NewtoniteFriday, March 4, 2011 • Volume 90, Issue 3 Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460

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

Foundation plans process to sell plaquesTeddy Wenneker

In the air: Sophomore Victoria Holland performed with the Dance Team on Senior Night Thursday, Feb. 17.

BY ALEX FEITIn order to raise money for

Newton Public Schools, Newton Schools Foundation (NSF) will ask permission from the School Committee to sell name plaques that will be placed in various areas of this school, according to School Committee member Kurt Kusiak.

“We are attempting to raise funds for the technology needs for all of our schools in Newton because it has become clear that our yearly budget is not suffi-cient to do so,” Kusiak said.

Kusiak said that NSF is pres-ently seeking to sell plaques that would be placed on the back of auditorium seats.

NSF is also exploring selling naming rights to certain areas of the school such as athletic facilities, auditoriums and class-rooms, he said.

According to Kusiak, NSF is “also considering selling bricks or tiles on hallway walls with donors’ names,” he said.

Although the current propos-al is to raise money to fund the Newton Public Schools’ technol-

ogy needs, “exactly where the money will be spent has yet to be decided,” Kusiak said.

In fact, none of the details have been set, according to NSF co-president Liz Richardson.

“This naming process must have a team effort that includes both high school principals and staff, along with the NSF and School Committee,” Richardson said.

“This is going to be a respect-ful process, where we are going to be able to raise badly needed revenue, but also honor people

important in the schools and community,” she added.

Kusiak mentioned that the program will “hopefully, in the long run, relieve Newton Public Schools from having to pay for some of our schools’ technol-ogy needs and free up some of our yearly budget allocation for other pressing needs, such as hiring teachers or paying for much-needed building mainte-nance.

The plan was recently pre-sented at a School Committee meeting Monday, Feb. 14.

Teachers start new summer trip to ItalyBY HILARY BRUMBERG

To give students a global lense about the history, lan-guage, literature and culture of northern Italy, this school is starting a two-week summer trip there, according to Latin teacher Sherley Blood.

The main destination of the trip, which will take place July 12 to July 27, will be the “beauti-ful mountain town” of Piacenza, Blood said.

There, students will stay in a family-owned hotel and par-ticipate in classes on Italian his-tory, architecture, contemporary politics and literature, helping them understand the “intercon-

nectedness of our world and the borderless nature of global issues,” according to the trip’s mission statement.

Students will take three to four excursions to Venice, Flor-ence and the Italian Riviera. They will also visit a field school that studies Etruscan and Ro-man archeology, Blood said. “It really appeals to students of Latin because of the archeology element and the connection to the art of both Romans and Etruscans.”

Another day trip will be to the museum and mansion at Lago d’ Garda, a “gigantic” lake where the Roman poet Catullus and his

family lived, Blood said. “Catullus is famous for his

poetry that sounds like it could be written today, but it was writ-ten 2,000 years ago,” she said.

Because the course is for credit, students will be expected to read articles and historical accounts, keep a traveler’s note-book of their experiences, write two short papers and complete a final reflective paper or project, according to Blood.

World language department head Nancy Marrinucci said that the trip is different from the Italian exchange because the exchange is only available to students of Italian and focuses

primarily on Italian language and culture.

Chief innovation officer Steve Chinosi, whose family lives in Piacenza, had the idea to start the exchange.

“This trip is truly unique,” he said. “It offers our students a glimpse at incredible places that most tourists will never discover. This is a real learning adventure through some of northern Italy’s hidden gems.”

The trip costs $3,850 and is available to freshmen, sopho-mores and juniors at this school and South. If interested, contact Blood or Chinosi as soon as possible.

Main Street plans draftedBY JARED PERLO

History teacher Ty Vignone and librarian Kevin McGrath are spearheading an effort to enliven Main Street and make it a more appealing destination for students.

In a revised proposal submit-ted to the Student Faculty Ad-ministration, the two teachers and many students made a case for installing benches and other amenities along Main Street.

The SFA has suggested that Main Street is not being uti-lized enough, aside from stu-dents talking to their friends at lunch.

The proposal seeks to add “chairs, benches or tables with umbrellas and plants,” it stat-ed.

In addition, SFA members discussed the possibility of add-ing a stage to Main Street where “talent and/or presentations from members of the school community” could take place, according to the proposal.

Eating, however, would still not be allowed on Main Street. Principal Jennifer Price said she would not contemplate the idea of eating on Main Street at the moment.

Students left an overload of trash in the old building, some-thing that Price said “was not helpful” to custodians. “Allow-ing students to eat along Main Street in the new building would put an unnecessary burden on an already thin custodial staff,” she said.

Chief innovation officer Steve Chinosi also proposed to add a lounge area directly inside of the cafeteria. Chinosi briefly men-tioned that perhaps a different student government would be responsible for the area every term.

Price requested that the SFA review the proposal in future meetings.

Sophomore Winston Huang also submitted a proposal to the SFA Wednesday, aiming to allow varsity athletes to receive one physical education credit per school year for their participa-tion in sports.

The topic has come up in previous SFA meetings, accord-ing to history teacher Gregory Drake.

Price said it is not clear whether the proposal follows physical education graduation requirements under Massachu-setts law.

pages 8-9 pages 14-16page 12

See inside for student bands, Mountain Classroom and winter sports

opinion Friday, March 4, 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 Beals House 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 16 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 Brum-berg, Ben Hills, Perrin SteinManaging editors — Jay Fein-stein, Jacob SchwartzGraphics manager — Gabe DreyerNews editors — Alex Feit,Samantha LibratySports editors — Gloria Li, Kris-tian LundbergArts editors — Malini Gandhi, Fatema ZaidiFeatures editors — Meredith Abrams, Julia Oran, Kayla ShoreFreelance editors — RyanCondon, Steven MichaelNews analysis editor — Amanda HillsTalk of the Tiger editor — Julia MossPhotography editors — Maliha Ali, Alec Mapes-FrancesProduction manager — Gabby GinsbergAdvertising managers —Tiphaine Kugener, Evan Nitkin

Business manager — Alison BerkowitzCirculation managers — Phil Rubin, Michela SalvucciOnline editor — Henry DeGrootAdviser — Kate ShaughnessyProduction adviser — Tom Don-nellanNews 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 Jones, Phillipine Kugener, Matthew SolomanProduction staff — CharlesAttisano

Opinions shared on core texts

Julia Moss Many students stress over curriculum level placements for the upcoming school year.

Pick appropriate class levels This school’s curriculum

levels cover a broad span of academic abilities. In each core subject, there is a level to fit each student’s needs and ca-pabilities.

History department head Jonathan Bassett said, “Our goal is to ensure that every student is appropriately supported and appropriately challenged.”

With multiple levels offered for English, history, math, sci-ence and world language, stu-dents are able to find a level that best suits them. Everyone can find the right balance between succeeding in his or her class

while also being challenged. In addition, the abilities of

students within each level are much more equal. Students can get more out of a class when they are in a surrounding with kids who learn at the same pace as them.

Bassett said, “We do our best to make placement recommen-dations that reflect the student’s academic abilities, and will put him or her in the environment where he or she will have suc-cesses while learning as much as possible.”

This school is fortunate to have such a wide spread of cur-riculum levels. This variety of placement is extremely benefi-cial to a student’s learning.

Nobody has to be put in a level too difficult or easy for him or her, as the teachers are “conscious of being flexible” regarding placements, accord-ing to Bassett.

If an honors or AP class seems daunting, adding it to your course load will only cre-ate stress. Students shouldn’t move into a high-level class if the workload is too heavy or the pace will be too fast. On the other hand, students shouldn’t move down a level in hopes that it will be an easy A grade.

With a plethora of options, all students can choose a cur-riculum level that is appropriate for them and that allows them to succeed.

