The Lion's Roar 35-6

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VOL. 35 ISSue 6

the LION'S

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By Sophie Lewis

Page 16 Photo by Netta Dror and Simone Klein

Newton South High School

· Newton, MA ·

Est. 1984

·

April 26, 2019

NEWS

page 2|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

NEws@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

NTA negotiates fair contract for members

Teachers and aides marched from Newton North to the Newton Education Center in support of Newton Teacher Assosciation contract negotiations with the School Committee. photos by Netta Dror

Julian Fefer, Caleb Lazar & Matan Kruskal Section Editors, News Reporter

On April 1, teachers, teaching aides and facultity, sporting red Newton Teachers Association (NTA) t-shirts, marched to the Newton Education Center (NEC) from Newton North for the School Committee’s public budget hearing on NTA members’ contracts.

After the mile-long march, the group rallied outside the NEC before entering the building for the start of the School Committee meeting.

“Show me what a union looks like,” South English teacher Kelly Henderson shouted as they entered the building.

“This is what a union looks like!” the crowd responded while waiting for the School Committee meeting to begin.

Most contracts between the School Committee and the NTA last three years.

These negotiations determine working conditions, salaries, cost of living adjustments (COLA) and healthcare for all NTA members.

In the past, the School Committee has delayed negotiations until contracts expire, NTA president and North history teacher Mike Zilles said.

“In 2014, we worked for a year without a contract,” he said.

Without a new contract, NTA members keep the salary increases from the previous contract but do not receive any COLA, School Committee chair Ruth Goldman said.

In response to the history of prolonged negotiations, this year, the NTA began their negotiations before their current contract expires on the last day of school.

“We’d really like to get this settled by the end of the year,” South history teacher and chair of NTA negotiations committee Jamie Rinaldi said.

Unlike previous years, Zilles said this year’s campaign has gained more support.

“We’re organizing earlier and organizing faster and organizing stronger,” he said.

NTA members wear their red shirts to school every Tuesday. The shirts show the NTA logo on the front, and Newton values like “citizenship”, “fairness” and “empathy,” as well as the Massachusetts Teacher Association logo on the back.

South English teacher Joseph Golding said that the red shirts demonstrate solidarity among NTA supporters.

“They are a way for us to communicate

that we are working together for something, for teachers to say ‘we all need to be on board together to be working towards a common goal,’” he said.

Retired North teacher Jane Frantz, who marched with current NTA members, said that negotiating appropriate COLA should be a priority for the School Committee.

“We don’t think that what we’re asking for is out of the range of what Newton can offer,” she said. “We have many initiatives in this city that I support. … However, those initiatives can’t take place at the expense of the teachers and educators.”

Currently, Goldman said that the budget is not flexible enough for teachers’ wage raises.

“If we settle a contract that is more than what we get now, then we end up needing to cut something to pay for that,” she said.

The city’s refusal to negotiate contracts affects teacher morale, South history teacher Eugene Stein said.

“It’s demoralizing because people work really hard and they want to feel that their work is valued,” he said. “When things like this happen over and over again it makes people feel less valuable and that can be a problem for morale.”

North teaching aide Margaret Stassen said that the School Committee’s refusal to negotiate represents how Newton views its educators.

“This is a statement on how much they value our work, and that’s sad,” she said.

Teachers Demand COST of living adjustments

With their current contract ending, teachers are campaigning for a new COLA to keep up with their housing costs, college debt and childcare expenses.

“Childcare costs and housing prices are skyrocketing in the Metro Boston area, student loan bills are higher than they’ve ever been for our incoming teachers, and the cost of raising a child in the 21st century is very, very expensive,” Rinaldi said.

If the negotiations lead nowhere, teachers will still receive salary raises as part of their old contracts but will not receive a COLA, Goldman said.

South science teacher Kirsten Vickey said that higher salaries and a COLA would allow some teachers to move closer to the schools they work at.

“With my pay, I can’t afford to live in Newton,” she said. “We’re looking for the

new contract to allow more teachers to live closer to the community.”

“Teachers living farther and farther away have longer and longer commutes and find it harder to raise their own families,” South English teacher Jeremiah Hill added.

Longer commutes harm both teachers and students, as teachers must choose between spending time with their students and their families, South theater department head Jeff Knoedler said.

“Teachers living 45 minutes or an hour away because that’s the closest they can afford to live takes a toll on school spirit and camaraderie,” he said.

Teachers also hope to improve parental leave policies in the new contract, Rinaldi said.

“We want to make sure that we have one of the best, most robust packages, not only because we think that Newton educators deserve [it], but because we think that all working people deserve it,” he said. “We want to set a new standard for what comprehensive and fair parental leave looks like.”

Barbara Rosen, a Bowen school nurse, said that Newton should dedicate greater funds towards paying teachers.

“Teachers deserve all of the support that they can get because they do so much every day: they give everything,” she said.

“The city and [Mayor] Ruthanne Fuller ought to look at what the teachers need [and] what the expenses are for if the teachers don’t get what they’re asking for.”

Sophomore Anais Mobarak added that the teachers deserve higher salaries.

“The funding for schools comes from property tax, and a bunch of houses in Newton are extremely expensive, so I think we do have the money,” she said.

In most cases, teacher salaries in Newton do not reflect the city’s wealth, Vickey said.

By increasing the COLA, Rinaldi said that the city would better support teachers’ financial security.

“We believe that all new teachers should be able to have the ability to raise a family, to own a home, to live a stable lifestyle and to cover all their healthcare costs,” he said.

Aides March for ‘fair’ pay

In addition to the teacher contract negotiations, the city’s current budget proposal includes pay cuts for the most experienced teacher aides and wage raises for the most recently hired, North teaching aide Barry

Hershenow said.

“They are raising the lowest salaries, which is fantastic because the newly hired teaching assistants and behavior therapists get very low salaries,” Stassen said. “In exchange, they want to cut salaries for people who have worked here for a long time.”

Stassen said she opposes the proposed aide salary changes.

“Teaching assistants and behavior therapists are already some of the lowest paid people in the school system. Many work second and third jobs, and now they want to cut our salaries,” she said. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

Goldman said that the potential change reflects the city’s underappreciation for teacher aides.

The salary for aides is based on experience and hours worked. Currently, the highest aide salary, which requires roughly 14 years of experience and 40 hour workweeks, is $54,000 per year.

Knoedler said that teacher aides want wages that represent the hours that they really work.

“One of our priorities is getting an improved starting salary for our teacher aides and our behavioral therapists and getting them adequate payment for additional hours that they have to work,” he said. “They want to be paid for the time that it takes to plan and to collaborate with teachers and for professional development, which is completely unpaid now.”

Rinaldi said that teacher aides deserve more respect than they being given.

“We’d like to see them paid in a way that honors the work they do, and we’d also like to find other ways in which we can elevate the status of that position, so they’re really respected as the educators they are,” he said.

“We’re not looking to get rich, but to be able to have a living wage,” Hershenow said.

future Contract negotiations

Although negotiations have begun, Zilles said that they are far from over; teachers and teacher aides will continue to negotiate the current budget proposal.

“They have an offer on the table; we have a proposal on the table,” Zilles said.

“They put that on the table in September, and we’ve made some progress, but we still are very far apart.”

Additional reporting by Daniel Li and Jennifer Wang

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar News

Q&A

with Bill Humphrey

“ “ “ “ “ “ ““

The Roar’s Caleb Lazar asked ‘07 graduate Bill Humphrey about his campaign for Ward 5 City Councilor photo courtesy of Bill Humphrey

What policies make up your campaign?

My biggest platform items are dealing with climate change at the local level, improving public transportation, getting more affordable housing and strengthening and expanding city services.

They all add up to a central platform, which is that Newton should and can be a community for everyone.

april 26, 2019 Page 3

South Spots Vaping Forum On April 2, South hosted a forum to educate attendees about the harms of vaping.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey delivered the keynote address, and panelists answered audience questions.

How did going to South impact your politics?

Between Speech and Debate team and running for student government at the end of freshman year at South, you could run for things and get involved on various campaigns. A lot of the teachers ... have been very generous donors to my campaigns or to the political action committee in Delaware.

What are some highlights of your political experience?

I started door knocking for the 2008 Obama campaign, when I was still in high school. I worked on leading Delaware’s Right to Marry Political Action Committee, which was basically organizing young people in support of marriage equality. In 2017, I was the chair of the political committee at the Massachusetts Sierra Club. That year we were evaluating a lot of municipal candidates from all over the state to see what their views were on environmental issues at the local level.

photos courtesy of NewTV education

Candytones Improv group Children of the Candy Corn and a capella group Newtones swapped their talents and performed together at Gregorian Rugs on April 5.

What makes your policies unique?

I’m certainly the most progressive candidate in the race, and I come at it from a perspective that I think is probably not shared by the other candidates— in particular, my emphasis on dealing with climate change at the local level. I think that’s something that most young people feel very strongly about, and I’m a young candidate.

What are your views on education and NPS?

I’m a very strong supporter of the teacher’s union, and I think that their advocacy for themselves is also advocacy for the students in many ways and making sure that students have the best possible teachers, who have livable working and home conditions and who can afford their cost of living.

How do you hope to change Newton’s transportation policies?

We’re going to be working with the MBTA on improving the frequency, quality and reliability of service. There are a lot of areas of Newton that have very little service at all. These areas could probably be served by buses, or they already have buses, but they are not frequent enough.

What should South students know about your campaign?

photo courtesy of Saylor Flannery

Campus Turkey At the end of March, a female turkey nested near Cutler house. Vice Principal Candice Beermann warned students that injuring the animal is a felony. Unfortunately, the feathered friend appeared to have left by the beginning of April.

I would love to have people come volunteer for my campaign. We’re going to need people to help knock [on] doors or send text messages.

Should South students get more involved in politics?

You can find something, even when you’re in high school, where you can get involved. You can make a difference, and you can start helping out people, because that’s what it’s all about. Don’t hesitate; don’t wait around. Just find something that you can do to start getting involved. Whether it’s a candidate you agree with or a cause that you agree with, you can find something.

photo courtesy of Peri Barest

NEWS ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 4 April 26, 2019

Stricter parking regulation increases towing Mina Chae, Esmé Kamadolli, Avigail Rosen & Julian Fefer News Contributors, Section Editor

South’s recent partnership with Negoshian Towing aims to enforce parking regulations and catch students cheating the parking pass system.

Every semester, around 200 seniors enter a lottery hoping to acquire one of the 155 student parking spots at South.

Seniors who win the lottery then have the opportunity to purchase a parking pass for $125.

Before the introduction of numbered parking spots, senior Anika Sridhar said that last year, the school took a more relaxed approach to student parking.

“Last year, everyone was just granted generic entrance into a parking spot, so you could just park in whatever spot you wanted,” she said.

In contrast, seniors this year were assigned numbered spots, one of the changes that shows the administration’s overall shift to stricter parking regulation.

With the numbered system, it is easier to catch students parking illegally, Sridhar said.

“Now, it’s very easy to pinpoint the intruder because there’s only one vehicle that’s supposed to be in every specific spot,”

she said.

Senior John Chen said that the new assignment system simplified parking for students, too.

“Having assigned spots is helpful just because you have a place to park every day,” Chen said.

policies.

“I don’t enjoy towing students’ cars.

I understand there’s tight parking around Newton, but there are rules and whether we agree or not, they must be followed,” he said.

Vice Principal Candice Beermann said that Tody’s Towing was inefficient in

“ ” Negoshian Towing has a tow truck that carries two cars, so we can do two at a time if there are two violators.

Candice Beermann Vice Principal

To further counteract illegal parking, South has hired a new towing company, Negoshian Towing, to replace Tody’s Towing, the previous company South partnered with.

If a student’s car is caught parking in another student’s spot or in a teacher’s spot, the student first receives a warning. On the second incident, campus aides immediately call the towing company.

While David Donahue from Tody’s Towing said that he does not enjoy towing students’ cars, he understands South’s

responding to towing requests.

“It would be hours and hours and hours later that they’d finally come,” she said. “Often, by then, the student had moved their vehicle, so it just wasn’t really working for us.”

In the past, the school used Tody’s Towing because Tody’s is the city of Newton’s primary towing company.

Tody’s inability to tow effectively translated to rampant illegal student parking, senior Veer Sawhney said.

“The fear of towing was not as effective because the towing companies came very infrequently,” he said.

Beermann said she expects Negoshian Towing to do a better job.

“Negoshian Towing has a tow truck that carries two cars, so we can do two at a time if there are two violators,” Beermann said.

Sridhar said that towing is not the best way to handle illegal parking.

“I think forcefully removing someone from a parking spot creates a really large burden, and it’s just annoyingly frustrating,” she said.

Sawhney, who lives in Auburndale, said that the lottery should be changed to have a weighing mechanism to favor students who live farther away from South.

“People living farther away should get priority to get a parking spot over someone who lives five minutes away and can walk to school,” he said.

Chen said that one solution to the towing issue is to expand the lot.

Beermann said she hopes to find alternatives to create more parking spaces.

“We could work with the city to develop [something] like they have at North, where they have a ‘Tiger Pass’ which allows you to park on the streets around North,” she said.

Newton Free Library renovates teen space Neil Chavan, Daniel Li, Alex Merkowitz, Shiv Sawhney & Dean Zhang News Contributors, Section Editor

In April, the Newton Free Library began a month-long renovation of the stairway, atrium and children’s room, areas that have not been updated since the library was established in 1991.

The renovation was funded by a portion of the $500,000 from the fiscal 2019 Capital Improvement Program.

According to library director Phil McNulty, planning began in 2015. McNulty said that the goal of the renovation is to improve the teen room.

While McNulty said that some of the changes are merely for aesthetics, they will benefit the library nevertheless.

“It will definitely make the library much fresher,” McNulty said. “Many areas of the library were so worn that they were a safety hazard. The refinished areas will be much nicer than previously as well.”

Whether or not the renovations will improve studying conditions, however, is up for debate.

Freshman Joshua Lim, who goes to the library twice a week, said that he does not think the renovation will attract more teenagers to study there.

Freshman Elias Guermazi said that the renovation is not going to have major impact.

“Overall, a new paint color, for example, will not only be useless but won’t get more teens to come,” he said.

South librarian Jennifer Dimmick said that more study spaces would be valuable.

“Adding teen-devoted space for studying and reading is also a great advantage to the community,” she said.

Junior Jay Park, another library frequent, said that the changes will benefit several groups of people.

“It will definitely attract more students ... but also more teachers, who might use the library for diverse resources,” he said.

Lim, however, said that although it is a large change, the renovation is not worth it.

“It is a pretty small accomplishment

for the library, and I don’t think it’s the best use of their money,” he said.

Guermazi said that in today’s digital world, libraries are not essential.

“The problem is not with what the library is doing, but the actual vitality of the library,” he said. “I have computers at home, if I really wanted to read something.”

Though seemingly trivial, a library renovation of this magnitude has not occured in 27 years, McNulty said.

Overall, Park said the library renovation will make the library more studentfriendly.

“I feel that it’s a good change because teenagers use it for conferences and to prepare for tests,” he said.

photo by Jennifer Wang

Renovation of the ‘Reference and Information’ section of the Newton Free Library began in April and aims to make the library more productive for teenagers.

April 26, 2019 Page 5

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar NEWS

Quiz Bowl Team prepares for D.C. nationals Caleb Lazar & Frank Liu Section Editor, News Reporter

After years of inactivity, South’s Quiz Bowl club is making a comeback thanks to senior Bijan Harandi, founder and president of the revived club.

“Many years ago, South had a Quiz Bowl club, but they fell apart,” he said. “I instantly fell in love with it, and that was how it all started.”

Quiz Bowl is a team competition in which competitors answer questions using a buzzer system to earn points for their team.

Questions are generally posed to the team as a whole, with the exception of televised competitions, where questions are posed to individuals.

“It’s kind of like team Jeopardy, but instead of choosing from a category, it’s just random questions,” sophomore member Todd Shriber said.

The variety of topics covered in Quiz Bowl club ensures that the activity has something to offer everyone, Harandi said.

“There’s a wide range of subjects, and you only have to be interested in one of them to join,” he said. “There’s science, math, history, pop culture, current events, sports, art, literature, philosophy, mythology, economics, geography, religion and music.”

Quiz Bowl holds weekly practices during Wednesday J blocks in room 3210.

Sophomore Ava Gode-von Aesch said that the team prepares for the wide range of topics by reviewing past tournaments and staying informed.

“We look back at Quiz Bowl episodes that have been put up on YouTube because they reuse a lot of questions, or they change them slightly,” Gode-von Aesch said. “Most information that will be upcoming was previously used, or it’s stuff that was in the news, so I try to keep up on current events.”

Junior Alex MacArthur said that most Quiz Bowl participants are there because they are interested in the topics covered.

“There’s a lot of kids who have random knowledge of trivia and people who

photo contributed by Bijan Harandi

Quiz Bowl Team members pose for their yearbook picture in front of their regular Wednesday J block practice space, room 3210 are excited by trivia,” he said. “There are generally people who are excited to learn and who are excited about topics.”

“Quiz Bowl is so diverse in its passions, because it tests on all academic subjects, [so] if you are a student and you’re looking to find your place in school, Quiz Bowl club will do that for you,” Harandi said.

This year, the team has competed at five competitions and placed high at all of them. The club’s greatest success this year was a subset of their team’s first-place finish at the Massachusetts Academic World Quest (MAWQ).

Harandi said that the win was notable, given the team’s relative inexperience.

“There were, without a doubt, many teams that are much older, much more established and definitely more known throughout the Quiz Bowl community as being top teams,” he said.

At MAWQ, competitors were given topics to study ahead of time, MacArthur

said.

“There were seven different topics that you had to learn about and … you had to be very knowledgeable about those topics,” he said. “It ranged everywhere from the World Trade Organization and its roles and foundation to Qatar and the history of Qatar.”

This victory at MAWQ meant that the team qualified for the High School National Championship Tournament, which takes place in Washington D.C., beginning today and ending April 28.

The club hopes to do well at nationals, but they place equal emphasis on community spirit and fun, Shriber said.

Shriber said that members feel a sense of community, given their small size of around 10 members.

“We’re a team, but we’re also friends,” he said. “It’s a fun community, and we hang out a lot outside of school.”

Sophomore member Miller Kodish said that the team does not place exclusive

emphasis on correct answers.

“We care about the learning that goes on. You’re not scared when you get an answer wrong, because it’s a chance to learn more,” he said.

Gode-von Aesch, one of just three girls in the club, said that girls are underrepresented in Quiz Bowl and other academic extracurriculars.

“I wish that there were more girls on the team, and more girls who felt like they would enjoy this, because I definitely know a lot of people who would do very well on the team,” she said. “It’s a trivia thing, so it just attracts more guys because of the whole cultural idea that guys are smarter than girls.”

Harandi said he is optimistic about the club’s future.

“I hope that our club gets bigger over time and that people start to learn about it, and more people get involved with it. We’re a club to be reckoned with,” he said. “We have the ability to achieve great things.”

