Newtonite◆ Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 • Volume 90, Issue 9 Newton North High School, 457 Walnut Street, Newtonville, Mass. 02460

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

Schools receive additional fundsby Hilary brumberg

and Perrin Stein

When the State budget was approved in July, the New-ton Public Schools received $777,000 in state aid and circuit breaker reimbursements. This funding allowed this school to hire back the equivalent of 1.4 full time educators (FTEs), which were used to lower class sizes and add sections of preex-isting classes, according to su-perintendent David Fleishman.

Principal Jennifer Price said the funding was used to add one section of the following classes: creative writing, speech, chem-istry, ninth grade history, robot-ics and engineering, 10th grade history, 10th grade English and jazz band.

The NPS usually receives ad-ditional state aid once the State approves its budget, according to Fleishman. The funding cities and towns receive is based on the State’s revenue projections for the fiscal year, he said.

Along with the $200,000 in state aid, the NPS received $577,000 in circuit breaker re-imbursements, which are given to cities and towns to offset the cost of out-of-district tuition from the previous fiscal year.

This money was in addition to the reimbursements estimated in the FY12 budget.

The NPS’s FY12 budget ap-proved by the School Commit-tee in May accounted for 40 percent reimbursement from FY11 because it had “been that low for the past several years,” Fleishman said. After reviewing all reimbursement claims from FY11, the State decided to in-crease the reimbursement per-centage to roughly 65 percent. Consequently, the NPS received an additional $577,000 in circuit breaker reimbursements, which was added to the budget in July.

Fleishman said it is “not typical” for the NPS to receive additional aid when the State budget passes because the circuit breaker reimbursement percentage rarely increases.

Once the NPS knew it would have additional money to add to the FY12 budget, Fleishman, the deputy and assistant super-intendents and all of the City’s principals reviewed the school system’s needs, Fleishman said.

On July 19, he proposed to the School Committee to add the additional funding to the FY12 budget and recommended how ◆ continued on page 3

Union nearing contract compromiseby alex Feit

Newton Teachers Associa-tion negotiators are close to striking a deal with the School Committee for a new teach-ers’ contract that will include changes in teachers’ health care, benefits and base salary, according to NTA president Mike Zilles.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the NTA Negotiations Team will soon be reaching agreement

with the School Committee on a fair contract that will ex-tend through the coming three academic years,” Zilles said in a speech at the August 31 all-City faculty meeting.

If a new contract were to be ratified, it would mark the end of a year-long negotiation pro-cess. Teachers and other New-ton Public Schools employees are entering their second year without a contract, Zilles said.

Jonathan Yeo, the School Committee’s chair of negotia-tions, said that he is “very hope-ful that a fair settlement will be reached in the next few weeks.”

In reality, two contracts are being negotiated, said history and social sciences teacher Joel Greifinger, the chief negotiating chair for the NTA. One contract will cover the 2010-2011 school year, during which a contract was not in place, and a suc-

cessor contract will cover the 2011-2014 school years, he said.

A central topic of the collec-tive bargaining agreements has been how to divide out-of-pock-et expenses for NPS employees’ health-care plan, Zilles said.

Under a law passed in the State House earlier this year, local municipalities are required to provide health insurance either through the Group ◆ continued on page 3

New laws dictate injury procedureby Jay FeinStein

and gloria li

“It’s part of the game...until it’s you,” Mario Manningham, a wide receiver for the New York Giants, once told The New York Times. Manningham was refer-ring to the severity of concus-sions and how they do not get enough attention.

On July 19, 2010, the Mas-sachusetts legislature passed a law that mandates how policies regarding concussion preven-tion for student-athletes should be enacted within all public schools in the State.

The law was put in place at the end of last spring, and this is the first complete season in which the policies are being used for all student-athletes.

The State lawThe State’s new law has three

main components, according to Dr. Neal McGrath, a neuro-psychologist who served on the advisory committee that helped develop the regulations.

The first component requires students, parents and coaches to take an annual online education course on concussions. “It gives an overview of symptoms, risks and treatments of concussions,” he said. According to McGrath, who specializes in the evalua-tion and rehabilitation of trau-matic brain injuries, two dozen states across the country require concussion education.

The second component of the law prohibits athletes with con-cussion symptoms from playing sports. “It basically establishes the rule ‘when in doubt, sit ’em out,’” McGrath said. A student◆ continued on page 14

Jacob Schwartz

Collision: Concussions are most prevalent in football, according to neuropsychologist Dr. Neil McGrath.

See inside for costumes, club special, September 11 coverage and fall sports

page 5 pages 7-10 page 11 pages 14-16

Bully-proof:Schools create prevention planby SamantHa libraty

To comply with the new anti-bullying laws passed in Massa-chusetts, the School Committee adopted a new anti-bullying curriculum that will be incor-porated into classes and school-wide events throughout the year, according to Beals housemaster Michelle Stauss.

“The Newton Public Schools have programs in the elemen-tary and middle schools ad-dressing bullying. However, even though some people are under the impression that bul-lying behavior stops in high school, it is a relevant issue that we proactively address at this school,” she said.

The curriculum, which is called Bully-Proofing Your School, was chosen by a group of teachers, counselors and administrators from both high schools, Stauss said. It will be used to conduct classes in homerooms, she added.

Thursday marks the first of four extended homerooms for the delivery of the curriculum. The others will be Wednesday, Nov. 23, Thursday, Dec. 1 and Thursday, Jan. 26. In addition to teachers speaking about bul-lying, there will be two school-wide events on Friday, Oct. 14 and Monday, Oct. 17.

“With this curriculum, we are trying to strengthen this school’s environment to posi-tively affect students and make the school a safe place for ev-eryone,” Stauss said.

“Bullying occurs in every school, and instead of being bystanders and not preventing bullying, we want people to speak up and be involved. We want to go from a silent majority to a caring majority,” she added.

Over the summer, a steering committee made up of teachers, counselors and administrators from both schools discussed the ways this anti-bullying curricu-lum could be effectively used, Stauss said.

Along with Stauss, history teacher Gregory Drake, special education teachers Lisa Gold-thwaite and David Turcotte, English teacher Michele Leong and guidance department head Beth Swederskas were all on the committee.

Stauss said, “Everyone at this school should be taking a stand against bullying. Research shows that when a student is bullied, he or she can’t focus in class, and both teaching and learning can be affected.

“Bullying has serious con-sequences. The program will positively impact the academic, social and emotional growth of our students.”

Jacob Schwartz

At Club Day: Seniors Michael Dinsmore and Veronica Ingham promote Mock Trial Monday in the cafeteria. See club special pages 7-10.

opinion Friday, Sept. 30, 20112 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

LettersReaders are invited to sub-mit guest articles and letters to the editor. Letters should be put in the Newtonite box in the Main Office 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. Yearly subscriptions cost $20. Readers can also reach us at thenewtonite@gmail.com.

To find 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 Nitkin

Business manager — Alison BerkowitzCirculation manager — Michela SalvucciOnline Editor — Henry DeGrootAdviser — Kate ShaughnessyProduction advisers — Sue Brooks, Tom DonnellanNews staff — Emmett Greenberg, Jared PerloFeatures staff — Anna Clements, Jared FreedmanSports staff — Jesse Metzger, Infiniti Thomas-Waheed Arts staff — Ned Martenis, Noah ThompsonNews analysis staff — Kellynette GomezArt staff — Catherine Chen, Arielle Conti, Rin RogersPhotography staff — Jenny Lewis, Ivan McGovern, Teddy WennekerCirculation staff — Irene Betts-O’Rourke, Sam JonesProduction staff — Charles Attisano

Julia Moss

An online summary of Zeitoun will not teach students the vital lesson about the dangers of ignorance. This lesson can only be fully captured in the book.

Norm Walker was passionategreat group,’” she recalls.

In 1976, Mr. Walker won the Charles Dana Meserve Award. This award for excellence in teaching is given to a teacher who goes above and beyond for his or her students.

Smith said, “He was a genius. He took a tremendous amount of interest in his students. He always wanted his students to go beyond where they had been. On the field, in the classroom or just in life.”

A funeral mass was held for Mr. Walker Friday, Aug. 26 at St. Michael’s Church in Exeter, New Hampshire.go to.”

Bower said he pictures Mr. Walker in two settings: on the football field and in the class-room. “He was the rare combi-nation of a great English teacher and an outstanding coach.”

Having co-taught a junior honors class with Mr. Walker for one year, former English teacher and adviser for this newspaper Helen Smith saw how genuinely he loved teaching.

“He loved to teach all kinds of classes. He could find the spark in any group. He’d come out of a class and say, ‘That was a really

by amanda HillS

Mr. Norm Walker, a teacher and football coach at this school from 1960-1985, died Monday, Aug. 22 after a three-year fight with brain cancer. He was 73 years old.

Mr. Walker had a legendary coaching style. Former English teacher George Bower said, “He was an outstanding coach. He was very thoughtful but very forceful at the same time. He was strong-willed and didn’t take any bologna from anyone. I admired the way he got the most out of his players.”

His passion continued off the field as well, where he was an esteemed member of the Eng-lish department. Bower noted, “No matter what students or people thought of him, they respected him. He had an enor-mous amount of friends.”

As a colleague, Bower looked up to Mr. Walker. He said, “He had a lot of knowledge, and he was an honest guy, so I would go to him for advice––he was always available and easy to

file photo

Norm Walker

by ryan Condon and amanda HillS

President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act in a joint session of Congress Thursday, Sept. 8.

This act is intended to lift the United States out of its con-tinuous slump and start positive changes for this country.

Everybody was looking to find some hope in the presi-

dent’s speech.One part of the speech that

brought optimism to Obama’s viewers was when he an-nounced that the bill would restore decaying schools across the country.

“The American Jobs Act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools,” he said.

Now, here in Newton, we tend to be in our own bub-ble. The difficulties that other schools in this country are facing are hidden by our own

school’s modernity. While students at this school

are enjoying the new building’s fresh paint, shiny floors and un-graffitied exterior, we often do not realize that students in a town right near us could be sit-ting in the middle of math class with the sound of a dripping pipe behind them.

Or that while we are in our Library Learning Commons utilizing just about the most advanced technology available to create an amazing class pre-

sentation, another student 1,000 miles away might be struggling to find basic supplies in his school’s art room.

The lack of sufficient materi-als many schools currently have to deal with is affecting their students. Students here do not always recognize the high cali-ber of our facilities.

Our school is the rare excep-tion, with a plentiful array of resources that most schools are not lucky enough to have. We have the privilege and benefit

of being able to spend our days in a top-notch school.

We are fortunate enough to have a variety of resources to help us with anything we need.

Students at this school have to realize that other schools in this country are not in as great shape as ours.

While the American Jobs Act might not cause such a drastic change in this school, it can make a huge difference in the learning environment for stu-dents elsewhere.

column

Advancements in new school should be treasured

At this school and South, plenty of students probably decided to take a pass on reading Zeitoun this sum-mer. Reading is not a top priority for most kids over the summer, especially when it was a required book––not one they chose based on their own interests.

But Zeitoun is worth read-ing. Yes, its plot can be quick-ly summarized, and you would probably be able to get by in a class discussion by just reading a quick recap on SparkNotes. But, you would be missing the main point of the whole “Two Schools, One Book” initiative.

This project was not de-signed to give kids tortur-ous summer reading or to add discussions and essay topics to an English class curriculum.

No, it was created to give all students a common learn-ing experience which, in this case, included a major les-son: ignorance is not always bliss.

In the book, the character Zeitoun is arrested. He and three of his friends, one of whom is Muslim like Zeitoun himself, are all staying to-gether in a house, which had access to a phone. This situa-tion causes suspicion among

a group of policemen.Despite his complete in-

nocence, Zeitoun and his Muslim friend were forced to spend over three weeks in prison. They were racially profiled, and the cops who arrested them came to the conclusion that, because they were Muslim and were frequently making calls, they must be up to no good.

This lesson is especially important to our genera-tion. After Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, racial profiling hight-ened. The terrorist attacks on this country seemed to cause more people to make assumptions about a person based on his or her race or culture.