School supports deaf students

Trash in hallways piles up Do your part, throw trash in bins TO THE EDITOR:

As I walked through the hallways the other afternoon around 3:45 p.m., I was very stunned at the huge amounts of debris lying on the floors: empty cartons of high energy drinks, dirty napkins, written school work, assignments, coffee con-tainers and cardboard sleeves for hot drinks.

The custodians at this school work incredibly hard to clean and maintain this building. It is

not their responsibility to pick up people’s trash along the cor-ridors. I picked these items up and threw them away into either the trash can or recycle bin.

Our school has plenty of bins for trash and recyclable items. Please, be responsible and use them.

—ALISON MALKINPREVENTION/INTERVENTION

COUNSELOR

editorial

letter

students, as well as participate in mainstream classes with pro-vided services. Support such as interpreters, learning note-tak-ing skills, speech therapy and counseling are offered.

When I was younger, I went to a mainstream school where there were not many accom-modations made to help me earn high grades. It gave me no motivation to go to school.

But, things have changed. This school has given me the support I didn’t have at my previous school. I found the EDCO program here. I am still in mainstream classes, but I also have a Resource Room, which is similar to a study hall because it

BY KELLYNETTE GOMEZDeaf Culture Day was a suc-

cess. Wednesday, Feb. 16, Pow-erPoint presentations and trivia games educated audiences on the causes of deafness and the technological services that are offered to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Deaf Culture Day’s purpose is to be informative. Its goal is to explain deafness, what it means to be part of that community and how to handle communicating with a deaf or hard of hearing person.

The Education Collaborative program at this school serves to help students with hearing loss. This program gives stu-dents the opportunity to learn in classes with only EDCO

helps me when I am struggling in a class. I have both hearing and deaf friends, something I did not have before. My motiva-tion is now stronger than ever. I want to go to college and pursue a major in psychology and a minor in deaf education.

Deaf Culture Day is an op-portunity for deaf students to teach normally hearing students and staff something new about deafness.

It gives us a chance to prove that we can do anything––ex-cept hear! It’s one thing to teach what being deaf is like, and an-other to show what it’s like. Deaf Culture Day is an important day for this school to teach about the deaf and hard of hearing community.

BY AMANDA HILLSEach grade has core texts

that are a part of the English curriculum at this school. Fresh-man year, students read The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet. During students’ sophomore year, they read Oedipus Rex and Macbeth. The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Their Eyes Were Watching God are the core texts for ju-niors. As seniors, students read Hamlet.

Teachers and students shared their varying opinions on the texts that are read as a part of the English curriculum at this school.Teachers

English teacher Liz Craig-Olins said uses specific strate-gies to help her students with difficult texts. She explained, “We read out loud in class. I have them look at discreet pas-sages to examine individual words. We work in groups and then go over questions as a class to see what kids missed. I give them a set of strategies so they can get comfortable with certain ones.”

English teacher Kim Parker also aims for the students to gain comfort with the texts. She said, “I spend some time pre-teaching words that readers will encounter often.”Seniors

According to Russell Fidel-man, “I think it’s good to have some commonality in the Eng-lish curriculum through the core texts, but it also limits the indi-vidual curriculum that teachers want to have.”

Rosie McInnes said has en-joyed all the material. She said, “I’ve liked all the books that we’ve read. I’ve read them all. Junior year we read some great books. I like to read, so I guess I like the books more than other people.”Juniors

Ellie Abbott said she finds the push of required reading helpful.

“I think that reading require-ments are overall a good thing because it forces kids to read,

whereas normally we wouldn’t unless forced to just because there’s a lack of time,” she said.

Brian Lenihan said he finds that “there’s always too much assigned.”Sophomores

Audrey Derobert under-stands why English classes have specific books that must be read.

She said, “I don’t mind Eng-lish reading requirements be-cause I end up reading material that, on my own, I probably never would’ve tried. But, some-times it can get stressful because I want to be reading naturally, but I have to pay attention for taking notes or what the teacher wants to hear about.”

Alex Gribov thinks that it’s a good idea “to expose students to the classics, but it’s just as important to give them time to read books that they are inter-ested in.”

Charlotte Moore said she doesn’t always enjoy what the teachers assign to read. She said, “They should choose more contemporary books. The books are boring.”Freshmen

Drew Gately understands the need for requirements, but finds them frustrating. He said, “They’re necessary, but really boring—nothing I wouldn’t ex-pect.”

Michael Shale said he strug-gles with Shakespeare’s word-ing. He said, “It’s like learning a new language. The teachers shouldn’t expect us to learn a new language in a short amount of time, and that’s what this is like.”

Ari Shoham said he finds the books underwhelming. “The re-quirements are fair, I just don’t find them exciting,” he said.

Sophie Sokolov thinks that the core texts are a “good idea, but it is important to leave two to three books up to the teacher’s discretion.”

English curriculum core texts can be challenging. Some find the homework to be too much. For others, it introduces them to new styles of literature. Read-ing requirements have their purpose, even when the books are difficult.

Can I still get into college if I only take five honors classes?

mass interview

viewpoint

newsFriday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 3

Seniors intern, begin projectsBY ALEX FEIT

Two programs for seniors, Senior Year Project and Se-nior Program of Alternatives to Regular Classes (SPARC), began at the start of the second semester.

Students in SPARC, which has run since 1985, intern for a business or company within a particular field in order to “gain direct experience in a particular field of interest,” according to the SPARC handbook.

According to work study and co-op coordinator Rachel Sturma, “It’s a wonderful op-portunity to spend time thinking about careers before you pursue them.”

Participants of SPARC must intern for a minimum of 15 hours per week, keep a week-ly journal and attend regular SPARC-based seminars and conferences, according to the handbook.

At the end of the year, stu-dents in SPARC must prepare a final presentation detailing their internship experience and what they have learned.

Students must also be in good academic standing to-wards graduation requirements, Sturma said.

However, there are endless possibilities for students, ac-cording to Sturma.

“It’s entirely student-driven and independent,” she said. “There are no existing opportu-nities—it’s up to the student to find the opportunity that he or she is passionate about.”

Sturma co-coordinates the program with Kyra Bateman, a counselor.

Seniors participating in SPARC and their internships are:

Natasha Antonellis—Work-ers Compensation Research Institute

Annisya Bagdonas—Seam-stress for Helen Handel

Kat Blyum—Newton-Wellesley Hospital

Elaine Choy—My Gym Children’s Fitness Center

Catherine Connor—West Suburban YMCA

Marisa DiDino—Tatum LLC Financial Consulting Firm

Erika Fernandes—92.9 radio station

Marissa Goldman—ap-prentice to Ilana Marolson, artist

Julia Goldman—Animal Rescue League, Dedham

Eleana Gudema—Susanne McInerney and the Mass Real Estate Team

Tamara Matama—West Suburban YMCA

Jose Morgan—Newton City Hall

Gina Paone—Newton-Wellesley Hospital

Marcus Parker—West Sub-urban YMCA

Eric Regensburg—Rain-castle Communications

Hannah Schon—Urbanity Dance Project

Anthony Zagame—SZ Reality

Seniors can also take part in Senior Year Project.

Created in 2007 to offer more engaging academic options for second semester seniors, the program allows students to be “put in the position of the ‘expert’ while independently researching a topic of their choice during second semes-ter,” according to the project’s website.

“It’s an opportunity for stu-dents to investigate what they love,” said chief innovation of-ficer Steve Chinosi, who directs Senior Year Project.

Within the program, partici-pants propose topics to research. They also, then, complete essays and formal presentations of completed research for their projects.

Students also create web

pages to display their work on the topic, Chinosi said.

“Kids can really own their education,” he said.

