The Lion's Roar 40-3

By Grace Sousa & John Timko

In response to community complaints, NPS grapples with preserving traditional educational approaches while promoting DEI

Photo-graphic by Evan Ng

Summer in Review

By Andrew Feinberg & Irene González de las Casas

He is a walking encyclopedia about Newton South; he can tell you what happened at South 20 years ago with so much detail that you probably couldn't nd it even if there were an article written on it.

Tamara Stras Principal

Myette Retires

On June 30, Goodwin House Dean Charles Myette announced his retirement after working at South for 30 years and in education for over 35. Before working at South, Myette served in the United States Navy. He then started his career at South in 1993 as a science teacher and coached basketball, eventually working his way up to becoming the dean of Goodwin House.

We are pleased to recognize the leaders and teams at Newton-Wellesley for a strong commitment to care.

Dr. Clyde W. Yancy National Chairperson of an AHA advisory group via a public statement

Our hospital is committed to providing safe, high-quality care to our community and to ensuring our cardiology patients receive the treatment they need to continue living happy, ful lling lives

AHA Awards

I don't think that I have known somebody in my professional career who has had such a positive impact on both students and colleagues alike.

David Kershaw Goodwin House Guidance Counselor

Dr. George Philippides Newton-Wellesley's Chief of Cardiology, via

a public statement

Newton-Wellesley Hospital has received three of the American Heart Association (AHA)’s 2023 “Get With e Guidelines” awards. Two of the honors were given the “Gold Plus” distinction. Newton-Wellesley earned these awards for their excellence in treating heart failure, stroke and atrial brillation, a type of abnormal heartbeat. To qualify for the awards, participants must demonstrate quality care for patients and knowledge regarding how patients can manage their conditions at home.

It's going to be an immersive experience for people to experience things from arts, entertainment, sports, health and wellness.

Joclynne Bynoe Convention’s Events Services Manager via public statement

NAACP in Boston

From July 26 to 31, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held their 114th National Convention in Boston. During this event, there were many speakers including politicians like VPOTUS Kamala Harris and Rep. Justin Jones. e aim of the NAACP National Convention is to create a meaningful and engaging event that celebrates the collective strength of the non-white community.

As a lifetime member of the NAACP, I am just lled with joy and humbled to be here with all of these incredible leaders.

Kamala Harris United States Vice President via press release

photo by Ann Ringwood

photo by Jim Michaudvia the Boston Herald

photo by Adam Glanzman

Teacher Contract Negotiations Grind to a Halt

While the previous teacher contract expired at the end of the summer, the Newton Teachers Association negotiates with the Newton School Committee for a new one

By Andrew Feinberg & Hana Futai

Since Nov. 21, 2022, the Newton School Committee and the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) have been negotiating a new teacher contract, as the current contract expires on Aug. 31, marking the conclusion of a three-year contract.

The contract itself is an agreement between the School Committee and NTA, which poses mutual rules between the two sides and determines the baseline salaries for teachers and sta

In the July 20 negotiation meeting between the NTA and the School Committee, the School Committee declared the negotiations to be at an impasse, which the NTA did not agree to settle on. e School Committee later submitted a request to the state for mediation and on Aug. 21, the state Department of Labor Relations appointed a mediator.

NTA President and Chair of the negotiations team Mike Zilles said the School Committee’s lack of compromise led to the NTA’s decision to not join the School Committee in acknowledging negotiations are in a deadlock.

“We believe the district is not negotiating in good faith,” he said. “ ey've hired a very aggressive attorney who has essentially taken over and is running the negotiations now.”

School Committee Vice Chair and Cochair of its negotiations team Kathy Shields said she and the School Committee are working to reach terms on a deal.

“We're hard at work trying to get a deal done,” she said. ”We've asked for the assistance

of the state in doing that, and we hope that process will be e ective.”

Despite e orts towards an agreement, Shields said that ongoing budget cuts have posed a con ict to closing the deal, as the district has had to cut teacher positions.

“One of the biggest issues we've been dealing with over the last couple of years is having to cut positions each year, which I don't think is good for students or teachers because it creates an aura of uncertainty about people's job stability and prospects,” she said.

Treasurer of the NTA and member of the negotiations team Christine Walsh also said that the waning budget is a big problem in the negotiations that needs to be tackled.

" e amount of money that has been allocated to the schools has not been enough to cover the costs of running the Newton Public Schools,” she said.

While both Shields and Walsh can agree that budgets are a big concern in NPS, during an NTA rally in June, Zilles said that Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has not been cooperative when it comes to giving money to Newton Public Schools (NPS).

“ e mayor ran a $28.8 million surplus in her budget this year and NPS had a $4.5 million de cit,” he said. “ e math is pretty simple. She is not funding the schools.”

In the NTA’s o cial negotiation updates blog, Zilles said the NTA will protest through a modi ed work-to-rule action to express the NTA’s frustration with the negotiation process thus far.

A typical work-to-rule action indicates that teachers and sta only report for their contractual hours and do not work outside of that time. In this modi ed version, teachers would grade and prepare outside of the contractual day; however, they would not be able to schedule extra help for students during contractual hours unless absolutely necessary.

Eighth grade English teacher at Brown Middle School Rebecca Cohen said this plan will demonstrate the volume of work teachers do outside of their contract.

“I have hours and hours of grading regularly. I know that that's part of my job, but I also know that it's really important for people to actually understand how much extra teachers put in,” she said.

South English teacher Alan Reinstein said the protest would take away from the aspects of the job he enjoys. His recent withdrawal from overseeing South’s quarterly “Pas-

sin’ Time” is an example of his commitment toward the cause.

“I love putting together Passin’ Time, meeting with students and working in the evening. I don’t know how I’m going to manage if there is work to rule action,” he said.

Meanwhile, School Committee member Cove Davis said that high school students will be a ected the most by the protest.

“The impact [of the work-to-rule protest] is going to be felt most at the high school level because they are the ones that are able to stay after school,” she said. “ at's just unfortunate.”

Cohen said that although there is still work that needs to be done before a deal is agreed upon, both sides are ultimately working toward the same end goal.

“We are all in this to have the schools be better for kids, for teachers and for families,” she said. “I believe that NPS is wonderful and we just need to continue to advocate for the things that we can do to make them even stronger.”

photo by Risha Sinha

photo by Bella Ishanyan

It's really important for people to actually understand how much extra teachers put in

Rebecca Cohen English Teacher

at Brown Middle

We are all in this to have the schools be better for kids for teachers and for families

Rebecca Cohen English teacher at Brown Middle School

Newton enacts latest zoning regulations

Maya Hayao News Contributor

housing units based on the number of transportation points in their area.

rules, which keep multifamily housing out of the suburbs,” she said.“ is is what the MBTA Communities Act is addressing.”

housing and population density.

In April 2023

e Commonwealth of Massachusetts released the latest revision of section 3A of its zoning legislature, referred to as the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) Communities Act. Section 3A was enacted as part of the January 2021 spending plan in order to encourage economic development and address housing concerns. Accordingly, Newton and the other 176 MBTA communities expect an increase in the number of multi-family housing in their area as an effect of these revisions. Any community that fails to comply with the newly established set of regulations will be deprived of substantial state grant funding.

e Commonwealth of Massachusetts is currently working with the MBTA and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to encourage the production of multi-family housing without a special permit across the 177 MBTA communities to make it easier to comply with the new zoning laws.

Communities subject to the new zoning laws must follow the guidelines established by the MBTA: multi-family dwellings are required to adhere to a minimum density of 15 units per acre and be constructed within a half-mile from a public transit stop.

Newton Zoning and Planning Committee board member and Ward 4 City Councilor Joshua Krintzman said that communities are required to construct di erent numbers of

“ e act applies di erently depending on how many bus and train stops you have,” he said. “What it means is that Newton is required to create zoning that would allow for approximately 8300 new units of housing.”

Zoning and Planning Committee board member, City Council President, and Ward 2 Councilor-at-Large Susan S. Albright said the previously established zoning laws are what hold back towns from seeing economic and social developments.

“What happens is there's a shortage of housing because communities, like Newton, all over the state have made restrictive zoning

Zoning and Planning Committee board member and Ward 1 City Councilor Alison Leary said the escalating housing costs and their potential implications for other aspects of Newton’s community are concerning.

“We're now seeing housing prices go up, and this makes it really di cult for young families to move to Newton,” she said. “Newton's getting older, and school population is dropping.”

Newton residents have mixed opinions surrounding the proposed changes to zoning laws, partly stemming from the fear of increased

While passing by houses in her neighborhood, Leary said that she has observed signs a xed to the front lawns of homes stating, “Save Our Villages.”

“I believe that most of those signs are put up by people who are concerned about too much density,” she said. “It's really easy for people to just say no to something rather than taking the time to look into what exactly is zoning reform.”

Junior Alyssa Nguyen said that population density is a serious concern and should be considered when building new developments. “ ey need to be mindful of where they locate these housing developments and how they’re going to a ect the surrounding community,” she said. “So many areas in Newton are already so busy and I don’t think they can handle more people.”

Senior Ethan Cheng said the potential increase in population density is inevitable and should not be something that troubles Newton residents.

“Eventually, we're going to see some sort of population density increase,” he said, “It needs to be well accommodated with proper infrastructure plans and access to resources.”

Junior Harry Lee said the optimal way to stabilize the economy is by supporting existing zoning laws with other policies so that no particular group of people is impacted negatively. “ e ideal plan is to make our economy in a controllable state by implementing other policies and new multifamily and other zoning laws to balance side e ects so no one is disadvantaged by these laws.”

Proposed Village Overlay District Zoning Map

Photo courtesy of City of Newton

Community reacts to Boylston 528 development

Boylston 528, a large luxury building project, faces backlash from the community since it was announced last year

By Olivia Middien

In October 2022, the Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania-based development company, proposed Boylston 528: a luxury apartment complex to be built along Route 9. e project immediately sparked controversy among Newton residents.

e proposed six-story building, which would contain 193 living units, used Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40B to override local single-family residential zoning regulations.

Typically, development projects are sent to the City Council for approval; however, due to law 40B, developers are able to gain state approval, which Ward 8 City Councilor Rick Lipof said he found frustrating.

“Developers can go to the state, which in the name of a ordable housing often allows you properties that the City Council wouldn't otherwise approve of,” he said.

Newton resident Lisa Tucker said that the project jeopardizes Newton’s most attractive qualities.

“We, like everybody else, moved here because it was a beautiful, quiet suburb of Boston”, she said. “We don't want to change the character. No one who came to Newton wanted to be living in a city.”

Meanwhile, rising Junior Mary Pierce said that the project would not impact Newton’s image drastically.

“Newton’s character is already deteriorating, just because of how many houses are being torn down and developed into new giant houses,” she said. “Adding a new apartment complex wouldn’t really change the character that much.”

Judy Korzenowski is a member of the Fair Housing Committee, whose mission is to promote and support Newton's e orts to be a diverse community with housing choices and opportunities free from housing discrimination. She said that updates would need to be made to Newton’s infrastructure due to the new development.

"It would a ect a lot of other houses to put up a complex of say 200 units. You have to have plumbing, you have to have

electricity and the infrastructure has to be able to handle all that,” she said. “ e city of Newton's very old. ey haven't updated their piping since the 60s.”

Jacob Silber, founder of the petition against Boylston 528, Oppose the Current 528 Boylston (Rt 9) Development - Proposal, said that the likely increase in tra c due to the development can hinder Newton residents’ daily lives.

“I’ve been involved in trying to work with the state about reducing speed limits on Route 9 because there are very frequent accidents on Route 9 in that area,” he said.“ e increase of tra c, the addition of some 1,100 vehicle trips a day and 400 parking spaces could really impact Newton residents.”

Pierce said that South could experience both an excess amount of tra c and overpopulation due to Boylston 528.

“Since South is hard to get to, the addition of more cars will only increase student tardiness,” she said. “ e apartment complex might overcrowd South, considering we've lost quite a few teachers, even if there are around 400 new students. So the class sizes would get a lot bigger, which might be detrimental.”

Ted Med Hassan, a former city councilor and member of the Fair Housing Committee, said future a ordable housing improvements will not have a negative impact on our schools.

