The Lion's Roar 36-1

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VOL. 36 ISSue 1

the LION'S

REDvolution Newton sees a spike in teacher union activity as more educators struggle to afford the high cost of living in Greater Boston.

Page 12

By Sophie Lewis

Photo Illustration by Netta Dror

inside this issue

New lunch provider

4 @nshsASL

Whitsons Culinary Group will replace Sodexo as South’s primary food supplier next year

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15 Coach Arrests

Students use Instagram to engage community with American Sign Language

Newton South HIGH School Newton, MA

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Est. 1984

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Student athletes disappointed in three coach arrests in past three years demand an investigation of athletic department hiring processes

June 6, 2019

NEWS

page 2|JUne 6, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

NEws@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 36, ISSUE 1

New PTO equity guidelines split community Esme Kamadolli & Carrie Ryter News Reporter, Managing Editor

The School Committee recently passed Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) spending restrictions to be adopted on July 1. These “equity caps” aim to make PTO-funded programming and resources comparable in all elementary schools in the district.

PTOs are funded exclusively by donations, and they focus their efforts on classroom and community enrichment.

While PTOs are able to spend unlimited money in areas like community events and playgrounds, their spending on creative arts and sciences programming, field trips and library and classroom resources are subject to a per-pupil equity spending cap.

In November 2018, the Equity Committee of the School Committee formed an Equity Working Group (EWG) to review the equity guidelines that were established in 1989 and have periodically changed since.

The changes that the EWG proposed in June 2018 have been the subject of a debate between parents at different schools and School Committee members.

The new guidelines reduce elementary school PTO expenditures under the perpupil equity spending cap category to $80 per pupil annually from the current $111.

PTO spending at different elementary schools varies greatly. In the past three years, some schools’ PTOs have spent as much as $93 more per pupil annually than others.

Since PTOs are funded exclusively by donations, the amount each school’s PTO is able to spend is a result of their community’s donations and ability to donate. Ward 7 School Committee member Kathleen Shields, an EWG member, said that the new guidelines are intended to close this disparity and create a uniform Newton education.

Newton PTO Council co-president Christine Dutt said the cap will impact each elementary school differently.

“There are some PTOs which need to reduce their spending from what they historically spend in order to comply to the new cap, but about two-thirds of PTOs aren’t going to be impacted if they continue to spend at their historic levels,” she said.

Shields said the goal is to help PTOs that are struggling behind the others, not to hinder those

ahead.

“We all feel like the things that the PTOs are spending on in the equity categories are important for our students,” she said. “It’s not that we don’t want PTOs to spend on them, … it’s just that there has to be a way to close the gap between some of the schools that are able to raise and spend more money and the schools that can’t.”

In addition to lowering the equity caps, the EWG was tasked with considering a pooled PTO fund to more equally distribute PTO resources. EWG will issue a final recommendation to the School Committee in the fall.

“We reached a preliminary view that

was the One Newton Fund.

“It would be the most effective because it still gives each PTO independence to raise their own money and use it on whatever programs they think will best benefit their school, but at the same time, it will help other schools that may not have the resources to fund themselves.”

Many of those who oppose either plan argue that equity caps of any kind inhibit academic excellence in schools by hindering the creative programming that PTOs fund In a report sent to the School Committee on April 24, the EWG wrote, “There is an inherent tension between the twin goals of equity and excellence, especially without

“ ” It affects the community because it really goes to what our district values for all of its students and the focus on valuing a Newton education rather than an education in any particular subset of the school district.

Kathleen Shields Ward 7 School Committee member

doing some sort of centralized or pooled fund was feasible, but that we’ve got a lot more work to do to figure out what that pooled fund might look like and how it could be implemented,” Shields said.

The final guidelines have been met with an anticipated range of reactions.

“These are hard issues to try to navigate because I think they impact things that people care a lot about and that are emotional trigger points for a lot of people,” Shields said.

The EWG first proposed five models of fund sharing between PTOs. The models were detailed in a survey sent to PTO board members, who were given the chance to rank them. The two proposals that got the most favorable ratings were One Newton Fund, which would create a city-wide fund for curriculum-related items in elementary schools, and Raise the Bar, which would send a percentage of the money PTOs spend above the equity cap limit to a centralized fund.

Senior Nayleth Lopez-Lopez, a student School Committee representative, said her favorite model

an infinite budget.”

Ward 8 School Committee representative Matthew Miller said that equity has more significant implications on students than does academic excellence.

“Kids will be fine if we have a little less money … for creative arts and sciences,” he said. “For me, the equity piece is more important. .... Equity cuts to the social-emotional piece and the character development of our kids, and so creating a culture that is fair, equitable and [where] everybody feels like they’re contributing, to me, beats out the academic excellence part.”

Eleni Spheeris, whose children go to Mason-Rice elementary school and South, however, said that equity should not come at the expense of excellence.

“The general idea is that you’re trying to ensure that things are equitable across schools. You want to be able to do that without affecting the academic excellence of the schools,” she said. “It does make me wonder, without even this equity cap, whether there’s been a slight decline in Newton in the areas of enrichment and academic excellence.”

Spheeris said she and other parents feel that capping spend-

ing was not the most effective strategy to achieve equity.

“I wish the caps hadn’t been lowered. I think that it makes it seem that we’re nickel and diming at an elementary level,” she said.

“What some parents feel is that ... instead of bringing schools that weren’t raising as many PTO dollars [up], what we did was we brought all schools down. … Why not find ways for schools that have difficulty raising PTO funds, why don’t we come up with ways to help them raise it?”

Burr PTO co-president Cristal Balis said that acknowledging Newton’s relative excellence is important. Burr partners with the P.A. Shaw elementary school in Dorchester, which has far fewer resources, she said; the partnership has given Balis a new perspective.

“I’ve spent some time in that school — it’s like night and day,” she said. “So when I hear the Newton community up in arms about having to cut $20 per student on something that a lot of low-income districts across the country would kill for, … it’s frustrating to me.”

Beyond varying support for the equity measures, Shields said that there are logistical challenges to implementing PTO funding pooling measures.

“There are a lot of logistical issues about a fund that is going to raise $30 to $50,000 a year,” she said. “That’s a lot of money, so it needs to have a structure in place.There need to be accounting and audit and legal controls over that money to make sure that it’s being held in the right way and that it’s safe, and it won’t get embezzled by somebody.”

The EWG has looked at other, similarsized school districts across the country to examine how they handle inequity, but Shields said that it has seen no clear solution.

“Lots of other school districts around the country are grappling with the same issues, but not a lot of people have particularly good solutions to them, which I think shows us at least that these are hard issues to try to navigate,” she said. “It’s not like there’s a really great solution out there, and we can just copy it from somebody else and implement it here.”

Shields said that the primary goal driving all of the guidelines is creating a uniform Newton education.

“It affects the community because it really goes to what our district values for all of its students, and the focus on valuing a Newton education rather than an education in any particular subset of the school district,” she said. “It should not be the case that a student at one NPS has a different experience than a student at a different NPS because the neighborhood in which that school is located happens to be in general wealthier or poorer.”

Such uniformity will translate into the middle and high school levels, from which the EWG has just started collecting PTO spending data, Dutt said.

“My oldest is in fifth [grade]. She’ll be in middle school next year,” she said.

“When I think about her experiences coming up in middle school and high school, I very much care that her experience has been similar to those coming from other elementary schools.”

graphic by Gemma Hill

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar News

New budget to reallocate spending Julian Fefer & Jenny He News Editor, News Reporter

In the decision-making for the 20192020 South budget, the fine and performing arts department and Modern Global Communities program (Global) received decreased funding.

After South receives a set amount of money from the City of Newton, Principal Joel Stembridge, Vice Principal Candice Beermann and department heads meet every year to allocate the school’s budget to each department. Departments then use the money allocated to them for new supplies and programs.

“We take a look at all of the requests that students have made through the registration process, and we make some decisions based on that,” Stembridge said.

These decisions are generally made after verification day in March, when the administration knows how many students are interested in the classes that each department offers.

Each year, administrators receive enough funding to pay full-time employees (FTE) and allocate the budget based on the number of FTE assigned to each department.

Stembridge said that the school cannot afhistory ford to issue FTE to classes with low student interest.

“We have to make tough decisions,” he said.

Due to increasing enrollment in science classes, the science department is receiving increased funding.

On the other hand, if registration for classes in a certain department is low, then their budgets are decreased, fine and performing arts department head Megan Leary-Crist said. Leary-Crists’s department received such a cut, meaning that the current orchestra conductor, Devon Nelson, will be unable to continue teaching at South.

“I felt really fantastic about Ms. Nelson, … and I wish I could keep her,” Leary-Crist said. “I simply can’t because not enough people elected to be in certain classes in the music department, which meant that Mr. Stembridge had to make a hard choice about how much staffing to put in the music department.”

Nelson, who replaced Jason Wang as orchestra conductor when he left to pursue a culinary career, said that the students will be hurt by her absence.

“When a group goes through such leadership change in the course of two or three years, it’s bound to have negative effects,” she said. “It’s a very small reduction to the fine and performing arts department, and it’s having a pretty significant impact on a group that’s gone through a lot of transitions in the last year.”

Nelson said she is unsure if special opportunities in the music department will be available next year.

“I wonder if it will be possible [to continue] things like going to the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association competition or having so many students involved with the Eastern Music Festival,” she said.

Symphonic band member freshman Mina Chae said that budget cuts to the fine and performing arts department will harm students’ experiences at South.

For instance, Global will not be able to organize a Global graduation to celebrate senior projects, nor will it able to fund senior trips to places such as the Galapagos, Sweden and Iceland next year.

Three years ago, the administration stopped funding to pay Global teachers for their additional time spent coordinating lessons.

Kozuch said this cut made it impossible for Global to properly function, as the course is built around collaboration among history, science and English classes, which requires teachers to have extra time to meet and plan.

“When you miss those opportunities, you’re going to not be able to provide the kind of community and interdisciplinary program that we’re advertising,” Kozuch said.

“We have not been able to do many of the things that make it a program that 10th graders, 11th graders and 12th graders all feel part of,” he said. “It is becoming not a program, but a bunch of courses that are taught.”

Due to these budget cuts, Kozuch will be resigning as director of Global next year. It’s unclear who will take his place.

“I’m resigning as director because Michael Kozuch I am no longer interested in trying teacher, founder of Modern Global Communities to run this program “A lot of people depend on the art that doesn’t really work, or is not working community, and I think limiting the budget as it should,” he said. “We call it ‘death by would … push people away from that com- a thousand cuts.’” munity,” she said.

While the school no longer supports “So many people find a home here in his ideal vision for Global, Kozuch said he the art and music classes; so many people believes that parents can save innovative feel like it’s a vital part of their day, that it programs like Global. helps them recenter to be able to go back “Parents are the ultimate deciders and to perform as best they can in their more because they are the voters and that’s how rigorous academic classes,” Crist said. democracy works,” he said. “If we want to The Global program has also experi- have those things continue, then we need to enced budget cuts this year. support these kinds of programs, and othWhen history teacher Michael Ko- erwise we can go back to a school without zuch founded Global 14 years ago, he said innovation.” he envisioned a multi-grade, cooperative Though often necessary and inevitacommunity. Throughout the years, however, ble, budget cuts overwhelmingly target niche the quality of Global has deteriorated due and overlooked programs, Kozuch said. to budget cuts, Kozuch said: with a reduced Overall, Stembridge said that budget budget, the Global program has been limited cuts are inevitable. in its ability to provide unique opportunities “We never have enough FTE like multi-level classes and communityto run every class,” he said. “It’s based projects. requested every year.”

“ ” If we want to have [them] continue, then we need to support these kinds of programs, and otherwise we can go back to a school without innovation.

June 6, 2019 Page 3

South Spots Climate Strike On May 24, local students skipped school to march from the Boston Hatch Memorial to the State House, where they wrote letters to representatives. They marched as part of the International Youth Climate Strike, a global movement initiated by Greta Thunberg.

photo by Dina Zeldin

Recyling Efforts On May 13, the School Committee voted to pass a School Recycling Policy.

The guidelines require all district personnel to support recycling efforts by enforcing recycling policies.

At South, most recycling is currently being thrown away with the garbage, but the administration hopes the measure will reduce unneccessary waste.

Senior Assassins On May 28, Cierra Brown, Walter Lazare and Ilan Rotberg won this year’s game of Senior Assassins.

The event is a yearly ritual where seniors go through stages of water gun assassinations. “I plan on going out to dinner with everyone that I did dirty,” Rotberg said regarding his prize money.

photos courtesy of the NSHS Assassins Instagram

Language finals

graphic by Dorothy Dolan

Because freshmen are required to take physics MCAS during the second-tolast week of school, they will be not taking language finals this year. This exemption from finals excludes Chinese class students, as they take finals the Friday before.

NEWS ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 4 June 6, 2019

South Spots

Whitsons to become lunch provider

Pops Concert On May 23, South’s musical groups played popular songs at the Pops concert.

Graduating seniors received awards for their leadership and engagement in the performing arts. “It’s nice to get an award, but the group is the best part,” senior Isabelle Gloria, who won the Chorus Award, said.

Spanish Club Spanish club raised $4,200 for the Hyde Square Task Force, a group that provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged Spanish-speaking students. The club raised $1,400 through food sales and contributions, and the rest from a sponsor. “Spanish club is about spreading the Spanish culture at school, but I’ve always wanted to help out Spanish-speaking students around the Boston area,” club leader junior Tito Garcia said.

and what they like.”

Marshall said that Whitsons’s menu will offer a variety of new lunch options while keeping classic school lunches, like pizza and deli bars, in place. Hurley said Eva Zacharakis that acai bowls and smoothies may become daily options too.

Julian Fefer & Dean Zhang Senior Alex Hillas said that although News Contributor, News Editors Sodexo’s food was bad, the company was flexible when it came to payment.

Whitsons Culinary Group “[Sodexo’s] cashiers are pretty flexwill replace Sodexo as the primary ible if you don’t have the money to pay at food supplier for NPS beginning in the time,” he said. “They just put it in the the 2019-2020 school year. Sodexo’s system to pay later, which is nice because departure comes as a relief to students, it allows students to get the food if they rethe majority of whom have been disapally need to.” pointed with the company’s food quality Along providing better food options, and lack of environmental initiative; the Whitsons plans to be more sustainable. administration is optimistic that Whitsons, Many students, including juniors which previously served NPS from 2009 Claire Olson, a member of Serving the Surf until 2015, will follow through in both of club, were disappointed in Sodexo for not these departments. supporting sustainability measures, like reContract negotiations began in Deplacing plastic utensils with corn fiber ones, cember, in anticipation of the expiration that the club proposed. Olson said she hopes of Sodexo’s current contract at the end of that Whitsons is more receptive of student the school year. National FDA regulations sustainability initiatives. require NPS to accept bids every three to “I’m hoping that they will be more five years. willing to work with the school board, Sodexo and Whitsons were picked something that is more flexible,” she said. as finalists from five other companies that Another major party pushing for a responded to the district’s request for promore sustainable lunch program is Green posals and were interviewed on March 28.

Newton, a Newton initiative to combat A committee comprised of various NPS climate change throughout the city, which administrators compared the two companies sent a letter to the committee with several based on their plans to improve food quality demands, including and implement decreasing food waste sustainable poliand ridding single use cies. plastics.

The com“They have some mittee members reusable containers overseeing the that they’re looking negotiations inNayleth Lopez-Lopez at deploying in the elcluded Grants student representative to the School Committee, class of 2019 ementary schools, [and Manager Stethey’re] working on phen Marshall, “Half the time, it makes my stomach some food rescue efforts, as well as explorAssistant Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer Liam Hurley, Interim Assistant ache,” senior Jennifer Weng said. “It’s just ing the ideas of composting and increasing recycling within the buildings,” Marshall Superintendent for Elementary Education not appetizing.”

“It’s too processed and preheated,” said. “I think, it’s a huge environmental win Eva Thompson, School Committee member for the city and for the schools.”