Reading books, such as Zeitoun, that give real-life examples of how someone’s ignorance can affect anoth-er’s life, emphasizes the con-sequences of racial profiling.

To anyone who still has not read Zeitoun: read it. Although your teacher might not be enforcing it anymore, it is a worth-while read.

Its lesson of being able to look beyond someone’s race or ethnicity is one that cannot be conveyed in a one paragraph summary or a friend’s brief overview. It needs to be read, thought about and discussed in order for one to grasp its crucial lesson.

editorial

Zeitoun reveals critical lesson

in memoriam

newsFriday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 3

by Hilary brumberg

and Perrin Stein

This newspaper launched the redesign of its website, The-Newtonite.com, Tuesday. In ad-dition to coming out monthly in print, this newspaper will post new content online daily.

The original website was cre-ated in 2007 as an easy way to access archives. After learning about other newspapers’ web-sites at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s spring con-ference, this newspaper’s staff decided to design a new web-site, so they could post timely articles and post photo galleries.

In addition to posting content from in the print issue, the web-site includes Tigers sports game reviews, current news stories, photo galleries, features, comics and games, on campus presen-tation coverage, archives and reviews of Theatre Ink shows and student concerts.

Because this paper’s staff

now generates content for its website, the editors decided to change the print frequency from biweekly to monthly. The print edition now focuses on long-term, investigative pieces, which are more conducive to the monthly format.

This is the first change this newspaper has made in terms of its design and content in the last decade.

When the editors of this newspaper decided it was time to redesign the paper’s website last spring, they contacted de-sign and visual communications teacher Sue Brooks.

In the past, her honors stu-dents created the Newton Public Schools’ Career and Vocational Technical Education website, giving them experience in de-signing a blind-accessible web-site.

Brooks presented her hon-ors class with the challenge of creating this paper’s website,

and each student created a prototype.

In order to make their proto-types, students met with several editors from this paper to come up with a list of criteria for the design. Afterward, they drew sketches, which “created the best marriage of website and newspaper design,” according to senior Danielle Wasson, an honors design and visual com-munications student.

Then, everyone voted for the best design, which was Was-son’s because it met all the crite-ria for market research and the design direction of the paper. From there, the class worked as a group to improve upon her design, according to Wasson.

Throughout the design pro-cess, editors from this paper met with the design team to give their input on the functionality of the website.

Once the website design was complete, junior Felege Gebru

coded it with Word Press. He made the website faster and en-sured that it worked in a variety of browsers.

The most challenging aspect of coding the website was mak-ing it accessible to the blind and visually impaired because Gebru said he had never done this before.

In order to make the website accessible, Gebru encoded al-ternative text into images. Com-puters with a screen-reading program will read this text to blind readers, so they will know what is depicted in the images.

“It took me a lot of trial and error to get the final code and to make it as good as I could,” he said.

Gebru met with several edi-tors of this paper throughout the coding process in order to make sure he included the correct plug-ins and to fix any problems students found as they began to use the website.

Schools receive morefunding

Union nearing contract compromise

Paper designs, launches website

◆ continued from page 1the NPS should spend it.

The proposal focused on minimizing the effects of the cuts in the original FY12 bud-get through adding special education support, putting aside reserve funding and adding sec-tions of classes, according to Fleishman. It included adding back three of the 9.8 FTEs that were cut from the high schools in May.

After the School Committee approved the recommendation, Fleishman told the principals to divide the FTEs among them-selves.

Former math department head and current deputy super-intendent Cindy Bergan, Price, South vice principal Mary Scott and South principal Joel Stem-bridge discussed how to divide up the FTEs. They decided that this school would receive 1.4 FTEs and South would receive 1.6 FTEs because South “took larger cuts in the spring,” ac-cording to Price.

She then contacted all of this school’s department heads, and they discussed the staffing needs of each department based on student registration and class size.

While she and the depart-ment heads worked collabora-tively to allocate teachers, Price said she ultimately made the decisions.

Although the department heads made it clear which areas needed the most funding, she said she still had some difficult choices to make. In the end, she favored adding FTEs to areas where the most students would benefit, she said.

Another item Price said she considered while delegating the FTEs is the English contractual cap, which limits the number of students each English educator can have to an 83 student aver-age over three years.

The cap would “definitely have been in jeopardy” if the English department had not re-ceived the additional 0.45 FTEs, according to Price. Because stu-dents are still enrolling in this school, the cap is still at risk of being violated, she said.

If the contractual cap is vio-lated, any English teacher with more than 83 students average over the last three years would have the option of filing a griev-ance with the Newton Teachers Association, according to NTA president Michael Zilles.

While Price said she feels she and the department heads allocated the FTEs to the best of their abilities, she acknowl-edged that “it is not perfect.”

“I’m sure there are still a lot of students who are frustrated,” she said. “We’re frustrated, too, because we’d like to offer the breadth and depth of classes with the class sizes we’d like, but the budget does not allow for that.”

The NPS could gain up to an additional $350,000 this month when the State does final cal-culations on its FY11 spending and sends any leftover funds to school systems to help alleviate cuts made last spring, according to Fleishman. If the NPS re-ceives any of this money, it will be put aside as reserve funding in the case of any unanticipated expenses in FY12, he said.

◆ continued from page 1Insurance Commission (GIC), a state-run health-care plan for Massachusetts public employees, or through municipal plans that offer “benefits of comparable actuarial value to those provided by the group insurance commission,” the law says.

However, it has been the position of the NTA that adopt-ing the GIC or a comparable plan would “seriously erode the health care protection of its members,” according to Greifinger.

“The GIC or GIC-like plan also wouldn’t save a significant amount of money as compared to a set of plan design changes that we and the other City unions proposed to the City,” Greifinger said.

Zilles also said that “out-of-pocket expenses for medical care for many teachers would go up dramatically,” if a plan with certain provisions from the new law was adopted.

Up to this point, the NTA and the School Committee have negotiated tentative health care terms which include raising co-pays and deductables, which are out-of-pocket expenses, but

not to the same degree as would be expected in a GIC-like plan, Zilles said.

In addition, raises in the NPS employee salary scale are being negotiated to help account for the hike in health-care costs and cost-of-living expenses, Zilles said.

“We want to make sure peo-ple are paid as well as those in towns such as Needham and Wellesley.”

Another tentative feature of a new contract would be to post-pone all step increases for NPS employees between Saturday, Oct. 15 and Thursday, March 15, according to Zilles. Step increases allow new teachers at a starter salary to incrementally earn a full salary over time.

In anticipation of a possible agreement, Zilles said that the NTA has already signed a mem-orandum of agreement with the School Committee to allow it to postpone the step increases for the first three pay periods of the year for teachers, which will last until October 15.

To offset the fact that many teachers would not step up a level in payment March 15 in the new contract, NTA members would receive a “significant

lump-sum payment” that would get added to their base salary next year, Zilles said.

In the event that a contract is not signed before October 15, teachers would receive their expected step increases under the old contract and be paid ret-roactively for the step increases they would not have received, Zilles said.

According to Greifinger, the memorandum was signed to make the payroll for school employees more efficient to process.

If the NTA had not signed the memorandum, Greifinger said that the teachers would have received regular step increases and then after a contract was signed, they would have revert-ed back to their original level for six months, which would be “a bureaucratic nightmare” for the payroll system.

Yeo also said that delaying step increases would “save the City a large amount of money.”

Greifinger said that there are still elements of the contract that need to be worked out in the negotiations.

“There are details to which I hope and believe we can come to agreements in a timely fash-

ion, but are significant enough that I can’t say at this point that I feel like it’s just ‘crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s,’” he said.

“One of the things we need to remember is that we’re bar-gaining for five different units.” Greifinger said. “Each of the in-dividual units has a different sal-ary scale, which makes it hard to negotiate an agreement.”

According to Zilles, what the NTA has been looking for in a contract is “just fairness.” This has become the main slogan of the negotiations, Zilles said.

Ten other City unions have already made contract agree-ments with the City within the past couple of months which have resolved similar issues, such as how to compile a health- care plan, Zilles noted.

“We see a number of con-tracts made with other workers in the city, and we think if they are able to negotiate meaningful contracts with others, we should as well,” Zilles said.

According to Greifinger, “What ‘just fairness’ means is that there is a kind of shared sacrifice, which is something that we from the beginning of the negotiations made clear that we are willing to accept.”

The most recently

published stories

The next print circulation date

Featured stories

Breaking news bar

displays our latest

tweet

Ben Hills

advertisements Friday, Sept. 30, 20114 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Advertise online! Email thenewtonite@gmail.com for more information.

Your Village. Your Bank.

“Education islearning what youdidn’t even knowyou didn’t know.”

~Daniel J. Boorstin

Member FDICMember SIF

6" x 7.25"

Auburndale • Newton Highlands • NewtonvilleNonantum • Waban • Wayland • West Newton

www.village–bank.com • 617-527-6090Customer Care Center 617-969-4300

An old fashioned Ice CreamParlor & Restaurant

Serving Newton since 1969One scoop at a time...

743 Washington Street,Newtonville, MA 02460

617-964-9200www.cabots.com

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

featuresFriday, Sept. 30 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 5

Jacob Schwartz

Behind the scenes: Senior Mary-Emma Searles works on costumes for Theatre Ink productions after school in 179.

New teachers bring experience, skills to school

Background: Atkinson attended UMass Amherst, where she double majored in mathematics and clas-sical studies. She earned her mas-ter’s in education from Salem State University in 2010. For the past six years, she taught middle school math in Medford.Excited about... “teaching at a high school, and I am looking forward to working in such a positive and motivating environment. I can see that this is a very special place to work. I know this will be a place where my love for teaching will be embraced.”Brings to the school... “an energetic perspective.”

Background: Barker earned her bachelor’s degree at Harvard Uni-versity. She also earned her mas-ter’s degree in education at Boston College. She most recently taught English at St. John’s Prep in Dan-vers from 2007-2011.Excited about... “the enthusiasm of both teachers and students. Also, I am excited about the great sense of community at this school.”Brings to the school... “a love of English and a particular set of skills, including ping pong.”

Background: Bennett earned his bachelor’s degree in science from UMass Amherst in 2000. In 2009, he earned his master’s in educa-tion from UMass Boston. Starting in 2009, he taught chemistry at the English High School in Jamaica Plain.Excited about... “being part of a diverse learn-ing community.”Brings to the school... “five years of experience in the biotechnology field—this means I know the skills that are required to do 21st century jobs.”

Background: Churma earned her bachelor’s degree in mathemat-ics and communications at Boston College in 2009, as well as a mas-ter’s in mathematics education at Columbia University this year. She taught math at Norton High School during the 2009-2010 school year.Excited about... “the enthusiastic administration and faculty and the motivated students.”Brings to the school... an “enthusiasm about working with students, my strong math back-ground and my experiences teaching mathemat-ics in a variety of school settings.”

Background: Fitzgerald received his bachelor’s degree at San Fran-cisco State University in 2006 and his master’s at UMass Boston in 2009. Last year, he was a long term substitute teacher at this school.Excited about... “working in a community that values education and working with students with such diverse talents, skills and interests.”Brings to the school... “a passion for history and a strong desire to prepare students to success-fully meet their future challenges.”

Allegra AtkinsonMath teacher

Shannon BarkerEnglish teacher

David BennettChemistry teacher

Stephanie ChurmaMath teacher

John FitzgeraldHistory teacher

Background: Greenfield earned his bachelor’s degree in history at UMass Amherst. He was a teaching assistant at this school in 2009 and a student teacher here last year. He also graduated from this school in 2003.Excited about... “getting to know students and working with them.”Brings to the school... “I think I can contribute to the sense of community because of past experi-ence working at this school.”

Rob GreenfieldHistory teacher

Background: Knapp earned a mas-ter’s in liberal arts and sciences at San Diego State University in 2008. He taught English in San Diego at Mira Mesa High School from 1999-2011.Excited about... “being surrounded by dedicated and caring faculty members and serving the students of this school.”Brings to the school... “experience and a unique Southern California cultural perspective and at-titude. I want you to know that Californians are people too.”