Dr. Martin to become Wheeler house dean Jason Kim, Melica Zekavat & Dean Zhang News Contributors, Section Editor

Current Wheeler house dean Donna Gordon is retiring at the end of this school year, and English teacher Meaghan Martin will take her place in the fall of 2019.

Martin was selected out of a pool of 13 candidates by a dean-hiring committee composed of multiple teachers and students.

Vice Principal Candice Beermann, chair of the dean-hiring committee, said that it is important to establish relationships with all of the candidates.

“When you hire, it’s really important that we are not choosing them, but they are choosing us too,” she said.

Guidance counselor Amani Allen, who was on the hiring committee, said that he is excited for a fresh face on South’s administration.

“The principal made the decision, but we had many strong candidates in the applicant pool,” he said. “Dr. Martin – she’s someone who I’ve worked with very closely with. She was a very strong candidate, and I am happy to be working with her as my

dean next year.”

The committee assessed candidates on leadership skills and their experience and philosophy, as well as their course of action in hypothetical scenarios.

“What would you do if there’s been a fight in the locker room, if you have a student who is coming to you because they’re really sad or if the fire alarm just went off, what do you do?” Beermann said. “We tried to shape questions that got out what their core values are.”

Beermann said she believes that Martin stood out as the best choice.

“Dr. Martin is going to be awesome,” she said. “I’m super happy that she was the one we ended up choosing.”

Junior Frank Jiao, who served on the committee, agreed that Martin was the right choice.

“Dr. Martin, to me, was definitely one of the strongest candidates, if not the strongest candidate,” he said. “She was always very knowledgeable, and she also showed enthusiasm for the job during the interview, which I really liked.”

History teacher Andrew Thompson said that Martin shares some of the qualities that made Gordon a good dean.

“Something that both Ms. Gordon and Dr. Martin have in common is very open, friendly, sincere personalities, but also [the ability] to be clear and drawing a line with people for what is or isn’t okay in school,” he said.

Martin said she has big hopes for South; for one, she said she plans to help teachers better handle multi-level classes.

Martin said that she was interested in being dean because it allows her to engage with the community.

“Being a dean allows me to work with a larger number of students and faculty in a number of different capacities.

I really like the idea of being able to develop more relationships with more students and strengthen my relationships with more faculty throughout the school,” she said. “I hope that I can help in any possible way. My door is always open.”

photo by Simone Klein

LETTERS page 6|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

Letters@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

In the face of lawsuit, students call for education on IsraeliPalestinian conflict

By Dina Zeldin

TIMELINE:

Fall, 2011: A South parent voiced concern about an excerpt from the Arab World Studies Notebook (AWSN) textbook used in freshman history classes. The excerpt described how Israeli soldiers tortured Arab women. NPS administrators met with the parent to discuss the material. After further deliberation, NPS removed the AWSN, along with other materials, by 2012.

May, 2013: A South parent filed a 174-page complaint alleging that classroom materials like AWSN and “A Muslim Primer,” had an anti-Israel and antisemitic biases. The parent filed a complaint to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The department replied on Sept.

17, 2013 and found no violation of education law, regulation or policy in its review of the curriculum.

Oct. 23, 2013: Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), a group that aims to resolve bias in American high schools and universities, took out advertisements in local newspapers, identifying classroom materials that they claimed held an antisemitic or anti-Israel bias. APT has been labeled a hate group

by Muslim, Jewish and secular organizations.

Dec. 13, 2013: APT filed the first of many Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain curriculum relating to the Israeli-Palestinian unit. APT and the other groups who have since filed FOIA requests must pay for the requests to be handled. Teachers have missed classes to compile the requested course materials.

Dec. 30, 2013: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) assessed APT’s ad and concluded that their “charge lacks evidence and is irresponsible.” Similar statements from Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC) and the American Jewish Council agreed.

Fall, 2016: NPS removed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unit from sophomore modern world history courses to revise materials, but some teachers continued teaching it.

July 6, 2017: The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) published a “Indoctrinating Our Youth: How A U.S. Public School Curriculum Skews the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Islam,” which used materials from FOIA requests.

May 2, 2018: Newton North held a “Middle East Day,” organized by students in the Middle East senior history course taught by history teacher David Bedar. Afterward, JCRC and ADL wrote a joint statement to Superintendent David Fleishman hoping to gain more insight into how the event was organized and how panelists and presentations were approved.

Spring and summer, 2018: Newton history teachers, including Bedar, experienced online scrutiny and harassment for allegedly skewing curriculum that covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Islam or the Middle East. The Federalist published several pieces decrying NPS administration and faculty, and Fox News also reported on the issue.

Aug. 9, 2018: Education without Indoctrination (EWI), a group associated with APT, filed a lawsuit against the School Committee for failing to properly publish minutes from meetings and public comment sessions, contrary to the Massachusetts Open Meetings Law. The School Committee makes their meetings accessible online through NewTV but has amended all minutes for meetings from Jan. 1, 2018.

August, 2018: EWI published an online petition to “Defend the civil rights of Jewish students in Newton, MA public schools” which demanded that NPS “terminate” the employment of Fleishman and others. The petition has since gained 2,289 signatures — not all are Newton residents.

Sept. 17, 2018: Fleishman emailed NPS parents maintaining that outside groups were misrepresenting classroom materials: “These baseless claims, often reliant upon materials and documents taken out of context, are misleading and only serve to denigrate the hard work and professionalism of our skilled and dedicated faculty.”

Oct. 9, 2018: The Israeli American Council (IAC) held an “Informational Educational Forum on the NPS Middle East Curriculum” featuring panelists from the IAC, ADL, JCRC and CAMERA. The forum discussed school administrative transparency, curriculum development and previous lessons and school events that the groups deemed controversial.

Oct. 11, 2018: Teachers, parents, students and NPS administrators rallied outside of North to show their support for the history department.

Nov. 27, 2018: The School Committee held a public hearing in response to a citizen petition at South.

Petitioners called for the School Committee to increase transparency and allow constant access to materials. The School Committee voted “no” or “no action needed” on all seven of the petitioners’ demands. Newton educators with red “Support Newton Values” stickers walked out in solidarity partway through the forum. Students and alumni spoke of positive experiences with Newton’s history department.

March 12, 2019: Taxpayers sued Newton teachers and administration claiming they deliberately failed to obey the Equal Rights Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution and the Massachusetts Student Anti-Discrimination Act. The lawsuit alleges that there are anti-Israel and antisemitic history lessons in NPS history classrooms that advance Islamic beliefs and coerced students into religious practices. The 469-page complaint is based on information from FOIA requests. History teacher Jamie Rinaldi, history department head Jennifer Morrill, principal Joel Stembridge, teachers and administrators at North, Fleishman and School Committee Chair Ruth Goldman were named as defendants. The six plaintiffs are Newton taxpayers, but none are current NPS parents. In response to the allegations, the School Committee released a statement to parents that it “strongly disagree[s] with the accusations.”

Ross Halpern & Nayleth Lopez-Lopez

A

Class of 2019

s student representatives to the Newton School Committee, we have had the opportunity to listen to multiple perspectives on the issue of the history curriculum in Newton high schools.

Through the time allotted at the beginning of each School Committee meeting for public comment, we have heard concerns from parents, teachers, students and outside organizations. Many concerned citizens and other groups looking to promote the best education in Newton, mainly EWI and APT, have filed claims that some of the materials used in history courses to teach the IsraeliPalestinian conflict come from biased sources and are antisemitic in nature.

Listening to these groups speak and express their opinions, we have maintained a neutral position and tried to listen to all the perspectives on the issue. At the public forum held at South on Nov. 27, many Newton residents came to voice their support for Newton teachers, and many alumni spoke about the positive experiences they had while part of the NPS system.

They praised Newton for teaching skills like critical thinking, analysis of multiple sources from varying sides of any topic and civil discourse which ensures that all students are comfortable sharing their opinions.

The majority was in support of the current history curriculum and the teachers, but there were some interest groups that brought sources and claims with specific incidents of anti-Israel material being spread.

While EWI and APT have claims based on legitimate incidents, as outlined in their lawsuit filed on March 12, we, as South seniors who have taken history courses every year, have not witnessed any material or information that we believe to be antisemitic. We understand, however, that we cannot speak for everyone and that each student may have experienced a different reality in their own classes. We echo the sentiments of many students who spoke at the public forum that the purpose of high school history courses is to teach students not what to think, but rather how to think. We support our teachers in fulfilling their duties as educators without fear of being questioned or barred from teaching content.

We hope that moving forward, any student who feels that the curriculum or teaching represents only one side of the subject matter feels comfortable enough to speak with their teacher in order to remedy the problem.

We sincerely believe that our teachers have the best interests of their students’ education in mind and that they always strive for their classroom to be a space filled with open discussion based on truth and one where no student feels isolated because of their opinions.

Raizi Vogel Class of 2019

C

irculating the school, there has been a conversation regarding the lawsuit against Newton teachers and administrators filed by members of several proIsrael groups. As a Jewish student at South, I stand by our teachers for two core reasons: these pro-Israel groups can make negative change in Israel, and no private interest group should interfere in public education, especially using scare tactics.

The first is that I don’t share many of the values that the pro-Israel groups advocate. Many of Israel’s policies do not reflect my Jewish values, so I don’t blindly support them. For example, there are thousands of African refugees living in Israel who are waiting to receive refugee status from the Israeli government. Since they are not Jewish, Israel ignores their needs and refuses to grant them asylum. Supporting refugees is encouraged by the Old Testament and is something that is important in my community.

American lobbying groups, like the ones suing several Newton teachers, have affected policies in Israel, so I am critical of their other efforts, even when they claim to be uprooting the antisemitism in our schools.

The groups campaign on the conviction that any criticism of the Israeli government’s policy found in sources and textbooks are meant to indoctrinate students to hate Israel and by extension the Jews who live there.

My disapproval of the Israeli government doesn’t lend me to be inherently antisemitic, a word that the organizations have used when referring to classroom materials that are critical of Israel. When antisemitism comes up, I am the first to stand up against it — I am proof that someone who is antiIsrael is not necessarily antisemitic.

Because of my views, I am unsympathetic toward the groups that are poking around in my education. Not only do I disagree with their views on Israel, but I don’t believe that any private interest groups should dictate whether or not I can learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or from which textbooks I learn it.

By creating an uproar around the curriculum, the organizations have done away with any meaningful opportunity students had to learn about Israel and Palestine.

Learning about Israel is important to me as both an interested student and a Jew. It is an incredibly complex issue that is always evolving and merits classroom time.

From my experience at South for four years, I have never encountered any teachers or curricula that have offended me in any way when mentioning Israel or the Middle East. But the thing that troubles me most is whether or not the subject, which is infinitely complex and important, will be covered at all after our beloved teachers have been terrorized by these groups.

April 26, 2019 Page 7

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Letters

Joseph Rasamat

I

Class of 2020

t’s easy to oppose a lawsuit against our teachers. They’re the most trusted members of our community, and we students often look to them as consistent and unbiased sources of information. However, a further review of NPS’s Israeli-Palestinian curriculum is necessary. I support the lawsuit because it aims to clarify the obscurity.

Newton’s Israeli-Palestinian curriculum wasn’t purposefully constructed to indoctrinate students into believing untrue facts and leaning towards a certain side in the argument — it was made hastily and did so accidentally. Moreover, the rollout of a better, updated curriculum didn’t come in time. Even after parents were told that the unit had been pulled, several teachers were found still teaching it. Frankly, NPS didn’t do a good enough job fixing the mistake.

No one is arguing that Newton educators conspired to indoctrinate their students, but the lawsuit brought up concerning evidence that sources and information given in classrooms were biased and simply incorrect.

The resources used to teach the unit are the most glaring examples of bias. One was the AWSN published by Arab World and Islamic Resources and the Middle East Policy Council, organizations funded by Middle Eastern dictatorships that likely portray only the Palestinian side. The book claims that Israeli “Occupation” Forces (rather than the Israeli Defense Forces) are “torturing hundreds of female activists” by having same-sex bodyguards pat them down.

The book misled students by leaving out crucial context: these “activists” are female terrorists serving sentences in Israeli prisons; Israeli law mandates that a same-sex officer pat down inmates whenever they leave or enter the prison.

In instances like these, important context was missing. It’s understandable if a few curriculum sources have a subtle bias — most do. The problem emerges when all sources present a similar angle. The other book used for the unit, the “Modern Middle East,” was written by James Gelvin, an anti-Israel activist. When teaching their lessons on the conflict, teachers used maps of Israel made by the Palestinian Liberation Organization instead of maps from a more credible source like the U.S. government.

In November, when concerned parents organized a meeting with teachers to discuss the inappropriate materials, teachers and School Committee members read prepared statements and walked out of the auditorium.

Once again, NPS administrators failed to address the concerns raised by its parents and students, and the matter, unfortunately, had to come down to a lawsuit.

It’s unfortunate that the lawsuit targets our teachers — as an Israeli-American student at South, I feel like I am wrongly grouped together with people who have little or no regard for my teachers. Teachers are valued members of our community, and I don’t see the books they were handed to teach with as evidence of their personal bias. However, it’s with missing context and explanation that students like me begin to see no other option but to get to the bottom of this issue with a lawsuit, so I support the organizations doing so on our behalf.

Max Plottel

I

Class of 2019

n the 1993 case McDuffy v. Secretary of Educ., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the Massachusetts constitution’s education clause imposes a duty on the Commonwealth to ensure the education of all children.

NPS has honorably followed the law since its inception, distilling an education amongst the best in the country. Personally, I have seen the history department uphold a high standard of education and instill critical thinking skills in all students. Yet today, our education is under attack by the frivolous lawsuit alleging bias in the history department.

The lawsuit is brought by six plaintiffs who are funded by and are pawns of the hate group APT, an organization as peaceful and as tolerant as David Duke’s NAAWP. APT is looking to force their radical political agenda onto the populous through any means necessary, with no bounds. In the time they have been harassing the NPS, which began almost eight years ago, they have also slandered the former president of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Howard Jaffe, for supporting Islamic terrorism and extremism by hosting an interfaith gathering at Temple Isaiah in Lexington. APT’s radical intolerance is evident.

Like the allegations against Rabbi Jaffe, the lawsuit against the Newton history teachers is also groundless. After a comprehensive review of the NPS curriculum, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education categorically and unequivocally rejected the alleged claims.

In fact, so did the ADL, who wrote that the allegations are “without merit.”

This baseless nuisance lawsuit makes a mockery out of our judicial system, harasses our teachers, burns through taxpayer dollars in legal fees and prevents us from receiving our lawfully entitled education.

From experience and discussions with friends at North and South, I noticed that our education has been impaired: when teachers miss class to fulfill extraneous public records requests, we can’t be taught. When teachers are hauled off to depositions, we can’t be taught. When teachers fear that their lessons will bring them to court, we can’t be taught.

When teachers face death threats and are intimidated away from teaching pressing issues, we can’t be taught.

So what can we do to stop this madness? We countersue.

After consulting with legal scholars and a major law firm, I found that we students have standing to file a counterclaim against the six plaintiffs and their lawyer for depriving us of our education. We can seek damages of $10 million and look for the disbarment of their lawyer for knowingly filing a nuisance lawsuit. The most sure fire way for this suit to be withdrawn is to show them that their harassment will cost them.

Our school system continually presents the full, objective history of events, and does so very well. We cannot let controversial history get pushed into the shadows by fear and lawsuits.

We cannot let our education become indoctrinated.

Elie Berman

Jasmin Rotem

T

Class of 2019

he current lawsuit against members of NPS faculty, while containing some concerning evidence, ultimately neglects to weigh the real-life perspectives of Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, it falls into the outrage-politics of organizations who would rather see the curriculum on Israel and Palestine go untaught or taught with a pro-Israel, right-wing bias.

When examining the main group pushing this narrative, APT, it’s clear to me that the lawsuit isn’t actually being filed on behalf of the students the organization claims are being harmed. Never have I, nor any other Israeli NPS student, been given a platform, survey or support from these groups. APT only cares about furthering their right-wing agenda rather than uplifting minorities, especially given their history targeting Muslims and Leftists.

It is deeply uncomfortable to see the public outrage these groups have created through exploiting emotional reactions from Israeli and Jewish communities by selling us a false narrative of indoctrination in Newton schools. I understand why many people instinctively agreed with the lawsuit — that gut fear of antisemitism is instilled in us from birth — and we are so constantly bombarded with news of hate crimes that the lawsuit’s allegations don’t seem a far reach.

Looking back now, it’s apparent that a lot of the evidence was misrepresented and that the accusations were completely disingenuous. Labeling beloved teachers as “conspirators” has alienated the student body from any Zionist position more than any indoctrination could. It also cheapens the legitimate reports of antisemitic incidents in our school system which have gone unaddressed.

Additionally, attacking NPS for teaching parts of the Quran only serves to victimize Muslims in our community. A day on Judaism next to years of Christianity is the real problem. We are not taught enough base information about the Middle East: about Palestinian history, about Jewish diaspora and racial diversity or about the Holocaust, to have a nuanced perspective.

The lawsuit did bring forward some evidence of anti-Israel bias in the materials.

What it failed to mention was the discontinued use of such sources in classrooms. In the curriculum still taught at North as part of their senior history elective, the biggest flaw is the lack of balance: there is an all-around lack of both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, though an anti-Israel bias is definitely prevalent. American teachers should not be speaking for us or building false dichotomies.

To me, this doesn’t come down to “pro” or “anti” lawsuit, just like as this conflict doesn’t really come down to pro-Palestine or pro-Israel: it comes down to a choice.

Will we choose to follow the right-wing outrage and anti-Israel bias of those outside our community, who wish to taint these conversations, or will we uplift the voices of Israeli and Palestinian students to improve our curriculum and understanding?

At the end of the day, we are the ones that live with this conflict. We are the ones who cry and fight and die in this conflict.

Listen to our voices.

A

Class of 2020

lthough I’ve completed two years of world history at South, the IsraeliPalestinian conflict has still not been mentioned once. As a long-term, immensely impactful, modern world conflict, the fact that it has not been explained or discussed in any of my classrooms is absurd.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex and divisive, and it’s easiest to avoid talking about it. But as a school dedicated to students’ learning and growth, offering the chance to discuss the conflict is essential.

One impact of the ongoing lawsuits against Newton teachers is that they have created an atmosphere of fear that has silenced teaching and discussion. Furthermore, it portrays a strictly pro- or anti-Israel narrative that ignores the countless different voices, stories and perspectives of students in NPS schools and those who experience the conflict themselves.

I find these two confining categories disgraceful. This past summer, I spent a month at Seeds of Peace camp where I met fellow teens from the U.S., Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, who shared their experiences living in daily conflict.

On some days, I felt personally attacked for being Jewish; My religion alone was reason for my Palestinian peers to be angry at me, and tensions escalated quickly.

Yet, we met every day for three and a half weeks, and by the end, no matter what background we came from, we were, to some extent, friends. Our continued discussion and mutual respect despite our differences were the first steps toward developing understanding and empathy.