Matthew Miller and K-8 Wellness Coordina- junior Katya Grigoriev added.

Halpern said Whitsons has promised Freshman Enya Kamadolli said the tor Dana Bennett.

Hurley said that Whitsons was the cafeteria is incredibly crowded, making it environmental friendly changes.

“Whitsons are offering new green hard to buy lunch. most reliable of the final two candidates.

“The line is really long, especially on initiatives and also outreach programs to “Whitsons’s proposal and what they can deliver to Newton most closely resem- days when you have first lunch, and it takes a communicate with parents and students,” bled what we were hoping to get,” he said. really long time,” she said. “It’s kind of like he said.

With Whitsons as the new provider, Miller opened the selection process making your way through a herd of animals.”

Sophomore Aidan Higgins, on the Marshall said that there will be no major to student advisors to School Committee representatives and Parent Teacher Orga- other hand, said he’s content with the lunch changes to the prices of the school lunch. nization members, so they could contribute program at South, especially after his expe- If anything, prices on snack items may rience with middle school and elementary decrease. their opinions.

“There have been some discussions Senior Ross Halpern, a student rep- school lunch.

It’s passable, it’s better than elemen- around reducing some prices of some of the resentative to the School Committee, said that most committee members preferred tary school lunch,” he said. “The cheese and a la carte items,” he said.

Marshall said he is looking forward the nachos aren’t solids.”

Whitsons.

Eveleen Crespo, the chef manager to working with Whitsons again.

“A general consensus in the room “Whitsons gave us the best opportunity was that Whitsons was more energetic or at Sodexo, stood by the food service and that they wanted to get the bid more than said that Sodexo uses fresh ingredients and to provide tasty and nutritious food,” he said.

“We’re happy with Whitsons’s commitment improves its services based on feedback.

Sodexo,” he said.

“We’re very goal-oriented,” she said. to sustainable food and environmental prac“[Whitsons] seemed a lot more passionate and a lot more invested in helping “We try to structure our meals, what we tices, which ultimately made them the top Newton food service be the best that it have here basically based on the students choice for the district.” could be,” senior Nayleth Lopez-Lopez, another student representative to the School Committee, said.

Halpern said that he thought Sodexo was not chosen because students disliked their food options.

“I think that g an Zh the selecting comli y Em mittee felt that parby ic h ap ticipation rate was gr not at the height that they would like it to be,” he said. “Also, they had many complaints about unhealthy options, and students didn’t feel like they could eat.”

Junior Evan Hsu, who often eats school lunch, said he is disappointed in the number of healthy options Sodexo provides. He cited salad as the only one. The rest of the offerings don’t fit his palate either.

“I think that, on the whole, the school lunch is terrible. Certain days, like probably twice, or so, a year, the regular hot lunch will be decently good,” he said. “But most days, it’s barely edible.”

“ ” [Whitsons] seemed a lot more passionate and a lot more invested in helping Newton food service be the best that it could be.

photo contributed by Tito Garcia

Senior Pranks Between May 28 and 29, seniors pulled various stunts around campus for the annual class prank. Senior band Trash Rabbit gave a final performance on the band room roof as part of Tuesday’s tomfoolery. On Wednesday, the senior class officers hired a mariachi band to follow Principal Stembridge throughout the day and parked an ice cream truck outside of Goldrick house.

photo by Dina Zeldin

June 6, 2019 Page 5

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar News

Housing developments may impact class size Peri Barest, Caleb Lazar & Melica Zekavat Managing Editor, News Editor, News Contributor

A proposed housing development on Needham Street by the Northland Investment Corporation is the latest in a series of contested construction projects.

According to Northland’s Vice President of Development Kent Gonzales, the size of the development has slowed down its approval.

“This is the third year of meetings,” Gonzales said. “This project will take five to seven years.”

The 22-acre Newton Northland Development, which is planned to run from the Marshalls Plaza to the corner of Christina and Oak Streets, is projected to have 800 housing units, 115,000 square feet of retail space and 180,000 feet of office space.

The Newton Northland Development is just one of many housing developments proposed in Newton. Others include a recently approved project on Austin Street for 68 apartments and a proposed Riverside development on Grove Street that would bring over 600 housing units, office and retail space and a 200 room hotel. These developments are part of a larger movement to increase housing availability in Newton.

“The research shows that we need more units housing in Greater Boston,” Richard Lipof, Vice Chair of the Newton Land Use Committee, said. “We’re looking at the areas near transportation in our centers — Newtonville, Newton Center and Newton Highlands.”

The projected population growth from these housings, along with transportation complications, has prompted concerns over changes in traffic flow.

“Any increase in available housing is bound to increase traffic, especially in a crowded area like Needham Street,” senior Veer Sawhney, who lives near a housing development, said.

Among those concerned about traffic jams is the organization RightSize Newton.

“The amount of traffic that [the Riverside development] would generate is about triple the current traffic on Grove Street,” Randy Block, Chair of the Lower Falls Improvement Association and RightSize Board Member, said.

Gonzales said that Northland is working to find ways to prevent overwhelming traffic.

“What we’re trying to do to counter

photos courtesy of the Lower Falls Improvement Association Riverside Committee

The Riverside T Station is the location of the proposed housing development projectected to add 600 housing units. traffic is creating a new lifestyle for people who live here with shuttle buses,” Gonzales said.

The specifics of the shuttle system have yet to be worked out. The shuttles would run every 10 to 20 minutes and fare costs would be comparable to the T, but no details have been finalized, Gonzales said. He said that although traffic is a legitimate concern, the

tering high school in the same year. They’re going to be spread out across an elementary school, a middle school and a high school,” she said.

Block said that NPS won’t be significantly affected by the developments for a few years, which he said may pose complications later on.

“City officials feel that because the total

“ ” “Affordable housing is important in Newton especially because we have such great schools.

It doesn’t seem fair to limit that to the people in Newton who are usually really wealthy.”

Ashli Black class of 2019

Northland Development is unlikely to block up roads, as no major traffic changes came after the debut of the company’s housing development project in Waltham last year.

With an influx of new residents, Block said that the possibility of larger class sizes has left some Newton residents concerned about the implications of the new developments on education.

Large class sizes are already becoming a problem at South. Junior Lev Rosenberg, who came to South from a small private school, said that he experienced overcrowded classes that hindered his learning.

“Last year, I was in the [Lab Jazz] class that had 40 kids in it,” Rosenberg said.

“I maybe played piano in two of the songs because there were just so many people and [the teacher] never focused on us ever.”

Senior Ashli Black, on the other hand, said she thinks that many people are exaggerating the impact of new housing developments on future class sizes.

“It’s not like they’re all going to be en-

Bagels, coffee, and more!

population is going to go down, even if these developments attract a lot of students, we can absorb them. Maybe that’ll happen for a while, but then 10 or 15 years from now, … the school system will go back up,” he said.

“You probably won’t see the full impact of the development for at least five years, and I think there’s a real danger to that.”

While other issues regarding the developments remain contested, affordable housing is one most Newton residents agree on, Block said.

For all new housing developments, the Newton Land Use Committee requires a certain percentage of new units to be affordable to low-income families.

“Typically we go for 15 percent,” Lipof said. “We got more like 20 percent on Austin Street.”

The Newton Northland Development will be another affordable housing addition for Newton, Gonzales said.

“We’re providing 123 affordable units, which is just a hair more than 15 percent,”

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he said.

Black said that because of Newton’s strong school system, affordable housing should be a priority in the city.

“Affordable housing is important in Newton especially because we have such great schools,” Black said. “It doesn’t seem fair to limit that to the people in Newton who are usually really wealthy.”

Block said despite his concerns over traffic, he supports affordable housing.

“We love the diversity that affordable housing brings,” Block said. “What bothers us about developments isn’t really the housing units, it’s really all the commercial traffic.”

According to Gonzales, upsides of the Newton Northland development include its open space and economic benefits.

“Almost 43 percent of our development will be open space, with additional park area, and it’ll generate nearly $5 million in tax revenue for the city and create quite a few jobs,” he said. “It’s just a great opportunity to provide a wonderful living environment.”

Despite their concerns of increasing traffic and class sizes, opponents of new developments are still looking for compromise.

“We’re not opposed to any development,” Block said. “We’re just fighting for a much smaller development.”

Block said that Rightsize Newton could reach a compromise with the new housing developments in Newton if the finds alternative ways to increase the amount affordable housing without building large-scale.

“If we could get rid of or greatly reduce the commercial component, maybe we could find ourselves able to be in alliance with affordable housing advocates,” he said. “Let’s be a little more creative and try and figure out how to build more housing and more affordable housing in other ways than just have developers allocate 15 percent of some huge quantity for affordable housing purposes.”

EDITORIALS page 6|June 6, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 36, ISSUE 1

Student publications have shouldered the curriculum controversy in the absence of transparency For the past seven years, The Roar has covered the increasingly divisive conflict over the history curriculum’s Israeli-Palestinian unit. In doing so, The Roar’s staff aimed to debunk common assumptions. For example, that the curriculum is still being taught; that no one within the South community ever doubted it; that the issue is exclusively between pro- and anti-Israel factions.

In our most recent issue, we reached out to students of different backgrounds and affiliations and asked them to comment on the controversy in open letters. We hoped to take the conversation off online threads and empower students to present nuanced ideas in a credible publication.

But our hard work carefully researching, interviewing, writing and editing has been futile in comparison to the enormous volume of other reports available. Niche publications, both online and in print, have published hundreds of incendiary headlines that decry Newton Public Schools (NPS) administration and call out our teachers. These publications have bent the truth by misquoting teachers, cherry-picking evidence, muddling documents and exaggerating support.

By instilling a sense of emergency within a sector of the Jewish and pro-Israel community, these publications have diverted attention away from real instances of anti-

semitism in and around Newton. Teachers’ inboxes flooded with emails from concerned citizens from across the country who rightfully wanted to stop antisemitism in its tracks.

But when the Chabad Center for Jewish Life Arlington-Belmont and the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham were set on fire on May 11, and when antisemitic graffiti was found on Newton’s public property, including a

publications.

The protest left many South students wondering why Rambam Mesivta chose to come to South when there were likely other institutions where antisemitism and bias were clear and deeply-rooted. Students and families received little explanation and were discouraged students from engaging with Rambam Mesivta.

“ ” This is to say that, for the time being, The Roar is retiring from its coverage of the controversy.

It’s time for adults to fill in the blanks.

swastika and “threatening language” drawn on a desk at F. A. Day Middle School, these publications kept quiet.

In an educated community like Newton, we assume we can keep the influence of fake news — news that’s extremely biased, presents conjectures as facts or is outwardly false — at bay, but the extent to which these publications have affected us is surprising.

On May 21, a group of students from Long Island’s Rambam Mesivta High School came to protest South’s history curriculum. These students and their teachers had no doubt based their convictions on sensationalist

Instead of dismissing Rambam Mesivtas’s efforts, we should examine the source of their misinformation. Part of the problem stems from a lack of transparency between the NPS administration and the school community, a disconnect that has ramifications beyond Newton.

Many South students were unaware of the controversy at all. When a lawsuit was filed against the School Committee in the fall and when another suit was filed against teachers and administrators this spring, the responsibility to inform the student body of the development and its history fell on this

newspaper. Open communication between NPS and the community, or at least something more specific than vague emails sent to parents, would help clarify the problem and take the brunt of the work off the shoulders of student publications.

Through its continued and deliberate lack of transparency, NPS administration has exacerbated misunderstanding and fueled its own aggressors. Transparency would generate more support for the district and its history departments, support that would overpower the commotion that the sensationalist publications have created.

People outside of Newton would then have a plethora of perspectives to counter the narrative the aforementioned publications have built. Finally, Rambam Mesivta would have focused its field trip on a more worthy cause. Remedying the problem will allow NPS to move past the lawsuits and protests and open up space for its history departments to focus on revising the curriculum.

For too long, students have been left with an important piece of history missing from their curriculum. We need NPS administration to explain its past decisions and keep us updated on future developments. This is to say that, for the time being, The Roar is retiring from its coverage of the controversy.

It’s time for adults to fill in the blanks.

Volume XXXVI The Lion’s Roar

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper 140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 Srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief Jennifer Wang Dina Zeldin

Managing Editor

Send an Email to srstaff@thelionsroar.com for more details

Peri Barest Carrie Ryter

Section Editors News

Centerfold

Features

Copy Editor

Dean Zhang

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.

Opinions

Julian Fefer Caleb Lazar

Sophie Goodman Shoshi Gordon Ellyssa Jeong Siya Patel

Graphics Managers Gemma Hill Emily Zhang

Sophie Lewis

Rachael Wei

Business Managers Fletcher Smyth Jack Wylie

Faculty Advisor Ashley Chapman

Isabel Flessas Chunyu He Anya Lefkowitz Gillian Tobin

Sports Dorra Guermazi

Aron Korsunsky Jackson Slater

Photo Manager Netta Dror Simone Klein

June 6, 2019 Page 7

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Desk

Learning to write: freeing myself EDITOR’S from the cage of expectations DESK from the

Jennifer Wang Editor-in-Chief

I have a fear of writing. Ironic, isn’t it?

The editor-in-chief of a student newspaper is afraid of the very task that’s fundamental to her job.

I can’t begin to count the sleepless nights I’ve spent staring into the blank, soulsucking screen of what is supposed to be an essay, repeatedly typing and deleting the same sentences but with one-word differences.

Angry and exhausted, I’ve battled my prolonged writer’s block and chased deadlines whooshing by, my blood and sweat seeping onto the page as I typed away late at night.

Now, at the end of my junior year, I feel defeated. Instead of facing my fear, I’ve ran away from it this whole year. But my struggle has stayed with me through a crucial deadline in our publication cycle and a load of English assignments that I’ve been pushing back since last week.

I could not understand why I have been so afraid of writing, or how a simple and natural task for others has turned into a herculean undertaking for me. Where did my fear originate? When did my struggle begin?

When I moved back to the U.S. in sixth grade, my dad stressed the importance of improving my English. He said to succeed in America, there are two things I needed to learn: to write and to speak. As an EnglishLanguage Learner (ELL) student at the time, I took his advice to heart. That summer, as

soon as I got home from camp, I spent all my time reading and writing so that when the next school year rolled around, I would be ready to move into a regular English class.

My hard work paid off, but my struggle was just beginning. Now that I had made it out of ELL classes and was learning at the same level as native speakers in the seventhgrade class, I vowed to work harder than ever to reach the class’s standard. I started embellishing my papers with “million-dollar” vocab words that I didn’t understand, only

have an organized structure in my essay, use sophisticated language and craft a nuanced and specific arguments. Rubrics required me to meet and exceed all these expectations to do well on an essay.

But expectations are like dust. They gather and settle, and will eventually crush everything under their weight. Everyday, my parents expect me to succeed in school, my teachers expect me to present my best work and my peers expect me to perform at their level. Everyday, I am pulled in a thousand

“ ” Now, as I prepare for my last year of high school, I wonder if the little girl who had loved writing and making up her own stories is still there covered underneath a thick dusty layer of expectations.

hoping to impress the teachers. While these words gave me confidence that I belonged in the class, they in turn blinded my focus from the real content. I had been so busy reaching my self-imposed expectations that I could no longer see what I wanted.

My condition took a turn for the worse in high school. With the level divisions in classes, I felt a heightened need to prove my writing skills. Every word in my essay had to be meticulously selected, and every phrase in every sentence had to be delicately pieced together so that my writing would show merit at the honors level. I was expected to

different directions, so much that I fear I will get lost in whichever path I decide to take.

Expectations from others’ have now become my own, and I feel I’ve become disconnected from myself and lost in a crowd of disillusioned, indifferentiable people.

When I brought up my issue to a friend, they said, “you don’t live up to expectations.

You live with them.” Now, as I prepare for my last year of high school, I wonder if the little girl who had loved writing and making up her own stories is still there covered underneath a thick dusty layer of expectations.