“I know everyone is worried that when people move in, the number of students is going to be so many that schools won't be able to accommodate it,” he said.

“Actually, the size of the student population has been decreasing, even as the population is increasing. Only about 20% of Newton residents have children in the public schools. Compare that with Lexington or Concord, some of the outlying suburbs, where it's more like 50%.”

However, Tucker said that it's not equitable to avoid affordable housing, especially in the a uent city of Newton. “It's not fair that you keep your big house and the big yard right next to the school when the kids in the METCO program have to

wake up two hours early,” she said.“ ey're spending sometimes two hours one way on transportation, and they're losing incredible hours of sleep just when they need it the most." Moving forward, Korzenowski said that it’s essential for Newton to keep moving toward a ordable housing. “We have to keep trying to work with developers to build a ordable housing because we, as residents, don’t want every housing unit in Newton to be above a million dollars,” she said.

We, like everybody else, moved here because it was a beautiful, quiet suburb of Boston. We don't want to change the character. No one who came to Newton wanted to be living in a city.

Lisa Tucker Newton Resident

Newton’s character is already deteriorating, just because of how many houses are being torn down and developed into new giant houses. So adding a new apartment complex wouldn’t really change the character that much.

Mary Pierce class of '25

graphic by Denise Chan

"Parting is such sweet sorrow" from classics

Classic literature withstands the test of time for a reason.

Traditionally, English classes at South centered on reading novels from European, typically British, authors such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, to name a few. Rich with universal themes and artful manipulation of language, classic literature was the cornerstone of the English curriculum at South for decades.

Recently, though, amid a national racial reckoning, South has made ongoing e orts to shift towards studying literature from authors of a historically, and currently, marginalized backgrounds. In particular, the junior year curriculum envelops“American identity”, entailing a wide array of novels exploring various ethnic and sexual identities.

On one hand, contemporary novels tell relevant and timely stories and overwrite the notion that “great literature” is an exclusive — and old — clubhouse. On the other hand, however, the rise of contemporary literature means that many works of classic literature that laid the foundation from which the English language developed are being left in the past.

Classics contain universal themes — of love, of want, of change, of coming of age. From “A Tale of Two Cities” to “ e Great Gatsby”, these stories are somehow just as relevant and relatable to readers today as they were centuries

ago. Classics are hailed, too, for pioneering narratives and methods of language manipulation that paved the way for authors that followed. us, it’s no wonder these stories are widely considered the blueprint of great literature. But perhaps it is due time we expand that de nition.

Stories allow readers to see — to live — through someone else’s perspective. Whether it’s a racial, gender or sexual identity of which

contain all the universal themes that classics have. Whenever it is written by a marginalized author, though, the minority experience tends to trump all other themes. But these stories are just as human — just as timeless.

For these contemporary stories, class discussions shouldn’t merely revolve around minority identity, thus neglecting important conversations about the human condition.

classics, yet those aspects are often neglected in favor of surface-level themes.

It is performative to select novels — sterile ones, at that — on the mere basis that it contains a certain minority’s story without considering the quality and complexity of the writing.

Identities are not a mere box to check o , nor are they a quota to ful ll.

Still, curriculums must maintain a balance between reading classics and contemporary literature.

ere is immense value in discussing both contemporary and classic literature — the past and the present — and they must be treated with equal fervor and sensitivity. Besides maintaining a balance, South must also continue providing options and variety for students. Expose students to as many voices as possible.

one does not have lived experience, students gain valuable perspectives and empathy from each and every novel.

Yet, whether or not students can relate to the topic depends on how English teachers frame the discussion, as everyone can speak on a universal truth, but not everyone can speak on the experience of a certain marginalized group.

Contemporary books, too, typically

Contemporary novels on the minority experience should be discussed holistically with the same nuance and complexity devoted to classics.

Although classics are the books most often credited for their elaborate language manipulation, complex language use and relevant themes of identity are not mutually exclusive.

Modern novels have the same symbolism, plot devices and complexities revered in

South’s English curriculum is constantly progressing as more options for specialized senior electives develop, alongside an ever-changing curriculum.

Continue creating opportunities for students to develop empathy and gain perspective; they are the learners and leaders of the future.

Great stories are from countless settings and time periods, and great authors come from all di erent backgrounds. Let us rede ne what “great literature” truly means.

Volume XL

e Lion’s Roar

Graphics

JOIN THE R AR Writing

printed articles.

issuu.com/thelionsroar

Editorial Policy

e 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.

e 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 e Lion’s Roar in no way re ects the o cial policy of Newton South, its faculty or its administration.

Editorials are the o cial opinion of e Lion’s Roar, while opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily re ect the opinion of e Lion’s Roar e 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.

e Lion’s Roar is printed by Gannett and published every six weeks by Newton South students. All funding comes from advertisers and subscriptions.

In-school distribution of e 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.

e Lion's Roar reserves the right to publish all content on its website (nshslionsroar.com), social media channels and online viewer, Issuu.

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper

140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 ss.lionsroar@gmail.com

Editors-in-Chief

Bella Ishanyan Emma Zhang

Managing Editors

Grace Dempsey Risha Sinha

Section Editors

News

Andrew Feinberg

Irene Gonzalez de las Casas

Jenny Lee

Alex Zakuta

Features

Alyssa Chen

Ava Ransbotham

eo Younkin

Graphics

Denise Chan

Lynn Kim

Adrienne Lirio

Centerfold

Grace Sousa

John Timko

Media Managers

Paw

dcast

Renee Lu

Ashish Ullhman

Faculty Advisor Ashley Chapman

Opinions

Eden Levitt-Horne

Jacob Lewis

Angela Tao

Sports

Joey Giragos

Julia Lee

Sarah Schwartz

Photos

Evan Ng

Social Media

Levin Brenner

Tate Slater

It is performtive to select novels - sterile ones, at that - on the mere basis that it contains a certain minority's story without considering the quality and complexity of the writing. Identities are not a mere box to check o , nor are they a quota to ful ll.

Grace Dempsey Managing Editor

I still don’t know how I remember the rst apartment we ever lived in. e faded brick building stands tall on a typical city block. When you enter the door, the rst thing in your sightline is the glass door leading out to our small metal balcony. Near it, a white couch sits against the wall facing an old boxy television. Walk down the narrow hall, make sure to take your shoes o rst, to reach the two bedrooms.

Exit the lobby, and the concrete elementary school is directly in eyesight. Make a right and walk down a block to the convenience store, owned by an old woman who my parents tell me used to call me cute and give me free candy every time my mom rolled me in in my stroller. Take a left and stroll for a few minutes to nd yourself in the heart of Koreatown.

e city stench that anyone who spent time in Boston was used to became completely undetectable — the aroma of Korean barbecue, fried chicken and sweet rice cakes brought my mom back to her home country.

We moved out of that apartment 13 years ago.

It goes without saying that Newton is now where I consider home. In our house now, a clean sidewalk takes the place of the white carpet in our old hall, and three steps with an old fashion metal railing has replaced the brown doormat.

Still, through my early childhood, my

Wasian guilt

parents did what they could to immerse my brother and I in Korean culture outside of the household, an increasingly di cult task in a majority white suburb. I attended Korean language school on Saturdays, which was run out of Oak Hill every week. I took piano lessons from two instructors, both Korean women.

But 11-year-old me rejected it — not the cultural aspects, but the activities themselves. School on a Saturday? Boring. Piano lessons? Stressful. Needless to say I quit both.

Looking back, I spoke Korean much

the street from not only the food that connected me to half of my ethnicity, but the street signs on the storefronts of Korean owned businesses and even the o ce for the newspaper publication “BostonKorea”.

Maybe growing up in a place like Newton, while only 15 minutes away, separated from the cultural hub previously so accessible to me, changed me in a way I hadn't forced myself to really think about before.

I’m not entirely sure what prompted a

rough my early childhood, my parents did what they could to immerse my brother and I in Korean culture outside of the household, an increasingly di cult task in a majority white suburb.

more when I was a young kid than I do now — when I do manage to throw together the sparse vocabulary I can remember, I converse with my mom in a combination, which we call “Korenglish.” Still, every time she brings up my loss of the language, my heart drops a little bit each time. I’m wracked with guilt. Had we not ever left that apartment, I would have attended that elementary school across the street. I would have grown up down

piece like this. Maybe the Barbie movie had a bigger impact on me than I thought — of course, leave it to Greta Gerwig to get me emotional about the experiences of womanhood.

I’m grateful that I got to grow up understanding a di erent language, and talking to family on the other side of the world. I’m grateful that half of my culture, not obvious in the rest of my life, is physically represented by various objects and photographs scattered

Today's Roaroscope

Look to the stars!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

You know that Tik Tok trend about that one kid in English class who can’t shut up? That’s you. Shut up.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20):

We get it. You didn’t get all the classes you wanted, but that’s no excuse to spam your guidance counselor’s inbox and sulk when you still have to do the homework.

Aries (March 21-April 19):

Cu ng season has o cially arrived. Use your overflowing cha(rizz)ma to turn that summer fling into something you can hold onto. At least until next summer…

Taurus (April 20-May 20):

I admire your ability to fit your sports equipment in your backpack, but the room smells like feet. Throw some baking soda in your shoes or invest in a proper sports bag.

Gemini (May 21- June 20): My guess is that you actually did the summer reading. Join the few, the strong, the proud. Isn’t it so good?

Cancer (June 21- July 22): You genuinely think that bringing a rose quartz to school will help you manifest a good year. Good luck with that.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22):

This isn’t a High School Musical movie. Singing in the tech hallway is not cool and deeply unappreciated. Though a choreographed flash mob in the Student Center would be cool!

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): You worked super hard over the summer (probably at Starbucks), and have plenty of money to spend on getting food delivered. You will not have any money left by the end of the first quarter.

through our house.

Even if it’s not through speaking the language, it’s in the food I eat, the respect I hold for my elders and the home I come back to — and every time I’m in my mother’s embrace as she softly sings a Korean lullaby from my childhood, the comfort reminds me that I will never truly be disconnected with my cultural roots.

Follow the Roar on social media

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22):

All of your papers are neatly organized in your color-coded folders, you still have all your mechanical pencils, and your eraser remains un-stabbed. I give it two weeks.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21):

I'd roast you for crying in the bathroom during C block, but we’ve all been there. Pro-tip: the school provided sanitary napkins work very well at blotting mascara.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): You joined every single club you possibly could and barely participate in any of them. I applaud you for your “e ort”.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19):

Brandeis challenge? Nah. You actually drive the speed limit and use both hands while steering. Your parking is still probably hot garbage.

The Lions Roar Pawdcast

TheforFight the Nomination

By Risha Sinha

Dark Brandon vs. Inmate No. P01135809 seems to be the most likely match-up come November 5. In addition to his upcoming political clashes, Trump faces an unprecedented sum of legal battles that have sparked questions about his electability; nevertheless, his campaign remains the most well-funded of both parties. Both presidential pugilists are geriatric white men who may end up kicking the bucket while kicking each other. Here is a rundown of the other main candidates.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems to have gone so far left that he’s swung around to the far right. Although he is the nephew of former liberal President John F. Kennedy, politically, he has more in common with conspiracy theorist/congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Instead of concrete policy ideas, he spouts anti-vaccine and anti-Semitic rhetoric. e absurdity of his strategy makes me think his entire campaign is a ruse to get his previously banned social media accounts restored.

Former Vice President Mike Pence switched from MAGA darling to MAGA enemy #1 in the span of a few hours on January 6th. Since then, he has maintained that the 2020 election was not stolen. An evangelical Christian, he is vocal about his support for a national abortion ban after 15 weeks. Pence seems like a reasonable candidate, though his refusal to condemn or endorse Trump alienates him from both sides of the GOP.

At 38 years old, Ramaswamy is the youngest candidate. A millionaire entrepreneur, he has no previous political experience, although he gained notoriety for his opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the corporate arena. He wants to raise the voting age to 25, wants Ukraine to concede land to Russia and is a staunch defender of Trump. His lack of name recognition — and such an ethnic name at that — will certainly limit his support among conservatives.