Students must be in good academic standing to fulfill all course and graduation require-ments in order to take part in the program.

Students participating in Senior Year Project and their projects are:

Luca Ainger—Analyzing public green buildings

Rebecca Ansolabehere—A look at Basque-American cui-sine

Karen Brier—Developing a Harry Potter English course

Kim Cabrera—What fic-tional characters can teach us about the times they “lived” in

Ilana Cohen—Study of depression and anxiety in high schools

Marena Cole—What can be done to get people to bike more in Boston

Nicole Dube—Study of mu-sic therapy and neuroscience

Sam Quigley—Exploration

of music in filmmakingAviva Galpert—Study of

what is shared by three theolo-gies about God

Caleb Gannon—Evolution of American film

Anna Gargas—The disap-pearance of the Wampanoag language

Mercer Gary—Latin Amer-ican studies

Philip Halin—Benefits and organization of urban farming

Hannah Herrlich—Looking at how to improve the public school system

Jaryd Justice-Moote—Evolving technology and art

Amanda King—Examina-tion of how American authors captured their generations

Jess Kramer—Study of positive psychology

Miriam Lee—Experiment-ing with music composition and recording

Kate Lewis—Study of in-spiration for creative writing

Pierre Looper—Fall of “mom and pop” farm in Amer-ica

John MacGaffey—Explora-tion of American social move-ments through folk music

Maddie MacWilliams—Fe-male rock musicians in Amer-ica

Jeremy Markson—De-termining if self-publication is viable

Andrea Marzilli—Keeping bees and jarring honey

Rosie McInnes—Effects of Hurricane Katrina on teen-age girls

Devon Mychal—Electronic music production, sampling and music copyright law

Lauren Lob—Making the best of food shopping

Phoebe Nesgos—Dissec-tion of the personal portrait

Gaby Perez-Dietz—How science influences fashion de-sign

Christopher Rao—Study of the consignment clothing business

Dong-Gil Shin—Investigat-ing polymer physics in biology

Jesse Simmons—Study of what defines an art exhibit

Gabe Dreyer Lecturing: English teacher Kevin McGrath helps students work on Senior Year Projects.

Mock Trial members gain experienceBY ALEX FEIT

Mock Trial has already met its primary goals this season, according to junior Michael D i n s m o r e , the officer.

“The big-g e s t g o a l we’ve met is to regain en-thusiasm for the club, be-cause coming into this year, we were very small,” Dins-more said.

Even though several meets were delayed due to inclement weather, the club continued to meet Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m.

According to Dinsmore, par-ticipants in Mock Trial stage an entire legal trial that is set up by the Massachusetts Bar As-sociation. Students are given evidence to use in the trial, and the team takes turns present-ing each side of the trial during meets.

Junior Meredith Abrams is one of the most experienced members of the team and is an essential part of the club, ac-cording to Dinsmore.

“By taking on so many roles, she is able to ease the burden for new members, who might otherwise get overwhelmed,” he said.

Dinsmore also noted junior Melissa Levy as having “the

most witness expertise” on the witness stand. “She really figures out how to prepare for impromptu cross examination,” he said.

The team lost by one point to Gann Academy Thursday, Feb. 17. “It was an extremely close meet,” Dinsmore said.

It also faced off against Bel-mont Hill for its final meet Tuesday, losing by three. Student advancesto next poetry contestBY SAMANTHA LIBRATY

Selected students participat-ed in Poetry Out Loud, a poem recitation contest, Monday, Feb. 14 during X-block in the film lecture hall.

Poetry Out Loud is a compe-tition for high school students across the country. According to English teacher Adam Carpen-ter, who co-organizes the event here with English teacher Tim Finnegan, to participate, “stu-dents had to choose from a list of poems, then they competed against their classmates to earn a spot at the school final.”

The winner within each par-ticipating class advanced to the school-wide contest. These finalists performed for a group of teachers, who decided on a winner using a rubric with Po-etry Out Loud guidelines.

Senior Derek Butterton won, so he will advance to the re-gional competition tomorrow at the Masonic Temple in Fram-ingham.

There, he will compete against students from other

schools in the area, Carpenter said. “After he pwns everyone, being a winner at the regional competition, he’ll move on to the state competition,” Carpen-ter said.

He said the contest “gives students the opportunity to embrace the fine art of poetry recitation and be changed by it.” Carpenter said.Science team worksto prep for OlympiadBY SAMANTHA LIBRATY

With several competitions still to come, the science team is pleased with its results so far, according to senior Helen Gao, the captain.

The Science Olympiad will be Saturday, March 19, “which is our biggest competition of the year,” Gao said. If the team does well at the Olympiad, it will advance to Nationals in May.

Saturday, Feb. 12, the team competed in the Science Bowl, “a Jeopardy-style competition in which team members buzz in answers to questions,” said Gao. The team’s members placed ninth through 11th.

In an intramural competition held at this school Thursday, Feb. 10, the team came in fifth place. “We did really well in each of the events we competed in that day,” Gao said.

The intramural competition was a Western Suburban Sci-ence League event, Gao said. Schools take turns hosting a competition every three years,

with about 20 schools participat-ing, Gao added.

“We haven’t had any other competitions at North this year, but we did host WSSL back in 2008,” Gao said. For this event, Gao said, “Everything went smoothly, with no major mishaps.”Teacher, students sell candy for Smile TrainBY STEVEN MICHAEL

Several years ago during a visit to New York City, science teacher Jo-Anne Purdy saw a newspaper article for a charity called Smile Train on the sub-way. She said she was intrigued by the charity’s mission—to correct cleft lips and palates of children in the developing world—and decided to become involved.

At the beginning of this year, Purdy proposed that her fresh-man homeroom raise money for the charity by selling candy and donating the proceeds.

“We sold 500 candy bars, yielding a $250 profit, and we

sent a check to Smile Train,” she said.

Next, Purdy proposed for her A- and C-block biology classes to raise funds for the charity. “The candy bars sold so quickly that within a couple of days we raised over $100,” she said.

According to Purdy, a dona-tion of $250 to Smile Train pays for one child to undergo surgery. “American doctors go out and train doctors in developing countries to perform surgery to correct cleft lips and palates.

“Our donation went to help five children from Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Nigeria and Mexico. These children with cleft lips and palates are abandoned and malnourished because they can’t eat. Forty-five minutes provides a surgery for one child, and it saves their lives,” she said.

When Purdy’s A- and C-block classes reach their fundraising goal of $250, she hopes to start the project with her F- and G-block classes.

in brief

NewtonianMichael

Dinsmore

arts Friday, March 4, 20114 Newtonite, Newton North

Murder mystery ‘Curtains’ to be spring musical

murderer is revealed. According to Paley, “even

though it’s very funny, the show is a murder mystery, so it defi-nitely is a surprise when the murderer is revealed.

“‘Curtains’ has relatable characters, and it is very showy and funny, yet it has genuine moments as well,” said Paley.

“It does a great job of includ-ing all the components of musi-cal theatre,” Paley noted.

Senior Anna Gargas de-signed the costumes for “Cur-tains.” The costumes are of the 1950s period, and because it is a show within the show, there are numerous costumes, Gar-gas said.

The wide range of costumes includes western theme cos-tumes as well as mermaids and saloons—there is also a pajama scene, Gargas said.

“Each ensemble has about six costumes, so there are hundreds of costumes,” she said.

“The idea is for it all to be very light-hearted. Even though it’s a murder mystery, the point of the show is for the audience to come and just forget all their problems, which is different from ‘Cabaret,’ because it had a very heavy message,” Gargas said.

Junior Aaron Siegel designed the set. It consists of seven dif-ferent looks, which are all quite different, he said.

“It’s different from last year because the orchestra pit is not a part of the set, since there is an actual orchestra pit for the orchestra to be in,” said Siegel.