The truth is that everyone faces and

makes expectations; however, there is a choice between living with them freely or living in their cage. Expectations should not dictate the way you live your life, and removing expectations does not mean lowering the bar but rather letting go of unnecessary pressure.

Before applying for the editor-in-chief position for our newspaper, I was mired in self-doubt. I was so worried I wouldn’t meet the expectations for this role that I had forgotten my passion for the Roar, for its people and its writing platform. Rather than asking myself whether I have enjoyed my time on staff and how I imagined my role on the publication next year, I questioned whether I was qualified.

But almost miraculously, you’re reading the paper I’ve been working on now for several weeks as editor-in-chief. I will continue to shed blood, sweat and tears in the writing process — if I’m honest, you’re reading my 4 a.m. writing because I was stuck when I first sat down. But now, both you and I have made it to the end.

And so my last piece of advice for you is this: don’t expect.

Don’t impose expectations on others or on yourself because you will only frustrate yourself with disappointment or overwhelm yourself with stress. Next time when you feel helpless or exhausted in a situation, take a look at whether you’re living in a state of expectations of others or expectations placed on you.

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

OPINIONS page 8|June 6, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 36, ISSUE 1

Are adversity scores Necessary?

T

he College Board recently introduced an adversity score that will accompany SAT scores sent to 150 colleges in the fall of 2019. The use of this score will become more widespread in the fall of 2020.

The score aims to level the playing field for disadvantaged students, who may have overcome obstacles that cannot be reflected in their SAT score. Although the adversity score has received widespread criticism regarding its potential inaccuracy and lack of contextualization, it is an important step towards eliminating the class divide in American education.

The adversity score does not directly affect college admissions or SAT scores. It is simply another piece of data that will be sent to colleges along with SAT scores. While admissions officers investigate applicants’ background using ambiguous information on their application, the adversity score is a concrete and standardized number, and can be more uniformly factored into admissions decisions. Adversity scores will not decrease the achievement of high SAT scores, but will show college admissions officers that lower scores may be more impressive than they seem, since certain applicants had fewer resources to help them.

South is a good example of one side of the disparity. Many South students receive private SAT tutoring, so their SAT scores don’t necessarily reflect their independent learning. Less privileged students often can’t afford this luxury. The hard work that they put into earning their scores may show more merit than the scores themselves.

In the discussion of the barrier created by the rapidly increasing cost of college, we often disregard the obstacles that students face after college. Many people of color who struggle financially to attend college face new barriers after they graduate. In the hiring process, the alma mater of potential employees of color is often much more heavily considered than it is for white people. The new adversity score could easily and efficiently remedy this bias. Top tier schools may be more likely to admit students with lower SAT scores if they see that they overcame challenges to achieve such scores.

This could begin to eliminate employer bias because more graduates of color would be able to show diplomas from selective universities on their resumes.

The adversity score takes into account other factors not directly tied to socioeconomic status that can affect students’ mental and emotional health, such as the death of relatives or substance abuse that occurs in their family. This way, students won’t be expected to live up to standards set by peers who didn’t face these challenges.

Critics argue that underprivileged students will be unable to learn effectively in the rigorous environment of competitive schools. A study by the College Board

YES

NO

By Matan kruskal

By Michael Sun

showed only a slight correlation between standardized test scores and GPAs in the first year of college. Furthermore this measurement is most likely skewed; students with higher test scores disproportionately come from wealthier families and can attend more selective universities, which are generally more expensive. They are therefore set up for success in whatever path they choose to pursue through college and beyond.

However, students who exemplify perseverance and resourcefulness are bound to be successful regardless of their preparation.

Despite many predictions by both students and educators that the adversity score will be inaccurate, demographers agree that most high schools and neighborhoods in the U.S. are not substantially economically diverse.

In a study by WalletHub measuring economic diversity in 501 U.S. cities on

a scale from z e r o 100, with 100 beingthe most diverse the median score was just 71.2, with no cities scoring above 80. This lack of diversity is an indicator of the likely accuracy of the adversity score.

Adversity scores will no doubt increase the socio-economic diversity at universities by opening up competitive admissions to less privileged students. Privileged students afraid the score will disadvantage them should know that they have other resources already at their disposal. The adversity score will allow students who face challenges to show excellence by rising above their peers, instead of being compared to an incredibly large group of students, most of whom have gone through high school with very different conditions. This way, students will be afforded the opportunities they deserve, giving way to more opportunities, instead of their possibilities being cut off at age 18 by factors completely out of their control.

I

n Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron,” set in America in 2081, no one is allowed to be inferior to or uglier than others. This is done by forcing people to wear physical “handicaps” to make sure that no one performs above average. Such a method to achieve total equality sounds absurd.

But in the same vein of thinking, the College Board, which oversees the dreaded SAT exam, is implementing a new adversity score in the hopes of increasing access to college for disadvantaged students. The College Board plans to use factors such as a student’s home environment and neighborhood statistics to calculate a number to represent the adversity the student faces. The purpose of this

is to make up the difference in average SAT scores between privileged and disadvantaged students. This would be like a basketball game in which one team receives an extra “equalization” point for each shot they make simply because their average height is shorter than that of the other team.

However, is the adversity score really going to resolve this issue of college admission inequality? Unfortunately, it’s not.

There is an inherent unfairness in allowing the adversity scores of an entire school district to be based on that district’s income status. Regardless of any actual academic skill, students would be assigned an adversity score based on the wealth of their district in the College Board’s current formula. Factors such as the structure of a student’s family or what language is spoken at home could additionally increase or decrease a student’s adversity score. Yet the tired and overworked juniors and seniors at

South know all too well that money and family alone can’t buy a high SAT score. These so-called “privileged” students would have to get even higher SAT scores to compensate for their low adversity scores. Adversity scores will lead to more stress and mental health problems amongst these students.

It’s also important to analyze if adversity scores will actually help disadvantaged students as promised. Valedictorians from high schools in impoverished areas demonstrate the larger trend. In January, The Boston Globe published a report highlighting 93 high school valedictorians who graduated Boston Public School district (BPS) from 2005 to 2007. The Globe found that 40 percent of these valedictorians currently earn less than $50,000 a year, 25 percent failed to obtain a bachelor’s degree within six years and four were homeless. Judging by these statistics, not all students in BPS are well prepared for college when accepted, even valedictorians.

A student who is admitted into a college based on their adversity score and not their academic talent may not be prepared for the challenges of college life.

In addition, adversity scores will not be available to students, which will lead many to question the accuracy of this ambiguous process itself. The adversity scores of entire districts could be miscalculated, and no one would ever know due to the College Board’s lack of transparency. A single number cannot be trusted to generalize a student’s entire life. What about a family who just got a new job and moved to a better school district or parents who recently divorced or remarried?

The adversity score may not be up to date because these factors may change at any moment. In addition, not all students in wealthy neighborhoods are privileged, and not all students from disadvantaged neighborhoods face the same obstacles. The adversity score generalizes and stereotypes all students based on statistics that ignore the efforts of individual students. Moreover, many colleges already take students’ living environments into account when reviewing applications.

Holistic application reviews by experienced admission officers would certainly be more accurate than a single number.

Simply introducing a new score alone will not solve the college admission issues.

Rather, the adversity score policy distracts from and covers up the real problem: poverty and underfunded school systems. The College Board already implements test fee waivers to over 20 percent of test-takers to make the test itself more accessible for students from poorer families. However, the College Board should more actively aid disadvantaged students and schools by providing free, quality SAT classes, camps and materials in order to better prepare students for taking the test. This will be a vastly better solution than stereotype-based adversity scores.

June 6, 2019 Page 9

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar opinions

My pride

My choice

By Ethan Kopf

I

n early years of the LGBTQ movement, queer activists were pioneers in combating discrimination against queer people.

Many of them in the 1970s embraced their queerness as a weapon to fight against bigots.

To me, these pioneers are heroes who created gay pride in an era where it was nearly impossible to find societal acceptance. And still, queer people today face some of the same challenges that these pioneers of the gay rights movement faced. However, for those who live in an overwhelmingly liberal community, homophobia isn’t always part of day-to-day life. I’m one of those people, and it leaves me confused about how gay pride fits into my identity.

For a gay individual growing up in most parts of the world, putting their homosexuality aside for extended periods of time would be impossible. In subtle cases of homophobia, slurs and glances in the street make most queer people unable to separate their queerness from themselves. In the worst cases, violence and prejudicial laws make it completely impossible for queer people to take a stance on their own homosexuality.

In both situations, however, the only two

options are to embrace complete, unapologetic, rainbow-colored pride or to take the route of self-hatred. The first option subjects people to discrimination from others, and the second subjects them to suppression of their own identity.

Luckily, in my community, I don’t need to choose between these less-than-ideal options. In fact, I’ve been given a choice denied to most other gay people throughout history: the choice of whether I want my sexuality to be a large part of my identity.

The consequence of my upbringing in such an accepting community is that my homosexuality has always had enough room to exist without offending anyone, even before I came out. For the past few years, I’ve treated my homosexuality the same way most straight people treat their heterosexuality — I haven’t thought of it as a defining characteristic of myself. Now, I stand at a crossroad between continuing this way of living and publicly displaying my sexuality the way many other students at South do.

I feel conflicted about taking either path. There are obvious benefits to being openly proud of my queerness: I would feel

more connected to the the queer community, I wouldn’t be labeled as self-hating, my sexual preference would be clear to people I meet and I would empower closeted queer people to feel comfortable coming out. With these benefits, however, I cannot help but think of the past endeavors of all those queer activists in braving bigotry so that queerness today does not have to be such a large and assuming label.

Perhaps my situation gives me the unique opportunity to bring society closer to where straight is not the default and gay the exception, but rather where no one feels as though their sexuality makes them an “other.”

The American LGBTQ movement has had immense success with legislation, and now the focus has turned to social acceptance.

Through a more understated presentation of my sexuality, I can spread the message that my queerness isn’t something I have to shout from the rooftops if I don’t want to. Straight

people never have to explicitly tell anyone that they’re straight, so why can’t it be the same for LGBTQ individuals? This is a new, realistic way of being gay in the world, and a right that prior activists put themselves on the line for.

So to all my fellow queer people: if you don’t feel like going to the pride parade, dressing stereotypically queer, then don’t do it. By not conforming to stereotypes, you help achieve long-term assimilation for queer people into a predominantly straight world.

Of course, if wearing your sexuality on your rainbow sleeve is what you prefer to do, then by all means do so. Queer culture needs to be preserved, and queer Americans have an incredible history to be remembered. We need all types of queer people in America, and if you can and willing to let the different aspects of your multifaceted identity shine brighter than your queerness, then I urge you to join me in taking that path.

Why i didn’t win

semi queen

By Grant Geyerhahn

T

his year’s semi was amazing. I met with my friends beforehand to take pictures, and then we headed to the hotel together to join the hundreds of juniors, dancing and screaming. It was a perfect, stress-free day, and the night got even better: the class officers announced that they were going to hold a vote for semi king and queen. Though I wondered why such a forward-thinking school would reintroduce such an old-fashioned tradition based on popularity. After I told my friends that I want to be semi queen, they immediately jumped in excitement.

I am gay, and I thought that having a boy as semi queen would be progressive and unexpected. I quickly started telling my friends to vote for me, and all did so gladly except one who was hesitant. She worried that the class officers would assume I was being bullied by the voters. After all, most inadvertent homophobia toward gay men emasculates us, and the class officers could conclude that someone was trying to shove me into an unwanted feminine role. I tried to check in with whoever was in charge to make sure they didn’t make a false assumption, but the teachers and deans I asked were unsure who was in charge of tallying the votes: so

I continued campaigning.

When my growing group of supporters and I arrived at the voting booth, we came across two boxes, a pile of paper slips and two pens. There were no clear rules to voting, so we each decided to write my name five times — the same way we vote to elect our class officers. We eagerly submitted a couple of ballots each, and after our endeavor, I was sure I would victoriously shake up this longstanding semi tradition.

Suddenly, the DJ paused the dancefloor rave, and everyone stopped to listen.

They were about to announce semi king and queen. I could not contain my excitement as my friends ran toward me and circled-up to hype me up. It was my time to change school history. My heart sank when they called a girl’s name instead. I was surprised that she had more votes than I did, and it wasn’t until all of my friends expressed doubt that I decided to investigate –– Something was undoubtedly wrong.

The next day, I voiced my concerns to my global class. One of the class officers, who happened to be in that class, said that I had actually received the most votes. Maybe whoever had counted the votes had assumed, as I had feared, that the voters had meant to

photo illustration by Netta Dror and Gemma Hill

bully me. However, I’ve never reported being bullied for my sexuality, and I’ve never made efforts to hide my identity. Why would anyone assume that the bullying would start at semi?

I looked for teachers and class officers who I presumed had tallied the votes for semi queen, but no one could point me toward a single person in charge. Nonetheless, news of my search found its way to the class office, and a few days later, a class officer informed me that the real reason I was not crowned semi queen was that I had cheated. I knew this explanation was a cheap excuse since even the girl who won the crown had people vote for her multiple times. The voting booth had no regulations and was left unmonitored — the system almost seemed to encourage students to vote more than once. The word “cheating” felt heavy-handed.

In the end, the school administrators, who promote inclusion and acceptance, wanted to protect me at all costs, but in doing so, they failed to carry out their values.

The deans, I was told, were concerned about even the slight chance that I had been bullied.

Because I received a large number of votes, many of which were in similar handwriting, the deans presumed that someone had wanted to humiliate me in front of the whole

grade. This confusion would have worked out better if they had simply asked if I was comfortable being crowned queen. I would have gladly explained my situation. But the school assumed the worst.

My personal situation, however, ties to a bigger issue: semi king and queen traditions may potentially exclude students who do not fit into the gender binary, who, like me, want to embrace gender fluidity for one night. I want to break the social rules of the semi tradition. I want to make a statement to our class: every student should feel included, and every student has an obligation to welcome others into traditions. When issues arise over the social norms, however, the solution isn’t removing the tradition altogether: it’s working with LGBTQ-identified students to make the tradition accessible to all.

Although I did not win, I want to congratulate our reigning queen and thank her for understanding; I also want to thank our class officers for their precautionary action. It was difficult for me to express my circumstances without blaming them. I hope next year’s semi attendees can work to improve on the king and queen tradition so that everyone can leave feeling like they had an equal shot at becoming royalty.

Opinions ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 10 June 6, 2019

Failures of the Great South Bake-off

By Chunyu He I love free stuff. After I take a homemade cookie or a personalized pencil from someone campaigning for class office, I vote for them. Walking through the halls in the weeks preceding elections, I notice posters on the school’s walls. Candidates create posters with simple designs by writing their names in all capital letters or using complex computer programs to photoshop their faces onto iconic art. When we vote in elections, we blindly fall for the candidates who are handing out free goodies and putting up the most eye-catching posters.

Class Office and South Senate elections are flawed and unfair: instead of voting for candidates’ policies and ideas, we vote for w ho e ver bribed us the best

graphic by Gemma Hill

with posters and cookies. Student government elections shouldn’t be based on such trivialities. Rather, we should focus on each candidate’s individual merit.

The main purpose of student government is to give students a voice in how the school operates. Yet, because we only know whose mom is a good baker from the campaigns, we vote blindly. Most students simply do not care about elections, but they still complain about the cost of school events, such as prom and semi, or about the class president later on when these events unsurprisingly fail to meet their expectations. As a school community, we have an obligation to care about who our representatives are if we hope to see ourselves fairly represented in decision-making.

That being said, the blame shouldn’t fall entirely on student voters. Both Senate and Class Office have the responsibility to advertise their policies to the public both before and after the election. Currently, students are unaware of the policies that Senators are proposing and are essentially participating in popularity contests when they vote. It’s no wonder then, that after elections, many unqualified candidates struggle in their new positions. To ensure meaningful elections, senators and class officers need to make their

initiatives more apparent in their campaign, and students need to vote more responsibly.

