The Lion's Roar 35-4

R AR

VOL. 35 ISSUe 4

the LION’S

CROWN

JUUL At South and across the nation, students stuggle with Juuling’s repercussions

Page 12

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi

Photo Illustration

By Netta Dror

·

Newton South High School Newton, MA

· Est. 1984 · DeCember 20, 2018

NEWS

page 2|December 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

NEws@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

Bus monopoly causes high fares, long routes Frank Liu, Avigail Rosen & Rachael Wei News Contributor, News Reporters

The 2018-19 school year marked the third year of Newton’s five-year transportation contract with Eastern Bus Company. The contract has led some students to question the quality of service that the company provides.

Junior Jasmine Liu said that the buses are overcrowded, especially on afternoon rides.

“My biggest concern right now is the crowdedness of the buses, and some of those bus drivers, because they can’t drive with kids standing,” she said.

The long routes also deter some students from taking the bus to and from school, junior Kasey Lee said.

“In the afternoon, it goes down this way, and then it makes a circle, and then it turns back around the way we just went, and I think that if they came up with a more straightforward route that stopped on the main street ... it would be better,” she said.

According to the FY19 Budget Proposal, the city provides Newton Public Schools (NPS) with 29 district school buses and eight METCO buses, while a separate company provides special education transportation. Higher student enrollment in the 2018-19 school year warranted one additional bus, but due to the costs, the city failed to fund the addition, leading to longer bus routes and extended transportation times for many students.

Assistant Superintendent and Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Liam Hurley said the district chose a company based on the city’s bid.

“We actually put what’s called an RFP [request for bids] … and we advertise it. We send it to the ... bus companies that we know of, and we put parameters of what

we’re looking for,” he said. “We go out for a five-year contract.”

The city, however, has suffered from the lack of competition between the bidding bus companies, meaning that only a few transportation companies like Eastern control the fee. NPS hopes its upcoming bid will produce more competition and lower costs, Hurley said. “[It’s] been a problem not just for us, but for many municipalities that there’s not, unfortunately, a lot of competition. The idea … is to promote competition and hopefully get the pricing down,” he said.

Another factor contributing to the increasing expense of transportation is bus storage, currently stationed outside of Newton. Football coach and former Assistant Athletics Director, who is in charge of hiring buses for sports games, Ted Dalicandro said that Newton once owned its own buses and stored them in West Newton, but now, Eastern stores them outside of the city limits in West Roxbury.

To maximize control, Hurley said that Newton asked Eastern to have their yard in close vicinity.

“We do, in our bid, actually ask that they be either in Newton or very nearby in case of a breakdown,” he said. “Newton is just really tight from a real estate perspective, so it’s really hard to find that land.”

The high annual bus expenditure stems from the payment of regular buses, but also from sport and club buses. At the start of each school year, NPS provides the bus company an estimate of how many trips will happen that year as part of the five-year contract.

For South, the main office schedules buses for clubs, and the assistant athletics director, David Padgett, organizes buses for sports. Dalicandro said that as Assistant Athletics Director, he assigned all regular season sports buses at the beginning of each season, but he also scheduled buses for unplanned sports events, such as girls soccer playoff games, on a weekly basis.

“The girls soccer team’s games are done at the beginning of each week or sometimes a couple

days in advance,” he said. “That’s where it gets real tricky because the bus company may not have enough buses and they may have to manipulate some things when it gets around to tournament time.”

“The huge cost for buses is incredible, and one [way] to limit those costs would be to move to a league that’s much closer … like the Bay State League,” he said. “When I worked in athletics, we would get bills — it would be like $450 to go to Westford Academy.”

The overwhelming cost of planning sports rides, Dalicandro said, is a major hurdle in planning the trips.

To cover the cost, students who use non-sports buses in the mornings and afternoons are required to buy $350 bus passes.

Lee, who relies on the school bus to get to and from school, said she noticed that bus passes have little importance: students who pay for the passes never receive their passes, and many students often board buses without them.

“I paid, and I didn’t get a bus pass this year. They also never check bus passes, and I get that the bus system needs funding, but it’s really expensive. Not everyone pays their bus fees, and maybe that makes it more expensive,” she said.

Liu said that the high price of bus passes deter many students who take the bus irregularly from purchasing passes.

“If you’re a person that actually takes the bus every day, then I think the prices aren’t that big of a deal, but if you don’t really take the bus that often … they still make you pay full price for the passes and stuff, and that’s not as fair.”

Sophomore Kriti Dhiman said that Newton should take steps to improve school transportation and buses for the coming school year.

“The bus system is satisfactory, but I think there are places where they could improve their organization, cost, routes, being on time and overcrowdedness,” she said.

Additional reporting by Peri Barest and Julian Fefer

FY19 bus spending saw a

5%

increase from 2017 even though bus passes made up only

16% 2.9 of the total

million dollar bus cost

graphic by Gemma Hill

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar News

Dispensaries to open in Newton graphic by Chris Jang

graphic by Chris Jang

Peri Barest, Julian Fefer, Jibek Kelgenbaeva, Daniel Li & Dean Zhang News Editors, News Contributor, News Reporters

This November, two ballot questions proposed changing the opening of recreational marijuana dispensaries of recreational marijuana dispensaries in Newton.

The proposed dispensaries have raised concerns over the accessibility of marijuana for students.

Question 1 asked voters if they wanted to completely halt the opening of up to eight dispensaries. A “no” vote would halt construction, while a “yes” vote would keep the existing plans to open eight dispensarie.

Question 2 asked voters if they wanted to limit the number of recreational marijuana dispensaries to between two to four.

A “yes” vote supported the limit, whereas a “no” vote would keep the number of proposed openings at eight.

Neither ballot question passed on Nov. 6, so Newton will resume the original plan to open up to.

Jane Frantz, chair of the Responsible First Steps Newton committee, encouraged people to vote “no” on the ban and “yes” on the limit, meaning she believes Newton should have a few, well-regulated dispensaries.

She said that now that the election is over, the next steps toward having recreational marijuana in Newton depends on the city council.

The dispensaries will go through the regular special permit process, and the shops will have to comply with the zoning requirements as well as the strict state regulations that the cannabis control commission put in place.

The direct impact of the dispensaries on South students is up for debate.

Senior Jacob Wang said that the new dispensaries will not make marijuana more accessible to students than it currently is, even if more is available for purchase in the city.

“I don’t really think it will really impact South at much at all. If there are kids that smoke weed they will find ways to do that just the same as they were before,” he said.

Franz said that liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries are different because while anyone can enter liquor stores, dispensaries require identification at the doorway.

Although students will not be able to easily purchase marijuana themselves, some argue that marijuana may become handled

more like alcohol: people under age 21 will have older people buy it for them, or they will steal it from their parents, getting their hands on marijuana nonetheless.

Wang said that inevitably, minors will find ways to access marijuana whether or not the dispensaries open.

“People who are underaged can get fake IDs and get weed and supply it to underage people,” he said.

Sophomore Dana Silvian said she believes that introducing dispensary may not lead to an increase in marijuana use.

“I don’t think that many people will even use the weed, but I think people are generally pretty conscious of the effect that restricting weed has had,” she said.

“It doesn’t really matter too much cause if its not in newton it will just be in a different city in Massachusetts,” Silvian said.

Frantz said that recreational marijuana dispensaries are beneficial because they monitor the quality of the marijuana.

“Marijuana is not the best to have around children, especially small children,” Cheng said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have it near any schools at all, so I think it’s bad to have it near an elementary school.”

“I work in child protection. If there was cocaine – let’s say on a coffee table and a three year old or two year old is walking by and is always touching things … their hands always go in their mouth,” South prevention and intervention counselor Brian Deleskey said. de Ferranti said that dispensaries have already caused major traffic problems in both Leicester and Northampton, the towns with Massachusetts’s first two dispensaries. She said she voted in favor of the ban in part to protect Newton drivers.

“It might bring a lot of traffic into Newton, just looking at the two open spots in other places in Massachusetts, they have had huge traffic jams,” she said.

According to Karen Sherman, coordinator of the OptOut Newton campaign, the ballot committee that aimed to prevent the commercialization of marijuana in Newton entirely, pot shops can have additional negative repercussions for the city.

“When you look at other communities and other states that have legalized, use goes up, traffic accidents and fatalities go up. There’s more calls to poison control centers, [and] there [are] more visits to the Emergency Room,” Sherman said. de Ferranti said that there will be significant health risks for adolescents using marijuana.

“I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages because of the safety risks for the really young kids, and then the risks to adolescents whose brains are just developing,” she said.

Wang said that increased marijuana use would also harm Newton’s established community.

“It would be annoying seeing a lot of people smoking [marijuana] around the block or having the smell nearby,” Wang said. “As long as people don’t abuse it like around the neighborhood, it’s fine.”

Overall, Cheng said he believes that dispensaries have no place in Newton.

“I personally feel as if marijuana shops at the very least should be limited, and most likely be prohibited in Newton,” he said. “I don’t want people coming to Newton solely for marijuana.”

“ ” I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages because of the safety risks for the really young kids, and then the risks to adolescents whose brains are just developing.

Sarah de Ferranti pediatrician and parent

“I think a significant advantage of having a shop is that when you buy marijuana or cannabis at a shop, you know what you are buying, it will be highly regulated, and you know that it will not have anything else in it other than what you are buying,” she said.

Pediatrician and South parent Sarah de Ferranti said that although she is worried about the negative health impacts of the marijuana dispensaries, she believes that having legal dispensaries would make marijuana use more regulated and organized.

“One potential advantage is that if people are going to use marijuana, it might be better to have it regulated and taxed and more organized than people buying it illegally,” she said.

Recreational dispensaries will bring in tax revenue for the city, with 6.25 percent of all sales going directly to the city.

“Three percent of it is permanent and three percent of it is what’s called an impact, which means that the city needs to use that money to mitigate any problems that may arise from having these shops in the city,” de Ferranti said.

One planned location for a dispensary is on Beacon Street, near Zervas Elementary School. Sophomore Austin Cheng, who lives near Zervas, said he is worried about the planned location being near an elementary school.

Additional reporting by Shoshi Gordon and Matan Kruskal

December 20, 2018 PagE 3

Community Updates Lip Dub Nov. 21 marked South’s second annual lip dub, where cameraman Ian Roper, a sophomore, filmed while South students lip-synced to classic pop tunes.

photos by Alice Zilberberg

Powderpuff On Nov. 21, junior and senior girls, in blue and orange jerseys respectively, faced off in the annual powderpuff at Brookline’s Skyline Park. Seniors celebrated a victory touchdown with a bottle of champagne before police shut down the event for the second time that day.

photo by Netta Dror

ASO & SASA Potluck On Dec. 7, the Asian Student Organization and South Asian Student Association partnered to host a potluck, where students enjoyed a variety of foods, music and games.

photos by Kate Esbenshade

page 4|December 20, 2018

news|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Slow Wi-Fi amid confusion over new certificate

18 23

seconds to access grades on Schoology

to download Instagram

FASTEST Wi-Fi is in the 1300s

SLOWEST Wi-Fi is in the 4200s, 9000s, and the library

Gym B

2000s

1000s

3000s

5000s

Library

Cafeteria

6000s graphic by Alice Zilberberg

Peri Barest, Julian Fefer News Editors

Newton Public Schools (NPS) installed a network certificate on Nov. 15 in an effort to increase Wi-Fi network security.

“By downloading the certificate, you are basically being given a key to get inside those walls to get to our Wi-Fi,” Instructional Technology Specialist Katie Collins said.

The certificate keeps viruses, malware and inappropriate content off of the school’s Wi-Fi, Collins said. The installation of the certificate created confusion among students, some of whom questioned their privacy under the new system. The administration maintains that the school’s content guidelines have not actually changed, but that students are just becoming aware of them because of the certificate’s installation.

“On the site where you go to install this certificate, at the bottom, there is a piece from our acceptable use guideline, which was just basically taken out of everything that we have ever had for Newton Public Schools and posted there,” Collins said. “Nothing has changed.”

Steven Rattendi, Interim Director of Informational Technology and Library and Media Services, said the certificate checks devices for malicious content, including content that is inappropriate for school such as pornography. Not all sites, however, go through the certificate for personal security reasons.

“My understanding is that your banking sites do not actually go through the certificate. Those go directly to you,” he said.

Since the installation, some students, like junior Mark Weitzman, said that certain previously accessible websites are now blocked. Weitzman said that classes become ineffective when teachers ask the class to open a website that is blocked.

Collins said that the certificate has not blocked any new websites, but that there are certain glitches that the IT department is working to fix.

“There are kinks with the certificate that I do not think were foreseen, and now we need to kind of figure out why they are

Auditorium

9000s

6000s

Excellent Good Average Fair Poor It take an average of

Field House 4000s

The Lion’s Roar tested Wi-Fi at different locations throughout South.

We conducted five tests to represent a variety of common Wi-Fi uses. We watched a Fortnite video on YouTube, sent a Snapchat, sent a photo via text, downloaded Instagram and checked grades on Schoology, and averaged the timeto determine the quality of the WiFi. Please note that these values were calculated after school on certain days and may not be fully representative of the school’s Wi-Fi at all times.

not working,” she said.

Rattendi said that the school has been working on improving the quality of the Wi-Fi at South. This summer, new access points and network switches, used to extend the network’s range throughout the school, were added.

“I think at the beginning of the year there were a lot more issues,” he said. “Once we upgraded the access points, there needed to be some upgrades on what are called network switches, which are what send the data to the access points.”

South has three distinct Wi-Fi networks: “nps-wireless” for students and teachers, “Visitor” for guests and “Building Rentals” for outside organizations that rent spaces in the school. Rattendi said that the visitor network has limited ability because most of the school’s resources are devoted to the “nps-wireless” network.

Despite the administration’s efforts to improve the Wi-Fi, bad internet service can make it harder for students to communicate and learn, while making it harder for teachers to teach technology-based lessons.

Sophomore Kriti Dhiman said that it is important to have reliable Wi-Fi so that students can communicate effectively with one another across the building.

“People need to communicate. We go to a really big school, and I need to be able to know where my friends are,” she said.

Weitzman said that the Wi-Fi’s current speed has not been conducive to efficiently getting work done at school.

New media communities and film studies teacher David Weintraub said that many of his lessons are connected to visual media related material and that slow internet makes it hard for him to teach those lessons.

“Having consistent, reliable access to Wi-Fi takes a whole lot of the stress out of my job so that I know that the plan that I set in motion can actually come to fruition rather than having to bounce around and improvise,” he said.

Weintraub added that in order for teachers to succeed in going paperless, they need to have consistent Wi-Fi. “I’m trying to modify my original expectation about going paperless because

again, I do think that paper can be useful,” he said. “But if you are trying to go paperless, having consistent Wi-Fi is absolutely necessary.”

Through the One to One Device Pilot, all sophomores will receive a Chromebook in mid-January, which will drastically increase the number of people simultaneously using the school’s internet.

Rattendi said that the looming start of this program played a role in the school’s decision to upgrade the access points to minimize the effect of high Wi-Fi traffic.

Since a Chromebook’s primary purpose is accessing material on the Google Chrome browser, Weintraub said he is unsure of the new computers’ usefulness if the Wi-Fi remains dysfunctional.