Currently in his second term, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has pretty moderate views on climate change, immigration and the war in Ukraine. Because of or despite this, his support is dwindling; to salvage his declining popularity, he gave out $20 gift cards for every $1 donated in order to meet the GOP debate fundraising threshold. Such unconventional tactics are made possible by the billion dollars he made as a software entrepreneur.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie toes the party line with most of his proposed policies. He stands out as a leading voice in the condemnation of Trump, though Trump’s refusal to participate makes a Trump-Christie showdown a moot point. Christie's shining moment at the RNC debate was when he called out Ramaswamy for stealing Obama's 2004 DNC convention opening line.

Former Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley is the only woman running for the Republican nomination. Her policies align with the bulk of the eld though she takes a hard-line stance against China: as a United Nations ambassador, she called for the end to any economic cooperation. Haley joined Christie and Pence in clapping back at Ramaswamy during the RNC debate.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is considered the biggest threat to Trump, although his policy ideas appear to be mostly similar to that of Trump and the GOP. He is famous for signing far-right, “anti-woke” bills like “Don’t Say Gay” and limiting the teaching of racial history in schools. While campaigning, DeSantis is in the throes of a seemingly mindless lawsuit against Disney.

Aprofessor of philosophy who has taught at Yale, Harvard and Princeton, Cornel West originally ran for the People’s Party but now seeks the Green Party nomination. He is uber-progressive, believing in the decriminalization of all drugs, vastly cutting military spending and dissolving NATO. He has called Biden a “mediocre, milquetoast neoliberal centrist.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Chris Christie

Nikki Haley

Ron DeSantis

Cornel West

Mike Pence Vivek Ramaswamy Doug Burgum

graphic generated by AI

photo courtesy of CNBC

photo courtesy of Wikimedia

photo courtesy of CFA photo courtesy of KYFR

photo courtesy of ABC photo courtesy of Post and Courier photo courtesy of Wikimedia

photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Blockbusters are back, baby! Grab some popcorn, a soda and your favorite candy and enjoy this recap of the summer's biggest movies!

By Ritu Raghavendra & Angela Tao

— Dead Reckoning Part One and the Dial of Destiny

With many action-packed movies making their way to the big screen, the beloved spy of “Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" is reprising his role; Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt in the two-part espionage. e lm follows Hunt on the run after he was framed for the murder of his former teammate in Impossible Mission Force and accused of selling secrets to the government.

With AI that feels topical, the stunts in this new installment were so daunting and exciting that even Taylor Swift couldn’t imagine it in her “Wildest Dreams.” A perfect blend of suspense and action, this blockbuster will keep you glued to the edge of your seat at all times and might even make you forget about your snacks entirely. With twists and turns leading down dark alleys and wild car chases, the secrets and mysteries leave us wanting more and tempt us to return next summer for the sequel.

BarbENHEIMER

e biggest cinema-related kicker this summer was undeniably “Barbenheimer” – not another case of twin lms, but rather, a time when opposites attracted. Both having been released on July 21, the dichotomy was taken by storm online.

“Barbie,” a movie chronicling the eponymous beloved doll in an utterly female utopia, was contrasted with“Oppenheimer,” a historical lm set during World War II. Whichever you may have chosen to watch rst, both productions lived up to their hype in their own right — and together.

Barbie

Even if you live under a rock, you couldn’t have missed the marketing for “Barbie.” With everyone and their mothers being in the Barbie era again, the excitement for this iconic production was palpable all throughout July.

e movie follows Barbie and Ken’s departure from the perfect “Barbieland” and their entrance into the real world. e lmmakers’ attention to detail was incredibly clear — in costume design, Margot Robbie sported the classic high-heel feet; in set design, the Barbie Dreamhouse was paradisical and dreamlike.

Twitter may have doubted Ryan Gosling’s abilities to play Ken, but he shot down every ounce of apprehension. Perhaps “he’s just Ken”, but Gosling was a awless one. Additionally, one may not have thought that a lm where most of the characters are named either “Barbie” or “Ken” would make sense at all; however, this lm that started with an almost parody-comedic air built up to something raw and real.

ere were laughs and cries; there was a utopia and a reality. Just as we grew from rosy days of pink heels and happy play to the rough tides of adolescence (and too soon, adulthood), Barbie left her perfect fantasyland for a world both broken and healing.

OPPENHEIMER

Another addition to a well-beloved franchise is “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," in which Harrison Ford reprises his role as the titular character. For over two and a half hours, our old friend of 42 years helps defend the college he teaches at against the Nazis and prevent them from stealing a mysterious dial.

To be frank, this movie was quite boring. Watching it makes you wonder whether all of the action was actually necessary, or if it was trivially inserted to ll the action scene quota required for an Indiana Jones movie.

I encourage you to order a bucket of popcorn and a packet of candy; at times, food may be the only thing keeping you in the theater.

“Dial of Destiny” just doesn’t have the essence of the original three lms (we aren’t talking about “Crystal Skull”); it seemed like just a generic and geriatric action lm.

ASTEROID CITY

Action might seem like the theme of this past summer, but “Asteroid City” took on the comedy and drama sides of cinema. With the background set in a retro-futuristic 1950s, this movie was the epitome of a Wes Anderson lm.

“Oppenheimer” was equally brilliant, though in di erent ways. While “Barbie” was a display of growth from utopia to reality, “Oppenheimer” dealt with the inherent struggles of inventing, which were painfully complicated by politics and morality.

In this historical production, theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is tasked with engineering an atomic bomb in the top-secret Manhattan Project. With dramatic sequences and a rollercoaster of a story, this lm was gripping for all 180 minutes.

e icking between the process of building the infamous bomb and the following attempts to incriminate Oppenheimer made an intense ping-pong match of a story. You might want to drag a friend or two to watch the movie with — the historical references, time skipping and course of narrative can be so confusing you may need a debrie ng session after the lm. roughout the movie as the project progresses, Oppenheimer juggles his duty and his morality — on one hand, the U.S. would be in grave danger if they didn’t defeat the Nazis, but on the other, humanity was never meant to wield such a weapon of destruction.

Long journeys to the goal and the stomach-drop-inducing e ects (both good and bad) of such achievement were at the core of this lm. is narrative was told marvelously through the advanced visual e ects, sound buildups and scene shu ing — it was a story so horri c, yet so beautiful.

is movie was perfect on paper with the phenomenal set design, talented actors and beautifully shot scenes, but the story itself was rather confusing. is was in part due to “Asteroid City” having so many layers — the narrative being told as an in-world play was already boggling, but the onion only got thicker with the choppy timeline and colorless shots scattered through.

All the random icks did add to the artful cinematography; however, it meant that the storyboard was compromised. But the esoterica does have its own beauty. Anderson’s lms are undoubtedly gorgeous — the costume and set designs alone had a unique, almost dystopian aura. ere was an existential realization in this production, built up to by numerous symbols, character monologues and the beautifully written end of the lm. is lm explores a scary epiphany so deep it rattles you to the core — that human existence is insigni cant in the in nite universe, but at the same time, is all we’ve ever known. You can’t appreciate this lm without accepting this truth.

photo courtesy of Disney UK

photo courtesy of TV Insider

Barbenheimer graphic by Adrienne Lirio

photo courtesy of IMDb

Asian Americans v. A rmative Action

By Risha Sinha

We’re all worried about getting into college, as proven by the numerous vapid and superfluous “passion” projects adopted by juniors and seniors in a last-ditch attempt to bolster their resumes. High-schoolers like these feel obligated to engage in such performative activities to secure their spot in their dream colleges, trying to win in the rapidly-changing game of college admissions.

On June 29, admissions procedures changed once again as the Supreme Court decided that colleges cannot use race as a consideration for admission. is ruling e ectively put an end to 40 years of race-conscious admissions practices across the nation, largely on the argument that a rmative action discriminated against white and Asian people.

Asian students have become the antia rmative-action poster child, but this wasn’t always the case.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the organization that sued Harvard and University of North Carolina for discriminatory practices, is led by Ed Blum, a white man and conservative activist, and it’s not his rst rodeo. Back in 2008, Ed Blum’s handpicked poster child was Abigail Fisher, a white woman. But Abigail Fisher lost her case, so Ed Blum recast his lead, pitting minority groups against each other.

e competitive nature of college admissions pits us against our peers, reinforcing a every-person-for-themself mindset. Ed Blum tapped into this festering animosity — he used educational equality as guise to reverse decades

of progress toward diversity. e idea peddled to Asian Americans is that our spot at an elite college is being stolen from us by a Black or Latino student.

e unfortunate reality is that elite colleges remain elite by being fastidiously, anally selective. For my fellow Asians, that means that our years of Kumon/RSM, obligatory violin/ piano lessons and insane course loads won’t guarantee us a spot anywhere.

Ed Blum and other opponents of a rmative action argue that factoring in race when reviewing an applicant is a civil rights issue.

ey pretend that they are the white knights of Asian Americans, but we are just pawns in their crusade against Black and Latino communities.

According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, almost 70% of legacy applicants are white, and these students are six to seven times more likely to be admitted than a non-legacy applicant, which basically makes legacy admissions a rmative action for the white and wealthy. Take Harvard for example: a survey by the Harvard Crimson found that 36% of students in the class of 2022 were legacy admits. 18.1% of admits in the class of 2022 were Asian.

If the goal of Ed Blum and SFFA was to achieve racial equality or justice for Asian American students, their lawsuit would have been against legacy admissions, not a rmative action.

It’s such a shame that the vigor, perseverance and strength our parents instilled in us through the Asian-prefered method of math

practice problems has been convoluted into a weapon used to put down other minority groups because Asian-American-led legal action has the capacity to be really amazing.

In fact, every English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the US sprouted from a Supreme Court case led by Asian plainti s: Lau v. Nichols. In the late 60s and early 70s, children of Asian immigrants were struggling with language barriers in public schools, and the schools were providing no assistance. Groups like “Chinese For A rmative Action” came together to le a class action lawsuit that

Finding friendship in prickly people

By Aya Okaniwa

My willingness to socialize is contingent on how approachable I nd the people in question. Are they as timid as I am? Do we enjoy the same things? Would we get along?

I fear the awkwardness of rst interactions, yet at the same time, I hunger for the warmth of friendship. I just never know how to talk.

On June 26, the rst day of my intern ship, the only thing I did know was that I was trapped with the same people for three weeks. I had two choices: to make friends or wallow in loneliness.

With the majority of the program consisting of group work —infamous for in herently requiring socialization — I thought that the most reasonable rst steps would bek talking to my lab partners. With our actual instructor not arriving until the next day, the substitutes organized a simple lab.

Somehow, I maintained my silence as we started working. Suddenly, the tranquility in the air shattered when my lab partner began an absolute tirade about the simplicity of the activity — straight in the poor instructor’s face.

My chest tightened and I bit my lip with embarrassment. It was only the rst day, yet my lab partner might have already gotten our whole group in the camp sta ’s bad graces.

And she kept at it — chucking pens at other students, clicking her tongue through the instructor’s lectures and picking fruitless arguments with colleagues. I was obligated to stay next to her as her

partner, but I grew concerned that others may think my opinions aligned with hers.

How could I get along with someone who kept going against my principles? How could I make peace with someone who could target me with criticism next?

How could someone who can’t speak

jection. If she’d rather spend time by herself, I’d only be bothering her with the false heroism of saving her from loneliness, wouldn’t I?

My extended hand wouldn’t be of altruism; it would just be me making myself feel better.

But upon nally realizing that I was as-

resulted in the ESL programs seen in nearly every school today.

Unlike the recent A rmative Action decision, Lau v. Nichols made education more equitable thereby making a better future more accessible.

A rmative Action was never a perfect solution to the ingrained racial inequities in our public education and social services programs. ese inequities permeate our systems like a computer virus.

e software needs a reboot. Who better than Asians to lead the way?

sion.

So to lighten up the sour mood, I attempted — and failed terribly — to make a couple jokes. Awkward chuckles lled the gap between my group mates and I. ankfully, my horrendous tries at xing the atmosphere weren’t complete failures. e pen-chucking girl stopped crossing her arms and made jokes as well — except they were jests targeting the professor.

Unable to confront her unsympathetic perspective, the older girl and I could only force an awkward smile and a light giggle.

Somehow, I was able to continue the conversation, steering away from the negativity of the situation we were in.