If not for this camp, I would never have had this opportunity to listen to the stories of peers with such different experiences and opinions from my own. Our conversations offered a unique type of learning, not based on facts and figures, but rather on empathy and connection.

The personal stories I was blessed to hear last summer aren’t available in a history classroom in Newton. But we must still make an effort to discuss as many perspectives as possible to give students the opportunity to develop their own opinions.

When we prevent these conversations from occurring altogether, as the lawsuit has done, we lose the ability to ever listen, understand and collaborate with one another.

When faced with difficult conversations, we must remember the Israeli and Palestinian children our own age who are living in the conflict: if they are able to find the strength to endure it, we should be able to find the strength to merely discuss it.

Supporting Newton teachers in the face of these allegations means supporting open discussion of the conflict in our school.

Although it may not be wholly comfortable, Newton teachers should be able to effectively do their job of educating students on the complexities of our world, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is surely one that merits discussion. Halfway across the world, human lives are at stake.

If we ever want to speak intelligently on or work with them toward reconciliation, we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable by speaking and changing our minds.

EDITORIALS page 8|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

Editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

Best strategy to win college race: take a stroll As the school year draws to a close, college applications seem, to some, like nothing but an unpleasant memory. Senior slump has calmed the once-frantic seniors, who now rejoice over the fruits of their labors with Facebook announcements, college hoodies and Instagram tributes.

For other less fortunate students, the process is just beginning. Juniors applying to college this fall face a daunting task.

With mounting competition and declining acceptance rates, the college application process has degenerated into a brutal race, one in which admission to prestigious schools marks a finish line that only few will manage to cross.

Each new batch of applicants enters the race willing to go to extreme lengths to get ahead. Students pack AP courses into

already-loaded schedules to boost their GPAs and spend hours hunched over test prep books in the hopes of improving their SAT scores. Students assume that what looks best to admissions officers is what’s right.

This mindset corrupts the value of education. Instead of pursuing their genuine interests, students fixate on fine-tuning their test-taking skills and embellishing their resumes. The race ultimately distorts students’ morality.

On the national scale, recent news revealed that wealthy parents had bribed SAT proctors, falsified athletic profiles and made exorbitant donations to get their children into schools like Yale, Stanford and several UCs. But in context of the race, the scandal came as no surprise.

These stories, albeit extreme, are not

a far cry from what routinely happens here.

South students and their families make donations, hire expensive counselors and cheat on standardized testing, all with the goal of securing a spot at elite colleges.

We must reform our attitude toward college and college admissions to a more equitable one that values authenticity; the class of 2020 must set an example as it begins its college application journey.

Rather than mindlessly chasing after schools with esteemed reputations, we must recognize that the value of a college education lies not in a school’s name, but in the experience it offers. Finding the best match should be held above forcing ourselves into prestigious institutions.

Websites that rank colleges based on empty factors, like the number of athletic

complexes and quality of dining halls, are a popular starting point for students. These metrics, however, don’t reflect a school’s individual merit, nor do they help prospective applicants envision themselves in a college’s social and academic environment.

The administration must work with students to help them recognize that prestige and fulfillment don’t always go hand in hand. Guidance counselors and advisors need to do a better job of pointing students in unexplored directions, ones that may lead to true fulfillment, rather than ushering them to Naviance and online rankings.

Students, in turn, should slow down to utilize school resources and reassess what they are searching for. The process shouldn’t be a daunting race down a track field, but a walk in the park of possibility.

Volume XXXV The Lion’s Roar

Volume XXXVI The Lion’s Roar

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper

140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief

Editors-in-Chief

Catherine Granfield Ilan Rotberg

Jennifer Wang Dina Zeldin

Managing Editor

Managing Editors

Dina Zeldin

Peri Barest Carrie Ryter

Section Editors News

Peri Barest Julian Fefer

Features

Sophie Lewis Carrie Ryter

Graphics Manager Alice Zilberberg

Centerfold

Dorra Guermazi Sophie Goodman

Copy Editor Jennifer Wang

Business Managers Javid Kasraie

Section Editors News

Opinions

Chunyu He Caleb Lazar

Sports

Photo Manager Netta Dror

Centerfold

Features

Copy Editor

Sophie Goodman Shoshi Gordon Ellyssa Jeong Siya Patel

Aron Korsunsky Jackson Slater

Graphics Managers Gemma Hill Emily Zhang

Faculty Advisor

Opinions

Julian Fefer Caleb Lazar Dean Zhang

Sophie Lewis

Rachael Wei

Business Managers Fletcher Smyth Jack Wiley

Isabel Flessas Chunyu He Anya Lefkowitz Gillian Tobin

Sports

Dorra Guermazi Aron Korsunsky Jackson Slater

Photo Managers Netta Dror Simone Klein

Faculty Advisor

Ashley Chapman

Ashley Chapman

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.

The Lion’s Roar is printed by Seacoast Newspapers and published every four weeks by Newton South students. All funding comes from advertisers and subscriptions.

In-school distribution of The Lion’s Roar is free, but each copy of the paper shall cost one dollar for each copy more than ten (10) that is taken by any individual or by many individuals on behalf of a single individual. Violation of this policy shall constitute theft.

April 26, 2019 Page 9

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Desk

Bus rides and math class are the EDITOR’S highlights of every Monday.

DESK from the

Dina Zeldin Editor-in-Chief

Every Monday, I recount my weekend to two audiences.

On the bus ride to school, I tell my friend Elie. I could tell her that this past weekend, I went to a dance class in Cambridge with a long-time friend and had a blast pretending I could dance. We stopped at the store to get snacks, and I read my book for English on the train ride home. The next day, I organized college pamphlets from my visits earlier that week and designed some ads for the paper, all the while doing a great job procrastinating on my history notes.

Perhaps one of my stories would remind her of something similar, and she’d reciprocate with her own weekend: her dance troupe had a strange rehearsal; she Facetimed a friend who lives far away; she found the perfect book and plowed through it in a day; she made a spreadsheet to organize her college visits.

Riding the bus together these past three years, Elie and I have become each other’s diary. We’ve shared our tales of heartbreak, excitement, frustration and joy with each other (and any eavesdroppers in the row behind us). Elie and I have never had a class together, nor do we see each other regularly on weekends, but because of our bus-ride chats, I’ve connected more with her than with other friends with whom I share multiple classes each day. Elie and I spend every groggy morning reflecting on the past before

moving onward with our day.

As the blocks whizz by, my reflection continues, and by the time E block rolls around, I’ve refined the morning’s record to a polished anecdote to share in math class: I’d been eyeing the hip-hop class for months before I proposed to my friend that we go. We couldn’t find each other on the red-line train, partly because she transferred at the wrong stop and partly because I left 30 minutes later than I promised. Our hip-hop

hollow and mango jelly-filled marshmallows that had the same texture as a pillow.

At the discretion of Mr. Normandin, I and every other junior in precalc burn through half an hour of every Monday’s class with our weekend stories. Over the course of the year, my section developed several series.

Particularly gripping are the tales of babysitting fiascos and tennis lesson progress. The boys in the back of the room always plugged their basketball team scores until spring

“ ” In a place constantly streaming toward individual productivity, these short breaks dedicated to story-telling are a welcome breath of connection

instructor was a lively woman whose spunk and bright red sweatpants disguised her age.

We danced, or at least attempted to dance, to a yet-to-be-released song by a Berklee student that had the pop of something I’d add to one of my playlists. There was a group of five college kids who could actually dance, and their energy was mesmerizing, as well as helpful when I forgot the combo myself.

Afterward, my friend and I stopped by the nearby H Mart to spend $20 on exotic candy. It was my first time at H Mart, so we piled a selection of Asian novelties into our bags: Mario Kart-inspired gummy bears that tasted like the smell of Dawn dish soap, friedchicken flavored chips that were surprisingly

came and they switched to lacrosse. Every so often, a different voice pipes up to share an anecdote of a surprise birthday party, a family photo or a new hedgehog.

What makes these math class discussions so great is that these fairly superficial tidbits still manage to create camaraderie.

The short stories are a portal into the lives of my classmates, and they’ve effectively made the classroom a community.

Our weekend discussions aren’t quiet whispers exchanged between friends during lessons, nor are they the empty discussions teachers tolerate while their powerpoints load on the projector. The time is set aside purposefully and thoughtfully, with a

question-and-answer session after each story.

The finale of every weekend story marathon is Normandin’s own weekend, which typically includes exorbitant portions of Bertucci’s olive oil and bread, Magic: The Gathering tournaments and outings with his wife. Mr. Normandin, thank you for setting an example of what it’s like to really participate in a class, to ask questions to others, and to tell stories. Elie, thank you for waking up (almost) every Monday to greet me with your breakfast and life update.

In a place constantly streaming toward individual productivity, these short breaks dedicated to story-telling are a welcome breath of connection — that’s worth the time investment that would otherwise be spent doing work. By setting aside the time in my day to share a little of my life with others and to learn something about theirs, I can begin to embrace the lives and interests of those around me — teachers, classmates and friends alike — and build a community founded on compassion.

On the bus, this means pushing off my unfinished Spanish homework until the five minutes before A block starts, so I can focus on Elie. In math, it means that Mr. Normandin sprints through his lesson in the remaining 20 minutes of class — don’t worry, we all did fine on the midyear anyway.

The trade-off is worth it. Listening and sharing foster empathy, a bond rarely found in South’s hallways. I’m glad I can count on its presence during my math class and bus ride to school.

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

Photos

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

Writing Graphics

Conduct interviews, report on compelling topics or write about your own opinions.

Draw, paint or use digital techniques to create pieces that accompany printed articles.

issuu.com/thelionsroar Message The-Lion’s Roar on Facebook or email srstaff@thelionsroar.com for more information.

OPINIONS page 10|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

Should colleges be test optional?

H

ow can standardized tests reflect a student who is passionate about starting college? The answer is, they can’t. College entrance exams should be optional because they create hurdles for many students.

For one, standardized tests are not an accurate measure of a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, do not provide information on whether or not an individual has all of the essential study, social and life skills required for college and adult life. Standardized tests offer nothing about a student’s ambition, work ethic or social skills, all of which are vital for success in college.

By basing a student’s entire profile on the results of one exam, colleges completely disregard a student’s potential growth. A single exam only reflects a student’s ability to perform under pressure, not the actual quality of their skills. Moreover, standardized testing does not guarantee a student’s success in college.

What is more problematic, however, is the systemic disadvantages to students with learning disabilities, students whose native language is not English and students from low-income families. Exams like the SAT and ACT leave these groups at a great disadvantage, because the exams fail to accommodate their needs.

Students with AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia or other learning disabilities have a harder time taking tests, as they may struggle to concentrate under the pressure of a time limit. Although time extention is allowed for students with learning disabilities, in reality, it cannot make up for the disadvantages these students face.

Similarly, students who are non-native English speakers may struggle to score well because the test is administered only in English. While these students may have excellent knowledge in certain subject areas, their scores wouldn’t reflect their knowledge because they don’t speak or read English well enough to understand questions and directions.

Lastly, lowincome students are limited by standardized testing because they may not be able

YES

NO

By Jibek Kelgenbaeva

By Maia Kahn

to afford the tutors or classes their wealthier counterparts use to prepare. Students from poor neighborhoods may not have the same quality public education as that of upperclass applicants.

These exams inadequately assess a student’s college readiness and favor certain populations over others, regardless of an applicant’s qualifications. Standardized testing serves as an obstacle on the path to college and future success to all but wealthy, native English speaking students. It is therefore imperative that colleges and universities allow students to present themselves in alternative methods such as submitting an in-depth research paper, sports achievements, AP test scores or recommendation letters.

Schools that require tests systemically disadvantage disabled, immigrant and low-income students by using a limited metric.

Colleges should instead consider applicants holistically, beyond what is reflected on a scantron.

92

E

test-optional colleges view the person, not the numbers. Removing the barrier created by tests would increae diversity by providing less-privileged students who may not have the resources to proactively prepare for the SAT with a more fair chance at admission.

While some smaller institutions do see an increase in diversity, prestigious schools going test-optional would only exacerbate existing inequalities.

In reality, going test-optional primarily benefits the reputation of a school by allowing for a more selective admissions process. Students whose lower scores would deter them from sending in applications will be more willing to apply for colleges that are test optional. As a result, colleges will decrease their acceptance rate, by prioritizing applications with test scores. While one’s score on the SAT is in no way completely representative of their intelligence, students who work especially hard to get a high score demonstrate a sense of determination and work ethic that high-ranking, selective schools want in their applicants. High scores show that applicants are equipped to handle the rigorous education elite colleges provide.

Without these test scores, schools will only focus on other areas of the application in which less-privileged students may still come up short; if, for instance, Columbia or Harvard suddenly went test-optional, admission would most likely then go to the students with the highest GPAs, the most academic awards or the most inspiring service trip experiences. Realize that these activities only benefit the rich since applicants from low-income families do not have the financial support for these extracurriculars.

This offsets the goal that colleges set out to achieve by going test-optional in the first place, further skewing the number of admitted students under the guise of welcoming all types of skill sets.

Maybe in 10 years, the SAT and ACT will be things of the past. But, until then, selective colleges should maintain their requirement of test scores as a fair measurement of student’s academic progress. What needs to change is the belief that these tests are the most important indicator of who a student is. Yes, we could do away with asking for these scores, but would it fix the racial or socioeconomic biases that already plague the college admissions process?

No. This implementation is not a one-way ticket to more diverse schools.

Test scores are merephoto illustration by Andrew Meyer ly one facet, among countless others that arguably have a much higher impact on acceptance, through which a student can demonstrate their academic abilities. It’s one small, unfortunately necessary piece of a larger puzzle, and we need to view it as such.

veryone knows that junior year is the worst. Whether you’re dreading it, living it or shuddering at the memory of it, 11th grade holds a foreboding position in the psyche of students everywhere. It is the time when students start to think about college, take on heavier workloads and face increasing social pressure as adulthood approaches.

The main factor that distinguishes junior year is standardized testing. As a result of the stress spurred by these exams, many students oppose the system of basing college admission on one three-and-a-half-hour test.

Many schools are opting to become “testoptional” to place emphasis on the holistic judgment of a student’s profile rather than a simple number. This means that the submission of standardized test scores is no long required for applicants at certain schools.

Sounds perfect, right? No more combing PrepScholar and College Cofidential for SAT ranges or “chance me” forums for elite schools —

percent of students plan to send test scores to colleges.

The Roar anonymosouly surveyed 354 students.

April 26, 2019 Page 11

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Opinions

Your Favorite Online Beauty Influencer Is Corrupt

By Avigail rosen Before I deleted Instagram, I used to play a fun little game I called “Photoshop Or Not” on the app. In this game, I would guess if someone’s picture was photoshopped.

While the game was fun, photoshopped posts were alarmingly easy to find. On social media, people edit themselves to fit desirable beauty standards like optimal physicality or porcleain white teeth. These Photoshop jobs, however, are often so poorly done that it’s pretty easy to spot them. Surprisingly enough, walls don’t curve on their own, and your teeth aren’t naturally that white. Yet, such edited photos are not exclusively found on the everyday teenage girl’s account. The ultimate aces among these Photoshoppers are online influencers.

There are three major types of online influencers. First, the group that I like to call the “online influencers for those who are never online.” These influencers are the mommy bloggers who make the top 10 easiest back-to-school lunches, the 60-year-old men who show you the best way to fix your jammed drawer and the YouTubers with a mere 337 subscribers who teach you how to clean your burnt pan.

Next, there are the entertaining influencers. They are the Minecraft YouTubers you watched when you were in fifth grade, or the sketch comedians you watch now. The entertaining YouTubers create hilarious and sometimes even thoughtful content. They put great effort into their work.

Finally, we have the “Instagram’s baby gone rogue” influencers — the beauty influencers who are photoshopped to perfection. They are the brand ambassadors with inspirational quotes in their captions (that is, if you find inspiration in something as generic as “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, but instead learning how to dance in the rain”). Out of all three types,

Most of these influencers cater largely to young and impressionable teenage girls.

Not only do beauty influencers present artificial beauty standards, but worse, they exploit their audience through various promotions of beauty products that are often overpriced, ineffective and harmful.

A prime example of this phenomenon is the promotion of FitTea. Instagram beauty

“ ” Their path to fame is not through creating content they love making nor through cultivating blog posts they enjoy writing. ... For beauty influencers, the only fun part of their job is making money.

beauty influencers irritate me the most.

Beauty influencers put minimal effort into gaining their fame: taking a few pictures of yourself standing in a mirror is not a talent and downloading Facetune is not a skill.

Furthermore, these stars are using their power and influence for the wrong reasons.

Beauty influencers only care about money. Their path to fame is not through creating content they love making nor through cultivating blog posts they enjoy writing. Instead, the very basis of their task is unsustainable and boring. For beauty influencers, the only fun part of their job is making money.

influencers advertise FitTea as a detox potion that can help consumers lose weight fast. The National Advertising Division, however, found no evidence “that drinking FitTea by itself [would] boost metabolism, boost immunity, burn fat or otherwise result in weight loss.” FitTea essentially acts as a glorified, overpriced laxative. The U.S. National Library of Medicine even found that “long-term use [of FitTea] can cause heart function disorders, muscle weakness, liver damage and other harmful effects.”

By continuing to promote FitTea and other similarly empty products, beauty influencers exploit celebrity-like status for profit and

harm their audiences.

A beauty influencer’s entire brand comes down to the beautification of their bodies to be seen as what everybody wants to be.

They themselves are a product, ready to be sold to consumers. Every overpriced phone case sold, every unsafe chemical pushed onto young girls and every unattainable beauty standard that beauty influencers endorse is just a low price for influencers to pay in pursuit of their next check.

It’s time we take a break from Instagram and the hollow ideals beauty influencers represent.

graphic by Emily Zhang

Prom and Semi Facebook Groups Promote Unity among Girls

By Gillian Tobin Fashion is our most accessble form of self-expression, as clothes present our personality, culture, beliefs and any other aspect of our being. It is therefore understandable that very few girls would want to be caught wearing the same dress at an event like semi or prom. To prevent this issue, students create Facebook groups where girls “claim” their dresses by posting pictures of their dresses in the group. These groups are conceived at the beginning of semi or prom seasons, a period that starts in March and closes in early June.

During this period, girls spend hundreds of dollars in search of the perfect makeup, hairstyle, dress, shoes and accessories to prepare for the big day.

Although some have harshly criticized these online forums, accusing them of breeding hostility and unhealthy rivalry amongst girls, these Facebook groups have photo illustration by Simone Klein and Emily Zhang

proven to do otherwise. As girls flock to post their dresses in the groups, their pictures are met with a beacon of positive comments. Girls share affirmations such as “You’ll look amazing in this!” or “I love this dress!” Heart eye emojis abound. Regardless of each member’s follower count or her dress’s style, each post is met with a slew of compliments, a stark contrast to alleged negativity and acrimony.