“The Chromebooks are literally useless if there’s no internet access,” he said. “For my intents and purposes, all a Chromebook is useful for is that it can use the internet, so if the internet’s not working, a Chromebook is not working,” Weintraub said.

Collins said that the One to One Pilot will provide computers to only sophomores as to not exacerbate the Wi-Fi issue. Then, the administration will be able to better manage Wi-Fi problems on a smaller scale.

“What’s nice about just giving the computers to the sophomores is that it’s only a fourth of the school, which is a large number of students, but at the same time at least we’re not giving it to three grades at once. We can see is this actually affecting our Wi-Fi. If it is, what are our steps going to be to resolve this?” she said.

Even though Wi-Fi quality seems to have a large impact on students, Weintraub said he thinks it is important to remember that the connection is actually much better than most assume.

“In the flurry of anger that happens when Wi-Fi shuts down for me, it’s always important to stop and slow down and remember that there are people behind this and they’re doing the best job that they can,” he said. “We need to be thankful every day for what we have, rather than always complaining about the stuff that sometimes we don’t have. I’m just super appreciative that the technology works as well as it does.”

LETTERS page 5|December 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

SRSTAFF@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

In opposition to South’s new Wi-Fi certificate Liam Pierce Class of 2019

Dear Principal Stembridge, Superintendent Fleishman, the NPS IT department, students, teachers and parents, I’m a senior at South and have become worried about the new root Certificate Authority (CA) certificate deployed on our network. I have a strong background in public-key cryptography and am taking a graduate class at Boston University’s Metropolitan College on the subject. South’s new certificate does not achieve either of its stated intentions. More importantly, it is extremely dangerous and should be removed immediately.

You may be familiar with the way standard certificates work, but allow me provide a short description. For any two parties attempting to talk securely — a math teacher and her bank, for example — there must be an unblocked path between two nodes on a network. Should someone insert themselves as a node on this communication channel, they have the ability to sever the normal network route and initialize connections with both the math teacher and the bank separately, thereby producing an insecure node on an otherwise secure channel. This attack is commonly known as a man in the middle attack (MITM), where the eavesdropper/attacker can watch the two communicate and record any data in real time, despite high-level encryption.

The most prevalent method of preventing these kinds of interceptions is the use of CA certificates. CA certificates allow clients connecting to a server (the bank, in my example) to be certain that the node they’ve reached is in fact the intended server. An attempted MITM attack is thereby ineffective, except under a unique circumstance that I’ll discuss later on. In order to confirm the veracity of a certificate provided by a server, a different CA is used to verify the source of the first certificate. Each CA’s certificate is verified by a different CA, until, at the top of the so called “trust chain,” the root CA is verified by trust in the company or entity

signing it. Normally, the trust verification requirements for any CA increase respective to its position on the trust chain — the root CA’s veracity is crucial to the verification of every other CA. With this trust chain, a client can determine if a server is authentic.

At South, parents use the Wi-Fi for secure transactions, teachers use it for personal transactions in their off hours and students, too, deserve a level of privacy.

As I alluded to earlier, there’s a wellknown flaw in CA certificates. Should a client be tricked into trusting a malicious root CA, say, one generated by an attacker, the certificate can be used to confirm the veracity of the public key data from the eavesdropper’s server, which impersonates the bank. As a professor of cryptography from BU said, “If they’re asking you to put their certificate in

or elsewhere.

Katie Collins, an instructional technology specialist who works at South, says that “all devices must have the new certificate that allows you to avoid issues with external sites that report connections as not being secure or that block your ability to access these sites.”

All devices already have this certificate, as it is sent alongside most websites loaded on South’s network. Modern web browsers, as I stated above, only trust a select few root CAs. Strangely enough, Newton’s fake certificate is not on that list. Students, teachers and parents aren’t installing the new certificate, as Collins implies — they are being asked to make their computers trust the previously untrusted certificate that NPS is feeding them. The issues Collins refers to above are actually the client’s web browser attempting to warn the

“ ” The installed certificate leaves students’ computers open to attack whether they’re in school, at home or elsewhere.

the trust store of your browser, what they’re asking you to do is to trust any certificate that is signed by them, or signed by someone signed by them, all the way down the trust chain. That’s extraordinarily dangerous.” By default, only a select few root CAs are inherently trusted by modern browsers in order to protect against that danger.

South’s IT department has asked every student to place its new, self generated and fundamentally untrusted root CA certificate onto the trust list of their devices. This certificate has only one item on its trust chain.

That item is owned by Newton, which allows Newton to generate a MITM certificate for any website a student connects to. The danger doesn’t stop there — anybody who manages to obtain the private key to South’s root CA certificate (including IT faculty, who have relatively easy access) could easily sign MITM CAs outside of an NPS network. The installed certificate leaves students’ computers open to attack whether they’re in school, at home

user about potential data insecurity due to a MITM attack. Google Chrome, for example, displays the following message: “Attackers might be trying to steal your information.” In fact, it is impossible for any website to work while using South’s new certificate without the school decrypting our data.

Anyone who convinces a client to trust their illegitimate certificate has the power to read every byte sent to and from the parties in communication. South’s network, with its new CA certificate, operates in exactly this way. Anyone using the NPS network must assume that their interactions are insecure.

It may or may not be our school’s intent to view students’ communications with one another and with outside sites, but any person working in South’s IT department could easily do so. The only way to achieve a truly secure connection on the school’s network now is to not trust the certificate and to use either a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or the TOR network, commonly used by

reporters and dissidents censored by strict authoritarian regimes.

Since trusting the new certificate, have you entered an important password that connects to vital private information? If I were an IT employee at the school, I could begin to collect and use anyone’s passwords, credit card information, iMessages, social media content and more after just a few days’ work.

“What it means is that you have to assume that everything you do on that device is completely open to anyone that has IT access,” the BU expert said. While the deployment of this certificate across the school’s network may not be intended to give employees free access to our data, it does.

Let’s go back to what the purpose of the certificate is. The certificate doesn’t create any security improvements to the network, as was claimed, and certainly nobody sees the forced decryption of our data as “improv[ing] data encryption for secure sites,” as Collins said. The school’s Wi-Fi already uses topof-the-line enterprise security, so our WiFi passwords alone provide excellent local protection. Collins also said that this change was implemented to “keep our network in compliance with regulations that call for the district to filter content (see Children’s Internet Protection Act).” But even before the deployment of the new certificate, the school’s network technology was able to prevent students from accessing sites with graphic images and videos, which is what the cited regulation requires. The old network configuration even prevented users from accessing malware, all without an unnecessary network certificate that decrypts our private connections. The intent of this certificate is, through all investigation, unclear.

I know from my years at South that the administration takes fast action when anyone is in danger, and I believe this is a prime example of a time when swift action should be taken. Students, teachers and parents alike are having their privacy stripped from them. It is crucial that this dangerous certificate be removed as quickly as possible.

Sincerely, Liam Pierce

In support of South’s new Wi-Fi certificate Steven Rattendi

Interim Director of IT and Library Services Dear Liam, Thank you for your letter regarding network security and the certificate installed on all NPS devices and also needed by personal devices to access internet sites.

First, I wanted to make sure you were aware that since the NPS Network is funded by public funds, and, in particular, partially funded by federal funds, we are subject to the rules and regulations of the Children’s Internet Protection Act. This requires us to filter out particular content, as well as have a plan implemented to prevent unauthorized access by students from our network and of students’ data on our network.

Our own NPS Acceptable Use Guidelines make it clear that the purpose of NPS owned and operated technology is for the teaching and learning of students in the district. NPS also has the right to monitor,

“ ” access and review information on and data transmitted to and from NPS devices and networks.

This summer, NPS upgraded some older systems on our network in order to

is partially evident from the fact that many sites that were simply “http” are now “https” — indicating a more secure and encrypted connection. While that encryption is great for protecting monetary transactions, it also

In the end, installation of the certificate on a personal device is an individual’s choice. Not having the certificate will limit access when on the NPS network.

keep up with advances in technology and to prevent failure in equipment due to age. One of those upgrades affected systems used to filter and monitor internet access. This upgrade resulted in the need for the certificate installation that you refer to in your letter.

You are probably also aware that website and data encryption on the web have expanded greatly in recent years. This

has the side of effect of making it easier for viruses, malware and content that we are supposed to be filtering to slip through the cracks — that’s the whole point of encryption, to keep data a secret to everyone but the user and the the data’s end destination.

Our network upgrades allow for the decryption of data from and to sites that are not on a “trusted” list so that it can be scanned

for the issues listed above. The data is then re-encrypted before being sent beyond the NPS network or to a user’s device. We are not decrypting all data, for example banking institutions are on the list of trusted sites. The process happens entirely behind the scenes by algorithms and programming — no one from IT is looking at the data. The only times in which aspects of traffic is monitored (sites visited, etc.) is when a particular issue arises — much like how South administrators are only looking at camera footage when there is a known problem.

In the end, installation of the certificate on a personal device is an individual’s choice.

Not having the certificate will limit access when on the NPS network. Installation of the certificate on NPS devices is not optional.

I hope this addresses some of your concerns, or, at least, gives you more of an explanation for the changes this year.

Sincerely, Steven Rattendi

EDITORIALS page 6|December 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

South teachers already present the facts — let them speak their opinions to further educate students South teachers make a peculiar face when they want to share an opinion. It’s a calculated look, one that weighs the natural human urge to share a viewpoint against the fallout the words may create. The look asks: Will I offend a student? Will a parent hear my words and believe I presented them as objective fact? Could people misconstrue my sentences, potentially jeopardizing my job?

In most cases, the look will recede and teachers will brush off the digression in some subtle way, leaving their opinions a mystery.

This reluctance to show their true colors creates a strange classroom juxtaposition. On one hand, students are encouraged to speak out and assert their truths. On the other hand, the teacher — the most powerful person in the room — hides in silence.

South holds teacher objectivity in high regard. We are, after all, a school that teaches the facts and vouches for students’ critical thinking; yet, teachers can maintain the truth without succumbing to an unnatural fear to share analytical thoughts. As long as teachers clarify the line between fact and opinion, they should be encouraged to freely voice their thoughts just like students.

The clarification process is simple.

When sharing a bias, teachers can begin by saying “in my opinion,” or finish by saying “that’s my view on the topic. What do you think?” This kind of language emphasizes the divide between teachers’ personal thoughts and the curriculum’s objective facts. Doing

their personal views, are contributing to student learning, not hindering it.

Moreover, just because teachers sometimes fail to acknowledge their biases does not mean these biases cease to exist.

Everyone has bias, and South students are

“ ” As long as teachers clarify the line between fact and opinion, they should be encouraged to freely voice their thoughts just like students

so welcomes different ideas into classroom discussions where students are encouraged to form and express their own opinions — the very purpose of learning facts.

When teachers fail to share their opinions, students lose needed nuance in generally broad and important topics. History and English are best taught through analysis of facts and discussions that feature multiple viewpoints. Teachers, by sharing

taught to analyze their sources of information in order to be cognizant of implicit biases.

In a classroom, teachers are students’ main sources of information. If teachers publicly acknowledged their inevitable leanings, students would be better equipped to absorb their lessons with a critical filter.

Teachers, like all other citizens, should not live in fear of stating their beliefs. Rather, we must encourage teachers to present their

identities with transparency, allowing students to consider more viewpoints.

Newton Public Schools have faced backlash from outside groups who claim that teachers push an outside agenda. We, as students on The Roar, wholeheartedly disagree with this claim, having received lessons untainted with teachers’ opinions.

We must not confuse, however, a statement of opinion with plans for indoctrination.

Teachers at South do an excellent job stating fact and truth — to go beyond that in teaching, they must speak unabashedly on their beliefs as well.

Our school’s purpose is to prepare students for higher education, and ultimately, for the world beyond that. It’s not teachers’ jobs to coddle students into a warm bubble of safety and happiness; instead, teachers must help students acknowledge that the world beyond South consists of seven billion people with a multitude of clashing ideologies, diverse viewpoints and varying backgrounds. By teaching critical thinking skills and exposing students to these many vantage points — including their instructor’s — early on, schools better prepare students for adult life.

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 Editor Dina Zeldin

Section Editors Opinions

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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Chunyu He Caleb Lazar

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Faculty Advisor Ashley Chapman

DECEMBER 20, 2018|page 7

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Desk

Time for myself: revisiting rest, EDITOR’S reflection and rejuvenation DESK from the

Ilan Rotberg Editor-in-Chief

Any young person knows that older people love to reminisce. Whether it’s in real life or in a hypothetical cliché, I’ve always heard people use the phrase “back in my day,” followed by a nostalgic recollection of a time when kids didn’t have their faces glued to a screen 24 hours per day, seven days per week. For me, these remarks always managed to trigger a small chuckle and caused me to roll my eyes. Get with the times, I thought.

Sixteen months ago, I stepped up to the pinnacle of teen angst: junior year.

Most upperclassmen I had met had always told me that being an 11th grader was incredibly stress-inducing and generally miserable. At the start of second semester, I began to spiral downwards. Academics got tougher, extracurriculars piled on and my many college visits started to severely cut the amount of leisure I had in my life.

Soon, I was spending all my time either hunched over at my desk or running from commitment to commitment, losing time for family, friends and faith. In the midst of these tough times, I began to crave a slower lifestyle, much like the one my parents and grandparents always had referenced in their lingering wistful statements. To my surprise, the very recollections I had shrugged off as outdated would soon become the ideals for my weekly lifestyle.

Growing up, I always questioned the way that religious Jews lived their day to day lives. Every week, those who observe the weekly rituals of Shabbat put down all forms of

electricity (lights, driving, internet, etc.) and get away from the week’s work for the sole purpose of rest. In May, I attempted to take up this ritual despite the logistical nightmares that come with such an old tradition. The challenge was not that I had never kept Shabbat before, it was more so that my busy lifestyle wasn’t capable of taking a full day off every Saturday.

In a world where we value completing the highest number of tasks in the least amount of time, how could I throw away one-seventh of my time every week without being connected to the outside

far more individual than it’s ever been — we don’t really like being told how to dispose of our coveted free time. Yet, iterations of Shabbat have been an integral part of society until very recently; even after the Puritans lost their hold on American social norms, Sunday was still a unique day dedicated to rest. In a 2003 New York Times piece, Judith Shulevitz remarks that “Anyone older than 30 can remember living with the expectation that most stores would be closed on Sunday; the expectation now is that they will be open, and we’re miffed when they aren’t.”

“ ” In a world where we value completing the highest number of tasks in the least amount of time, how could I throw away one seventh of my time every week without being connected to the outside world?

world? It seemed anything but possible.

After a couple weeks of working up to observing Shabbat, I found my time off to be more than just okay — it was rejuvenating. While at first, putting away all of the tools I needed in order to “be productive” felt burdensome, Saturday soon became my favorite day of the week. Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet. (What can I say?

I’m a part of the first generation to grow up online.) But my love for Shabbat is not in spite of my need to stay connected; rather, the day of rest allows me to increasingly appreciate the needed respite from work.