Cynicism may say that human motivation is driven primarily by anger or spite, but only alacrity could save us now. So I went forward with all the patience and kindness I still had to muster.

Engaging in anything with the girl was a gamble, but I’d nally turned the fruit of my labor.

She began mellowing out upon my extension of friendship, and she had a story too. Her short temper and hot attitude had only been armor — it wasn’t formidability but forti cation.

A mirror of my own insecurities, the girl had been so tough at rst just to survive in the competition, then in an attempt to conform with the other stoic faces. It was only when warmth hit her shell that the ice melted away.

graphic by Clare Cho

graphic courtesy of Reapropriate

A completely factual guide to high school

By Charlotte Klingaman

You’re standing at the front door on the rst day of school. Wow, what a rowdy cafeteria that is. How on earth do that many people manage to t inside it? Wait — how late it is?! As you barge your way through the mob, you hurriedly unlock your phone and swipe up on your schedule. Okay, room … where the heck is that?

Why, hello there, freshman! You’re starting your very rst morning as a student in this massive building. But don’t fret — we’re here to give you a crash course on everything South right now.

Every teacher with a vowel in their name is known to assign absent slips to anyone even two milliseconds late. And be on time with homework.

is is truly important, for if you don’t do it, all your peers will aid the teachers in hanging you on the classroom fan — yes, the one that’s rickety and one wrong move from crashing down — by your toenails. will then proceed as normal until the end, when the teacher will keep you half an hour late to ensure you get an absence from your next class. Seriously, though, no skipping class!

e classes, however, are super fun! In math, we are con ned to calculators straight from hell that are near-impossible to use. Yay!

In English, you’ll have to de single word in the Oxford Dictionary and understand Shakespeare’s language. If you fail to do so, they’ll send you back in time through famine and disease and you will meet the genius playwright yourself. If you still

cannot understand him, you will be sent forward in time to when the second Big Bang destroys all of what matter was left from the rst one.

Here at South, we have strange social practices. If a teacher catches you looking at something other than your paper for over 0.000001 seconds, they will turn into an Among Us imposter, proclaim t he illuminati is coming, and break apart the atoms that make up your mortal body.

Pro-tip: nd a non-demonic teacher you really connect with and a place you can be productive in. e two don’t necessarily need

You’ve been warned.

By this point, you, dear freshman, have probably realized the majority of the above is a joke (no promises, though). So, let’s walk through the non-nightmare fuel tips of how to thrive at South.

When it comes to navigating this huge building, South’s room numbering system is quite simple once you get the hang of it.

ere are four digits — the thousands place is the house (or which wing of the school the room is in), the hundreds place is the oor number and the last two digits are the room

Tanning: a reckoning of fleeting youth

By Bella Ishanyan

I am writing this on the beach: belly down, hat on and earbuds in, the brilliant drumming of Mick Fleetwood harmonizing with the light crashing of the mediocre waves Ipswich has to o er.

I’m seventeen, but this is only the third time I have been to the beach without my parents. It's strange.

For starters, we have signi cantly less food, the umbrella isn’t set up properly (it later ew away) and my mother isn’t here to make me wear my sunscreen.

“I just put on sunscreen, I’m probably ne,” I would tell her, “Plus, I want to tan a bit.”

No!” she would angrily exclaim, “You’re not going anywhere until you put enough on.”

(Trust me, it's a much larger ordeal than I can convey.)

Everyone knows that tanning is an unhealthy practice. According to the World Health Organization, in 2020, excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays (UVR) caused 1.2 million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers and 325,000 melanomas of the skin, resulting in 64,000 premature deaths from non-melanoma and 57,000 melanomas of the skin.

But as horrifying as those statistics are, we all knew that.

We all know the risks that come with excessive UVR exposure, yet, we continue to cook ourselves in the sun until we look like the rack of $4.99 rotisserie chickens at Costco.

We also know that, despite the risks, that bronzy glow can make us feel beautiful, even if just for a couple months.

blissfully melting into mother nature’s warm, yet pernicious, embrace?

In Eastern Asia, where my mother is from, tanning is handled as such: you don’t.

Already, the culture of beachgoing is far from pertinent, but it's also common knowledge

to the beach without parental supervision, but young enough where we can live our life distant from the tremendous wave that incessantly barrels toward us: the truth of our mortality. Our comfort lies on the shore.

I don’t blame her for wanting to preserve

hand is your schedule. You’ll remember your middle school used a block system — South is very similar!

Have the master schedule with the class start/end times, lunch periods and WIN or LION blocks handy.

WIN blocks, or what-I-need blocks, are periods from Wednesday to Friday you can use to see a teacher, quietly work or relax. You’ll learn in your advisory how to sign up for your desired teacher’s block on MyFlexLearning.

LION blocks are every Tuesday, alternating blue and orange each week. ese, unlike WIN blocks, don’t require attendance — you can go home early if you’d like! — but they are often the times when clubs meet.

When it comes to achieving that dream high school experience, try to nd something you’re passionate about and seek out people who have the same interests. And even though it’s corny advice, you should put yourself out there and try new things. Whether it’s organizing the freshmen dance as a class cer or competing at speech and debate nd your niche and have fun!

All we can say is this: good decisions and impressions, don’t stress too much and never get into any situation that requires you to hang from a ceiling fan by your toenails. e rest will follow — including, believe guring out where things are in this e most important thing to do as a Freshman is e Lion's Roar!

that, aside from the vast list of medical conditions it causes, tanning causes wrinkles and spots attributed with looking older.

So when I asked my mother why she constantly protects herself and us from the sun, she never said it was to avoid melanoma, but instead to preserve our youth.

“I want us to be young forever.”

Because that’s all we want isn’t it? To be

our youth. ere’s no wonder my mother reminisces about her former years, the years where she had what she wanted: two small girls, cute and innocent, who knew nothing but to worship and obey their mother, and a youthful face, taut and smooth, free from the hardship of the years ahead.

But motherhood is the rising tide. Motherhood sharpens the view of her own wave, and

it reminds her that the life she had created, this piece of her, has a barrelling wave of its own. A mortality yet to be discovered. A sleeping fear, waiting for just the right moment to be woken.

Unfortunately, age is the Pandora’s box we never got the option of keeping closed. e fact of our eventual death is not something my mother has hidden from me, yet, she still does everything in her power to shield me and herself of that burden.

Whether that be by preserving her own health for as long as possible, or falsifying the reality that we are younger than we seem, that we are doing better than we think.

We tightly grip onto this mask of youth to get us through the hardships of this life, and although it's not the most textbook compliant method of dealing with our problems, it’s brought us this far.

Hope is the only thing we have left in this world swarming with pain (we can thank Pandora for that).

So I don’t blame her for wanting to protect us from the future.

For wanting to hold onto the past. Because as lovely as basking in the sun is, this whole time, my mother hasn’t just been preventing me from getting a gorgeous tan; she’s been protecting me from the reality that life will only get harder from here.

And I thank her for that, and assure her that regardless of whether I wear a sufcient amount of sunscreen or not, I'm still her little girl.

graphic by Adrienne Lirio

graphic by Denise Chan

Putting the Pieces

In response to community complaints, NPS grapples with preserving

By Grace Sousa Photo-graphic

*denotes names hidden

-

ents and administrators packed the cafeteria at Newton North to express either their concerns about or support of asion (DEI) initiatives throughout the Newton e NPS Department of DEI was designed to build a culturally-conscious education, strengthen inclusion and create a community with leaders who represent NPS’s e petition in question, spearheadeddemics (ImproveNPS), implored NPS to create a parental advisory panel to strengthen communication between families and schools. e proposed committee would be appointed to advise the school on the NPS curriculum; however some argued that ImproveNPS’s petition was a disguised attack on NPS’s Statement of Values and Commitment to Racial Equity.

One of the students at the hearing, senior Ishaan Tewari, co-president of South’s Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said he attended to advocate for diversity in the schools. Before the hearing, Tewari and his fellow ACLU members prepared speeches to rebut ImproveNPS’s petition.

“Preparing for it was the most di cult part because we didn’t know a lot about the group starting the petition,” he said.“My biggest worry was that what we were saying needed to be accurate.”

On the day of the hearing, Tewari said he was surprised by the sheer number of people at the hearing who voiced their support for either side — each voice came with di erent perspectives, all advocating for what they believed was best for NPS.

“I don’t think either side was expecting so many diverse speakers,” he said. “ ere were a bunch of really powerful voices, including fourth graders from Franklin Elementary

By the end of the hearing, the petioverturn DEI was unanimously rejected by the School Committee; however, the dispute over parental involvement in schools still e community continues to attempt to strike a balance of the concerns of those who seek to preserve a traditional educational approach with the hopes of those interested in including DEI practices in schools.

A Piece of the Puzzle

As Newton attempts to create opportunities for students part of historically marginalized identities, some parents doubt that NPS is ensuring an appropriate and nondiscriminatory school environment.

A month after the DEI hearing, a proposed drag show event at North for Transgender, Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day (ToBeGlad) sparked disputes over the appropriateness of the event.

e show, pitched as an optional assembly open to anyone, involved drag performer Missy Steak, who sang for those in attendance; however, a group of parents called on North to cancel it, arguing that it was unsuitable for high schoolers.

School Committee member Chris Brezski said that parents’ concerns were valid due to the sexual connotations of drag.

“I'm not going to say they're illegitimate concerns,” he said. “ ere was objectionable material linked to the performer online and [parents] probably wouldn't want some of that in a school performance.”

But it isn’t just performances that have garnered protest from parent groups. Parents have also complained about race-based discrimination within school clubs, claiming that certain groups are too exclusive.

North’s theater program, eatre Ink, put on a play called “Lost and Found: Our Stories as People of Color”, intended to showcase student actors of color. A national parent organization, Parents Defending Education (PDE), claimed that the production violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it excluded white students.

PDE led a complaint with the O ce of Civil Rights (OCR), an agency under the Department of Education which enforces civil rights laws that prohibit schools from discriminating on the basis of race, nationality, sex, disability or age.

Arlington parent Richard Deranian said he thinks creating specialized spaces for minority students, like the “Lost and Found” production, isn’t wise because it will cause division.

“Instead of just having separate a nity groups, you have to incorporate them, there has to be a melding,” he said. “ have individual groups, there will be more separatism.”

On the contrary, former Interim Super intendent Kathleen Smith said that eatre Ink’s mis sion was not to divide students, but to design a perfor mance for students to celebrate their

heritage.

“While centered in the stories of the lives of our students of color, no one was turned away or excluded from participating or having a role in the production,” she said in an NPS press release.

After the eatre Ink incident, the PDE led another complaint against North regarding discrimination. PDE alleged that the Dover Legacy Scholars (DLS) program, designed to provide increased support for students underrepresented in higher education systems, was guilty of discrimination, since it only applies to students of speci c racial backgrounds.

“Although this a nity group’s aim is to make sure the Scholars feel supported and fully connected to each other, it is clear this a nity group is not open to all students who attend [North],” PDE stated in their complaint. “One of the quali cations for obtaining entry into [DLS] is to be ‘of Black or Latinx descent.’”

Arlington music educator Dan Teager said that if schools give students access to academic aid or other special programs, those opportunities should be available and open to all.

“I have no problem celebrating people’s cultures. It’s wonderful,” he said. “I do have a problem particularly with a public high school that is excluding people.”

Mismatched Pieces

e concerns of some of these parents are not echoed by all students and administrators within the school system.

In April, around 20 citizens from Newton and Boston organized on the Newton Centre Green to protest Missy Steak’s performance, which had been intended to celebrate the identity of the LGBTQ+ community. e protesters were quickly outnumbered by nearly 100 supporters of the performance and its meaning.

In an interview with NBC10 Boston, Steak said her performance at North did not include sexual connotations.

“I am not going to be doing anything that’s un-age-appropriate,” she said. “We come in and we sing, or we dance or we read and we leave, and it’s just something we do for fun and

Many of Steak’s supporters were part of Amber Freiman-Polli, senior and Vice President of South’s GSA, said students must that their forms of expression, like the ToBeGlad celebration, are “It’s important to con-

Pieces Together

preserving traditional educational approaches while promoting DEI

&

John Timko

by Evan Ng

stantly do counter protests, spread awareness and keep responding directly whenever a group [challenges ideas],” she said. “ e most important part is the change we can make with the power of students.”