These positive affirmations are especially necessary in high school when girls’ self-esteem is often at an all-time low.

According to the Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report, eight in 10 girls opt out of important life events when they do not feel good about their physical apperance.

The sea of positive affirmations on these platforms through which girls encourage each other to wear outfits and attend semi or prom thus promotes unity at a time of vulnerability, a time when external pressures from various sources manifest themselves in adolescent girls.

At South, students are in constant competition under a high-stress environment. From comparing SAT scores, number of honors and AP classes, test scores and even number of extracurricular activities, no student is exempt from unhealthy competition and school-driven anxiety. Thus, online forums such as semi and prom dress Facebook groups have become a haven where girls can support each other and build up their self confidence away from the anxietyinducing routine of academic life.

Additionally, these groups foster

individuality and self-expression, two virtues that often take a back seat throughout a student’s high school years. Since the groups were created to prevent multiple girls from wearing the same dress, girls can be sure that the dress they plan to wear is unique to them. Female students hesitant to express themselves too loudly can opt to do so through mediums of unique fabrics and patterns. The groups encourage girls to wear whatever they feel best in, regardless of if the dress is vintage, hand-me-down or sold from common retailers such as Lulu’s or Forever 21. Girls know that no one else at the event will be identical to them, and no one will play the “Who wore it better?” game, which often conjures damaging rivalry and comparison of physical apperance.

These forums reduce the stresses of semi and prom season, which, in addition to their hefty price tags, incite distress amongst students of all genders who worry about dates and outfits. In an abyss of disquietude, the Facebook groups provide a sense of security. These groups alleviate decisionmaking stress and, most importantly, allow girls facing ravaging insecurities about their outfit and external appearance to feel more confident prior to the event.

Obviously, online validation is not the only way to spark confidence in insecure girls, nor is it an ideal method to eradicate self-esteem issues. However, a simple compliment, whether on Facebook, over text or face-to-face, could alter someone’s self-image entirely; its power should never be underestimated.

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Cut Away Proposed schedule will be the downfall of fine and performing arts

I

By Daniel Sivachenko

n the fall of 2020, South plans to implement a new schedule in which classes would meet three times a week during longer blocks. While this change ostensibly benefits students’ mental health, the schedule sacrifices South’s electives, especially the arts.

Relative to core classes, elective courses will be disproportionately affected by the adaptation of longer periods and fewer sessions. Most electives at South don’t fall into the familiar lecture and homework cycle of traditional education, nor will they respond to the new schedule in the same way. Class time in school facilities like the darkroom cannot be replicated at home, and disciplines using ‘accessible’ materials like Adobe software introduce a cost barrier to students who seek an arts education outside of school. The new schedule cuts about 20 percent of class time from every block, and while academic courses can make up the difference with homework, many electives are left with stunted curricula.

South first implemented its current schedule 20 years ago. Since then, the school has built up a rich culture of elective courses, offering everything from jazz ensemble and photography to computer modeling and engineering. Out of these elective offerings, the Fine and Performing Arts (F&PA) are the most popular among the student body.

It’s easy to see why students keep choosing art courses: they can explore their own means of creative expression and focus on personal growth, instead of on grades. According to the 2016 Class Size Report, over 50 percent of students participate in a visual art class, such as painting or photography, 20 percent of students take a music class and just under 10 percent are enrolled in a theater class. The schedule change thus must work to preserve F&PA. Unfortunately, the effort to restructure the schedule around core classes pushes F&PA classes aside, undermining the importance of the arts in

students’ lives. In a survey of 374 students who are currently enrolled in art, music or theater classes, three-quarters of respondents cited reducing stress as a major benefit of F&PA courses, and another 60 percent wrote that they are able to deeply explore the arts despite not pursuing art school or conservatory after high school. One anonymous student said that “being in an F&PA class is a chance for me to be happy in a school where I’m not usually happy.” The arts at South are an important contribution to students’ social and emotional well being, and stifling their ability to explore their creativity and reduce stress contradicts the original goal of the new schedule.

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Elective offerings also give students the opportunity to learn in disciplines that they would not otherwise be exposed to.

Eighty percent of the survey’s respondents agreed that classes at South allow them to deeply explore the arts and to even prepare for higher education in the subject. Due to standardized testing requirements and state curriculum standards, most schools in Massachusetts offer identical material in their core classes. The strength and variety of South’s F&PA programs makes it stand out from the rest. The new schedule, however, will take away these unique opportunities.

A major component of the demonstrated success of electives at South is the ability to take a class for half the blocks of a ‘full’ class. With this system, students can pack multiple electives into their schedule while still managing their academics. Meeting twice a week provides a respite for students and helps maintain a stable schedule for teachers.

Any new schedule should capitalize on what’s already working well for both students and teachers, rather than diminishing it.

As the new schedule lowers the number of the meetings for “full” classes from four to three times a week, “half” classes are put in an even more precarious position. Instead of consistently meeting twice a week, the half classes will meet twice for one week and once during the next. They will also share one

block with another course, alternating how many meetings the classes have every week.

Classes with ‘off’ weeks where they meet half as much as during their ‘on’ week will damage performing groups. Rehearsalbased classes such as those in music or theater lose the consistency of their meetings, reducing the efficacy of the detailed feedback of the instructors as students begin to forget what they had discussed in the last class. Moreover, these classes would only meet for three-fourths as many periods in a year. If ‘half’ classes have four meetings in two weeks now, under the new schedule they only come together three times in the same two weeks.

Whereas replacing sessions with additional time in class works for a course with a set curriculum, losing the opportunity for students to go home and improve before the next meeting based off teacher feedback will reduce the potential of students to achieve at a high level.The pace of classes is brought to a halt, and groups such as theater or music ensembles begin to grow apart without chances to work together.

Maintaining the quality of arts education is imperative, as South and its schedule should support students exploring the arts rather than reducing their opportunities. For myself and others, such small decisions as taking one jazz class during freshman year have kickstarted our journeys to performing at national competitions and receiving merit scholarships. For some, it is even the launch to a professional music career. These successes can ultimately be attributed to music classes and programs at South.

The fine arts classes are similarly influential on students’ lives. South’s student artists have received national recognition in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, as well as acceptance to prestigious art and design schools.

It is evident that students are committed to excelling in their electives, which points to the importance of F&PA in their lives.

In cutting F&PA, the proposed schedule will only harm students’ opportunity to learn outside of a rigid academic mold.

As the School Committee continues deliberating on the future of class structure, students must voice every concern they have to the administration.

The administration, on the other hand, must work closely to maintatin the exellence of the electives at South to create a schedule that benefits the entire student body, academically as well as emotionally.

photo illustration by Netta Dror and Dina Zeldin

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Shifting our focus & shedding Light A s I walked down the hospital hallway, I looked from room to room, hoping to find my best friend inside of one. When I finally came to his room, I saw him sitting on his hospital bed, dressed in a light blue johnny. Although he didn’t have an IV or a heart monitor in his room, — he was watching “Finding Bigfoot” on the TV —I understood that my friend was far from okay. He was ill in a way that had not yet made a physical mark, but was nonetheless eating away at him.

I can still remember almost every detail from the moment when I first faced him after he was hospitalized for suicidal ideation, as it was in the same moment that I realized how devastating the effects of mental illness truly could be. After four days of waiting in the hospital, my friend was sent to an adolescent inpatient program at a psychiatric hospital. I was glad to see him getting help, but I could not help but wonder if there had been a way to prevent his situation from reaching this point.

To this day, I fear that there was something I could have done differently to help him.

Upon entering South, I quickly realized that student stress — academic and social — was one of the biggest issues. At every turn there was someone, usually a teacher or guidance counselor, talking about the consequences of a heavy academic workload, or a new-fangled breathing technique that would solve all of your problems. Yet it is all talk.

The deeper, darker problem that plagues much of the student population is seldom discussed within school walls despite its prevalence among adolescents. The issue in question is that of mental health, but more specifically, mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression.

During my freshman year, I witnessed how mental illness severely affected several of the most important people in my life, as well as myself. Through my struggles, I somehow believed that I was alone, and that my experiences were completely unusual. I had never heard anyone at South, adults or teens, talk about what it was like to live with a mental illness, and I had little exposure to the concept outside of school.

By sophomore year, however, I began to open up to more people in my life about my anxiety and depression, and the response was eye-opening. Almost everyone that I talked to shared a similar experience, of witnessing the damage caused by mental illness unfold.

So why does South neglect to teach about an issue as pervasive as this one? Although South implements the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program, a one-day curriculum taught in freshman and junior year, which is designed to be a crash course in identifying the warning signs of suicidal thoughts and actions, the attention to mental illness ends there.

When I consider what might have prevented my friend from reaching his breaking point, the first thing that comes to mind is a mental health education that places additional focus on the warning signs in an individual that could lead to suicidal thoughts and actions, such as depression or an anxiety disorder. The SOS program only focuses on individuals who are actively suicidal, ignoring those who are on their way to becoming suicidal. Covering less severe instances of mental illness in the curriculum would inform students about both signs of developing mental illness and proper treatment options.

Instead, South’s curriculum focuses almost solely on suicide and suicide attempts.

It’s no surprise that we only hear about suicide attempts when they are successful; losing an individual to suicide is one of the scariest and most upsetting experiences. Even after my friend’s recovery, I am still shaken by the pain and fear from the mere possibility of losing him, so I can only imagine how horrific the death of a loved one to suicide could be. For

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South’s mental health curriculum should take preventative measures to help students identify mental illness early

By Isabel Flessas

every suicide attempt that results in death, however, there are innumerable failed ones.

If if we paid more attention to symptoms that lead to suicidality proactively, rather than just reactively, there would not only be fewer deaths to suicide, but fewer attempts and more people getting proper treatment.

Houses have smoke detectors for a reason — to recognize a fire hazard before it’s ran its course — the same preventative logic must be applied here.

Those who oppose further discussing mental illness in schools argue that incorporating mental illness topics into curricula makes people “uncomfortable.” Such discomfort derives from the massive stigma that looms over mental health issues — particularly suicide — and prevents people from being properly educated on them. By refusing to discuss mental illness openly, however, we are saying that teen suicide prevention is not worth being uncomfortable for a day or two.

Consider what we have been taught in school about mental health. In wellness class, we learn about stress relief techniques and how to balance school with life. On the other hand, in both freshman and junior year SOS classes, we learn how to identify signs of suicide in our friends and intervene in potentially dangerous situations.

While both suicide prevention and stress relief are very important, they represent two different extremes of mental health, completely omitting the more common

graphic by Gemma Hill

struggle. South’s curriculum fails to represent the mental health issues that a considerable portion of the student body faces on a daily basis.

There are many students and adults at South who suffer from mental illness, and lead regular lives, but South’s curriculum completely ignores these individuals who deal with the more mild, yet still adverse effects of mental illness.

It makes no sense to completely ignore what is arguably the largest cause of suicide.

In fact, some mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression disorders, can worsen if not treated properly, leading to potentially life threatening circumstances, most notably suicide attempts.

The way we currently teach mental health is the equivalent of your doctor telling you that sunburns cause skin cancer without ever mentioning that sunscreen could have prevented the sunburn in the first place.

By focusing on the worst case scenario, the curriculum fails to address the problem at its source, instead choosing to focus on only the worst case scenario.

South has recently made some great steps toward raising mental health awareness through the AWARE Club and student voices. But in the past three years, I have still witnessed friends be hospitalized from mental illness, which proves that the lack of earlier intervention and awareness for mental illness at South still leaves much to be desired.

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UPGRADE

9 Easter Candy on sale Eating lunch outside Shorts and T-Shirts

campus chatter

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The Lion’s Roar asked...

What is the most overrated TV show?

“Grey’s Anatomy is overrated. I watched until the fourth season, and Meredith just won’t mature.”

- Nayleth Lopez-Lopez, Class of 2019 “I don’t want to ever see an episode of Game of Thrones.”

- Danny Collins, Class of 2020

Senior Slump Promposals Senior Skip Day

“The show Friends doesn’t seem very good.”

- Eva Zackarakis, Class of 2021

Bread

“Riverdale because it’s everywhere, and it’s not that good.”

- Minaya Hajibayova, Class of 2022

Sleeping in during MCAS

photos by Chunyu He

9

DOWNGRADE

Spring allergies AP Exams Shaving legs Stale matzah Sporks in the cafeteria Snow Day Calculator says zero percent Promposals College Tours

Hot Take: “Sucker” Song Review

by Ethan Faulkner The Jonas Brothers’ recently released single, “Sucker,” caught the world by surprise. Who knew that after six years, the Jonas Brothers would reunite? Most people cherished this unexpected comeback without paying much attention to the song itself, causing a lack of regard to the basic and ordinary sound it possesses.

Nick, Joe and Kevin first formed the band in 2005. The Jonas Brothers were a hit from the start, especially with teens, but disbanded in 2013 and canceled the release of their fifth album.

After six years of radio silence, the world-famous Brothers reunited to release this surprise single. And the world rushed to enjoy it: the song managed to climb to the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100, the first boy band single to do so since 2003.

The song is set to high-pitched vocals and tedious instrumentals with poppy clapping interlaced with basic fouron-the-floor drums. The song’s squeaky-clean production eliminates any enjoyment from the potential of the base, the only likeable aspect of the song.

The baseline is well-written and groovy, with well-timed intervals between it and the drums. The baseline is the closest the song gets to having any sort of a distinct personality. That, however, is pretty much where the enjoyment ends. Everything else feels empty. The Jonas Brothers have created the most watered-down, widespread and un-

appealing music possible. There is nothing challenging to the music and nothing that catches your ear, so why bother listening to it? Indeed, the Jonas Brothers’ triumphant return feels hollow and bland — “Sucker” just sucks.

The music video is a perfect reflection of the song. Much like the base, the colors are fun and well-blended together, but that’s where the amusement ends. The dancing is sparse and most of the scenes depict the brothers leaning in towards the camera or their wives strutting around in pretty clothes.

If the Jonas Brothers had never disbanded, they would have slowly been left behind with the rest of their time.

The only fathomable reason this song has become popular is that everyone is simply excited to see the brothers again and reminisce over their music through a nostalgic lens. If this new single has anything to show, it is that nothing has changed for The Jonas Brothers in their past six years of silence.

photo courtesy of Republic Records

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April 26, 2019 Page 15

Crossing A Line C On the road to college, students push boundaries and hire college counselors to get ahead.

By Sophie Lewis

W

hen junior Beatrice Chen* hesitated to take two English classes during her senior year, her college counselor encouraged the heavy course load to strengthen Chen’s narrative as an applicant interested in the humanities.

“He was like, ‘You’ll be fine; you can do it,’ brushing it off like ‘this is what you have to do if you want to go to these schools,’” Chen said. “I don’t really want to do that, but again, I should probably take his advice. I’m paying him to give me advice.”

An initial consultation intended to clarify the college application process left Chen feeling more stressed.

“It is a lot of pressure because I’m expected to take those courses and maintain a good GPA,” she said.

Chen asked to remain anonymous because she said students with college counselors are often viewed negatively, given the recent admissions scandal.

Despite the secrecy surrounding college consulting, it remains a popular option for students. While many cite counselors as a great resource to navigate the application process, others worry that the race to get into college is crossing an ethical line.

A Helping Hand

e Klein

on Dror and Sim tion by Netta photo illustra

The college application process has become more complicated since guidance counselor Hae-Kyung Choi was applying to college; students now apply to more schools, she said. College acceptance rates are also decreasing — for instance, Cornell’s dropped by over 18 percent in the past 15 years — and the growing competition leaves students stressed.

“It’s created this vicious cycle where students are feeling more anxious, so they apply to more schools, and then the stats look worse,” Choi said.

College counselors clarify the convoluted process, Mindy Mitchell, the associate director of college counseling at Campus Bound, said. Campus Bound has offices across Massachusetts, and its counselors help students with all aspects of the college process, from making college lists to editing essays.

“The number of options can feel overwhelming,” Mitchell said. “We’re in the business of working with students and parents to try to simplify a process that’s become increasingly complex and stressful.”

Casey Near, executive director of college counseling at Collegewise, said she enjoys helping students manage their stress and fear, emotions she said are not inherent to the process.

“This can be a phase of self discovery when you learn to own the process and learn about yourself,” she said.

South provides resources like the College and Career Counselor Center and the guidance department to help students navigate the college process. Yet many students, like senior Javid Kasraie, also have private counselors and tutors.

“Ms. Sabet is a great resource for people, but at times she can be very busy, and that can have an impact on the advice she gives,” Kasraie said.

Senior Gabe Stephan flew to Maryland to receive interview help from his college counselor, which he and his parents agreed was a worthy investment.

“It definitely makes the college process a lot easier when you have people guiding you through when you have questions and don’t know who to turn to,” he said.

Other students and parents question if the college process merits hiring a counselor. This decision was a topic of contention in junior Simone Seiner’s home.

“My dad felt like you should use the systems that are in place, ... and my mom was like, ‘We shouldn’t take advantage of things other people can’t afford,’” Seiner said.

“When I said to them, ‘I really need this. I have no idea what I’m doing,’ that sealed it.”

Junior Amy Xiao said that rather than finding a private counselor, she values older friends’ perspectives and chooses

to ask them for advice.

“It’s much easier to talk to them than to get a professional who doesn’t know you,” she said. “You have all of the resources you need within South and don’t need to pay extra.”

Immigrant Guilt and Pressure

South’s immigrant parents value top-tier schools, students said. Some turn to college counselors who are more familiar with the process.

Chen said her parents, who immigrated from China, expect her to do her best in high school and later in college.

“For a lot of immigrant parents, when they come to the U.S., they come, so they can give their kid this really good future and the American dream,” Chen said. “The way to guarantee that is to get a college counselor.”

Kasraie said that his parents, originally from Iran, are unfamiliar with the college process and were unable to support his older sister when she applied to college.

“She never had someone to guide her through the process, and because of that, she wasn’t able to land where she wanted to,” he said. “My parents felt, to a degree, guilty.”

As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, sophomore Ellen Yang said she has set her sights on a prestigious university and began planning for college earlier than most of her peers.

“From kindergarten my parents stressed the importance of going to college and why everything I do now leads up to it,” she said. “Starting in middle school, I planned out which extracurriculars I would take so that I’d be the best candidate.”

Yang said that she wishes she had a counselor to help her manage college stress, but her parents see the college consulting business as a scam.

“They think that tutors aren’t going to help me as much as if I hit the books myself,” she said.

When it was his turn to start applying to schools, Kasraie said that his parents chose to hire a college counselor after seeing the success of family friends who had done so.

“All of their input into the process was based off of what others were doing,” he said.

Every school on his college list had to meet his parents’ standards, Kasraie said.

“The only reason name brands were important to my parents was so they could brag to their friends that their son is going to a name brand school,” he said.

Arms Race

Increased pressure to attend top-tier schools has caused many to seek tutoring and counseling.

Such pressure can seep in inconspicuously, Sabet said.

