coaches to become successful. basketball Soccer captain senior Maia Madison coach Amani said she sees a single loss as largely unimAllen said portant. coaches must “[We must] make sure [our] team keeps our greater goals in mind, and know consider their team’s level of play that one loss doesn’t mean the end of a before reacting to season,” she said. a loss.

Cross-country captain senior Daniel “As a Lacayo, however, said he sees losing as an freshman girls important learning opportunity. basketball coach, you deal with “I think it’s really important to go students at different levels,” he said. down individually and talk to players and “It isn’t about winning or losing, but see what went wrong [and] how we can more about have they improved as a team improve next time,” he said. “I reflect on and as a player.” myself, on how I can be better [and] what Lacayo said that coaches often use can I do [during] practice to get the team losses to pinpoint players’ weaknesses. better.”

Jason Kim and Aron Korsunsky

“If we lose a shorter course we [would] work on some sprinter stuff, [and] if we lose a hill course we got to get on the hills and start practicing,” he said.

Madison said that losses can help a player reflect on their own abilities as well.

“You can [learn] about your strengths and weaknesses. When you lose you can step up and test your character,” she said.

Allen said he empathizes with players’ experiences by remembering his own losses at South.

“I was y b ic ph erg [once] a player gra berb l Zi at South for i ce l A basketball, and after a loss, [I would try to] figure out how I contributed to the loss and thought about how I could have contributed differently in a way that would have put us in a better position to win,” he said.

Girls junior varsity volleyball coach Hayley Teich said she sees the joy of sports

as far more powerful than any loss.

“I’ve been in tournaments where we lost seven of eight sets and we just kind of laugh about it because we had fun playing.

That’s all that really matters in the long run,” she said. “The experience of being on the team is what’s going to be the most important for you in life.”

Allen added that long-term improvement is more important than any single loss.

“You can learn what changes to make for the next game. Everyone has areas of improvement, and if they really focus on improving in small ways for the next game, then they will be better at the end of the season,” he said. “It’s about development over the course of the season.”

Teich said that perfection in sport does not exist, and thus allows players to be constantly improving.

“There’s always room to improve.

Volleyball is a game of mistakes, without it, there would be no points. If people were [all] playing perfectly, the ball would never drop,” she said. “You just kind of move past [mistakes]. You can learn resilience and how to bounce back from adverse situations.”

“You learn that [losing] doesn’t matter, no matter how hard you play,” Conte said. “If you go out there doing what you love, and the other person is out there doing what they love, there’s always going to be a loser. You don’t want to be that loser, but as long as you know that you have given everything you have, whether you win or lose, you can walk off the field feeling proud for yourself and your team.”

Boys soccer team improves on last year’s one-win season

photos courtesy of Max Plottel

Gillian Tobin

is pretty equal in terms of skill and fitness level,” Kiritsy said. “[It] really works to our advantage against some of our better oppoLast year, the boys soccer team only nents that we’ve played this year. We were managed to pull off one win in 18 games. really able to wear down teams throughout This year, the team has three wins in the game.” roughly half as many games, already outSenior Langston Lee said that the performing their previous record. team’s lack of spirit in previous seasons had Junior captain Joey Cohen, who plays seriously impeded on their success. center defensive midfielder, said that the “I think we’ve really improved on our team’s impressive physicality has been a key team spirit. Last year, we had a couple playfactor in their improvement. ers who brought the team down a lot, so “I think our physical ability is our this year we’ve been much better at staying biggest strength,” he said. “This year, we’re together,” he said. able to push teams until they can’t work Senior captain Max Plottel, the team’s anymore. Our stamina and work ethic are goalkeeper, said he believes that adding really amazing.” team bonding events like team dinners has Senior captain Ben Kiritsy, who plays resulted in more unity. outside defense, said that the team’s new“The team has been much more of found athleticism and depth has helped a team. Last season we rarely had team propel them to success. dinners,” he said. “This season we’re having “I think the depth of our team is them regularly. We’ve really come together. definitely [our] biggest strength, mainly We’ve been supporting each other and because [even though] we have a few remaking a positive environment which ally good players, everyone on the team didn’t exist in the team last year.”

Sports Reporter

Coach John Conte said he is trying to eliminate negative habits of the team.

“If the other team scored a goal, [and] our encouragement from the bench stopped, [if] the players started laughing or joking or having side-conversations while the game’s going on, if a negative behavioral state took place, I’m coming for that right off the bat,” he said.