The brief speeches that candidates give to their class reveal little about what each candidate hopes to acomplish during their tunure. During this year’s class election speeches, I listened closely to each candidate’s policies, commitment and passion, but I didn’t hear any. Instead, student candidates primarily discussed next year’s semi and how they intended to use their leadership skills to make the event “as fun and affordable as possible.” After these repetitive speeches, however, I took away little valuable information. This lack of communication often translates into continuous miscommunication between student leadership and the student body. Students, as a result, are kept in the dark about policies, proposals and plans.

Barely surviving chemistry class this year, I failed to make it onto honor roll in term three. While I initially thought that none of my peers would notice this thanks to the Honor Roll Abolition Act of 2018 Senate passed in February of this year, I was confused when my classmates came up to me and asked why my name was missing from the list. Later on, I found out that although most student senators had voted to abolish the honor roll, Principal Stembridge was hesitant to enact the proposal, and so the bill was left hanging in mid-air.

From the outside, it seems that Senate has failed to fulfill their promises to the student body when in actuality, the administration has dissapointed our student representatives. I was shocked to hear this news, especially after Senate had already publicized the abolition of the honor roll, and even posted an official piece of legislation on Facebook.

The administration refused to cooperate with student representatives, and senators never addressed this discrepancy with the student body. In this power imbalance, the student representatives lacked control over the outcome of the bill. But while the role of Senate and Class Office is limited, both are still responsible for informing the student body so that students can better understand the role of both bodies within administration.

Student government undoubtedly plays an important role in our school, and the passion of those eager to improve our school certainly benefits all. These benefits, however, only come with greater transparency between students and the student government. Senators and class officers should inform students of their progress, and s students, we shouldn’t blindly vote for the people we like. Instead, we should encourage one another to learn about candidates’ policies to guarantee fair school elections to elect the best student representatives.

Netflix Chooses Filler Over Substance in New Content

By Maia Kahn Let’s play a game: I’m going to provide the official descriptions of three different Netflix Original series, and it’s your job to guess which one is fake and which two are real.

First up is “Bonding:” A New York City grad student moonlighting as a dominatrix enlists her gay BFF from high school to be her assistant.

Next is “Crashing:” In exchange for low rent, a hodgepodge group of 20-something tenants set up residence as property guards in a disused hospital, where hilarity ensues.

And finally “Sick Note:” After slacker Daniel Glass [played by Rupert Grint] is misdiagnosed with cancer, his lies lead him into an absurd web of fraud, blackmail, suspicion and misadventure.

As those of you most acquainted with Netflix’s ever-morphing homepage may have realized, that was a trick question: all of these shows are real and were produced by Netflix for at least one season. Yet despite their outlandish plotlines and eyebrow-raising potential for controversy, these shows barely stand out amid the dense, seemingly infinite Netflix Originals page.

Churned out constantly, these series flood what used to be a convenient platform for watching your favorite movies and television series. How is the company that brought

us “Orange is the New Black” now serving up two seasons of Ron Weasley faking a terminal illness?

The first television show produced by and for Netflix was “House of Cards,” which aired on February 1, 2013 and ran for six seasons before ending this year. It was followed by a slew of other hits — wildly different

of their predecessors; however, it seems like this new fare is given far less thought and is instead shoved on the public to make money — questionable morals and homogeneity in the production. And these creations increasingly propagate a certain narrative that grows more concerning with each release — one that is embodied not only by what Netflix

The paradox of Netflix is that it makes content intended to diversify the faces and experiences we see on TV, while simultaneously working against that ideal by limiting its characters to token identities that substitute for plot or depth. shows that gained cult followings by ushering in acclaim and viewership with original concepts and thoughtful development.

In 2019, it’s hard to imagine that this quality of content was ever the case. The little red Netflix logo now adorns the upper lefthand corner of countless titles through which you browse daily; streaming standbys like “Mean Girls” and “How I Met Your Mother” are gone, replaced by “The Kissing Booth” and “Friends from College.”

There would be no problem if these new titles had the same endearing qualities

creates, but simaltaneously what it cancels.

The paradox of Netflix is that it makes content intended to diversify the faces and experiences we see on TV, while simultaneously working against that ideal by limiting its characters to token identities that substitute for plot or depth. Take “Atypical” or “13 Reasons Why,” as examples. Both shows have come under fire for inaccurate, offensive portrayals of suicide, and autism respectively, yet are renewed for multiple seasons. Meanwhile, other shows — namely “The Get Down,” “One Day at at Time” and

“Sense8” — have been canceled despite having loyal fan bases and telling diverse stories in effective, respectful ways.

The more Netflix produces, the more content we see where characters are limited to their labels and, in too many cases, the stereotypes that accompany them. Shows in which characters’ identities are a part of their stories but don’t define their lives are canceled and replaced with tepid, cheap comedies; these changes worryingly pander to a white, straight, thin, neurotypical “majority,” and reduce all other people to punchlines.

Would “Sick Note” really be funny to someone with cancer? I don’t think so. And when these alienated groups are addressed, a lukewarm, condescending message triumphs over a compelling story: even if you’re chubby, Asian or quirky, Noah Centineo might still fall in love with you! You might still fit in with the normal kids, and there is hope for those unlucky enough to be different!

Of course, this isn’t to say Netflix is all bad. But for every show that has positive representation of marginalized communities, there is another that fails entirely. Once Netflix begins to take their content — and their audience — seriously again, the future and standards of good TV will undoubtedly improve.

graphic by Emily Zhang

June 6, 2019 Page 11

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Opinions

UPGRADE

9

End-of-the-year class parties

campus chatter The Lion’s Roar asked ...

What’s your dream summer vacation?

Crystal Lake Flip-flops as acceptable footwear

“Greece with the ‘Dale Squad.”

- Jordan Carey, Class of 2019

Parking in the senior lot Juniors take over Senior Commons Sleeping in during MCAS

“Chile.”

- Dylan Arkowitz, Class of 2020 “Probably Europe, ... somewhere with a nice beach and nice weather.”

- Dale Lavelle, Class of 2021

Summer fashion

“To go to the beach.”

Ice cream

- Jim Garbowitz, Class of 2022

Hello, Volume 36!

photos by Netta Dror

9

DOWNGRADE Restaurant Review: Playa Bowls

Finals Temperamental air conditioning Smelly armpits Sticky thighs Mosquitos Sunburns Watching seniors leave Summer reading assignments Goodbye, Volume 35 :(

By Peri Barest and Carrie Ryter We can’t count how many times we’ve sat in front of bowls of kale and remarked how nice it would be if healthy food tasted good. Playa Bowls, the newest local addition to the growing healthy food trend, opened on Commonwealth Avenue near Boston College in February and provides an answer to our prayers: finally, a treat with sweet flavor you can savor while gearing up for an active and healthy day.

The unassuming exterior gives way to a tropical blue, reclaimed wood interior that screams summer. Between the giant anchor on the wall and the sign boasting “Rad Since 2014,” we feel like we’ve just entered the set of Disney’s “Teen Beach Movie.” Playa Bowls’s beach vibes are perfect for underclassmen looking for a senior skip day pseudo-experience.

The bright chalkboard menu on the wall shows off an enviable array of options — everything from “Electric Mermaid” to “Stupid Cupid” to “Pink Flamingo.” While we were initially overwhelmed with the most mouth-watering kind of indecision, we ultimately modified our bowls, more or less designing our own: add some almonds, substitute cashew milk for coconut milk, omit the pineapple.

The execution, however, wasn’t without flaw, as one of our honey drizzles got neglected in the shuffle. Unfortunately, the person in front of us in line had a similar dilemma when their pitaya base

was swapped with açaí.

Wondering what pitaya and açai are?

We were too before we entered. But Playa Bowls had us covered: signs surrounding the small, open kitchen provided descriptions of fruits and flavors we didn’t realize even existed.

The most unexpected highlight of the trip was the soundtrack: the throwback playlist blasted tunes by Bridgit Mendler, Selena Gomez, Jason Mraz and the Backstreet Boys within 15 minutes of each other.

This beautiful playlist was second only to the bowls themselves, which were vibrant, colorful and deserving of the many Instagram posts in which they star.

It’s hard to justify charging $10-$12 on what some would call a mere bowl of fruit, particularly when your primary customers are high school and college students; it is certainly not an outing to add to your daily or weekly routine.

Nonetheless, while the price tag may be hefty, relative to three of its primary local competitors — Juice Press, Cocobeet and 11:11 Health Bar — Playa Bowls offers the lowest base price. If you take the dive, you will not be sorry when you receive a sweet, healthy and filling bowl made with real ingredients and topped with fresh, near-bursting berries.

Playa Bowls is not only an option for hipsters who are well-versed in superfoods, but for anyone who can spare $10 for a quick beach trip in the middle of exams.

photos courtesy of Playa Bowls Boston

REDvolution E

Newton sees a spike in teacher union activity as more educators struggle to afford the high cost of living in Greater Boston.

By Sophie Lewis Photo Illustration by Netta Dror

very morning, English teacher Deven Antani spends one hour and 25 minutes in traffic on his way to school from his home in Rhode Island. Inching home during rush hour takes him 15 minutes longer.

During his commute, Antani said he sometimes worries he’s spending his time wrong — he could be staying after school to help his students, watching a school concert or playing with his two-year-old daughter — but his love of teaching surpasses his misery in traffic.

“One of the things that I tell parents on back-to- school night and things like that is that to work here means to see their children more than I see my own daughter,” he said.

“And that wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t a labor of love.”

Still, Antani said he wishes he and his daughter were able to be more present in South’s community.

“You guys are such great role models and there are so many special people here that I want to introduce her to,” he said. “My students are my heroes in so many ways, and I want them to be that way for her.”

Antani is not alone in making sacrifices to teach in Newton. Faculty take second jobs, purchase homes far away from Newton’s high prices and pick up extra hours in order to make ends meet. Members of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) have seen their wages fall behind those of teachers in surrounding districts. But a recent rise in union advocacy could help solve this problem.

One of the frontliners in the movement is English teacher Kelly Henderson, a member of the NTA and the

board of directors of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Her advocacy for Newton teachers comes with a personal backstory. During the first six years of her teaching career, she waited tables at a restaurant after the school day ended.

“You’re working in a bar that closes at 2 a.m., and your first class is at 7:40, and that’s tough. I mostly remember being very tired,” she said.

Now in her twelfth year of teaching, Henderson said she has only recently started to be the teacher she wants to be — she can put in the time to attend after-school events and adjust curricula to fit her students’ needs.

“If I weren’t married, that would not be a reality,” she said.

Teachers who are struggling to earn a living are under an invisible mental burden, she said.

“You’re worried about getting stuck in traffic because you’re basically wasting gas and you’re sitting there watching that thinking, ‘Man, I really don’t want to have to fill up this tank before I get paid next week,’” she said. “You’re always doing this juggling in your brain, and the experience of that is very taxing.”

Behavioral therapist Samantha Petracca, who works one-on-one with students in South’s Connections program, is no stranger to having to balance multiple responsibilities.

She said that her second job as a babysitter has limited her ability to advocate for fair wages.

“I signed up to go to a march, and I ended up having

to babysit on that day, so I couldn’t go,” she said.

As a behavioral therapist, Petracca makes $6,000 more than her coworkers who are aides.

“For me coming in to work here, I didn’t know the difference between the two jobs. I knew they were both special ed, and I applied for the one that I saw was going to pay more,” she said. “If I were an aide, not a behavioral therapist, I could not afford to live where I live [in Waltham].”

Aide Christina Sergi said she worries about wasting gas money during her hour-long commute. She has had to find many second and third jobs throughout her time at South, including working at a gym, helping students prepare for the PSAT, tutoring and, most recently, waitressing.

“If you’re working a full-time job, you shouldn’t have to add on to that,” she said. “All professionals at this school work really hard regardless of the job, and it’s just not comparable to what is being received with the pay scale.”

Even though Sergi stepped in for an English teacher who left partway through the school year, she does not receive a teacher’s salary.

Like Sergi, History teacher David Murdock has a long commute — he leaves his Marlborough home at 6 a.m. every morning — and understands the temptation to want to live near his work.

“I haven’t talked to a single new teacher who doesn’t like teaching, but I don’t know if they all want to be here forever,” he said. “I wouldn’t blame them if they can’t afford to buy a house, they move to a place where they can and then they want to work closer to that.”

History teacher Brian Murray researched what a Newton teacher’s salary can and can’t afford in the Greater Boston area.

Murray found that in 2019, it would take 16 average salaries for a teacher to afford an average Newton home.

Even purchasing a home in a traditionally middleclass neighborhood is out of the question for most teachers.

In January, there were 48 properties for sale in Roslindale.

The average Newton teacher could afford just one of these properties: a garage retailed at $100,000.

In 2001, Newton housing prices were only 7 ½ times larger than teacher salaries. In 1980, they were four times

greater — with a mortgage, living in the community was accessible, Murray said.

“I see people who are 10 years older than me and that their compensation was so much better relative to housing expense. And I see people 10 years younger than me, and their situation is horrible. Just over a 20-year span, you see the quality of life radically changing,” he said. “But the city hasn’t put forth anything tangible and real outside of rhetoric that would even begin to take this issue seriously.”

Teachers said that living far away has implications beyond just a longer commute. Henderson, who lives in Waltham, said she is not only physically excluded from the Newton community but faces a social barrier, too.

“I was at Whole Foods, and a parent recognized me and said, ‘What brings you to this part of the world?’”

Henderson said. “It was a very odd comment. [The parent] was surprised to see me in what they perceived as their neighborhood outside of school hours. And I’m sure that person didn’t mean it that way, but it was a nice metaphor for how it feels like you come here, do your thing and then you go back to where you belong.”

Adding to the perception of teachers as “second-class citizens,” Henderson said, is the fact that so few teachers are able to vote in the Newton elections that affect their day-today lives and livelihoods.

“It leads to a disenfranchised faculty,” she said.

History teacher and chair of the NTA bargaining team Jamie Rinaldi said cost of living adjustments (COLA) to teacher salaries have been inadequate — while Newton teachers received a 0.7 percent raise in March of 2018, housing prices in Massachusetts rose by nearly four percent.

Additionally, during the 2008 recession, teacher salaries took a cut and have not yet reached pre-2008 levels.

Teacher salaries increase based on a step system proportional to educators’ length of tenure. Rinaldi, who will start his 15th year teaching at South in September, is currently at step 13 and a half of Newton’s 15 steps. When Rinaldi was hired, Newton used a 13-step system, but after Newton switched to 17 and then back to 15 steps, teachers’ continued on next page

REDvolution E

Newton sees a spike in teacher union activity as more educators struggle to afford the high cost of living in Greater Boston.

By Sophie Lewis Photo Illustration by Netta Dror

very morning, English teacher Deven Antani spends one hour and 25 minutes in traffic on his way to school from his home in Rhode Island. Inching home during rush hour takes him 15 minutes longer.

During his commute, Antani said he sometimes worries he’s spending his time wrong — he could be staying after school to help his students, watching a school concert or playing with his two-year-old daughter — but his love of teaching surpasses his misery in traffic.

“One of the things that I tell parents on back-to- school night and things like that is that to work here means to see their children more than I see my own daughter,” he said.

“And that wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t a labor of love.”

Still, Antani said he wishes he and his daughter were able to be more present in South’s community.

“You guys are such great role models and there are so many special people here that I want to introduce her to,” he said. “My students are my heroes in so many ways, and I want them to be that way for her.”

Antani is not alone in making sacrifices to teach in Newton. Faculty take second jobs, purchase homes far away from Newton’s high prices and pick up extra hours in order to make ends meet. Members of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) have seen their wages fall behind those of teachers in surrounding districts. But a recent rise in union advocacy could help solve this problem.

One of the frontliners in the movement is English teacher Kelly Henderson, a member of the NTA and the

board of directors of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

Her advocacy for Newton teachers comes with a personal backstory. During the first six years of her teaching career, she waited tables at a restaurant after the school day ended.