Not only have NPS students voiced their concerns, but educators in the school system have made their mark too.

During the lawsuit against DLS, South Principal Tamara Stras said she supported North because she stands by the beliefs of the school system.

“I got involved during the complaints made against DLS because [South] also has Legacy Scholars,” she said. “I know that I am doing the work that's right for students. [NPS] stands strong in our values and what we believe in. at's always going to be at the forefront.”

Pieces in the Box

Beyond special events and groups, some parents and educators disagree on the very contents of the curricula taught to their students.

North Reading parent Joseph Carter* said that he believes educators improperly integrate their own political beliefs into the material they teach.

“[ e school] gets too involved with their personal political beliefs,” he said.“Schools should be responsible for teaching kids science, history, English, math and cooking. It’s always worked for generations before, including some of the greatest generations in this country's history.”

In order to achieve a balance, some believe that instead of getting involved themselves, parents need to give their children the freedom to form their own opinions.

Mia Dror, senior and President of Jewish Student Union (JSU), said that it's important for students to be exposed to di erent perspectives to develop their own beliefs.

“If you teach your kid to believe in something, they should be able to go to school, hear other opinions, and still get to choose what they want to believe in,” she said.

Teager also said that letting students hear multiple opinions is crucial to letting them decide what they think is right.

“Our history is full of bad things and it’s okay to say so. at is the job of educators,” he said. “[Teachers] have to present the full story and then people form their own opinions. To not teach it is doing a disservice to students.”

Conflicting Approaches

Although it is important to acknowledge when a school is involved in controversy,

some believe that there must be a balance be tween containing and responding to the issue.

Brezski said that when a national group like PDE is involved, he tries not to engage unless a severe accusation is made.

“I don’t pay much attention to it because it’s noise for the most part,” he said. “However, when there's complaints we've got to address them and deal with them.”

Director of Legacy Scholars and Engage ment Specialist of for Educational Opportunity (METCO) at South, Katani Sumner, said that when it comes to complaints outside the school system, the administration’s main goal is to protect the students.

“ e goal of any teacher or adult in the building is to make sure that this outside noise has a minimal e ect on the actual students,” she said. “Only when events start looking like it is negatively impacting the students, then we may have to speak to that group directly.”

Many NPS sta addressing complaints discreetly and cautiously, but others believe that parents’ concerns should be brought to the community’s attention.

Deranian said that parents should be informed about the events their children are being exposed to at school, and that it is crucial for parents to spread awareness about their concerns.

“More parents need to bring it to light in any kind of forum they can, it needs to be out there, and [the school] should directly address it, instead of responding with general statements,” he said.

Others believe that the importance of highlighting these issues extends to students, who can make sure their voices are heard once they are aware of such complaints.

Paris Figuereo, former Vice President of South’s Black Student Union (BSU), said that sta should have conversations with students about parent complaints so that NPS members can work together to arrange a uni ed response.

“Students should know when their afnity groups are being attacked and teachers should talk about it,” she said. “[NPS] needs to be more proactive in our response, whether it's going to the town of Newton, the district

Solving the Puzzle Together

versation in a respectful space has to start before a group decides to put forth itself. People need to understand that their ac tions can be harmful for other students who are equally as valuable.”

administrators can put their emotions aside in order to have productive conversations.

agitated people in an agitated situation, you're always going to have controversy and not a meaningful discussion,” he said.

“It’s upsetting watching intelligent people lobbing bombs at one another and that's what seems to happen with these local meetings. Hopefully, they can put the emotions aside and put the facts on the table, but that’s the hard part.”

common goal: to protect students’ education and to create a positive learning environment. In order to work together and achieve that mission, Nolin said that it is essential for the NPS community to keep their goal of student protection at the forefront and remember to

and giving them all the experiences that

at's about listening, communicating and staying in a relationship while we

CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE

By Alyssa Chen, Ava Ransbotham & eo Younkin

Even though “boring” is the rst word that comes to mind when someone says “state mandated assignment,” South juniors have found a way to make it their own, pursuing projects fueled by passion and a desire to improve their community.

South chose to assign the civics project, imposed on all public high schools by Massachusetts law, to juniors near the end of the school year, reasoning that the timeline would allow students to recall past civics events taught in their history course and turn their knowledge of government and civics into tangible actions and goals.

Julie Masi, who has taught junior United States history for six years, said that the civics project is designed to create educated citizens who will be active in their community beyond high school.

“Over the past several decades, there's been a decline in civic engagement and people's understanding of what civics even means,” she said.“[ e project] is de nitely valuable to raise awareness about that issue, but then also to give students the opportunity to not just learn about civics, but also do something.”

e idea of students taking their education into their own hands is at the core of the project from the very beginning of the process. Senior Grace Santos, who created a stop-motion video with felt

pieces about food deserts for their project last school year, said that the project gave them the freedom to explore a topic that had interested them for a while.

“ e question that was asked of us at the beginning of the project was ‘ nd something that you're passionate about, something that

students how to navigate the world.

“I hope they take away that it's possible to make changes in their communities and that they should be looking at the world through a critical lens and noticing when things are unfair, noticing when things are disproportionately impacting certain groups,” she said. “I hope

States history classes by a strict curriculum to prepare for the exam in May.

Michael Kozuch, who has taught junior history for the past 12 years, said that students could likely achieve greater success and feel more ful lled with more leniency in the timeline and with more time to complete the project.

“ e juniors are all doing it at the same time, so [sta and representatives are] going to get inundated with all these requests and emails for information and interviews… it's all creating a system that truncates the possibility for success because school's almost out and people

you could really spend a lot of time on and be really interested in learning about,’” they said. “[Food deserts] have been on the front of my mind for a while, and it's always just been something that I've heard about, but I didn't actually know what it was.”

Senior Diya Misra, who did her project on reproductive education with senior Alyssa Haidar last spring, said that this project inspired her to go a lot farther than she would ordinarily, even creating an online forum for people to discuss their experiences and ask questions.

“Typically [with] projects, teachers assign them, so you probably don't feel the most passionate about them,” she said. “But [when] picking your own topic, you truly feel strongly about it, so you actually want to make a di erence.”

While individuality is a big part of the project, junior history teacher Jennifer Bement said it’s also about community and teaches

that this project makes them familiar with the process of how to create a movement, how to make change.”

Before many students have even begun working on their civics project, North senior Zonna Okonkwo said the student body at North was already looking through that critical lens and advocating for change in their community.

“Many rising juniors really wanted the history curriculum to be more current and more [relevant] because they keep teaching us about the same old white guys,” she said. “[We wanted them to] include more groups like people of color and the LGBTQ community and women and all of those people.”

e civics project o ers some respite from old white guys, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, the history department is still debating how to implement the project. Time is a signi cant constraint, augmented in AP United

will run out of time,” he said.

“If you did it in your club, you'd have the whole year to do it, or if you couldn't nish it that year, you could do it the next year. I think students would have more success.”

Masi said that inviting individuals who have worked in government or in activism to speak with students would provide a multitude of bene ts from connections and guidance to morale and insight.

“I had my dad come in because he worked in the local government which was a very nice opportunity [for] students to meet someone — not a teacher or someone within the school community — who has experience in this and [for the students to] be able to ask questions and engage in conversation,” she said.

Above the nitty-gritty details, Masi and Santos said the project’s premise is the same from both the teacher and student perspective: fostering a voice and a passion that will go beyond the classroom.

“Whatever you choose to work on or whatever action you choose to focus on doesn't have to end with the project,” Masi said.

“Even though we're young, and even though we're still kids, we can absolutely make change,” Santos said.

I hope that this project makes them familiar with the process of how to create a movement, how to make change.

Jennifer Bement history teacher

Even though we're young, and even though we're still kids, we can absolutely make change.

Grace

Santos class of '24

graphic by NSHS Collage Club

Students and teachers detail their experience with the civics project, a state-mandated graduation requirement

Save our theater:West Newton Cinema's impact

own little premiere,” she said.“I don't think you can do something like that in a multiplex theater, so independent theaters give that opportunity and it just works beautifully for lmmakers.”

Tucked between two ever-changing shops on Washington Street, the West Newton Cinema’s (WNC) fading facade and charming marquee sign have remained a constant since its construction in 1937.

Due to declining sales in recent years, the theater, which had been a family owned business since 1978, was sold to the company Mark Development in August of 2022.

However, Mark Development allowed the West Newton Cinema Foundation to be formed, a non-pro t with the intent to buy the theater back. eir goal is to raise $9.9 million by Aug. 31, 2024, relying on members of the Newton community to recognize the theater’s importance to their town.

Julius Starkman has been going to the WNC since he was eight. He said what has kept him coming back for over 50 years can’t be found at a chain theater.

“[ e theater] is very convenient, very local,” he said. “It's not a big theater, so there's a connectivity between yourself and the people who are serving you.”

Newton-based independent lmmaker Sanja Zdjelar said that local theaters are essential to the careers of lmmakers like herself. Her 2019 lm “ e Immigrant” was shown at the WNC.

“I rented a space and decided to make my

As an independent theater, the WNC is able to connect more personally with the local community. Film studies teacher David Weintraub said the WNC donated prizes for South’s Film Festival and supported the o cial premiere of a group’s crime drama.

“I've always felt very indebted to the cinema for extending that generosity,” he said. at also shows the connection between the business and the community and the varying ways that we can support each other.”

Zdjelar said now is the time to reciprocate that support.

“I really, really hope that West Newton Cinema is able to fully bounce back because we need to keep our community vibrant, healthy and strong,” she said. “It would be a huge loss if we lost something like that.”

If the theater closes, fewer local movies will get spotlighted and events like the Jewish Film Festival will lose a host. Weintraub said its closure will feel personal.

“I'm going to see that shuttered building and I'm going to be sad about it, and I'm sure a lot of people will feel the same,” he said. “It will have a trickle down e ect on the business community and the community as a whole if it closes.”

North sophomore Lauren Cao lives near the theater and said she has many important

memories of friends and family there, and she would be devastated if it were to close.

“It's such a staple,” she said. “When you hear West Newton Cinema, everyone knows what it is, and the fact that it can potentially just go away is sad.”

Lynne Pepall, a member of the foundation’s steering committee, said she hopes making the cinema a non-pro t will galvanize support within the community.

“If it belongs to the community, then I think there’s a bigger vision for what it can do,” she said. “It’d be more something where people could take pride that this is who we are in Newton, and this is what we believe in.”

Pepall said that the committee’s vision for the WNC is a cultural hub, not just a theater, but they can’t reach their goals alone.

“Frankly, we need some buzz,” she said, ”Getting younger people engaged in this is really good; It makes you think of nothing else but what it means to live in a community.”

Along with donating to their foundation, Zjdelar said the best contribution you can o er is to keep creating the memories that make WNC special.

“Keep supporting them. Keep telling friends,” she said.“It's such an icon; there's such history behind it.”

e history, charm and, above all, the community are what set WNC apart. Weintraub said the cinema experience is something that can never be replaced.

“ ey hand me some popcorn, I hand them some money,” he said. “It's this beautiful way to be human together.”

Jack Lovett, class of '15: "aware of the world"

Lovett’s emotional intelligence also stood out to his friend Sam Fishman, class of ‘17, who said he admired how being Senate President as a junior never seemed to get to Lovett’s head.

e man. e myth. e legislator. John “Jack” Lovett, now an O ce Engineer for the City of Newton and brie y a candidate for City Council, began his political career on South Senate. Serving as Senate President in his junior and senior years, he went on to intern for the city of Newton after graduating South in 2015, then attended Northeastern University for his undergraduate and masters degrees.

Lovett said that during his time as Senate President, Senate passed a record amount of legislation: a whopping 31 policies in all, including ones on grade transparency and textbooks.

“Part of what motivated me was how Senate, for my rst few years, [had] this reputation of absolutely doing nothing,” he said. “[My friends and I thought], ‘it doesn't have to be this way.’”

Social sciences teacher Paul Estin, who taught Lovett when Lovett was a freshman, said Lovett’s passion quickly transformed Senate's reputation.

“He was one of those students I’m never going to forget,” he said. “He led the way for all kinds of things.”