“The show will take place in

Boston’s Colonial Theatre, and the show is within a show, so for some scenes there is a look of a western saloon and in others the setting shows what would be backstage in the Colonial Theatre. There is a director’s chair and other things that you would find in a backstage set-ting,” said Siegel.

McKinney is looking forward to bringing the costumes and the set together, she said.

“I am looking forward to bringing together all of the different elements of this pro-duction. The technical aspects are quite massive as well as the costumes, so putting all the puzzle pieces together and see-ing them work together is what I am looking forward to the most,” McKinney said.

According to McKinney, “We chose this show because it has a lot of challenges and opportuni-ties for many students—both on and off the stage.”

“Plus, it was a great con-trast to ‘Cabaret’ last year,” she added.

Junior Molly Mamon is part of the ensemble, and this is the first show at this school that she has participated in. Mamon has learned time management skills through “Curtains,” she said.

“I have to balance homework, rehearsal and dance practice. But all the actors are great—they are both talented and ex-perienced, and the whole show is just really fun,” she said.

Tickets must be reserved, and will be sold for $10, $14 and $16 at all lunches and on theatreink.net.

Maliha AliDance: Seniors Fionnuala O’Donovan and David Gore and junior Emily Paley rehearse.

Coffeehouse features student music, comedyBY MALINI GANDHI AND FATEMA ZAIDI

In order to raise money for orphans in Zambia, the First Unitarian Society in Newton (FUSN) annual Youth Cof-feehouse will feature music and comedy acts from Newton students, allowing the audi-ence to “support local youth as well as raise money for a really good cause,” according to se-nior Rosie McInnes, an artistic director.

Tomorrow from 7 to 11 p.m., the event will be held at FUSN for its 10th year in a row.

The money raised goes to the Zambian village of Chawama to improve a school for orphans, many of whom had parents who suffered from HIV/AIDS, McInnes said.

Through the non-profit orga-nization Communities Without Borders FUSN has joined other churches in supporting the chil-dren, using annual fundraisers such as the Coffeehouse to gain money.

In order to observe first-hand what their money benefits, members of the FUSN youth group also have the opportunity

to travel to Zambia during the summer.

Senior Jing Cox-Orrell, who is helping to organize the decor for the event, described the trip as a “fabulous experience.”

“It was hard to be exposed to so much pov-erty, but the trip actually helped me decide that I want to go into c o m m u n i t y health care,” she said.

In the past, t h e m o n e y raised from the Coffeehouse has gone to-wards projects

such as ensuring that all the children are provided with at least one meal a day, according to Cox-Orrell.

“I think the most rewarding part of the Coffeehouse is that people realize how far their money goes. One hundred dol-lars can give a student the abil-ity to go to school for a year,” she said.

They are expecting to raise about $4,000 to $5,000, money

that “goes to the kids, 100%,” said Cox-Orwell.

According to senior Liz Thomas, the decor coordinator, members of the youth group who traveled to Zambia will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences during the Coffeehouse.

“It’s just a really fun event, and it’s all about giving to a good cause,” Thomas said.

Junior Claire Perreault, the student producer of the show, also noted that the Coffeehouse is a valuable opportunity for stu-dents to gain leadership skills and be involved in the planning of a fundraiser.

“Organizing the Coffeehouse has given me great leadership skills,” Perreault said. “It’s really fun and makes me feel empowered.”

Perreault started working at the event her freshman year, and it has become a routine, she said.

“We have a big meeting where we organize committees for who’s in charge of food, acoustic acts, etc., and then, it just all comes together in the end,” she said.

Last year, 200 to 300 people attended the Coffeehouse, Per-reault said. She noted that the show has become “a lot more widespread because before there used to be just members of the church.”

The first act will consist of comedy, singing and dancing, including a performance by Forté, this school’s all-girl a capella group, according to Perreault.

Various student bands, such as 53rd Reason, Common Il-lusion, Freedom Child and Plumbean, will perform in the second act.

McInnes, who is also an offi-cer of Forté, said that the group has performed at the Coffee-house for many years.

“The Coffeehouse is always a huge success, and since we have a couple of new singing and dancing groups, I think it will be really good,” she said.

“Kids, adults and older peo-ple all come. It’s just a really nice community feel,” McInnes said.

Perreault said, “People should come because it’s really fun, and it only costs $5, which is not a big investment. It’s a great event for a great cause.”

Maliha AliIn rehearsal: Freshman Maddy Waters, sophomores Madeline Murphy and Michaela Berla-Shulock, freshman Alex Shames and junior Alessandra Denaro practice a dance scene.

NewtonianJing

Cox-Orrell

BY FATEMA ZAIDIAward-winning choreogra-

pher Kirsten McKinney is di-recting the musical “Curtains,” a show within a show about a murder mystery, which will go on stage Thursday, March 12 through Saturday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

“Curtains” is about a com-pany of actors in 1959 that is putting on a country version of Robin Hood. The actors are not very talented and the show turns out poorly, said junior Emily Paley, who is playing the role of Georgia Hendricks.

At the end of the Robin Hood show, the leading lady collapses, and the musical becomes a mur-der mystery, said Paley.

Lieutenant Frank Ciof-fi, played by junior Graham Techler, comes from the Boston Police to Boston’s Colonial The-atre to investigate the mystery.

“Lieutenant Cioffi is a serious

the show to begin with. It is a great dance number,” McKin-ney said.

Another one of Paley’s fa-vorite songs is ‘Showpeople’ because it is a real “showstop-per,” she said.

“The songs are very funny and campy, and that represents the mood of the show as well,” said Paley.

The scene that she is most looking forward to is when the

policeman, but then we find out that he has always had a love for musical theatre, and he helps the cast gain its morale back,” Paley said.

The producer of the show, Carmen Bernstein, who will be played by senior Kelly Mc-Intyre, is very bossy and acts as the mother hen of the whole pack—she has a lot to do and is very determined in her job, said Paley. But the rest of the actors know that the show is miserable and begin to lose their confidence, she said.

“After Carmen screams at the cast for complaining, they sing my favorite song, ‘Thataway,’ which is about how much they love being on stage, which is true for us as actors as well,” Paley said.

One of McKinney’s favorite songs is “Thataway” as well, she said.

“It is the reason why I liked

artsFriday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 5

Concert displays student growth, talent BY RYAN CONDONAND MALINI GANDHI

Showcasing performances from nearly the entire music department, Winterfest, which took place Wednesday Feb. 9 and Thursday, Feb. 10, was a moving, spirited compilation of music that highlighted students’ continuing work and growth.

The theme of change and embracing new opportunities seemed to be present in every ensemble’s preparation, with the directors citing shifts in culture and attitude.

Casey Schueurell, director of Jazz Ensemble I, noted that many of the soloists in Jazz Ensemble I’s performance had never soloed before and were “just getting their feet wet.”

Also taking on a challenge, Wind Ensemble tackled a 10-minute long piece that was “twice as long as what we nor-mally play,” according to direc-tor Richard Labedz.

Fine and performing arts department head Todd Young, director of Concert Choir, said that he really started to see his students “appreciate music at a new level.”

“What I find amazing is that I get to see a culmination of work develop. With Concert Choir, I see immediately their progres-sion in class each day, but with the other groups, I see a bird’s eye view of the students working really hard to make this unique experience,” Young said.Winterfest I

Day one of Winterfest fea-tured performances by Sym-phonic Band, Jazz Ensembles I and II and Tiger Bebop.

Kicking off the night was Symphonic Band with a sharp and beautiful performance of the song “Flourish” by R. Vaughan Williams, which Labedz said he chose as the opening number because it began with a “nice fanfare from the brass.” The song was an inspiring high note and an engaging way to start off the concert.