The modern American way of life is

While Shabbat has provided me the chance to find God and reconnect with Judaism, religion is not what makes the day special. American history proves that a day of rest can be secular too. There’s something truly special about putting all of the intricacies of daily life aside for two dozen hours to leave room for a meditative state — take it from a sometimes-too-crazed teen whose catchphrase used to be “sleep is for the weak.”

Anyone, no matter how busy, can take advantage of rest and reflection. By extension, anyone is fit for a genuine Shabbat experience.

My experience has been nothing but positive. Instead of spending my Saturdays

rushing to accomplish a list of tasks, I finally have quality time to spend doing the little things that make me happy. I no longer worry about what time I’ll beat my alarm clock to death in order to get up early enough to be productive. Alternatively, I spend my morning at Temple, afternoon playing oneon-one basketball with my brothers and evenings reading books that interest me.

Despite my conviction, I’m no expert.

From time to time, I cut corners to accommodate for certain things that I really need to do. In my mind, exceptions here and there are okay, but our packed schedules and dreary routines should not place confines on our mental health. Especially for young adults, maintained health is paramount, and reflection is one of the best ways to remedy the daily hurdles life throws at us.

Every day, I hear more of my peers complain about their boring routines, having too much work or lacking adequate sleep.

As I said, taking a day of rest is not a Jewish experience; it’s human nature. The further I go into my Shabbat journey, the more I realize that setting aside a time for personal reflection without distractions from the loud outside world can make anyone’s life more whole.

For me, that designated time comes every Saturday through Shabbat. Pausing, however, manifests itself in many forms; I firmly believe that anyone can find the time to rest and reflect. Teens shouldn’t misconstrue finding the time to rest as another commitment on their extensive laundry lists of activities. On the contrary, it’s a way to escape the flood of the weekday schedule and seek joy in life’s most simple beauties.

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OPINIONS page 8|December 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

is Affirmative Action fair?

NO

YES

By Lucy Chae

By Shoshi Gordon

W

ithout affirmative action the college admissions process would not be fair all students.

Affirmative action is designed to help minority groups who have been institutionally discriminated throughout history by giving them greater occupational and educational opportunities.

Affirmative action programs compel colleges to look at a student’s whole application, not just test scores. Considering many factors, including race, is important because it acknowledges that students are — as we like to say at South — more than just their GPAs. Affirmative action’s opponents have suggested scrapping the policy in favor of “color blindness,” or admitting students with no regard to race. Test scores and grades give an immense advantage to wealthier students who are more likely to pay for tutors and private schools that help them achieve scores and grades. Since race and poverty show a large correlation in our community, color blindness toward test scores would disadvantage minority students.

Color-blind policies exclude an entire part of a person’s identity. Color blind policies work on the assumption that everyone is white.

For white people, race is not a disadvantage, and in most cases, is generally not a strong part of their identity, so getting rid of race in the admissions process would not have a real impact on white people. Taking race out of the admissions process impacts students of color far more than it does white people. Affirmative action is essential in schools’ efforts to diversify their student bodies. Elite colleges like Harvard, Yale and Princeton are incubators for future leaders — so what does it say about them if they’re mainly white?

Nullifying affirmative action policies would be damaging to students attending universities and to the future of our democracy. In any group, college or governmen-

tal organization, it’s crucial that people with different ideas, backgrounds and experiences are represented.

The National Center for Education Statistics found that the percentage of white students who enrolled in colleges from 2013 to 2015 stayed static at 42 percent. In that same time period, the percentage of black students enrolled in colleges rose from 32 to 35 percent. Although this may seem like stable progress, it is only incremental. Without affirmative action, we wouldn’t see any progress at all.

While affirmative action helps to address our society’s racial disparity by increasing the population of black and Hispanic students, much of its progress is hindered by legacy admissions, which gives preferential treatment to students whose relatives attended the school. According to documents in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, legacy applicants are five times more likely to get into Harvard, and 29 percent of the Harvard class of 2022 had relatives who were graduates.

Fifty years ago, colleges were composed of mostly white and affluent students.

Today, their children and grandchildren are the newest generation of legacies. This policy is not only unfair, but it leads to a quasi affirmative action for white, wealthy students. Giving legacy students an unfair advantage over minority students undermines the vast success of affirmative action in reducing inequalities between families.

I

find it awkward for me to express my opposition to affirmative action. Given that it is popularly known as a policy that helps underrepresented minorities, opposing it leaves the impression that I oppose diversity. Affirmative action, however, is more complicated than that misguided assumption.

Although opponents of affirmative action sometimes also happen to be whiterights activists, a few unsavory individuals shouldn’t cause people to equate this position as racist or self-serving.

Due to affirmative action, AsianAmerican applicants face higher hurdles for admission to elite institutions. Harvard’s own internal research division factored race demographic into a model that controlled for the university’s legacy and athletic preference, and found that the school admits 8 percent fewer Asian Americans when race plays a role.

Some might hesitate to qualify AsianAmericans as people of color, but past examples of discrimination like the Chinese Exclusion Act or Japanese internment camps show that the American government as well as American society see Asian-Americans as non-white. While this is by no means comparable to the systematic violence African-Americans faced through the institution of slavery as well as through Jim Crow laws, why are Asian-Americans also treated as though they have “white privilege?”

Furthermore, AsianAmericans in this country shouldn’t

graphic by Emily Zhang

be seen as a monolithic group; even though Asians are the highest-earning of any racial and ethnic group in the United States, an analysis from Pew Research Center pointed out that income inequality is also the highest among Asians, who have recently replaced black people as the most economically divided racial group. My experience as a Korean immigrant living in Newton certainly differs from other Asian-Americans’experiences.

Despite this fact, the underlying message of affirmative action seems to convey that Asian-Americans don’t contribute to diverse student life on campus.

Affirmative action isn’t just about Asian-Americans. We all need to recognize that affirmative action is a band-aid solution to the real problem at hand. Before looking to represent minority populations at universities, we should consider the root cause of why minorities are disadvantaged in the first place. Minority groups are underrepresented in higher education because they disproportionately have lack access to quality elementary, middle and high schools.

Inadequate academic preparation is also a key factor in college success: students from underdeveloped areas with bad schools have significantly lower college graduation rates than their better-educated counterparts.

Instead of affirmative action, we should search for more long-term solutions that benefit everyone, such as comprehensive policies that improve inner-city schools and make high-quality education accessible to all. But even if we want a short-term bandaid to alleviate disparities in opportunity a race-based admissions process isn’t the right one. A more equitable solution for everyone would still take into account the effects of the systematic racism, but on the basis of socioeconomic status.

Proponents of affirmative action have the right intentions, the policy simply isn’t the most effective way to ensure diversity in America higher education.

December 20, 2018 Page 9

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar OPinions

The Sleeping Masses

by Julia Freedman & Esmé Kamadolli Teen movies always feature one unfortunate soul who just can’t keep his eyes open in class. Unfortunately, this level of exhaustion is a reality for many South students, as our homework and extracurricular responsibilities keep us up late into the night.

Health class teaches us that teenagers are supposed to get eight to nine hours of sleep each night, yet, in that very class there are constantly at least five students struggling to keep their eyes open at any given time. Given the late hour most South students go to sleep at, the early wakening seems impossible.

The average student must wake up between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., meaning that, ideally, students should be in bed by 10 p.m. Does that sound ridiculous? In the real world where schoolwork, extracurriculars and regular teen life exist, the luckiest of students go to sleep by 11:30 p.m.

Everyone knows that lack of sleep is a problem. Superintendent David Fleishman and the Newton School Committee have discussed this issue extensively since the spring of 2016 and have proposed moving start times back so that the high schools start at 8:30 a.m. This plan, however, is riddled with complications. Students have afterschool commitments, so pushing the entire school day later would push those activities late into the night.

Furthermore, moving start times is

also financially detrimental. In Fleishman’s most recent email to NPS families about start times, he stated that the overlaps in bus drop off times within the school district would cost an additional $1.1 million per year. Such an increase in transportation expenses would result in cuts to core academic standards.

Due to these factors, the School Committee is now turning its focus to developing options that will include changes to the elementary and middle school start times in addition to high school start times. Given the contentious nature of the ongoing debate, schools won’t see changes until the 202021 school year.

It’s inevitable that students will suffer from sleep deprivation regardless of exact start time, so we need to do as much as possible to minimize the impacts of the first block’s

unfortunate timing. Currently, the main problem with our schedule is that timing significantly disadvantages early classes like A block. Students only ever have their A block class first thing in the morning, when no one is fully awake. Hence, this class is generally less productive, considering that most students are more focused on keeping their eyes open than on listening attentively to their lecture on participial phrases. Additionally, D and E blocks are always in the afternoon, when students are already “done with life,” or have shifted their mental focus to what’s happening after school.

Overall, we tend to see a lack of energy in the mornings and a lack of focus in the afternoons. These disadvantages, however, are limited to a few classes that always take place at these times. If the schedule were to become cycle based, such timing issues would instead be d i s tributed graphic by Emily Zhang evenly be-

tween classes.

South’s current schedule is inadequate because certain blocks always meet at the same time every day of every single week.

The solution is a cycle-based schedule with six-day cycles and B block always following A block and so on. For each day of the six-day schedule, there would be five normal class blocks as well as a longer lunch block, still including 30 minutes for lunches. For example, on the first day of the six day cycle, the schedule would go as follows: A, B, C, longer D block with lunch, E and F; day two would begin with G block, followed by A, then B, C with lunch and, lastly, D. With a cycle-based schedule, timing disadvantages would be spread across more classes because the rotating schedule would ensure that each class is at a different time for each day of the cycle. As a result, students would be more likely to keep their heavy eyelids open for at least two, maybe even three, English classes per week. Additionally, we would see the benefits of more variety during the week. Due to the six day schedule, every week would look different; one week Monday would be Day 1, but the next it would fall on day 6, followed by Day 1 (Tuesday) and Day 2 (Wednesday). Instead of seeing our same monotonous schedule each week, we could add some much needed flavor to our weekly palate.

Values Not Valued

by David Hu When I first moved back to the U.S. after a year in China, I was in for a cultural shock. The social scene was far more chill here than it was in Shanghai — I was constantly lauded with messages like “treat others the way you want to be treated.” As embracing kindness wasn’t a top priority in China, I was pleasantly surprised by the reiteration of these ideas here. By the end of middle school, I had completely bought in to these ideals; I thought I had a clear understanding of the type of person I should aspire to be.

As I trudged on through the course of high school, I started to find less pleasure in activities I used to cherish. Hobbies like solving puzzles or watching sunsets were still relaxing, but nowhere as enjoyable as they had been years before. I found that I was losing interest in the little things in life.

After examining the general atmosphere surrounding South, I realized that the implicit values our school instills on students had altered my own personal beliefs. Simply put, South is moving in the wrong direction because the core values the school

“ ” defines simply can’t be found in either the administration’s vision or the students’ mindsets.

According to South’s website, curiosity, creativity and a passion for learning are

ingly out of touch from the real world. With hours upon hours of schoolwork a night, students are forced to sacrifice their innate curiosity in an effort to bump their B+ to an A-. Furthermore, in classes, a select few

Unfortunately, if the goal is true intellectual development, South’s mission is failing miserably.

the primary targets for academic learning and intellectual development. Through a wide variety of courses and levels, South attempts to grant every student with an equal chance at academic success. Unfortunately, if the goal is true intellectual development, South’s mission is failing miserably.

All too often, students are going to bed late excessively cramming for exams, cranking out papers and mindlessly swallowing academics that are seem-

dominate discussions; unless participation is enforced, countless thoughtful ideas are preserved internally. We have resorted to the comfort of silence at the cost of intellectual growth. While as kids we were constantly probing the world with questions, as teenagers we have lost our craving for discovery.

On the interpersonal front, South strives for a climate of safety, kindness,

integrity, responsibility and respect. Unfortunately, South’s environment fails to promote any of these core values. We’ve increasingly sacrificed our relationships by spending less time with friends and more time scrolling through social media, since the heavy workload means students have less time after school to enjoy together. The environment that South displays is stressful; consequently, we don’t feel the need to follow through with the values South is trying to promote.

What’s so dangerous about South’s campus culture is that it challenges our own internal values. As ambitious students, we’ve evolved away from being righteous, happy people because of the stressful school environment. In theory, South should act as a supporter to protect students’ own values and beliefs.

South’s value may exist in name only; however, we should never lose touch with our own feelings, emotions and beliefs. As people, we all have our own stories to share. Just because South’s structure may be unfit for our development doesn’t mean it has to silence who we are as people.

photo by Netta Dror

Opinions ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

PAGE 10|December 20, 2018

N

Rainbow Rift

ewton is ahead of the curve on issues regarding sexuality and gender. For the most part, the city takes extra measures to ensure that its LGBT citizens feel welcome in their communities. Newton Public Schools (NPS), for example, was one of the first public school systems to include sexuality and gender information in its health curriculum, and South is one of the first schools in the country to have a Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA).

In the past 20 years, the LGBT community has faced significant opposition from certain groups both in Newton and around the world. South’s development of an LGBT-related health curriculum was first intended to improve visibility of LGBT people and combat societal disapproval.

Recently, there’s been a nationwide surge in awareness of LGBT rights, and this movement begs the question: what can we do at South to further this progress?

Truth be told, although Newton’s curriculum was once groundbreaking, its methods of teaching LGBT topics are now outdated and carry an aura of uncertainty regarding emerging LGBT issues.

South’s LGBT community is especially vibrant, partially due to Newton’s accepting social climate. Despite this, what schools teach about sexuality and gender leaves some students disconnected. The health curriculum is supposedly designed to be as inclusive as possible, but the lessons on LGBT-related topics exclude the group that they apply to the most. These lessons rely heavily on textbook definitions of sexuality and gender, and in doing so they strip away the humanity from the individuals whose lives are shaped the most by LGBTspecific issues.

Our current curriculum focuses on being tolerant toward those who don’t identify as straight or cisgender and emphasizes that LGBT isn’t synonymous with different. While this message is

The Roar asked students to share their thoughts on South’s LGBT curriculum in health classes.

By Isabel Flessas

important, it is taught through articles from an outdated textbook and videos that tell dramatized and stereotypical stories that only paint a vague picture of what it means to be an LGBT teen. Acknowledging the LGBT community should serve as the most basic LGBT education, not the highest standard.

A curriculum based on the idea that “LGBT people are human too” makes it seem like the curriculum is intended to appeal only to people who aren’t LGBT-identifying, instead of catering to those who need the guidance the most. This focus implies that nobody in the class identifies as LGBT because little-to-no emphasis is placed on the experience of LGBT individuals, especially not authentic experiences to which 21st century teens can meaningfully relate. Instead of trying to use generic, prepackaged stories, the school should integrate a more personal element into the curriculum.

For example, if the primary focus of the curriculum is making LGBT-identifying individuals more accepted at South, lessons on acceptance should be supplemented with speakers from the community. The curriculum’s lesson on transgender identities already features a speaker from the Newton community, which consistently piques student interest. Adding more speakers to lesson plans would not only demonstrates that, yes, “LGBT people are human too,” but also that they exist in South’s community and are just like all other students.