Derek KnappEnglish teacher

Background: Goldberg Massoff attended the University of Hartford Art School and received her bache-lor’s in fine arts. She also completed her master’s in educational admin-istration at UMass Boston in 2000. She taught ceramics at Newton South since 1997.Excited about… “meeting all the students.”Brings to the school… “my love for teaching, expertise in ceramics, and I love connecting with students. I also love to be active, play tennis and go hiking.”

Cindy Goldberg MassoffCeramics teacher

Background: Master earned a bach-elor’s in Italian and English and a master’s in Italian Studies at UMass Boston, while spending every sum-mer since 2005 as an ocean life-guard in New Jersey.Excited about... “teaching in a place where I can continue to learn so much and being a part of this school.”Brings to the school... “enthusiasm for my subject content and for the well-being of students. I love music, the ocean and Italian. I can’t wait to get to know everyone.”

David MasterItalian teacher

Background: Morelli attended Em-manuel College in Boston where she received her bachelor’s in history and secondary education. Morelli taught history at Apponequet Re-gional High School from 2009-2011.Excited about... “getting to know the students and become a part of the culture, while continu-ing to grow as a teacher.”Brings to the school... “I’m hard-working and reflective, so I think I can both contribute to and learn from my very talented department.”

Leah MorelliHistory teacher

Background: Turner received his bachelor’s in foreign service at Georgetown University and his master’s in social studies educa-tion at Columbia University. Before working at this school, he spent three years as a history teacher in Brooklyn, New York.Excited about... getting “to know and work with the amazing North students.”Brings to the school... “a lot of experience work-ing with kids who learn in a variety of different ways—and an enthusiasm for history.”

Peter TurnerHistory teacher

Background: Tuchmayer received her bachelor’s degree at the Uni-versity of California in San Diego in 2006. She also earned her master’s degree at Tufts University this year. Tuchmayer was a Latin teacher at La Salle High School in California from 2006-2008.Excited about... “teaching and learning in such a vibrant, welcoming community. I look forward to learning from everyone at this school.”Brings to the school... “an enthusiasm for teach-ing and learning about the Classics.”

Elise TuchmayerLatin teacher

compiled by Alex Feit and Samantha Libraty

Costumes integral to showsby Fatema Zaidi

Deep in the Theatre Ink area, a room is full of dresses, rang-ing from black to bright yellow. Shoes line up the shelves and boxes are mounting on top of each other, full to the brim with more clothing. A box of broken needles lies on the desk, waiting to be thrown away.

This room is for the costumes of Theatre Ink. Behind the scenes, seniors Gabbi Morgen-stern, Mary Emma Searles and Gwendolyn Stoll and sopho-more Sophie Sokolov manage the design and production of the costumes for all Theatre Ink shows.

“I was a freshman when my friends and I all auditioned for a play,” said Searles. “There was a question on the sheet that asked whether I would like to join crew as a second option. So my

friends and I did costumes, and I liked it, so I kept going.”

Stoll’s inspiration was the open house for Theatre Ink her junior year, she said.

“There was an open house, and my friend Parker had to attend since he was a member of the props crew. I followed him along, until I walked over to Costumes. I thought, ‘Well, I like art, and I like sewing.’ So I signed up.”

To start the entire process, costumers “look at the script, think about the time period and the setting and make sure the costume reflects the character’s personality,” said Stoll.

Once the show is underway, the costumers “ensure the cos-tumes don’t clash and keep in contact with the directors to get their opinion,” said Stoll.

A typical day in Costumes

varies depending on how close to the show dates they are, ac-cording to Searles.

“If we’re far away from a show, then we look at the list of things we need to do. We mea-sure the actors, and if an actor needs a dress or a suit or some clothing to be fixed, we’ll sew it or buy something from the thrift store,” said Searles.

The agenda is different on dates closer to the show, said Stoll.

“If we’re closer to the dates of the show, we tweak the cos-tumes—that might mean hem-ming the skirts or fixing the the tail of a suit if it keeps getting stuck on the set. Basically any-thing that needs to be fixed, we fix it,” according to Stoll.

“Costumes is just an extraor-dinary amount of fun—it’s like a family.”

file photo file photo file photo

file photo

file photo file photo

file photo

file photo file photo

file photo

file photo

file photo

advertisements Friday, Sept. 30, 20116 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Advertise in the Newtonite! Call 617-559-6273.

specialFriday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 7

This special is a guide to clubs and organizations at this school. Monday, various clubs and organizations partici-pated in Club Day in the cafeteria.

Here you can read more about the various clubs and organizations offered at this school.50 Cents to Save a LifeWhat: Students raise money to help people suffering from tropical diseases, such as hookworm and river blindness.When: Thursday X-blocks.Goal: “This year, we will be coming up with fundraising ideas like selling candy. We will also be working with the students who did the Darfur Concert last year to make neglected tropical diseases one of the causes that benefits from the concert,” said senior Diana Seldin, an officer.Officers: Seldin and senior Kayla Wong.Adviser: English teacher Nick Grant.

—Hilary brumberg Art ClubWhat : Students experiment with different drawing techniques.When: Thursday X-blocks in 129.Goal: “We want students who are not necessarily art majors to be able to express themselves creatively,” said senior Shoshana Stanger, an officer.Officers: Stanger and junior Izzy Rosenblatt.Adviser: Art teacher Shannon Slattery.

—malini gandHi

Asian Culture ClubWhat: Students engage in social activities during meetings. Each year, the club hosts Asian Culture Day and Asian Culture Night, a talent show with free food afterwards.When: Monday X-blocks in 353.Goal: “The goal of the Asian Culture Club is to raise awareness of Asian and Asian-American culture in our community,” said senior Joy Kang, an officer.Officers: Kang, seniors Bonnie Chen, Young Guang, Rebecca Jereza and Tiffany Wong and junior Winnie Chen.Advisers: English teachers Charlene Beh and Michele Leong.

—CyruS VagHar

Athletes Serving the CommunityWhat: Students, non-athletes included, volunteer at different events in the community.When: Time and location vary based on the events. There are no regular meetings.Goal: “To help kids with no time find time to volunteer,” said senior Stephanie Brown, a president.Officers: Brown and seniors Alessandra Denaro and Tim Kenslea.Adviser: Parent Kim Boucher.

—Kayla SHore

Badminton ClubWhat: Students play badminton.When: X-blocks in the SOA.Goal: “We created it for people to play badminton and for occasional tournaments against other schools,” said senior Melody Tang, an officer.Officers: Tang, senior Wendy Jamsri and junior Xin Yin Zhu.Adviser: Math teacher Derek Hogan.

—CyruS VagHar

Black Leadership Advisory Council (B.L.A.C.)What: Students of color and allies share experiences, discuss stereotypes, pursue academics through Peer Tutoring and college planning and prepare for B.L.A.C. Day.When: Monday X-blocks in 350.Goal: “To promote comfort of African Americans at this school and in the community and to provide a safe place to hang out,” said senior Robyn Estwick, the president.Officers: Estwick and senior Michela Meaney, the vice president.Adviser: English teacher Kim Parker.

—malini gandHi

Book ClubWhat: Each month, students read a book and meet to discuss it.When: X-blocks monthly in the library.Goal: “The goal of the club is to read awesome books, meet people with similar interests in other grades and have interesting discussions,” said freshman Annie Shriver, an officer.Officers: Shriver and freshmen Kavish Gandhi, Rebecca Hurwitz and Becca Webster.Adviser: Librarian Donna Johns.

—Hilary brumberg Cartooning ClubWhat: Students write and draw cartoons both individually and as a group.When: Monday X-blocks in 322.Goal: “To give students who love to draw and write cartoons the opportunity to share ideas and create cartoons together,” said sophomore Julia Moss, the officer.Adviser: History teacher David Bedar.

—Perrin Stein

Chess ClubWhat: Students practice their chess skills.When: Everyday after school until 4:30 in 325 or 350.Goal: “To fulfill our motto by using strategy, knowledge, yielding, risk-taking, intelligence and moxy,” said senior Cameron Couch, the officer.Adviser: English teacher Janice Miller.

—Perrin Stein

Class of 2012What: President and officers of the Class of 2012.When: Wednesdays after school in Adams house.Goal: “To represent the grade and incorporate everyone’s wishes and wants,” said senior Jon Paul Roby, the president.Officers: Roby and vice presidents Stephanie Brown, Ben Hills, Brooke Stearns and Ivan Wolyniec.Adviser: Special education teachers Nicole Franchi and Grace Niccolazo.

—artem aleKSanyan

Class of 2013What: President and officers of the Class of 2013.When: To be determined.Goal: “We are trying to have a successful year, academically, athletically and socially,” said junior Brian Goldfinger, the president.Officers: Goldfinger and vice presidents Shelly Altman, John Hogan, Ryan Lucken and Mike Safran.Advisers: English teachers Maureen Kaanaguh and Mary Palisoul.

—aSya groZdanoVa

Class of 2014What: President and officers of the Class of 2014.When: X-blocks in A106.Goal: “To make the Class of 2014 have the most fun-filled and enjoyable school year that we possibly can,” said sophomore Jared Perlo, the president.Officers: Perlo and vice presidents Ben Galgano, Yankel Karasik, Freddie Pierce and Emma Tavolieri.

Advisers: P.E. teacher Courtney Albert and science teacher Jodie Cohen.

—Sam JoneS

Class of 2015What: President and officers of the Class of 2015.When: To be determined.Goal: “The goal of the Class of 2015 is to represent its class and to make positive contributions to its school and community,” said Beals housemaster Michelle Stauss.Officers: Class elections will be held the next week.Adviser: To be determined.

—Connor VaSu

Comic and Manga ClubWhat: Students explore and learn about Manga, a Japanese art style.When: Monday X-blocks and Fridays after school in 363.Goal: To give students an “outlet to appreciate some Manga films and readings,” said English teacher Wendy Richardson, the adviser.Officers: To be determined.

—douglaS abramS

Cooking ClubWhat: Students cook healthy foods and learn about cooking.When: Thursdays until 4:30 in the international café.Goal: “We want to meet people, cook and practice directions,” said senior Josh Kantar, the president.Officers: Kantar and sophomore Nate Orlov, the vice president.Adviser: Special education teacher Lisa Goldthwaite.

—JaCob SCHwartZ

Creative Writing ClubWhat: Students do writing activities and peer edit each other’s pieces.When: Wednesdays after school in 355.Goal: “It’s a wonderful environment in which to grow as a writer. We are always open to new members, especially freshmen,” said senior Abby Holtzman, the officer.Adviser: English teacher Maureen Kavanaugh.

—iSatou marenaH

Dance Club: Twisted RumorWhat: People gather to practice different dances, including belly dance, Latino and ballroom dance.When: X-blocks in the dance studio.Goal: “The goal is to inspire people to dance and to express themselves with their moves,” said junior Milena Petkova, an officer.Officers: Petkova and senior Ralitza Petkova.Advisers: English language learners teacher Deborah Jose.

—aSya groZdanoVa

Debate TeamWhat : Students prepare for and participate in mock debates.When: Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and Thursday X-blocks in 270.Goal: “To prepare students to be confident thinkers and speakers and to give those who have strong opinions a way to voice them,” said senior Abby Holtzman, an officer.Officers: Holtzman and junior Jordan Ecker.Adviser: English teacher Thomas Fabian.

—douglaS abramS

A guide to clubs at this school

Club Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

Jacob Schwartz

Greengineering: Sophomores Kristen McMillen and Emily Kern and senior Lida Richardson work during a greengineering class C-block. The greengineering club meets Thursday X-blocks in 148.

Friday, Sept. 30, 20118 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Djembe ClubWhat: Students learn technique and rhythms of the djembe, a popular West African hand drum.When: In 150 at a time to be determined.Goal: “To create an interest in the djembe by having a community at this school,” according to senior Emmett Greenberg, the officer.Adviser: English teacher and chief innovation officer Stephen Chinosi.

—Hilary brumberg

Dreamfar High School Marathon TeamWhat: Students practice and train for the Providence Marathon.When : Tuesdays and Thursdays immediately after school in 345. The time and location of the team’s meetings on Saturdays are to be determined.Goal: “To take small steps and show discipline by responsibly training for and completing all 26.2 miles of the Providence Marathon,” said senior Manny Lopez, the officer.Adviser: Teaching assistant Drew Pierce.

