Newtonite◆ Friday, Jan. 13, 2012• Volume 90, Issue 13 Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460

Non-profi t org.US postage paidNewton, Mass.Permit no. 55337

TheNewtonite.com

Newspaper to move online BY HILARY BRUMBERG,JAY FEINSTEIN

AND PERRIN STEIN

With the change in semes-ter and in editorial board, this newspaper will discontinue its print issues and shift to an online-only publication.

Instead of producing a monthly print newspaper, the editors, managers and staff will produce and post articles and

graphics daily to TheNewtonite.com.

The editorial board deter-mined that moving completely online will maximize the news-paper’s effectiveness as a means of disseminating information about the school community. Other factors that affected the decision include English teacher Kate Shaughnessy’s decision to step down from her role as

adviser of this newspaper, the unsustainable cost and time commitment print issues re-quire of both the adviser and staff and the migration of the journalism industry to online.

In its new format, this news-paper will continue to uphold its high standards of accuracy, consistency and quality. The daily website will allow this ◆ continued on page 3

Faculty revise 9.0 GPA scaleBY ALEX FEIT

AND SAMANTHA LIBRATY

In order to better meet the standards for college applica-tions, this school will transition to a new grade point average system, according to College and Career Center counselor Brad MacGowan.

The new GPA system will run on a weighted 5.0 scale, with an A grade counting as a 5.0 for honors classes, 4.5 for curricu-lum I and 4.0 for curriculum II.

“The 5.0 scale aligns us with South and other schools around the nation, and it makes the data we send to colleges, employers, scholarship organizations and college recruiters much more clear and understandable,” guidance department head Beth Swederskas said.

The new system, which will replace the current 9.0 scale, will be more in line with how colleges expect to receive col-lege applicants’ academic per-formances, MacGowan said.

“Colleges are flooded with more and more applications every year. We have heard from some colleges that they love our school, but did not like our 9.0 GPA scale,” MacGowan said.

The revised 5.0 GPA scale will be used starting with the Class of 2013 and will still only include marks from grades 10, 11 and 12.

Administrative staff have been debating the topic of changing the GPA scale for over 15 years, MacGowan said.

Over the past few years, MacGowan worked closely with College and Career Cen-ter counselor Sarah Hoffman

on revising the current scale, Swederskas said.

Hoffman has dealt with col-lege admissions in past years and has seen the importance of a concise and understandable college transcript, Swederskas said.

MacGowan and Hoffman brought the proposal to the guidance department at the beginning of the school year, Swederskas said.

The guidance department unanimously voted to adopt the 5.0 weighted GPA scale, Swed-erskas said.

“It makes total sense to change to a 5.0 scale. With the 9.0 scale, there was no true conversion to see how a student was doing academically, and we had to make ballpark estimates on where a student would be on a 5.0 or 4.0 weighted scale,” she said.

After the vote, MacGowan presented the proposal to the Academic Standards Commit-tee, a committee made up of teachers, administrators and counselors, Swederskas said.

The Academic Standards Committee then voted Wednes-day, Dec. 21 to pass the revised 5.0 GPA scale, she said.

At a faculty meeting last Tuesday, principal Jennifer Price discussed the Academic Standards Committee’s pro-posal with the faculty. Price said she offi cially approved the GPA change at last Wednesday’s Academic Standards Committee meeting.

The existing 4.0 unweighted GPA scale will stay the same, Swederskas said.

Jacob Schwartz

Balance: Junior Rachel Vasilyev performs at a gymnastics meet Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Administration discusses design contest, new class

See inside for Winterfest, Plowshares X-block and winter sports

page 4 page 5 pages 11-16

BY JARED PERLO

Student Faculty Administra-tion members began the new year by reviewing the design competition for the develop-ment of a student union and hearing a proposal about the possible formation of a new class taught by students.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, principal Jennifer Price touched upon SFA’s largest accomplish-ment so far this school year, the

creation of a design contest to further the development of the proposed student union.

The union, otherwise known as a “hangout area” for students, will be located in the cafeteria, adjacent to the College and Ca-reer Center.

Students, teachers and par-ents can submit design ideas to the SFA using a template developed by sophomore Liran Bromberg.

Designs, which should stay within the budget of $3,000, should have the same seating capacity as the current area be-cause students will also have to eat lunch in the student union.

All of the proposed designs, which must be submitted by Wednesday, Feb. 1, will be re-viewed by the SFA. Price, in conjunction with the SFA, will have the fi nal say in picking the winning design.

The individual who creates the winning design will be re-warded with a $100 gift card, sponsored by Whistons Culi-nary Group, the PTSO and the SFA.

Members also listened to a potential proposal brought to the SFA by sophomores Gina Ferolito and Ying Gao. They proposed a not-for-credit class in which students would teach their peers about topics of inter-

est to pupils instead of having a study hall.

Those interested would at-tend classes on subjects that that are not traditionally taught at this school.

“A lot of it would be educa-tional and a lot of it would be fun,” Ferolito said.

The pilot, which would take place this spring, would allow the SFA to gague the class’s popularity.

page 6

Ben Hills

Redesign: In the coming weeks, the Newtonite will launch a new website with improved functionality.

opinion Friday, Jan. 13, 20122 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Letters

Readers are invited to sub-mit guest articles and letters to the editor. Letters should be put in the Newtonite box in the Main Offi ce or emailed to thenewtonite@gmail.com. The Newtonite reserves the right to edit all letters, which must have the writer’s name, class and homeroom. The Newtonite serves as a forum for student opinion.

The Newtonite, founded in 1922, is the newspaper of Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460.

The Newtonite staff does all the reporting, production work and photography to produce 10 issues a year for a circulation of 2,000.

To place an ad in the Newtonite or contact us by phone, please call 617-559-6273. Readers can also reach us at thenewtonite@gmail.com.

To fi nd the Newtonite online go to www.thenewtonite.com.

Newtonite

Editors in chief — Hilary Brumberg, Ben Hills, Perrin SteinManaging editors — Jay Feinstein, Jacob SchwartzGraphics manager — Gabe DreyerNews editors — Alex Feit, Samantha LibratySports editors — Gloria Li, Kristian LundbergArts editors — Malini Gandhi, Fatema ZaidiFeatures editors — Meredith Abrams, Julia Oran, Kayla ShoreFreelance editors — Ryan Condon, Steven MichaelNews analysis editor — Amanda HillsTalk of the Tiger editor — Julia MossPhotography editors — Maliha Ali, Alec Mapes-FrancesProduction manager — Jordan RobinsAdvertising managers —Tiphaine Kugener, Evan NitkinBusiness manager — Alison Berkowitz

Circulation manager — Michela SalvucciOnline Editor — Henry DeGrootAdviser — Kate ShaughnessyProduction adviser — Tom DonnellanNews staff — Emmett Greenberg, Jared PerloFeatures staff — Anna Clements, Jared FreedmanSports staff — Jesse Metzger, Infi niti Thomas-Waheed Arts staff — Ned Martenis, Noah ThompsonNews analysis staff — Kellynette GomezArt staff — Arielle Conti, Rin RogersPhotography staff — Madeleine Aquilina, Emma Hanselman, Nina Kaplan, Jenny Lewis, Solomon MercurioCirculation staff — Irene Betts-O’Rourke, Eyob Gizachew, Sam Jones, Philippine Kugener, Matthew SolomanProduction staff — Charles Attisano

Gabe Dreyer

Fan Club: The senior 6th Man section celebrates coach Paul Connolly’s 200th win at the boys’ basketball game Tuesday at home. The Tigers beat Weymouth 62-37.

Illegally downloading music takes toll on economyBY AMANDA HILLS

That new song on the radio. That obscure rap nobody has heard of before. That Hannah Montana tween-pop album you are embarrassed to admit you listen to.

They’re all on your iPod. One way or another, your iPod has become home to hundreds, maybe thousands of songs that you, at one point or another enjoyed listening to.

Let’s back up to the fi rst time you heard said song and decided you wanted to have it on your iPod. Did you buy it on iTunes, or turn to an illegal music down-

loading site?I’m willing to bet that an

overwhelming majority would lay claim to the latter.

Illegally downloading mu-sic obstructs musicians and recording companies from the potential profi t they could earn every time their song or album is purchased on iTunes.

According to music news discussion forum Side-Line, an artist earns 12 percent of the profit per download. That is not much for each song down-loaded, but when millions of people are pirating music, that is a lot of money.

You might think that today’s musicians are wealthy enough as is and do not need the extra

gain from our iTunes purchases. But what about all the people behind the scenes? The produc-ers, songwriters, technicians and marketing specialists? You aren’t just hurting the artist, but all the people who put the song together.

The Recording Industry As-sociation of America cites pi-rating as a growing problem. Its website says, “Without any compensation to all the people who helped to create that song and bring it to fans, the loss is devastating.”

A recent study by the In-stitute for Policy Innovation estimates $12.5 billion in losses to the U.S. economy annually that can be credited to media

pirating.Pirating has punched our

economy in the stomach. It has hit it hard and fast. The RIAA has produced staggering sta-tistics. Between 2004 and 2010, there was a 31 percent decline in the global digital music market. In 2009, only 37 percent of the music acquired by people in the United States was actually paid for.

And, most shocking of all, while seven percent of the In-ternet’s traffi c can be attributed to music downloads, 91 percent of the links people use for those downloads are for copyrighted material, making those pur-chases illegal.

Next time, before you con-

vert your YouTube link into an mp3 or download from a free website, think of all of the people who worked to bring you that song and who are now be-ing hurt by that one click.

Maybe that one purchase does not create a huge loss, but the decision you and millions of others are consciously mak-ing to ignore the iTunes icon on your MacBook’s desktop does.

If we take collective action and all decide to at least lessen our illegal music purchases, we can begin to dissolve the grow-ing problem of pirating.

Stop hurting our recording industry––spend the 99 cents on iTunes the next time you want to purchase a song.

Hold on to New Year’s pledgeBY AMANDA HILLS

It’s January 13. Thirteen days ago, you made your New Year’s resolutions. You vowed to ignore your carb cravings, to cover your mouth every time you are tempted to yell at your younger brother and to cut down on the number of times a week you shop ’til you drop.

But now it is 13 days later. You had a piece of toast for breakfast, you just barked at your brother for taking too long of a shower and you are headed out the door to Bloomingdale’s for its post-holiday season sale.

New Year’s resolutions give people hope. Hope that cir-cumstances will improve in the coming year, that they all accomplish that goal they have always dreamed of reaching and that they all make some sort of progress in their lives.

But these pledges are hardly ever kept. People give in to their wants and desires, forgetting the promises they have recently made to themselves. Some time after the ball drops, the diet-

ers stop dieting, the composed stop composing and the penny-pinchers stop penny-pinching.

Making a New Year’s reso-lution can give you the oppor-tunity to be introspective and refl ect on your life.

Creating a goal for yourself means that you are making a commitment that you will be tenacious and strong-willed for as long as it takes to attain that target.