Displaying merchandise from one’s alma mater — a bumper sticker or a logo sweatshirt — became popular in the 1980s as a symbol of status. From there, parents and students alike began valuing school names as a symbol of clout.

“Everybody wants to put those stickers on their cars, and it’s less about ‘what are you getting as a result of going to that school?’” Sabet said.

“It’s the prestige that comes with it and the bragging rights that you get when you go to an Ivy League school,” Kasraie, who plans to attend Cornell University, said.

College rankings popularized by platforms such as U.S. News and Niche further fuel the race to get into prestigious schools.

“The rankings are fed by families and parents saying, ‘I would like to know what school is better than the other,’ and then colleges are in an arms race to become ranked,” Near said. “One of those pieces of the rankings is how many buildings are you building, how many things do you have actively being constructed, how many donations do you have.”

Chen said a school’s reputation and rank will affect her decisions.

Students who have a private college counselor:

37.8% 37.5% 10.0% 7.1%

“I always look to see the list, but I never actually look at what factors they’re looking at,” Chen said.

Despite facing pressure to attend a top-tier university, junior Matthew Cole said that his mom’s experiences demonstrate that attending a prestigious school does not determine later success: currently the chair of Dermatology at Boston University Medical Center, she studied at a state school in New York.

“Where you go isn’t who you’ll be — that’s something that I am going to have to try really hard to remember,” Cole said.

Opening Doors

The downfalls of college rankings extend beyond pressuring students to attend elite schools.

“Getting rid of this intense ranking system of schools would definitely decrease some of the competition,” senior Ben Kiritsy said. “You might be less likely to hear about some scandal.”

Recent investigations of parents paying for illegal “sidedoor” admission to college have exposed how far families are willing to go. College consultant William Singer pled guilty to falsifying test scores, bribing coaches and engaging in other illegal behaviors to help 50 families gain college admission, the New York Times reported.

The scandal has involved many high-profile figures, and together, Singer’s deals between 2011 and 2018 totaled $25 million.

“It definitely doesn’t make wealthy people look very good, and it definitely doesn’t make a town like Newton look very good, even if we’re not directly affected,” sophomore Charlie Weinstein said.

Near said she was not surprised by the scandal.

“For as long as higher education has existed in America, privilege has allowed people to open doors that don’t exist to other people,” she said.

An unjust system

South is not immune to the illicit behaviors that were exposed at other schools.

Kasraie said that he observed a classmate get into a prestigious school when his father made a large donation, while another student with higher test scores and better grades was rejected.

“That’s the kind of donating I don’t have respect for,” he said.

As a clinical psychologist and school consultant in Newton, South parent Deborah Offner has encountered parents willing to go to great lengths to advantage their kid in the college admissions process.

“I’ve had parents who arrange interviews with the president of a college,” she said. “I’ve seen parents pressuring college counselors at their children’s high schools about finding ways to get their kids a leg up or an advantage. I’ve seen parents contact, for example, a friend who’s a professor at a college, and they have that friend contact admissions at that college to get a special consideration for their kid.”

“There’s a strong belief that hard work can get you anywhere, but the fact that kids are getting in on legacy and endowments over kids who have done everything on their own negates that idea,” Xiao said.

Kiritsy said he plans to attend Bowdoin college in the fall, following in the footsteps of his dad and brother.

“To sit there and say that being a legacy plays no role in admissions is a false statement, but to sit there and say that it guarantees you a spot is also a false statement,” he said.

Sophomore Maya Makarovsky said that improving equity in college admissions should not come at the expense of wealthy students.

“The way to combat that is to not disadvantage the people that do have money. It’s to advantage the people that don’t,” she said.

Students who have recieved SAT/ACT tutoring:

On Our Way To Success

South has taken action to even the college admissions playing field for less affluent students. One such program is On Our Way To Success, which provides support to low income and first generation students.

Senior Leah Ward said that applying to schools would have been difficult if the program had not covered application fees.

“I applied to NYU, and at NYU the application was like $80, and I’m like, ‘That’s ridiculous, why would anyone pay that?’” she said.

Ward said that while financial assistance from the On Our Way To Success Program helps lower-income students, they still face obstacles.

“It’s hard to even go to the college you want,” she said.

“You might not get enough money from that college.”

No Clear Line

For wealthy families, standard college application costs such as application and test fees are not burdensome, and the choice to spend more money on a private counselor is an unfair but reasonable one, Offner said.

“They’re definitely not fair,” she said. “Is it justified or justifiable? I don’t see why not. I think any parents who could get an advantage for their child to get into a college that they feel their child really should be able to go to is going to do that.”

“You do what is best for your kid,” senior Ben Powdermaker said. “College admissions will not become fair because one family decides not to give their kid the best chance.”

Even though she does not have a college counselor, Yang said she still has an advantage.

“If I was less well off, or if I wasn’t living in a community with as many opportunities as Newton, I would be a lot more upset about the system that’s in place, but because I have the upper hand, it hasn’t bothered me as much,” she said.

Cole, however, said that he is glad not to have a college counselor. Instead, he said he is looking forward to working with his parents and older sister.

“If I had a college counselor, I definitely would feel ashamed to have taken an opportunity that not everyone has the means to acquire,” he said.

Weinstein said that he feels guilty about his plans to work with a college counselor.

“On a personal level, the benefits outweigh the negatives, but at the end of the day, I’m contributing to the divide between wealthy kids applying to college and kids with less means,” he said. “If I get into some top school, it won’t feel like I earned it.”

A counselor’s advice nonetheless does not guarantee students acceptance, Mitchell said.

“These additional services are only as good as the student is willing to put in his or her own effort,” she said.

Students can get into college with or without the additional support college counselors provide, Near said.

“I always liken it to paying taxes,” she said. “You can pay your taxes completely on your own. Some people hire an accountant, but you definitely don’t need an accountant to get your taxes done. Same thing goes for me.”

Kiritsy said that having advantages in college admissions begins before a student considers college counseling, making it harder to differentiate between right and wrong.

“I find it hard to draw the line because if you’re a wealthy family, you’re already putting your kids in a better position than someone who doesn’t have as much money,” he said.

“If you’re going to be able to send your kids to elite public schools and elite private schools, then why should you not be allowed to then use a college counselor?” *Name changed to protect student’s identity

57.8% 70.5% 33.8% 24.3%

Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors The Roar anonymously surveyed 354 students.

Crossing A Line C On the road to college, students push boundaries and hire college counselors to get ahead.

By Sophie Lewis

W

hen junior Beatrice Chen* hesitated to take two English classes during her senior year, her college counselor encouraged the heavy course load to strengthen Chen’s narrative as an applicant interested in the humanities.

“He was like, ‘You’ll be fine; you can do it,’ brushing it off like ‘this is what you have to do if you want to go to these schools,’” Chen said. “I don’t really want to do that, but again, I should probably take his advice. I’m paying him to give me advice.”

An initial consultation intended to clarify the college application process left Chen feeling more stressed.

“It is a lot of pressure because I’m expected to take those courses and maintain a good GPA,” she said.

Chen asked to remain anonymous because she said students with college counselors are often viewed negatively, given the recent admissions scandal.

Despite the secrecy surrounding college consulting, it remains a popular option for students. While many cite counselors as a great resource to navigate the application process, others worry that the race to get into college is crossing an ethical line.

A Helping Hand

e Klein

on Dror and Sim tion by Netta photo illustra

The college application process has become more complicated since guidance counselor Hae-Kyung Choi was applying to college; students now apply to more schools, she said. College acceptance rates are also decreasing — for instance, Cornell’s dropped by over 18 percent in the past 15 years — and the growing competition leaves students stressed.

“It’s created this vicious cycle where students are feeling more anxious, so they apply to more schools, and then the stats look worse,” Choi said.

College counselors clarify the convoluted process, Mindy Mitchell, the associate director of college counseling at Campus Bound, said. Campus Bound has offices across Massachusetts, and its counselors help students with all aspects of the college process, from making college lists to editing essays.

“The number of options can feel overwhelming,” Mitchell said. “We’re in the business of working with students and parents to try to simplify a process that’s become increasingly complex and stressful.”

Casey Near, executive director of college counseling at Collegewise, said she enjoys helping students manage their stress and fear, emotions she said are not inherent to the process.

“This can be a phase of self discovery when you learn to own the process and learn about yourself,” she said.

South provides resources like the College and Career Counselor Center and the guidance department to help students navigate the college process. Yet many students, like senior Javid Kasraie, also have private counselors and tutors.

“Ms. Sabet is a great resource for people, but at times she can be very busy, and that can have an impact on the advice she gives,” Kasraie said.

Senior Gabe Stephan flew to Maryland to receive interview help from his college counselor, which he and his parents agreed was a worthy investment.

“It definitely makes the college process a lot easier when you have people guiding you through when you have questions and don’t know who to turn to,” he said.

Other students and parents question if the college process merits hiring a counselor. This decision was a topic of contention in junior Simone Seiner’s home.

“My dad felt like you should use the systems that are in place, ... and my mom was like, ‘We shouldn’t take advantage of things other people can’t afford,’” Seiner said.

“When I said to them, ‘I really need this. I have no idea what I’m doing,’ that sealed it.”

Junior Amy Xiao said that rather than finding a private counselor, she values older friends’ perspectives and chooses

to ask them for advice.

“It’s much easier to talk to them than to get a professional who doesn’t know you,” she said. “You have all of the resources you need within South and don’t need to pay extra.”

Immigrant Guilt and Pressure

South’s immigrant parents value top-tier schools, students said. Some turn to college counselors who are more familiar with the process.

Chen said her parents, who immigrated from China, expect her to do her best in high school and later in college.

“For a lot of immigrant parents, when they come to the U.S., they come, so they can give their kid this really good future and the American dream,” Chen said. “The way to guarantee that is to get a college counselor.”

Kasraie said that his parents, originally from Iran, are unfamiliar with the college process and were unable to support his older sister when she applied to college.

“She never had someone to guide her through the process, and because of that, she wasn’t able to land where she wanted to,” he said. “My parents felt, to a degree, guilty.”

As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, sophomore Ellen Yang said she has set her sights on a prestigious university and began planning for college earlier than most of her peers.

“From kindergarten my parents stressed the importance of going to college and why everything I do now leads up to it,” she said. “Starting in middle school, I planned out which extracurriculars I would take so that I’d be the best candidate.”

Yang said that she wishes she had a counselor to help her manage college stress, but her parents see the college consulting business as a scam.

“They think that tutors aren’t going to help me as much as if I hit the books myself,” she said.

When it was his turn to start applying to schools, Kasraie said that his parents chose to hire a college counselor after seeing the success of family friends who had done so.

“All of their input into the process was based off of what others were doing,” he said.

Every school on his college list had to meet his parents’ standards, Kasraie said.

“The only reason name brands were important to my parents was so they could brag to their friends that their son is going to a name brand school,” he said.

Arms Race

Increased pressure to attend top-tier schools has caused many to seek tutoring and counseling.

Such pressure can seep in inconspicuously, Sabet said.

Displaying merchandise from one’s alma mater — a bumper sticker or a logo sweatshirt — became popular in the 1980s as a symbol of status. From there, parents and students alike began valuing school names as a symbol of clout.

“Everybody wants to put those stickers on their cars, and it’s less about ‘what are you getting as a result of going to that school?’” Sabet said.

“It’s the prestige that comes with it and the bragging rights that you get when you go to an Ivy League school,” Kasraie, who plans to attend Cornell University, said.

College rankings popularized by platforms such as U.S. News and Niche further fuel the race to get into prestigious schools.

“The rankings are fed by families and parents saying, ‘I would like to know what school is better than the other,’ and then colleges are in an arms race to become ranked,” Near said. “One of those pieces of the rankings is how many buildings are you building, how many things do you have actively being constructed, how many donations do you have.”

Chen said a school’s reputation and rank will affect her decisions.

Students who have a private college counselor:

37.8% 37.5% 10.0% 7.1%

“I always look to see the list, but I never actually look at what factors they’re looking at,” Chen said.

Despite facing pressure to attend a top-tier university, junior Matthew Cole said that his mom’s experiences demonstrate that attending a prestigious school does not determine later success: currently the chair of Dermatology at Boston University Medical Center, she studied at a state school in New York.

“Where you go isn’t who you’ll be — that’s something that I am going to have to try really hard to remember,” Cole said.

Opening Doors

The downfalls of college rankings extend beyond pressuring students to attend elite schools.

“Getting rid of this intense ranking system of schools would definitely decrease some of the competition,” senior Ben Kiritsy said. “You might be less likely to hear about some scandal.”

Recent investigations of parents paying for illegal “sidedoor” admission to college have exposed how far families are willing to go. College consultant William Singer pled guilty to falsifying test scores, bribing coaches and engaging in other illegal behaviors to help 50 families gain college admission, the New York Times reported.

The scandal has involved many high-profile figures, and together, Singer’s deals between 2011 and 2018 totaled $25 million.

“It definitely doesn’t make wealthy people look very good, and it definitely doesn’t make a town like Newton look very good, even if we’re not directly affected,” sophomore Charlie Weinstein said.

Near said she was not surprised by the scandal.

“For as long as higher education has existed in America, privilege has allowed people to open doors that don’t exist to other people,” she said.

An unjust system

South is not immune to the illicit behaviors that were exposed at other schools.

Kasraie said that he observed a classmate get into a prestigious school when his father made a large donation, while another student with higher test scores and better grades was rejected.

“That’s the kind of donating I don’t have respect for,” he said.

As a clinical psychologist and school consultant in Newton, South parent Deborah Offner has encountered parents willing to go to great lengths to advantage their kid in the college admissions process.

“I’ve had parents who arrange interviews with the president of a college,” she said. “I’ve seen parents pressuring college counselors at their children’s high schools about finding ways to get their kids a leg up or an advantage. I’ve seen parents contact, for example, a friend who’s a professor at a college, and they have that friend contact admissions at that college to get a special consideration for their kid.”

“There’s a strong belief that hard work can get you anywhere, but the fact that kids are getting in on legacy and endowments over kids who have done everything on their own negates that idea,” Xiao said.

Kiritsy said he plans to attend Bowdoin college in the fall, following in the footsteps of his dad and brother.

“To sit there and say that being a legacy plays no role in admissions is a false statement, but to sit there and say that it guarantees you a spot is also a false statement,” he said.

Sophomore Maya Makarovsky said that improving equity in college admissions should not come at the expense of wealthy students.

“The way to combat that is to not disadvantage the people that do have money. It’s to advantage the people that don’t,” she said.

Students who have recieved SAT/ACT tutoring:

On Our Way To Success

South has taken action to even the college admissions playing field for less affluent students. One such program is On Our Way To Success, which provides support to low income and first generation students.

Senior Leah Ward said that applying to schools would have been difficult if the program had not covered application fees.

“I applied to NYU, and at NYU the application was like $80, and I’m like, ‘That’s ridiculous, why would anyone pay that?’” she said.

Ward said that while financial assistance from the On Our Way To Success Program helps lower-income students, they still face obstacles.

“It’s hard to even go to the college you want,” she said.

“You might not get enough money from that college.”

No Clear Line

For wealthy families, standard college application costs such as application and test fees are not burdensome, and the choice to spend more money on a private counselor is an unfair but reasonable one, Offner said.

“They’re definitely not fair,” she said. “Is it justified or justifiable? I don’t see why not. I think any parents who could get an advantage for their child to get into a college that they feel their child really should be able to go to is going to do that.”

“You do what is best for your kid,” senior Ben Powdermaker said. “College admissions will not become fair because one family decides not to give their kid the best chance.”

Even though she does not have a college counselor, Yang said she still has an advantage.

“If I was less well off, or if I wasn’t living in a community with as many opportunities as Newton, I would be a lot more upset about the system that’s in place, but because I have the upper hand, it hasn’t bothered me as much,” she said.

Cole, however, said that he is glad not to have a college counselor. Instead, he said he is looking forward to working with his parents and older sister.

“If I had a college counselor, I definitely would feel ashamed to have taken an opportunity that not everyone has the means to acquire,” he said.

Weinstein said that he feels guilty about his plans to work with a college counselor.

“On a personal level, the benefits outweigh the negatives, but at the end of the day, I’m contributing to the divide between wealthy kids applying to college and kids with less means,” he said. “If I get into some top school, it won’t feel like I earned it.”

A counselor’s advice nonetheless does not guarantee students acceptance, Mitchell said.

“These additional services are only as good as the student is willing to put in his or her own effort,” she said.

Students can get into college with or without the additional support college counselors provide, Near said.

“I always liken it to paying taxes,” she said. “You can pay your taxes completely on your own. Some people hire an accountant, but you definitely don’t need an accountant to get your taxes done. Same thing goes for me.”

Kiritsy said that having advantages in college admissions begins before a student considers college counseling, making it harder to differentiate between right and wrong.

“I find it hard to draw the line because if you’re a wealthy family, you’re already putting your kids in a better position than someone who doesn’t have as much money,” he said.

“If you’re going to be able to send your kids to elite public schools and elite private schools, then why should you not be allowed to then use a college counselor?” *Name changed to protect student’s identity

57.8% 70.5% 33.8% 24.3%

Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors The Roar anonymously surveyed 354 students.

FEATURES page 18|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

Features@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

A spot for every lion South’s new All-Access production brings unified programing to the arts and stages the “Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon”

S

enior Darby Wilson stood at the edge of a circle of students enunciating “Unique New York, unique New York, you know you need unique New York,” their voices jumbled together and quickly dissipated into laughter. Wilson, who is directing the “Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” was warming up her cast for rehearsal.

The Spectaculathon is part of South’s new All-Access club. All-Access, piloted this year by Wilson, is a no cuts production that brings together students with special needs and other members of South Stage.

From April 25 - 27, the cast is performing the Spectaculathon, a compilation of all 209 Brothers Grimm stories.

“It’s fast-moving, and it’s funny, and it’s a parody, and it’s all over the place and it’s going to be super fun,” sophomore Valerie Amicangioli, a cast member, said.

The Spectaculathon differs from other South Stage productions in its subject matter, Amicangioli said.

“A lot of South Stage shows have a very serious overtone and I think that this is very much silly and has a lot of audience participation, which is going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

Wilson said she started the club this fall in the hopes of making theater more inclusive so that her sister and other students could participate.

“My little sister is autistic, and she’s always really loved theater, and when she came freshman year and there were cuts in

By Shoshi Gordon the shows, she got really scared of that,” Wilson said. “So I wanted to make … the theater community at South, which is really competitive, a less intimidating place.”

South Stage parent Asli Scott said that Wilson has made South Stage more accessible for her daughter who has special needs.

because there are no cuts, Wilson said.

“It’s a different crowd than the kids who are usually in the South Stage productions, and it’s really cool to be able to see a bunch of different people doing South Stage and performing because they’re all really talented,” she said.

“ ” I wanted to make ... the theater community at South, which is really competitve, a less intimidating place.

Darby Wilson class of 2019

“She really enjoys it because there’s a lot of room for creativity, and it’s a very non-judgemental environment, so she feels very comfortable,” she said. “She can be herself, and she can actually enjoy herself while doing it.”