—Jonny leVenFeld

Dyslexia Awareness and Resource ClubWhat: Students listen to speakers talk about how to cope with dyslexia, and teachers learn about how to help dys-lexic students.When: Once a month in a location to be determined.Goal: “We want to make it seem like they don’t have dyslexia,” said junior Ryan Lucken, the officer. Adviser: English teacher Nick Grant.

—Perrin Stein

Education for EmpowermentWhat: Students meet and hold fund-raisers for foundations that help build schools for impoverished orphans.When: Thursday X-blocks monthly in a location to be determined.Goal: “The goal is to raise money for poor children so that they can live comfortable lives and have equal oppor-tunities,” said senior Fatema Zaidi, the president.Adviser: History teacher Susan Wilkins.

—Kayla SHore

Environmental ClubWhat: Students discuss environmental issues and engage in projects aimed at helping the environment.When: In 413 at a time to be determined.Goal: “To make the school more eco-friendly,” said junior Zach Rosenof, an officer.Officers: Rosenof, senior Thao Bach and juniors Jay Feinstein and Victoria Holland.Adviser: Science teacher Ann Dannenberg.

—Perrin Stein

Fencing ClubWhat: Students learn to fence.When: In the cafeteria at a time to be determined.Goal: “To introduce students to fencing and possibly to compete against other school fencing teams,” said freshman Aris Vanderpool, an officer. Officers: Vanderpool and freshman Douglas Friedberg. Adviser: Latin teacher Elise Tuchmayer.

—mereditH abramS

Film ClubWhat: Students watch and discuss films.When: Fridays after school in 363.Goal: “To introduce students to thought-provoking films as an art and to discuss social issues that may be dealt with in the fims,” said junior Owen Weitzman, an officer.Off icers : Wei tzman, senior Sam Green, junior Alec Mapes-Frances and sophomores Mike Buonomo and Emmett McCleary.Adviser : Engl ish teacher Wendy Richardson.

—Hilary brumberg

FortéWhat: Members meet to learn their mu-sic for upcoming a cappella concerts.

When: Sundays at 7:30 p.m. at members’ homes. Auditions are Monday and Tuesday after school.Goal: “To learn new music and to have fun singing together,” said senior Mira Netsky, an officer.Officers: Netsky and seniors Pamela Chen and Melissa Weikart.Adviser: Fine and performing arts department head Todd Young.

—Kayla SHore

French ClubWhat: Students learn about all aspects of French culture, including cuisine, games, films, music and language.When: Monday X-b locks in the international café or 267.Goal: “The purpose of the club is to enjoy French culture,” said senior Emmett Greenberg, an officer.Officers: Greenberg and senior Steven Michael.Adviser: French teacher Suzanne Putzeys.

—Hilary brumberg

French Film ClubWhat: Students watch French films while enjoying food and relaxing.When: In 267 at a time to be determined.Goal: “To show people the awesomeness of French films and to have a good time,” said senior Rachel Adelsheim, an officer.Officers: Adelsheim and senior Madeleine Parmenter.Adviser: French teacher Suzanne Putzeys.

—Kayla SHore

Friday Afternoon Culture Society

What: Students watch “The Office.”When: Fridays during third lunch in a location to be determined.Goal: “To enjoy watching ‘The Office’ while having a good time eating pizza,” said senior Ellie Abbott, an officer.Officers: Abbott and senior Will Spiro.Adviser: Librarian and English teacher Kevin McGrath.

—Seungwan Kang

Future Business Leadersof America (FBLA)What: Students learn about business principles and try to develop business leadership skills through various activities, including community service and fundraising.When: Monday or Thursday X-blocks in 319.Goal: “To increase interest in business,” said senior Kevin Wu, a president.Officers: Wu and seniors Ryan Chan, Tim Kenslea and Jordan Long.Adviser: Business teacher Robert Kane.

—Hilary brumberg

Gay-Straight AllianceWhat: Students work to create a safe space for students of all sexual orientations.When: Monday X-blocks in a location to be determined.Goal: “The goal is primarily to promote inclusion and equal rights in a school environment and to make sure every student feels safe and equal,” said senior Abby Holtzman, an officer.Officers: Holtzman and seniors Madeleine Aquilina, Yaelle Sarid-Segal and Miko Walsh.

Adviser: Math teacher Janice Lichtman.—Seungwan Kang

Girls Learn InternationalWhat: Students learn about the challenges women around the world face in regards to education.When: To be determined.Goal: “To educate as many people as possible about what we can do to help girls in other countries obtain the education that we take for granted,” said senior Katja Hamler, an officer.Officers: Hamler, senior Cora Spillman and junior Devon Phinney.Adviser: Math teacher Rachel Mingos.

—amanda HillS

Greengineering ClubWhat: Students learn how to create environmentally friendly tools and products.When: Thursday X-blocks in 148.Goal: “Greengineering allows students to do hands on work on our core projects like biodiesel and fused bags without having to commit to the full class,” said senior Quinn Silva.Officers: The club has leadership roles, but there are no formal officers.Advisers: Science teacher Matt Anderson and English teacher and chief innovation officer Stephen Chinosi.

—Connor VaSu

Guidance AidesWhat: Upperclassmen meet freshmen, talk to them and help them transition into high school.When: Tuesdays and Thursdays in homeroom and occasionally X-blocks. Guidance aides are assigned to all freshman homerooms.Goal: “To have the freshmen have a smooth transition from middle school to high school and answer any questions that they have,” said senior Emily Paley, an officer.Officers: Paley and senior Jon Paul Roby.Advisers: Counselors Christine Potter and Amanda Tsetsi.

—Jennie King

Help the Homeless ClubWhat: Students collect clothes, toys, books and food for the homeless, volunteer at a shelter and participate in the “Birthday Wishes” program to bring birthday parties to homeless children.When: Monday X-blocks in 247.Goal: “There are many homeless people in Boston, but many people don’t realize that there are local homeless people as well. We would like to reach out to the homeless in Newton and the surrounding areas in order to make a difference,” said junior Anna Golin, an officer.Officers: Golin and junior Alicia Santiago.Adviser: Spanish teacher Marla Glaskin.

—malini gandHi

Hiking ClubWhat: Students go on local hiking trips to places such as the Blue Hills, and students take an overnight trip to showshoe in the White Mountains.When: In 429 at a time to be determined.Goal: “We’re eager to get people of all hiking abilities interested and to explore the beautiful outdoors,” said sophomore Eliana Gevelber, the officer.Adviser: Science teacher Ann Dannenberg.

––Julia oran

H.O.P.E. ClubWhat: Students help to combat bullying, eating disorders and other issues teens face.When: Wednesdays after school in 266.Goal: “To raise awareness about issues that teens struggle with and how actions can unintentionally hurt people,” said junior Lynn Chou, the officer.Adviser: French teacher Margot Murphy.

—daVid Kwartler

House ManagementWhat: Students help set up before Theater Ink productions and act as ushers during shows.When: One hour before Theatre Ink shows begin.Goal: “To help students run the house smoothly on the night of a show,” said

Maliha Ali

Improvisation: Seniors Graham Techler and Charlie Beers and junior Lily Brown practice during improv club, which meets Thursday X-blocks.

A guide to clubs at this school

Club Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 9

senior Katherine Norris, an officer.Officers: Norris, senior Danielle Campbell, junior Kyle Hartman and sophomore Joyani Ghosh.Adviser: Theatre Ink director Adam Brown.

—Jennie King

Improv ClubWhat: Students explore improvisational comedy and improve their comedic skills.When: Thursday X-blocks in the little theatre.Goal: “To teach kids to experiment with comedy who have never worked with it before,” said junior Sam Raby, a director.Officers: Raby and senior Nicole Bunis.Adviser: Jesse Appell, ’10

—Peter diamond

Italian ClubWhat: Students learn about different aspects of the Italian culture.When: Thursday X-blocks in 256.Goal: “To learn more about Italy and to have fun trying new things,” said junior Maggie Amatucci, an officer.Officers: Amatucci and junior Elianna Accomazzi.Adviser: Italian teacher Maria Procopio-Demas.

—amanda HillS

Japanese Film and Anime ClubWhat: Students watch Japanese movies and television shows.When: Tuesdays until 4 and Thursday X-blocks in 363.Goal: “This club gives people who already love anime a place to watch and discuss it. It also gives people who know little or none about the genre a chance to discover it,” said senior Melissa Levy, an officer.Officers: Levy and seniors Rin Rogers and Enrique Villena.Adviser : Engl ish teacher Wendy Richardson.

—Perrin Stein

Jewish Student UnionWhat: Students learn about and celebrate Jewish traditions.When: Monday X-blocks in 355.Goal: “We want to create an environment where students can come together to discuss and appreciate Jewish culture,” said junior Caroline Nunberg, a president.Officers: Nunberg and senior Laurie Kamenetsky.Adviser: Science teacher Tatiana Osipenko.

—Perrin Stein

Junior National Association for the DeafWhat: Students plan activities such as community service events and fundraisers.When: Thursday X-blocks in 366.Requirement: A knowledge of American Sign Language.Goal: “To expand the program and to give back to the community through events such as Christmas donations and fundraisers,” said senior Reggie Joseph an officer.Officers: Joseph, seniors Danayt Gafo and Neha Jain and junior Dominick Boyd.Advisers: English and history teacher Erika Guarino and interpreter Marcia Gardiner.

—gloria li

LigerbotsWhat: Students work to construct a robot for the FIRST Robotics Competition.When: Until the season starts in January, the team meets Thursdays from 3:30 to 5, alternating between 139 and the woodshop at South.Goal: “The goal of this club is to build a super robot that will defeat all opponents in the game of that year, but it’s mainly to have fun while doing something cool with robotics,” said senior Paige Grody, a captain.Officers: Grody, juniors Evan Nitkin and Eli Sadovnik, South senior Ruth Allard and South sophomore Dan Ehrlich.Advisers: IT specialist Phil Golando, robotics and engineering teacher Scott Rosenhahn, South science department head Charles Hurwit and South science teacher Jordan Kraus.

—alex Feit

Math TeamWhat: Students practice complicated math problems and compete against other schools’ teams.When: Wednesdays after school in 465.Goal: “To learn new math and have fun doing it. We hope to inspire people to pursue more math outside of school,” said senior Caroline Ellison, the captain.Adviser: Math teacher Elisse Ghitelman.

—KriStina Zagame

MelocotonesWhat: Students learn and rehearse a-cappella songs.When: At least once a week in varying locations and at differing times.Requirements: Applicants must fill out an

audition packet and audition. Goal: “To give all students who are interested a chance to participate in a performance group at this school,” said senior Rebecca Jereza, an officer.Officers: Jereza, senior Alyssa Kaplan and junior Samantha Chan.Adviser: Fine and performing arts department head Todd Young.

—Hilary brumberg

Mentors in Violence PreventionWhat: Meet to discuss issues like sexual harassment and to organize ways to share the club’s message with the school.When: Thursday X-blocks in the film lecture hall.Requirements: Interested students must apply and attend one training session.Goal: “The goal of MVP is to inform students about critical issues that occur in and out of high schools,” said senior Emily Schacter, an officer.Officers: Schacter and seniors Alessandra Denaro, Veronica Ingham and Alyssa Kaplan.Adviser: Science teacher Albert Calderone.

—Perrin Stein

Microcredit ClubWhat: Students discuss ways to raise money and donate to a variety of countries.When: Every other Thursday X-block in 133.Goal: “To give loans to people who otherwise could not have been able to support themselves and start their own businesses,” said senior Hannah Schindler, an officer.Officers: Schindler and senior Ilana Greenstein.Adviser: History teacher Ty Vignone.

––Julia oran

MingaWhat: Students hold fundraisers and raise awareness about the sexual exploitation of children.When: To be determined.Goal: “To bring teenagers together against the sexual exploitation of children,” said senior Rebecca Jereza, an officer.Officers: Jereza and seniors Tiphaine Kugener and Diana Sapahnik.Adviser: Math teacher Janice Lichtman.