Lovett’s friend and fellow former South Senator, Peter Klapes, said that while Lovett has grown since leaving high school, he remains the same in other important ways.

“[Jack is] conscientious and so aware of the world, of people," he said. "He's conscientious in terms of his work, in terms of how other people feel, in terms of how other people think, in terms of trying to understand other people. He's attentive, he sees things, he observes things. [He is] intelligent without question.”

“My rst impressions of him were that he was a very intelligent, outgoing and committed person,” he said.“It really seemed like, even with me, a guy who's a freshman and inexperienced, that he was willing to work with me and become friendly with me.”

English teacher Alan Reinstein said that over the course of the three classes in which he taught Lovett, he was able to see Lovett’s con dence grow and watch him lead in the classroom as well as in Senate.

“It's always nice when there are students

who are really interested in learning beyond just getting good grades,” he said. “ at [has] a positive e ect on the rest of the class, and the class is only as good or as exciting as the students in it.”

Estin also said it was impressive watching Lovett grow from a nervous freshman to a capable leader.

“He got the con dence to do whatever it took and not really care about the appearances that weren't important,” he said.

History teacher Eugene Stein taught Lovett in his AP United States History course and said Lovett excelled in the class and continued to go above and beyond as a TA.

“He taught his peers [that] if he was a

senior teaching juniors, they [could do] a great job doing that as well,” he said.

Lovett said that what drove him to a job in government is the same thing that motivated him while on Senate: the opportunity to bring ideas into reality.

“Private sector is all about selling a product or service, making money, whereas in politics, the public sector, that pro t motive isn't there, so it's more about the community,” he said.

Lovett said that sense of community is also what drove him to return to Newton.

“I love Newton South. I had the best four years of my life there,” he said. “I knew I always wanted to come back and serve the community in one way or another.”

Lovett in front of City Hall, 2023

Lovett in front of Newton South, 2013

photos contributed by Jack Lovett

Forest Lanciloti, Ava Ransbotham & Kiril Zhdanov Features Reporter, Features Editor, Features Reporter

Laura Feng, Anya Kopinja, Ava Ransbotham & Ira Singh Features Reporter, Features Contributor, Features Editor, Features Reporter

photo by Ava Ransbotham

COMMON APPLICATION THE

The Roar follows four seniors with different interests as they navigate the college application process. Their identities will be revealed as they make their decisions

By eo Younkin

Although Ben* began his musical journey with piano lessons at the age of eight, it wasn’t until fourth grade when he discovered the clarinet through his elementary school’s band program that he felt things click into place. Now, in addition to the clarinet, Ben plays the ute and the saxophone. He said that some of his greatest musical inuences have been the teachers and students whom he’s had the opportunity to play with.

“I've been very privileged to work with a lot of amazing teachers and a lot of amazing students as well,” he said. “Working with a lot of cool people has shaped my experience and encouraged me to continue pursuing music.”

Ben hopes to continue studying music in college. Based on considerations about location and academic programs, some of his top choices currently include Berklee, UMASS Amherst, the New England Conservatory, New York University and Juilliard.

“I don't want to go too far away from home, so I've been mostly looking at colleges in Massachusetts and New York,” he said. “With the colleges themselves, having a really strong program and classical and jazz music is important to me because I’ve been studying interdisciplinary music for the past couple of years.”

Ben said that for him, the most challeng-

ing part of the process has been deciding what he’s looking for in his post-high school life. “ e choices are in nite,” he said.“ ere are so many colleges, so many di erent careers […] I really can't put my nger on a single part of the college process that I consider to be easy.” is past summer, Ben attended a summer program at Berklee, which helped him get a better sense of the type of school he wanted to attend.

“Berklee's in the city, and I found that I've enjoyed being in the city because there's just so much you can do,” he said.“My experience with Berklee at the summer program […] helped to de ne more of what I'm looking for.”

When Lila* rst started playing softball on a whim in early elementary school, she never imagined her passion for the sport would continue into the present day.

“I started playing when I was in rst grade, just because Newton Girls’ Softball was very advocated around school, and all my friends were doing it,” she said. “I just stuck with it because I really loved it.”

Now, she’s in the process of reaching out to college coaches in hopes that she’ll receive an o er from one of them.

“I’m talking to three coaches right now,

and they’re just watching me play,” she said. “Pretty soon, [they’ll] start telling you if they want you or not, and then you do a pre-read.”

Although Lila is currently networking with coaches, she said that the athletic recruitment process is clouded by uncertainty.

“Nothing is de nite. Even if a coach does reply to you, it doesn't mean anything,” she said. “It’s up to you to just play your best whenever they’re watching you and to always keep communicating with them.”

Lila's just starting to write her personal statement, and she’s hoping to attend a smaller school with a marketing or lm

After his rst year of playing competitive football in seventh grade, Tom* said he was driven to continue honing his athletic skills by a desire to help his team succeed.

“I hated losing more than I liked winning,” he said. “I was often the reason we lost in middle school. So I was like, ‘I’m going to work at it and try harder and be one of the best because I don't like losing. I don’t like hurting my team.’”

After three years of playing for South’s football team, Tom hopes to continue the sport in college, but the recruitment process has proven di cult. He said that one of the most challenging parts of the college process has been contacting college coaches, a hoop

program in New England or New York, in particular. Some of her top choices currently include Emerson College, Brandeis University and Bentley University.

Lila said that while devoting enough time and planning to the process is helpful, it’s important to recognize that there’s only so much power you hold over your future.

“I started thinking about what I wanted in college the summer going into sophomore year, and that's helped me with narrowing down my choices,” she said. “You just have to hope that you do everything you can, but in the end, it's not up to you.”

all prospective student-athletes must jump through.

“It's been frustrating, honestly, because you have to talk to so many people, and most of the time you don't even get a response,” he said. “It makes me question things like, ‘Am I really that good?’ or ‘Do I have a future in the sport?’”

Ultimately, Tom said that he hopes to end up at a larger-sized school with a business program, but above all, he values a supportive community around sports.

“I want to have something where people are looking forward to coming and supporting the team,” he said. “[I want] a lot of support, people showing up to the games,

the care and love around things like football.”

Some of his top choices currently include the University of New Hampshire, UMASS Dartmouth, Pittsburg State, Curry College and Spring eld College, and he’s just begun the Common and FAFSA applications. Like many other seniors at this time, Tom said he is nding ways to stand out from the other applicants.

“You de nitely need something that separates you from the rest, whether you’re great academically or sports-wise,” he said. “Your college essay is a great place for you to nd something that makes you stick out, like a story […] or something you’ve grown from.”

For Rose*, going to college means pursuing her passions for both art and teaching. As she’s hoping to attend art school, Rose’s college application requires a bit more than the traditional personal statement and supplementary essays.

“You have an art portfolio and then some schools require you to write a little bit about each piece,” she said. “It also depends on the school. Some schools [ask you to] submit an entire sketchbook.”

One of the biggest challenges that come with building a portfolio is selecting which works to include. Rose said that she is struggling to build a collection that demonstrates her ability to create art through a variety of styles and mediums.

“I have a lot over the years that I've ac-

cumulated, and I don't know which ones to use for technical skills or which ones for [showing], ‘ is is my art, this is what I personally like to do,’” she said. “ ey want to see process too, so nding a balance between the three has been hard.”

Currently, Rose's working on her essay but has yet to nish visiting the schools she’s interested in. Based on the school’s location as a major consideration, she hopes to attend either the Rhode Island School of Design or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and pursue majors in illustration and education.

“For me, location is really big” she said.“I want to have trees and nature and to be able to hike my college or have hikes available to me.”

Rose said that for her, the most challenging aspect of the application process is

not comparing herself to other students in the same boat.

“I’ve been like, ‘Where’s everybody else in the process?’ ey have all these things done, they have their portfolios done, their college essay has already been edited to perfection,” she said. “Everybody’s going at their own pace. Being di erent from others is a good part of the process.”

Rose said that she would advise others also going through the process to prioritize long-term planning.

“Get a schedule and organize yourself,” she said. “Start early, know what you want. Make sure you get yourself into a space where you're not overwhelmed.”

*Names changed to protect students' identities graphics by Emily Zhang

1 in 2000: Lucia Baring-Gould, "full of energy and fire"

Levin Brenner Features Contributor

succeed as an artist.

“I’ve never seen Lucia make a big vessel or bowl and not smash it the rst couple times, at least,” she said.

Since her freshman year, Lucia has impressed everyone around her with her throwing skills. Shirasb said that although Lucia may not be willing to admit it yet, her years of practice have rendered her ceramics craft near perfection.

“Everybody around her is immediately dialed into her throwing, but she doesn’t see how talented and special she is,” she said.

In tandem with her ceramic talent, Lucia enjoys baking as a pastime.

As a child, she spent Tuesday afternoons baking with her aunt and spent holidays cooking family dinners. is past year, Lucia has been working at Lakon Paris, a French patisserie in Newton Highlands. She said that the work ful lls her passion for creation.

somewhere, and because of this, my schoolwork would spill over into the following days, leaving me in this constant feeling of being behind.”

Although the challenges proved tough, Lucia said she appreciated the experience for what it taught her.

From harvesting clay from the beaches on the Cape to writing her own songs on the guitar, junior Lucia Baring-Gould is as artistic as it gets.

Molly Baring-Gould, ceramics teacher at South and Lucia’s mom, said that Lucia has always taken an interest in the world around her.

“She will say yes to everything and loves to explore the world and everything it holds,” she said.

Lucia’s eagerness to explore has cultivated her drive for creation. Since the age of eight, she has been surrounded by clay; she said that her parents, both high school ceramic teachers, have guided her to become the artist she is today.

“Growing up I always had four or ve wheels in the basement, and… I really learned all the basic techniques and tricks at my house when I was super young. I remember my parents would come down to the basement and throw together. ey would center for me and they would help me make bowls, mugs, or really whatever I wanted,” she said.“Learning at home gave me the basis that I really appreciated having going into high school.”

Ms. Baring-Gould said that while many artists tend to hyper-focus on the outcome, Lucia nds joy in the process.

“She doesn’t keep a lot of her art just because she enjoys making it more, and I think that really embodies who she is,” she said.

Senior Donna Shirasb, Lucia’s friend of two years, said that Lucia is not afraid to make mistakes and that her process-focused mindset plays a signi cant role in helping her

The Restorative Corner

Alan Reinstein

English

Teacher

Batter Hugs Pitcher: Welcome to Restorative Practices

I’d like to welcome you to the Restorative Corner, a place that’s interested in how to x things that get broken. How to apologize, how to forgive and how to recover. How to build relationships that reduce the chances of things breaking in the rst place.

“Restorative Practices” are strategies that strengthen relationships so that when mistakes are made that hurt community members, repairing the harm done to the victim, or victims, is more important than punishing the o ender (or o enders).

“[Being] a pastry chef at Lakon is a really great opportunity,” she said. “I get to bring to life and create the things I have in my mind or I see online.”

However, working at Lakon has not always been easy, Lucia said. Exhausting weekends had her burnt out working from six in the morning to four in the afternoon at the end of her sophomore year, amid her piling schoolwork.

“I tried to schedule my day in a way that bene ts my mental health, but it was really hard. At the end of the year it got really bad because I was so exhausted, every week felt the exact same,” she said.

“I would go to bed, wake up, work the same shift and try to t my homework in

“Honestly all [someone] can do is learn from [their] experiences and understand what does and doesn't work for [them],” she said. “I think back to how accomplished I felt telling people how much I was able to handle at once. Yes, it was hard, but I wouldn't trade it if I could… I was doing what I love which was enough.”

Ms. Baring-Gould said that Lucia’s ability to manage all that she does is a result of her drive to give everything her best e ort.

“Lucia is so determined and so competitive,” she said.“She's always been this erce, independent, creative, full-of-energy-and- re kind of person, and she will push herself to be the best in whatever she is doing.”

Shirasb said that Lucia’s drive extends to an unwavering persistence to help and care for those around her.

“I wish more people knew just how big her heart is and how understanding she is,” she said. “Lucia was one of few people I have found a genuine friendship with, without any limits. Her mom always jokes about how we are the same person, which I love because I admire her so much.”