“You’re working in a bar that closes at 2 a.m., and your first class is at 7:40, and that’s tough. I mostly remember being very tired,” she said.

Now in her twelfth year of teaching, Henderson said she has only recently started to be the teacher she wants to be — she can put in the time to attend after-school events and adjust curricula to fit her students’ needs.

“If I weren’t married, that would not be a reality,” she said.

Teachers who are struggling to earn a living are under an invisible mental burden, she said.

“You’re worried about getting stuck in traffic because you’re basically wasting gas and you’re sitting there watching that thinking, ‘Man, I really don’t want to have to fill up this tank before I get paid next week,’” she said. “You’re always doing this juggling in your brain, and the experience of that is very taxing.”

Behavioral therapist Samantha Petracca, who works one-on-one with students in South’s Connections program, is no stranger to having to balance multiple responsibilities.

She said that her second job as a babysitter has limited her ability to advocate for fair wages.

“I signed up to go to a march, and I ended up having

to babysit on that day, so I couldn’t go,” she said.

As a behavioral therapist, Petracca makes $6,000 more than her coworkers who are aides.

“For me coming in to work here, I didn’t know the difference between the two jobs. I knew they were both special ed, and I applied for the one that I saw was going to pay more,” she said. “If I were an aide, not a behavioral therapist, I could not afford to live where I live [in Waltham].”

Aide Christina Sergi said she worries about wasting gas money during her hour-long commute. She has had to find many second and third jobs throughout her time at South, including working at a gym, helping students prepare for the PSAT, tutoring and, most recently, waitressing.

“If you’re working a full-time job, you shouldn’t have to add on to that,” she said. “All professionals at this school work really hard regardless of the job, and it’s just not comparable to what is being received with the pay scale.”

Even though Sergi stepped in for an English teacher who left partway through the school year, she does not receive a teacher’s salary.

Like Sergi, History teacher David Murdock has a long commute — he leaves his Marlborough home at 6 a.m. every morning — and understands the temptation to want to live near his work.

“I haven’t talked to a single new teacher who doesn’t like teaching, but I don’t know if they all want to be here forever,” he said. “I wouldn’t blame them if they can’t afford to buy a house, they move to a place where they can and then they want to work closer to that.”

History teacher Brian Murray researched what a Newton teacher’s salary can and can’t afford in the Greater Boston area.

Murray found that in 2019, it would take 16 average salaries for a teacher to afford an average Newton home.

Even purchasing a home in a traditionally middleclass neighborhood is out of the question for most teachers.

In January, there were 48 properties for sale in Roslindale.

The average Newton teacher could afford just one of these properties: a garage retailed at $100,000.

In 2001, Newton housing prices were only 7 ½ times larger than teacher salaries. In 1980, they were four times

greater — with a mortgage, living in the community was accessible, Murray said.

“I see people who are 10 years older than me and that their compensation was so much better relative to housing expense. And I see people 10 years younger than me, and their situation is horrible. Just over a 20-year span, you see the quality of life radically changing,” he said. “But the city hasn’t put forth anything tangible and real outside of rhetoric that would even begin to take this issue seriously.”

Teachers said that living far away has implications beyond just a longer commute. Henderson, who lives in Waltham, said she is not only physically excluded from the Newton community but faces a social barrier, too.

“I was at Whole Foods, and a parent recognized me and said, ‘What brings you to this part of the world?’”

Henderson said. “It was a very odd comment. [The parent] was surprised to see me in what they perceived as their neighborhood outside of school hours. And I’m sure that person didn’t mean it that way, but it was a nice metaphor for how it feels like you come here, do your thing and then you go back to where you belong.”

Adding to the perception of teachers as “second-class citizens,” Henderson said, is the fact that so few teachers are able to vote in the Newton elections that affect their day-today lives and livelihoods.

“It leads to a disenfranchised faculty,” she said.

History teacher and chair of the NTA bargaining team Jamie Rinaldi said cost of living adjustments (COLA) to teacher salaries have been inadequate — while Newton teachers received a 0.7 percent raise in March of 2018, housing prices in Massachusetts rose by nearly four percent.

Additionally, during the 2008 recession, teacher salaries took a cut and have not yet reached pre-2008 levels.

Teacher salaries increase based on a step system proportional to educators’ length of tenure. Rinaldi, who will start his 15th year teaching at South in September, is currently at step 13 and a half of Newton’s 15 steps. When Rinaldi was hired, Newton used a 13-step system, but after Newton switched to 17 and then back to 15 steps, teachers’ continued on next page

Centerfold ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 14 June 6, 2019 continued from previous page

everyone wearing these shirts?’ they’d do maybe a 30 second schpiel on why, but I don’t think they really explained the experience was no longer proportional to their step in the real reason and different points of view of people wearing payroll. shirts,” she said.

Rinaldi’s salary would be higher in neighboring Henderson said she has also observed that students are towns which have significantly more of their budget not fully aware of the reasons behind teachers’ advocacy. On allocated to teacher salaries: in Needham, for example, April 1, Henderson joined with hundreds of NTA members a 15-year veteran teacher makes from $6,800 to $7,800 in a march from North to the Education Center to meet the more than one in Newton.

School Committee at its budget meeting. While chanting “To be someone who has created a number of courses about fair wages, she was struck by one voice in the crowd. and a number of programs at this school and to still be paid as junior staff, it’s not only personally frustrating, it seems like a totally wrongheaded way to run an organization,” Rinaldi said.

Teachers, however, continue to want to Jamie Rinaldi work in Newton despite the district’s lower history teacher and chair of NTA bargaining team salaries. Junior Amari Turner’s mom, Kirsten Turner, was willing to take a pay cut to teach in Newton.

“There was this young person — I don’t know who Currently an Oak Hill math teacher, she had a higher salary he was — on the sidewalk yelling, ‘We hate our jobs, raise at her former position in Boston. our wages,’” she said. “I’m like, wait a minute. In what world “She said that she felt like it was more important to does asking for a raise mean you hate your job?” work out here because a lot of people aren’t exposed to She said that educators like herself just want to teach. having black teachers,” Turner said. “She saw that as more “The biggest fights that we have are around the things important than the money.” that get in the way of that,” she said.

Turner said she herself finds it hard to sympathize In recent years, teachers have been asked to provide with teachers’ long commutes. Her family lives in Boston, security, oversee parking and set up a reception for city and every afternoon, she rides the school bus for close to an politicians at South’s graduation ceremony. Given the climate hour, walks to the train station from where her bus drops surrounding contract negotiations, many teachers have felt her off, takes the train to her stop and then walks home. like being asked to perform these duties is unfair.

“We have to do it for free,” she said. “I can understand Union members organized petitions to protest these it’s a stressful job to come in like, ‘ugh, I have to drive this graduation duties and to disinvite mayor Ruthanne Fuller far, I should be paid more money to do this,’ but I feel like from the ceremony. So far, 80 percent of the faculty have as a teacher, ... you should teach because you love teaching signed the two petitions. kids, not because of the money.”

Rinaldi said that Fuller’s presence at the ceremony is She added that despite the fact that her mom is a undeserved given her lack of support for increasing school Newton teacher, she does not know much about the NTA’s funding, but she is expected to be in attendance nonetheless. advocacy.

Principal Joel Stembridge said that while he supports “At the beginning, if a student in class said, ‘Why is higher salaries and only assigning academic duties to teach-

ers at graduation, he felt as though it was inappropriate to discourage Fuller from attending the ceremony, especially given that the NTA does not have the authority to invite her.

When teachers feel that they are unable to contribute to the school community after school hours, however, Stembridge said that everyone suffers.

“When teachers don’t feel fully supported by the community, then they’re starting to think about what is fair for them to do. It’s not helpful for me or the students when teachers are thinking about that,” he said. “And I’m not blaming the teachers who are thinking that way, I’m saying that’s the situation we’re in.”

Rinaldi said that when he first began teaching at South, the faculty was a vibrant group, eager to volunteer and attend school performances. Faculty variety shows were organized, and the excitement surrounding such events was genuine.

Now, school spirit has become a chore.

When teachers are needed to volunteer after school, they have no good options, he said.

“There’s a bitter taste partially because it means that your entire day will be ruined,” he said. “You either won’t go home, or, if you do, you’ll regret it.”

Rinaldi said that administrators are at fault for allowing South’s morale to plummet — a job as “herculean” as teaching requires fair recognition and compensation.

“If you feel like you’re getting a raw deal, it’s not going to take long before you feel a little raw yourself. I don’t know that it’s really impacted the quality of education in the classroom, but I do know that it’s impacted the quality of education at the level of the school community. I think it’s really sad that we may lose something we may never be able to recover,” Rinaldi said. “And you know, there are plenty of schools that function exactly as that: they’re a building that has a mission of teaching certain courses to certain standards, assessing and encouraging student growth. But the Newton Public Schools have always been about something more visionary.”

“ ” If you feel like you’re getting a raw deal, it’s not going to take long before you feel a little raw yourself.

CRIMSON

CROWD

“This rally is incredibly important, not just for Newton and, in fact, not really so much for Newton. This is really more for schools who are suffering a really significant funding deficit,” she said.

“I think it’s okay to be really blunt when you’re angry,

Dina Zeldin

Coolidge Corner School, said he struggles to support his family on his salary.

“It is definitely poverty wages for what I feel like is a tremendously valuable job,” he said. “Caring for students, especially caring for the youngest students, is something that every society should value, and the fact is that I sometimes can’t afford to put gas in the car.”

Editor-in-Chief

Over 3,000 educators from across the state gathered at the Massachusetts State House on May 16 to rally in support of two bills aimed at increasing funding for public school districts statewide. The “Fund Our Future” rally, organized by the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), drew support from members of districts’ teacher unions. The Newton Teachers Association (NTA) was one group in attendance.

While proposed legislation was the driving force behind the Fund Our Future slogan, the rally mostly served to demonstrate unity among public school teachers in the state, history teacher Jamie Rinaldi said.

“We understand what a well-funded education looks like and the impact that a well-funded education has on student achievement and, I think most importantly, student self-perception,” he said. “We demand a Newton education and Newton funding levels for all students in Massachusetts.”

History teacher Faye Cassell said she came to support school districts suffering the consequences of funding shortfalls — many of these districts are in poor communities and must support a greater number of English Language Learners and Special Education students.

and I guess I’m really angry,” Cassell (above) said of her sign.

Currently, funding is distributed to schools based on an algorithm created in 1993. This foundation budget was enacted to provide schools with equal baseline funding.

In 2015, however, the state’s Foundation Budget Review Commission found that the foundation budget had a deficit of over $1 billion between the funding provided and the funding schools needed to meet statewide educational goals.

The Promise Act, the first of the two proposed bills, targets education from elementary to high school. If passed, schools’ foundation budgets would be updated to receive a total of $1.5 billion in additional funding by 2026, distributed among districts based on need.

Tom Donnington, a history teacher at Burncoat High School, came to the rally from Worcester with his colleagues from the Worcester Public Schools faculty. The funding designated by the Promise Act to the district, an estimated $101 million, would bring basic supplies to his students, he said.

“Our buildings are falling down, we don’t have textbooks, we don’t have technology in our classrooms. It makes a huge difference for them, and so we’re mainly here to support that,” he said.

Another concern for teachers at the rally was fair compensation for their work.

Eric Fossinger, who teaches kindergarten at Brookline’s

Fossinger came to the rally with his four-year-old daughter, who will enter kindergarten at the Brookline Public Schools this fall.

“I’ve told her that the reason we’re here is that teachers know what their students need to learn, and they’re here to tell politicians to tell everyone what those needs are,” he said. “I hope that message sinks in for her.”

The NTA has echoed the MTA’s call for compensation.

For English teacher Kelly Henderson, a board director of the MTA and an NTA member, the Promise Act provides a solution to contract disputes in Newton: the $5 million promised to the NPS foundation budget would free up money elsewhere to use for teacher salaries.

“There’s a clear connection between a school committee and a mayor that says,‘We don’t have the money,’” Henderson said. “Well, here’s the money.”

English teacher Jeremiah Hill, South building representative to the NTA and a chair of the NTA’s contract action team, said a contributing factor to Newton teachers’ relatively low representation at the rally was their primary focus on local issues.

“From the teacher perspective, it can definitely be easier to get fired up about the Newton contract, which directly affects us specifically,” he said. “But also, we’re there because part of the labor movement is solidarity with other unionists, wherever they are.” photo illustrations by Netta Dror and Dina Zeldin

FEATURES page 15|June 6, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

Features@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 36, ISSUE 1

Sharing A Sign A Day

Three American Sign Language students created @nshsasl Instagram to engage the school community

By Rachael Wei

Left to right: American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Suzann Bedrosian and juniors Katelyn Hatem, Julie Wise and Carissa Moy sign “A,” “S,” “L.”

W

hile at Panera, junior Katelyn Hatem helped her American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Suzann Bedrosian order a lunch after seeing that the cashier struggled to understand her. Hatem was able to apply her knowledge from her ASL class to translate her teacher’s signs into English.

“The woman at the cashier didn’t know what she was saying, so I went up to Suz, and I got the order down,” she said. “It was a bit of a process, but it worked.”

The incident made Hatem more aware of the barrier between deaf and hearing individuals that exists outside of the ASL classroom. Hoping to breach the divide and spread awareness for ASL, Hatem, along with juniors Carissa Moy and Julie Wise, started @nshsasl, an Instagram account dedicated to teaching one ASL sign every day. Although the group had initially imagined starting an ASL club, Hatem said they decided Instagram would be the most convenient platform for students to engage with.

“We love the language so much and wanted to share it with the South community,” she said. “Throughout the year, we were saying that we should start a club, but we’re all really busy, so we never really followed through. We realized that Instagram is a lot easier to handle than a weekly J block meeting.”

A few of the benefits of the platform, Moy said, is its appealing and accessible format.

“It’s more eye-catching,” she said.

“On Instagram, you can just tap and see.”

Wise said she hopes that the Instagram account will raise awareness of the complexities of sign language.

“People think it’s just flailing your hands and translating to English, but it’s its own language that’s not really English,

“Deaf people already make such an effort to fit into our world, and it’s the least you can do to learn another language,” she said. “It would be really helpful to be able to communicate with people that live in your country, especially if you’re planning on going into a field like the medical field,”

“ ” People think it’s just flailing your hands and translating to English, but it’s its own language that’s not really English, and I think it’s good to increase awareness for that.

Julie Wise class of 2020

and I think it’s good to increase awareness for that,” she said. “It’s just like learning a foreign language. ” Learning ASL is crucial to integrating deaf people into the wider community, Moy said.

“It’s important to learn any language because we can’t just assume that anywhere people just speak English,” she said. “For us, we need to learn other languages and communicate with more people and learn their experiences and their cultures to broaden our understandings of the world.”

Junior Hannah Kim, who took ASL in her freshman and sophomore years, added that learning ASL can be helpful not only to the deaf community, but as a professional skill.

But low student enrollment in ASL classes — ASL 1 was a regular-sized class, and ASL 2 and ASL 3 were combined with a total of six students — shows just how unappreciated the language is.

“A lot of people just don’t know it exists. I feel like it’s a really rarely talked about language. I think a lot of people are interested in learning; they just don’t know it’s an option they can do,” Wise said. “We’re in the level two to three class, and a ton of people drop it going from ASL 1, so it drastically loses popularity from there.”

The disregard for ASL at South leads to an unwelcoming environment for deaf people, Hatem added.

“Our teacher is deaf, and I’ve noticed that other teachers don’t really sign with her

photo by Netta Dror

— they mouth words,” she said. “There’s still a barrier sometimes, but we’ve gotten to know her as a person.”

To promote the language class, Moy said South should offer ASL classes as a major World Language course rather than as an elective.

“Right now, it’s an elective, and I think that also might be a factor in why people don’t know that it’s here,” she said. “There are not a lot of people taking it in the first place, so it doesn’t get brought up a lot. In the course selection book, it’s at the very end with other language options, and it’s grouped with TA and stuff like that.”