The health curriculum, written 20 years ago, originally focused on separating LGBT individuals from the specific stigma created by the AIDS crisis, which although important, doesn’t have as much significance in today’s social climate. Despite the fact that some of the stigma from the 1990s still lingers in certain

communities, Newton generally accepts LGBT people. To take the next step forward, NPS should use this acceptance as an opportunity to teach a curriculum that caters to LGBT teens themselves, instead of focusing on educating their cisgender and heterosexual classmates. After all, it makes little sense to neglect those who need information and affirmation the most when it comes to relatively modern issues of sexuality and gender. South needs to teach teens that it’s okay to be unsure of their identity and give them the tools that they need to reaffirm themselves.

Moreover, lessons on sexual education completely neglect sexual issues regarding LGBT individuals because the curriculum only teaches about sex between a biological man and a biological woman.

Asexual individuals — those who experience no sexual attraction — are especially neglected by the failure to mention asexuality as an identity in the first place.

The curriculum also excludes transgender individuals in this regard by using gendered terms to label genitalia. Although certain genitalia are often associated with certain genders, by gender-coding genitalia, the curriculum erases and alienates transgender individuals from the complicated sexual education discussion. Instead, the curriculum should use language that is not restricted to binary terms in order to acknowledge the presence of the evergrowing transgender community at South.

Many people deem Newton a bubble where people of all identities are accepted unconditionally. While this is true, such acceptance should not be used to breed complacency; instead, Newton should propel itself forward to tackle issues of gender and sexuality instead of waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. After all, both LGBT and straight, cisgender students who are taught tolerance and understanding have the power to spread affirmation and acceptance to the rest of the world — that’s the kind of change we need and that’s the kind of change that starts here.

Do you feel that South teaches LGBT issues in a way that is exclusive to anyone?

“It’s relatively exclusive to gay men.

They don’t really talk about lesbians, bisexuals at all or trans people.”

- Naomi Liftman, ‘19 “I do remember they kind of only talked about gays and lesbians, but LGBT contains a lot more other parts different from gays and lesbians, so I think only informing about those two groups causes problems.”

- Kyle Lo, ‘20 “I think that it’s exclusive to a majority of identities, especially depending on your teacher.”

- Elianna Kruskal, ‘21 “They teach it … like there aren’t people from the LGBT community in the room, and that’s not really a good way to teach it because as a member of the LGBT community, I felt really singled out.”

- Mazon Kitzis, ‘22

How do you think the school could improve the way it teaches LGBT issues?

“By starting an open dialogue about LGBT youth, because I feel like it’s such a taboo topic, and I feel like a lot of straight people, and even gay people, have a lot of problems talking about it and being open about it.”

- Naomi Liftman, ‘19 “We should develop an entire unit because it’s a subject that needs to be addressed in today’s world.”

- Kyle Lo, ‘20 “Instead of treating it like vocab, you can treat it like real people and discuss [LGBT issues] instead of just discussing what the LGBT identities are.”

- Elianna Kruskal, ‘21

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“I think that maybe dipping more into asexuality because I think they talk about just like gay and lesbian and transgender, and I think they don’t talk a lot about different sexualities.”

- Mazon Kitzis, ‘22

campus chatter December 20, 2018 Page 11

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Opinions

UPGRADE

9 Senior slump in sight Friends staying on Netflix

The Lion’s Roar asked ...

What are you looking forward to over winter break?

“I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and hanging out with my friends.”

- Jay Garg, Class of 2019

Holiday cheer

“I’m going to a New Years party at a friend’s house.”

- Itai Abramovich, Class of 2020

Start of 2019 Ugly sweaters Seasonal food

“I’m looking forward to being able to see my sisters and family friends.”

- Stephanie Tian, Class of 2021

Yankee Swaps

“I’m looking forward to spending time with family and friends.”

December break

- Michael Farquharson, Class of 2022

New Year’s parties

photos by Andy He

9

Food Review: Bubble Tea DOWNGRADE

By Anya Lefkowitz Chatime

TeaDo

Happy Lemon

Pre-break tests Icy roads End of 2018 College rejection Seasonal sadness Bad Yankee Swap gifts The Flu Darkness at 4:30 p.m.

Mediocre Patriots season

I started my bubble tea journey at Chinatown’s Chatime, where I ordered a Taro Milk Tea with bubbles with 80% sugar and no ice. When I first walked in to the café, I was surprised by its small size but soon realized that there was more than enough room to sit down. The line was fairly reasonable, and my order was prepared quickly.

There weren’t many people in the store, and the lack of noise made my experience more tranquil and calming.

When I had my first sip of the Taro Milk Tea, I was surprised by how delicious it was. With the perfect sugar concentration, the tea wasn’t too sweet compared to bubble tea’s sometimes overwhelming sugar content. The bubbles were softer than expected, and they complemented the drink nicely. Of all three of the teahouses I went to that day, Chatime was the most expensive, but given the quality of the drink and the teahouse, the price seemed reasonable. Chatime set high standards for the rest of my bubble tea journey.

Staying in Chinatown, my friends and I proceeded to TeaDo. I ordered a regular Thai Milk Tea with bubbles and the default amounts of sugar and ice. Although I was aware of TeaDo’s popularity ahead of time, when I first walked in, it was loud and extremely crowded. I was confused about where to order my drink, as the crowd hadn’t exactly formed a line. Thankfully, the service was fast.

When I got my drink, I fled the restaurant to avoid the crowdedness of the place but nonetheless was excited to try my drink from the acclaimed teahouse. The sunset-orange drink had a sweet, silky taste that reminded me of French vanilla ice cream. Although the sweetness wasn’t overpowering, I would probably ask for less sugar if I ordered TeaDo’s Thai Milk Tea again. The bubbles, far chewier than the ones from Chatime, were delicious. TeaDo’s price came out a little under Chatime’s, which was more than reasonable for tasty bubble tea and speedy service.

Our final stop of the bubble tea-fueled day was Happy Lemon. I decided to order the Strawberry Black Tea with lychee jelly, an experimental choice whose promotion had caught my eye when I entered. Happy Lemon’s counter was cute and sleek, but its location in a food court wasn’t appealing. I got my drink fairly quickly, but the digital display of the specialty drink was extremely misleading: the drink looked brown instead of vibrant red.

The chunks of lychee and strawberry made the appearance even more repulsive, but I still had glimpses of hope for the drink itself. Unlike the smooth, squishy texture of bubbles, the lychee was somehow simultaneously crunchy and slimy. The flavor couldn’t save the drink from the odd texture. The tea tasted like overly sweet strawberry lime soda. Perhaps I shouldn’t base my overall opinion of Happy Lemon on one drink, but based on their seemingly benevolent advertisement of this unpleasant drink, I don’t know what to expect.

THE CROWN JUUL

Juul has become increasingly popular at South, leading some to question whether students understand its risks

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi Graphics by Alice Zilberberg

S

enior Emma Smith* started smoking cigarettes in eighth grade. When she switched to using Juul, she said, she became addicted to nicotine and has been struggling to quit ever since.

“I’ve been attempting for quite a bit of time now, and it’s extremely difficult,” she said. “I keep finding myself in this situation where I’m like, ‘this is my last pack, and then when I run out, I know that I’m going to want more later.

When I don’t have it, I find myself getting irritable.”

Smith said that Juul’s convenience made it easy to get addicted.

“There’s no smell. You can stay inside. They’re very discreet. It just makes it a lot easier to get addicted, and even though I’ve been smoking cigarettes way longer than I’ve been Juuling, I can say that Juuling, out of all the substances I’ve used, has had the worst results,” she said. “There’s no chance I was addicted to nicotine before Juuling.”

Smith’s counselors at South have suggested that she start using a nicotine patch or nicotine gum to

get over her addiction, but she said that she is hesitant to do so.

“I never considered myself in a place where my addiction was so bad I needed to go to an alternative like the gum or the patch,” she said.

Juul’s appeal has skyrocketed in the past two years since the product was launched: from 2017 to 2018, e-cigarette usage increased by 78 percent; in 2018, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 20.8 percent of all high school students were current e-cigarette users. The increased prevalence comes from the device’s sleek design and the myriad of “pod” flavors, the C.D.C said. The F.D.A launched an investigation of Juul’s marketing in April, accusing the company of marketing their products to teens. While the company has maintained that it markets its products toward adult smokers trying to quit conventional cigarettes, many Juul users are teens, such as Smith, who are hooked on Juul’s convenient nicotine rush.

TEEN ADDICTION

Teens are a particularly vul-

nerable demographic toward Juul’s marketing said school psychologist Dr. Andrew Aspel.

“They see this as a group they could capture, and clearly teens are a money maker because teens are big consumers,” he said.

Southside Program Manager Steven Feinberg said that teens trying Juul have more at stake than adults.

“During adolescence, your brain is still developing and making connections. ... Adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to taking risks and trying something like that, and as a result, they’re getting addicted,” he said. “Because nicotine is such a powerful, addictive substance and kids’ brains are developing, … they’re getting into a habit that could last for the rest of their lives.”

The combination of poor impulse control and easy exposure to nicotine make teens highly susceptible to addiction. Senior Audrey Williams* pointed to her own experience struggling to control her impulse.

“When I did have [a Juul], it was hard to put down. I didn’t bring it to school, but when I was home it was there. Teenagers have such terrible impulse control. The fact that they’re chemically addictive and that we have addictive brains is just not a good pair.”

Dianne Lochhead, principal of the Newton Public Schools alternative high school, Central High School, said she thinks Juul’s promotion of their product as an alternative to smoking has led to an increase in teenager Juul users, some of which are her students.

“It’s nicotine, so it’s providing a narcotic in their system that they like. It’s a cool new fad that is advertised as being safer than cigarettes,” she said. “I’ve had several of my students say ‘I’m doing this so I won’t smoke.’”

Williams said that a friend of hers turned to smoking cigarettes after losing her Juul.

“I have friends who are so addicted, one of them lost a Juul for like a week and she bought a pack of cigarettes because she couldn’t Juul,”

she said. “Nicotine addiction is real.”

Battling the Epidemic

Now that Juul has become a habit, Aspel said that Juul will have to do more than just change its marketing strategy to solve the crisis it created.

“This is a trend for kids right now, and I think the only way to really get kids to not do this is to ... educate them about how highly addictive it is,” Aspel said.

For now, Juul has renamed their flavors, making slight changes like changing “Cool Cucumber” to “Cucumber” and “Creme” instead of “Creme Brulee,” the New York Times reported.

But Aspel said these changes are not enough and that there ought to be a national campaign against Juuling, similar to the anti-smoking campaign.

Football coach Ted Dalicandro said that Juul’s recent efforts are futile given the number of teens already addicted.

“They’ve got their base and now they’re going to pull a ‘now you can’t have flavors.’ It’s too late,” he said. “You’ve got an entire generation that is definitely going to need help, and it’s just going to lead to them smoking real cigarettes.”

Feinberg said that e-cigarette use has offset the previously declining numbers of teen smokers.

“Smoking with adolescents had decreased to an all time low.

This was prior to electronic cigarettes coming around, and I think it that took decades, 40 years maybe,” he said. “Now, what’s happening is all that progress has been wiped out, and I think so many more adolescents are now involved with

electronic cigarettes and smoking nicotine.”

Subtle Substance

Williams said that students are able to conceal the e-cigarettes, enabling students to use them more frequently than other substances.

“I can’t smoke weed in school, so I’m going to get this little Juul thing because I can hit it in the back of class [where] it goes away almost instantly. It’s just too easy,”

drug usage.

“The government would love to tell us that that marijuana is the gateway drug, but in my 45 years, the number one gateway drug is nicotine because that’s what kids start out at,” he said.

Junior Aaron Walker* said that Juul made him more comfortable trying other substances.

“I used Juul before I tried marijuana, so I’d say it probably affected the way I thought about

“” It’s so popular and so involved in South culture and just high school culture in general. All my friends Juul, so I just start doing it again.

Audrey Williams* class of 2019

Williams said. “In my math class, I turn around and there are kids just Juuling, and my teacher [doesn’t notice]. He’s not a dumb guy; it’s hard to notice unless you’re looking for it.”

Aspel said that because Juuls are so easy to conceal, few parents are aware that their kids are using them.

“Parents think that this is a relatively new thing, and I think parents are becoming more aware of it, but I don’t know if parents are necessarily aware that their kids are Juuling.”

Dalicandro said that while many see marijuana as a gateway drug, nicotine and alcohol are far more likely to lead to adolescent

drugs and smoking. I thought, ‘well I’ve tried Juul, so what’s the harm in trying my friend’s dab pen?’” he said.

Walker said, however, that he wouldn’t consider Juuling regularly because it comes with a stigma.

“I kind of look down on kids who use Juul a lot,” he said. “There are certain social circles where kids outcast [others] who use Juul regularly and own one, and I guess I’m probably in one of those, so using a Juul regularly doesn’t appeal to me.”

Williams, however, said that Juuling is prevalent at South, and that the culture pulled her in despite a negative first experience.

“My friend from Brooklyn brought her Juul, so I tried it. I took a big fat rip, and then I threw up,

so that was my nice introduction to Juuling,” she said. “You would think that would turn me off from Juuling — and it did for a little bit.

I was like ‘I’ll never do it again’ — [but] it’s so popular and so involved in South culture and just high school culture in general. All my friends Juul, so I just start doing it again.”

Senior Olivia Miller* said that her first experience trying Juul was with her friend, and is something she hasn’t tried since.

“My first experience actually being exposed to a Juul was when I was with my friend in the car on the way home from a sports practice.

She Juuls pretty often, so she just took one out and took a hit and was like ‘Do you want some?’” she said.

“I had never been offered this before, so I was a little nervous, but I didn’t really want to say no, so I just tried it, but it wasn’t a good experience.

It burned my lungs. I was coughing everywhere.”

Realizing The Risk

Smith said she has started to notice Juul’s impact on her health.

“I’ve noticed it’s definitely harder to breathe, like there’s more scratchiness in my throat and I wheeze a little bit more, which is something I haven’t noticed with cigarettes,” she said.

Juul contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance that can harm brain development in adolescents, according to the C.D.C. Since Juul is a relatively new product, there is minimal research on its long term effects. The aerosol in Juul, however, is harmful to lungs and contains cancer-causing chemicals. Many Continued on next page

THE CROWN JUUL

Juul has become increasingly popular at South, leading some to question whether students understand its risks

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi Graphics by Alice Zilberberg

S

enior Emma Smith* started smoking cigarettes in eighth grade. When she switched to using Juul, she said, she became addicted to nicotine and has been struggling to quit ever since.

“I’ve been attempting for quite a bit of time now, and it’s extremely difficult,” she said. “I keep finding myself in this situation where I’m like, ‘this is my last pack, and then when I run out, I know that I’m going to want more later.

When I don’t have it, I find myself getting irritable.”

Smith said that Juul’s convenience made it easy to get addicted.

“There’s no smell. You can stay inside. They’re very discreet. It just makes it a lot easier to get addicted, and even though I’ve been smoking cigarettes way longer than I’ve been Juuling, I can say that Juuling, out of all the substances I’ve used, has had the worst results,” she said. “There’s no chance I was addicted to nicotine before Juuling.”

Smith’s counselors at South have suggested that she start using a nicotine patch or nicotine gum to

get over her addiction, but she said that she is hesitant to do so.