Symphonic Band also played “Song Without Words” by Gus-tav Holst, a stirring piece that included a solo by Mac Hecht, as well as the breathtakingly chilling song “The Maelstrom” by Robert W. Smith.

After Symphonic Band, Tiger Bebop took the stage for its first concert of the year, an event Labedz described as an exciting experience that “showcased the various talents of the group.”

A highlight of Tiger Bebop’s section was an animated per-formance of “Splanky” by Nier Hefy, which used human voices to mimic instruments. The song also included inspired solos from a variety of students, which resulted in an interesting mix of voices and instruments.

After Tiger Bebop’s presenta-tion, Jazz Ensemble II came on-stage and played “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” by Joe Zawinul. The song was upbeat and catchy, with slight pauses adding a posi-tive effect.

Next was a presentation of “Red Clay” by Freddie Hubbard. The song had a strong beat, and an excellent solo by freshman Julian Chase on the alto saxo-phone added to the appeal.

Following Jazz Ensemble II was Jazz Ensemble I, which performed “Moanin’” by Bobby Timmons. Scheuerell described the song as “an exciting gospel tune with a call and response theme.” The song was fun and colorful, and it was played with noticeable energy.

“Dance of Denial” by Mi-chael Phillip Mossman, a lively middle-eastern song with a unique rhythm, was performed next, while “Not Yet Over the Hill” by Mark Taylor provided a dramatic conclusion.Winterfest II

The second half of Winterfest consisted of performances by Concert Choir, Family Singers, Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.

To open the concert, Fam-ily Singers performed “April is

My Mistress’ Face” by Thomas Morley, a slow, smooth piece brimming with overlapping har-monies and high sopranos that resonated over a solemn bass.

The Elizabethan madrigal “Fair Phyllis” by John Farmer was performed next, a song that Family Singers director Adam Grossman highlighted because “it was so different from every-thing else we have done,” and it was “a lot of fun to sing,” he said. Bouncy and sharp, yet controlled, “Fair Phyllis” was resounding and complex.

Wind Ensemble’s perfor-mance began with the deep, sinister pounding of “Mars” from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst, a dark, foreboding song that was played with passion and intensity as it rose into a desperate flurry of short stac-catos. According to Labedz, the students had expressed interest in playing “Mars” and it proved to be “fun and challenging.”

“Chorale and Shaker Dance”

by John Zdechlik, a striking, dissonant version of the well-known Shaker tune “Simple Gifts,” was another highlight of Wind Ensemble’s performance, beginning as a twisted, pulsing conglomeration of various in-struments before finally rising into a triumphant rendition of the original melody.

Following Wind Ensemble, Orchestra presented “Kama-rinskaya” by Mikhail Glinka, a collection of Russian folksongs made into a wedding dance. The same melody alternated be-tween upbeat and almost frantic to slow and exaggerated, creat-ing a mesmerizing contrast.Ray Memorial Concert

Winterfest reached an end with the Ray Memorial Concert, an annual event which com-memorates former teacher Ray Smith by featuring a lengthy masterpiece that combines ef-forts from Concert Choir, Family Singers and Orchestra.

This year ’s p iece was Schubert’s “Mass in G,” which Grossman described as a “staple of choral literature.”

Beginning with deep notes from the cellos, trickling violins and almost melancholy voices, “Mass in G” became more urgent and vivacious as it progressed, and powerful solos added to the splendor. The level of concentra-tion necessary to perform the grandeur and complexity of the piece was admirable.

According to Young, “The hardest rehearsal is definitely the first one because the stu-dents have no idea what the thing is about, so it’s tedious and not very fun, especially because you have to crank through the basics.”

However, Young noticed that by the final performance, the students were aware of how their smaller parts worked with the bigger whole.

“It was extraordinary to see students appreciate music at a new level, and I’m thankful we had the opportunity to do some-thing like this,” Young said.

NED MARTENIS AND FATEMA ZAIDI CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE

Gabe DreyerWinterfest: Juniors Evan Harris and Ben Duvall, members of Jazz Ensemble I, practice.

Opera singer raises money for schools through concertBY JAY FEINSTEIN

Opera singer Shinja Choi held a benefit concert at this school Friday, Feb. 11. Proceeds went to this school and Under-wood Elementary School.

Choi was born in Korea and has performed in America, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, Korea and Switzerland, according to the program. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

To open the concert, she per-formed “Schafe Konnen Sicher Weiden” by Johann Sebastian Bach. Erika Boysen and TJ Wible accompanied her on the flute, and YeoJin Yoon accom-panied her on piano. The flutes played a beautiful harmony that meshed nicely with Choi’s strong voice.

Next, she sang “Come Again Sweet Love” by John Dowland, one of the English selections on the program. Seon Ho Song played the guitar giving the clas-sical tune a modern touch.

She performed “Hirt Auf Dem Felsen” by Franz Schubert next. Meghan Kerley accompa-nied her on clarinet and Yoon accompanied her on the piano.

Yoon and Kerley started play-

ing for the first minute and a half, setting a slow, warm tone. As soon as Choi came in, the tune became faster.

Thereafter, Yoon and Choi performed together for the ma-jority of the piece, while Kerley came in periodically.

It ended with Kerley and Yoon playing an upbeat tune.

Then, baritone Dong Won Kim came up to the stage to belt “Dicitencello Vuie” by Rodolfo Falvo. He had a loud, low voice and used strong gestures to im-prove his performance.

Choi and Kim then sang a duet of Wolfgang Amadae-us Mozart’s “La Ci Darem La Mano” from the opera “Don Giovanni.” Choi and Kim flowed from unison to harmony many times throughout the piece. Both singers made forceful movements in order to convey the power of the piece.

Choi performed “Geu-ri-wun Geumgangsan” by Youngsub Choi next. It was soft, yet pre-cise, and Choi hit every note perfectly.

After, Choi sang “Notre Amour” by Gabriel Faure. It was noticeably higher than some of the other pieces. Choi hit many impressive notes.

Then, she sang “Tu pupila es Azul” by J. Turina, accompanied by Yoon on piano. Yoon started the selection in a slow, minor key. Choi then started singing in major key, but the piano re-mained minor, which created an interesting contrast.

At one point, Yoon stopped playing piano, giving Choi an a capella solo.

Next, Choi sang “O Mio Bab-bino Caro” by Giacomo Puccini from the opera “Gianni Schic-chi,” which she performed in a very slow, yet powerful way.

The penultimate song was “Ebben Ne Andro Lontana” by Alfredo Catalani from the opera “La Wally.”

It was a complicated piece, but Choi did a magnificent job, displaying a brilliant use of cre-scendo and decrescendo.

Also, the piece was never at the same tempo, a challenging aspect that Choi handled with great accuracy.

To conclude the show, former professor Herbert Walters of Boston College walked up to the piano to accompany Choi, who sang the spiritual piece “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

This selection used repeti-tion as a device to engage the audience.

Gabe DreyerHitting every note: Opera singer Shinja Choi performs.

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featuresFriday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 7

EDCO members teach about deafnessBY SAMANTHA LIBRATY

To educate students and fac-ulty, the EDCO program hosted a “Deafness 101” seminar dur-ing E-block Wednesday, Feb. 16, as a part of Deaf Culture Day.

EDCO teacher Erika Gua-rino, along with deaf and hard-of-hearing students, presented many different aspects of deaf-ness, including the different types of deafness, the causes of deafness and helpful technology for the deaf.

A variety of hearing and deaf students attended the seminar. During the seminar, presenters signed in American Sign Lan-guage (ASL) while an EDCO interpreter voiced for the hear-ing students.

A PowerPoint presentation highlighted points about deaf-ness.