But, when you give up on that ambition, you are often right back where you started, if not several steps behind.

January 1 should be that time of year when everyone sits down, takes out a pen and a sticky note, writes down a goal and puts it somewhere he or she will see every day.

It should not be that time of year when everyone writes down overly ambitious and im-plausible promises to himself.

Thirteen days later, that sticky note should continue to represent hope and persis-tence––not a failed attempt at achieving aspirations.

Think of the feeling of ac-complishment that comes with

completing a goal. Now com-pare that feeling to the knot you get in your stomach when you know you have let go of your intent.

Which would you rather have following you around all the time? The feeling of success or the feeling of regret?

Use New Year’s resolutions as a time to make a change in your life. Do not use New Year’s resolutions as an opportunity to write an impossible goal that will leave you even worse off than when you started.

Honor soldiers, appreciate their admirable work

There has not been a draft in this country since ’73. Since then, we have had an all-volunteer military.

During World War II, when going into the mili-tary was obligatory for all qualifying men in the United States, soldiers were treated as heroes.

Old war fi lms depict these men as the country’s saviors and capture how they were truly admired for their brav-ery. They are shown as being adored by the people and are displayed as courageous, tough and valiant.

But now, our soldiers are not recognized as much as they used to be. Sure, we may hang our country’s flag on Veteran’s Day and make donations towards our troops, but those are superfi -cial gestures.

Our country does not gen-erally express appreciation for our soldiers the way we did 70 years ago.

We take it for granted that our country does not need to have a mandatory draft. We should not downplay how huge that is––we should be thankful that enough men and women have volun-teered to supply this country with a stable military and fulfi ll all of its military duties.

Let’s say you have always dreamt of starting your own business. But then, your country calls upon you to join the military. Your plans have just been derailed. Imagine if all those people had not willingly decided to protect our country and how different your life might be. It has tough to imagine living in a country where going into the army after high school is the norm.

Our troops are slowly returning home to us. And as they cross onto U.S. soil, each and every one needs to be treated like the hero he or she is. Do not take any soldier for granted––appre-ciate all they have done for our country.

editorial

column

column

newsFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 3

Three sophomores win essay contestBY SAMANTHA LIBRATY

Today, the three students who won the Martin Luther King, Jr. sophomore essay will their essays during an assem-bly C-block in the little theatre. The four students who received honorable mentions read either a summary or a small section of their works.

For the annual contest, ev-ery sophomore wrote an essay about a hero whom they be-lieve embodies the actions and teachings of the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., according to English depart-ment head Melissa Dilworth.

“Each year we are pleased by the effort that students put into this contest,” Dilworth said.

Winners were Julia Moss in fi rst place, Dan Smith in second place and Steven Kelly in third place.

“All three of the winning es-says remind us that we all have the potential to make a change

if we are willing to stand up for what we believe in,” Dilworth said.

Moss wrote about her great uncle, Judah Folkman, a cancer researcher and surgeon at Chil-dren’s Hospital Boston.

Folkman helped save thou-sands of lives through treat-ment, and his tireless research continues to make an impact in the medical and scientifi c com-munity today, Moss said.

“I admire his incredible per-severance and great compassion for his patients.”

Smith wrote about his moth-er, Maxine Sandra Hart, a civil rights activist who fought for equal rights for blacks under apartheid in South Africa.

Kelly wrote about Leonard Zakim, a civil rights activist and former director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Honorable mentions were Alex Feit, Kristi Monahan, Isa-bel Wilker and Simon Wolfe.

Jacob Schwartz

Winners: Essays by sophomores Steven Kelly, Dan Smith and Julia Moss were chosen for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest.

Junior lobbies to install hand sanitizersBY PETER DIAMOND

AND SAMANTHA LIBRATY

In an effort to limit the spread of germs at this school, junior Mike Safran initiated a plan to install hand sanitizer dispensers around the building, he said.

The dispensers were installed Friday, Dec. 23 and Thursday, Jan. 5 by maintenance worker Tim Harper, according to Saf-ran. Four are in the cafeteria, one is in each house offi ce, one is in the main offi ce and one is in the fi tness center.

Safran began the initiative last year in order to aid the school’s efforts to keep students and faculty healthy, he said.

“I started the project because I saw that the school wasn’t do-ing as much as I knew needed to be done to prevent the spread-ing of germs,” Safran said.

He first approached Barry housemaster Aaron Sanders, who directed him to principal Jennifer Price.

“Ms. Price introduced me to a member of the PTSO, and I went through the process to propose a grant to them for their consid-eration,” Safran said.

While he waited for the PTSO to approve the grant, Safran researched the benefi ts of hand sanitizers and wrote an in-formed letter to submit to vice principal Deborah Holman, the facilities liaison at this school,

and Newton Public Schools’ facilities director Paul Anastasi.

The PTSO approve the grant, giving Safran enough funds to purchase and place 10 hand sanitizer dispensers around the school, he said.

After receiving the grant, Saf-ran worked with Anastasi and Holman to further his initiative.

“Mike Safran has been tena-cious about this project,” Hol-man said.

“He has not given up and has been very committed to getting the hand sanitizers up.”

Safran said, “I’ve been work-ing closely with Mr. Anastasi and vice principal Deborah Hol-man for the past few months to decide the ultimate locations for the hand sanitizer dispensers,” Safran said.

“If the dispensers are work-ing well, I may be able to receive more sanitizers to place around the school.”

The most that he can expect in the near future is an addi-tional 15 dispensers, according to Safran.

If students use the dispensers effectively, it will prove to Saf-ran with his effort was worth-while because helped prevent the spread of germs in school, he said.

“The initiative doesn’t benefi t me. It’s just my way of giving back.”

Jacob Schwartz

Installation: Junior Mike Safran installs a hand sanitizer dispenser in the cafeteria.

Language department revises French sequence

This newspaper transitions from print to online

BY SAMANTHA LIBRATY

Beginning next year, the French honors sequence will be revised to include a fourth year honors course to precede French 5 Advanced Placement language, according to world language department head Nancy Marrinucci.

French 4 Honors will be a class primarily for juniors, who will take it after fi nishing French 3 Honors at the end of

their sophomore year. In the 2013-2014 school year, French AP Language will shift from a course intended for juniors to one for seniors. That year, the advanced literature course, which is currently offered to seniors, will be eliminated.

“This change will allow stu-dents an additional year to pre-pare for the advanced work of the AP language course as well as the AP exam itself, aligning

the sequence with the honors/AP sequence in the other lan-guages we offer,” Marrinucci said.

The revision was initiated be-cause the College Board cut the AP French Literature exam two years ago and the AP French exam was revised, Marrinucci said.

“At the time that the College Board eliminated the French AP Literature exam, due to student

interest, we deemed it important to continue to offer an advanced honors level literature course senior year, which thus kept our sequence intact,” she said.

Although the French Litera-ture course will be eliminated, the new French curricula will incorporate several original French literary works, Marri-nucci said.

Current freshmen and sopho-mores who take French 3 Hon-

ors will not be affected, she commented.

“However, we have six ju-niors who are currently taking French 3 Honors. Those stu-dents will continue on to take French 4 Honors next year,” she said. “If they are interested in taking the French AP Language exam in May, we are commit-ted to offering them additional support to prepare them,” Mar-rinucci said.

◆ continued from page 1newspaper to become a valu-able source for breaking news and for keeping the community updated in all areas of the life of this school.

To ensure a successful transi-tion, this newspaper has devel-oped new editorial positions for innovating, expanding and pub-licizing the website. Students in

these positions will work to en-hance the quality and ubiquity of TheNewtonite.com.

Currently, this newspaper is in a two-week transition phase. During this time, the editorial board change the look of the website so it is more suited for the increased frequency in post-ing content.

This newspaper will also

work of the next couple of weeks to develop systems to ensure that the quality and quantity of its content are not lost in this shift. The migration to online will alter this newspa-per only in terms of platform.

By the end of February, the Newtonite will produce and circulate a bimonthly one-page newsletter highlighting the

online content from the previ-ous two weeks and previewing upcoming content.

This newsletter will be hand-ed out on Fridays and will be available via email.

Community members can sign up for the free email news-letter on TheNewtonite.com.

Current subscribers to the print issue will no longer receive

newspapers in the mail. These subscribers are encouraged to sign up for the newsletter.

Although this newspaper is moving completely online, it will continue to produce a printed graduation issue because it is the most widely read issue and is steeped in tradition. Current subscribers will receive this is-sue in the mail in June.

arts Friday, Jan. 13, 20124 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Confl ict between sexes explored in ‘Big Love’BY FATEMA ZAIDI

Directed by seniors Caleb Bromberg and Katharine Norris, “Big Love” will go up Thursday, Feb. 2 through Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the little theatre.

In a “radical reenvisioning” of the Greek classic “The Da-naides” by Aeschylus, Norris said, “Charles Mee forces us to reconsider our definitions of love, gender and happiness. Fifty brides-to-be escape their arranged marriages in Greece and seek refuge in a villa on the coast of Italy.”

“They are tracked down by their husbands and are forced to wage a pseudo-war of the sexes to preserve their own integrity and happiness.

“In this confl ict between tra-dition and progression, honor and freedom, the characters struggle to make their voices heard on what it means to be a man or a woman,” she said.

Two characters who repre-sent the struggle between the two sexes are Lydia, played by sophomore Emma Hanselman, and Nikos, played by sopho-more Simon Wolfe. Although all of the characters are equally im-portant, Lydia and Nikos “steal

the stage” with their forbidden love, according to Norris.

“They struggle to reconcile their obligation to their siblings and their affections for one an-other,” she added.

The play is full of stark contrasts, and Norris’ favorite scenes are on polar opposite sides of the spectrum.

In one scene, the three sis-ters, Lydia, Olympia and Thyo-na, smash plates and tear their wedding dresses into shreds in utter frustration, screaming about what it means to be a woman and the burdens their gender must bear, Norris said.

“On the other hand, we have one of my favorite monologues. In it, Giuliano, the nephew of the owner of the villa, has a tragi-cally beautiful speech about his missed chance at love and how that has affected him his whole life,” Norris said.

Costumes change from the beginning of the play to the end, she said.

“Throughout the show the costumes follow a pattern of modernization—in the begin-ning, the sisters are dressed in conservative, old-fashioned wedding dresses,” she said.

“As they start to break down some of the gender barriers and modernize in that respect, their clothes become more updated.”

The setting is an Italian villa, with Roman inspired columns surrounding a completely white gazebo, Norris said.

Directing “Big Love” has pre-sented some challenges because it “is a really unique show that requires a lot of textual analy-sis,” said Norris.

“Also, we have many highly choreographed fight scenes and unusual props, such as real wedding cakes and chinaware, which add an extra challenge to our rehearsals,” she added.

Despite all the challenges, Norris loves everything about the directing process, she said.