“It’s my first time doing it, and I liked it,” sophomore Dan Doran said. “I did it about a year, and I enjoy it.”

After the Unified Basketball and Unified Track teams, which are composed of both students with and without special needs, formed last year, the theater club represents a larger movement towards inclusivity in South’s student activities.

Students who may not have been in shows before are now able to perform onstage

Theater department head Jeff Knoedler said that he is happy to see new faces both onstage and backstage.

“We’ve had a rise in students who don’t typically do crew, who are now coming to crew and will be involved in the running of the show,” he said, “That’s great to see.”

The inclusive model allows students with special needs to be more involved in the school, Scott said.

“It’s rare for them to be able to hang out with the neurotypical kids,” she said. “It opens a door for them to spend time with the typical kids — that’s really priceless.”

The cast and crew have made adaptations for the performers with special needs to suit the inclusive model, Wilson said.

“I wanted to make sure that it’s as accessible as possible, … so a couple of my actors might be coming on with note cards so that they can read their lines,” she said.

Wilson chose to have each character only wear one costume so that the actors can identify the characters more easily.

“Speaking to a bunch of my autistic friends, they describe themselves as face blind. Some of them can’t recognize people’s faces, and that costume defines who they are.

I wanted to make sure that everyone knows who each character is,” she said.

Sophomore Sarah Erani, who is stagemanaging the show, said that these modifications make the production more engaging for audience members and performers alike.

“New, exciting things pop up every day. Like yesterday we decided that certain lines are going to be pre-recorded,” Erani said.“I’m excited to hear how that turns out because we’re having a teacher voice one character … and we have secret cameo voicing another.”

Doran said he is excited to perform, as acting has been his favorite part of the show so far.

Scott said she hopes the program continues, as it allows students to participate in a unified program in the arts.

“I have been recruiting some underclassmen to possibly direct next year,” Wilson said “Hopefully it will keep going … if this is my legacy itself, I will be very happy.”

photo by Simone Klein

Left to right: freshman Gabe Liftman, sophmore Valerie Amicangioli and freshman Sage Widder rehearse with scripts for the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon on April 5

April 26, 2019 Page 19

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features

THE COMMON APPLICATION The Roar follows two 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

R

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

yan* was accepted to Boston University, Brandeis University and the University of California San Diego (UCSD), along with early decision acceptances to UMass Amherst and Boston College.

He said that although he was happy to be accepted to UCSD, he is hoping to attend a school closer to home.

“I would love to go to San Diego. It would be a lot of fun, great weather, but it’s so far away,” he said.

Ryan said he visited all four local schools over April break, hoping to gain insight on each school.

“College visits and accepted students’ day are all marketing schemes: they’re very different from what the average day to day experience of a student might be,” he said.

Ryan said that hearing from his friends who attend these schools is also helpful.

He said that college applicants should not obsess over college decisions.

“Don’t let a decision ruin your day because, in the end, everyone’s going to do great things next year,” he said.

At the end of March, when seniors were receiving college decisions, Ryan said that his grade suffered from low morale.

“I thought our grade would be getting a lot more acceptances in general,” he said.

“When you have a ton of smart kids coming from one school, you obviously can’t take all of them.”

While Ryan still struggles to make his decision, he said he is ready to transition from high school to college.

“Where you go to college has a big impact on what you do after for the rest of your life,” he said. “That part’s a little scary for me in a sense, but I think that whatever decision I do end up making, I’ll be happy with it.” *Name changed to protect student’s identity

R

aquel Fisk, previously known as Bailey, plans to attend Boston University’s (BU) School of Music and major in piano performance. She was also accepted to Sarah Lawrence College and Bard College, but said she settled on BU because of its urban location.

“BU is awake. It’s in the middle of the city,” she said. “I also know Boston, so I wouldn’t have to get used to anything.”

Fisk said that her parents and friends expected her to be accepted to Yale University as a legacy student, but felt relieved to be rejected.

“I felt like I was playing a role I didn’t want to play. I do love academics, but I definitely felt like I wasn’t myself,” she said.

Fisk said she was glad not to be accepted to any conservatories after her experience touring the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“They were saying that for a final project, people coming out of their bachelor’s

Q &A

photo by Sophie Lewis

degrees were designing their own website, and I’m like, ‘I already did that, they’re so behind,’” she said.

Classical musicians struggle to promote themselves online, Fisk said.

“We bring to life such a traditional, old soul type of music that doesn’t really correlate with media,” she said. “No matter how many hours you practice in your room, if nobody knows about you, you’re not getting anywhere.”

Fisk said as a BU student, she hopes she will be able to make herself known through BU media.

Ultimately, she said she wants to transfer to The Juilliard School. To spend more time practicing piano, Fisk will spend a gap year studying with pianist Andrea Lucchesini in Florence, Italy.

“We’re corresponding with him right now,” she said. “He’s answering emails rapidly, which means he really wants to teach me.”

with Spanish teacher Viviana Planine

“ “

photo by Netta Dror

Why is Tertulia important?

The Roar’s Iris Yang asked Spanish teacher Viviana Planine about her 20 years of experience organizing Tertulia and her hopes for the show after her retirement.

It’s important in a community to have some experiences that are common. In order to build tradition, you have to share the same emotion, the same feeling at the same time, so I really think Tertulia offers a moment to breathe and enjoy each other’s ability. ...

One of the beauties of Tertulia for me is to see students that have talents that no one knew about and recognize that and enjoy each other in a [noncompetitive] way, … appreciating the skills that we have as a community.

What has Tertulia meant to you?

I am very happy that I have had this opportunity to work at Tertulia for 20 years, knowing a lot of students that otherwise I wouldn’t have known, knowing their skills and talents. Some of them I’m still friends with; ... some of them have become artists in their professional life, … and I’m very glad that they remember when they were performing at Tertulia.

Do you think the next person to organize Tertulia will approach it differently?

They are going to approach it differently, but the beauty of Tertulia for me is that over these 20 years, it has evolved from the beginning as a show that is really run and done by students, so I really think Tertulia will stay as it is because our students at South are doing it. The person who’s going to guide them will help them and is going to be there to support them, obviously, but in itself, I really feel that it’s the work and voice of the students.

page 20 April 26, 2019

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar THE Lion’s Roar

LEADING THE CLIMATE FIGHT Newton students join the nation-wide strike against climate change

By Rachael Wei

W

hen Newton North sophomore Coral Lin marched from her high school to the City Hall, she remembers hearing cars honking and seeing people taking videos of her and her club.

“Even on the way there, we got really supported,” she said. “When we got there, we were greeted by people from South and other schools and people from Green Newton. It was nice to know that we all had come there together.”

Sixteen-year-old Swedish political activist Greta Thunberg, who started the first school strike for climate, had inspired Lin and her civic engagement club, North’s Gen Voices (NGV), to organize the Newton Youth Climate Strike on March 15. Dedicated to raising awareness of local community issues, NGV planned the march from North to City Hall to promote more local and youth-led climate action.

“I heard that her movement was coming to the U.S., so I decided to look into it further and introduce the idea to my club.

We decided that the best option for us was to try to make it more known in Newton specifically because we focus on local and state endeavors,” Lin said. “We decided that it was in our best interest to go to City Hall and march.”

Lin said that she publicized the event

through social media and reached out to Green Newton Board President Marsha Cooper, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Newton students to speak at the event.

At the strike, junior Kate Esbenshade spoke about the actions people can take to reduce and deter the effects of climate change. She said that the strike encouraged youth to speak out.

“Showing our lawmakers how many students care about our future and our Earth’s future is so important. People like Greta Thunberg, who can make real change, inspired everyone to do this because it was such a global movement, and it involved millions of kids,” she said.

Junior Audrey Kissin said she felt empowered to see the community’s support in students’ efforts to lead change.

“It was really nice to see that there was a big crowd and that we’re not the only ones,” she said. “It’s exciting because a lot of students take the issue into their own hands, and they’re not just following adult politicians. We’re taking charge of this, and we’re making our voices heard, and that’s really powerful.”

Esbenshade said that the climate strike was not the end of student action.

“Kids are going to stand up,” she said.

“Kids are really using their voice in Newton

and in so many other towns to tell the lawmakers what they want, so if the lawmakers don’t listen to us, we’re just going to keep doing that.”

Lin said that the strike pushed students to be more outspoken about environmental issues.

“Even if you just show up to this one day, you can get people to pay attention, and that’s really the whole point of marching: to get awareness from your local community and your elected officials,” she said.

Sophomore Yarden Shestopal said that the government should lead climate initiatives and that the strike placed pressure on the government to take action.

“Part of the message of the walk or the protest is that the legislators aren’t going to have any support if they don’t act soon enough,” he said.

Kissin also said that the government should play a larger role in environmental protection.

“The thing that’s going to help the most is government making the change because they have the real power. The energy that they produce and waste is substantially larger than what a single person could,” she said.

Science teacher Madhumita Bhattacharya said that students should take matters into their own hands and inform

government officials of their opinions when needed.

“Even though they’re in high school, they should call up their legislators and senators if there are certain bills that are going through Congress or maybe certain bills that are not going through Congress that need to be addressed,” she said.

Kissin said that it is important for students to both voice their opinions through political action and to participate in organized events. On March 18, three days after the strike, she went to the City Council’s hearing, where they voted on installing solar panels at Brown Middle School and the Newton Free Library. Her support of the issue helped convince hesitant councilors to support the installation.

“Political action is really important, and it’s a lot more meaningful coming from students because we are the new generation.

It’s really important to get involved with your community if you can. If you look, there are ways that you can get involved,” she said.

Kissin said Newton should take a greater initiative to combat climate change.

“We need to do more because we have the opportunity and resources. It’s our responsibility to do what we can,” Kissin said.

“Climate change is not going away — it’s something that you need to fix now.”

photos courtesy of Eddie Fleming and Sam Shaevel graphic by Rachael Wei

April 26, 2019 Page 21

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features

Seeing Ourselves Asian and Asian-American literature class sees great popularity as students seek a new perspective on Asian and Asian-American culture

By Ellyssa Jeong, Siya Patel and Claire Slack

F

or junior Evan Hsu, the new Asian and Asian-American literature course offers a unique way to branch out of standardized English classes and learn about Asian culture and Asian-American experiences.

“I never encountered writing by AsianAmerican authors in my curriculum at South, and so I was really hoping that I could finally focus on Asian-American literature,” he said.

English teacher Matthew Wilson said that the idea of an Asian and Asian-American literature senior elective came from English teacher Jeanette Robertson.

“She looked at me straight in the eye and said ‘you need to start a class that focuses on Asian literature. It’s something that you like, and there’s a need here.’ So I started to put something together,” Wilson said.

The course will begin this fall and will cover everything from the origin myths of Asian cultures to Japanese horror stories.

The class will read the works of Asian and Asian-American writers, including excerpts from “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” “The Tale of the Genji,” “Monkey: Journey West” and “The Laughing Sutra”.

As of now, at least three sections of the course will run to accomodate the high enrollment.

Junior Carissa Moy said she expressed interest in the class immediately.

“I’m personally Asian, and I wanted to see more about how that is embedded into literature,” she said. “We never really focus that much on Asian-Americans, so I thought it would be interesting to sign up for that class and learn more.”

Hsu said that the elective will explore an otherwise ignored perspective.

“It will expose a wider range of literature that we’ve not really touched for a while,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of American literature, a lot of European literature and a lot of African-American literature, and I think this will add an entirely new dimension to the literature we’re learning.”

“It’s representing a minority and cul-

95

photo illustration by Netta Dror and Emily Zhang

students signed up to take Asian and Asian-American literature next year.

According to Brian Baron.

ture that many people might not know much about.” Junior Sarah Kim said.

English department head Brian Baron said the new class is an important step toward embedding cultural diversity in the English curricula.

“We have a pretty high Asian-American population in this school, and I don’t know if we’ve done as good a job as we could have of reflecting the experiences of people with Asian background in our curriculum,” Baron said.

Along with a new perspective, Wilson added that cultural literature engages and unifies students from underrepresented groups.

“We have a lot of bright students of all different colors who rarely see themselves in

the literature that we read, and that sends a subtle message, or sometimes a not-so-subtle message to these kids. I don’t think it’s a good message that’s being sent,” he said.

Moy agreed that the diversity of the student body should be reflected in the material students learn.

“In America, there’re so many cultures and so many different people, and I think we can be more educated on that,” she said.

The experiences that the class will discuss usually falls outside of the mainstream, Hsu said.

“We don’t see a lot of representation in the American media, especially movies and shows,” he said. “You don’t hear a lot about Asian authors in America,” By offering a new narrative of Asian

culture, Wilson said he hopes the class will interest and benefit all students, not just students of color.

“It’s important for our students of color to be able to see themselves in literature and see themselves as the heroes or even the villains too sometimes … It’s important for our students who are not students of color, white students, to be able to see it as well,” Wilson said. “As the world shrinks, the people that we interact with on a daily basis are going to become more and more diverse.”

Hsu said that the elective is a long time coming.

“There’s been an African-American literature and a women’s literature elective for the longest time,” he said. “There should have been Asian-American literature already.”

forever in our

hearts

Students remember junior Klassique “Kay Kay” Foster after her passing on February 20.

““ ““ “

““

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 22 April 26, 2019

By Dina Zeldin

Honest — no matter what you said, she would always speak her mind.

She would never change it to fit in or anything.

Anicia Ellis, class of 2020

She was an amazing person to be around. [She taught me] to enjoy life, and to live to the fullest.

Adonis Cabral, class of 2020

She was the only one, really, who was there for me. She was just like ‘hey bestie,’ and then we became best friends.

Something about her vibe — you just feel safe and comfortable, and she makes everyone happy. ... I’m holding on to her smile and the necklace that I wear every single day. We got it back in eighth grade.

Dakira Richardson, class of 2020

I knew that when I got to school every day she’s going to be smiling, and she’s going to laugh, and she’s going to make my day better, ... because even when she was going through [her illness], she was happy, smiling and laughing.

Amari Turner, class of 2020

She made me more bold. Every time I do something bold and out of my comfort zone, I think that she would do it too, she would do it with me. She was there for me so many times, she stood up for me so many times. ... She would always have my back for me. ... I just loved that about her — she was so loyal.

Nijah Howard, class of 2020

The way she carried herself was so respectful, and I love how she was real with everybody. She didn’t sugar-coat anything, she just said what was on her mind. That’s what made her beautiful: she had nothing` but respect for teachers, nothing but respect for students and nothing but passion for her closest friends. ... I am blessed that she is my friend and will always be my friend, even if we’re not together right now.

Raven Fernandes, class of 2019

There was a connection because we were the only two black girls in our third-grade class. She became my older sister, ... and then I looked at her in a different light because she became like family to me. ... We’d always meet up and get our nails done. ... It was just our thing.

Aujanay Phillips, class of 2020

Right: Friends celebrated the life of junior Klassique Foster at a “Pink Party” held on March 22, Foster’s 18th birthday. Students shared their memories with Foster and wrote cards.

April 26, 2019 Page 23

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features

Oodles of Doodles Students spread positivity through discreet bathroom graffiti

By Simone Klein

11.6

percent of students have written on a bathroom stall at school.

The Roar anonymously surveyed 354 students.

Counter-clockwise from top: Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall; Hey! you look cute today! Slay girl!; Stars can’t SHINE without darkness; We may encounter many defeats, but we must NOT be defeated.

Newton 216 Sumner St. Newton, MA 02459 (617)-795-2022 Brookline 1331 Beacon St. Brookline, MA 02446 (617)-487-8689 www.leesburger.com

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 24 April 26, 2019

QUALITY CONTROL

By Ilan Rotberg Volume 35 Editor-in-Chief

Subpar teaching goes undetected, neglected and swept under the rug at South, leading many students to fall through the cracks

I

am proud to go to school at South. When I mention to people that I’m a student here, I’m often met with positive responses. For those of us that have a relationship with this school, hearing phrases like “South’s a great school!” or “I went there and I loved it!” is pretty common.

The high praise is certainly not unfounded. The City of Newton invests a tremendous amount of money, time and resources into our school district. In 2017, Newton Public Schools’ budget amounted to a whopping $250 billion, fifth in the state only after larger cities Boston, Springfield, Worcester and Brockton (in that order). Keep in mind, Newton is only the 10th largest city in the state.

The money appears to be paying off. In Boston.com’s 2018 iteration of their “Best Public High Schools” rankings, South ranked sixth in Massachusetts, boasting high graduation rates, strong test scores and low student-to-teacher ratios. US News’ latest “Best High Schools” puts us at No. 13 in the Commonwealth, above many expensive private schools.

We have more than just rankings to show for it too: year after year, South graduates are admitted at top schools across the country and succeed in their endeavors beyond high school. There’s no doubt that South is a solid school, and that as things stand, we should be thankful to be students here.

But just because South is an aboveaverage school relative to others in the state, it doesn’t mean that everything works perfectly.

When there are issues, we should call them out for what they are and work to remedy them. By simply stating that we go to “one of the best public schools in the state” and

brushing off existing problems, we run the risk of plummeting.

In this article, my last of many in The Roar, I want to shed light on some of the ongoing, institutional problems that I have seen in my four years here. These concerns have affected me throughout my journey, and I know they have caused some to inadvertently fall through the cracks.

Having now almost undergone a full South experience, I can confidently say that while there are many aspects of this school that ought to be improved, the lack of accountability in the quality of teaching is the most alarming.

Not all South teachers are good teachers. We do have a majority of good teachers; most teachers work hard, connect well with students and are extremely dedicated. But the problem resides within a notable minority of teachers that are either poor-performing or — to put it bluntly — ill-suited for careers in education.

Everywhere there’s labor­. There will be high performers and low performers. In most industries, however, low performers are given warnings or offered help, and if they continue to be mediocre or bad at their obs, they are fired and replaced. It’s true for McDonald’s employees, sports players and CEOs alike. Yet at South, this basic principle of performance-based employment simply doesn’t apply.

Underperforming teachers are detrimental to everyone: they cause students to fall behind, deter them from potential career paths and take a position from a good teacher.

The administration has failed to adequately address the quality of teaching where it needs the extra scrutiny. Despite the harm that this

has caused South students, it’s not any single individual’s fault. It is also not to say that there is malicious intent from teachers or administrators, but rather that a confluence of factors has led us to a point where poor teaching is protected rather than addressed and corrected.

LACK of STUDENT FEEDBACK

We can scratch the surface of the matter by talking about the lack of serious studentdriven feedback within our classrooms.

While feedback is woven into every class, it’s usually only applied as a one-way street.

Students constantly expect to receive feedback from their teachers. When students turn in essays, tests or homework, they always anticipate to receive it back with markings to indicate how they can progress. Even the brightest among us don’t envision a “100 percent” on every assignment.

All of this operates under the mutual understanding that nobody is perfect, that there is always room for improvement. The same assumption, however, is not always applied to teachers. As a school, we should encourage the regular use of student feedback meant to impove their teachers’ practices.