Henry Knight, Lucia’s co-worker at Lakon and recent South graduate, said that she has an outgoing and thoughtful spirit.

“She’s naturally positive and supportive,” he said. “She goes out of her way to help or cheer people up around her.”

Although Lucia’s love for creation has remained prevalent for most of her life, her twin brother and junior Caleb Baring-Gould said that she has continued to grow nonetheless.

“She's evolved a lot,” he said.“Sometimes people who knew her years ago still think she is the same person, but you have to get to really know her now to see how much she has

changed.”

Whether it’s a lifelong friend or someone she has just met, Lucia is always welcoming. Ms. Baring-Gould said that Lucia exudes genuine kindness, making her someone easy to talk to and be around.

“Because she is so many kinds of people rolled into one, she’s comfortable with all types of people,” she said.“She can be very old and very young at the same time, but her inner youthful spirit will stay with her forever.”

I’ve got two baseball stories to start things o , both involving batters reeling from dangerous pitches. Both are stories of forgiveness. We’ll start here.

For the rst one, Google“Japanese batter hugs pitcher” to get to a scene from this summer’s professional all-star game in Japan. If you’ve ever seen a batter charge the mound after being hit or nearly hit by a speeding pitch, this scene is an unexpected moment of grace: Orix Bu aloes’ batter Yutaro Sugimoto, seemingly furious, rushes the mound after a way-inside pitch blows past his head — then suddenly, he opens his arms to Hiroshima Carp’s Aren Kuri to give him a wide-open hug.

At rst, the pitcher seems ready for a ght, as he ings his glove, but then he accepts the hug. It could be that all-star games take some of the competitive venom away from batters that allow room for kindness and forgiveness after a 100-mph fastball whizzes by your ear, but there is still a moment here when the frightened or surprised Sugimoto must have

brought himself to forgiveness.

A choice or an impulse — who can say?

e change in the aura of the moment is fascinating because it seems so unnatural. And yet it happened, and we don’t need to know how, really — only that it did. at it can.

Want evidence of a more thoughtful, more purposeful restorative response to the beanball? See a kid do it: Tulsa, Oklahoma, little-leaguer Isaiah Jarvis, after getting hit in the helmet by a pitch in last summer’s Little League World Series early-rounder against East Texas. (Google “Little League batter hugs pitcher.”) It’s awful, and then it’s beautiful.

After pitcher Kaiden Shelton’s fastball hits Jarvis in the left ear ap, knocking the helmet o the twelve-year-old that has him writhing at the plate, Jarvis gets up to applause from the stands and jogs to rst. en, seeing the distraught pitcher conferencing with his coaches about whether he can continue to pitch, Jarvis walks from rst base over to the mound to console Shelton with an awkward pre-teen

hug that is even more graceful in its clumsiness.

Of course, it’s easier to forgive a bad pitch that’s an accident and much harder to forgive one that’s aimed at you. In addition, repairing the harm should come rst from the o ender themselves. However, the formula for reconciliation is only that both culprit and victim are willing to meet and listen to each other, starting with either a victim willing to forgive or a wrongdoer admitting harm and seeking a route to mend it. It’s hard but important work.

Every school year, harm happens. Relationships and people are bruised. We have four core values to guide us — show respect by listening rst or choosing kindness, and then, when you slip, take responsibility.

We have, too, an understanding that any one of us can spur the repair that stabilizes a relationship or a community when there is pain. A fastball that whizzes by or, worse, hits the batter, unintentionally or not, is upsetting. Whether we’re the pitcher or the batter, let’s be ready to x what can be xed.

photos contributed by Lucia Baring-Gould

Lucia throwing clay at the wheel

Everybody around her is immediately dialed into her throwing, but she doesn't see how talented and special she is.

Donna Shirasb class of '24

Lucia's artwork over the years

Served with a Setback

By Julia Lee

Crushing school records and dominating the Massachusetts Division One Athletic Conference, last season’s girls' volleyball team made it to the semi- nals of the 2022 state tournament and ended with an astonishing 17-3 record.

eir starting lineup was full of talent, and the talent coming o the bench made the team a formidable force. However, as the fall season nears, the team must deal with a setback: the loss of eight players from their lineup of 14.

Former senior captain Tia Russell said that the number of starters and talent leaving will prove to be an obstacle this season. Russell was a starting middle blocker and, in 2022, was awarded the title of a Boston Globe allscholastic player.

“We lost some crucial positions which leaves a lot of incoming juniors and sophomores wondering where they're going to end up on the court,” she said. “People are going to have

to learn new positions and train a lot harder than they had to in past years.”

Sophomore varsity player Giani Boerner said that the seniors’ departure will greatly impact the team’s style of play, as well as the team’s coordination.

“We will be impacted by the leave of some of our starters because we didn’t fully appreciate the little things they did to ll gaps in our playing and cheering,” she said.

“ e dynamic and style of our playing might start o slower because of the many positions that need to be lled, and the new and old players must learn how to work together.”

Seniors aren’t the only vital players the team will be losing, Russell said.

“We lost our main libero Anna Silva, who was a freshman, and lling that role after the amazing performance she left last year is going to be tough,” she said.

Silva, the starting libero, was the player to

watch as a freshman who dominated the court. After one year of playing for South, Silva will not be returning as she moved to Brazil at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

Junior Ally Chen is a frequent member of the volleyball student section and said Silva captivated the audience’s attention.

“Anna’s dedication to every ball often has her ying across the oor and students holding their breath,” she said.“Her drive and skill make her the player to watch on the court, and she’s such an inspirational athlete.”

As the search for new talent and starters begins, dedication like Silva’s will be a major factor. Silva said that mentality alongside skill is critical in a teammate.

“Starters de nitely must have positive energy and be loud and uplifting to their teammates,” she said. “Even if you're on the bench, you must help the team out and be con dent in yourself. Don't let the student section bring you down, just focus on the play.”

Since starters are put under pressure, Russell said that they must be resilient and positive.

“You need to want every point and every game. Giving up because we lost a set or a few points is absolutely not an option,” she said.

“Mindset comes before skill. You can be an amazing player but if you get down on yourself, get mad at others or anything else negative, you aren't getting that starting spot.”

Although players will have to learn new positions and put in the extra work, Russell has faith and con dence that this will be an electric season, with players from the bench stepping into major roles, and new players making waves.

“I wish the girls the absolute best of luck, and I really hope they work hard while having fun and bring Newton South to the championship this year because I truly believe they can do it,” she said.

e new generation of volleyball players must learn how to adapt to the new team dynamic, as Boerner said that much of the credit for the team's record was due to the seniors.

“We were so successful last season

because our senior captains helped lead and connect us so that we could play together as a team,” Boerner said.“A key factor in our success was de nitely teamwork, but also our sheer determination to win.”

One of the four new captains, senior Hannah Lim said that respect will be an essential principle for the team.

“It’s so important that this season we respect the new and old teammates, and support them through the whole learning process. e team dynamic will most de nitely be di erent, but di erent is never a bad thing,” she said. is season, the entire program must support one another to o set the large gap that the class of 2023 is leaving behind.

“No player should doubt themselves, as everyone will make mistakes along the way,” Lim said. “I hope to have the freshman, JV and varsity teams support each other because in the end, we are one program.”

Senior captain Sasha Vorobyov plans to bring energy and positivity to the community. ough the departing seniors leave behind a void, Vorobyov is just as hopeful about the upcoming fall.

“We're losing some big players, but we also have incredible players returning, and others who we’ve seen at captains' practice,” she said.“I don't think we're going to be unsuccessful next year. We’re de nitely going to have a great season and a lot of fun.”

Only six out of 14 players on the girls varsity volleyball squad are returning; this year's team dynamic will be completely different.

e 2022 varsity team celebrates after a point at the Dig Pink game versus Needham

photo by Eleanor Bacon

Giani Boerner class of '26

e dynamic and style of our playing might start o slower because of the many positions that need to be lled, and the new and old players must learn how to work together.

The search for a lasting trainer at South

Joey Giragos Sports editor

Having an athletic trainer at a high school, especially one as large as South, is a necessity. However, during the last four years at South, this necessity has become an inconsistency.

South has had ve di erent trainers since current wellness teacher Patrick Jordan-Quern transitioned from trainer to full-time teacher in 2019, and it has proven extremely di cult to nd a long-term trainer. Athletic director Patricia Gonzalez said that South’s unique needs make it much more di cult to hire a trainer.

“Our school is a very large school and requires a lot of exibility, thinking quickly on your feet, and being organized, which for some people is very daunting,” she said.

Both Gonzalez and Jordan-Quern said that the amount of quali ed candidates has decreased because as of 2022, a master’s degree in athletic training is required to become a trainer in Massachusetts.

Jordan-Quern said he believes that some potential candidates may be deterred by the salary that comes with being a fulltime trainer.

“ e position is still signi cantly underpaid for being a professional career,” he said. “[An athletic trainer position] isn’t attractive enough for the highest level of quality athletic training.”

is vacancy proved most problematic

medical technicians to eld, later leading sulted in more serious trainer that day, it wasn’t obvious what to do,” she

inexperienced people

Bazile, the athletic trainer starting this fall, said he is ready to take on that challenge and add longevity to a position that has lacked in recent years.

Bazile, an avid tennis, basketball and Call of Duty fan who hails from Brockton and attended Salem State University, said that he is excited about his new role and meeting all of his colleagues and the students.

“I felt like this is a great place and I'm just looking forward to meeting everybody,” he said.

As managing a large school as a single trainer will be di cult, Bazile said it would take some time to adjust completely.

“I've never been in a situation where I'm the only trainer in the school and taking care of everybody that walks in,” he said. “It's going to take some time to gure out how to operate on a day-to-day basis.”

Despite the di culties that Bazile is projected to face, Gonzalez said that he will have excellent support to help him learn the ropes. “ e athletic department is unique in the sense that we work as a team very, very closely,” she said. “We will support him as much as we can with all the administrative parts.”

Bazile said he hopes to make his rst job as a trainer a position that lasts.

the position, the challenges

Meet the new soccer coaches

ANGIE SUTHERLAND

Growing up, I always wanted to be a coach. A girl I played with said to me in college: “You'd be a great coach one day”, and I never forgot that. When I saw an opening at Tyngsboro High School coaching lacrosse I took the chance and ended up loving coaching. en I saw the opening at Newton South and took another chance. I'm excited to change it up. I've been coaching lacrosse since 2018.

VARSTY

From: Tyngsborough, MA

Position: Center mid eld

College: Worcester State University

My goal is for everyone to enjoy themselves. I want us to create a strong team chemistry that everyone looks back on with fond memories.

I believe hard work, e ort and a positive attitude is gonna get you so much farther than anything else.

My favorite part of college soccer was when we won our league twice. We got to go to the NCAA Tournament and compete with teams that we would never normally play. It exposed us to a lot of di erent styles of soccer.

Favorite soccer player: Julie Ertz

Favorite post-game song: Love on Top by Beyonce

“As of right now, I don't plan on leaving anytime soon,” he said. “ is is a great school […] I'm going to have the support that I need and the resources that are available to me to do my job properly.”

Julia Lee Sports editor

ARI KENYON JUNIOR VARSTY

I wanted to coach soccer and track at the same time as being an educator. When I arrived to South in 2019, there was an opening for the assistant cross country coach, but none for soccer. I had been coaching cross country, so I went for it. Soccer has always been my rst love and passion, and I haven't had a chance to give back to this next generation of young female athletes.

From: Hanover, MA

Position: Center mid eld College: Dartmouth College

As the JV coach, my goal is to ensure that we are a strong community in terms of supporting each other on and o the eld. is is going to be the next generation of varsity athletes and I take it as my responsibility to develop them as players, technically and tactically. My goal for any athlete is for them to feel con dent. I want them to feel strong, and my goal is for this to be a love that they can carry on into their life beyond high school.

My coaching is based in an equity lens. Not everyone will get the same exact thing from me, but will get what they need. At the end of the day this has to be a safe space where people can be themselves. When you have that, players are more willing to try new things. is should be an environment where people feel safe to make mistakes and have fun.