There are 30 students in the EDCO program at this school, plus seven hard-of-hearing/deaf students who are in mainstream classes, according to Guarino. Deaf and hard-of-hearing stu-dents either have EDCO classes that are taught in ASL, or have interpreters who sit in main-stream classes and interpret the teachers’ lectures.

There are many different ways deaf/hard-of-hearing stu-dents can participate in class, the presentation said. If a stu-dent has an interpreter, the deaf/hard-of-hearing student sits in the front of the classroom so that he or she can see the interpreter signing in front of him or her.

Teachers are also encour-aged to show videos that have

closed-captioning. Some deaf/hard-of-hearing students can read lips, however this can be difficult and unreliable, accord-ing to the presentation.

Deaf/hard-of-hearing stu-dents come to this school be-cause the EDCO program allows them to receive a good educa-tion, and they can attend main-

stream class-es, Guarino said.

S o p h o -more Thom-as Chappell said he came to this school because he wanted to be in main-s t r e a m classes, and “it’s a good

experience to be in the hearing world.”

There are different levels of deafness, including hard-of-hearing or being completely deaf, the presentation said. It explained that some people are born deaf, sometimes due to illnesses from the mother. This occasionally means there is something missing or wrong with the anatomy of the ear.

While discussing the genetic causes of deafness, Guarino said, “There is only a 10 percent chance that a deaf woman’s child will be deaf.”

In addition to genetic causes, some illnesses during childhood or adulthood, such as meningi-tis, can also cause deafness, the presentation said.

To be able to hear, deaf peo-

ple have two options: hearing aids or cochlear implants, the presentation stated.

Hearing aids are placed in the ear and amplify sounds into the ear, while cochlear implants are surgically implanted into the back of a person’s head. There is a magnet that attaches to the im-plant, allowing a person to hear, said senior Brandon Bailey.

As technology advances, hard-of-hearing/deaf people have access to many different

methods of communication, Guarino said.

Adapted alarm clocks use vibration or a flashing light. Phones also have flashing lights, while television and movies can have captions, junior Danayt Gafo said.

Videophones are especially useful for communication be-cause individuals can sign to one another over video, accord-ing to Gafo. Sign language com-munication can also take place

over Skype or Oovoo. If a deaf person wants to order pizza, he or she can video an interpreter center, where someone can call the restaurant to place an order, Guarino said.

The overall message the deaf students and EDCO teach-ers wanted to communicate was that “deaf people can do everything a hearing person can do,” the presentation said. “Deaf/hard-of-hearing people can work, drive and succeed.”

Alec Mapes-FrancesSigning: Junior Jamie Moore presents during “Deafness 101” Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Students use music technology in new Music LabBY HENRY DEGROOT

Room 419 may look like any other computer lab, but this room is a creative place for elec-tronic music composition.

With the new school came the new Music Lab, a computer lab designated to music tech-nology.

The lab allows for several electronic music opportunities. It houses the Music Technology and Film Scoring classes and is also open during F1, F3 and Monday X-block.

Todd Young, the fine and performing arts department head, is one of the people who utilizes the technology in the Music Lab.

It is open to “any student who wants to explore music technology or hone skills on the software or as a composer,” Young said.

“The goal of the Music Lab is to create a venue for students to compose music and learn how to use some of today’s leading music technology,” he said. “Music technology presents a great opportunity for students to get their hands dirty compos-ing music.

“What’s great is that we have students using the lab who are active in North’s musical com-munity, and students who might never have taken a music class during their four years here,” Young said.

“The Music Lab provides a

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venue for students to realize the different styles of music such as hip hop, classical, rock, pop and jazz, which they may have never been able to experiment in before.”

Students in the Music Lab use the software programs Garage Band and the more in-depth Logic Studio as platforms for music creation. They also use keyboards and microphones

to record tracks. Students can mix and match

different tracks and beats to make their own music, with less effort than with traditional music composition. They can dive directly into a project and unleash the full potential of their imagination with the click of a mouse.

Junior John Medlar often works on projects in the music

lab. He combines different au-dio tracks to create completely unique songs.

“I like music technology be-cause it allows me to do so many things that I would never be able to with a live recording,” he said. “It has enabled me to get three albums on iTunes.”

Medlar is also working on making a series of video tutori-als for Young’s Music Technol-

ogy classes, he said.Students who are interested

in further immersion can join the Music Technology and Film Scoring classes, which allow for a more in-depth look at music tech according to Young.

He said, “While Music Tech-nology focuses on software and different musical techniques, Film Scoring, formerly Elec-tronic Music, the follow up course to Music Tech, focuses on creating music for media, such as film or television.”

According to the course cata-log, students in Film Scoring “learn dramatic scoring con-cepts, how to achieve a musical ‘setting’ or steer an emotion musically. Additionally, students explore the history of film music through the study of historically significant scores and compos-ers, technological develop-ments, and current trends.”

Young said he also has high hopes for the Newton North Short Film project, an inter-disciplinary idea that students from Film Scoring would help develop.

“The idea is for students to collaborate on short films, where Film Scoring students would design the soundtrack,” he said.

Young said that any students interested in music or music technology, “Should get into a class. It is a great way to explore something new.”

Gabe DreyerMusic creation: During X-block, junior Ilana Greenstein experiments in the Music Lab.

Friday, March 4, 20118 Newtonite, Newton North

Student rapper JWonder writes, records his musicBY KAYLA SHORE

JWonder, aka junior Jared Masinton, has big dreams, but he has his feet on the ground. With clever rhymes that make you stop and think, and a beat that you can’t help but tap your foot to, you wouldn’t know that he’s only been rapping for three years.

“I’ve always loved listening to music and rap,” said Masinton, who began recording during his sophomore year with the help of friends senior Devon Mychal and Bohan Leng ’10, both of whom have recording equipment.

Masinton now records in a professional studio with Dow Brain, a producer from Under-ground Records, whenever he gets the chance.

Song-writing comes naturally to Masinton, who doesn’t create the instrumentals for his music but hopes to soon. “There’s al-ways something going through my head,” he said.

“I find the beat first—the tune kind of triggers a feeling in me. Sometimes I’ll start with a subject in mind.”

Masinton draws his mate-rial from the world around him: “Life, sports, girls, friends, hav-ing fun.”

Masinton’s most popular song is “Hear the Sound,” while his personal favorite is “The Mes-sage,” he said. His next two re-cordings will come out as soon as he can get to the studio because they are already written and

ready to go, he said.While Eminem, Drake, 50 Cent

and Fabolous have all influenced Masinton and his music, the most powerful impact has come from Bohan Leng ’10 who goes by the stage name Phinale and has recorded many songs with Masinton.

“He taught me to be real with my music,” said Masinton.

Leng said, “I was one of the first kids in Newton who started rapping,

“It sounded good, but I told him that he needed more con-scious content, no more b.s.” Leng said candidly. Leng and Masinton are collaborating on a couple of songs at the moment, according to Masinton.

According to Leng, Masinton is “eager to be recording, but is having trouble being consistent with recording and releasing new materials.

“It’s been a couple of months since he last put out a song. But this is mainly due to the stresses of junior year, a demanding bas-ketball schedule and the loss of his best friend Adam London not too long ago. But I think he is definitely better than he thinks he is. He gets really good feedback on every song he does,”

However, Masinton said he does have several songs in the works, all ready to be recorded.

Masinton has only performed twice: once with Leng at a benefit concert for a church in Roxbury

and again at the “Hidden Voices: Newton for Darfur” concert. “I want to perform more,” Masin-ton said.

Leng said he and Masinton will be performing at the New-ton South S.T.A.N.D. concert in April.

Masinton and some other students who rap are also trying to organize some kind of perfor-mance. In the meanitme, Masin-ton said, “I’d love to perform at clubs in Boston and colleges.”