“I never considered myself in a place where my addiction was so bad I needed to go to an alternative like the gum or the patch,” she said.

Juul’s appeal has skyrocketed in the past two years since the product was launched: from 2017 to 2018, e-cigarette usage increased by 78 percent; in 2018, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 20.8 percent of all high school students were current e-cigarette users. The increased prevalence comes from the device’s sleek design and the myriad of “pod” flavors, the C.D.C said. The F.D.A launched an investigation of Juul’s marketing in April, accusing the company of marketing their products to teens. While the company has maintained that it markets its products toward adult smokers trying to quit conventional cigarettes, many Juul users are teens, such as Smith, who are hooked on Juul’s convenient nicotine rush.

TEEN ADDICTION

Teens are a particularly vul-

nerable demographic toward Juul’s marketing said school psychologist Dr. Andrew Aspel.

“They see this as a group they could capture, and clearly teens are a money maker because teens are big consumers,” he said.

Southside Program Manager Steven Feinberg said that teens trying Juul have more at stake than adults.

“During adolescence, your brain is still developing and making connections. ... Adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to taking risks and trying something like that, and as a result, they’re getting addicted,” he said. “Because nicotine is such a powerful, addictive substance and kids’ brains are developing, … they’re getting into a habit that could last for the rest of their lives.”

The combination of poor impulse control and easy exposure to nicotine make teens highly susceptible to addiction. Senior Audrey Williams* pointed to her own experience struggling to control her impulse.

“When I did have [a Juul], it was hard to put down. I didn’t bring it to school, but when I was home it was there. Teenagers have such terrible impulse control. The fact that they’re chemically addictive and that we have addictive brains is just not a good pair.”

Dianne Lochhead, principal of the Newton Public Schools alternative high school, Central High School, said she thinks Juul’s promotion of their product as an alternative to smoking has led to an increase in teenager Juul users, some of which are her students.

“It’s nicotine, so it’s providing a narcotic in their system that they like. It’s a cool new fad that is advertised as being safer than cigarettes,” she said. “I’ve had several of my students say ‘I’m doing this so I won’t smoke.’”

Williams said that a friend of hers turned to smoking cigarettes after losing her Juul.

“I have friends who are so addicted, one of them lost a Juul for like a week and she bought a pack of cigarettes because she couldn’t Juul,”

she said. “Nicotine addiction is real.”

Battling the Epidemic

Now that Juul has become a habit, Aspel said that Juul will have to do more than just change its marketing strategy to solve the crisis it created.

“This is a trend for kids right now, and I think the only way to really get kids to not do this is to ... educate them about how highly addictive it is,” Aspel said.

For now, Juul has renamed their flavors, making slight changes like changing “Cool Cucumber” to “Cucumber” and “Creme” instead of “Creme Brulee,” the New York Times reported.

But Aspel said these changes are not enough and that there ought to be a national campaign against Juuling, similar to the anti-smoking campaign.

Football coach Ted Dalicandro said that Juul’s recent efforts are futile given the number of teens already addicted.

“They’ve got their base and now they’re going to pull a ‘now you can’t have flavors.’ It’s too late,” he said. “You’ve got an entire generation that is definitely going to need help, and it’s just going to lead to them smoking real cigarettes.”

Feinberg said that e-cigarette use has offset the previously declining numbers of teen smokers.

“Smoking with adolescents had decreased to an all time low.

This was prior to electronic cigarettes coming around, and I think it that took decades, 40 years maybe,” he said. “Now, what’s happening is all that progress has been wiped out, and I think so many more adolescents are now involved with

electronic cigarettes and smoking nicotine.”

Subtle Substance

Williams said that students are able to conceal the e-cigarettes, enabling students to use them more frequently than other substances.

“I can’t smoke weed in school, so I’m going to get this little Juul thing because I can hit it in the back of class [where] it goes away almost instantly. It’s just too easy,”

drug usage.

“The government would love to tell us that that marijuana is the gateway drug, but in my 45 years, the number one gateway drug is nicotine because that’s what kids start out at,” he said.

Junior Aaron Walker* said that Juul made him more comfortable trying other substances.

“I used Juul before I tried marijuana, so I’d say it probably affected the way I thought about

“” It’s so popular and so involved in South culture and just high school culture in general. All my friends Juul, so I just start doing it again.

Audrey Williams* class of 2019

Williams said. “In my math class, I turn around and there are kids just Juuling, and my teacher [doesn’t notice]. He’s not a dumb guy; it’s hard to notice unless you’re looking for it.”

Aspel said that because Juuls are so easy to conceal, few parents are aware that their kids are using them.

“Parents think that this is a relatively new thing, and I think parents are becoming more aware of it, but I don’t know if parents are necessarily aware that their kids are Juuling.”

Dalicandro said that while many see marijuana as a gateway drug, nicotine and alcohol are far more likely to lead to adolescent

drugs and smoking. I thought, ‘well I’ve tried Juul, so what’s the harm in trying my friend’s dab pen?’” he said.

Walker said, however, that he wouldn’t consider Juuling regularly because it comes with a stigma.

“I kind of look down on kids who use Juul a lot,” he said. “There are certain social circles where kids outcast [others] who use Juul regularly and own one, and I guess I’m probably in one of those, so using a Juul regularly doesn’t appeal to me.”

Williams, however, said that Juuling is prevalent at South, and that the culture pulled her in despite a negative first experience.

“My friend from Brooklyn brought her Juul, so I tried it. I took a big fat rip, and then I threw up,

so that was my nice introduction to Juuling,” she said. “You would think that would turn me off from Juuling — and it did for a little bit.

I was like ‘I’ll never do it again’ — [but] it’s so popular and so involved in South culture and just high school culture in general. All my friends Juul, so I just start doing it again.”

Senior Olivia Miller* said that her first experience trying Juul was with her friend, and is something she hasn’t tried since.

“My first experience actually being exposed to a Juul was when I was with my friend in the car on the way home from a sports practice.

She Juuls pretty often, so she just took one out and took a hit and was like ‘Do you want some?’” she said.

“I had never been offered this before, so I was a little nervous, but I didn’t really want to say no, so I just tried it, but it wasn’t a good experience.

It burned my lungs. I was coughing everywhere.”

Realizing The Risk

Smith said she has started to notice Juul’s impact on her health.

“I’ve noticed it’s definitely harder to breathe, like there’s more scratchiness in my throat and I wheeze a little bit more, which is something I haven’t noticed with cigarettes,” she said.

Juul contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance that can harm brain development in adolescents, according to the C.D.C. Since Juul is a relatively new product, there is minimal research on its long term effects. The aerosol in Juul, however, is harmful to lungs and contains cancer-causing chemicals. Many Continued on next page

Centerfold ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 14 December 20, 2018 Continued from previous page students, including Junior Sophia Johnson*, said that teens often ignore these facts about the effects of vaping.

“I think that kids are aware of the statistics, but they’re young [and] they think they’re invincible,” she said.

Senior Laura Scott* said that students assume that the risks of Juuling will not affect them.

“They just have an over inflated self esteem saying, ‘it could happen, but it’s not going to happen to me. It’s going to happen to someone else,’” she said.

Because Juuling is a new trend, high quality studies on the effects of e-cigarettes on teenagers are lacking, Lochhead said.

“There are some misconceptions about how bad vaping is,” Johnson said. “There’s been more scientific research that hasn’t been publicized talking about how vaping is a lot more intense on the psychological aspect than it is on the physical aspect, and I don’t think most kids are aware of that.”

Miller said that the uncertainty distracts students from realizing its true repercussions.

“I think that kids do know the repercussions of Juuling, but they don’t take it seriously because it’s not something that you can visibly see. It’s not something that’s affecting your physical appearance, but it’s definitely affecting your lungs and stuff that’s inside. People don’t really see that so they think it’s not as big of a deal as it actually is.”

Recognizing Addiction

Students ignore the health risks, but they are also unable to recognize signs of addiction, Dalicandro said.

“I think kids sometimes are too young to realize what an addiction looks like. Teenage brains don’t work like that. I think that they would feel like ‘I’m just doing what everybody else is doing, there’s no harm in it.’

I don’t think that they realize yet that they’re addicted to something,” he said Smith said that while she understands the risks of Juuling, she does not think about those risks when she Juuls.

“I’ll have an urge, and until I fulfill what I crave, it’s not going to make a difference to me what the health risk is, because it’s in that moment, [and] I want the Juul,” she said. “It’s until after [I Juul] where … I can feel [the side effects] all over again. I feel the pain in my throat and the soreness and the fact that it just feels like chemicals that aren’t supposed to be there. … That’s when I most want to quit all over again.”

“Once it becomes a daily thing for you, you are addicted. Once you decided to get your own and stop bombing off of other people, you’re addicted and if you can’t recognize that, then that’s a problem,” she said..

A major issue, Miller said, is that parents are not fully aware of the harms of Juuling.

“I think most parents know what Juuling is, but I don’t think they necessarily know what the effects of it are. I know my parents, for example, know what a Juul is but they have no idea that there’s nicotine inside,” she said.

“I just don’t think that people are educated on it [because] it’s a pretty new thing.”

“We are starting to connect with their parents or guardians because I think some parents or guardians aren’t fully aware of the dangers of it, and they may be more susceptible to propaganda that says ‘oh, it’s a safer alternative’ or ‘if you’re trying to wean yourself off cigarettes or marijuana smoking, this is a safer alternative,’” Lochhead said.

Dalicandro said that one issue at South is that no class teaches students specifi-

cally about these issues, leading to a lack of education.

“I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes we make. We just do things freshman year for health class and then we’re like, ‘okay, you’re off on your own, you should be mature enough,’” he said.

Administrative response The administration’s actions have not been successful in monitoring and stopping the use of Juuls at school, said some students.

Junior Lily Jones* said that the administration’s reaction has been ineffective “Even if the administration was to send out an email or do an assembly, it’s the same information we already know, and obviously kids aren’t really listening.”

Williams said that to reduce teen use of Juul, the administration should attempt to change South’s stressful environment.

“Everyone is so f***king stressed, and it’s bad. Teachers need to recognize it. Not even teachers. The administration needs to recognize it just as a culture, as a society beyond South. We need to take a step back and be like ‘okay, Juul isn’t the enemy,’ it’s what’s causing these kids to be so overly stressed,” she said.

Dalicandro said that some students turn to Juul and other drugs as a way to handle academic stress.

“We have to change our culture here in South,” he said. “All that stress leads to kids needing to vent and needing to do things, and Juuls and drugs are a way to get that release and hide from reality.”

A lack of teacher supervision makes students more likely to break the rules, Delicandro said.

More scrutiny and a stricter environment, however, are not punishments that will solve the problem, students said.

“The administration is failing horribly at addressing the Juuling situation,” Johnson said. “A lot of the people who are creating the policies, the older people, they really strictly want to crack down on Juuling, but they only do that through negative punishment. A lot of students agree that it’s better to reduce the punishment and increase the incentives to report Juuling in the first place, but a lot of teachers don’t like to report these things because it’s a lot of administrative work and because they don’t want to ruin the kid’s life.”

Reporting a student is hard, agreed Dalicandro, but that does not mean students should evade punishment.

“One of the worst things we can do is to not have consistent consequences, or not have a policy in place because what’s worse than being an over-disciplined person is somebody who is not disciplined, because it sends a message that we don’t care.”

Johnson suggested that the administration should ask for more student opinions while strategizing on dealing with the epidemic.

“They’re not able to address Juuling properly,” she said. “In order to address this issue properly, they really need to speak with the kids. Sometimes I feel like the adults don’t want to consider teens’ opinions when they’re trying to rehabilitate them.”

While the administration has been ineffective, Smith said there are valuable resources available to her and other students who are struggling to quit Juul.

“If somebody wants to quit, reach out to your supports in the school. We have a bunch of them at South … you know, you have places to go,” she said. “If you are genuinely thinking about quitting, you’re not alone.”

*Names changed to protect students’ identities

The Roar anonymously surveyed 161 students about vaping.

33.5

percent of students said they have vaped at least once.

If you have vaped, what grade were you in when you used a vape product for the first time?

Middle School (5%) Ninth (17%) Tenth (38%) Eleventh (34%) Twelfth (6%)

13.7

percent of students said they have vaped on school property Do you think that using e-cigarettes is healthier than using traditional cigarettes?

Yes (33%) No (64%)

FEATURES page 15|December 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

Features@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

FEEDBACK I

Lack of student input in teacher evaluation process fuels student frustration

By Jennifer Wang

n a class with growing loads of meaningless homework, junior Skye Tausig said she did not feel adequately challenged.

Although she and her classmates voiced their concerns to their teacher and to the department head, Tausig said she saw few changes following the discussion.

“I definitely felt frustrated and not listened to by the administration, and it’s hard because I understand that it’s a bad situation, but it does make me upset,” she said Tausig said that at this point, she is frustrated not with the teacher, but with the teacher evaluation process.

“It just signifies a larger problem that the administration says that they’re receptive to student feedback and opinion, but once they receive that feedback, it goes nowhere,” she said.

Like Tausig, junior Jay Park said that his concern about a teacher was not resolved after he met with the department head.

“He resolved some of the grading issues ... but the problem was that that didn’t solve the issue of the lack of feedback from the teacher,” he said. “We knew what we got as a grade on our assignments, but we still had no idea why because there were no comments.”

Tausig and Park are not the only ones concerned: many students claim that the teacher evaluation process has inadequately addressed their concerns with teachers.

Since students cannot directly participate in teacher evaluations, their only channels for input are teachers’ own feedback surveys or direct conversations with the administration, both of which they said are often ignored.

graphic by Kaila Hanna

According to science department head Gerard Gagnon, departments revised the original teacher evaluation process in 2012 as a part of the national Race to the Top initiative.

“The agreement was that we would take a look at our teacher evaluation system and try to make sure that we were giving teachers appropriate feedback so that they could hone their practices,” he said.

Designed to support teachers’ growth and uphold South’s educational excellence, the evaluation process now consists of a series of steps that assess teachers’ performance, including goal-setting, department head observations and conferences between teachers and department heads. Wheeler dean Donna Gordon said that teachers are evaluated on four major standards: curriculum and planning, teaching all students, family and community engagement and professional culture. In each category, a teacher is rated either unsatisfactory, needs improvement, proficient or exemplary, according to a rubric.

While many components of the evaluation process are legal requirements, math department head Divya Shannon said most of the evaluation comes from the department head’s own judgment.

“The rubric comes into play very infrequently,” she said. “I use it to guide me in what’s important to look for in an observation or when thinking about a teacher broadly, but ultimately we always end up talking about the kids who are currently in their classes and what they need to be successful.”

With the teacher evaluation process, department heads like Jennifer Morrill of the history department have a starting point from which they can address staff issues.

“It allows department chairs to go in and watch people teach without being onerous. I think it’s important that we have a system that creates

opportunities for us to talk about teaching but doesn’t straitjacket people … and also builds trust,” Morrill said.

Students like junior Katie Gundal, however, said that student feedback often goes unheard during the evaluation process.

“Sometimes teachers might not fully listen if it’s from a kid. … I don’t think if the kid just went to talk to them, they would take it nearly as seriously as if it was [embedded] into the process,” she said.