Favorite soccer player: Rose Lavelle

Favorite post-game song: I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston

photo of Rose Lavelle courtesy Sounder At Heart

photo of Julie Ertz courtesy ESPN

graphic by Adrienne Lirio

photo contributed by Angie Sutherland

photo contributed by Angie Sutherland

photo contributed by Ari Kenyon

photo contributed by Ari Kenyon

Several teams cut from the athletic roster

By Sarah Schwartz & Olivia Whitaker

The wide array of extracurricular activities that South o ers is, for many students, essential for a positive high school experience. Sports teams, in particular, provide the unique opportunity for students to nd a community of peers with like-interests outside of the classroom.

Following the failed operational override on March 14, Newton Public Schools (NPS) was forced to quickly nd a way to reduce costs. To do so, budget cuts were made across the system, with sta ng reduced in the elementary, middle and high schools, and substantial reductions in South’s athletic department.

In an email on June 21, Principal Ta mara Stras announced that these reductions involved the termination of coaches, limited transportation and the elimination of certain teams altogether.

e winter dance team, frequently seen at basketball games, was one of the teams cut.

Raina Bornstein, a senior formerly on the winter dance team, said the team offered a safe space for dancers, away from the stresses of dance outside of school and their everyday lives.

“Dance team is nice because it is a smaller commitment and also because the girls view it as an opportunity to collaborate and spend time with other dancers in a less stress inducing way,” she said.

She said that the team’s environment created a uniquely positive experience that has left a lasting impact on her.

“I also received a lot of one-on-one mentorship from the coach about life and about dance. I really valued that and it’s helped shape me a lot,” Bornstein said.

Last year, South’s male gymnasts com peted in a combined North-South team, while the girls had their own gymnastics team. Next year, the boy’s program has been cut, which will result in a co-ed South gymnastics team.

Junior Lawson Welch, last year's girls gymnastics manager, said that the team’s funding before the override failed was already lacking nancial support from NPS as team members had to raise money to purchase necessary equipment.

“Most of the funding for our program comes from individual fundraisers that we do and the season fees that athletes pay at the beginning of the season. Really the only thing that gets paid for by the school that I'm aware of is

the busing to and from away meets,” Welch said.

Bornstein was surprised that the winter dance team was cut since the team did not require much funding from the school.

“I understand that they need to make cuts in order to t within the school budget, and I understand why they would target athletics as opposed to academic pursuits, but given that the dance team really does not require much money, how much money could we possibly require from the school?” she said.

Both North and South were instructed to reduce their athletic department budgets by $100,000. Stras said that the school’s decisions

Language Learning and special learning services in Newton were a ected by budget cuts, not just athletic teams.

“We were basically calling it across the board budget reductions,” he said.“We were looking at all program areas from elementary, middle and high schools in di erent areas to almost take a proportionate share of reductions.”

Stras said transportation was an area of the athletic department budget that was signi cantly impacted. Most junior varsity teams will not get buses if they are traveling separately from the varsity team.

“We've de nitely minimized the use

be taking a NewMo, but there are a lot of girls so that's not really going to work.”

Yael Feld, a sophomore on the fall dance team, said that the budget cuts could lead athletes to new activities.

“I de nitely think that it will impact other people and they'll be forced to not do that

a ect academics. It a ects athletics. It a ects everything

sport anymore or do a di erent sport,” Feld said. Although there is discussion around whether or not the reductions are permanent solutions, Hurley said there is a chance eliminated programs could be reinstated in the future.

“Over the next six to eight months, we're going to go through a whole other budget process,” he said. “We do it every year. We’ll assess the summary and look at positions and programs that we've made reductions in, and, certainly, if we can restore something, we would.”

ber of kids who were playing and then looked at the number of assistant coaches that we had,” she said.

“Let’s take football for example. One of the assistant coaches was cut because football has three or four assistant coaches, and three or four assistant coaches can handle the number of kids who come through football.We had some sports that very few students engaged in that were actually really expensive.”

NPS Assistant Superintendent and Chief Financial O cer Liam Hurley said that many di erent programs such as the music and drama departments as well as sta in English

kids or kids are going to have to start driving themselves.”

e gymnastics team is familiar with this issue, as the team does not receive busing to practices at North, leaving gymnasts to nd their own modes of transportation.

In the past, seniors drove fellow members of the team to practice, but without any conrmed seniors for this upcoming year, Amelie Hirst, junior and incoming captain, said the team still isn’t sure how they will make the short commute.

“We're either going to be hoping that our coach who lives half an hour away would be able to pick us all up,” she said. “Or we may

Hirst said the budget cuts are disappointing because they restrict the abundance of extracurricular activities that make students’ high school experience so special.

“It’s just sad that it’s limiting people’s opportunities to experience and try out di erent things that they normally would during high school since it’s such a fun time to meet new people and nd new things to do,” Hirst said.

To provide students with the utmost resources and opportunities, Stras said schools must receive strong and necessary support — in the case of the athletic department reductions, this support manifests in the form of funding. “ e schools need to be funded appropriately,” she said. “Not funding the schools appropriately does not only a ect academics. It a ects athletics. It a ects everything.”

Insufficient funding causes reductions to the athletic department including the termination of coaches, limited transportation and the elimination of teams altogether

e schools need to be funded appropriately. Not funding the schools appropriately does not only

Tamara Stras principal

graphicbyAJNguyen

How to enjoy a game

With long commutes, expensive tickets and questionable (at best) food options, catching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park can be daunting. However, a few tips and tricks can help you enjoy Boston baseball on a budget.

First, transportation. With Fenway Park sitting right in the middle of the city, it can be a pretty di cult location to get to. Driving and parking will run you at least $40 and the T can be slow and untrustworthy.

My advice: the commuter rail at Wellesley Farms. About 10 minutes away from Newton, the commuter rail stop at Wellesley Farms comes about an hour before each game, and costs $4 for students, (Bring your student ID!) It’s at least half an hour quicker than the T, much more comfortable, and, provided you can get a ride to Wellesley, is by far the best way to get into Boston

Next, tickets. Websites such as Ticketmaster or StubHub will charge massive fees and don’t hold the best value. Try Gametime, which has lower fees and generally lower pricing, or sign up for Red Sox Student 9s. High school and college students in the Massachusetts area are eligible to sign up for these student-exclusive tickets, and on select game days, you receive a text or email with a link to buy up to four $9 tickets, with no fees.

Be fast; these tickets generally sell out quickly, but if you make a plan with friends beforehand and you’re all signed up for the ticket link, it’s very likely one of you will be able to buy these cheap seats.

Finally, food. Finding a good bite to eat at Fenway can be challenging, and options are limited. If you aren’t into cafeteria-quality hot dogs and soggy chicken ngers, then looking for food outside of the park makes sense.

Chipotle and Saloniki Greek are two a ordable restaurants very close to Fenway if you want a lling meal at the price of one “Fenway Pretzel.” If you and your friends want a hand-held bite, try Sal’s Pizza right outside the stadium for a massive slice that will only run you $5.

Sometimes, your experience at Fenway is out of your control. Bad weather or a crushing defeat can dampen anyone’s experience, but nding ways to make your outing cheaper and easier feels good no matter what.

An Athlete's Day in the Life: College vs. High School

We talked to a college athlete and a high school varsity athlete to compare a typical day during their summer preparation

By Matteo Lee & Sarah Schwartz

Morning 9:00 a.m.

Morning session: Separated into attackers and defenders

Training for attackers:

Warm Up: sprints, cone work

Skill based: focus on technical work, high press and possession

College

Nicole Tandetnitskiy Bates College Soccer

Team Meetings1:00 p.m.

Expectations for athletes

Icebreakers

Concussion test, physical Team plans and standards

Work Out 7:30 a.m.

45 minutes in the weight room

Leg day: some squats, RDLs, split squats

45 minutes of conditioning

Agility: shuttle drill, ladder drills

Suicides: 300 yards - to the 50 yard line, back to the goal line - complete three times

High School

Paxton Boyd - Senior Varsity Football

Evening 6:00 p.m.

Evening session: Full team Focus on possession and full scrimmages

Walk-through on tactics

Shower, get food at commons, hangout in each other's dorms - play foosball, ping pong

2:00 p.m. Afternoon

Captain's Practice: Route running, more agility and sprints

Get lunch- a burrito from Anna's

Play basketball at the YMCA

Recovery

10:30 a.m.

Cold plunge at Lifetime

Go home - Shower, eat a big second breakfast, like eggs

Rest - Net ix, video games

graphics by Clare Cho

photo by Joey Giragos

photos contributed by Nicole Tandetnitskiy

photos contributed by Paxton Boyd

Joey Giragos sports editor

CROSS W ORD!

Bust back-to-school blues with this bombastic brain teaser!

Welcome to our rst edition of OnlyPans, where we on the Roar share food content for your pleasure. Enjoy ;) ((Un)ironically, the chef, omas Keller, that concocted this recipe is currently facing sexual harassment allegations. I blame all the corn he’s been working with.)

Typically, creamed corn comes on the side of a Sunday Dinner™, piping hot and steaming, loaded with gooey cheese and a avor so satisfying it’ll spread a licentious shiver across your whole body.

DOWN

2) e month when Starbuck’s famous pumpkin spice latte made it’s return

4) Tom Cruise and Joseph Biden’s favorite sunglasses

5) “Oh my god” — Chandler Bing’s nasally ex- girlfriend

6) e man, the myth, the legislator, and class of ‘15 South graduate

7) My boyfriend, a god, the breeze in my hair on the weekend, a relaxing thought

8) Cost of school lunch

10)Two-wheeled skateboard alternative or ex-manager of Swift, Bieber, Grande, etc.

14) Class often taken by Juniors that requires 12- 16 hours of summer work

15) Indiana Jones’ biggest fear

17) Our new athletic trainer

ACROSS

1) Luke Skywalker’s teacher, he is

3) Our teacher’s union

9) Idea or popular productivity and notetaking app

11) “Nonsense” singer or woodworker

12) Television mother-daugher duo often rewatched during autumn

13) Superman’s girlfriend and Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative journalist

16) Double feature that took the summer by storm

18) Baby goose or Robbie’s co-star

20) Stripey cousin of a horse

21) Where do you learn to make a banana split? ______ school

19) Ti-84

But this one’s di erent. Fresh kernels, cayenne and tang from a zesty lime make this summer side undeniably refreshing. To add to that, instead of using a thickening agent to give the dish its luscious texture, the sweet milk from the cobb is bursting with natural starches; just the right amount to make the sauce evenly spread across your tongue, or whichever surface the sauce happens to land on.

Let me put it this way: this creamed corn is the pinnacle of modernity. Sure, you can make creamed corn the old fashioned way, but if that’s how your grandma was (is) creaming corn, is that really how you want to be doing it as well? Unless you’re into that. I won’t judge (maybe).

As much as we’ve all enjoyed our routine Sunday Dinner™ habits, I don’t know about y’all, but I’m getting kinda tired of the same old thing. is Sunday, or whenever you make your nightly visits to avortown, I dare you to throw this in the mix. Who knows? It might surprise you.

Ingredients

6 ears of fresh corn

ANSWERS:

Yoda, August, NTA, Aviators, Janice, Lovett, Karma, Free, Notion, Scooter, Carpenter, Gilmore, LoisLane, APUSH, Snakes, Barbenheimer, Bazile, Gosling, Calculator, Zebra, Sundae

Overheard at South —

Zest and juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons of butter

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

¾ cup of heavy cream, more if desired

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Finely chopped chives, for garnish

Instructions

1) Shuck your corn and slice o the kernels; use a spoon or the back of a knife to scrape o any leftover corn or the milk from the cobb

2) Melt the butter in a medium/large skillet and add your kernels

3) Add the lime juice and season with salt

4) Cook on medium/low heat until the liquid has evaporated, about 15-20 minutes, or when the corn starts sizzling

5) Add heavy cream, the lime zest, and cayenne pepper, and cook until the corn has absorbed almost all of the cream

6) Add extra cream to your liking, add pepper and adjust the seasoning to taste

7) Garnish with chives, and enjoy!

"I don’t like getting my news. I like staying in the dark about everything local. I don’t want to know the problems in my community."

"GENTLEMEN! Essay writing is not a contact sport!"

"Debate is a varsity sport!"

"The more I think about this, the more I think I’m wrong, so I’m going to stop thinking now."