––Julia oran

Mock TrialWhat: Students prepare for their roles as either lawyers or witnesses to compete in mock trials against other schools’ teams.When: Wednesdays 7 to 9 p.m. in 253, from November to February.Goal: “To learn about the law and also to prepare and to perform witness examinations,” said senior Michael Dinsmore, the president.Adviser: Latin teacher David Hawkins.

—leaH budSon

Model U.N.What: Students talk about current international issues and discuss foreign policy.When: Thursdays 5 to 6 in the film lecture hall.Goal: “To model the real U.N. where each member represents a country and talks about issues from his country’s perspectives,” said senior Gabe Dreyer, the secretary-general.Officers: Dreyer and seniors Allie Phillips and Emily Schacter and junior Sage Vallabh are under secretary-generals.Adviser: History teacher Gregory Drake.

—liam wilCox-warren

NewtonianWhat: Students work on this school’s yearbook.When: After school in 275 beginning in November.Goal: “To have students come together to produce this school’s yearbook at the end of the year,” said television production aide Amanda Mazzola, the adviser.Officers: To be determined.

—liam wilCox-warren

NewtoniteWhat: Students produce this school’s newspaper.When: Every day after school in 273.Goal: “The Newtonite is a way to represent student opinion and report news around the school and community,” said senior Ben Hills, an editor-in-chief.Requirements: Students must take Journalism 1 to work on the writing staff,

but anyone can help with the advertising sales, art, photography, the website and circulation.Officers: Hills and juniors Hilary Brumberg and Perrin Stein are editors-in-chief.Adviser: English teacher Kate Shaughnessy.

—malini gandHi

Nicaragua ClubWhat: Students think of ways to serve the community of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.When: X-blocks in 266.Goal: “To serve the community of San Juan del Sur, this is mainly in the form of helping the local school system,” said senior Leo Simmons, an officer.Officers: Simmons and senior Stephanie BrownAdviser: French teacher Fiona Blyth.

—naomi CHerenSon

Orange ShieldWhat: Students organize community service events and fundraisers.When: Every other Monday X-block in 453.Goal: “To help people in the local community and to raise money for local causes,” said senior Jen Hamilton, the officer.Adviser : Science teacher Michael Hazeltine.

—ryan Condon

Paws MediationWhat: PAWS Mediators are trained students and faculty who are available to help mediate conflicts that arise between students and/or faculty.When: PAWS training will take place during two days in November or December. Mediations happen on an as-needed basis.Requirements: To attend a certification session. Goal: “I hope that students become

experienced at working in groups to resolve conflicts and to make effective compromises,” said senior Emma Rosenfield, an officer.Officers: Rosenfield and senior Hunter Hedenberg.Advisers: Counselors Kyra Bateman and Belma Johnson.

—ryan Condon

Peer MentoringWhat: Students mentor peers who are new to this school, making their transition easier.When: Meets once a term at a time and place to be determined.Goal: “Peer Mentoring is a credited club for diverse and motivated students to show new students the school and to help them become acclimated,” said senior Rachel Adelsheim, the officer.Requirements: Must attend an orientation at the beginning of the school year.Adviser: Counselor Kyra Bateman.

—niCK HanSell

Peer TutoringWhat: Upperclassmen choose a subject that they would like to tutor to underclassmen in.When: Starts at the beginning of October. Students participate during their free blocks.Requirements: Students must complete an application, which can be obtained from Burke.Goal: “Students get to interact with each other in a helpful and respectful learningenvironment,” said math teacher Karly Burke, an adviser.Advisers: Burke and math teacher Melissa Rice.

—niCK HanSell

Jacob Schwartz

Angle-grinding: Senior Aaron Siegel works on the set for the upcoming Theatre Ink show,“Tartuffe.” Stage crew meets in 185 every day after school.

special Friday, Sept. 30, 201110 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Jacob Schwartz

Tossing the disc: Junior Evan Zhao practices Ultimate Frisbee on the multi-purpose field with other members of the Ultimate team.

Poetry ClubWhat: Students write and share poems. When: Thursday X-blocks in 364.Goal: “To have fun and express yourself through poems,” said senior Corey Hess-Mahan, an officer. Officers: Hess-Mahan and senior Rachael Adelsheim.Adviser: English teacher Michael Fieleke.

—Ryan Condon

Quidditch ClubWhat: Students practice and compete in Quidditch, a sport inspired by Harry Potter.When: Mondays and Thursdays after X-block in a location to be determined.Goal: “To have fun playing Quidditch and to get better as a team,” said sophomore Stefan Steenstrup, an officer.Officers: Steenstrup and senior Cameron Couch.Adviser: English teacher Nicholas Grant.

—Ryan Condon

Sailing TeamWhat: Students sail two different types of boats in the spring on the Charles River in Boston.When: Every day after school at Community Boating. Students meet by the Main Entrance in order to carpool.Goal: “The goal is to learn to sail and to race against other teams,” said senior Veronica Ingham, an officer.Officers: Ingham and senior Lillian Robinson.Adviser: Scheduler Richard Ballou.

—Sam JoneS

Science TeamWhat: Students compete in eight science competitions throughout the year. When: The whole team meets Monday X-blocks in 425.Goal: “To form a competitive team that represents Newton North,” said junior Daniel Shy, vice-president.Officers: Shy is vice president and senior Cole Kerr is president.Adviser: Science teacher Tatyana Osipenko.

—PeteR diamond

Ski and Snowboard ClubWhat: Students take weekend ski and snowboard trips throughout the winter.When: The two trips this year will be sometime in January, February or early March.Goal: “To provide the opportunity to ski and snowboard recreationally for students at this school. The club has existed for over 20 years, and it’s always given kids a chance to get to know each other,” said special education teacher Stephen Hess, the adviser.Officers: Seniors Curren Ferry and Brooke Goldstone and junior Mark Vrahas. —Julia moSS

Spanish ClubWhat: Students of all levels gather to practice speaking Spanish and to enjoy games and food.When : Monday X-blocks in the international café.Goal: “To provide a place to practice your Spanish and learn about culture,” said senior Sarah Bolden, an officer.Officers: Bolden and senior Zlata Temkin.Adviser: Spanish teacher Jose Sancho.

—Kayla ShoRe

Sportscasting ClubWhat: Students get the opportunity to broadcast and to announce at Tigers’ games.When: In 260 and there are no regular meetings.Goal: “To do sportscasting to get to cover this school’s games,” said English teacher Neil Giordano, the adviser.

—Kayla ShoRe

Stage CrewWhat: Students work on lighting, sound and set design for Theatre Ink.When: Every day after school in 185.Goal: “To make settings for theatrical productions and to bring performances to life,” said junior Phoebe Arteaga, an officer.

Officers: Arteaga, senior Aaron Siegel and junior Amalia Sweet.Adviser: Intro to Technical Theater teacher Michael Barrington-Haber

—Sonia KhuRana

Students Against Destructive DecisionsWhat: Students work to fundraise and to raise awareness about the destructive decisions that some teenagers make.When: X-blocks in 318.Goal: “Our goal is to spread awareness and to create healthy classroom and social environments,” said junior Kyle Hartmann, the president.Officers: Hartmann is the president and junior Victoria Holland is the vice president.Adviser: To be determined.

—Sonia KhuRana

Team P.A.C.T.What: Students fundraise for cancer research foundations.When: Every other Monday X-block in 421.Goal: “To raise money for cancer recearch,” said senior Danielle Wasson, an officer.Officers: Wasson and senior Hanna Stubblefield.Adviser: Science teacher Brian Gagne. —Kayla ShoRe

Theatre InkWhat: Students can act, work backstage, do makeup and costumes, stage manage and student produce for Theatre Ink productions.When: Every day after school in the little theatre and the auditorium.Goal: “To create the best student theatre we can,” said senior Katherine Norris, an officer.Officers: Norris, senior Danielle Cambell, junior Kyle Hartmann and sophomore Joyani Ghosh.Adviser: Theatre Ink director Adam Brown.

—teReSa tRiaS

Theatre Ink CostumesWhat: Students work on creating all the clothing that appears on stage for every Theatre Ink show.When: Every day after school in 179.Goal: “To introduce students to the world of costuming and to allow students to use this unique outlet for their art,” said sophomore Sophie Sokolov, an officer.Officers: Sokolov and seniors Gabbi Morgenstern, Mary-Emma Searles and Gwendolyn Stoll.Adviser: Theatre Ink director Adam Brown.

—hilaRy BRumBeRg

Thought PrintsWhat: Students create and select submissions of fiction, art, and music to publish in this school’s literary magazine.When: Sunday nights from 7 to 9 at editors’ houses.Goal: “To bring student artwork and literature into the public eye and to showcase students talents,” said senior Madeleine Aquilina, the editor-in-chief.Adviser: English teacher Neil Giordano

—teReSa tRiaS

Tiger FriendsWhat: Students enjoy activities with students in the Connections program such as watching movies and playing outside.When: Monday X-blocks in 313.Goal: “To integrate the kids in the Connections program with mainstream Newton North students, giving everyone a chance to step outside their comfort zone by meeting new people,” said senior Haley Rosenberg, an officer.Officers: Rosenberg and senior Jamie Ravech.Adviser: Special education teacher Jodie Whidden.

—KRiStina Zagame

Tiger MagazineWhat: Students produce a 6 to 8 episode TV show that airs on NewTV.When: Meets as a class C-block in 260.R e q u i r e m e n t s : S t u d e n t s m u s t be enrolled in Advanced Television

Production or Television Production Level I.Goal: “To produce great episodes of Tiger Magazine,” said senior Johnny Medlar, the officer.Adviser: English teacher Neil Giordano.

—naomi CheRenSon

Tutors in ActionWhat: Students walk to Cabot to tutor fifth graders, focusing mainly on math but also serving as friends and mentors.When: Monday afternoons from 3 to 4 at Cabot.Goal: “To help out the kids at Cabot in any way we can,” said senior Sarah Bajwa, the president.Adviser: Counselor Darby Verre. —Kayla ShoRe

Ultimate FrisbeeWhat: Students practice Ultimate Frisbee and prepare for competitions against other schools.When: In the spring, every day after school at Burr.Goal: “The goal of Ultimate Frisbee is to compete against other schools, placewell at States, and spread the game of Ultimate,” said junior Nick Roberts, an officer.Officers: Roberts and senior Justin Wu.Adviser: Science teacher Matt Anderson.

—Jonny levenfeld

Water Polo ClubWhat: Students learn basic water polo techniques, execute basic drills and play

water polo.When: In the pool in the spring at a time to be determined.Goal: “To get as many people interested in water polo as possible, develope basic skill of the game and have fun in the water,” said sophomore Irina Rojas, the officer.Adviser: To be determined.

—hilaRy BRumBeRg

Yako ConnectionsWhat: Students learn about the culture of Burkina Faso and raise money for school supplies for the village of Yako.When: Monday X-blocks in 266.Goal: “To broaden our horizons about the global community and to work with school systems that are less fortunate than ours,” said Fiona Blyth, the adviser.

—aRtem aleKSanyan

Veteran’s History Project What: Students videotape interviews with veterans of various wars and send them to the Library of Congress to be archived.When: In 312 at a time to be deter-mined.Goal: “Our goal is to get original war stories,” said junior Ian Wittrup, an officer.Officers: Wittrup and juniors Chris D’Amore, Mike Gavris, Brian Goldfin-ger and Mike Sullivan.Adviser: History teacher David Bedar.

—hilaRy BRumBeRg

A guide to clubs at this school

Club Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

A guide to clubs at this schoolClub Special

Subscribe to the Newtonite!

Call 617-559-6273

today!

more parents waiting to pick up their kids than I had ever seen at school before.”

She sa id , “My parents didn’t al low us to watch TV for about a week after that. I remem-

ber that I couldn’t quite relate to it personally at first, but I did feel sad.”Juniors

Maeve Larkin knew some-thing was out of the ordinary September 11 when all the teachers gathered together at recess. “They seemed to be stressed about something,” she said. “I did find out what hap-pened later that day, but I don’t think my parents gave me all the exact details that I would later find out.”