“The show, although seem-ingly absurd and exaggerated, gets to the heart of how we look at love, gender and family. It beautifully frames the pressures we feel on a daily basis to fulfi ll the expectations set out for us, and it can really make you think about males and females and love in a different way.”

Tickets are $7 and will be sold on theatreink.net and at all lunches.

Jacob Schwartz

“Big Love”: Senior Sam Bell-Gurwitz practices a scene.

Winterfest will feature new Chamber EnsemblesBY MALINI GANDHI

Winterfest, a two-night con-cert, Wednesday, Feb. 8 and Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., fea-turing this school’s vocal and instrumental groups, will be a celebration of both long-held traditions in the music depart-ment and new, exploratory beginnings, according to fi ne and performing arts department head Todd Young.

The new, “very exciting” aspect of the concert is the in-troduction of the Chamber En-sembles, which will be perform-ing along with Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band during Winterfest I, Young said.

According to Richard Labedz, the director of both Wind En-semble and Symphonic Band, the Chamber Ensembles’ per-formance is “something that has never been done before.” Their part of the evening will feature short presentations by each sec-tion of the Wind Ensemble.

According to Labedz, each week the Wind Ensemble stu-dents have the opportunity to break up into Chamber En-sembles to learn music and to perfect technique.

The brass ensemble has had a coach brought in from outside for a while who has contributed to small performances at past concerts, Labedz said.

But, while the practice of splitting into ensembles during class is well-established, the other four ensembles have typi-cally been nothing more than

practice groups, and “we’ve never had a big performance by individual Chamber En-sembles,” he said.

“We’ve always thought it would be a great experience to feature each group at a concert, and we decided to carry out the idea for Winterfest. The new Chamber Ensembles will open the concert,” Labedz said.

Young said that playing in small Chamber Ensembles are

a “very important” opportunity that provide students with “a different playing experience.

“Playing in a small group means that everything is ex-posed,” he said.

Following the Chamber En-sembles’ performance, the Wind Ensemble, as a whole, will tackle the piece “Arabesque” by Samuel R. Hazo, a challenging piece that features Middle-East-ern scales, according to Labedz.

Symphonic Band will then conclude Winterfest I with “Into the Storm” by Robert W. Smith, as well as “Divinum Mysterium” by James Swearingen.

The next evening, Winter-fest II, this school’s celebrated Ray Smith Memorial Concert, which features about a hundred students performing a piece that spans over 25 minutes, will mark the continuation of an established tradition.

During Winterfest II, Con-cert Choir, Family Singers and Orchestra will each give short performances before they join together for the Ray Smith Me-morial Concert.

According to Young, this year’s Ray Smith Memorial Concert piece is “Frostiana” by Randall Thompson, which con-sists of seven poems by Robert Frost set to music.

Young said that the music department selected the piece because for the past few years it has performed a sacred work, such as large Requiems and Masses, and this year he tried to fi nd a secular piece.

Young said this search was a challenge, because “while there are tons of sacred works, once you move outside this sphere, the pieces become either very short or frighteningly diffi cult.”

But Young said “Frostiana” has proven to be rewarding.

“It’s not heavy and dark, but it’s serious in a contempla-tive sort of way. It’s a slower, thoughtful work, with a beau-tiful final movement called ‘Choose Something Like a Star.’”

Adam Grossman, director of Orchestra and Family Singers, said that the piece is “well-suited for high school students.” Ac-cording to Grossman, drawing on the talents of so many musi-cians in one place is “very nice.”

“To put on something like this requires a full orchestra and a large chorus, and not many schools can do this.”

Jubilee builds group, prepares for performanceBY MALINI GANDHI

When director Sheldon Reid sits down and lays out potential pieces for Jubilee Singers, a group that performs spirituals, gospel music and traditional African pieces, he said the songs he selects from the stacks of music never catch his eye for quite the same reason.

Sometimes, according to Reid, it’s “all about the solo.”

“We have very talented solo-ists, and sometimes, there’s a particular voice I know would fi t a certain part. That can become

the deciding factor,” Reid said.Other times, Reid makes an

effort to select standard gospel and spiritual music that “every Jubilee singer should know.”

“I think these standard songs provide a sense of continuity. Alumni can come back and join the group on the stage, or a Jubilee singer can hear the song in the crowd and sing along. It binds the group together.”

Yet most of all, Reid empha-sized that he tries to fi nd “songs that are moving and entertain-ing that will teach the current

group as well as the audience.”For their annual concert with

South’s Harambe Choir, which will take place Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium, Reid said the mixture of spirituals and contemporary gospels that he has selected are aimed, as always, towards “both educat-ing people about the music we sing and making sure everyone has a good time.”

A highlight of the group’s performance will be “Everybody Clap Your Hands” by Joshua’s Troop, a song Reid said he chose

because it is “just so fun.”“Joshua’s Troop is a youth

choir, which is cool because they are also kids,” Reid said.

The group will also present Richard Smallwood’s well-known contemporary gospel piece “Total Praise,” as well as the spiritual “There is a Balm in Gilead,” arranged by Moses Ho-gan, whose pieces are “always beautiful and well-arranged,” according to Reid.

Reid said he is looking for-ward to the concert and men-tioned that this year’s choir is

“extremely talented.”Jubilee Singers graduated

many seniors last year, includ-ing the entirety of the group’s band, which accompanied the singers as instrumentalists dur-ing some songs.

“We had a slow start and had to build up a new band from scratch, but the group is very talented,” Reid said.

According to Reid, the group now consists of many younger singers that will stay on for a few years, and he is “looking forward to the future.”

Hilary Brumberg

Winterfest: Sophomores Luisa Donavan, Maddie Waters and Shani Yavin rehearse with the rest of Concert Choir and Family Singers for the Ray Smith Memorial Concert.

featureFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 5

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Faculty send their children to PlowsharesBY HILARY BRUMBERG

AND PERRIN STEIN

It is 7:35 a.m., and, as usual, a group of exhausted students is exiting a bus parked outside the theatre entrance. These stu-dents shiver in the cold January weather, too tired to speak as they enter the school and begin to migrate down Main Street.

Intermittently, boisterous toddlers wiggle from their par-ent’s grasp and dash down the hallway, fi lled with enthusiasm for the day ahead.

Students greet some of these parents, commenting on how adorable their child is and ask-ing about a project or homework assignment.

These parents are teachers at this school, and their children are among the 34 preschoolers that attend Plowshares, a pri-vate, non-profi t childcare center that partners with the Newton Public Schools.

Through this partnership, this school is able to offer cours-es in Early Education and Care, and Plowshares offers City em-ployees enrollment preference and locational convenience, ac-cording to Plowshares director Jo Carpino.

Currently, 14 of the 34 chil-dren in Plowshares have a par-ent who is a faculty member at this school. A few others have a City employee as a parent, Carpino said.

Teachers’ perspectivePhysical education/health

and wellness teachers Courtney Albert and Lauren Baugher send their 2-year-old daughter Ashlyn to Plowshares. Students love to see Albert and Baugher with their daughter, and the op-portunity the play with Ashlyn might have infl uenced some to take Early Education and Care, Baugher said.

“I would say Plowshares defi -

nitely helps with connecting me more to my students,” she said.

Although there are some dis-advantages to Plowshares, such as students swearing in front of Ashlyn, in general, high school students are great role models, Baugher said.

History teacher Subheen Razzaqui sees high school students much the same way Baugher does. “I was initially concerned, but when I saw how much the high school students do for the kids, I feel that it is a great combo,” she said.

In addition, Razzaqui said

she enjoys seeing her 2-year-old daughter Yasmeen playing out-side during recess or during the annual Plowshares Halloween walk around the school.

Science teacher Peter Hamel, who has sent his 3-year-old daughter to Plowshares since September, said he finds the benefits of sending Nora to Plowshares outweigh the dis-advantages.

The preschool allows “my students to see what’s impor-tant to me, and when I come in looking exhausted because Nora woke me up in the middle

of the night, they’re a little more understanding,” he said.

Spanish teacher Ana Tellado sent her oldest daughter Catia, who is 6-years-old, to Plow-shares until two years ago. She loved having her daughter in the building because it reduced separation anxiety, which was a factor for her fi rst child. Some-times during lunch, Tellado would go down to Plowshares and look in the window to check on Catia, she said.

Benefi ts for facultyPlowshares director Carpino

said that in addition to the ad-vantages detailed by Baugher, Hamel and Tellado, there are benefi ts in enrolling faculty’s children in the program. Consis-tent with the agreement formed in 1976, which was when Plow-shares started its partnership with the NPS, City employees are given priority spacing in enrollment based on availability, she said.

All the Plowshares locations accommodate faculty members’ unique schedules. Plowshares’ normal hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m or 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but faculty members are given the option to shift the block to 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to work around the school day.

Plowshares also cares for teachers’ children for an ad-ditional half hour on Tuesdays, when the teachers have faculty meetings, according to Carpino.

Another benefi t for teachers is that there is an option to enroll their children in Plowshares for the 10-month academic school year, as opposed to the full year. It gives faculty the fl exibility of taking the summer off and still having their space when they return in the fall, she said.

Many faculty members who have or had children in Plow-shares are given the opportunity

to come in and teach a lesson. Foreign language teachers read stories in the languages they teach, science teachers con-duct basic experiments and art teachers lead projects. Carpino said this fosters a relationship between students, teachers and children.

Confi dentialityEarly Education and Care in-

structor Michelle Ramsdell said that students often fi nd it funny caring for the children of their teachers in the Early Education and Care courses.

Upon entering the classes, many students exclaim, “Oh my gosh, is that so and so’s child? It looks just like him!” Ramsdell said.

Although she acknowledg-es that spending time with a teacher’s child creates a unique bond between a student and that teacher, Ramsdell encourages students not to talk about their experiences in Early Education and Care outside of class.

She encourages confi dential-ity to ensure that students do not accidentally misinform teach-ers, which can happen when students do not have the whole picture, Ramsdell said.

For example, if a child acts poorly during the block a stu-dent has childhood develop-ment, the student might tell the parent that the child is having a bad day.

However, the student only saw a small part of the day and does not have a point of com-parison, so what may seem like bad behavior could be part of a normal day.

When students refrain from talking about Early Education and Care outside of class, no misinformation is shared and the parents will not become alarmed unnecessarily, Rams-dell said.

She also tell students not to let experiences with teachers infl uence how the students treat teachers’ children.

The rules detailed by Rams-dell help keep the interactions between students, children and teachers positive, she said.

Student’s perspectiveSenior Mark Gately is an

Early Education and Care major and works at Plowshares after school.

Because Gately spends so much time working at Plow-shares, he has come to know most of the children there. “I have a personal and sacred re-lationship with each and every one of them,” he said.

When working with the chil-dren of his teachers, Gately said he has gained a new perspective on his teachers.

“When you are in class with teachers, you forget that some are parents, and not only do they have to deal with rowdy high school kids, but they also have to deal with their little children,” he said.

“I now know that even though some teachers may seem strict or difficult, they will always have a soft side because they need to care for their little, vul-nerable children.”