After all, our schools work to serve the students, and since they are the ones who experience what does or doesn’t work, they are best-suited to give the most accurate feedback.

On Feb. 14, The Roar published an editorial that highlighted this very problem, while offering some solutions. It stated that “Currently, most teachers implement some type of student feedback questionnaire near the end of the year where students can comment on their experience in the class. These forms, however, are not enough. Teachers should capitalize on students’ unique insights by asking open-ended questions and reaping their sincere and unreserved responses. ...

These surveys should be given a few months into the school year instead of at its end so that teachers can work to improve as soon as possible, not just during the upcoming school year.”

Probing students for feedback is a feasible, forward-looking idea. Not only does it help teachers improve their practices, but it also builds trust between teachers and their students. Last year in my history class, Mr. Kozuch established a precedent of trust within the classroom by taking the time out of our class schedule to have us write “Dear Mr. Kozuch” letters at the end of every term.

Doing this allowed students to provide timely reflection and feedback for him throughout the year. This exercise is a positive example of how we can help teachers improve.

But even with student feedback, two major issues remain.

First, students will not speak up if they do not trust that their feedback will be heard or taken seriously. It’s not an exaggeration to say that students are often scared of their teachers. After all, teachers have full control over students’ grades, which substantially affect student’s futures. Especially in classes where grading is largely subjective, most individuals will refrain from uncomfortable situations, like giving honest feedback, for fear that they might jeopardize their relationship with their teacher. Teachers in turn may — subconsciously or otherwise — grade the student more harshly. The hypothetical risk is very clear in the minds of students, especially those who place a high value on their grades.

Second, the implementation of structured feedback is based entirely on the initiative of the teacher. Until the administration makes substantial student feedback a requirement in all classes, good teachers will do it, and bad teachers will not. In my experience, some of my best teachers regularly checked in with the class by asking questions like “Do you like how I’m using this resource?” or “Which of these two styles is more useful for you?”

Even informal check-ins such as these help a teacher realize any shortcomings. More importantly, doing so would show students that their feedback is welcome in the future.

On the other hand, teachers who provide no means for student feedback make their classrooms less productive and alienate students from sharing their opinions.

Department head Neglect Department heads are the backbone of our school. Among all of the competent people working at South,

April 26, 2019 Page 25

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features to me, they are some of the most dedicated and hard-working. After all, they’ve been entrusted to lead their respective departments for a reason.

In addition to teaching a class of their own, department heads have many responsibilities: they run department-wide meetings, oversee curriculum development, keep the daily functions of their departments in check and mentor teachers in their department.

Essentially, they ensure that their academic department, including all of its teachers, performs at the highest caliber possible. Nevertheless, I would venture to say that while they are operating with the best of intentions, they are partly responsible for the neglect of the teacher underperformance issue.

Because department heads work largely independently, as one individual accountable for a vast array of responsibilities, they can be too busy to worry about the quality of their teachers, resorting to the idea that teachers who don’t check in with them are doing okay.

The Roar published an article on Dec. 20, 2018, titled “Feedback Blocked” that touched on this very matter. In the article, history department head Jennifer Morrill and science department head Gerard Gagnon made it clear that it’s not always easy to juggle all of their responsibilities.

“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.

Aside from meetings with teachers, the primary strategy that department heads use to ensure quality of instruction is visiting classrooms. Yet, as many department heads will tell you, time is not always on their side. With dozens of teachers to observe in countless classes, the amount of time that department heads spend observing teachers is too often inadequate.

Even with the time spent in classrooms, department heads can’t get an authentic or complete assessment of a teacher’s performance by standing in the back of a teacher’s class for a mere 15 minutes. There’s a huge difference in how teachers act when their boss’s eyes are on them and how they do on a routine basis; surely, under p er for ming teachers can masquerade years-worth of bad teaching in an evaluation that only lasts a few minutes.

While the discussion of teacher evaluations is certainly important and necessary, I want to focus on what I believe is one of the most problematic elements of this issue in the first place:

graphic by Emily Zhang

student and parent criticism of teachers is given very little priority.

If on record, I’m sure that all of the departments would claim to devote the utmost seriousness, time and effort into what they hear from families, but from my observations, this has not been the case.

On countless occasions, I have been told of instances in which students or their parents have met with department heads to address repeated concerns about teachers, but they rarely get resolved.

There are three reasons why I believe it’s easy for department heads to brush criticism to the side.

First, students generally don’t realize that they are receiving subpar instruction from a given teacher until after at least one full quarter or even half of the school year.

Even if a student hears negative reviews of a teacher from an older student, the student should still give teachers the benefit of a few months before presenting feedback to a department head. At that point, weeks of valuable learning time have been compromised. When department heads hear these concerns, students are usually already too far into the year to switch out of a class.

Second, more often than not, if a department head receives complaints about a teacher, the department head will, at best, speak with the teacher to offer one-on-one mentoring. Yet, while the constant reassurance of “we’re working on it” might sound nice, it disregards the damage that a teacher’s malpractice may have on student in the meantime. This approach lends itself to the possibility of stalling until the student or parent no longer has a stake in the issue. So long as any party fails to adequately follow up, the “fixing process” for a problem can be prolonged until the end of the school year.

Once the school year is over, department heads can be confident that complaints will go away because the student is no longer in the teacher’s class.

And third, there’s always a possibility that department heads tell students that they don’t have the discretion to intervene in a teacher’s process, leaving the student to deal with the issue on their own.

Institutional Barriers to Accountability As a person who loves learning, there’s nothing more satisfying than conquering challenging subject matter. At South, I’ve had my fair share of academic growth and personal development, but I’ve also noticed that due to the way some teachers have been able to get away with blatantly bad teaching, I, along with my classmates, have been deprived of the opportunity to receive a top-notch education.

When I joined a unique academic program early in high school, I expected a fulfilling intellectual experience led by excellent teachers. Unfortunately, the reality fell short of my expectations.

In the first course of the two-year series, my teacher mistaught the class for most of the year, glossing over many important, foundational concepts. When confronted by parents, the teacher said that the course sequence was designed as such, and that “things would come together next year.”

In the following year, a different teacher designated to teach the second course of the series was so dismayed by the lack of understanding that she administered a diagnostic test for the class. Most students flunked it.

The new teacher subsequently tried to cram both courses into one year.

These stories are examples, not outliers. The worst educational experience I had at South took place in a different class with a different teacher. I had heard rumors from previous students that the class was not conducive to learning, so when I found out that I had the teacher, I was hesitant but nevertheless went into it with an open mind.

A few weeks into the class, I started to notice problematic patterns. The teacher was regularly late to class and on a few occasions even forgot that our class was meeting.

They failed to control the class when louder classmates were disruptive and often spent large portions of class time chitchatting with students rather than teaching the material.

In some cases, the teacher scheduled tests on material that wasn’t sufficiently covered and didn’t return graded work consistently.

Expectations were unclear, and many students in the class quickly became frustrated.

After students spoke with the department head, who offered to help the teacher become more structured and organized, the department head reported the teacher saying that these practices were a “style” and that the teacher was not interested in changing it. Seeing that no real change was to come from the intervention, a few very motivated students took matters into their own hands and sat in the hallway, teaching themselves the material with the textbook, hoping that this strategy would teach them more than being in class. Students who needed a reliable teacher’s support in learning the material were left behind.

After having more in-depth conversations with previous students and parents, I found out that individuals had brought similar concerns about this teacher to administrators, yet no improvement took place.

Major concerns, like these, have manifested themselves for years, but teachers are rarely held accountable. By failing to correct malpractice, South puts students’ educational preparation at risk.

On top of all this ineffective teaching, there are institutions within our education system that hinderthe implementation of accountability. Tenure, mostly applied at the university level, is a status educators receive that protects them from being dismissed at any time. In Massachusetts, it’s written into the law that high school teachers have the ability to attain an iteration of tenure called professional teacher status (PTS).

Massachusetts G.L. c. 71, §41 reads that “a teacher, school librarian, school adjustment counselor, school nurse, school social worker or school psychologist who has served in the public schools of a school dis-

trict for the three previous consecutive school years shall ... be entitled to professional teacher status as provided in section forty-two.”

While seven years is the national average length of time needed to obtain tenure, Massachusetts teachers need only three consecutive years of work in a school district to receive PTS. At South, teachers don’t generally have to prove themselves to show they are worthy of the status; in contrast, college professors usually must show their institution that they deserve tenure by undergoing rigorous evaluations and writing highly-scrutinized academic works.

Systems like tenure and PTS have a place in the educational system, but only if executed effectively. The short timespan needed to obtain PTS at South makes the status subject to abuse. Teachers are nearly impossible to fire. In most private sector jobs, employees are driven to perform well by the constant threat that if they don’t, they could be let go at any time. In Massachusetts public schools, that threat doesn’t exist, and therefore allows poor teachers with PTS to get away with blatant and damaging underperformance.

The abuse of PTS is not mere speculation. This year, I was told by multiple students that their teacher, seemingly bragging, told her class that students had complained to deans about her practices before. The longtime teacher cautioned them not to waste their time — the complaint would be useless, she said, as it’s pretty much impossible to get rid of her. While frustrating, this teacher is fundamentally correct.

Teachers with PTS have the legal right to challenge a dismissal through arbitration.

In dismissal cases, which are very uncommon, teachers in question must undergo a rigorous, bureaucratic process with the school district. Throughout the process, teachers are represented by the Newton Teachers Association (NTA), which is very powerful and relentlessly defends its members.

In order to fire a teacher, the administration must find a union-valid reason to do so. The only cases where teachers can be easily fired are ones where individuals broke the law. Thus, unfortunately, a teacher’s poor performance is not sufficient means for dismissal. Needless to say, this broken system perpetuates the inability to hold teachers accountable for their actions.

Closing Note We cannot let a rose-tinted vision of South blind us from the harsh realities of the problems in our school. The education system is very flawed, and we need to be able to call the shots as we see them. While the adults are the ones who make the rules, it’s important that student voices are heard, so we can improve our school from the bottom up.

Again, the majority of teachers are high-quality educators. The problem lies only with a minority of teachers that underperform and prevent students from reaching their full academic potentials. These teachers are continually protected by a combination of various factors, and the administration continues to blindly accept all South teachers as good educators. We must acknowledge the reality: in academia, just like in every other discipline, some individuals underperform.

Teachers must be held accountable to do their job well, and their underperformance cannot continue to fly under the radar. I’ve constantly heard adults tell kids that there are consequences for their actions — they’re right.

Now, let’s apply the same standard to our education.

SPORTS page 26|April 26, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

SPORTS@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 6

Cleaning-up Fungus and leaks in the fitness center deter students despite administrative clean-up efforts.

J

unior Ethan Kopf wakes up extra early every Monday and Thursday to attend his Early Morning Personal Fitness as Stress Relief class. Recently, however, he has had to make changes to his usual routine.

“The other day, I was doing my [workout] and I noticed this puddle on the ground,” he said. “It looked like coffee, so I thought someone had spilled coffee. Then, I saw something dripping onto it from the ceiling, and I realized that this coffee-like substance is coming from the ceiling. And then I realized that it is not coffee at all, but gross water that was on the roof.”

Recent ceiling leaks and fungal growth in the fitness center have made the space hazardous for students. The administration closed the fitness center from April 1 to April 8 for repairs and cleaning, but students like Kopf have been hesitant to use the fitness center ever since the fungus and leaks were first discovered.

“That dirty water could be a danger: it’s not clean, and that’s a problem,” Kopf said.

Junior Zack Iwatsuki said he has been more cautious while using the center.

“It clarified to me why the gym is so bad. The mushrooms made me not want to go to the gym because that is absolutely nasty,” he said. “But they cleaned it up, and it might be a wakeup call.”

Photo of the mushroom found in the fitness center. photo contributed by Oliver Newman graphic by Gemma Hill

By Dorra Guermazi Junior Hannah Kim said that the gym conditions have deteriorated in the last year.

“I knew it was kind of gross, but I had been in it a lot last year, and it wasn’t this bad. I just think I’m a little bit more nervous to go back in there,” she said.

Senior Grace Honig said that the administration should work to prevent

Johnston said that the school should take responsibility for the fitness center’s cleanliness.

“South should really prioritize cleaning the gym and making sure that it has good sanitation and ... no mushrooms or bacteria that can spread,” she said.

Kim said that the school should imple-

“ ” You have to fix the issue at the roots of the problem and not just remove the visible issue, which was the fungus.

Patrick Jordan-Quern Athletic Trainer

problems like fungal growth and leaks from recurring.

“It has further cemented my dislike of our fitness area,” she said. “We should fix these things for people who don’t have access to another gym.”

Part of the problem, Kim said, is that there are no rules for students using the fitness center.

“When you’re working out, nobody tells you, ‘you should clean up after yourself; you should wipe down the weights,’ and if you’re somebody who hasn’t really been to the gym, and you don’t really know how that works, you wouldn’t know to clean up,” she said.

Junior M i y a

ment rules to ensure that students clean up.

“They should have a sheet of rules when you walk in: wipe down the weights when you’re done, use Purell,” she said.

“That sort of thing would definitely help.”

Athletic trainer Patrick Jordan-Quern said that students are responsible for taking care of the facilities they use.

“There’s a common misconception that the custodians have to wipe down every little thing that they see. I think we have to be more firm on the standards,” he said. “The kids should have to wipe up their own sweat.”

Iwatsuki, however, said that faculty should take a larger role in cleaning the gym.

“It’s not always clean. There are weights everywhere sometimes. No one puts things back. The ceiling is leaky,” he said. “I don’t think there are enough people to do the job. Every other gym has workers to clean, but South doesn’t have that.”

Clean-up wasn’t the only factor that made the gym unusable. Athletic Director Patricia Gon-

zalez said in an email that poor weather contributed to fungal growth.

“The problem happened because of the roof water leaks. Water got under and between the rubber floor and the wooden floor,” she said.

The district facilities director, custodial staff and a roof contractor were involved in the clean-up repairs, and the center is being overseen to ensure these problems do not occur in the future, Gonzalez said.

Jordan-Quern said that resolving the ceiling leaks has been a priority.

“The leaks in the ceiling and the roof is where our focus should be on from our standpoint as faculty and staff and addressing that issue before it gets out of control,” he said.

Jordan-Quern said that he is glad that the gym was able to reopen so quickly.

“They reacted quickly and took care of the issue. It’s tough, because we can only see the leaks when it’s leaking at that moment, and you need weather for that,” he said. “You have to fix the issue at the roots of the problem and not just remove the visible issue, which was the fungus.”

Despite the administration’s effort to fix the leaks, students are still hesitant to return to the gym. Sophomore Andy Feldman, who generally uses the fitness center twice a week, said that after the leaks, stopped going to the fitness center as often.

“I really like the school gym, but mushrooms grew in it, so I prefer to go to my gym instead,” he said.

Kopf said that the fitness center’s recent problems do not reflect the its potential.

“It’s very good. I really like the equipment. There are just some minor leaks in the ceiling, but I don’t think that’s representative of the quality of this building as a whole,” he said.

Jordan-Quern said that South’s fitness center is larger and better-equipped than most high school gyms.

“I take students from Lasell College and they come in here when we do the tour at the beginning of the year,” he said. “They say even though the Lasell gym is newer, we have more space than a local college, and we have more equipment than a local college.”

Honig said that the fitness center should be treated with the care it deserves.

“It’s great that South offers a gym that is open for students to use,” she said. “Because we do have a gym, we should do a better job of maintaining it.”

Q&A

April 26, 2019 Page 27

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar sports

with Sophie Gu

“ “ “

The Roar’s Jackson Slater asked sophomore Sophie Gu about rhythmic gymnastics

What is rhythmic gymnastics?

Rhythmic gymnastics is a combination of dance and ballet and is combined with apparatus — apparatus is the use of a hoop, ribbon or rope.

photo contributed

by Sophie Gu

When did you start gymnastics and why have you continued?

I started at four, and one of the reasons as to why I have stuck with it is because I have been doing it for so long already. The longer that I have been doing it, the longer that it has become a part of me. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without rhythmic gymnastics.

What do you find special about rhythmic gymnastics?

The apparatus part of it stands out from other sports because not many sports combine so many ideas into one event.

Plus, rhythmic gymnastics can be either a group or individual [sport]. ... One can do a synchronized routine with a team, which is all about communication, or one can do an individual routine where they can really express themselves.

Ask us Jack Wylie

Sports Debate Club Co-Founder

Aron Korsunsky Sports Section Editor

You asked, and we’re here to answer!

Submit questions by tweeting us at @TheRoarSports36 or catch our next student survey!

How do you feel about Gronkowski’s retirement?

Korsunsky: As a devout Patriots fan, I was really sad to see one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history retire. I have numerous memories of watching Gronkowski go Gronk-mode and catch the most ridiculous passes at the most crucial moments in games.

Despite my disappointment, however, I understand why he retired. He is only 29, yet he has already suffered two back injuries, an ACL and MCL tear and multiple chest, forearm and ankle injuries, as well as a handful of known concussions and likely a dozen more not known. Gronkowski has taken enough of a beating during his career and given Pats fans enough to cheer for. He made the right call here.

Is it too easy to make the NBA Hall of Fame?

Wylie: First of all, let’s be clear that there’s only one Basketball Hall of Fame which includes players from all of the basketball leagues. The “easiness” for NBA players to make this hall of fame is difficult to comprehend as compared to other sports simply due to the fact that it is not exclusive to the NBA. From the 173 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, roughly 100 played in the NBA, 40 of whom were inducted in the past decade. Therefore, as of recently, around four NBA players are inducted per year. Compared to the NFL’s six to eight annual inductees, the number seems bleak, suggesting that it is difficult for an NBA player to make the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The NBA, however, plays more than three times fewer players per season compared to the NFL, so the probability of getting into the Basketball Hall of Fame may actually be sighly easier than the NFL Hall of Fame. It is difficult to know whether or not it is actually “easy” to make the Basketball Hall of Fame simply because whether or not something is “easy” is subjective.

Why would a team trade away such a good player such as Odell Beckham Jr.?

Korsunsky: This is a really tough one. From afar, the Giants seem to be actively trying to build the worst team in NFL history by trading away Beckham. He is one of the top recievers in the league today.

However, there were numerous reports that he had wanted to leave New York prior to the trade, and over the course of this past season, the Giants scored an average of over three points more per game in Beckham’s absence than they did in his presence (25.5 versus 22.25). Beckham’s need for attention and his common outbursts may have hurt the Giants more than his play helped them.

Furthermore, while the fact that the Giants traded away Beckham certainly came as a surprise, they did get a decent package in return: first and third round picks in the upcoming draft, as well as safety Jabrill Peppers.

Let’s see if these new additions pay off before judging the team too harshly.

SPRing Sports preview

page 28 April 26, 2019

Sports ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

Tennis BOYS

GIRLS

HEAD COACH: pat mcfarland CAPTAINS: nick hatzis-schoch and gabe nissenbaum Current record: 2-2

R

ain has majorly impeded the team’s ability to practice this spring, yet has not affected the player’s determination to improve or their aggressive mentalities, captain Nick Hatzis-Schoch said.