Junior captain Justin Casler said that their results in games should not affect how the team behaves.

“If we have a tough part of the schedule coming up, we have to stay positive no matter what the results are, we have to play together as a team,” he said.

From a coaching standpoint, Conte said that after the tough year last year, he sought a new way to run the team.

“The biggest difference between last year and this year in my philosophy is that I came to this season with the idea of empowering the players [and] putting more responsibility on them,” Conte said.

Cohen said that reflecting on the

team’s performance rather than hovering over a loss has enabled the team to improve.

“With every loss it’s very important to understand that there’s a reason why you lost,” he said. “So it’s important for each player to get their time to reflect on why they played the way they played and how they can improve upon it … to get better.”

Conte said that self-reflection induces a positive spirit and a functioning mind for his players.

“What you learn from losing is that if you give everything you have, you didn’t lose anything — you gained,” he said. “You gained the time of doing something you loved. That’s why I have kids go home and reflect. [The] game’s over, you can’t change it. It’s done.”

Plottel said that the team’s goal is to continue the new season’s success.

“The dream every year is to [win and] make the playoffs and do well in the playoffs,” he said. “But we still should take it one game at a time and try really hard.”

OctOBer19, 2018|page 23

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|SPorts

Sports SpotlightS

Unified Basketball

Unified basketball players, freshmen Lily Atman and Dan Doran, fight for the ball in a home game against Newton North on Oct. 9.

We have a great group of kids. We all come to practice and work hard, [which] has led to a lot of wins, ... and we’ve been having fun.”

- Max Aicardi, ‘20, unified basketball captain

Field HockeY

photo by Nette Dror

Senior Carli Heras chases the ball down the field on Oct. 12.

photos by Netta Dror

GOlf

photo by Alice Zilberberg

Senior Sabrina Clebnik swings to take a shot on Oct. 10.

It’s definitely tough, ... but I think we’ve done a good job holding our own and getting some offensive play during games.”

The team really showed ... a lot of heart and tenacity. We’ve won the last three games in a row, which booked our ticket to sectionals.”

- Lexi Nelson, ‘19, field hockey captain

- Nick Aicardi, ‘19, golf captain

From Hopeful Freshman to Varsity Starter MAX AICARDI

sports contributor

Floating Column EDITOR’S NOTE: Every issue, The Lion’s Roar publishes a different athlete’s perspective from their experience on a sports team.

Contact srstaff@thelionsroar.com if you are interested in writing this column.

Last year, as a freshman, I came to South with the goal of making varsity basketball. I knew how challenging it would be to play a varsity sport, especially while being so young, but I was determined.

Throughout the course of South boys varsity basketball history, only a small number of freshmen have made the team.

With this goal in mind, I practiced constantly throughout the summer, playing on the South summer and fall league teams.

Coming into my first season, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was on a team with mostly juniors and seniors. I was concerned that I wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the team.

As the season went on, however, my concerns faded. I became close with the kids on the team, and I felt like I truly fit in; some of the kids from last year’s team became some of my best friends.

I made timeless memories in my first year on the team. I will always remember our first home league game and our game at TD Garden.

In our first home league game, I hit a buzzer-beating layup to win. I remember the exact play, the overwhelming sense of joy and the surreal feeling of the crowd screaming that followed my bucket.

At the TD Garden, I played on the same court as the Celtics, sat on their benchs, used their locker rooms, passed through the same tunnel and scored on NBA hoops.

Playing on the varsity team has been a meaningful learning experience for me, both as a person and a player.

Our coach was a big believer in teaching us principles and qualities that were not only important in basketball, but also in real life.

I learned how to perservere and push through during times of pain, poor performance and losses.

I also learned the importance of working hard on and off the court. If I ever stopped working hard, someone else could outwork me and take my minutes.

Last year taught me what it takes to compete in high school level games.

At the beginning of the season, I was definitely overwhelmed by the speed and physicality at the varsity level, but I became more and more used to this tempo and style of play.

At the end of the year, I ended up starting in a couple of games and even got to start in our playoff game.

Even though the team’s record was not the best, I had a lot of fun and laughs.

Now, looking towards this winter, I am excited. The team has been playing well in summer and fall league, and I think we will be able to carry that momentum all the way to the regular season.

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