Hilary Brumberg

Block tower: Senior Mark Gately plays with Yasmeen Elley, daughter of history teacher Subheen Razzaqui, and Nora Hamel, daugher of science teacher Peter Hamel.

feature Friday, Jan. 13, 20126 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Advertise on our website TheNewtonite.com! Email thenewtonite@gmail.com for more information.

Habits for a Lifetime ofHealth

Keep active • Stay smoke free

www.nwh.org

Newton-Wellesley Hospital encourages you to develop healthy habits.

Eat a balanced diet •

Y

Maliha Ali

X-block: Science teacher Tatyana Osipenko gives extra help to senior Young Guang and sophomore Adam Goffstein.

Faculty explore uses of X-blockBY SAM JONES

For students, the end of the school day means that they are now free to do what they please. Some choose to leave, eager to get home to unwind after a hard day of work.

However, many students choose to stick around for a while longer during a period known as X-block. From 2:25 to 3:20 p.m. Mondays and from 2:40 to 3:20 p.m.Thursdays, students can stay after school to see teachers for extra help, to make up tests or to attend educational team meetings to prevent them from struggling. In addition, students can attend club meetings.

There is a wide variety of uses for X-block, which has resulted in mixed messages and confl ict for students, according to counselor Matthew Ford.

“X-block is great in theory, but it’s very complicated to put into practice without more es-tablished communication about what it is,” he said.

To better define X-block, Ford and Spanish teacher Dan-iel Fabrizio are facilitating the Use of X-block Vision 2013 Group.

The committee is made up of at least one faculty represen-tative from every department and meets the fourth Tuesday of every month to explore the “diversity of thought about X-block,” Ford said.

Over the last two weeks, the group distributed surveys to students, teachers and admin-istrators asking them to defi ne X-block and to explain their uses of it.

Next, the Vision Group will

meet Tuesday and on the profes-sional half day Thursday, Jan. 26 to pool the fi ndings and prepare a presentation for the February faculty meeting.

Ford said that although he does not expect “radical change to come quickly,” he hopes that the Vision Group’s research and discussions will result in “fl exibility of the expectations for X-block.”

Currently, some students use X-block to meet with teach-ers. During this time, science teacher Tatyana Osipenko’s classroom bustles with students who gather in groups, fi nishing late assignments and studying for an upcoming test.

Students constantly ask Osipenko questions, and she never fails to answer them. As a result, students return to their desks with a relieved smile and an improved knowledge of what had once confused them.

“A lot of my students take ad-vantage of X-blocks,” she said. “I think it fulfi lls its goal, but I think we do not have enough time during two X-blocks.”

One of the students who reg-ularly spends X-blocks gathered around a table in Osipenko’s classroom is sophomore Rafi Razzaque.

“I go to chemistry the most for help, as Ms. Osipenko is very open to help students in need of help,” he said. “I try to go to at least one X-block session a week, but I can’t always make it as I do a sport and other after-school activities.”

Sophomore Haberley Kahn’s situation is similar to Raz-zaque’s. She said, “I usually try to go to X-block at least once

a week, but sports sometimes prevent me. I usually go to chemistry to get help myself and to help others,” she said.

While both thought that X-block fulfi lls its purposes as a time for extra help, they did think there were some fl aws.

“While I think that most teachers make themselves avail-able for X-block, sometimes, there are so many kids that some cannot get help because there’s just not enough time,” Kahn said.

She said she thinks the solu-tion might lie in adding more time to X-block.

“I might even add a smaller period of time for a third X-block so that some people who need to get help can always get help in all of their classes. This is because sometimes people need to go to more than one class.”

Osipenko had similar feel-ings. “I am not sure if it is possible, but I would increase extra-help time: longer X-block and/or additional teachers in the help lab. Right now, we have a few teachers on the help lab schedule,” she said.

Razzaque said, “There are people who do not take the time to use X-block, but others have the time and simply don’t bother to take advantage of it.”

“The big issue is that not enough emphasis is put on X-block as a part of the school day.

“Teachers should put empha-sis on the fact that X-block is just as much a part of the day as C-block chemistry, and that tak-ing advantage of it is benefi cial to performance at this school,” he said.

2011-2012 Student Handbook definition of X-block X-blocks are part of the school day. On Mondays, X-block is from 2:25 to 3:20. On Thursdays, it is from 2:40 to 3:20. During both X-blocks, you can meet with

your teacher to receive extra help. A teacher may require you to come to a conference or make up a test during an X-block. Academic responsibilities

take priority over sports, activities and most out-of-the building commitments. You can also attend meetings of clubs and organizations during X-block.

All clubs and organizations welcome all students.

graphic by Hilary Brumberg

featureFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 7

JanuaryUnder the direction of seniors Emily Paley and Jon Paul

Roby and junior Anna Nemetz, Cabaret Troupe performs tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

The Martin Luther King Essay Contest Assembly takes place today during C-block in the little theatre.

There will be no school on Martin Luther King Day, Monday.

Sophomore Parent Night is Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 7 to 9 in the auditorium.

The Huntington Lecture Series continues Thursday, Jan. 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the fi lm lecture hall. Neuroscientist Glenn Rosen will presentation.

Term II ends Friday, Jan. 20.Term III begins Monday, Jan. 23There is a professional half day Thursday, Jan. 26 at 11

a.m. That evening, there is an All-City Music Concert in the auditorium from 7 to 9:30.

Jubilee Singers perform Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m in the auditorium.

Junior Parent Night is Monday, Jan. 31 from 7 to 9 in the auditorium.

FebruaryMCAS retests for Biology are Wednesday, Feb. 1 and

Thursday, Feb. 2.Under the direction of seniors Caleb Bromberg and

Katharine Norris, Theatre Ink presents “Big Love” Thursday, Feb. 2 through Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Deaf Culture Day is Wednesday, Feb. 8.Winterfest Concerts I and II are Wednesday, Feb. 8 and

Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.ACT testing is Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 a.m.Auditions for next year’s music ensembles are Monday,

Feb. 13 through Friday, Feb. 17.The Citywide Strings Concert is Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7

p.m. in the auditorium. This school’s Orchestra and the All City Orchestra will perform.

ToBGLAD is Wednesday, Feb. 15 in the little theatre and the auditorium.

Auditions for “Pippin” are Friday, Feb. 10, Monday, Feb. 13 and Tuesday, Feb. 14 in the auditorium.

Asian Culture Day is Wednesday, Feb. 15After a full day of classes Friday, Feb. 17, school closes

for vacation and reopens Monday, Feb. 27.BLAC Day is Tuesday, Feb. 28.MCAS retesting for English Long Composition is

Wednesday, Feb. 29.

MarchMCAS retesting for English Reading Comprehension is

Thursday, March 1 and Friday, March 2.The Sophomore Event is Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m.Winter Athletic Awards Night is Monday, March 5 from 6

to 9. Math MCAS retests are Monday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 6.

The Close Up trip to Washington, D.C., is Monday, March 5 through Friday, March 9.

Warnings for Term III are due Tuesday, March 6.Eighth Grade Parent Night is Tuesday, March 6 from 7

to 9.SAT testing is Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 a.m.The PTSO meets Tuesday, March 13 from 7 to 9 a.m. There

is an all day fi eld trip for music students who qualifi ed for States.

Registration day for next year is Wednesday, March 14.There is a professional half day Thursday, March 15 at

11 a.m.This year’s all-school musical, “Legally Blonde,” goes

up in the auditorium Thursday, March 15 through Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee Sunday, March 18 at 2 p.m.

Spring sports begin Monday, March 19. MCAS testing for English Reading Comprehension is

Tuesday, March 20 and Wednesday, March 21.MCAS testing for English Long Composition is Thursday,

March 22.The Huntington Lecture Series continues Thursday,

March 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the fi lm lecture hall. Math department head Brenda Keegan will give a presentation on Jane Austen’s novels.

Under the direction of senior Nicole Bunis and junior Sam Raby, Theatre Ink presents “Spontaneous Generation” Wednesday, March 28 in the little theatre at 7:30 p.m.

Term III ends Friday, March 30.Asian Culture Night is Saturday, March 31 from 7 to 9

in the auditorium.

AprilTerm IV begins Monday, April 2.School is closed Friday, April 6 for Good Friday.Springfest I and II are Wednesday, April 11 and Thursday,

April 12 in the auditorium at 7 p.m.School closes for vacation Friday, April 13 and reopens

Monday, April 16.ACT testing is Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 a.m. Improv Jam II is Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the

little theatre.The Jazz Ensemble will perform at Jazz Night Thursday,

April 26 in the auditorium.

MayThe College Admissions Panel is Wednesday, May 2 in

the auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m.SAT testing is Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 a.m.AP Exams start Monday, May 7 and end Friday, May 18.Term IV warnings are due Tuesday, May 8. In the evening,

Senior Parent Night is held in the auditorium from 7 to 8.North and South students perform Shakespeare’s Twelfth

Night Thursday, May 10 through Saturday, May 12 in the little theatre at 7:30 p.m.

Senior Scholarship Night is Monday, May 14 from 7 to 9 in the fi lm lecture hall.

Senior Year Project informal presentations are in the little theatre Tuesday, May 15.

Math MCAS testing is Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday, May 16.

The PTSO meets Tuesday, May 15 from 7 to 9 p.m.Senior Year Project formal presentations are Thursday,

May 17 through Wednesday, May 23 in the fi lm lecture hall. Pops Night is Thursday, May 17 at 5 in the cafeteria.

The Junior Semi-Formal is either Friday, May 18 or Saturday, May 19. The location is to be determined.

History Awards Night is Tuesday, May 22 from 7 to 8:30 in the fi lm lecture hall.

English Awards Night is Wednesday, May 23 from 7 to 9 in the fi lm lecture hall.

The Freshman physics fi nal is during A-block and B-block Thursday, May 24.

Directed by seniors Pamela Chen and Sonya Maria Douglas, “Pippin” goes up Thursday, May 24 through Saturday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

School is closed for Memorial Day, Monday, May 28.Spring Athletic Awards Night is Tuesday, May 29 in the

auditorium from 6 to 9.World Language Awards Night is Wednesday, May 30 in

the cafeteria from 6:30 to 9.Theatre Ink Awards Night is Thursday, May 31 from 7

to 8.

JuneSAT testing is Saturday, June 2 at 7:30 a.m. In the evening,

the Jubilee Concert is at 7 in the auditorium.Physics MCAS testing is Tuesday, June 5 and Wednesday,

June 6.The proposed date for graduation is Wednesday, June 6

from 5 to 6:30 p.m.The Playwright’s Festival and Nitrous Oxide, under

the direction of junior Jack Reibstein and senior Graham Techler go up Wednesday, June 6 through Saturday, June 9 in the little theatre.

Eighth Grade Athletic Orientation is Thursday, June 7 in the gymnasium from 6 to 9 p.m.

There is a professional half day Friday, June 8 at 11 a.m. Step Up Day starts at 12 p.m.