On April 10, the team lost 2-3 to Westford Academy in their season opener.

This match made clear where improvement was needed in order for the team to reach its potential, Hatzis-Schoch said. “[We] were fighting in our matches.

People were getting into it,” he said. “Despite that our matches weren’t going that well, ...

BOYS HEAD COACH: dave mccallum CAPTAIN: ben powdermaker Current record: 1-4

B

HEAD COACH: robert jampol CAPTAIN: dorra guermazi Current record: 1-2

everyone still had that fighting spirit.”

Following the match, the team made lineup adjustments, which they believe will lead to wins down the road. Indeed, the team defeated Bedford 4-1 on April 18.

“We have to learn from our losses and figure out how to bounce back for the future,” HatzisSchoch said.

Lacrosse oys lacrosse began by losing their first two games. In two games they “should have won,” the team blew a 4-2 halftime lead and fell 7-6 to Boston Latin; they then lost 5-4 to Belmont.

This year’s team is especially young; they start five sophomores and few seniors each game. Three sophomores spearheaded the attack, which struggled to score goals through these opening games, leading to their losses.

“Letting up fewer than 10 goals is pretty good, but the problem is our offense isn’t scoring as much,” Powdermaker said. “There are just a few things we need to do better — run the offense better, pass better — and then hopefully we’ll start winning.”

The team bounced back on April18, and defeated Watertown 11-9,

*All records updated as of April 24

By Jackson Slater Photos by Netta Dror

a performance that featured major improvement on their previously lacking offense.

The boys look to keep improving and secure a playoff berth this spring, Powdermaker said.

A

fter many of last year’s players did not return, the girls team this spring is especially small.

The lack of players leaves only one captain, junior Dorra Guermazi, with the reins.

She said

the small numbers have brought the team closer.

“This year’s team is very closely knit,” she said. “Our spirit has been phenomenal.”

The lower numbers, however, highlight the team’s chief weakness: technical skill. Guermazi said that the skills the team members develop will determine their success this spring.

“If we all work on improving our weaknesses,” she said. “We will have a very successful season”

Guermazi hits a backhand at practice

GIRLS HEAD COACH: molly widrick CAPTAINS: charlotte cadrain, bella ertel, katelyn hatem and sophie szymanski current record: 0-5

D

espite a lackluster start, junior captain Katelyn Hatem said she is confident in this year’s team.

This record is understandable, Hatem said, for South faced “really good” teams in their opening games.

Three of South’s five losses have come by 14 or greater goals.

C on c ord - C ar l i s l e smacked South 15-1 in the season opener on April 1, then South was again defeated 15-1 by Wayland on April

3, before losing 18-3 to Westford Academy on April 17. In between these harsh losses, Boston Latin beat South only 9-6 on April 9.

Nonetheless, Hatem remains positive.

“Our season so far has been pretty good,” she said. “We’ve played really good teams, which has been beneficial because we are able to see and work on our strengths and weaknesses.”

These defeats did, however, damage the team’s morale, Hatem said, and developing greater confidence could translate to wins later this spring.

“Critical in our success is our confidence,” she said. “We have serious potential and the season can only get better.”

Junior Luke Bulcynski shoots on goal

April 26, 2019 Page 29

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Sports

Track

GIRLS HEAD COACH: steve mcchesney CAPTAINS: rebecca bojar, juliet lacey, liri mustafa, allie riklin and megan walsh current record: 2-0

BOYS

T

HEAD COACH: ted norton CAPTAINS: ben kiritsy, daniel lacayo, eli remis and amos trinidad current record: 1-1

C

oming off a second place finish at indoor DCLs, the boys look to continue their success in the spring.

They did not find this success in their April 10 loss to Westford Academy, senior captain Amos Trinidad said.

“The highlight of our meet was finding out that Wesford has a new track,” he said.

“Our inital goal was to go undefeated, but

B O Y S

that’s no longer the case.”

Nonetheless, Trinidad remains confident: he said that the team still looks to take the DCL title and place high at states.

“We are a strong and motivated group of guys, who are determined to win,” he said.

Junior Lucy Jenks runs a leg in a relay

Volleyball

HEAD COACH: lucas coffeen CAPTAINS: andrew gershon, amit Levonai, alon stein and john you current record: 5-2

L

ucas Coffeen’s second year as head coach is promising, as showcased by the team’s 5-2 start, senior captain Andrew Gershon said.

“Last year we were in over our heads, thinking that we were much better than we were,” he said. “Now, it’s more focused. We’re taking it one game at a time.”

Gershon said the team has learned from its poor mentality last year and is working hard to limit the small errors that were detrimental to their 2018 season.

“A lot of last year was trying to do too much and making mistakes,” he said. “Limiting those will help win more sets.”

The team hopes to carry their early success all the way to the state title, Gershon said.

“Our first goal is to win the DCL, then the South sectional finals and then the state championship,” he said.“We can’t be looking way down the road now, ... We just have to stay focused and realize [our goals] are more achievable than last year.”

Baseball Sophomore Gavin Cotter prepares to catch a ball

S

enior captain Brandon Lee said that he is content with this season’s beginning.

“Our season has been steady so far,” Lee said. “All of our games have been good, close games.”

Lee said that while the team usually struggles in the early innings, they have played at a higher intensity later in games

he girls track team has an exceptionally large number of athletes this year, which has both positive and negative affects, senior captain Rebecca Bojar said.

We have a really large team this season, which helps build our talent and community,” she said. “But it is diffcult to control the team or do team bonding.”

Bojar said her main goal for this spring is to build confidence and sportsmanship.

“Girls track is known to have excellent sportsmanship, and I am very focused on keeping that up this year,” she said.

Freshman Edmund Lee strikes the ball

HEAD COACH: michale aeina CAPTAINs: adam freeman, luke ito and brandon lee current record: 3-4

and captured victories, highlighting the team’s determination.

“We are struggling to wake up our offense until the late innings,” he said. “[But] our team will not give up and will fight under all circumstances.”

This spirit is nessecary if the team wants to realize its goal of going 10-10 and making the state tournament, Lee said.

“We have to be able to keep our composure and not give up when odds don’t seem in our favor,” he said. “When we do this, we have the chance to win any game.”

Softball

HEAD COACH: jesus rodriguez CAPTAINS: sabrina clebnik, Maria Dinisco and Chandra penton current record: 2-1

T

he softball team has showed promise in their opening games, but has yet to establish prowess, senior captain Chandra Penton said.

“We’ve had some rough starts. We haven’t been hitting well in the beginning, but toward the end, we’ve picked it up,” she said. “We need to start out strong in the future ... we have more difficult teams coming up.”

Hindering their quest for success, however, are the unjust field conditions the

team faces each day.

“There is a really big difference between softball and baseball teams here,” Penton said.

“Softball has a pretty s%#$@y field, while baseball has permanent fencing. We’ve raised money for dugouts, and we just got metal tents. ... and baseball dugouts are twice the size of ours.”

Despite this, the softabll team is determined to work hard in practice to ensure that they make the playoffs, Penton said.

sports Issuu.com/thelionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 30 APril 26, 2019

playoff

Celtics report

Henry Blanchette Sports Reporter

Despite an unexpectedly rocky season, the Boston Celtics made the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Last season, forward Gordon Hayward suffered an extremely brutal injury in his first minutes as a Celtic, and Kyrie Irving missed the playoffs because of a knee injury, so the Celtic’s future looked grim.

During the playoffs, however, the depleted Celtics team, led by rookie Jayson Tatum and second-year players Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier defeated the Bucks and the 76ers and came within one game of defeating LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Many felt that with Irving, Hayward and the rest of their team healthy and playing to their full potential, the Celtics would be in store for another deep playoff run. In fact, ESPN projected that Boston would finish first in the Eastern Conference this year with a 58-24 record.

Flash forward to the end of the 2018-19 regular season: although their 49-33 record is respectable, one cannot help but feel a little disappointed in Boston’s performance this year.

The Celtics finished as the fourth seed in the East rather than the projected first seed, and the journey towards this playoff

Nhl 2018-2019

PlaYoff predictions

Michael DeFranco and Andy Goldberg Sports Reporters

berth was rocky at best. The Celtics lost in double-digits to several terrible teams this season and had multiple losing streaks of four or more games.

Throughout the season, rather than focusing on first place, the team spent most of its season concentrating on developing chemistry among the players and re-introducing Hayward into the lineup. Indeed, his journey back to full form has had unforeseen issues.

Hayward started just 18 of their 82 games this season and averaged just 11 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. To make matters worse, the attempts to reintegrate Hayward has forced guys like Brown and Rozier to play significantly fewer minutes than last year.

Thankfully, there are some silver linings that may propel the Celtics in these playoffs.

The first thing is that Irving, who’s having arguably his best season yet, is averaging a career high in assists and rebounds, 6.9 and 5.0 respectively, along with 24 points, and 1.5 steals per game. With a prior trip to the NBA Finals under his belt, Irving has the tools to lead the Celtics through their playoff run this season.

Further, the Celtics played the Indiana Pacers in the first round of these playoffs and won all four games. While the Celtics trailed throughout parts of each game in the series, they stepped up and found ways to win. Despite the fact that the Pacers were weakened due to an injury to star player Victor Oladipo, any sweep in the playoffs is both an impressive feat and a confidence booster.

Next up for the Celtics will be the regular season champion Milwaukee Bucks for a

Goldberg: The Hurricanes had a great second half of the season — enough to help them surge into a playoff spot. But the defending champ Capitals have one thing the Hurricanes do not: Alex Ovechkin. The man is a machine with his 51 goals. Enough said.

Washington Wins 4-2 DeFranco: The Capitals are looking for a Stanley Cup repeat, and while they might not be the favorites to win this year, they should be able to take care of Carolina in the first round, especially with Braden Holtby as their goalie again and Ovechkin firing on all cylinders. Washington Wins 4-1 Actual: Series tied 3-3 (as of April 24)

The NHL playoffs are here, and the league is primed to see some exciting matchups. If you are looking for predictions, you have come to the right place. Track and field extraordinaire Andy Goldberg and hockey star Michael DeFranco are here to give you their predictions for the 2019 NHL playoffs. New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Goldberg: The Islanders had an inspirational regular season, showing John Tavares who’s boss. However, the party is over as New Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue York faces the powerhouse Penguins who have torched the league for years. Pittsburgh Jackets Goldberg: The Lightning have been Wins 4-0 DeFranco: Even after losing John unstoppable this season, and Columbus does not have the talent to stop them. It is a case Tavares, the Islanders pulled together an of David vs. Goliath, but Goliath will emerge impressive season. But now they face the Penguins, who are no stranger to the playoffs. victorious. Tampa Wins 4-1 DeFranco: Tampa Bay will take this one Led by veterans Sidney Crosby and Evgeni undeniably. After their incredible regular sea- Malkin, the Penguins should take this one. son, there is no doubt they will continue their Pittsburgh Wins 4-2 rampage into the playoffs. Tampa Wins 4-0 Actual: New York wins 4-0 Actual: Columbus wins 4-0 Calgary Flames vs. Colorado Avalanche Goldberg: The upset you have all been Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Goldberg: Toronto is a very talented waiting for… Colorado shocks Calgary in team offensively. On defense they have Mor- Round One. The Avalanche are not going to gan Reilly (who cannot play defense), and make a deep run in these playoffs, but they will be able to dethrone Calgary behind young some Walmart cashiers. Boston Wins 4-2 DeFranco: Going with the hometown guns Mikko Rantanen and Nathan Mackinsquad here. The Bruins looked impressive non. Colorado Wins 4-2 DeFranco: The Flames’ star Johnny during the regular season, beating the Leafs Gaudreau is an elite player who recorded 99 three out of four times. Boston Wins 4-2 points during the regular season. The Flames Actual: Boston wins 4-3 are hot and they should win this one. Calgary Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hur- Wins 4-1 Actual: Colorado wins 4-1 ricanes

Round One

photo courtesy of Fansided

Celtics forward Gordon Hayward (right) drives to the net during an April 6 117-97 win against the Pacers. April 5

spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. Led by league MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are the current favorites in the East and will certainly be hungry to avenge their first-round loss to the Celtics last year.

Despite the previous playoff meeting being so recent, both teams are drastically different. Milwaukee has added several key role players, and Antetokounmpo is playing on a far higher level than before. For the Celtics,

both Irving and Hayward, who missed time last year with injuries, are back and playing vital roles on and off the court.

This year’s club has had a much different journey than that of the 2017-18 team and fell well short of expectations in the regular season. However, they have momentum from their first-round win over Indiana and in the playoffs, anything can happen, so an Eastern Conference Finals appearance or even a championship may still be on the horizon.

San Jose Sharks vs. Vegas Golden Knights San Jose def. Colorado 4-1 Goldberg: The Sharks have been on Nashville def. St. Louis 4-2 the cusp for what seems like years. With Joe DeFranco: Pavelski, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson holdTampa def. Boston 4-2 ing down the fort, the Sharks will not struggle Pittsburgh def. Washington 4-3 with Vegas. San Jose Wins 4-1.

Calgary def. San Jose 4-2 DeFranco: Vegas came out of nowhere St. Louis def. Nashville 4-3 last year to make the Stanley Cup Finals.

Unfortunately, they face San Jose in the first round this year. It will go the distance, but the Sharks will take this one. San Jose Wins 4-3 Goldberg: Actual: San Jose wins 4-3 Tampa def. Pittsburgh 4-2 San Jose def. Nashville 4-3 Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars Goldberg: Nashville is a well-rounded DeFranco: team with a great goalie. Dallas has talent too, Tampa def. Pittsburgh 4-1 but they cannot play at the Predators’ level. If Calgary def. St. Louis 4-3 the Stars’ goalie Ben Bishop gets hot, Nashville may end up starstruck, but the Predators should win this one. Nashville Wins 4-1 DeFranco: Even if Dallas has a few sta- Goldberg: tistical advantages over Nashville, Nashville Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks has a star goalie and a solid team. Victory is The Tampa Bay Lightning are the team not in the stars for Dallas. Nashville Wins 4-1 to beat this year. They gave everything they Actual: Dallas wins 4-2 had during the regular season — enough to win the Presidents’ Trophy and to tie the Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues NHL record for wins. Over the recent years Goldberg: The Jets have no shortage however, luck has not been on the side of of talent, but they came in at 4-5-1 in their Presidents’ Trophy winners: a Presidents’ last 10 games. The Blues, on the other hand, Trophy winner has not won the Cup since are red-hot, winning almost every game they 2013, and it is going to stay that way. The have played during the season’s second half. Sharks will bring Tampa’s amazing run to an Plus, rookie goalie Jordan Binnington has end. San Jose Wins 4-2 been unreal. St. Louis Wins 4-3 DeFranco: St. Louis had an impressive DeFranco: end to their regular season, including a huge Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames win over the league-best Lightning. This series The Calgary Flames pulled together a will be close, but in the end, Winnipeg will be notable season, finishing first in the Western the team with the blues. St. Louis Wins 4-3 Conference, but this year the NHL has been Actual: St. Louis wins 4-2 all about one team: Tampa Bay. I hate to choose the strong favorites to win it all, but it is undoubtedly going to happen. At the end of the regular season, the closest team to Tampa Goldberg: on the standings was 21 points away. Going Tampa def. Boston 4-2 into the playoffs, nobody will be able to catch Pittsburgh def. Washington 4-2 the Lightning. Tampa Wins 4-1

Conference Finals

Stanley Cup Final

Round Two

April 26, 2019 Page 31

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Fun

Today's Roaroscope Look to the stars!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Pat yourself on the back for showing up to A block 20 minutes late. Better late than never!

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Fill your life with people your love and your stomach with foods you enjoy.

Splurge the one dollar for guac.

Gemini (May 21- June 20): Up in heaven, an oasis awaits. Your favorite water fountain on the third floor works again.

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): Hold on to your wallet ‘cause the vending machine’s out to steal your quarters today.

Cancer (June 21- July 22): There’s no shame in slumping or slurping. Sleep in, and get yourself Dunkin.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): Make the class office election easier. Vote Jeiner!

Aries (March 21-April 19): Canceled C block! Spend your long block exploring the 9200s instead.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): At your lowest low, there’s still a bright side: at least you’re not a junior doing APUSH notes in the quiet study area during lunch.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Whoops, you forgot the passcode to get inside! Time to go home.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Dash out of D block fast today – the buses won’t wait for you.

Overheard at SOUTH

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): By age 14, you’ve woken up at least 5110 times. That’s a lot of sit-ups — your abs are definitely coming in.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19): Your math teacher accidentally put in a 25/20 on the last quiz. Savor your 125% before it plummets.

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month:

Yes, we heard you say that.

Every AP Teacher Ever: “You just have to regurgitate onto the paper.”

Confused Statistician: “Do histograms touch? Yes. Why? That’s gross! Stop touching each other!”

Average Junior: “I’m running on caffeine and spite.”

Mitosis Expert: “I’d be lucky if these were my last two brain cells.”

Exhausted Feminist: “You can’t just go to sleep when the patriarchy is intact.”

Left to right: Lazar, Fefer and He plot world domination, procrastinate on their pages.

Term Four

by Gemma Hill

CROSSWORD PUZZLE A collection of quirks for the mid-April grind.

DOWN

Answers: 1) Tertulia 2) primavera 3)Billie 4) Peeps 5) cupcakes, 6) KhanAcademy, 7) DC 8) pencil 9) matzah,10) mushroom, 11) Dudley, 12) plagues, 13) math, 14) CrashCourse, 15) sandals, 16) red, 17) beach, 18) eighth, 19) tours, 20) turkey, 21) promposals, 22) summer

1) Annual talent show 2) Spanish word for the new season; pasta dish 3) First person born in the 21st century to reach #1 on Billboard 5) Found on the 1000s staircase on April Fool’s 6) Sad alternative to 14 across 7) Where quiz bowl nationals will take place 9) Bread of affliction 11) Curvy road near South; Harry Potter’s cousin 12) Disney’s the Prince of Eygpt details the ten ______ 17) Where seniors flock to on their skip day 19) Juniors dread these April break excursions

ACROSS 4) Meatless chicken only available around Easter 8) Optimal writing utensil 9) Newest addition to the fitness center 10) Senior Sustainability trip went to Iceland and ______ 13) Sophomores, study hard for your ______ MCAS!

14) Siblings John and Hank Green singlehandedly save your APs on this educational show 15) Unholy combo: socks and ______ 16) Newton Teachers Association members wear this bright color every Tuesday

18) Game of Thrones came back for an ______ season 20) Unofficial mascot 21) Students write these punny mating calls on posters 22) 36 more school days until ______

Strategic Investments Club • Research an investment idea • Pitch the idea to the club • Club fund invests in the stock • ½ of the profit goes to the fund • ½ of the profit goes to you

No membership fees ever.

Room 6203 Wednesday J-Blocks This ad was bought with money made from our investments.