As for the future, Masinton has passion and real aspirations. “I want to see how far I can get because I love rapping, and I love singing. It really inspires me.”

The name JWonder is a con-stant reminder of the way Masin-ton approaches life and music, he said. Last spring, Masinton was rapping with senior Eric Regens-berg and London, who died in a car accident last summer.

“We were rapping, and Adam just sort of yelled it out and it stuck,” recalled Masinton.

London inspired Masinton’s most recent song, “Looking Down on Me,” and he also inspired Ma-sinton to “realize that I need to work hard at what I do because we don’t know how much time we have left,” he said.

Masinton proves that his tal-ent in creating fresh beats and smart lyrics is not empty—it is full of the passion and emotion that separates good music from real music.

Alec Mapes-FrancesWith soul: Junior Jared Masinton sings passionately.

Jacob SchwartzThe Ben Schwartz Band: Group members pose at rehearsal.

Band members come together to share love of popular musicThe Ben Schwartz Band formed for Envirojam 2010BY KAYLA SHORE

Needing a name to throw on the Envirojam 2010 playbill for their first performance, seniors Myles Kamisher-Koch, Fionnuala O’Donovan, Ben Schwartz and Teddy Wenneker made a snap decision to coin their band The Ben Schwartz Band.

“The Ben Schwartz Band is kind of the last name we would have chosen,” said Schwartz, lead guitarist and namesake of the band.

Wenneker, the band’s bassist, joked “We knew Ben didn’t really want to call it The Ben Schwartz Band, so we did.”

The band formed in March 2010 for Envirojam. Biology teacher Zachary Snow, who orga-nizes Envirojam every year, knew that Schwartz played guitar, so he asked him to perform at the event.

“I love to play guitar,” said Schwartz. “And Teddy, Myles and I wanted to do something for Envirojam.”

“We were all friends with Fion-nuala, who’s a really good singer.” The band, with O’Donovan on vocals and Kamisher-Koch on drums, was born.

Together with seniors Caleb Gannon and Edan Laniado, Ka-misher-Koch, Schwartz and Wen-neker were in the band Mueseum, which broke up at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year after having “some creative dif-ferences,” said Schwartz.

“We’re all still friends, of course,” he added.

The band members don’t write music, and instead they cover songs. They especially enjoy playing pop songs, according to Wenneker.

At its first performance at Envirojam, the group performed “Party in the U.S.A” with a twist, rewriting the words of the song to the theme-appropriate “Being Green in the U.S.A.”

“We chose to sing “Party in the U.S.A.” because it’s a fun song to perform,” said Wenneker.

At the “Hidden Voices: New-ton for Darfur” concert, only the band’s second performance, it again chose to cover songs that fit the evening’s theme: “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King and “The Kids” by B.O.B.

“I thought it was a really great night and really well organized” said Schwartz. “It was fun, and

they did a great job of connecting the show to the cause between each song.”

The band has always been informal—it’s more a group of friends who “hang out regu-larly, almost every weekend, and sometimes play music,” said Wenneker.

With the talent of each of its members, The Ben Schwartz Band would certainly have the ability to be a more serious band, but neither the time, nor the de-sire to do so, was there.

“I guess we just don’t have enough time, but we all enjoy doing it,” said Schwartz.

It will definitely be performing at Envirojam this spring, accord-ing to Schwartz.

Beyond those shows, the fu-ture of The Ben Schwartz Band is pretty foggy.

The casual nature of the band means that none of the members have intentions of staying to-gether as a band, as Schwartz and Wenneker can both attest.

But with each member’s love for music, Wenneker asserted that, “I’m sure we’ll all keep playing individually after we graduate.”

Schoolhouse Rock

Friday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 9

Common Illusion trio gains experience in showsBY JACOB SCHWARTZ

In 2004, two fourth graders and a third grader decided to start playing music together. After a short hiatus a few years in, the band reunited in 2008, becoming even stronger than ever.

The result of their return, and their years of experience is the alternative rock trio, “Common Illusion.”

The members of the band include sophomores Alec Mapes-Frances on the bass and Owen Weitzman on electric guitar and freshman Emmett McCleary, who drums and provides the lead vocals.

According to Weitzman, all three members of the band write songs.

“It feels great to write songs,” he said.

“It’s just a lot of fun for us. We tend to write songs about girls who we love but who will never love us, among a few other subjects.”

Weitzman said the band’s main influence is not a musician

but rather the surrealist painter Salvador Dali.

“All the members feel very inspired by his work. We enjoy his unique perception of reality,” he said.

Being such close friends has proven to be a plus for the mem-bers, according to McCleary. “We can always feel free to be honest with each other about our work because we’re friends. We can make criticisms.”

Recently, the band has gained vital experience playing in shows in front of live audiences. The band played at the All Asia Café Saturday, Dec. 17.

McCleary said, “It was our first ‘bar date,’ and all the members of the band had a great time at the Café.

“It was also our first real gig where we were playing by our-selves, and the people there didn’t necessarily come to hear us play but maybe to get a drink or play some pool, while listening to our music.”

The band’s debut album is en-

titled Seventh Heaven, which has seven tracks and is now available on iTunes.

The album was recorded over a long period of time, according to McCleary, and in that time, the band’s songwriting changed. This change can be heard throughout the album, he said.

“Isn’t Right,” a song by Mc-Cleary that is featured on Seventh Heaven, is about insincerity, which McCleary said is a com-mon theme in many of the band’s songs.

“It’s half based on a life experi-ence. I was having a lot of trouble getting along with a person I used to get along with, and the lyrics are in a way, based on that,” he said.

The band will next play at the First Unitarian Society of Newton Youth Coffeehouse.

Sophomore Kris Labovitch, a fan of the band, said, “I think Common Illusion has a really appealing style and good quality music, which makes them enjoy-able to listen to.”

Eclectic band uses humor in its music

courtesy Alec Mapes-FrancesAt the All Asia Café: Freshman Emmett McCleary and sophomore Alec Mapes-Frances play a set.

Rick influenced their music and style, Tavolieri said.

Stone Cold Fox songs are generally about girls and simply ordinary life, with names such as “Watchmen,” “All Right,” “Golden Retriever” and “Caravans of Gold.”

In writing their original music, Tavolieri communicates the mes-sage of not taking yourself too seriously.

“Try to have a good time. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Indeed, the band lives by that philosophy. Band members crack jokes and infuse their music with humor and enthusiasm.

Yang self-deprecatingly jokes that he “sings at any spare mo-ment, but it doesn’t seem to help my singing any.”

Stone Cold Fox’s Facebook page biography humorously de-scribes the group as “Four cool

cats from New-ton, Massachu-setts jammin’ ’til the break of dawn, or at least ’til their bedtimes.”

L a s t y e a r, Stone Cold Fox played at the Minga Talent Show, Sopho-more Carnival and Bringing

Down The House. Yang recalled the excitement

of the band’s concert at the Sophomore Carnival. “Everyone sang ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ with us. It was a surge of energy—it was so great. You don’t care how much you’re sweating.”

Currently, the band does not have any upcoming performances scheduled, but it plans to play more shows later on this year, Tavolieri said.

BY STEVEN MICHAEL Stone Cold Fox, a student

band, began during the eighth grade music unit at Bigelow, recalled junior Mario Tavolieri, a founding band member. From its music room origins, the band has progressed to live perfor-mances.

Band members include Tavo-lieri on electric guitar and lead v o c a l s , a n d fellow juniors Evan Harris on percussion and Hansen Yang on electric bass gui-tar and rhythm vocals.

“Some people play baseball, some people like to dance, we like to play music,”

Tavolieri said. Over weekends and vacations, the group prac-tices in Harris’ basement.

According to Tavolieri, they chose their name because they googled band names and that name was not already taken.