Another obstacle is the lack of a middle school equivalent of the course, Hatem said.

“The school should tell incoming freshmen about sign language because when we came in, it was either Spanish, French or Chinese,” she said. “The Latin kids knew from Latin in the middle school, but there’s no sign language in the middle school.”

Moy said she hopes she and her friends will remove that obstacle by teaching their Instagram followers a few simple signs so they are able to at least appreciate the language and its speakers, if not communicate a few words themselves. The group also has plans to expand into an ASL club.

“We made the Instagram account so that people, if they want to interact with deaf people, would have some basic signs so that they could somehow communicate with them,” Moy said. “But I’m hoping that we can start an ASL club, so we can later pass this down to underclassmen, and they would take over the Instagram page, too.”

page 16 June 6, 2019

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

THE COMMON APPLICATION The Roar follows one remaining senior as he navigates the college process and reveals his identity with his decision

By Sophie Lewis

V photo by Netta Dror

eer Sawhney, previously known as Ryan, committed to Boston University’s (BU) class of 2023.

His final decision was between BU and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

“I got off the waitlist for UCLA, but I was really hesitant to jump in because I hadn’t visited,” he said.

He said that he and his parents are glad that he is staying local.

“I’ve been here for a while, I know the area, so I think it’ll be a little easier to assimilate into college,” he said.

Planning to major in statistics, Sawhney said that Boston’s array of research opportunities in biology and math was another key factor in his decision.

Now that his classmates have decided their plans for next year, he said that he’s noticed a shift in morale.

“It feels like a big burden has been

lifted off,” he said. “A lot of people are really happy, and there’s a lot of Facebook announcements, which is always really exciting.”

Sawhney said that leaving the Newton community is bittersweet.

“Over 13 years, I’ve met a ton of people who have been really amazing to me,” he said. “I’m definitely going to miss that, but it’s a comfort to know that they’re close enough that I can always find somebody.”

Fulbright Scholars form international connections Shoshi Gordon Features Editor

Last year, ‘13 graduate Dipal Nagda tried German baked cabbage for the first time while at her professor’s Christmas dinner.

“We were all sitting around the dinner table, and we had this array of food and all sorts of different types of German food that I had never tried before,” she said. “I genuinely connected with folks at my lab there who I had never connected with so closely, even after working at a lab as an undergrad for so long.”

The Fulbright Scholarship program is an international exchange program started

by Arkansas Senator William Fulbright in 1964 and run by the State Department. College graduates, like Nagda, can be admitted into the program to conduct research or to become an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) abroad.

Through a Fulbright Scholarship, Nagda had the opportunity to study neurodevelopmental mechanisms in a lab in Germany and to explore German culture.

“Its aim is basically to establish bilateral connections with other countries around the world,” Joe Joseph, ‘13 graduate and 2017- 18 Fulbright Scholar said. “Every scholarship is totally different, depending on the country that you’ve applied to and the program that you’re a part of.”

As an ETA in Madrid, Spain, Joseph established a chapter of the Global Classrooms program, a United Nation’s (UN) English as a Second Language program, at the high school he worked at. This year, Joseph returned to the Fulbright program as one of the two Madrid mentors. In this role, he’s now expanding the Global Classrooms program and coordinating with the Department of Education of Madrid. “[It] is a method of engaging young students typically around 14-years old in really interesting and captivating issues, all while they’re working on skills like public speaking, writing and a lot of different kind of English skills,” Joseph said.

Joseph said that chaperoning his

students to an international Model UN conference in New York gave him a new appreciation for the program.

“I really started to reflect on just how international this experience was and how much I’ve been able to form these connections with people and places that I never thought I would be able to,” he said.

Joseph and his students worked together to understand social and global issues,

risk of dementia.

Roy said that the international travel experience is an important facet of Fulbright.

“It’s a really, really great way to experience life in another country, to learn a new culture and to learn about an entirely different group of people and ideas,” she said.

But traveling wasn’t without its own tribulations: Roy said she struggled to overcome homesickness and create a life

he said.

“The topic that we discussed was protecting the rights of migrants, which of course living in a country like Spain and in the current political climate of Europe, is an incredibly salient thing to be discussing with 14-year-olds,” he said Similarly, ‘13 graduate Hannah Wayne, a 2017-18 Fulbright Scholar, traveled to Vienna, Austria to work as a researcher and ETA. She decided to stay in Austria and continue teaching, focusing on inspiring her students to engage politically. “[Students] can vote when they’re 16 here, in Austria. So I did a lesson on the U.S. political system and then compared it to the students, being like ‘hey, you guys have to go vote and what does that mean and where do you get that information from?’”

Global projects like these are at the epicenter of the Fulbright mission. ‘14 graduate and 2018-19 Fulbright Scholar Nikita Roy is currently working as a researcher in Australia, focusing on identifying potential markers of cognitive decline in patients at

in Australia.

“There’s that aspect of leaving your home, traveling alone and not really knowing where you are and … that is really scary and new,” she said. “I had to not just be okay with meeting all kinds of people … but also be okay with being on my own.”

Joseph said that the stresses of postgraduate life were harder to face abroad.

“You feel very isolated and alone coming out of a college environment into, quote end quote, the real world,” he said.

“To do that in a foreign country exacerbated a lot of those feelings. … I really had to dig deep and find a community here in Madrid and establish relationships and friendships.”

The culture was also hard for the Scholars to adjust to. Nagda said her South Asian ethnicity set her apart in Germany.

“Germany has a different political climate than we do,” she said. “When people see someone with a darker skin tone, people are taken aback that I can speak English.”

Such interactions didn’t come from malevolent intent, Nagda said.

“What really surprised me over the

course of a year is the genuine friendships that I built with folks in my life,” she said.

“We’re really quick to judge based on just interactions or outward appearances, [but] I was embraced in a way that I didn’t expect to be, and that was awesome.”

Another surprising takeaway, Nagda said, was a newfound perspective on America’s role in the world.

“I didn’t realize how pervasive American politics and American current events were, and how well-read folks from abroad were,” she said.

Samantha Mandel, Newton’s Global Education Programs Manager, said that studying abroad expands students’ cultural awareness.

“It takes you outside of yourself and puts the shoe on the other foot,” she said. “A lot of students feel like they are jolted into looking at a different perspective than they had previously considered,” she said.

She said she encourages students to seek study abroad opportunities while in high school and college, graphic by Emily Zhang even before they become eligible for Fulbright.

Joseph said that teachers at South influenced him years after his high school graduation when he became a teacher himself.

“Just being exposed to so many wonderful educators and teachers, who inspired me to enter this field, was a huge factor in my journey towards Fulbright,” he said. “I really have to thank South for pushing me.

I think it was a very challenging place, and I think it can be, at times, too challenging, but ... it gave me a sense of drive and motivation to strive for the maximum.”

It’s important for students to not get overwhelmed with the rigor of the curriculum and take time to pursue study abroad opportunities Mandel said.

“It’s a door opener,” she said. “it can really affect what [people] do in college and afterward for their whole life.”

June 6, 2019 Page 17

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Features

Noah Rivkin, ‘13, leaves Mayor for Marines Ellyssa Jeong Features Editor

After graduating from college in 2017, ‘13 graduate Noah Rivkin has spent the past two years working as an executive aide to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, and now plans to join the Marines.

“I’d like to go and serve the country and be the best Marine that I can possibly be with a large pool of people with different backgrounds in the U.S. and different cultures in the U.S. that I have yet to have seen,” Rivkin said.

Rivkin said that helping others and serving the city made his life more fulfilling.

“You catch this bug to help people, and it feels good because everyday you come home, and you know that what you did today mattered to somebody — and to a whole city,” Rivkin said.

Rivkin’s former history teacher Jamie Rinaldi said that Rivkin always wanted to serve his community, even in high school.

“Noah loves Newton. He cared deeply about this community, about public service and giving back. He understood and appreciated the many opportunities that this school system had given him. He wanted to find a way to give back and to honor all that he had received,” Rinaldi said.

Rivkin said that South fosters an education that frames the next chapter in students’ lives.

“The amount that you’re exposed to at South as a high school student makes me feel pretty lucky that I got to go there,” he said.

“You come out of South with a really great education and a really great foundation to

build upon in the future.”

As such, Rivkin said his experience at South nurtured his interest in politics.

“I had a few teachers who were always interested in discussing politics and discussing government, and I think that helped to develop my interest, but I knew even before that that this was something I wanted to try,” Rivkin said.

Rivkin said that Fuller’s mentorship helped mold him into the person who he strived to be.

“As results of her guidance and mentorship, it made me a better public servant, which is really everything I could’ve asked for. It allowed me to really understand what the value of public service is,” he said.

Rivkin said that he was lucky to work for the city of Newton, where he was able to surround himself with many other civil servants.

“I got to see how amazing the city is, how amazing the people that work for it all are; what a wealth of wonderful people, good culture [and] great civil servants we have in this city,” he said. “Everywhere I looked, there was somebody who was a role model.”

From Rivkin’s studies to his work for the city, Rinaldi said that Rivkin prioritized learning, both socially and academically.

“He was committed to his studies, and he also really revelled in the opportunity to be in a community of learners and a community of caring people. He loved what they did, and he loved what he did and just wanted to share that,” Rinaldi said.

Fuller said she is moved by Rivkin’s sincerity in his work and engagement with

photo contributed by Noah Rivkin

‘13 graduate Noah Rivkin (left) worked as executive aide to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller (right). others.

“Noah wanted to understand and learn from everyone, so he would very, very, very frequently carve out an hour of time. No matter what somebody’s job was or their life experience, he would say, ‘Can we grab a cup of coffee?’ and he would just ask questions [to] understand their life story.

[He] absorbed from so many people and genuinely learned,” Fuller said.

Rivkin said that his time with the Mayor increased his desire to join the Marines.

“The thing that working for the Mayor’s office has taught me is that I want a good portion of my life to be committed to public service, and the Marine Corps is a good way to be doing that,” he said. “I see it as a good way to serve and make a difference

at the federal level at my age and to be surrounded by people who have lived different experiences than I have and might think quite differently than I do.”

Fuller said that she knows Rivkin has a bright future.

“He’s going to serve our community, our country and his family. In the best possible words, he’s a true servant.” she said.

As he moves forward, Rivkin said that he hopes to stay rooted in his value of service.

“When you’re working with someone who is 100 percent devoted to public service, you yourself also learn that value, and you get excited about it,” he said. “No matter what I do and no matter where I am, I’d like for my life to be significantly anchored in community service.”

Students strive for influence through SoundCloud Sophie Goodman Features Editor

Inspired by the success of artists like Wiz Khalifa and Lil Pump on SoundCloud, Junior Tre Andrews decided to upload his first song, “TBE Freestyle,” onto the free online distribution platform last year. Andrews, otherwise known as “Trigga Tre” has expanded his account and released several songs since the first upload. Most recently, he collaborated with jun i or

graphic by Alice Zilberberg and Ellyssa Jeong

Michael Bagdasarian “Michael Bags” and senior Vineet Sreenivasan “Lil Neet” to produce “Switch Sides”.

“Our first song was going to be the most important song that puts us out there for everybody to recognize and for everyb o dy l iste n to,” Andrews said.

The hard work paid off: now the trio is scheduled to perform at a concert on Ju n e 2 2 i n Cambridge.

Hoping to build a career in the music industry, students like Andrews have turned to SoundCloud to prom ote their music.

Junior Christina Bartley “Chrisi B” is an R&B, hip-hop and trap artist.

She said she values SoundCloud because it allows her to express herself.

“It really takes me a lot to talk to

people or talk in front of people. And as much as I try to connect to people, even at my school, it’s really hard for me,” she said.

“I find music to be my outlet.”

Senior Jaehun Jeong said that music became a bigger part of his life after he moved to U.S. from Korea.

“I would use music and interviews of artists to learn the pop culture here,” he said.

“I also listen to Korean rappers and try to bring that culture over here. Because I know that people can’t really understand Korean, I try to bring Korean trap music here.”

Jeong has recently begun mixing songs and uploading them to SoundCloud.

He said he has enjoyed the independence the platform allows.

“This is the first thing that I really did without anybody’s help. So that’s why I do it — to prove to myself that I can do something by myself,” he said.

For Bartley, the platform provides a network within the music community.

“It’s helped me with being connected with other artists, especially local artists,” she said.

Many students have said that the platform’s free services are what make it appealing. Senior Daniel Doubenski said that this feature has created an entry point into the music industry for students.

“SoundCloud has definitely influenced a younger population to make more and more music on it. It has made it more accessible for people who don’t want to invest money yet [are] into the business to make a stand for themselves,” he said.

Music producer and owner of Zippah Studios Brian Charles said that SoundCloud’s simplicity, however, has made

breaking into the music industry that much harder.

“The game isn’t just getting your music online now, because everybody can do that. … It’s harder for people to find what I call curated versions of music,” he said. “The challenge now is marketing. It’s all about getting heard.”

Most of SoundCloud’s content blends together, and Doubenski attributed this lack of originality to the accessibility.

“It’s just a lot of people with no talent — not saying that they suck or anything like that, but they rap like everybody else, and they think they can make money off of it,” he said.

Doubenski said without a unique style, it’s difficult for an artist to be recognized. He said that his goal is to express his individuality through music.

“You want them to tell you that it’s really you, it’s not some[one] else. It’s just really who you are. I think that’s the best part of it,” he said.

Many students said that they hope to make a living out of their passion for music.

“Whether you’re listening or recording, you’re just able to be yourself,” Andrews said, as he plans to dedicate more time to music production once he graduates.

“You’re also able to just basically start your own label, … get people buying shirts, get your own studio [and] get a time when you’re able to be able to record and everything,” Andrews added.

Bartley, too, has aspirations.

“I really want to be an artist, like artists that you’ll see all over the place, on the radio, billboards, all that stuff,” she said. “At least I want to be known for doing this.”

FeaTURES ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 18 June 6, 2019

HIGHSINCE SCHOOL Age

THRE E

The Roar’s Carrie Ryter asked children of faculty members about their experiences at South’s preschool

Edie Weintraub, 3

English teacher David Weintraub’s daughter

Charlie Greiner, 5

History teacher Jonathan Greiner’s son

Q: What do you like to play with high school friends?

A: School and family (games).

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in preschool?

A: Legos.

Q: Are high school friends the grown-ups or babies in the game?

A: Make them be the witch ... Just pretend!

Q: What do you like to build?

A: Mostly spaceships.

Q: Do you think being a high schooler or a preschooler is more fun?

A: A kid, because you get to play more things.

Q: What does Daddy do in his room all day?

A: He teach! Because he’s a teacher.

Q: What does he teach about?

A: Lots of cool things!

Q: What’s the coolest spaceship you’ve ever built?

A: I don’t have one of those. I’m gonna make it right now.

Q: What does your dad do when you’re in school?

A: He’s a history teacher. He teaches high school kids, and they learn about history.

Q: Is your dad a good teacher?

A: Yeah, he’s a good teacher because he’s a good guy. Yeah, he’s not a bad guy.

Nora Noonan, 3

Special Ed teacher Kristine Noonan’s daughter Q: What do you like to do at preschool?

A: Bounce!

Q: What do you like to do when high school friends come to your room?

A: Play!

Q: Where does your Mommy go when you’re at school?

A: Work … at my school.

Q: What does she do?

A: I don’t know.

Q: What do high schoolers do?

A: Work.

Q: Is it more fun to be a preschooler or a high schooler?

A: Preschool.

photos contributed by Lauren Atkinson

Henry Padgett, 5 Campus Aide David Padgett’s son

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in preschool?

A: Trucks … I play with my friends.

Q: What do you like to do with high school friends?

A: I like to play with them.

Q: What does Daddy do all day?

A: He does work. He teaches.

Q: Do you ever see Daddy during the day?

A: I do it at the end of the day … I play in his office.

Q: What do you want to do when you’re Daddy’s age?

A: I want to be at the ice cream truck, … work there.