ACT testing Saturday, June 9 at 7:30 a.m.The Theatre Ink Banquet is Friday, June 15 in the

cafeteria and the auditorium from 5 to 9 p.m.Students’ last day is Friday, June 22.Teachers’ last day is Monday, June 25.

–COMPILED BY FATEMA ZAIDI

Newtonite spring calendar

Izzy Rosenblatt

“Modern journalism has become so important in its civic and educational influences as to make necessary its recognition by the high schools,” said principal Francis Bacon of Newton High School in the fi rst ever issue of the New-tonite in 1922.

In the issue, Bacon is quoted, saying the school newspaper serves as a “practi-cal medium of communication for pupils, faculty and school community.”

Also, he said he hopes that the New-tonite “proves a great advantage in de-veloping school spirit, pride and loyalty.”

Bacon concludes that the Newtonite would “become an outstanding success.”

Originally, the name “Newtonite” was to be only a temporary name, at least until someone came up with a better title, said the article.

Some of the suggestions included “The Tiger,” “Newton High Light” and “High Life.”

In addition, in honor of the new prin-cipal Bacon, some students proposed “The Baconian” or “Bacon and Eggs.” However, the name was never changed, and the newspaper continues to be called the Newtonite today.

The Newtonite initially came out every week, but was only about four pages long.

Students could subscribe to the New-tonite for a year by paying a dollar in homeroom.

Volume 1

The origins of the Newtonite

Charles D. Meserve Scholarship Fund

The Newtonite reports that the Board of Trustees has been chosen for the Charles D. Meserve Scholarship Fund.

Alumni from Newton High School collect funds to memorialize Meserve’s time as a teacher at the school.

A scholarship is awarded to a boy in each graduating class to aid the student in “obtaining a high education,” said the article.

Formed in 1924, the Newtonite said that potential members of the Garden City poultry club are required to own at least fi ve birds. The club initially has only four members, but is looking to expand. The poultry is entered in contests and judged. Some members place very highly in the poultry shows.

Garden City forms new poultry club

Volume 2

Starting at the beginning of the school year in 1925, the New-tonite features famous graduates from Newton High School.

One notable person is Katherine Lee Bates, Class of 1876, who wrote “America the Beautiful.”

Three years later, the Newtonite publishes an article announc-ing her death and commemorating her life.

Volume 4

Famous graduatesCoach Alfred Dickinson died sud-

denly in February 1927 at age 42. He was a football coach at Newton High School from 1910 to 1927. A new fi eld was built for the school and dedicated in his honor in 1930.

Stadium honors football coach

Volume 8

The Newtonite covers an assembly on “bumming rides” or the dangers of hitch-hiking. This is only one of a series of articles on this subject. Stu-dents even act out what could happen and publish pictures of it.

Series on dangersof hitch-hiking

Volume 9

In one issue, the Newtonite dedi-cates a full page to fashion, not only for humans, but for pets, too. One headline reads, “Doggies go stylish; Fido wears a raincoat.”

The article starts with, “(Perhaps you didn’t know it, but) pooches all around us are becoming clothes-con-scious, so it’s up to this fashion page to give them a break,” and goes on to name some articles of clothing a dog could be dressed in.

Volume 13

A guide to clothing for men, women, dogs

The Newtonite runs a full page on the new cars from companies such as Ford, Buick and Chevrolet that were to come out in 1937.

The articles include facts about the inte-rior design, the engine and the mechanical features.

The Newtonite runs a front page story reporting on changes being made to the old Dickinson Stadium, which had recently been condemned as unsafe. The article explains changes from stands made of wood to those of concrete, among other changes.

Volume 15

Streamlines in steel:

Volume 21

The cover story of the fi rst issue of the school year describes changes the school is making to prepare for World War II, including course changes and a push for students to take more math and science courses, which the article says will be useful to future soldiers. The story also mentions that the Physical Education department planned to physically challenge stu-dents more during gym class in order to maximize wartime preparation.

Newton High enters fi rst wartime session

Volume 32

Stadium unsafe

An advertisement on the second page for a new record store in Cleveland Circle offers “20 percent off on all LP records.” Another on the fi fth page, for Driben Footwear in Newton Centre, advertises loafers for $6.95.

Volume 24

Advertisements

New cars of 1937

Friday, Jan8 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

The back page of the Newthe Tigers’ 8-0 upset over BrooGame. Brookline was undefe

The story concludes, “At adown to a very tasty turkey thof Brookline had very little to

Volu

Tigers shock B

1922 19531923 19421934193019291925 19461936

Celebrating 90 year

n. 13, 2012

To Helen Smith, who advised this paper from 1973 to 2009, the element of the unexpected is the most exciting part of being a journalist.

“When you walk into school in the morning, you never know what’s going to happen,” Smith said. “You have to know that there’s a lot you don’t know, and that never changes.”

Smith said she is proud of the students who became professional journalists.

“I just tried to teach kids to be honest in communication and take responsibility for their own expres-sion,” she said.

“I hope my students learned to care about accuracy and to care about bal-ance, among all different points of view—it’s never just pro and con. It’s all different opinions.”

The use of multiple types of media forms is important in journalism, said Smith.

“It would be a disservice to students to stay only in print,” she said. “But, in terms of journalism education, kids need to learn to write for print.

“I think over the years the print paper has been an important part of the school culture,” Smith said.

“Going online is something that should be developed, but it doesn’t preclude a print newspaper.”

Volume 51

Helen Smith starts35-year term as newspaper adviser

Volume 91

Check us out online at TheNewtonite.com. Look for the interactive timeline with more highlights from the Newtonite.

19451945

The paper’s front page story features an interview with new editor in chief William Alford, who reveals plans to change the Newtonite to a bimonthly paper. The paper began printing bi-monthly in 1965 and stayed this way until the fall of 2011.

tonite features a game review of okline in the annual Thanksgiving ated going into the game.

any rate, all of Newton could sit is Thanksgiving, while the Town

o be thankful for.”

ume 40

Brookline 8-0 Volume 42

Newtonite changes to bimonthly issues

The Newtonite carefully covers student reactions to the Vietnam War, beginning when the war fi rst gained public attention in 1964.

A look at the Newtonite archives reveals the shift in opinion over time.

Not only are there polls revealing the divided opinions of Newton students to-wards the war, but also correspondence with soldiers in the midst of war and powerful coverage of a veteran that had returned to this school.

From the late ’60s through the early

’70s, student protests were an impor-tant part of the political culture of this country.

Perhaps the most powerful protest was in May 1970, following the Kent State shootings and the Cambodian incursion.

“The NHS strike [was] part of a national student movement which has closed universities throughout the coun-try,” according to this Newtonite article. These protests also closed this school for several days.

Volumes 41-53

War protest follows high school trend

“Some say it only marks the birth of the new North High School; but for others, ‘The Newton High School’ can never be fully replaced by the steel and concrete of the new school. Few appreciated the old campus, until Maher Demolition returned it to the ground,” wrote editor Mike Mi-trano in 1973.

The Newtonite coverage of the move from Newton High School to the new Newton North High School building bears a lot of similarities to the Newtonite coverage of the recent transition to this building. The cost, too, was thought to be astronomical at $25 million.

“The building itself is marvelous,” lauded 1973 principal Richard Mechem–something some students that have passed through the old building have emphatically disagreed with. Another familiar problem the new school faced was student parking.

Birth of Newton North High School

Newton students make their second big move less than 40 years after transitioning to the building that was once lauded as “marvelous” by former principal Richard Mechem. (The school was warned in 2006 by NEASC that it was in danger of losing its accreditation status due to the

poor condition of the building.) To many, the new school seems too sterile and hospital-like, and it lacks the character of the old school. Though many students felt nostalgia for the old building, they also appreciated the technol-ogy, the many windows and the straightforward layout.

School administrators were given the power to limit student expression through the Hazelwood descision, one of the Supreme Court decisions that most directly affected students.

According to this article, some of the reasons for which “school administra-tors may censor or refuse funding for a play or a publication” are if it “takes a political position that is other than neu-tral,” “is ungrammatical” or is “vulgar,”

among several other reasons. Principal Marya Levenson expressed

solidarity with students and assured them that she does not want the deci-sion to negatively affect the student body.

“It gives principals absolute power, and when one has absolute power, one sometimes abuses it,” Levenson said. “It is important to fi nd ways to limit this power.”

Volume 67

Supreme Court’s Hazelwood decision limits students’ freedom of expression

This school faced a doubly shaking experience during the September 11 at-tacks. The student body was informed of the attacks over the loudspeaker by principal Jennifer Huntington, who also revealed that her brother-in-law, who worked at the World Trade Center, was missing.

“Reactions have ranged from disbe-lief to numbness to pure anger,” said counseling department head Carol Kerrissey.

The day following the devastating and terrifying attacks, this school fi elded a bomb threat, forcing an al-ready shaken and fearful student body to evacuate the school.

Volume 80

School carries on after terrorism

Volume 89

New building offers resources

20123 1962 20102001198819731964 1945

TIMELINE COMPILED BY

MEREDITH ABRAMS,

JULIA ORAN, KAYLA

SHORE AND JACOB

SCHWARTZ

rs of the Newtonite

1965

Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 9

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sportsFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 11

Boys’ swimming maintains high morale

Jacob Schwartz

Freestyle: During practice, sophomore Shane Kerr works to improve his technique.

BY JAY FEINSTEIN

Despite inexperience, boys’ swimming and diving, 1-3, is committed to making this season strong, said senior Ben Salwen, a captain with senior Ryan Chan.

“Our strength is definitely that there’s a bunch of hard-working, dedicated kids on the team,” he said. “I guess you can say that we don’t have a huge amount of experience, but it’s defi nitely building as the season goes on.”

The Tigers have not had too many struggles, Salwen said. “We’re a tight knit bunch of guys, and we’re working really hard.”

They are looking forward to competing in upcoming confer-ence meets. “I’m not exactly sure how we compare, but we’ll try to be competitive and we’ll go from there.”

Salwen credits the new coach, Ryan Rich, for the team’s positive attitude. “He’s been re-ally, really great,” Salwen said. “He came in and got us work-ing hard. He got us on the right track from the beginning.”

The Tigers are still adjust-ing to Rich’s coaching, though, Salwen said. “It’s defi nitely a different style.”

Some team members have

yet to fully adjusted to Saturday practices, he said.

“Different things work for different people. A lot comes down to the individual swimmer and how much he is willing to push himself.”

Though, Salwen said that Saturday practices, along with some of the Rich’s other chang-es, are benefi cial overall.

“I think it’s working because this is a really great group of kids who are really willing to push themselves.”

The team has improved as a whole since the beginning of the season, Rich said. “Our guys care a lot about getting better and take pride in what they do,” he said.

According to Rich, this is a rebuilding year, and the Tigers are doing the best that they can. “Our guys are embracing the challenge and improving steadily. Some of our swimmers are on the cusp of qualifying for postseason competition.”