Wei Wei Wan said he re-members that in the apartment building where his family used to live, chaos struck. “In our building, there was a television in the lobby, and I remember

featuresFriday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 11

Students study, recall terrorist attacksby JaCob SCHwartZ

Normally high school stu-dents have not experienced the events discussed in their history classes.

However, in history classes throughout this school in the days following Sunday, Sept. 11 students were able to con-nect with the curriculum, as the events that were discussed affected each student personally and immediately.

For the 10th anniversary of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, history teachers were asked to focus on the events and the aftermath of September 11.

The decision to teach about September 11 in Newton history classes for grades six through 12 was made by history depart-ment head Jonathan Bassett, South history department head Jennifer Morrill and K-8 social studies coordinator Lucia Sul-livan.

Bassett said the intent of the classes was “to make sure students know what happened and why it is important to our history.”

Teachers did not have to stick to a central lesson plan, accord-ing to Bassett. “We provided materials for teachers to use if they wanted to or to get them started, but what the students learned and discussed about September 11 was up to the teachers of each class.”

Ty Vignone said he used many steps to teach his students about September 11.

He began his classes by giving his students a packet of facts, the goal of which was simply to show students what happened, how it happened and to clear up any misconceptions, he said.

“For example, many of my students had thought before that September 11 was Al Qa-eda’s first big attack,” Vignone said. “They learned Monday that September 11 was actually Al Qaeda’s fourth attack.”

Next, Vignone’s students discussed personal experiences, and Vignone invited faculty from the school to speak about their own September 11 experi-ences.

According to Vignone, “All the teachers that came in had a different recollection because when you’re five years old, you don’t quite get it, but if you were an adult, you were so trau-matized that you don’t always even remember certain details that other people remember. Everyone remembers different things.”

In class Monday, Sept. 12, Katharine Heidlage’s students spoke to one another about their personal experiences from September 11. “One girl remem-bered her mother crying, and I thought it was surprising that this student would actually be able to remember something that vivid from such an early age,” Heidlage said.

Heidlage’s classes then con-tinued by studying the events of

Price recollects parent’s death in Flight 93 crash

the September 11 attack. “Most of my students were surprised to learn that September 11 wasn’t the first attack on the World Trade Center. There was a bombing by Al Qaeda in 1993 in the basement of the towers.”

For their homework over the weekend of the anniversary of the attacks, students in John Fitzgerald’s th and 10th grade classes interviewed adults in their lives on the events of Sep-tember 11, and what the experi-ence was like for them.

“I learned from this activity that a lot of people have indirect

or even direct connections to the attacks that I had no idea about,” Fitzgerald said.

Junior Emory Holmes, a student in David Bedar’s U.S. History class, said Bedar ’s class Monday, Sept. 12 showed students “who we are now as a country and how we’ve dealt with terrorists.” During the class, Holmes said students dis-cussed whether it was ethical to torture suspected terrorists and to force them to endure long trials. “I didn’t really learn a ton of new stuff, but it did made me think.”

The goal in Gregory Drake’s history classes was “to make sure students looked at how our society changed,” Drake said. “I found that in general, students felt that the people of our country had become less trustworthy. One of my students really summed it up well, by saying ‘September 11 was when America lost its innocence.’”

Drake’s classes also dicussed the aftermath of September 11. “Many students said that it brought out the best in our people because of the rise in nationalism.”

by Hilary brumberg

and Perrin Stein

Jean and Don Peterson ar-rived at the airport early for their flight to San Franisco. They switched to an earlier flight and boarded without mis-hap. Once the plane took off, its trajectory differed fatally from the planned route.

The Petersons, principal Jen-nifer Price’s mother and step-father, along with the 38 other passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 never reached their destination on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.

They all died in Shanksville, Penn., where the plane crashed when the flight’s passengers and crew diverted terrorists’

possible attempt to fly the plane into the White House.

Price spent most of Septem-ber 11 unaware of her mother and step-father’s deaths be-cause they were not originally scheduled to be on board Flight 93.

Instead, as one of the house-masters at Lincoln-Sudbury High School, she focused on communicating information to students and faculty about the attacks and helping students get in touch with their parents.

Around 4:30, she received a phone call from her uncle, who delivered the news of her mother and stepfather’s deaths. “I did not understand what had happened,” Price said. “I still

struggle to explain it because this was sort of an unexplain-able event.”

As a part of the 10th anniver-sary of September 11, an orga-nization called the Family and Friends of Flight 93 unveiled a national monument where the crash occurred.

Price, who was the organiza-tion’s first president, attended the ceremony in Shanksville with her partner and children and the other families who lost relatives in the crash.

“Friends and Families of Flight 93 created the memorial to honor and remember what happened,” Price said. “This ceremony helped me bring closure to what happened and

helped my kids understand the event.”

Price’s children are seven and 10 years old. The oldest was born merely 18 days before the deaths of Price’s mother and stepfather. “Having my first child and losing my mother within three weeks of each other was extremely challenging,” she said.

Price’s methods of coping with her mother and stepfa-ther ’s tragic deaths helped define her as a person, she said. “Until that day, I was a kid for whom everything went right. I did well in school. I went to Princeton. I became a teacher, and the students liked me. I got an administrative position, and

my colleagues liked me. But, the true measure of a person is not what goes right. Instead, it is what goes wrong—what is difficult.”

By working through the chal-lenge of losing her mother and stepfather and raising a newborn child, Price learned resilience and developed inner strength, which have helped her as principal, she said.

In addition to gaining con-fidence in her ability to “get through tough stuff,” Price said her parents’ sudden deaths gave her the ability to relate to people with tragedy in their lives. “That’s not a great skill, but unfortunately, it helps in this job.”

Students’ memories of September 11 still lingerby amanda HillS and JaCob SCHwartZ

With Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 now 10 years in the past, memo-ries of that day are becoming dimmer and dimmer for the generation of students who are currently in high school.

Students and teachers recall where they were when they first heard about the terrorist attacks.Seniors

Caleb Bromberg was sup-posed to have dance class after school on September 11. In-stead, his dad picked him up from school and told him every-thing was cancelled. “He tried to explain to me that there was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which I obviously didn’t understand because I was in second grade.”

Before September 11, the television in his house had barely been watched, Bromberg said. However, “that night we all gathered around it and watched the footage. I still have a very clear memory of that,” he said.

Exiting Mason Rice Elemen-tary School September 11, Katherine Norris said she “saw

that everyone was rushing down the stairs as fast as they could to watch the news,” he said. Sophomores

Tess Vasiliadis’ memories of the day include her kindergar-ten class being disrupted when her teacher left the classroom to watch the news. She said, “I just remember my teacher leaving and an aide being in charge. I re-member the whole school being confused. My mom explained the gist to me. My whole family was just really upset.”

Simon Wolfe sa id he was extremely con-fused when he, a five-year-old a t the t ime , heard that there had been a ter-rorist attack. “My bro ther explained the difference be-tween a tourist and a terrorist, but my grandma was the first person to explain what had happened. She told me there were bad people in America and they killed people,” he remembers.

FreshmenJonathan Gomolka said he

has few recollections of the day. “I was in preschool. All I remember is families taking out their kids for the day,” he said. “My mom said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it later.’ We went home and watched the news. I didn’t really understand the events of September 11 until I was nine.”

Ella Laniado said she barely remembers the day. She re-called, “Everyone was stressed and frantic. I was confused.”Teachers

Math teacher Nicole Conway said he was working as a stu-dent teacher at an elementary school at the time, so she was not fully aware of what had happened until she watched the news later that day.

“Because it was an elemen-tary school, there were no TVs where you could watch the news. We didn’t want to scare the kids. I didn’t grasp it until later on,” she said.

“It was pretty terrifying. I re-member feeling very vulnerable, like I had had this false sense of security that as an American

nothing would ever happen to us. When President Bush came on and spoke, he was very reas-suring.”

Math teacher Elisse Ghitel-man was co-teaching a class at the time. She remembers former principal Jennifer Huntington making an announcement when the towers collapsed.

“On the fourth floor, the stu-dents were worried that they would be attacked because it was a tall building. People didn’t know what was next,” she said.

And, to add to the fright of the terrorist attacks, there was a bomb scare in the school the next day.

“When everyone went out to the stadium, we saw Air Force planes flying around,” Ghitel-man recalled.

Remembering our scared, vulnerable and worried reac-tions upon hearing the news of September 11 is key to making sure we never forget the tragic losses of those who perished that day.

We need to continue to talk about that day in order to com-memorate and honor all that was lost.

Gabe Dreyer

Remembrance: History teacher Gregory Drake discusses September 11 with his students.

Newtonian

Katherine Norris

Newtonian

Simon Wolfe

advertisements Friday, Sept. 30, 201112 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

276 Church Street, Newton, MA 02458(617) 244-6050 l www.westsuburbanymca.org

Try our new TRX Suspension Trainer program — a revolutionary method of leveraged bodyweight exercises used to build power, strength, flexibility, balance and mobility.

TRX Body Blast TRX Fundamentals TRX Circuit Training

For more information, contact Jane Carroll at ext. 3007

WEST SUBURBAN YMCA

TRX® TRAINING

Advertise in the Newtonite! Call 617-559-6273.

calendarFriday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 13

OctoberThe SATs are tomorrow at

7:30 a.m.Warnings for Term I are due

Tuesday, Oct. 4.Thursday, Oct. 6 is a profes-

sional half day, with school ending at 11 a.m. That evening, Back to School Night for par-ents is 7 to 9.

Yom Kippur begins Saturday, Oct. 8 at sundown.

No school on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 10.

School and College Nights are Wednesday, Oct. 12 and Tuesday, Oct. 18 from 7 to 8:30 in the cafeteria.

Students, faculty and staff will participate in morning activities as part of of Two Schools, One Book Friday, Oct. 14.

The PSATs are Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 a.m.

The PTSO Principal’s Coffee is Tuesday, Oct. 18 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m in 103.

The 2nd Senior Year Project (SYP) Informational Meeting is Monday, Oct. 17 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the library.

Student photo retakes are Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The ACTs are Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 a.m.

A Newton Schools Foun-dation Event will take place Thursday, Oct. 27.

The PLAN test is Saturday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 a.m.

SYP Registration closes Monday, Oct. 31.

NovemberThe PTSO meets Wednesday,

Nov. 2 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.The Huntington Lecture

Series begins Thursday, Nov. 3 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the film lecture hall. That night, The-atre Ink presents “Tartuffe,” directed by Spanish teacher Dan Fabrizio, whichwill show through Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Term I ends Friday, Nov. 4.The SATs are Saturday, Nov.

5 at 7:30 a.m.Term II begins Monday, Nov.

7.Math MCAS retests are

Wednesday, Nov. 9. and Thurs-day, Nov. 10.

Financial Aid Night is Thurs-day, Nov. 10 from 7 to 10:30 in the auditorium.

No school for Veteran’s Day, Friday, Nov. 11.

English MCA S retests are Monday, Nov. 14 through Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Harvestfest I and II are Wednesday, Nov. 16 and Thurs-day, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

Northside Dining Adventure is Friday, Nov. 18 from 6:30 to 11 p.m.

Athletic Fall Awards Night is Monday, Nov. 21 from 6 to 9 in the auditorium.

There is an Early Dismissal at 1:15 Tuesday, Nov. 22 because of Parent Conferences, which take place from 2 to 5.

School closes for Thanksgiv-ing Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 11.

The Brookline game is Thursday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m. at Brookline.

Another round of Parent Conferences will take place Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 4 to 7.

DecemberThursday, Dec. 1 is a profes-

sional half day, with school ending at 11.

SYP Proposals are due Fri-day, Dec. 2.

The SATs are Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 a.m.

Under the direction of se-niors Charlie Beers and Graham Techler, Theatre Ink presents “The Cripple of Inishmaan” Wednesday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the little theatre.

The Winter Athletics Rally will be Thursday, Dec. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the cafeteria.

The ACTs are Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 a.m.