Junior Candace Yang said that students, worried about teacher’s perception of their feedback, often delay bringing up an issue.

“That’s really nerve-wracking, and you need to have a lot of confidence to confront [them] face to face,” she said. “It would take a lot of courage to actually give real feedback if it’s negative.”

Senior Julian Moller said he chose to keep quiet about an issue with a teacher because he thought that his teacher would ignore his input, or worse, hold it against him.

“I was scared of what they would do if they had found out that I went [to the department head], like making me drop their class [or] forcing my grades in a downward spiral,” he said.

Yang said that the administration should better advocate for the students when they provide teachers with feedback.

“If this [issue] is affecting all of the students, then the teacher has to hear it from someone who is in power so that they realize that it’s a serious issue,” she said.

Park agreed that student feedback currently lacks attention.

“Although the students do provide their criticism, it’s not recognized enough,” he said. “Teachers and department heads should probably take that criticism into account more.”

Tausig added that teacher feedback surveys are futile as they fail to spark immediate change.

“Those students who are giving the evaluations have had to have a full year of that teacher teaching,” she said. “While they can change stuff for the next year, it doesn’t do anything for those students now.”

Ultimately, the current evaluation process puts students in a stalemate with the teachers, as their voices are unheard and the issues remain, Gundal said.

“Those issues aren’t really addressed because the student doesn’t know how to get attention to it, and they don’t really talk to their teacher about it because they feel inferior and that what they say won’t change anything,” she said. “The student doesn’t know what to do, but … the department [head] doesn’t help the student.”

To solve this problem, Tausig said that teachers should encourage student feedback.

“Something all teachers could do would be to really make it known that they are receptive to constructive criticism and that they value the opinions of their students and really try and want to help their students

learn,” she said.

Park suggested incoprporating standardized student feedback forms into the evaluation process.

“Surveys should be implemented so that department heads can work together with students and get their perspective,” he said. “Teachers should also be willing to follow certain guidelines on how to respond to students” “If more student feedback was routinely collected, I believe that there would be a better chance of having a more comprehensive assessment of a teacher,” Tausig said.

Morrill agreed that incorporating student feedback is vital.

“As teachers, we can have great intentions, but we don’t always know what it’s like for our students in our classes,” she said.

“If you’re not asking students about how they experience the class and the students aren’t having an opportunity to tell you, it won’t be as good as it could be.”

Shannon added that the department heads have limited insight into a teacher’s performance.

“With one observation, it’s hard to get to know someone. … Last year, I didn’t know who [my colleagues] were as teachers.

I’m getting to know a lot more about them: their strengths, their weaknesses,” she said.

“It’s hard to do that for 24 people and be really in depth.”

Gagnon, Morrill and Shannon all agreed that the success of the evaluation process largely depends on the time a department head can devote to evaluations.

“My department has gotten bigger since I’ve come here, and there’s only one of me,” Morrill said. “Time is always an enemy.”

“If I could wave a magic wand and double my amount of time that I have at South, I’d increase the frequency that I am in classrooms,” Gagnon said. “More information would be better, but I think the way that it’s working is fully functional.”

Tausig said that longer, more frequent observations and collections of student feedback are nonetheless worth the effort.

“Visiting a classroom of a teacher more than once a year would go a long way toward having the students feel heard,” she said.

Despite student criticism, Morrill said that the teacher evaluation process has a vital role in maintaining South’s educational excellence.

“The learning happens in the classroom, and if a student doesn’t feel like they can ask the questions they need to ask, or if a teacher doesn’t know what’s happening with the students, it’s not going to be as effective,” she said. “[The school] exists so that students can learn, and we need to do whatever we can to optimize student learning and open up communication.”

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 16 December 20, 2018

Candy Corn emanates their joy to South community

Ellyssa Jeong, Natasha Naragajan & Siya Patel Features Contributors Faces beam with joy, friends topple over one another, bodies double over in laughter and vibrant vocals bounce off of the walls in senior Tess Gordon’s basement.

The camaraderie and joy of improv is contagious at Children of the Candy Corn (Candy Corn) practice.

Senior Isaac Chapin, the troupe’s president, said that Candy Corn strives to make people laugh and bring joy to the community through improv, comical performance made up on the spot. Although spontaneity is a quintessential element of Candy Corn performances, the group prepares for their shows with twice weekly practices.

Chapin said that a desire for humor in a tight-knit community played an integral role in his decision to audition for the group his freshman year.

“I saw Corn perform. I thought it was so incredible,” he said. “It was something I knew that I needed to do.”

The group starts every practice with each member sharing his or her highs and lows of the days since they last met, a routine that junior Dylan Arkowitz, the troupe’s manager, said relieves stress.

“It becomes unofficial therapy. If you

have something that's on your mind you let it out,” he said. “What’s said in Corn stays in Corn.”

Before moving into improv games, the troupe warms up with exercises that Candy Corn member sophomore Saylor Flannery said are intended to work on each member’s reactionary and quick-thinking skills. Freeze, for example, is a game where audience members shape the bodies of troupe members, who proceed to make a scene.

Each game has the goal of establishing characters, relationships, objectives and where (CROW) in each scene, junior Matt Reinstein, a club member, said.

“Once you get there, you sort of view the playing field and say ‘okay, where can I take this and how can I make it an even better scene?’” he said.

Candy Corn member junior Claire Olson said that the group members critique one another’s performances after each game.

“You can say criticism about other people, but there’s always this mutual understanding that the criticism is to help people get better,” Olson said.

The preparation culminates in performances; the group's most recent show was on Dec. 14. The group determined only who would play which games beforehand — the rest of the show was entirely spur of the moment. For Chapin, Candy Corn performances

QA &

are exhilarating.

“I'm not a big thrill seeker type of guy. I don't like roller coasters or bungee jumping or all that, but I know people who would do that in a heartbeat, and they would never step foot on stage,” he said. “My thrill seeking is performance because it invokes an … adrenaline rush, to an extent, and it's always actually comforting to me to be in front of an audience.”

Flannery said that the audience plays a large role in the members’ confidence on stage.

“They don't know as much about improv like we do, so they just laugh,” Flannery said. “I don't feel stressed because everyone is supportive and nice and people appreciate what we do.”

“It’s a kind of show that you go [to] because you want to be there,” senior Emma Bassett, an avid Candy Corn fan, said.

“They’re all friends, so the chemistry… on stage is really exciting to watch.”

Gordon, who is also involved with theatre, said that she is less nervous performing improv than scripted theatre.

“You’d think you’d feel more secure in having a line, but honestly the fact that anything can happen and you can say anything makes me feel a lot safer in the scene,” she said.

The troupe’s faculty advisor and

photos by Alice Zilberberg

theatre department head Jeff Knoedler said that improv requires more teamwork than traditional theatre.

“They need to be present for each other like a basketball team,” he said. “Each person on an improv team, knows … the strengths and weaknesses of the other members, so they can complement each other and pick up the slack when someone is struggling.”

Reinstein added that trust is a crucial factor for the group’s success.

“What it comes down to is trusting each other, and if we're having a good time, then people in the audience will have a good time as well,” he said. “The energy is reciprocated at both ends.”

As an audience member, Bassett said that watching Candy Corn can be rejuvenating.

“A lot of people take school way too seriously,” she said. “Candy Corn lets people relax and laugh for the sake of laughing.”

Candy Corn spreads joy on and off stage, Gordon said. “It’s such an amazing experience being able to just literally be silly and laugh with my best friends for two hours twice a week, making something cooler and bigger than ourselves.”

Above: Members of Candy Corn laugh out loud at senior Chapin Galowitz's house on Dec. 6 practice.

with firsttime voters

The Roar asked seniors about their experiences voting for the first time

Q A Q A

graphic by Dorothea Dolan

What did it feel like to have a voice in the democratic process?

"It felt really good because now, since I was voting, I decided to look deeper into [the issues]. … It actually required me to do research and find out why I was making this decision." - Jemini Jean-Louis “I feel like it’s the most pride in America I’ve probably ever had.” - Hannah Fitzpatrick “I just felt like a true citizen of my state, my city and my country.” - Rick Halloran “Your entire life you’re being told that your voice doesn’t matter, and you can’t convince adults that it matters and then suddenly you’re the adult and you have a lot more power.” - Felix Flax

Is it important for young people to vote? Why? "Students forget that a lot of time, [since] we’re voting, we are the now as well, not just the future.” - Marcus Klevan "I remember wishing I could vote when I was really young. … It does feel pretty cool to participate in government like everyone else, and it definitely is a kind of rite of passage to becoming an adult.” - Gabe Stephan “Millenials and kids have a view of the world that’s definitely different than those who are older, and ... we bring a lot to the table when it comes to voting on certain laws and policies." - Max Gelbert

December 20, 2018 Page 17

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features

DISEASE in DISGUISE Newton families struggle to diagnose, treat and raise awareness for PANDAS

W

hen current Newton fifth-grader Harper Kodish began kindergarten at Mason Rice Elementary School, she had no trouble fitting in.

“She would go up to you and say, ‘You’ve got a blue shirt and I’ve got a blue shirt; let’s be friends,’” her mother, Deandra Kodish, said.

But beginning at the end of second grade, Harper could not let go of her mother to walk to her classroom. Harper’s new behavior was sudden and getting worse, her brother, senior Holden Kodish, said.

“She would get violent, so you have to like trap her in her room so she wouldn’t hurt anybody else,” he said. “I had to keep my privacy. I couldn’t be with her all the time because if she flipped out, she would go after me.”

After Harper began to exhibit this aggressive behavior outside of her home, Deandra said that she became worried and took Harper to see doctors.

In June of 2017, Harper was diagnosed with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS), a pediatric disorder characterized by a sudden onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), tics or other behavioral symptoms following a Streptococcus (strep) infection. According to the International OCD Foundation, the child’s immune system targets the brain instead of attacking the infection, resulting in behavioral changes.

Looking back, the cause of Harper’s PANDAS was easily identifiable, Deandra said.

“The whole family got strep when she was in second grade,” she said. “That’s the strep string that went through that was mutated enough to cause her body to react.”

Some medical experts, however, disagree that behavioral changes are a direct result of a strep infection, said Dr. Michele Casoli-Reardon, medical director for the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program North. The existence of the condition remains a controversy, which Deandra said complicates the diagnosis and treatment process for children with PANDAS. Doctors first prescribed Harper an array of psychiatric medication, but nothing effectively treated her aggressive behavior because the disorder’s cause was infectious, not psychiatric.

By the end of third grade, Harper was leaving school many days after only an hour.

Eventually, Deandra heard about PANDAS from another parent and brought up the disorder with Harper’s doctors.

“My doctor was very supportive, … but it wasn’t until I asked,” she said.

PANDAS does not affect all children the same way, Mason Rice kindergarten teacher and mother of two children with PANDAS, Kim Turgeon, said.

“I had a very narrow view or thinking of what I thought OCD looked like until I

By Simone Klein, Sophie Lewis and Claire Slack started looking and learning,” she said. “I always thought of OCD as washing your hands 20 times in a row, but I didn’t really think of it as asking the same question over and over and over again.”

She said that her children, aged 13 and 11, displayed symptoms in different ways.

“My son had low frustration tolerance and would get really angry, while she would get super silly and hyperactive,” Turgeon said.

Alyssa Weninger, a junior at The Winsor School who lives in Newton, had PANDAS appear twice — initially in second and later in ninth grade. She said that it first manifested as separation anxiety, and later as anorexia.

“Even when I had antibiotics, it still took a lot of meeting with different nutritionists and stuff to get myself back to a healthy place, because my brain was in starvation,” she said. “But … in a way it made me stronger, and I can be more empathetic to other people who are struggling.”

Treatment for PANDAS can take many forms, and sometimes requires experimentation. Deandra said that finding the right treatment for Harper was difficult.

Casoli-Reardon said that families struggle to find adequate treatment for PANDAS at Boston Children’s Hospital because of varying recognition of the disease.

Deandra’s family looked to Washington D.C. for treatment, where they found a greater awareness of the disorder.

“When we went down to D.C., we had friends that [said], ‘Everybody here knows about PANDAS. Every time their kid has strep, they’re worried about it,’” she added.

“I don’t think that there’s that same level of awareness up here.”

In Washington D.C., Harper was eventually treated with Rituxan during March of this year, a drug designed for use on cancer patients, to eliminate the antibodies that were causing inflammation in her system.

“I kept hoping I’d wake up one day and she would be back to her usual thing, and it didn’t happen. I remember calling the doctor after about four weeks or so. She helped me manage my expectations,” Deandra said. “It worked. After five to six weeks she was able to function again.”

Holden said that he hopes to see changes made regarding the accessibility of PANDAS treatment.

“PANDAS is like the rich man’s disease ­— if you can’t afford the treatment, you’re not going to be able to get better,” he said. “The treatment can go for $60,000, which is why we are lucky to ... have the ability to pay.”

He said that Massachusetts needs to pass laws requiring insurance companies to pay for PANDAS treatment, a step Illinois took in 2017.

Turgeon said that she also experienced difficulties accessing treatment for her children with PANDAS; their pediatrician did not

believe in the disorder, so the family found a new doctor. Casoli-Reardon said that many doctors struggle to understand the connection between strep and behavioral issues.

“The thing I always say to people when they’re like, ‘PANDAS doesn’t exist,’ is ‘You go live with a kid with PANDAS for a day and then you tell me it doesn’t exist,’” she said.

A 2009 study conducted by Northwestern professor Stanford T. Shulman found, however, that 85 percent of OCD and tic behaviors in patients who met criteria for PANDAS had no relationship to group A strep, which affects the throat and skin.

Nonetheless, Turgeon said that PANDAS should be taken seriously, as it is not the only infectious disease that causes behavioral changes. The 1918 influenza pandemic led to chronic manifestations including schizophrenia. Furthermore, Sydenham’s Chorea, a disorder characterized by irregular movement, is a major clinical sign of rheumatic fever.

Turgeon said she aims to educate teachers about identifying PANDAS. “Teachers often see the behaviors first in the classroom because there’s a consistent environment and you have children in the same setting with the same group of peers to compare to over the course of a year,” she said.

Turgeon said even if strep is asymptomatic in other children, it can still affect her children, particularly when their classmates are unknowingly sent to school with strep.

“The most frustrating part is that even though my kids are treated, they don’t have to get strep themselves to have a flare or change in their behavior,” she said. “It can just be exposure that sets their immune system off.”

Turgeon said that schools can save money on 1-on-1 aides and programs for kids with behavioral problems by identifying PA N D A S early on.

“Until the medical piece is treated, any behavior piece

that the school puts in place isn’t going to make a difference because they’re sick.

They aren’t just bad kids or non-compliant,” she said.

Harper said that her flares of aggression do not represent her.

“It’s hard to describe because, like I said, I’m not really in control. It’s not me,” she said. “I barely remember two summers ago. I always cried and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’”

“She will tell me, ‘Mom, I don’t feel like myself’ and she’ll say, ‘I need to leave the room, I can’t be right here, I’m starting to feel off,’ so she knows,” Deandra said.

Although the Rituxan treatment worked, Harper caught strep again last May and will have to return to Washington, D.C. for more treatment.