Rich said he has enjoyed working as a coach, and he hopes to lead the team to suc-cess. “I love showing up to work every day, and that tells me I’m in a good place.”

Today, the Tigers host Welles-ley, and Tuesday, they host Needham.

Wrestling suffers from injuries, strives for success

Jacob Schwartz

At practice: Freshman Dylan Kelley and freshman Brendan Helgason wrestle in the dance studio Monday.

BY GLORIA LI

Despite being on its way to its fi rst losing record in 10 years, wrestling members are not deterred from putting in their best efforts, according to coach John Staulo.

Shaking his head, Staulo said, “Sadly, there’s not much that can be done about our los-ing record at this point in the season.”

The Tigers, 3-7 Wednesday, continue to strive for personal success, Staulo said.

Tomorrow at Woburn, JV will compete followed by varsity in a series of three matches, he said.

According to Staulo, tourna-ments, such as these, are benefi -cial for multiple reasons.

To him, they allow “healthy kids to strive for potential seed-ing in States.”

Additionally, he said he likes how “there are multiple matches per day, and coaches aren’t faced with match-up burdens that can occur at individual school team meets.”

The Tigers will wrestle at Wellesley Wednesday.

Senior Jordan Long, a cap-tain with seniors Zach Ferguson and Pat Preston and junior Nick

Mariano, said, “We’re expecting to win against them.”

According to Long, “last year there was one tough kid there, but the rest were scrappers.”

Throughout the season, members have left due to ill-nesses and injuries, Long said.

Staulo said, at Braintree, Wednesday, Jan. 4, for example, the Tigers lacked six experi-enced starters from the lineup.

“They were all injured, and many of them are supposed to be out for the entire year,” he said.

Staulo said the situation forced him to have a younger, more inexperienced set fi ll in the vacant spots. The efforts of the wrestlers who competed, however, impressed him, ac-cording to Staulo.

“We had an evenly matched set, with seven victories on our side and seven on theirs,” Staulo said.

Nevertheless, the Tigers lacked a suffi cient number of pins, Staulo said, which contrib-uted to their 40-23 loss.

Still, Staulo commended the upperclassmen for their solid leadership and contribution to the team.

Boys’ track prepares to race in ‘challenging competitions’

Jacob Schwartz

Warm-ups: Juniors Dan Swain and Matt Bressler jog in the SOA at the beginning of practice Friday.

BY RYAN CONDON

Boys’ indoor track, 2-0 Wednesday, expects to face tougher meets after a good start to the season, according to senior Young Guang, a cap-tain with seniors Justin Keefe, Swardiq Mayanja and Nate Menninger.

Guang said that although the team’s fi rst two league meets were easy wins, it has chal-lenging meets at Brookline and Weymouth coming up.

In its last league meet against Framingham, Thursday, Dec. 22, Guang said, “A standout performer was Justin Keefe, who ran an amazing time in the mile to get a close second behind the best mile time in the state right now.”

Guang also noted excep-tional performances by junior Ryan Lucken in the 300-meter and the shot putters, who swept their event.

However, “Other than that, most of our performances were subpar,” Guang said.

The team competed in the Boston Holiday Challenge Tues-day, Dec. 27, a regional competi-tion with athletes from all over New England.

“We had some pretty out-standing performances. That was the fi rst meet where we had state-caliber competition, and we also performed well at that level,” Guang said.

The team’s strength is in the shot put event, according to Guang, an event in which they

took fi rst, third and fourth plac-es in in the Holiday Challenge.

“Our weakest events right now are the 55-meter hurdles, the long jump and the two mile,” he said.

“They aren’t bad, but they pale in comparison to the other events. Overall as a team, we hope to get better in sprint and distance.”

The team was to have com-peted against Brookline yes-terday, in a meet coach James Blackburn said would be one of the toughest of the season.

“They’re probably the second best team to us in the league,” he said.

The Tigers will host Wey-month Thursday and Needham Thursday, Jan. 26.

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sportsFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 13

Gabe Dreyer

At Fessenden: Senior Katie Caruso, a captain with seniors Courtney Leahy and Stephanie Vitone, handles the puck at practice Monday.

Girls reboundfrom tough startBY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

Finding his team in a corner after wobbling out to an 0-3 start, girls’ hockey coach Bob MacDougall felt the need to ad-dress the Tigers’ early-season performance.

“At practice, I told them, ‘We’re not a bad hockey team; we’re just not playing very well,’” he recalled.

Whatever MacDougall said, it’s pretty evident that his speech yielded some positive results.

The Tigers bounced back im-mediately after their three-game skid, clobbering crosstown rival South 4-1 to earn their fi rst win of the season Monday, Jan. 2. Although they followed up that victory with a close road loss to Milton and a tie at Weymouth, positive performances in both games give the Tigers a reason to be optimistic.

“There’s a steady improve-ment happening, and we’re starting to see some positive re-sults,” MacDougall said. “I think now we’re steadily improving and working towards our goals.”

Yet in the process, the Tigers, 1-4-1, will have to overcome their inexperience. Many of the players on the Tigers’ top two lines are underclassmen, leav-ing them with an uphill battle against veteran Bay State Con-ference foes.

According to senior Katie Caruso, a captain with seniors

Courtney Leahy and Stephanie Vitone, the Tigers’ youth created “a little bit of a struggle at fi rst, because we’re so young.”

“In the beginning it was tough, since we have a lot of young girls, but now, I think we’ve shown that we can hang in there,” she said.

Although the Tigers are very much a work in progress, Mac-Dougall stressed the players’ positive mindset.

In that not-so-far away game against South, the Tigers put this positive energy on display. The Tigers entered the third period knotted at 1-1, but they came out fi ring on all cylinders, scoring three consecutive goals in the fi nal frame to seal the all-important fi rst victory.

“One thing that impresses me, win or loss, is that there’s no quit in these girls,” MacDougall said. “If they go down 4-0, they keep pressing. You can’t coach that—it comes from the athlete.”

In upcoming games, the Ti-gers will face a stretch of teams that “are easier than what we started with,” MacDougall said.

“I wouldn’t say they’re easy, though. We need to focus on what we need to do, because it’s not like we can kick back and take the intensity level down,” he added.

The Tigers host Wellesley tomorrow and travel to Dedham Wednesday.

Tigers’ sudden hot streak fosters new optimism

Boys aim to play hard,minimize turnovers BY PETER DIAMOND

JV boys’ hockey, 1-4-1 Wednesday, is working to im-prove its skills on the ice so it can win more games and pre-pare players for varsity, accord-ing to junior Jimmy Guariglia.

The team’s strengths include “working the puck in the of-fensive zone,” according to Guariglia. “Some weaknesses are not playing hard the whole game and turning the puck over in the neutral zone.”

Guariglia cited an unex-

pected tie in the team’s first scrimmage against Watertown as the highlight so far this season, noting that it was the Tigers’ fi rst game. “No one was very confi dent because we had so few practices before, but we went out, worked hard and brought home a solid tie against a tough team,” he said.

According to coach Vinny Galvagno, the team is full of hard workers.

“We’re short on players, but our dedication is very strong. Everybody is, improving and striving for success,” he said.

Girls stress teamworkBY SONIA KHURANA

For JV girls’ hockey, 0-4, “It’s not about whether we win or lose, it’s about how we play the game,” said junior Gina Bueno, a captain with seniors Shoshana Fleischmann and Evie Golden.

With about half of the 24-player team new to the game, the main goal of the JV program is to “teach the girls how to play hockey, to improve their skills and to have fun in the process,” said coach Victoria O’Connor.

The Tigers are often less experienced than other teams,

because most of their players have either never played hockey before or only have a couple years of experience, O’Connor said. “We are what you call a ‘learn-to-play’ team,” she said.

Though the team faces a lack of experience, its greatest strength is “the girls’ impressive understanding of teamwork,” said O’Connor. “Our returning players are excellent role mod-els to our new players, who, in turn, are really eager to learn the game.”

Even though the new play-ers don’t have many skills yet,

Fleishman said they are im-proving and “take each game as a new experience and learn from it.”

The team sets specifi c goals for each of its games, but a continuous goal is to “have fun and enjoy playing,” said Golden. “We want the new players to become more confi dent in their abilities on the ice and to be more aggressive.”

Though the main focus of JV is to improve the players’ hockey skills, “we’re going to work hard for some wins,” said Fleischmann.

BY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

Before the season, boys’ hockey coach Tom Ryan had an inkling that this year’s squad would be stronger than any of the others he had previously directed.

But eight games into the sea-son, even he was surprised by just how well his team has fared.

After falling into an 0-2 hole to begin the year, the Tigers responded emphatically with points in four of their next fi ve contests, catapulting a program that had missed the postseason for the past 13 years into con-tention for a rare State Tourna-ment bid.

“My expectat ions have changed, mostly because of how well we’ve played,” Ryan said. “For the fi rst time in four years, I feel we can compete against and beat anyone we play, but more importantly, the team is feeling that as well.”

As of Wednesday, the Tigers stand at 3-3-2 close to the mid-way point of the season, but their record doesn’t do justice to the team’s recent hot streak.

Since mustering only one goal in each of their fi rst two contests, the Tigers have not scored fewer than three per

game, posting seven in a rout of Plymouth North Tuesday, Dec. 27 and tallying four in Saturday’s narrow win over Weymouth, a perennial Bay State power.

In conference play, the Tigers have won or tied four of their past fi ve, with their only loss coming in a 5-4 squeaker to Milton Wednesday, Jan. 4.

According to senior Ryan Fanning, a captain with senior Michael Bradley, the Tigers’ recent success is due to their hard work.

“This team works hard and comes in ready to play,” he said. “Once we put a few more wins on the board, I think we’ll have a chance at making the postseason.”

In addition, Ryan pointed out the play of the Tigers’ rotating crew of goaltenders to explain the team’s scorching run.

“We’re getting very good, consistant goaltending from all three of our goalies,” Ryan said. “The other strengths of the team have been the ability to score goals and generate quality chances.”

Such an accomplishment would be quite the reversal of fortunes from recent history.

Gabe Dreyer

Offensive rush: Senior Ryan Fanning follows the puck during a drill Tuesday.

JV hockey teams set goals to learn, enjoy playing

Since making the State Tour-nament in 1998, the squad has never qualifi ed for a return trip and struggled in a very competi-tive league, according to Ryan.

As the former captains put it succinctly in the 1999-2000 yearbook, “If losses were wins,

we’d be the best in the Bay State.”

At long last, the Tigers are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. Still, Ryan warned against overlooking the Tigers’ conference rivals.

“All the Bay State teams are

strong, seasoned and good,” he said. “For us to beat anyone, we must compete hard for 45 minutes, and we need to play better team defense.”

In upcoming action, the Ti-gers host Framingham tomor-row and Brockton Monday.

sports Friday, Jan. 13, 201214 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Tigers progress,build on depthBY EMMETT GREENBERG

Boys’ gymnastics coach Steve Chan is pleased with his team’s progress after its fi rst meet Friday, Jan. 6, against Low-ell, an opponent he said would be “a good test for us.”