Time at preschool relieves stress, forms bonds Carrie Ryter Managing Editor

For senior Jemini Jean-Louis, working in the Newton South Preschool Program has opened a portal into the young developing mind, particularly that of Scarlett Crist, the daughter of Jean-Louis’s former ceramics teacher, Megan Leary-Crist.

“She can see a roll of toilet paper … and she’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m on a ship, and I’m a pirate, and here are my binoculars, and I need to see — oh there’s a pirate over there,’” Jean-Louis said. “She’ll create anything out of nothing.”

Jean-Louis is one of three students majoring in the preschool — she spends 12 blocks a week working there and at the end of the year will receive an assistant teaching degree. Through their engagement at the preschool, students like Jean-Louis form

unique connections and enrich both their experiences and those of the preschoolers.

English teacher David Weintraub said that teaching high schoolers who work with his daughter, Edie, in the preschool has strengthened his relationship with his students. “[It’s] a dream come true, because, with the students that I have that also teach Edie, there’s never a moment where we don’t realize that we’re all human together, and that’s something that is a hard line for teachers and students to walk,” he said.

Sophomore Kaliyah Harrison, one of Weintraub’s students who works in the preschool, said that after working with her teachers’ kids, she’s grown closer to the entire Weintraub family.

“You connect to them more when their parent is your teacher because you learn more about them through their parent, and you can

talk to them about their parent,” she said.

Weintraub said that both the preschool’s excellent repulation and proximity to his work — just a quick walk down the hall — factored into his decision to enroll Edie and her older sister.

“For me as a dad, it’s really wonderful to know that if I have a bad class or I’m feeling stressed, … I can just go over and look through the mirrored window and watch Edie be herself for five minutes,” he said.

“Almost every time I do it, I leave with a clean conscience … I can just stop in … and remind myself of the important things in life.”

Senior preschool major Juliet Lacey said that the preschool has also brought her a piece of mind.

“You’re in high school, you’re constantly under pressure, you’re always working and you’re grinding,” she said. “Then you go to the preschool, and you see all these

smiling little kids, and you just get all giddy.”

Preschool teacher and Early Childhood Education teacher Lauren Atkinson said that the relationships between high schoolers and preschoolers have mutual benefits.

“There’s something that they almost pick up on subconsciously that you guys are grown-ups, but you’re also still in the struggle with them of figuring out, ‘Am I a big kid?

Am I a grown-up?’” she said. “I’ve had a lot of preschoolers that actually wouldn’t talk to me, but they would just blab away to high school students — there’s a safeness to it.”

“This is the ultimate model for teaching because we have all of these extra hands and support to read books, to give a hug, even to just make eye contact with … somebody who doesn’t feel as confident all the time,” Atkinson said. “It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar Fun

CrosSWord Puzzle

June 6, 2019 Page 19 An assembly of artifacts for an awesome end to the year

Follow @NshsLionsRoar to see the answers

ACROSS

1. Summer home-away-fromhome; METGala theme 4. The suit that you don’t wear to prom 6. “Do this before finals or you’ll fail,” the teacher lied 9. The Goldrick ____ _______ Fire of 2019 13. Cold summer treat 16. Sidewalk art made in this medium decorated Goldrick before it rained.

17. Served by Playa Bowls and may join the caf ’s menu this fall 19 .New SAT score to level the college admissions playing field 21. ___ concert on May 23; grandpa 23. In the heat of season, remember to _____; MgSO4∙7H2O 25. Can’t graduate without returning these 27. Pomp and _____ plays as seniors file into the graduation auditorium 29. Romance-language-oriented club fundraised $4,200 for Hyde Square Task Force 32. Artificial body of water on fourth floor; possible PTO collection fund 33Many parades in June celebrate ___

34. Last week of school!

35. It’s on the wall in every classroom but is never right.

36. Tug of war among departments

DOWN

1. Wilt-prone prom accessory 2. Best way to clean out your backpack at the end of the year 3. Massachusetts teachers wear this bright color 5. Principal Joel Stembridge spent May 29 listening to this kind of music

7. All boys school in New York that protested history curriculum 8. 5-hour ordeal to watch a couple kids walk across the stage 10. Unpaid summer labor 11. Very long automobile 12. Disinvited from graduation 14. When you’re best friend’s dying, hook them up to this.

15. Physics MCAS stress canceled freshmen _____ finals 18. This Instagram account teaches better than the average language teacher

20. Incoming freshman visit south; stride forward 22. Vibrations that travel through the air meet an evaporated body of water 24.Ended by a three-way tie 25. One of the major concerns about new housing developments 26. Seasonal lunch joint 28. Seniors leaving means there’s more ______ for everyone.

30. Senior award; beverage container 31. Lacrosse coach was dismissed after receiving an ____ charge

Located in Newton Center www.rosenfeldsbagels.com 617-527-8080

Mandarin Cuisine 238 Highland Avenue www.mandarincuisine.com (781) 455-8801

SPORTS page 20|june 6, 2019|THE LION’S ROAR|issuu.com/thelionsroar

DO YOUR JOB sports@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 36, ISSUE 1

Three coach arrests in three years prompt an investigation of athletic department hiring processes

By Jackson Slater

I

“Dexter goes back there, grabs Mihai, and starts throwing him against the wall and the window ... he runs back and he punches Tre,” junior football captain-to-be Oliver Newman said. “He brings him to the ground and tackles him.”

On Oct. 6, 2016, Dexter Feliciano, head coach of the freshman football team, attacked two students on a bus ride home from Acton-Boxborough.

Newman said the details of this assault — Feliciano’s attack on then freshman Mihai Ciocan and Tre Andrews — will never escape his memory. “[The players] all jump in there and rip [Feliciano] off, and Tre is doing anything [he can],” he said.

The Concord Police stopped the South freshman football team bus around 6 p.m. after receiving a call from a student who claimed he was assaulted by a coach. The police arrested Feliciano off the bus, marking the first of three South coach arrests in the coming years.

Newman said the incident started as an argument about the game, but soon escalated into a full-out brawl between the coach and athletes. Following the tough loss, the team was especially rowdy on the bus, he said.

“We were frustrated after a loss,” Newman said. “Coach came back and started yelling at us.”

Ciocan was particularly defiant, and Feliciano lost it, Newman said. He attacked Ciocan, and, when Andrews went to the back of the bus to break up the fight, violence ensued.

“Tre starts going back to tell [Feliciano] to stop,” Newman said. “Dexter starts running back, and he punches Tre.” Immediately following

this incident, Feliciano was placed on paid administrative leave by the district, athletic director Patricia Gonzalez said.

“We don’t condone that behavior from adults,” Gonzalez said.

The next day, police met with students on the team.

“Most of us had to be called into the police station ... to give our stories and statements,” Newman said.

Feliciano was not rehired to coach at South for the 2017-18 school year.

Varsity football head coach Ted Dalicandro and Gonzalez met with the team and parents later that week.

Ciocan filed a lawsuit against the district and later transferred to another school, in part because of the jokes made at his expense, Newman said.

“I think [Ciocan’s family] sued the district, and you can’t go to school in the district that you’re suing,” he said. “But the other part of it was that [Ciocan] was getting a lot of crap; [Gonzalez] did not do a good job protecting him.”

Gonzalez did not comment on a lawsuit against the school and said that she was unaware of such targeted jokes towards Ciocan.

“What we know is what the police investigation gave us,” she said.

Most alarming is that Feliciano’s violent tendencies were nothing new to the team, Newman said, as players raised concerns to administration prior to the incident on the bus.

“Dexter definitely did a couple of things that we deemed not okay, like putting guys in choke holds, ... throwing kids, picking them up,” Newman said. “It got reported to [Gonzalez], and she called a lot of us in to talk.”

Gonzalez denied knowing details of such incidents.

“We knew nothing specific,” she said.

Gonzalez said that she believes no charges were ever pressed against Feliciano.

Principal Joel Stembridge said he and the school administration understand their role in the incident.

“We take full responsibility for the football [incident],” he said. “That’s as much my failure as it is the coach’s.”

L e s s than three years since Fe l i c i an o’s incident,

Newman said it’s as if the assault never happened at all.

“It just got pushed behind,” he said. “It’s like we forgot about it completely.”

II

Not even two years later, in May 2017, another South coach was arrested: first-year freshman baseball coach Jose HernandezDisla was taken into custody in Waltham on two counts of felonious sexual assault.

This arrest was the culmination of a months-long investigation by Litchfield, New Hampshire Police.

“The team was shocked, as anybody would be,” sophomore Zach Hayden, a player on last year’s freshman baseball team, said.

“One day you have a coach, and the next day he’s gone.”

School administration terminated Hernandez-Disla’s employment immediately after they learned of the charges, Stembridge wrote in an email to South parents.

Sophomore Brian Powtak, a player on last year’s freshman team, said that Gonzalez and varsity baseball head coach Michael Aiena broke the news to the team after the incident.

“Immediately [they] just gave [us] ever ything that they knew. They didn’t really keep anything from us,” he said. “We were all

dumbfounded.”

The news came as a shock, Powtak said, as the team had held a positive view of Hernandez-Disla as a coach.

“We all liked him as a coach. We learned a lot. We were winning at the time,” he said. “It was just shocking.”

“He was such a passionate coach that genuinely cared about us and getting better,” Hayden said. “It was tough for us to adjust.”

“There were people that adored him,” Gonzalez said. “It was difficult for students.”

The team struggled under the instability in coaching staff, as they had several different coaches following Hernandez-Disla’s arrest, Hayden said.

“To bounce back, we tried to just keep doing what we knew,” he said. “But it was a little rocky at first without Jose.”

Powtak said that the team united and focused on its remaining games.

“We really just focused on playing the game and kept trying to win,” he said.

III

Just 11 months later, the varsity boys lacrosse team woke up and headed to a morning practice, their first of April break, but something wasn’t quite the same, sophomore lacrosse forward Will LaCamera said.

That morning, Gonzalez sent an email to the team detailing that head coach David McCallum was put on administrative leave in the middle of the season for “reasons unrelated to his position at Newton South,” she wrote.

“It was a personal matter, and when [McCallum] communicated that to the district, they put him on leave,” she said. “At that point, we thought it was something temporary, we didn’t know what it would be. ... He resigned ... two days after we put him on leave.”

Senior captain Ben Powdermaker already knew that McCallum would be absent for practice, he said, but he was confused about the reasoning.

“I got a call from coach Mac, ... and basically he said that he had to go deal with some personal family matters, ... he’d be away for a little bit ... and should hopefully

June 6, 2019 Page 21

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar sports be back for the games at the end of the week,” Powdermaker said. “Then Ms. Gonzalez sent out an email ... saying that coach Mac had been put on administrative leave.”

The team was left in the dark about why their head coach was on leave, and rumors began to spread, sophomore lacrosse player Ed Tarmey said.

“There was definitely speculation,” Tarmey said. “But we were told not to spread rumors around, not really worry about it too much, just that he was on leave. That’s pretty much all we were given by the school.”

Rumors evolved into that McCallum was arrested, Powdermaker said.

“Someone thought maybe that he had gotten some sort of arrest,” Powdermaker said. “So they looked up arrest [logs] on, I think it was Dedham or Needham, and they found online that he got an OUI.” That McCallum was charged with Operating Under the Influence (OUI) spread through players, LaCamera said.

“Yeah, the rumor has made its way to the team,” Lacamera said. “There’s definitely some evidence to back up that it’s true.”

Indeed, a Needham police report detailed that McCallum was pulled over by a Needham Police cruiser around 1:45 AM on April 14. McCallum was cited for three offenses: driving an unregistered motor vehicle, a Marked Lanes Violation and, chiefly, an OUI-Liquor OR .08 percent.

Gonzalez neither confirmed nor denied that the OUI caused McCallum’s leave, as legally, she is only allowed to disclose that the leave was for “personal reasons.”

“There are times that I’ve got direct information, and there is nothing I can say about it because it’s up to the person involved to disclose certain things,” Gonzalez said.

“What is the point of validating anything for a person who doesn’t work with us?”

Gonzalez stressed that the leave was unrelated to McCallum’s interactions with students.

“Whatever happened, it didn’t happen when he was supervising our students,” she said. “If a teacher came drunk to the school, if they were influenced, that’s a different issue. ... Our students were not involved.”

Matt Briggs, boys JV lacrosse coach who was named interim varsity head coach, asked not to speak on the topic.

Despite this incident, Powdermaker said that he and the team still hold their previous head coach in high regard.

“David McCallum is a very respected coach, and he was a teacher at Newton South for a long time,” Powdermaker said. “From what I could tell, ... it’s probably like he was with some friends and probably shouldn’t have been driving home that night. ... This was just an unfortunate incident.”

Following the email, the team went back to work and has climbed back into the playoffs.

“We really came together, and we did a good job sticking together as a team,” Lacamera said.

“The kids have done a great job just being able to accept that there was a change [and that] this is the way it is moving forward,” Briggs said. “We still had goals on making the playoffs, ... and I was really proud and impressed with the kids who took it in stride and just moved on.”

has done everything they can for the community, Gonzalez said, from meetings with athletes and their families to occasional individual check-ins with players. Stembridge followed up on the incident with an email.

The department followed a similar procedure for the other two incidents.

Despite the measures, Newman said he sees flaws in the department’s lack of transparency. Gonzalez said making these issues more public is not an option for legal and personal reasons.

“You cannot hang people in the plaza on a flagpole to make an example,” she said.

“We gave as much information as we could.

We had several meetings with the students and the parents where the head coach of the programs were involved. People need to understand that we have legal boundaries we have to follow. What we can do is give the assurance that no one was at risk, the steps that had to be taken were taken, ... and none of those coaches returned to the school.”

Gonzalez said she did not see any merit in the complaints that claimed the repercussions were too secretive.

“There would be more validation to them if we had put it aside, not done due process, and the people still involved were still here [at South],” she said. “But that’s not the case.”

Despite the three arrests in the past three years, Gonzalez said she sees no reason to examine the hiring system for coaches.

“We do our due diligence, doing ... background checks, asking for references,” she said. “We have over 80 coaches here over six years. We’re talking about two incidents, with people that didn’t have any red flags. It’s not like we grab somebody from the street, and we didn’t check their background and their references. Before then, [neither Felicano, Hernandez-Disla, nor McCallum] presented any problems.”

Stembridge agreed that the hiring system properly vets every coach. Background checks are done separately by the Newton District Human Resources department, ensuring validity, he said.

Gonzalez said that the process begins with applicants submitting resumes, and from the applications, the department narrows down the list to several candidates.

She and a committee of other sports administrators and team captains

MoViNg fOrWaRd

In response to each of the three incidents, the athletic department

Boys varsity lacrosse players sit on the sideline listening to coach Briggs

Photo by Grace Denninger and Siobhan MurphyO

then interview each finalist.The top two candidates move on to an interview with Stembridge, who makes the ultimate decision. Even when Gonzalez and Stembridge approve a candidate, the applicant must still pass background checks in order to get the job, Gonzalez said.

“If [a coach] hadn’t passed a background check, I could think he’s a good match for our school,” she said. “But if they’re not clear, they will not be a coach here.”

Despite the past incidents, Gonzalez and Stembridge agreed that a re-evaluation of the processes is unnecessary.

“I don’t think that there’s any connection between the three that would make us worry that our hiring is bad,” Stembridge said.

“I don’t think that is a reason to reexamine the hiring process. I don’t think there’s a failure of a hiring process.”

Powdermaker said that while he finds no correlation between the past arrests, one more would raise a flag.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s happened in the last three years, but I don’t think they have anything to do with each other,” he said.

“If something happens again with a newly hired coach, then that probably shows that there’s something going on.”

On the other hand, Newman said that he and others see the arrests as harbingers for more to come if the hiring process is not altered. “ I know my parents and friends are upset ... The fact that there have been so many [arrests] is alarming,” Newman said.

“That’s absurd. I mean, if you have one arrest at a school, that’s a big deal; that’s like, ‘woah.’ Three arrests in three years? That’s off the charts. It’s absolutely a flaw in the way we’re hiring.”