Warnings for Term II are due

Newtonite fall calendar

Tuesday, Dec. 13.Under the direction of sopho-

mores Kelsey Fox, Juliet Roll, Alex Shames and Alyssa Rose Steffen, Theatre Ink presents “Freshman Cabaret” Thursday, Dec. 15 and Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Improv Club presents an Improv Jam Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the little theatre.

A Jazz Concert will take place Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

An In School Holiday Con-cert will be performed Thurs-day, Dec. 22 in the auditorium.

After a full day of classes Friday, Dec. 23, school closes for winter vacation Monday, Dec. 26.

JanuarySchool reopens Tuesday,

Jan. 3.The PTSO meets Wednesday,

Jan. 11 from 7 to 9 p.m.Cabaret Troupe, under the

direction of seniors Emily Paley and Jon Paul Roby and junior Anna Nemetz, performs Thurs-day, Jan. 12 and Friday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

There will be no school on Martin Luther King Day, Mon-day, Jan. 16.

Tenth Grade 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 film lecture hall.

Term II ends Friday, Jan. 20.—ComPiled by malini gandHi

Charles Attisano

sports Friday, Sept. 30, 201114 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

New concussion laws spark awareness ◆ continued from page 1must have a medical clearance in order to return to practice.

The third part requires that every MIAA high school and middle school develop a concus-sion management policy. It lays out what to do when a student is or may be concussed, McGrath said.

According to McGrath, one of the most important parts of the management policy is that it acknowledges that concussion victims may have a harder time at school and should receive academic accommodations if necessary.The City law

Newton took the initiative one step further. This City re-quires all high school and mid-dle school student-athletes, regardless of the sport level, to take the imPACT test, a com-puterized test that assesses a person’s attention, memory, pro-cessing speed and reaction time.

“When someone is taking the test, a few shapes might flash on the screen, and then a question will pop up asking them which shapes they remember seeing,” said athletic trainer and P.E. teacher William McAndrews.

Taken every two years, the test establishes a performance baseline, which is used for comparison later, according to McAndrews. The test gives insights that CT scans and MRI scans cannot.

“When you get an ankle sprain, you can see the swelling by just looking at it. You can’t see that in a concussion. You need the imPACT test for that,” he said.

The City began paying for this school’s tests in the spring, according to Commissioner of Health and Human Services Dori Zaleznik.

The cost decreases when a city purchases a site license and orders the tests for all student-athletes instead of having each school order them on its own, she said.

Sports Concussion New Eng-land in Brookline is the organi-

zation that sells the tests to this school, according to Zaleznik.At the school level

This school required the concussion test before the City mandated it, according to ath-letic administrative assistant Donna Benoit.

According to McAndrews, the testing at this school was started during the winter of 2008 for several high-risk sports including hockey, football and lacrosse, but now, this school provides tests for every sport.

“We started it back then be-cause we thought that it was the right thing to do. It had nothing to do with laws requiring us to implement it,” McAndrews said.

According to Jonathan Frieze, the former South booster club president, South began testing three years ago, shortly before this school began testing.

“I brought the imPACT tests to the school after I read an ar-ticle in The Boston Globe.”

“I told them that they show

Tigers face tough test againstBay State rivals, captain saysby gloria li

Boys’ cross-country, 5-0, sees its toughest opponents this season as being Walpole and Brookline, according to senior Justin Keefe, a captain.

“We beat Walpole last year, but this, year since we’ve lost many outstanding runners, we may have a more difficult time against them,” Keefe said.

Keefe also noted that Brook-line usually wins States, and he said that the team “always proves to be a challenge.”

The Tigers are trying to close the gaps between some groups of runners who have potential and help them catch up to the stronger, more experienced members,according to Keefe.

This is especially an issue be-cause some of the most promi-nent runners and able leaders, Ezra Lichtman and Dan Ranti,

graduated last year.Now, it is Keefe’s turn to lead

the team.At the team’s first meet ,Tues-

day, Sept. 13 against Weymouth, Keefe placed first.

He also came in third place in the league meet and fifth in the State Coaches Invitational last year.

Keefe said he is hoping for a place in the top 10 at States this year.

Coach Jim Blackburn said, “Keefe is definitely the strongest on our team this year.

Out of the 50 members that we have, there were five who have scored for varsity, and Keefe was the number one of those five.”

The other four members of varsity are juniors David Demarest and Jonny Long and sophomores Gabe Montague

and Mike Schlichting.Blackburn said he expects

Keefe to win the league’s Most Valuable Player this year.

Keefe said the Tigers are looking to improve their stand-ing by putting forth their best effort during the season.

We’re looking to claim a vic-tory against Wellesley Wednes-day, and Needham and Walpole Wednesday, Oct. 12, he said.

Keefe described the team as being “a lot more motivated this year than in past years.”

That being said, Keefe said he believes that there is much to be improved upon including racing tactics and strategies.

Blackburn said, “We hope to win all of our meets this season and we also hope to beat Brook-line, which has been one of the toughest teams that we’ve lost to in past years.”

how the brain is operating both before and after a concussion, and how they’re a valuable tool for showing doctors the severity of concussions,” he said.

According to Frieze, the school was interested, but it did not have enough money to fund the testing, so the South booster club had to fund it for the first two years.

“We met with the City and pushed the idea that imPACT testing be implemented across the City, and ultimately, the City decided to fund it for all the high schools and all the middle schools,” he said.

The City first began funding it at this school this spring, and the athletic department at this school funded it before then.School procedure

At this school, coaches follow a strict state-wide protocol that they use after a student-athlete receives a head injury. First, athletes are removed from play. Then, the mental state of ath-

letes is evaluated through the posing of a series of questions, according to McAndrews.

“I usually ask them questions that allow me to tell whether it’s a medical emergency or if it’s not too serious,” he said.

Through this process of ex-amining the symptoms and questioning the student, a con-jecture can be made by either coaches or trainers regarding the distinction between a con-cussion and a mere hit on the head that is not permanently damaging to the patient, he said.

If the injury is a concussion, athletes have to wait until at least 24 hours after the symp-toms go away to start running again.

Depending on the case, stu-dent-athletes are sometimes required to wait even longer before beginning sports-related activities again. If symptoms do not return, they are then al-lowed to participate in contact practices.

The severity of concussions

Concussions can cause vari-ous types of amnesia and mem-ory loss, and if a student-athlete receives a concussion and gets another before they fully recov-er, it could potentially become life-threatening, McAndrews said.

“The brain damage from a concussion could be permanent, so it is important that people have the time to recover,” he said.

“I would never want an alum-ni when they’re 45 or 50 years old to have trouble caring for their child because they had neglected to be tested and a concussion wasn’t detected when they were involved in high school sports,” he said. “It’s just not worth it.”

McAndrews said, “I tell kids: this is your brain. Don’t mess with it.’” New knowledgeabout concussions

Attitudes toward concussions have changed over time, Frieze said.

Ten years ago, “nobody knew the extent of the injuries or what was truly happening.”

According to McAndrews, “they used to be that someone could go back and play as soon as you physically could, even if that person was still recovering from a concussion.”

There has been a dramatic change in attitudes about con-cussions since then. “We deal with it more seriously now that we know more about the long term effects of concussions,” McAndrews said. “The issue has become more publicized and critical.”

According to McAndrews, in the past, people did not always report their concussions. With the new emphasis on teaching about concussions, there have been more incidences reported.

“Now that kids are more educated, they are more likely to say something about a concus-sion,” he said.

June 2007

Texas

May 2009

Washington

June 2009

Oregan

March 2010

New Mexico

April 2010

VirginaIdahoIowa

May 2010

OklahomaConnecticut

June 2010

Rhode IslandMassachusetts

December 2010

New Jersey

March 2011

WyomingColorado

South DakotaUtah

April 2011

NebraskaArizona

North Dakota

May 2011

IndianaMaryland

KansasAlaska

MinnesotaNevada

Vermont

June 2011

AlabamaNorth Carolina

LouisianaMissouri

courtesy Amy Jo Blotner

Determination: Sophomore Gabe Montague and senior Justin Keefe run against Weymouth Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Ben Hills

The first concussion law was passed in Texas in 2007, but the majority of states have enacted laws within the last two years.

www.vectortemplates.com/vector-countries-usa.php

Massachusetts is one of 29 states that has enacted a concussion law.

sportsFriday, Sept. 30, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 15

Tigers work on consistency, first downs by JaCob SCHwartZ

I f footbal l works hard enough, a winning season is within reach for the Tigers, according to senior Brendan Fagan, a captain with seniors Mike Bradley, Pat Bryson and Swardiq Mayanja.

“We have a strong team this year, and I think that makes it easier to achieve that goal,” Fagan said.

“We have a lot of heart and a lot of character.”

Today, the Tigers, 2-1, play a well-rounded Natick team, ac-cording to Fagan.

“They are just one of those teams that no matter how many seniors graduate, they always have talented kids who can fill the spot.”

However, Fagan noted that this season, unlike other sea-sons, the Tigers have a chance to beat every team they will face.

“We have a lot of returning kids making an impact, but we also have a lot of young kids who are stepping it up big time,” he said.

Coach Peter Capodilupo said he hopes “we can become more consistent. To do this, everyone

will need to be strong in their position.” The team is also working hard to gain more first downs, he said.

The three major goals for the season, according to Capo-dilupo, are to beat Brookline in the annual Thanksgiving game, to have a winning season and “to win our next game.”

The Tigers have watched a game film of Weymouth play-ing to learn how they function, Fagan said. Fagan said he hoped the game film would allow them to prevail when they face the Wildcats on the road Thursday. “We can’t predict everything, but we’ll be as ready as we can and play to their weaknesses.”

Capodilupo said the team will have to be careful when defending against Weymouth, as it tends to spread its offense.

“By spreading their plays out, they make it very difficult to cover. They also have quarter-backs who can run, which can be very dangerous.”

Fagan said, “We’re a well balanced team. A lot of the weaknesses from last year were evened out, and a lot of the younger kids are stepping up.”

Girls’ swim benefits from experienced membersby Jay FeinStein

Graduating just five seniors at the end of last year, girls’ swimming and diving, 2-1-1, starts its season with an optimis-tic attitude, according to coach Kirsten Tuohy.

Losing a minimal amount of swimmers bolsters the team’s experience, she said. “It helps make way for faster times.”

The Tigers were not the only team to lose such a low amount

of upperclassman, though. “None of our opponents

graduated many seniors,” Tuohy said, “Our times will improve but so will the other teams’ times.”

More people are on the team this year than there have been in previous years, she said. With the addition of 11 freshmen, the team is up to 51 swimmers and divers and three managers.

Tuohy added, “We’ll miss last

year’s seniors, but it would have been worse to lose more people from the team,” she said.

The Tigers are focusing on building depth. “We’re strong, but everything needs to be stronger,” she said

There are several areas that the Tigers need to improve, Tuohy said. “We need to put some work into finishes and relay exchanges.”

According to senior Veronica

Despite numbers game, girls’ soccer starts strong

by KriStian lundberg

Last year, boys’ soccer, led by rookie coach Roy Dow, made a fairytale run deep into the post-season, winning the Division I North title in the process.

The Tigers, seeded 19th out of 26 teams in the sectional playoffs, played four games in six days, winning all of them to set the stage for the Sectional Championship against arch-rival Brookline.

In that game, the Tigers came from behind to win, scoring an equalizer in the second half be-

fore knocking out the Warriors in the penalty shootout.

Although the Tigers subse-quently lost a heartbreaker to New Bedford in the State Semi-finals, the run set a standard of success that Dow hopes to continue.

“This year, we hope to im-prove our win total and turn the losses and ties we had last year into wins,” Dow said.

“Last year, some teams looked over us, but this year we expect to be one of the toughest games for our opponents.”

However, Dow said he was not putting too much focus on the State Tournament this early in the season.

“We have the rest of the regu-lar season in front of us before we can tackle the tournament,” he said, adding that the team “needs to be ready to go and play smart in games.”

To equal or improve on last year’s playoff finish, Dow said the Tigers, 2-3-2 Tuesday, would rely on “an experienced group of players coming back.”

“I expect the older players to

help mentor the younger ones,” he said.

“We have a lot of players who are not only good soccer players, but also good athletes.”