S i z e i s a strength for the team this year, Chan said.

“This year we have a bigger team and more depth, so we can have more people compete and con-tribute toward the team score,” he said.

The Tigers, 0-1, are strongest in fl oor events, but need more depth in the high bar, which is a “diffi cult event,” Chan said.

According to senior Curran Ferry, a captain with senior Isaac Feinhaus, the team is fo-cusing on “spreading ourselves

Hilary Brumberg

Parallel bars: Sophomore Fabrizio D’Angelo competes against Lowell Friday, Jan. 6.

Girls’ gymnastics, 3-0, hopes to avoid injuriesBY STEVEN MICHAEL

Avoiding injuries remains a priority for girls’ gymnastics, 3-0, according to assistant coach Alyssa Howe.

Last year, several gymnasts suffered from injuries, limiting the potential of the team.

To keep healthy, the coaches are vigilant in observing each athlete. “When someone does have an injury, we are aware of what they do,” Howe said.

For injured gymnasts, the coaches limit the number of meets in which they can partici-pate and sit them out from less competitive meets, Howe said.

This year marks Howe’s fi rst season as assistant coach under head coach Jim Chin.

“Having two coaches is a great advantage for us, so we can maintain a larger team,” Howe said.

With a larger team, the Tigers boast a diverse group of gym-nasts with varied specialties and levels of experiences.

“We have girls who are strong club gymnasts and girls who are strong in a specifi c event,” Howe said.

“Because we have a bunch of cheerleaders on the team, we have a lot of great fl oor routines and tumbling.”

Howe noted the balance beam as an area of improvement for the team. Falling off of the beam results in the loss of a half point, which Howe calls a “meet breaker.”

Even for talented gymnasts, this pitfall proves a signifi cant obstacle, she said.

Nonetheless, the Tigers con-tinue to score higher in competi-tions than they did at the end of last year, Howe said.

Because the team is young this year, the Tigers expect to perform well in upcoming years, Howe said.

Against Natick Tuesday, Howe noted that freshman Amara Lutwack performed par-ticularly well on fl oor and bar.

Junior Lili Margolin, a cap-tain with senior Lena Golick

and junior Al-l ie Hurwitz, said, “I think we are the best we have ever been.”

Last year, t h e s q u a d made it to Sec-tionals. This year, Margolin hopes for the squad to ad-vance to Re-

gionals.As the Tigers continue to im-

prove, they aspire to complete an undefeated season, Margolin said.

Tonight, the Tigers will com-pete against Framingham at home. Howe said Framingham is “not one of our top competi-tors.”

Tuesday, the squad looks to stay undefeated when it hosts Walpole.

Dance team builds stamina, learns choreographyBY RYAN CONDON

Winter dance is preparing for competitions later in the season by practicing choreography and performing at home basketball games, according to senior Han-na Stubblefi eld-Tave, a captain with senior Maura Quinn.

The team will compete in the Bay State Conference Winter

Dance and Cheer Championship Thursday, Feb. 9, as well as the Andy Yosinoff Cheer and Dance competition Sunday, Feb. 12, according to Stubblefi eld-Tave.

Coach Stephanie Hubbard said, “The girls’ strength is their energy, their ability to learn cho-reography and their stamina. They love to express themselves

through the choreography and music.”

According to Hubbard, the team is working on its syn-chronization, which is to be expected, she said.

“Synchronization always takes the most time to develop, and the more they dance to-gether, the better their timing

will be,” she said. The team’s strength, accord-

ing to Stubblefi eld-Tave, is that “We have amazing energy and come into practice ready to work hard. At the same time, we always have fun,” she said.

“Right now, we’re working on building up our strength,” she added.

Hubbard said she creates the team’s choreography by creat-ing a music mix and including “the most up-to-date hip hop moves” in the performance to excite the crowd.

The team will perform at home basketball games the next four Friday nights, according to Stubblefi eld-Tave.

Nipmuc skier’s death cancels Alpine’s fi rst meetBY GLORIA LI

Athletes face all sorts of diffi culties, but death is rarely expected.

Thursday, Jan. 5, an 18-year-old high school student at the slopes in Shrewsbury, where the Tigers were to ski, “was about one-third of the way up the chair lift when he fell and sustained a head injury,” according to the Associated Press.

S e n i o r Parker Veroff, a captain with senior Katie Re-gan, said that the team was “at the same mountain that night, the night when it happened.”

Instead of being at the scene, however, the Tigers were in the ski lodge at the time, he said.

Veroff said the skier, who was also to race that night, was be-ing sent to the hospital as “the reporters came to interview my co-captain and athletes from other ski teams.”

The Nipmuc Regional High School ski team member “died after suffering a seizure and fall-ing about 30 feet,” according to the Associated Press.

The death of this athlete, in turn, caused the slopes to close at the mountain and offi cials to cancel the race.

Regan said that she was shocked by the occurrence.

“It’s the fi rst time something like this has happened around me,” she said.

So far, the Tigers “only had

a couple of practices, but no races,” so Regan was expecting “varying levels of achievement at the fi rst race.”

Alpine was to have had its fi rst meet of the season at Shrewsbury against the entire league yesterday.

Regan said she believed that the race at Shrewsbury would have constituted as “more or less of a trial race.”

According to junior Mark Vrahas, there have been numer-ous improvements this season. Last season, the Tigers only practiced twice a week. In ad-dition, they did not practice on Wednesdays.

The team practiced only Mondays and Thursdays last year, and when they had their Thursday races, there was only one practice per week, he said.

The team practiced for the fi rst time on the slopes Wednes-day, Jan. 4, at Ward Hill.

“We’re lucky to be having three practices this year,” he said.

At these practices, Veroff said that the members were all preparing for their fi rst meet.

“We don’t have any freshmen this year, but there are still many new, inexperienced skiers who we’ve been working with, run-ning gates and taking runs at practice,” he said.

According to Vrahas, “there has only been snow on half the hill,” which led to skiers being forced to glide down most of the way on ice. This year, the lack of snow has made practice hard.

The Tigers have been prac-ticing drills such as skiing on one leg.

“We’ve also had some free skiing fun,” Vrahas said.

In addition to more training and practice sessions, this sea-son the Tigers were, for the fi rst time, provided with transporta-tion by the school.

“Having a bus this year has been extremely helpful for us,” Vrahas said.

“It’s nice because last year, we had to organize carpooling every time, which was a hassle,” he said.

Overall, according to Re-gan, the Tigers, “having gone through these experiences, feel more like a team unit now.”

The newcomers, she said, “have been starting to feel more connected with the rest of us.”

The Tigers will be at Blue Hills Thursday, Jan. 26, for their second race this season.

out over more events” and “tightening up our routines.”

The Tigers lost a scrimmage, 144-94, Tuesday, Jan. 3 at At-tleboro. However, there were plenty of positives to take away from the scrimmage, Chan said.

“Our return-ing gymnasts re turned to form, and our new gymnasts picked up their routines quick-ly enough to compete,” he said.

Chan said that the newcom-ers are exceeding his expecta-tions.

“They are learning ahead of schedule,” he said. “The learning curve is greater than I expected.

“We’re not as polished as we could be, but I am very encour-aged with our progress.”

coachSteve Chan

“We’re not as polished as we could be, but I am very

encouraged with our progress.”

Jacob Schwartz

Posture: Freshman Amara Lutwack performs a routine.

Newtonian

Parker Veroff

Newtonian

Lili Margolin

sportsFriday, Jan. 13, 2012 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 15

Despite snowless winter, skiers improveBY JAY FEINSTEIN

This Christmas defi nitely was not white. In fact, aside from a couple light drifts, it has not snowed all winter. To an average student, this might mean noth-ing more than a lack of snow days. But for skiers, it can affect practice.

For weeks, practices con-sisted solely of runs and work-outs because there was not any snow at the Weston Ski Track, where the team practices and competes.

“Luckily we’ve had man-made snow consistently for the past couple weeks, but the course has been really small,” said senior Abby Dalzell, a captain with seniors Tiphaine Kugener and Isabel Meigs. “It can be boring when you’re go-ing in circles on the small loop. It’s not as good of a practice.”

The past couple weeks nor-dic members have tried to look past the lack of real snow and have been focused on getting into “the skiing state of mind,” Dalzell said.

Experienced members are getting used to skiing again, and beginners are just learning the ropes, she said.

“More experienced members have been teaching newer mem-

bers, and it’s been working out really well.”

Although there are veteran and rookie skiers for both the girls and the boys, in general, there are more experienced members on the girls’ team, Dal-zell said. “The boys don’t have many returning skiers and are having a re-building year, but the newer guys are showing a lot of promise,” she said.

Soon, Dalzell said, the team is going to pick up the pace on practices.

“It’s going to be more inten-sive, but it’s going to be good now that we have more of a basis of knowledge on skiing,” she said. “It will prepare us bet-ter for our meets.”

New assistant coach Drew Messinger will make sure that it all runs smoothly, Dalzell said. “He will be great for the team,” she said. “It’s really great to have another addition to the coaching staff.

“He clicked with the team really well, and we are really excited to have him coach us for the rest of the season.”

Nordic’s next two races are Wednesday, Jan. 18 and Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The team does not have a record.

Nina Kaplan

At Weston Ski Track: Senior Isabel Meigs skis during the Tigers’ fi rst meet Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Gabe Dreyer

Dribbling: Senior Nayomi Cawthorne practices Monday. In practice, the Tigers are focusing on rebounding and limiting turnovers.

After early-season success,Tigers refi ne fundamentals

Freshman, JV girls’ basketball improve defense

BY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

For girls’ basketball, the hon-eymoon period of acclimating to the new coach has ended. Now begins the retooling phase for a team in the hunt for a postsea-son berth.

After starting out with two impressive wins, including a 53-40 road stunner over Lin-coln-Sudbury in their season opener, the Tigers, 6-3, strug-gled through a tough stretch of three losses in fi ve games before righting the ship with road wins over Milton and Weymouth.

In recent practices, coach Linda Martindale pinpointed turnovers and rebounding as the two key areas on which the team was trying to improve.

“Whenever you give up of-fensive rebounds and turnovers, you give the other team more chances to score,” Martindale said. “It’s hard for us to come up with wins if we turn the ball over so much.”

Senior Gracie Rolfe, a cap-tain with senior Kayla Farina, agreed with Martindale’s analy-sis. “I think she’s totally right,” Rolfe said.

“There’s not much skill to rebounding—it’s just about be-ing in good position and doing

the little things—so it comes down to who wants the rebound more.”

Rolfe attributed the Tigers’ struggles in rebounding and possession to their lack of ex-perience. “We’re young, and we only have three seniors on the team,” she said. “Sometimes we don’t realize where we are in the game, and we make those kinds of mistakes.”