Changes to the hiring process, as well as a system to reevaluate coaches’ practices on the team, could help prevent future incidents, Newman concluded.

“The head coach at each program [could be] checking in and making sure you’re getting feedback. ... I know it’s difficult [but] I feel like there definitely could be something where each team meets athletic directors and explains what’s going wrong, what’s going right,” he said. “I feel like that would help the whole athletic department as a whole.”

rEcAp

I. FeLiCiAnO Freshman football coach Dexter Feliciano was arrested on Oct. 6, 2016, after he assaulted two students on the bus ride home from a game. He was not rehired at South the following year, though no charges were pressed. Chiefly concering, is that South players previously reported his violent tendencies, and Feliciano remained with the team despite the complaints.

Ii. HeRnAnDeZ-DiSlA Freshman baseball coach Jose Hernandez-Disla was taken into custody on May 8, 2018 on two counts of sexual assault on a minor. The arrest was the culmination of months-long investigation. He was fired immediately but ultimately aquitted. This was especially tragic as Hernandez-Disla was especially liked as a coach.

IiI. mCcAlLuM Varsity lacrosse David Mccallum was arrested at on April 14, 2019, for a marked lane violation, driving an unregistered vehicle, but chiefly, an Operating Under the Influence charge. Mccallum was put on leave but resigned on his own terms.

This incident did not cost Mccallum his reputation among team members.

sports ISSUU.COm/TheLionsroar The Lion’s Roar

page 22 june 6, 2019

ROAR AWARDS

(Clockwise from the top left) photos by Joe Sangiolo, Johnny Baker, Will Lavey and Chloe Frantzis

By Jackson Slater

Lucy jenks Johnny Baker

Female Athlete Of the Year

male Athlete Of the Year

Junior Lucy Jenks is one of the best high school distance runners in the nation. At Indoor Track Nationals, Jenks ran a 4.45.93 mile and placed 5th in the event.

After this performance, Jenks was named an All-American athlete.

Jenks continued her dominance through the Outdoor season and qualified for New Balance Nationals.

Jenks is garnering attention from powerhouse universities nationwide.

Senior Johnny Baker is undeniably the greatest hockey player South has ever seen.

In his senior year, Baker set the record for career goals, 88, and goals in one season, 41.

This season, Baker was 2nd in the state in goals, and named DCL MVP and Boston Globe and Herald All-Scholastic.

Baker will play in the Junior Hockey League next year.

AUdrey LAvey Justin Levy

(Top) Jenks takes a stride.

(Bottom) Lavey dribbles by a defender.

Boys Hockey Team of the year

Female Runner Up

Male Runner Up

Senior Audrey Lavey will go down as the greatest soccer player in South’s History.

She has 82 career goals and 114 points, both South records.

Lavey was named All-Scholastic in her junior and senior year and was the centerpiece on a team that won three straight DCL titles and made several thrilling playoff runs. Lavey will continue her career on Wesleyan’s DIII soccer team next fall.

Freshman Justin Levy is dominating a sport based entirely on physical ability.

During the indoor season, Levy ran a 35.83 300m and a 6.90 55m, the fastest of any current South runner in these events. His 49.3 400m from the outdoor season qualified him for New Balance Freshman Nationals in the event.

No one would be surprised if by the time Levy left South, he held every sprinting record in the books.

Alex Klapes

(Top) Baker skates by a defender.

(Bottom) Levy springs from the blocks.

Chris Ryberg

Sportsman of the year

The Boys hockey team made a deep playoff run this winter, enjoying a firstround-bye before winning two games. Their season ended in a sectional finals loss.

To most South students, this team came out of nowhere, yet made an electrifying run down the stretch.

Junior Alex Klapes was a hockey captain this past winter, and will be baseball and hockey captain next year.

Klapes is known as a stellar leader and an all-around great guy. One would be hard pressed to hear a negative word about Klapes, both as a leader and a person.

Coach of the year Chris Ryberg, head coach of the boys hockey team, transformed the program when he arrived at South 14 years ago. Ryberg took the job at age 22, and has led the boys to seven straight playoff appearances.

He was an instrumental part of their deep playoff run this year.

Student athletes move on to college sports

By Henry Blanchette and Dorra Guermazi

Audrey Lavey Wesleyan University Soccer

Ella Poley Brown University, Gymnastics

Amos Trinidad Tufts University , Track and Field

Girls soccer captain and South’s alltime girls goal-scoring leader Audrey Lavey will play soccer at Division III Wesleyan University this Fall.

After committing to Wesleyan in her junior year, Lavey led the girls soccer team to the sectional finals this year.

“I decided pretty much freshman year that I wanted to play soccer in college,” Lavey said. “I ended up visiting Wesleyan, ... and I really liked the school.”

Lavey said she also has academic goals for herself at Wesleyan.

“I definitely really want to achieve high grades and make sure that athletics aren’t compromising my academic success,” she said. “That’s definitely a big goal of mine.”

She advises that others perservere through the recruiting process.

“The process is usually really ... difficult, sometimes discouraging, and it’s long,” she said. “But if it’s something you really want to do, you should try and do it.”

Ella Poley will continue her gymnastics career at DI Brown University. This year, Poley led the girls gymnastics team to a New England Championship Title, the first in South history.

Poley has qualified three times for the Junior Olympic Nationals for Gymnastics.

Her athletic and academic performance helped build her application early on in her high school career, she said.

“I started thinking about being a college athlete during my freshman year. I had a really good season and decided it was something I wanted to do, so I started to email coaches,” she said.

Poley began reaching out to coaches to demonstrate her interest in their programs.

“The first step I took was to look at all the possible colleges that had D1 gymnastics, and I ultimately emailed the coaches for the schools I was interested in,” she said. “Then I went to a couple camps at colleges the summer before sophomore year.

Amos Trinidad gained college recognition for his performance in track and field in his junior year.

“Junior year is when I started getting noticed by coaches, and I started to reach out to coaches,” he said. “[For] the schools that I wanted to go to, I had to reach out myself.”

Trinidad said he has always aimed to be a student-athlete through college.

“I wanted to be a college athlete forever,” he said. “It was a matter of where.”

He thoroughly enjoyed high school athletics and advised others do so too.

“Just try to have fun and enjoy the sport as much as you can,” Trinidad said.

Others: Michael Nichols, Westfield State University Football.

Jack McGrath, Bentley University Golf Frankie Silva, Trinity College Basketball

How Colleges Recruit

1

Inquiry:

2

Letters:

3

Colleges use recruiting sites, read emails and recommendations to gather an initial pool of athletes.

Colleges send questionnares, letters and camp invites to athletes to gauge interest.

Evaluation:

Colleges evaulate a player’s athletic ability, character and academics, to determine if they fit the program.

4 Verbal offers:

Colleges extend scholarship offers to athletes. Athletes verbally commit to schools.

5

Signing: Colleges extend official offers to athletes.

Source: NCSA Sports

june 6, 2019 Page 23

The Lion’s Roar Issuu.com/thelionsroar sports

NBA PLAYOFFS VS NHL PLAYOFFS NHL

NBA

By Aron Korsunsky

By Jack Wylie

T

he National Basketball Association (NBA) is better than the National Hockey League (NHL) during both the regular season and during the playoffs simply because the NBA has more excitement and thrill than the NHL. The NBA has tons more exciting plays: basketball allows for more innovation, and its players’ creativity makes the game more thrilling for viewers.

Every basket is exciting: ankle breakers, dunks, three-pointers and blocks ensure that every minute is electrifying. Even missed shots can be entertaining. As a soon as Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry, two time MVP and the greatest shooter in history, starts his shooting motion, everyone is on their feet.

There is less potential for exciting moments in the NHL. The highlights of hockey — checks, shots, fights, saves and goals — each happen only a few times per game.

In this past NHL season, there were only 226 fights over 2,460 games, averaging less than one per every 10 games. The Carolina Hurricanes lead the league with only 34.4 shots on goal per game.

In the NHL, the percentage of shots that go into the net is also significantly smaller than the percentage of NBA shots that go in. Considering that they attempt fewer shots per game as well, NHL teams score far fewer goals than NBA teams do points.

NHL teams average only three goals per game, whereas NBA teams average around 98 points per game.

As a result, the NBA has more memorable moments. Just to name a few: Michael Jordan dunking from the free throw line or scoring a layup in which he switches hands mid-air, Kawhi Leonard shooting a serieswinning shot over the 76ers in this year’s playoffs, Scottie Pippen slam-dunking over Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue after making three-pointer and LeBron James blocking Andre Iguodala’s game seven layup.

Iconic NHL moments are harder to come by. The only significant ones are Bobby Orr’s diving goal to win the Stanley Cup and the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Olympics.

NBA celebrations are even more exciting. The cameras capture benches exploding after poster dunks and epic stare-downs.

Each player even seems to produce their own celebration: Russell Westbrook will rock the baby, Damian Lillard will point to his wrist to show it’s Dame Time and, in the past, Dikembe Mutombo would wag his finger.

In the NHL, a player will boringly score, huddle with his teammates and proceed to fistbump his teammates on the bench before getting ready for the next face-off.

Further, a large part of the NBA’s excitement surrounds its star players. One dominant player can revolutionize an entire team. The Cavaliers went from being one of the worst teams in the league to reaching the NBA Finals after just one season with LeBron James.

The usage, as well as the impact of a star, is much greater in the NBA. LeBron James’s career high for minutes per game in a season is 42.4 minutes — 88 percent of a game. As an NHL great, Sidney Crosby’s career high in a season for minutes per game is 22 minutes — 37 percent of an NHL game. Unlike NHL fans, NBA fans get to watch superstar players play for the majority of the game.

Lastly, giving fans of subpar teams plenty of hope at the start of every new season, the NBA’s star players develop much faster than the NHL’s players. Early NBA draft picks, who often enter the league with lots of potential, have a direct impact on the game in their early years, whereas it takes a few years for great NHL players to develop.

Rookies Luka Doncic and Trae Young are already taking the league by storm.

Overall, the NBA is a better league than the NHL, with more memorable moments, greater star-impact and an abundance of unequaled excitement and surprises.

photo courtesy of USA Today Sports

Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors shoots against the Cleveland Caveliers in game one of the 2018 NBA Finals.

T

he NHL and the NBA have nearly identical seasons: both begin their respective 82-game regular seasons in October, end in April and determine their champions through a 16-team playoff, in which there are four rounds of best-ofseven series.

Despite this similarity, the NHL boasts far stronger and more exciting playoffs than does the NBA. In the NBA, for the seemingly billionth consecutive year, the Golden State Warriors appear to be front-runners for the championship, if they haven’t already won it all. And from 2011 to 2018, the team making the NBA Finals from the Eastern Conference was always the one with LeBron James on its roster.

If you look at the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, the last time a team had such a monopoly on the league was when the Edmonton Oilers made it to three consecutive finals in 19831985, and that pales in comparison to those recent NBA monopolies.

These monotonous outcomes of the NBA Playoffs year in and year out make them far less entertaining than the unexpected and seemingly out-of-nowhere outcomes of the NHL Playoffs.

Take this year, for example. The Tampa Bay Lightning enjoyed one of the best regular seasons in NHL history. They were behind only three teams in history in total points in a season with 128 and they tied the league record in wins with 62. When the playoffs came around, many predicted that the Lightning would win the Cup or at least make it to the finals.

Here’s the catch: they didn’t. Not only did they not make the finals, but they lost to a team in the first round that had accumulated 30 points fewer than them in the regular season. And they didn’t just lose, they got swept. Four games, four losses. Relative to NHL regular season history, this result for the Lightning was unheard of.

To put this in perspective for an NBA fan, it was like watching Michael Jordan’s ‘96 or ‘97 Bulls or the current Warriors lose in the first round in four games to a team that had barely won more games than it had lost.

No analyst could come close to predicting that in these playoffs, seven of the top 10 teams from the regular season would lose in the first round of the playoffs. These upsets do not to show the weakness of the best NHL teams; instead, they demonstrate the depth and strength of the current NHL from top to bottom.

Meanwhile, in the NBA Playoffs this year, no lower seed upset a higher seed in the first round, meaning that every secondround matchup pitted a 1-seed against a 4-seed and a 2-seed against a 3-seed. Boring, right?

Now, let’s narrow our sights from the playoffs as a whole and take a look at a single series in the NHL and in the NBA to assess their predictability or lack thereof.

If we look at all playoff series in which a team goes down 1-3 and must win games five, six and seven to win the series, we get a telltale sign of each playoff ’s predictability.

It’s a difficult feat, but shouldn’t be all that uncommon, right?

In the NBA’s 50-year history, it has happened a mere 11 times. Only about once every five years is there a series comeback of even a small scale. In the NHL Playoffs during the same time stretch, such a comeback almost happens regularly: 28 times.

In the NHL, not only are there unexpected results within the grand scheme of an entire playoff, but there are also comebacks and turnarounds at a watcher-friendly rate.

Unlike in the NBA, teams that go down 1-3 clearly have a somewhat conceivable chance of coming back to win the series.

The sheer unpredictability and up-until-the-last-minute action within the playoffs make the NHL Playoffs far more exciting and entertaining than the NBA Playoffs.

photo courtesy of The Athletic

TheWashington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights battle for the puck in game three of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals.

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NEWTON NEWTON NEWTON EDUCATORS EDUCATORS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS EDUCATORS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS FOR BETTER SCHOOLS

Will you help us persuade the Will you help us persuade the Will you help us persuade the mayor to settle a new contract? mayor to a contract?

Will you help us persuade the mayor to settle settle a new new contract? mayor to settle a newactions: contract?

Please take the following

Please take the following actions: take the actions: • Call or email Please Mayor Ruthanne Fullerfollowing (617.796.1100) (rfuller@newtonma.gov).

Ask or heremail why she is not fully funding schools. actions: Please take the our following • Call Mayor Ruthanne Fuller (617.796.1100) (rfuller@newtonma.gov).

• Ask Callher or why email Mayor Fuller (617.796.1100) (rfuller@newtonma.gov). she is notRuthanne fully funding our schools.

• Ask Displaywhy a “Support Newton Educators” lawn sign. Request one here: she is not fully funding our schools.

• Callher or email Mayor Ruthanne Fuller (617.796.1100) (rfuller@newtonma.gov). bit.ly/NTALawnSign • Display “Support Newton sign. Request one here: Ask her awhy she is not fully Educators” funding our lawn schools.

• bit.ly/NTALawnSign Display a “Support Newton Educators” lawn sign. Request one here: bit.ly/NTALawnSign •Nine Display “Support lawnstruggling sign. Request here: of yearsaago, whenNewton the CityEducators” of Newton was with one the effects bit.ly/NTALawnSign the Great the City Newton Teachers Association sacrifices to Nine yearsRecession, ago, when the of Newton was struggling made with the effects of Nine years ago, whenthe theNewton City of was struggling withtimes, the effects support the schools.

But now, in Newton much improved economic we are the Great Recession, Teachers Association made sacrifices toofstill the Great Recession, the Newton Teachers Association made sacrifices being asked to sacrifice. support the schools.

But improved economic times, we aretoof still Nine years ago, when thenow, Cityin ofmuch Newton was struggling with the effects support the schools.

But in much improved economic times, we aretostill being asked to sacrifice. the Great Recession, the now, Newton Teachers Association made sacrifices That’sasked not fair. give our all to your children and the Newton Public being to We sacrifice. support the schools.

But now, in much improved economic times, we are still Schools.

That’s fair.toWe give our all to your children and the Newton Public being not asked sacrifice.

That’s not fair. We give our all to your children and the Newton Public Schools.

Schools.

That’s not fair. We give our all to your children and the Newton Public Schools.

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If you would like more information about how you can support our campaign, please us at NTAPresident@newteach.org.

If you would like moreemail information about how you can support our campaign, If you would like more information about how you can support our campaign, please email us at NTAPresident@newteach.org. please email us at NTAPresident@newteach.org.

If you would like more information about how you can support our campaign,