Holden said that despite the immense challenges Harper has endured, she remains positive.

“For a little girl to go through all that and still be happy and cheerful all the time and really nice to everybody — it’s incredible,” he said. “She’s so much stronger and braver than anyone else I have ever met.”

photo illustration by Netta Dror and Alice Zilberberg

COMMON

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 18 December 20, 2018

The Level of My Art

THE

RAVEN FERNANDES

APPLICATION

features contributor

Artist Spotlight EDITOR’S NOTE: Every issue, The Roar publishes a different artist’s perspective of their work.

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

Art is a part of my identity. Art is my therapist. Being an artist has allowed me to speak to my audience. Art has motivated me to help others express themselves.

Music is the art that has empowered me as an individual.

Growing up, I sometimes felt like I had no real friends. Kids were mean to me, and I never knew why. I hated the fact that I felt so alone, but every time I found myself listening to music, I no longer felt that way. Music kept me company when no one was around. With music by my side, I had the freedom to be happy, express myself and dream. If I had had a bad day, I would search a song on YouTube and jam with the music until bedtime.

I loved music so much as a kid that when I was 12 years old, I began creating my own. I started writing lyrics and working on songs, and later performing in front of people.

Becoming a rap artist allowed both my community and myself to better get to know me and my worth. Everyone who heard me rap for the first time started to notice all of that pain that I had held in for a long time.With every performance, I left more and more of my insecurities behind me, while using my confidence to move the audience.

Even though plenty of people respect me as a rap artist, there are some who discourage my music. When you’re chasing your passion, people are going to try and destroy you in every way possible.

I’ve dealt with with jealous people, and even though I learned to deal with their hate, for a long time, I still felt upset inside. I let myself down, felt like a nobody and sometimes considered giving up on my music.

A couple years ago, I had an important conversation with my mentor. I told her that it was hard for me to make friends my own age because they always seemed to find me a confusing person. She replied that a lot of people are like that towards me because they don’t understand my determination.

Reflecting on that conversation, I wrote a song called “My Level” that expresses that haters are always below one’s mentality, or “level.” Throughout my teenage years, I’ve realized that kids my own age — both in and out of South — have hated on me, discouraged my music and tried to make me feel like a nobody because they notice how strong of a person I am.

I will never give up on my art, especially not because of judgement from those who do not know anything about why music is important to me. I have to learn that there is a difference between opinions and facts. Every hateful thing that someone has said about my music is an opinion, but what I say and write myself is fact.

Yes, there are going to be people who don’t like me and have zero respect for me, but those people are nowhere near powerful enough to stop my ambition, my music or my art.

The Roar follows three remaining 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* submitted his early decision application to Brown University and his early action applications to UMass Amherst, Tufts University and Boston College on Oct. 31.

“Hitting submit was a really relieving feeling,” he said. “It was the best it could be, I’ve shown my best self, and if it doesn’t fit in with what the admissions officer is looking for, so be it. There are a million other opportunities.”

“Obviously there’s going to be the aspect of ‘I should have done this instead of that,’ but in the end I feel like I’m putting my best self out there,” he said.

Ryan said that he will likely apply regular decision to Boston University, Brandeis University, Tufts University and Washington University in St. Louis if he is not accepted to Brown. Although Ryan originally focused on New England schools, he said that location is no longer a factor limiting the schools to which he chooses to apply.

“My parents are very supportive of me in terms of where I apply. They don’t want me to not apply to a school which would be a great opportunity for me just because it’s a little farther away from home,” he said.

For Ryan, the best part of the application process has been the opportunity for reflection.

“It’s made me look back on my four years at South ... and how much I’ve accomplished as a person, as well as how much I’ve grown,” he said. “Freshman year I wasn’t the most involved person in the school, and now I feel like I’ve really engrossed myself into the community at South.”

Ryan said that he remains optimistic about his future, even with the possibility of rejection looming.

“I know in the long term I’ll get a great education, great resources, and I’ll end up happy,” he said. “That gives me a lot of hope.”

M

illy* said she has spent the weeks since the Nov. 1 early decision deadline in suspense.

“It’s really in the stars at the moment — it’s not in my hands anymore,” she said.

“It’s something that I’ve had to come to terms with.”

Milly said her favorite part of the application process was writing work that reflected her person.

“I hope that the admissions counselors will … see who I am through my pieces,” she said. “They show who I am, and that’s something that I’m really proud of.”

Milly said she also hopes that schools look at her holistically and consider the supplements that showcase her character.

“The worst part is sometimes you know that school just doesn’t care about you; you’re just another number,” she said.

“I really do think that every school should have supplements so you can get to know the individual.”

Milly said she anticipates a long decision process.

“The selectivity of the school I’ve chosen, the location of the school I’ve chosen, it’s statistically very difficult, so I have a feeling I will be undecided for a little bit.”

In preparation of possible rejection, Milly has prepared regular decision applications to the College of William and Mary, Lehigh University and Vanderbilt University.

Milly said she hopes to find a school where she will feel at home, regardless of its acceptance rate and reputation.

“It should be like a relationship: you want a school that will take care of you and nurture you, not just drop a 70,000 dollar price tag on you,” she said.

“I tried to close my eyes and say,‘If this is the only school I got into, would I be happy there?’ And that’s how I made my list. I really stopped thinking about it as a name game.”

B

graphics by Alice Zilberberg

ailey* submitted applications and recordings to New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School on Dec. 1. She said her mom encouraged her to apply to urban schools.

“My mom decided that she wanted me to be in the city, and I agree with her because if you want to make it in the music business, you have to be in the middle of everything,” she said.

Bailey said that her ties to the music industry will remain important in college.

“What events you go to as a teenager have so much to do with your career later on, which is crazy to think about. You wouldn’t think that as a 14-year-old, ‘[If] I go to this cocktail event [and] if I meet somebody there, then that person will be able to fund my career when I’m older.’”

These connections, she said, can influence acceptance, as conservatories look to recognize the names of notable music teachers with whom applicants have studied.

“It’s basically pre-decided before you even go there,” she said.

Bailey said she is frustrated that conservatories, unlike other colleges, do not factor scholastic achievement into decisions.

“They don’t give a crap about my APs, about my honors classes, about my grades,” she said.

She said she is nonetheless hoping to combine her multifaceted interests in college.

“The conservatories I’m applying to are interested in combining different arts, and that’s really the person that I am,” she said.

Bailey said that her biggest takeaway from balancing applications with her other responsiblities is the importance of stability.

“Whatever you have to do to maintain homeostasis while it seems like everything else is falling apart, try to do that.” *Names changed to protect students’identities

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

Today's Roaroscope

December 20,2019|page 19

WINTER EDITION

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Song of the Season: Sarajevo Wishlist gift: A single pair of socks

Gemini (May 21- June 20): Song of the Season: Santa Baby Wishlist Gift: A tube of salt and vinegar Pringles

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): Song of the Season: Frosty the Snowman Wishlist Gift: Bubble Tea

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Song of the Season: Jingle Bells Wishlist Gift: A venti gingerbread latte

Cancer (June 21- July 22): Song of the Season: Auld Lang Syne Wishlist Gift: A shiny new TI-84 Plus

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): Song of the Season: Jingle Bell Rock Wishlist Gift: Passing grades

Aries (March 21-April 19): Song of the Season: The Chanukah Song Wishlist Gift: A box set of The Fast and The Furious

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): Song of the Season: You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch Wishlist Gift: Two turtle doves

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): Song of the Season: Feliz Navidad Wishlist Gift: A phone without a broken screen

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Song of the Season: Winter Wonderland Wishlist Gift: A thicc stack of cash

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Song of the Season: Let It Snow Wishlist Gift: A firm handshake

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19): Song of the Season: Santa Tell Me Wishlist Gift: Lots and lots of candy

Overheard at SOUTH

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month

Yes, we heard you say that.

Francophile: “I just took a French final, and I think I made a new language.”

Budding Philosopher: “If sharks lived on land, would they roar? I feel like they would bark.”

Future Entrepreneur: “I want to create a business where I only sell lemon zest.”

Romantic Freshman: “If I were going to be in a cult, I would be in his cult.”

Self-Aware Sophomore: “Second time I’ve said y’all today, and that is not a good sign.”

Left to right: Barest envisions a stress-free break, Chapman blissfully yells at a student, Dror enjoys her swanky new designer hat

CrosSWord Puzzle A speckling of sundries for the end of a year and the welcoming of the next.

DowN

Across

6) Sacred drink; can still be iced 7) Sun doesn’t rise until 7:11 a.m.

9) He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake 10) A vow for 2019 12) Sometimes, it be like 15) Winter sport; boys team has new coach 16) Let’s get this 17) ’Tis the season

Answers: joggers, gifts, certificate, hibernate, Fleishman, coffee, solstice, party, Santa, resolution, sledding, that, tissues, slump, basketball, bread, cuffing

1) Fashionable sweatpants 2) Traded at Secret Santas 3) Download the new one 4) Bears do this during winter; you do this over break 5) Keeper of the snowdays 8) Bring food to class for the _____ tomorrow!

11) Fun times falling down a hill 13) Classrooms run out of them during flu season 14) Seniors begin this after break

SPORTS page 20|december 20, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

sports@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 4

let’s take this inside When the outdoor soccer season comes to an end, many athletes take to the court to play futsal

J

unior Justin Casler took off his cleats for the last time of the season in late October.

Even though his South season concluded, Casler had a game just weeks later — not soccer, but its winter alternative, futsal.

“We have an amazing team,” he said.

“We spend so much time together, so we’re super close.”

Futsal is played on an indoor basketball court, a much smaller space than a standard soccer field. Each futsal team has four players and a goalkeeper playing at one time, compared to the 10 players and a goalkeeper in outdoor soccer.

Sophomore Owen Beaver has been playing futsal for five years on a team organized by Valeo Futbol Club.

“We’re in a competitive league,” he said.

“We usually play againsxt teams around our age group and skill level.”

Beaver said he enjoys playing on the smaller futsal arena.

“Since futsal is played on a smaller area, play happens much more quickly,” he said. “I usually play in the midfield in outdoor soccer, but while playing futsal, I have many more opportunities in going to goal, which results in more goals.”

Junior Noah Oppenheim, who is in his sixth year playing futsal, said the smaller size of a futsal arena drastically changes the style of play.

“It’s a smaller field, so longer size is not an advantage, but rather a disadvantage. It’s much more of a skill game and less of how fast you are [or] how strong you are,” he said. “[In soccer,] I can use my size and speed more to my advantage.”

Oppenheim currently plays on two futsal teams, both in the same league.

“Each team knows that I play on another team, but since it’s a much more relaxed environment, they don’t really care,” Oppenheim said. “For us, it’s much more about fun and not, ‘can we make the tournament and win?’”

Junior Tomas Nelson has played futsal for six years and said that futsal varies from outdoor soccer not only in terms of playing style, but also in terms of team environment.

“Because we’re a group of friends that wants to play some soccer in the winter, it’s a little more lighthearted and fun, unlike soccer in the spring and fall [that] is a lot more serious,” he said.

According to senior Brendan Locke, futsal requires a unique set of skills compared to soccer.

“You can be really good in outdoor and not so good in futsal and also the other way around [because] it’s such a different game.

You only have four players, so that’s only three other people that you can pass to,” he said.

Locke has been playing futsal since the beginning of middle school, but said his experience with the game has changed over the years.

“I played on the town team for outdoor soccer and that team [then] played futsal in the

By Aron Korsunsky

graphic by Chris Jang

winter,” he said. “That team was competitive.

Usually, we would play the teams we played outdoors. In high school, I’ve been playing with my friends and it’s been just for fun and not as competitive.”

Locke said his outdoor soccer coach introduced him to futsal.

“My coach asked me if I wanted to do futsal, but I had no idea what it was,” Locke said. “I thought at first he said football, but he

with the ball,” she said.

According to Casler, however, futsal is nothing casual.

“It’s competitive. We play in a league and compete in many tournaments,” he said.

“My friends play futsal more for fun, but for me, it is on the same competitive level as soccer.”

South does not currently offer a futsal team as an organized team sport. Despite the

“ ” My coach asked me if I wanted to do futsal, but I had no idea what it was. ... I tried it and I loved it.

Brendan Locke class of 2019

then told me it was a type of indoor soccer, and I tried it and loved it.”

Senior Daphne Frantzis said she sees futsal’s benefits both on and off the ball.

“It helps me work with the ball, and it’s more time I can spend with friends,” she said.

Frantzis also plays outdoor soccer, and said she chose to play futsal to improve.

“I wanted to play futsal to continue playing soccer in winter. Despite the fact that it’s different than soccer, it still helps me work

benefits of futsal, Oppenheim said that South should leave the sport to private leagues.

“There would be a problem having it at South because if you’re good at futsal, you play for a really competitive futsal team and league, and if not, you just play for fun,” he said. “I’m not sure if there is much of a middle ground there.”

Beaver, who plays on a competitive futsal team, agreed.

“On a South futsal team, it may be a bit

less organized, but that’s always something that can be improved,” he said. “Players on South may not know each other as well compared to club futsal.”

Locke, however, said that a South futsal team would be a good addition to the athletics department.

“There are definitely a lot of kids at South that play soccer and would love to play futsal,” he said. “We would have more kids than needed for one team, but I also know that kids in their towns would be willing to do that too for other high schools. I think it would be a great idea.”

Throughout all the differences between soccer and futsal, Casler said that the small field of play in futsal makes the game more exciting.

“I really like the fast-paced nature of it,” he said. “It’s exciting and high goal scoring, both of which make for really fun games.”

“I’m always looking forward to futsal because it’s quite relaxing, and I’m never really down on myself when I make a mistake because I know I’m just there to have fun with my friends and to take a break from homework and school on the weekends,” Locke added.

“I enjoy the game in general,” senior Tomer Bonstein said. “It’s a bunch of friends making a team and playing together. I love it.”

December 20, 2018 Page 21

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar sports

Boys basketball looks for a comeback with a new coach Jackson Slater

The team has seen improved athletifun experience for the players.” cism, Stewart said, which is crucial to their “We’ve got a great group of coaches,” approach this season.

Cheema said. “I believe they’re leading us “We’re a lot quicker than we were last he boys basketball team begins this on a path to success.” year, so we can force a lot of turnovers,” he Practices this year, which are spent season with largely the same crew said. from last year, yet with a new head perfecting defense and offense and are This athleticism stems from offseason coach, a new regimen and a new mentality. supplemented with substantial conditioning, work, said Cheema.

New head coach Steve Matthews said are also more efficient, Cheema said.

“All of us worked hard, [which] is “This year we’re actually doing stuff he took the job because of the strength of the definitely going to win us a lot more games basketball program and his desire to keep that we’re going to do in games. Last year than we should have, ” he said. we were just like doing stuff for no reason,” up its legacy.

“I was very impressed with the way the “South has been a tremendous high Cheema said. “This year we’re actually runkids worked all summer, and they made it a school and has had a great athletics program ning for a reason.” for a long time,” Matthews said. “Over the years, Coach Killilea did a really good job and built a really strong program, so we’re going to just try to do our best to keep that tradition going.”

Matthews said he plans to implement his own game philosophy, which players agree is a more modern approach to basketball.