Last year, the Tigers were able to compete with some of the toughest teams in the State Tournament because of their strong defense, which conceded only two goals during the team’s run to the Sectional Finals.

This year, Dow is working on the team’s offense.

“Last year, we were good at closing down space, and we still

have a strong D, but we’ve been putting work into how we pos-sess the ball,” he said.

Although the Tigers had some early season trouble with finishing, the Tigers’ offense and possession skills are im-proving, according to senior Tim Stanton, a captain with senior Luke Westman.

“We’re in a better place, and we’re coming along,” he said. “It’s kind of a long process.”

Tomorrow, the Tigers will battle Brookline on the road, be-fore heading to Natick Tuesday.

Boys’ soccer looks to defend Division I North title

Gabe Dreyer

Midfield: Sophomore Madison Nadeau dribbles the ball against Brookline Thursday, Sept. 22. The Tigers remained undefeated with a 1-0 win at Warren.

Ingham, a captain with senior Hunter Hedenberg, the Tigers’ strengths include stroke events. “We’re really good at butterfly and breast stroke,” she said.

Tuesday, the Tigers will host Walpole, according to Tuohy. “We’re expecting it to be hard,” she said. “We’re going to have to pick up our game.”

Because Walpole does not have a boys’ team in the winter, there are boys on their girls’

team. “It’s tough because boys are stronger, yet they are com-peting on a level playing field,” Tuohy said. “It’s frustrating, and it’s a big difference compared to competing against just girls, but the challenge makes us better competitors.”

Friday, the Tigers will host Framingham. “It’ll be an excit-ing meet,” she said. “We need to push our team to be more competitive than last year.”

by KriStian lundberg

Although the varsity team opened the season with key wins, the girls’ soccer program managed to have a rocky start.

After coach James Hamblin brought up four freshmen to the varsity squad and added eight to JV, only nine freshmen were left to play on the freshman team—leaving them two players short of fielding a full team.

Furthermore, some sopho-mores were cut at the same time the freshmen were raised to var-sity or JV, according to Hamblin.

“We want all girls to play at their appropriate level,” he said.

“We put the girls on their teams on a purely develop-mental basis. If a player’s good enough, no matter the age, she should play on a better team.”

Hamblin further emphasized the need to “give girls playing time” on a suitable team.

“Last year, there were 24 girls on the freshman team, but only a few came back as sophomores,” he said. “The participation var-ies year-to-year, but the soccer

program as a whole is about finding the right level. If a girl is frustrated on her team, she might not return next season.”

Due to this lack of numbers, some sophomores, as well as some freshmen who made JV, have played with the freshmen team, Hamblin said.

“It’s more of a JV-2 team than an only-freshmen team,” Hamblin said. “We’ve let our opponents know, and they’ve been fine with it.”

Senior Lauren Smith, a cap-tain with seniors Sarah Perlo and Katie Regan said, “I know it’s something we can’t control, but still, I think it’s kind of sad.”

“I’m not sure why there’s not much participation. Maybe it’s because some girls aren’t inter-ested unless they play varsity or JV or because they think the freshman team isn’t as impor-tant anymore.”

According to Smith, “North has moved away from the fresh-man and JV teams. For some girls, it’s ‘varsity or nothing.’”

Still, Smith stressed the im-

portance of the freshman team. “I think it’s really important,

and it’s one of the only ways to get better,” she said.

“The underclassmen add new talent,” Smith said. “Coach Hamblin has a saying: ‘If you’re good enough, then you’re old enough.”

The varsity team, 6-0-2 Tues-day, was undefeated over its first eight games, holding its oppo-nents to only three goals over that span. Among the team’s highlights from the first month was the derby match Sunday, Sept. 18, in which senior Holly Szafran netted a hat trick in the Tigers’ 4-0 win over South.

The Tigers’ gradual improve-ment over the past few years, as well as their early season suc-cess, has Hamblin “cautiously optimistic.”

“We have a strong team with great all-around players,” he said. “Still, we’re focusing on poise in front of the net.”

Next week, the Tigers will host Natick Tuesday, before traveling to Braintree Thursday.

Jacob Schwartz

Punt return: Senior T.J. Quinn blocks for junior Andrew Kinsella Saturday, Sept. 17. The Tigers defeated Milton 21-0 at home for their first win of the season.

sports Friday, Sept. 30, 201116 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Gloria Li

Hosting Norwood: Junior Emma Berger bumps the ball.

Young golf squad starts well, remains competitiveby ryan Condon

For golf, 5-3, this season is all about letting younger players gain experience and knowledge, while still retaining a competi-tive level of play, according to coach Bob MacDougall.

“This year is going to be a challenging one, as we have many young and inexperienced players who weren’t here last year and aren’t really comfort-able with this level of golf,” MacDougall said.

Early in the season, the team will focus on building its com-

fort level while playing varsity golf, MacDougall said.

Only four players on the squad are returning from last year: senior Jeff Howard, ju-niors Brendan Ryan and Mark Vrahas, and sophomore Charlie Goldberg. With Goldberg, How-ard and Ryan as co-captains this season, MacDougall said he is relying on these veterans to provide leadership for the younger players.

According to Howard, the team has “less experience” than in the past years.

“Still, the younger players are adapting well,” he said.

MacDougall said that last year, the team was very familiar with the courses used through-out the league last year, which was an important advantage.

Because the team is less familiar with the courses this year, it needs to work harder on building its knowledge of them, he said.

Even with all of the inexpe-rienced young players on this year’s squad, MacDougall said he expects for the team to re-

main competitive.Later in the season, Mac-

Dougall said the team’s goal is to qualify for the State Cham-pionship, and “hopefully we’ll be in contention for the league championship,” he said.

MacDougall said that last year the team was inconsistent at times but could rely on its being a good team. “This year, we can’t do that,” he said. “With only four players left from last year, we’re going to have to work really hard in order to gain the experience and knowledge

necessary to play varsity golf.”The Tigers will travel to

Wellesley Monday, a match MacDougall said he expects to be “very competitive, as Welles-ley is one of the top teams in our league.”

Tuesday, the team will host Framingham. MacDougall said, “I expect us to play well, as Framingham is having a down year. However, we still need to compete and play consistently, as I don’t think we are the type of team that can show up ex-pecting to win against anyone.”

Jacob Schwartz

On offense: Junior Bridget Gillis passes up the field Thursday.

Tigers attempt to outperformlast season’s run in playoffsby KriStian lundberg

For the first time in six sea-sons, field hockey qualified for the State Tournament last year. The Tigers won their first-round playoff game in double overtime last year, before falling in the second round.

However, because a core group of players graduated last year, coach Celeste Myers said the team’s more immediate goal is “meeting last year’s result.”

“It’s a rebuilding year for us,” she said. “We have only five players returning from the previous year, and three of them are captains.”

“Also, we didn’t have a fresh-men a few years ago, and those freshmen would be juniors now,” Myers added. “That hurts our depth.”

Still, Myers believes the team has a chance to advance farther in the postseason.

“We’re training to go back to the tournament,” she said.

“We’re working hard, and we want to at least meet, then im-prove on, how we did last year.”

Last year’s team also dif-fered from previous teams by integrating, as four boys joined the squad. Myers said becoming co-ed was “not unique.”

“We’ve played a lot of teams with boys, and it’s not really different,” she said. “It’s the same with boys as with girls at our practices, and the gender doesn’t even matter. All of them are members of our team.”

Myers also said that the Ti-gers “don’t have to make a lot of adjustments” with boys on the team.

“They bring intensity and add focus, but otherwise, there’s no difference. We don’t really consider whether someone is female or male,” she said.

The only returning boy to the varsity team from last year is se-nior Bobby Grimshaw who was among the team’s top scorers

last season. He scored a clutch game winner in double overtime in the Tigers’ playoff win.

“We love having Bobby, and we’re used to him being on the team. He makes the practices and games more competitive,” said senior Stephanie Vitone, a captain with seniors Alison Berkowitz and Danielle Wasson.

This year, the Tigers, 3-2-1 Tuesday, are hoping to finish above .500 for a chance to qualify for States.

Myers said the team needs to “take one game at a time” during the season, as all of the teams in the conference are competitive.

“If we’re not willing to work hard every single game, we’ll lose,” she said. “We need to pre-pare for every game and use the things we worked on in practice in games.”

In upcoming action, the Ti-gers will host Natick Monday and Norwood Wednesday.

by Perrin Stein

Since girls’ cross country’s inception 36 years ago, Peter Martin coached the team, help-ing it win the Bay State Confer-ence title 12 consecutive times.

At the end of last season, Martin retired, so this year, Brandon Mogayzel, who has been the assistant coach for the past six years, replaced Martin as head coach.

After learning of Martin’s retirement, Mogayzel decided

to apply to coach the team this year because, he said, “I’ve been so invested in it that I owe it to the girls to make sure that the coaching they have had throughout their high school careers continues.”

As assistant coach, Mogay-zel’s job was to train some of the runners, while Martin trained the rest. “This means my posi-tion as coach isn’t that different from assistant coach,” he said. “I just have a larger portion of

athletes.”So far this season, the Tigers,

3-2, are shaping up to be a prom-ising team, Mogayzel said.

“Last year, we were barely in the top half of the Bay State Conference, so this year I want to do better. I am hoping that we can get a 7-4 or 8-3 record.” The Tigers finished last season 6-5.

Throughout the month of October, the team will focus on improving strength and endur-ance, according to senior Allie

Mogayzel steps up to coach girls’ cross country

Girls’ volleyball, 7-0,works on strategy, playsby gloria li

All players on girls’ vol-leyball, 7-0, have strong basic volleyball skills this season, according to coach Richard Barton.

Many key players graduated last year, but “we may end up surprising the state,” he said.

Numerous members of the team are competing on junior Olympic teams outside of the school, he said.

Those players include senior Laurie Kamenetsky, juniors Emma Berger, Keane Brazda, Anya Carr Klein and Deanna Cortina and sophomores Mi-caela Cohen, Maeve Greeley and Alana King.

Referring to the members who play and practice outside the school, Barton said, “That’s in part why our team is so strong and is in such a competitive standing.

“We still need to have stron-ger attack and block strategies though,” he said.

This season, however, Barton is hoping to shift his main focus from building a strong founda-tion to creating team unity, he said.

“All the skills of volleyball are important, but having en-during team unity throughout the season is the most critical,” Barton said.

For wins, the team must be emotionally together and each member must also be strong, Barton said.

“My goal is to get a good cohesive, unified and support-ive team together so that even through losses they will be at-tacking and serving with confi-dence,” he said.

According to Kamenetsky, a captain with the rest of the seniors, the Tigers need to work on making more strategic plays, such as serving and hitting deep in the court, where few mem-bers of the opposing team are prepared to respond.

The Tigers should also pre-

vent against position slip-ups during games, Kamenetsky said.

“Against a weaker team such as Norwood, it was fine, but if we did it later in the season, it would be a problem, so we’re working on that now,” she said.

Barton said he hopes that the team will keep up its con-fident serving, even against the tougher opponents such as Brookline, Braintree, Walpole and Wellesley.

In past years, the Tigers have typically defeated Brookline, but this year, Barton said, the Warriors have two of the best players in New England in se-niors Jamie Francona and Maya Midzik.

The Tigers will play at Need-ham Tuesday and will host Medway Wednesday.

According to Kamenetsky, “Needham has the tallest team members and they’re usually imposing at the net, but they will make a great gateway team to Medway.”

Phillips, a captain with seniors Rosie Sokolov, Becca Trayner and Melissa Weikart.

“We have about 15 girls all in the same level, and they run in a pack, so they can improve together,” Phillips said. “Work-ing together to get better helps us rebuild the team because we lost some good seniors at the end of last season.”

The Tigers’ next meet is tomorrow at the MSTCA Bay State Individuals in Wrentham.

This meet is split into three races: varsity, junior varsity and freshman, and anyone can participate.

“It gives people an opportu-nity to run a full 5K race, so they can gain experience,” Phillips said.

Wednesday the Tigers will face Wellesley. Last year, Welles-ley placed second in the Bay State Conference, and when the Tigers faced the Raiders, they lost 33-35.