In Martindale’s fi rst year at the helm, some growing pains were expected for a team that graduated four of its fi ve starters last year. On the other hand, the Tigers’ youth offers a cache of potential, which Martindale said she is eager to tap into.

Coming in from her previous coaching stint at Weston, Mar-tindale brought a new team-fi rst mindset to the program, and, according to Rolfe, the team responded positively.

“She really emphasizes the idea of having a team goal and winning and losing as a team,” Rolfe said. “Everyone’s on the same page, and it feels as if there’s a clean slate.”

Perhaps the juxtaposition of inexperience and growth was most evident in a close loss to Walpole Tuesday, Jan. 3. The

Tigers hobbled out of the gate and fell behind early to a quick Rebels squad, but they still had a feasible chance of sending the game into overtime with under 15 seconds to play.

However, Rolfe and sopho-more Infi niti Thomas-Waheed, who led all scorers with 24 points, narrowly missed three-point bids, and Walpole barely escaped with a 45-40 road win.

Immediately after the game, Martindale pulled her squad into a separate classroom and scrawled two numbers on the white board: 17 and 25. The fi rst number indicated the amount of turnovers the Tigers com-mitted, the second represented Walpole’s offensive rebounds.

To her, those two statistics summarized the loss.

“Any time you give up 25 of-fensive rebounds, you give the other team an opportunity to score 50 more points,” Martin-dale said.

However, she quickly shifted her focus to the positives. “We have a lot of great players, and we’re very optimistic for the rest of the season,” she added.

The Tigers host Brookline to day and will travel to Framing-ham Tuesday.

JV basketball shoots for a winning record BY CONNOR VASU

JV girls’ basketball is “lucky enough to have a roster full of good players as well as nice people,” said sophomore Caitlin Howley, a captain with sopho-mores Athena Lyons and Han-nah McInnes.

“One of our strengths is defi nitely the fact that we all bonded and became close early in the season, which makes for great chemistry on the court,” Lyons said.

The team is currently 3-5, but the Tigers’ hopes are high.

“Once we fi gure everything out, we’re in for an amazing season—hopefully with a win-ning record,” said Lyons.

Coach Maura Hamel said that the team’s main goal is to try “to help the players learn to play the game at the level of a varsity athlete.”

However, the team does need to work on some things before it can achieve its goals. Lyons said that one weakness “is some-times our intensity, and effort isn’t where we need it to be.”

Hamel said that the team is working on “constant tough man to man defense” in prac-tices.

“This is a team full of young ladies who all deserve to have their names bolded in the head-lines—making it very diffi cult for me to single out any one of them for recognition,” said Hamel.

Tonight, the team hosts

Brookline. Tuesday they travel to Framingham.

Freshman girls hope to keep good habitsBY DOUGLAS ABRAMS

Freshman girls’ basketball has gotten off to a slow start this season with a record of 1-5. But, with a long season looming on the horizon, the team has time to improve.

Coach Laurie Arcovio will be instrumental in the implemen-tation of these improvements.Specifi cally, the Tigers must im-prove “boxing out on defense,” said Julia Lindsay, a co-captain with Leah Braunstein.

According to Arcovio, one weakness of the team is “taking care of the ball and looking out to make plays happen.” How-

ever, she noted that the team excels as “hard workers and learners.”

Arcovio also said that the team plans on setting two types of goals, those for individual games and those for the whole season.

“For the season, our goal is to establish good habits. We are working hard to have proper footwork, to have good shot form and also to make strong passes.

“We set goals for individual games as well to help us moni-tor our progress and to measure our success.”

The Tigers’ hard work and goal-setting has already paid off—Friday, the team faced off against Milton, winning 52-50 on the road.

“We played a fantastic game against Milton to take home our fi rst victory with an overtime win,” said Arcovio.

She noted that along with Braunstein and Lindsay, Dani-ella Hannelin, Kaila Hatcher, Anne Malloy and Erin Phinney led the game offensively, defen-sively and at the post.

“This was the fi rst time our defense and offense came to-gether,” said Arcovio.

As the season continues, the team will have to keep up the hard work to succeed against their rivals, which in-clude Brookline, Framingham and Weymouth, according to Arcovio.

The Tigers host Brookline today and travel to Framingham Tuesday.

sports Friday, Jan. 13, 201216 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Tigers, 7-0, boost intensityon offenseBY JACOB SCHWARTZ

Boys’ basketball, 7-0, likes to switch things up every once in a while.

Especially when it comes to its strategy during practice and play, the team is frequently mak-ing adjustments.

The team spent its preseason trying to increase versatility and to tighten up on defense, according to coach Paul Con-nolly, who earned his 200th win in a 62-37 rout of previously-undefeated Weymouth at home Tuesday.

This defensive mastery was more than evident when the Tigers crushed Milton 66-31 Friday in their home opener.

The Tigers were completely in sync defensively, knowing where all the players on the court were at all times through-out the game and challenging every single Milton shot. Their airtight defense held the Wild-cats to only 12 fi rst-half points.

“It was a convincing win, and our defense played well,” Connolly said. Milton, however, gave the Tigers room to do their thing on offense, and the Wild-cats sure paid for it.

But, according to senior Mike Thorpe, a captain with seniors Jared Masinton and Luke West-man, the Tigers know it won’t always be that easy.

Now, after getting their de-fense right where they want it, the Tigers have made offense their top priority in practice, according to Thorpe.

“It’s really the time for us to gear up on offense,” Thorpe

said. “Our practices used to be

70 percent focused on defense, and 30 percent on offense, but now, it’s, for the most part, the opposite.”

The time to spend the ma-jority of practice studying and executing defensive fundamen-tals has ended, at least for now, he said.

“We’ve been doing a lot more shooting and passing drills dur-ing practice,” Thorpe said.

The team has also been scrimmaging a lot more in prac-tice, in order for teammates to get more of a feel for each other on offense, he added.

According to Connolly, to-day’s road game against Brook-line could be an opportunity for the Tigers to showcase their hard work on offense.

“We have games coming up against teams, such as Brook-line, that know how to shoot well, and we’ll have to show we can match them on offense,” he said.

Thorpe echoed Connolly’s sentiments, saying that the Tigers’ offense could make a difference, but he added that the team never focuses too much on its opponents.

“Our work on offense will make the game more fun for us, because we’ll be able to compete with them offensively. We’ll be much tougher than before,” he said.

After the road test against Brookline, the Tigers will return home to take on Framingham Tuesday.

Gabe Dreyer

Long-range: Senior Jared Masinton takes a three-pointer during the Tigers’ home game Tuesday. The Tigers hammered Weymouth, 62-37.

JV, ’15 teamsworkhardJV improves skillsBY SAM JONES

JV boys’ basketball, 3-5, is working every day to improve its skills and its understanding of the game, according to coach Joe Siciliano.

The team’s biggest strength has been its work ethic, said Siciliano. “Players come to prac-tice everyday willing to work hard and learn.”

All the players are also ben-efi ting from ample playing time. “Because we play everybody in every game, everybody has been contributing,” he said.

Junior Kevin Fitzgerald, a captain with juniors Andrew Leaper and Anthony Shaw, said that the team has good guard strength but added that the squad needs to work on rebounding.

One of the high points of this season was how much the Tigers improved over the course of the B.C. High Tournament, according to Siciliano.

Fitzgerald pointed out the team’s win against Walpole as another highlight. “We came back to beat Walpole when we were down most of the game,” he said.

The Tigers will travel to Brookline to take on their rival today.

“Brookline is always a tough team, but we want to beat them. It will be a good game,” Fitzger-ald said.

The team will then face Framingham at home Tuesday.

’15 gains experienceBY DAVID KWARTLER

Friday the 13th is known for being a day of bad luck. Fresh-man boys’ basketball can only hope that will prove to be the case for Brookline today.

The Tigers, 3-5, will face the Warriors, their rival and one of their toughest opponents, this afternoon.

Over the holiday break, the team played in a “difficult” tournament at B.C. High, said Jonny Levenfeld, a captain with Darien Clay. “Our win over B.C. High would be the highlight so far,” he said.

According to coach John McNamara, “We played really well together, shared the ball and everyone contributed.”

The team is focused on work-ing as a group, Levenfeld said. “Our goals are to get used to the speed of the high school game and to improve each day,” he said.

“ B e c a u s e we practice six days a week, they’re adjust-ing to the level of commitment it takes to play high school sports,” he said.

“Everyone is meshing well together and we could always get better defensively, but we’re making strides already towards that,” he said.

The team is beginning to grow into a strong group of players, according to McNa-mara.

“Even though you like to win, it’s not the end all be all, it’s about coming together as a team and learning,” he said.

Girls prepare for Weymouth meetBY GLORIA LI

Having won its first two meets of the season so far, girls’ track, 2-0 Wednesday, is looking forward to its Thursday meet against Weymouth, its great-est rival, at the Reggie Lewis Center.

We y m o u t h , c o a c h J o e Tranchita said, “has always been one of our key opponents.”

Typically, the Tigers are able to claim victories against Wey-mouth, and they have managed to do so for the last two years.

“We usually win, but the victories are pretty close ones when we’re competing against Weymouth,” said senior Maggie Heffernan, a captain with senior Kayla Wong.

Heffernan said she expects the team to match up well, but that “it looks like it’ll be close again.”

She has confi dence, though, and said she believes the Tigers “will be able to beat them, but will most likely have diffi culties in distance running.”

According to Tranchita, the Weymouth meet “will be the showdown for the league title, as it has been for the past sev-eral years.”

Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Dart-mouth College Relays in Col-onie, NY, the Tigers remained high scoring.

“Last year we won, but it was fairly close. It came down to 4x400,” Heffernan said.

The team was expecting to win again, according to her.

Senior Steph Brown said,

“we came in second this year with 60 points and strong per-formances all around.”

Junior Carla Forbes’ record long jump of 40 ft. 11 in. “was amazing,” senior Kayla Prior said.

Heffernan said, “We’re still very strong, and I think it would have been awesome to have placed fi rst two years in a row.”

According to Tranchita, “de-veloping confidence in each member’s competitive execu-tion will be a main area of focus for us over the next few weeks.”

According to Heffernan, the Tigers are stocked up this sea-son with “exceptionally good sprinters and jumpers” who will prove advantageous against Weymouth.

The Tigers currently have outstanding members including Wong, Forbes, and junior Madi-son Nadeau, Heffernan said.

Wong competes in the hur-dles and the 50-meter dash while Forbes runs both the 50-meter dash and the 300-me-ter. Nadeau runs the 300-meter as well.

“They’ve all been hard-work-ing members of the team for multiple years,” Heffernan said.

Tranchita also acknowledged Wong as one of the team’s key performers after the fi rst few meets.

“All of our members have been putting in an outstanding effort though,” Tranchita said.

The Tigers were to have run against Brookline at home yesterday.

Newtonian

Jonny Levenfeld

courtesy Jack Prior

At Dartmouth: Senior Becca Trayner competes in the Dartmouth Relays Saturday.