“We’re introducing an up-tempo, fastAlon Yacovi paced philosophy which puts a high emphasis class of 2019 on passing and cutting, screening, moving “We also do fast-paced drills, which the ball from side to side and trying to get really good shots,” Matthews said. “We can helps us prepare for the games,” Yacovi said commitment to work with our strength and Last year, the team lacked energy, conditioning coach three days a week in the take advantage of mismatches and push the fall,” Matthews said. “We had a really high ball on offense and run and press play with sophomore Njavan Stewart said.

“Last year, it wasn’t exactly our year, turnout for that, which was tremendous.” the defense.”

In conjunction with their workouts, “This year, it’s more fast-break offense and Killilea made it very clear from the the team played in a fall league against other instead of slowing it down,” senior captain start of the season that he was going to play high schools in the Boston Area.

Salman Cheema said. “Our offense last year upperclassmen, so I think underclassmen The fall league offered them a preview didn’t exactly mind losing,” he said. “A lot of [would] slow the game down.” of season matchups where they earned a re“[Matthews] wants us to go fast, and lowerclassmen knew they weren’t coming off cord of 9-1, in contrast to last year, where the play defense together as a team,” senior Alon the bench. Bottom line was we just weren’t team failed to gain a single fall league victory. a winning team.”

Yacovi said. “I like [that] a lot.” “[Fall league] gave us confidence that This change in coaching, however, has This new system benefits both players we actually can do something this year,” brought a new energy to the team, Stewart and spectators, Matthews said.

Cheema said.

“Unlike last year when we went “It’s a really fun system for guys to play. said.

0-8 and were like wow, we suck. ” “Everybody kind of sees more clearly Once we get it going, it’s a really beautiful “I think fall league gives us a good thing to watch,” he said. “I hope to really take their role,” he said. “Everybody’s working representation of a varsity competition and the program to new heights and to [create] a hard this year, as opposed to last year.”

Sports Editor

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“ ” As long as we keep our work ethic up throughout the year and play together, stay together and don’t argue and stuff, I think we will be okay.

NFL Week 14 Top 7

Power Rankings Aron Korsunsky Sports Editor

1. New Orleans Saints (11-2) Despite a less-than-impressive 28-14 away victory over the Buccaneers on Dec. 9 following a poor outing in a 13-10 loss against the Cowboys on Nov. 29, the Saints are still the best team in the league. They simply have too much firepower on an offense led by future hall-of-famer Drew Brees, two top-tier running backs in Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram and pro-bowl-bound wideout Michael Thomas to be put down, not to mention their solid defense. A top 10 team in passing, rushing and points allowed, the Saints are a force to be reckoned with.

2. Los Angeles Rams (11-2) Don’t let a 15-6 loss and a struggling offense (214 yards) against the Bears on Dec. 9 fool you — this team is still legit. The Rams have scored the most points and gained the most yards in the NFL this season. They beat opponents in every way, boasting a top five rushing and passing offense. Their poor outing against the Bears has to be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering their wins over playoff-bound teams such as the Chiefs, Vikings, Seahawks and Chargers this season. Their loss to the Saints in week nine

puts them at number two.

rate for a total QBR of 6.2, the 11th worst by any quarterback in any game this year. If the offense can continue to do just enough to help the defense, the Bears will be unstoppable Patrick Mahomes is the most explosive come the playoffs. quarterback in the NFL. Mahomes’ 48-yard pass to Tyreek Hill on a fourth and nine in the late stages of their 24-21 overtime victory against the Ravens is a microcosm of the Somehow this team has managed to jaw-dropping plays produced by the Chiefs fly under the radar for most of this season. all season. An incomplete pass would have All hype in the NFL has surrounded the sealed their defeat, but Mahomes scrambled high powered offenses of other teams, but and launched a ball right into Hill’s hands. the Chargers must not be overlooked. Led Mahomes is looking to etch his name in by another future hall-of-fame quarterback, the record books this season: he is on pace to Phillip Rivers (who has thrown for at least throw for 5300 yards and 53 touchdowns, both two touchdown passes in all but one game of which would land him in the top three by a this season), the Charger offense ranks sixth quarterback all time in a single season. Both in yards per game and fifth in points per of his two-minute drill interceptions against game. Their strong all around defense has the Rams in a 54-51 week 11 loss showed his managed to work their way to eighth in yards youth, but come playoff time, can Mahomes allowed and sixth in points allowed. Injuries play smart football in pressure situations? to starting running backs Melvin Gordon and The Chiefs could top these rankings if not Austin Ekeler may hurt this team, but when for their bottom-five defense in both yards healthy, the Chargers may be the team to beat. and points allowed.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-2)

5. Los Angeles Chargers (10-3)

4. Chicago Bears (9-4) This defense is electric, and not only for stifling the Rams’ offense in the previously mentioned 15-6 victory on Dec. 9. The Rams have scored under 30 points only twice the entire season (previous lowest: 23 against the Broncos in week six). Led by Defensive Player of the Year candidate Khalil Mack, this defense intercepted Jared Goff four times and held him to a horrid 45 percent completion

6. Dallas Cowboys (8-5)

The Cowboys have turned their season around in the blink of an eye, all thanks to former fourth overall pick Amari Cooper.

The Cowboys acquired Cooper earlier this season in a trade with the Raiders, and since then have gone 5-1, winning their last five games. In those six games, Cooper has averaged 107 yards per game, second in the league over that span.

The Cowboys are the most well-round-

the teams we’re going to have to play,” Yacovi added. “It was good [for] getting us ready for the actual season.”

Yacovi added that this year’s team has stong player chemistry.

“Last year we didn’t like each other, [and] we had fights and stuff,” Cheema said.

“But this year, everyone likes each other. We hang out outside of basketball. We’re having a lot of fun already.”

Yacovi said that the new coach’s contribution to this chemistry could be the defining factor for the season’s success.

“We played together a lot. Most of us play together a lot and we’ve all liked to play fast, shoot threes and play hard,” he said.

“Now we can actually put it in place and work hard at it and see if we can do something special.”

Yacovi said that the team has high aspirations and the potential to achieve this season’s goals.

“Our ultimate goal is to be state champions,” Yacovi said. “That’s possible for us because of our work ethic, and as long as we keep our work ethic up throughout the year and play together, stay together and don’t argue and stuff, I think we will be okay.”

“I say we win 14 or 15 games,” Stewart said. “My goal is to bring the playoffs back home and get a home playoff game. I think South deserves it. You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a good basketball team, [so] this year is really exciting.”

“I feel like this team can win it all this year,” Cheema said. “It might be a bold statement, but I think we have the talent and the team to do it.”

“We have a lot of guys who have so far bought into what we’re trying to do, that work really hard and are really good kids,” Mathews said. “We’re going to have a special year.”

ed team in the NFL, boasting a stellar young defense ranking fourth in yards allowed per game and second in points allowed per game, an elite running back in Ezekiel Elliot and a passing game which has accumulated 285.7 yards per game in the last six games. If Elliot can continue to take over 20 carries a game (he has averaged 20.6), and quarterback Dak Prescott can continue to make the throws when they count, this team may finally have what it takes to return to glory.

7. New England Patriots (9-4) To be clear, the Patriots are not all the way down at number seven due to that crazy 69-yard walk-off touchdown that the Dolphins scored against them in the 34-33 loss on Dec. 9. Though come playoff time, Brady and the Patriots will be in the mix as Super Bowl contenders, after week 14, they seem to be a couple steps behind many of the top teams.

Despite quality victories against the Chiefs in week six and the Bears in week seven, the Patriots have had numerous disappointing efforts, one of which included their 34-10 loss to the Titans in week 10 and more recently their Dec. 9 loss to the Dolphins. A favorable schedule will likely guide them to a first-round bye, but Patriots fans be wary: this bottom-half defense and non-special offense may prove costly down the line. *All statistics, records and rankings were updated as of week 14 games

Sports ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 22 December 20, 2018

WINTER SEASON

PREVIEW

By Aron Korsunsky and Jackson Slater

ICE Hockey WRESTLING GIRLS

CO-ED

HEAD COACH: Chris Ryberg CAPTAINS: Emma McKee PREVIOUS RECORD: N/A due to team merger

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HEAD COACH: Alan Rotatori CAPTAINS: Andrew Badaoui, Adam Bernhardt and Xavier Phillips PREVIOUS RECORD: Second in DCL small, ninth in sectionals

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lagued by several injuries, last year’s son was one for growth. he combined North and South team new people and play with girls we wouldn’t “With the injuries, we knew that normally ever know, ” she said. wrestling team saw stunted success. is a unique opportunity for players, the young guys were looking to gain some The team is currently led by only one The season came after a program freshman Caroline Pratt said. experience,” he said. “We captain, but is electing another. overhaul by coach Alan Rota“It’s really special that we are able to meet succeeded in that.” tori, in which he sought Bernhardt said he to make the program expects returning wresmore approachable and tlers to truly make an impact desirable for prospective HEAD COACH: Chris Ryberg this season. members.

CAPTAINS: Chris Aucoin and Alex Klapes “We have a lot of Injuries, however, PREVIOUS RECORD: 10-5-1, lost in first round of playoffs young guys so they will knocked out both captains need to learn quickly 10-win season and first round playoff in our play — passing the puck, communi- and other key players, and step up,” he said. “The exit disappointed the team, junior cating,” he said. meaning that the team returning players must show captain Alex Klapes said, as they Cohesiveness will determine this sea- only sent two wrestlers their experience suffered despite their skill. to states. son’s fate just the same, he said.

Seniors Timothy for this team to “[Last year] we had a lot of seniors that Junior “We definitely have a lot of talent on Lee (left) perform well.” helped produce goals and a lot of seniors on the team right now both offensively and captain Adam and Daniel the defensive side, but we could have defensively, but our main thing is that we Bernhardt said Grupin wrestle. used our team chemistry all have to get along,” Klapes said. “We are a last year’s seam o r e team, we are a family and if we all get along and if we play together, we have tremendous success ahead of us.”

BOYS

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GYMNASTICS GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Kylie Calzone CAPTAINS: Laura Damman, Danielle Dinisco and Beth O’Neill PREVIOUS RECORD: 11-0, 1st in DCL

G Junior gymnast Lila Sherman swings toward states

oing undefeated in meets and winning the DCL title are undoubtedly difficult feats to achieve, yet the girls gymnastics team managed to accomplish both last season.

Junior captain Beth O’Neill said that the team will need to try other tactics to replicate their competitive success in the new season.

“We lost a lot of great gymnasts, so a lot of people had to step up and try and

improve on new things that were outside of their comfort zone,” she said. “It ended up working out well for us.”

Although team chemistry may not seem relevant in an individual sport like gymnastics, team dynamics could prove crucial, O’Neill said.

“We have a lot of really strong talent,” she said. “But we definitely have to work on being closer as a team if we want to do well.”

BOYS

HEAD COACH: Tom Steeves CAPTAINS: Sam Arber PREVIOUS RECORD: State Champions

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hile many teams claim DCL titles, the boys gymnastics teams’ continued success dwarfs all others.

The team competes together with North and has won four straight state champion-

ships.

The competition for boys gymnastics is smaller than in other sports, but this team has quad-peted, a feat essentially unheard of in any sport, especially at South.

December 20, 2018 Page 23

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Sports

Swim & Dive GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Phillip Martin CAPTAINS: Maggie Kenslea, Sarah Levin and Liri Mustafa PREVIOUS RECORD: Sixth in DCLs

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mproving from last year’s season should not be difficult, senior captain Liri Mustafa said.

“Our team definitely has some big shoes to fill, but we have a great group of new swimmers who are ready and stepping up,” she said. “We are really determined to start the season off driven and show everyone how well we can compete.”

BOYS

This season will be important for both individual and team growth, Mustafa said.

“Each year we hope to move up in the DCL, and everyone has their own personal goals that they hope to achieve this year,” she said. “For seniors, we want to go out with our best season yet and show the new swimmers why we all fell in love with this team when we were freshmen.”

HEAD COACH: Phillip Martin CAPTAINS: Rafi Dinh and Shaw Miller PREVIOUS RECORD: 9-2, fourth in DCLs

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he boys stellar season ended in disappointment last year with a fourth place finish at DCLs. Just like last year, the team has depth across the board and an almost unbeatable relay team, captain Shaw Miller said.

“I’m hopeful,” he said. “Our relay squads are once again powerhouses, and we have great swimmers in our distance events.

This strength could stem from practic-

ing with the entire team, Miller said, as other sports lack that same opportunity.

“There’s not a rift between JV and varsity or even the boys and girls teams. We practice together, race together [and] bus together and almost the whole team shows up for team dinners,” Miller said. “I really appreciated the community I found on this team, and it’s an honor to now help lead the team in creating that atmosphere this season.”

ALPINE SKI CO-ED

HEAD COACH: Mark Rosenberg CAPTAINS: Lexi Nelson, Jack Tumpowsky, Jessica Whitman and Nick Whitman

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ll varsity girls went to states last winter for the alpine ski team, but their final race took both a metaphorical and physical faceplant, junior captain Nick Whitman said.

“In our last race, almost all of varsity fell, disqualifying themselves,” he said. “It was tough, especially considering that both the guys and the girls team got second out of around eight in the previous race.”

BASKETBALL

Sophomore diver Grace Cowhig takes a leap of faith

Indoor Track GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Steve McChesney CAPTAINS: Sarah Kern, Nikta Mozhgani and Laura Weiderspahn PREVIOUS RECORD: Undefeated DCL champs, second in All-state

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he girls team looks to build off an exceptional season, captain Laura Wiederspahn said.

“I can’t think of anything that went exceptionally poorly last year,” she said. “We had a great team.”

An increase of underclassmen means the the team is now working to replicateand

even outdo its previous undeafeated success, senior captain Sarah Kern said.

“It’s refreshing to have a lot of young talent to replace the really good people that graduated,” she said. “So far, everyone’s been really kind to each other, [and] people are willing to put themselves out there and work hard at practices.”

BOYS HEAD COACH: Ted Norton CAPTAINS: Ben Powdermaker and Amos Trinidad PREVIOUS RECORD: 1-4

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enior captains Amos Trinidad and states, Trinidad said.

Ben Powdermaker have set achievable These hopes come after a tough season goals for this season: second or last winter, when the team only won one meet. third in DCLs and Since then, the team has improved qualification for in sprinting, field events and especially in distance, Trinidad said.

“I just want to lead the guys to a win,” he said. “We haven’t won DCLs in two years, but this year I think we’ll be a lot better.”

GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Joe Rogers CAPTAINS: Sydney Brooks, Larissa Foley and Frankie Silva PREVIOUS RECORD: 19-1, lost in sectional finals

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outh’s all-time lead scorer Veronica which players this winter will strive to fill.

Burton graduated last spring, creating Captains look to lead a group of younga rift for this year’s team. er athletes to some success, despite the loss of The D1 commit left a glaring hole, one of the greatest athletes in South history.

BOYS

Junior basketball starter Dominic Johnston catches a pass

For a full preview, see page 21

HEAD COACH: Steve Matthews CAPTAINS: Salman Cheema and Gabe Ganem PREVIOUS RECORD: 6-12, lost in first round of playoffs photos by Netta Dror