“We’re foxy. People look at us in the street and say ‘those are some stone cold foxes,’” Tavolieri said.

Stone Cold Fox’s sound is a self-described fusion of funk, rock and roll, jazz and rap.

“But we have soul too,” Tavo-lieri added. This eclectic mix reflects in their playlist, which consists of both original songs and covers of classic and contem-porary rock songs.

A recent playlist incorporated “Express Yourself” by NWA, “I’ve Just Seen A Face” by the Beatles, “American Boy” by Kanye West and “Red House” by Jimi Hen-drix.

Artists such as the Beatles, AC/DC, Kanye West and Slick

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Yang

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Tavolieri

Schoolhouse Rock

advertisements Friday, March 4, 201110 Newtonite, Newton North

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Friday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 11

Talk of the TigerAt this school, if you come

late or don’t show up at all on a given day, you better be equipped with a good excuse unless you’re prepared to N-out of your classes.

The house secretaries have to be notified about your absence or tardy so that they can excuse you, so whether your parents call in or write a note, these sec-retaries hear the full story.

Former and current students have given some very creative excuses.

The Excuses:Adams House secretary

Lorene Shapiro said the weird-est excuse she has heard was from a student who was driving to school and ran out of gas on the way. “People go on and on and on,” she said. “Sometimes we really just don’t need to hear about it.”

Barry House secretary Karen Tobin has received some notes in the past that were so elabo-rate, she said, she wished she had saved them.

“When kids are absent be-cause they are sick, notes can get pretty graphic as to what the illness is,” Tobin said.

“One time a parent even asked me how she should take care of her daughter who was ‘violently throwing up.’”

According to Tobin, another mother called and left a mes-sage about how her daughter was repeatedly absent because of a toe infection “oozing with pus” that was followed by a stomach bug.

Tobin remembers this par-ticular mother to have “gone on and on” about her child, ap-parently saying in the message, ‘I don’t know why my daughter keeps getting sick. I feed her all the right foods like green beans and everything!’

After recovering from these various illnesses, Tobin said, this girl was absent again be-cause “her cousin’s friend fell out of a window.”

Beals House secretary Cheryl Stover said, “Some excuses I’ve been given were just so ridicu-lous that they had to have been true. If the person had actually been making it up, then they almost deserved to be excused for their creativity.”

Stover said she recently re-ceived a note explaining that

a student was late because a snowplow got stuck on his street and was blocking his car. “Price-less,” she said.

Riley House secretary Maura Roberts has also received some weird excuses.

“One day a kid was late, but he was even later because his brother’s car caught on fire,” Roberts said. “And the note was in the car.”

What makes a good excuse?

Shapiro: “It has to be real. If a student leaves a voicemail pretending to be a parent, we can tell right away because of the information they give. If it’s really the parent, they would give their name, a phone number, and a lot of additional information. Students who call as the adult give their name, and that’s it.”

Tobin: “The note has to be from the parent. I can recognize signatures, and if a student is forging they face suspension.”

Stover: “A tardy note is only legitimate if the student was ill or had an appointment. Over-sleeping or ‘I just didn’t feel like it’ won’t get you excused.”

Roberts: “I’m not giving away any secrets.”

Make sure your excuse is:Legitimate. The house

secretaries have been doing this for a long time, so they know whether your excuse is true or not. If for some reason your excuse is not legitimate, try to make it creative. Then there could be at least a fraction of a chance that you could be excused for your creativity. But don’t count on it.

Short and to the point. Have your parents tell your house secretary that you will be absent or tardy, and why. Don’t get graphic, please. The secretaries really don’t want to hear the details of your stomach bug. Listening to all that prob-ably wasn’t part of the descrip-tion when they signed up for the job.

From your parents. It’s pretty obvious if the note is from you. If it was actually from your parents, they’d at least remem-ber to embarrass you a little.

Eli Bock

Nematodanoun (Zoology)

a large phylum of worms with slender, unsegmented, cylindrical bodies, including

the roundworm, thread-worm and eelworm.

—Freshman Ben Galgano

Defenestrationnoun

the action of throwing some-one or something out of a

window.—Freshman Matt Thacker

Eucalyptusnoun

any of numerous often tall trees belonging to the genus

Eucalyptus, of the myrtle family, native to Australia, having aromatic evergreen leaves that are the source

of medicinal oils and heavy wood used as timber. —Sophomore Greta

Schindler

Loofahnoun

(also loofa, luffa)a coarse, fibrous cylindri-

cal object used like a bath sponge for washing. It consists of the dried fibrous matter of

the fluid-transport system of a marrow-like fruit.

—Sophomore Eliza Burr

Uvulanoun

a fleshy extension at the back of the soft palate that hangs

above the throat.—Junior Ryan Chan

Cacophonynoun

a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

—Junior Ilana Greenstein

Moist*adjective

slightly wet; damp or humid—Senior Jess Kramer

What is the funniest word?Have you ever said a word over and over and realized how

ridiculous it sounds? Students at this school have put more thought into this question than one might expect. In fact, all students an-

swered the above question immediately, as if they had been think-ing about it for a while. Here is the list they have compiled:

Expelliarmusexpression

A Harry Potter spell that produces a jet of scarlet

light. This spell is used to disarm another wizard, typi-cally by causing the victim’s wand to fly out of reach. It can also throw the target backwards when enough

power is put into it. If it hits or gets close to another spell

and if powerful enough, it will deflect the spell. —Senior Justin Phillips

*Note: For some un-known reason, three people originally said “moist.” To

add variety, they were asked to come up with a second

choice.

Definitions courtesy of dictionary.com.

.

March Fools

A Dim Future

Julia Moss

Crazy Excuses

—JULIA MOSS

—JULIA MOSS

features Friday, March 4, 201112 Newtonite, Newton North

Teachers encourage group bonding through tripThrough this small hike on

Wednesday and the large one that students took on Thursday, McClellan said that “students realized they could do more than they thought they could, which made them really proud of themselves,” she said.

On Thursday, each of the groups learned how to snow shoe and went on a snowshoe-ing hike, according to Hazeltine. “This was the first outdoorsy experience that many of these students had, and they gained appreciation for the outdoors.”

Students also learned about animal adaptation by looking at skulls and animal skins. After eating dinner, all 20 students joined together for some per-sonal reflection and team build-ing activities, he said.

“They work on a variety of tasks together, which are called initiatives,” according to Links co-director David Turcotte, one of the chaperones and the trip’s organizer.

“Each group is given a task that does not have a readily ap-parent solution, which forces the students to create something together.”

Mountain Classroom in-cludes students from Links, Pilot and Springboard, so many of them do not know each other at the start of the trip, according to Turcotte.

“By interacting with each other in order to complete chal-lenging tasks, they really learn about each other and them-selves,” he said.

“In the end, they gain an ap-preciation for the mountains, environment and places outside their own community.”

This was Turcotte’s sixth trip. Like Hazeltine, he keeps going back because he “enjoys hiking and interacting with his students.” Also, “it is helpful to have a teacher there that knows the program and logistics,” he said.

On the final day, students

climbed to the top of Mount Willard Crawford Notch, which

is a three-mile hike and the “culminating experience for the students,” he said.

O n e o f the seven Pi-lot students who went on the Mountain Classroom trip was junior Jes-sica Brussard.

She said she enjoyed climbing Mount Willard Crawford Notch because “it was really tough, but in the end, I did it,” she said. “Also, it was a lot of fun

to learn about the environment and spend time outside, like I wouldn’t normally do.”

Participating in this field trip allow students to “learn a lot about themselves,” according to Hazeltine. “Many students

thought that they wouldn’t be able to make it to the top be-cause they hadn’t done anything like this before, but they all made it, which gave them an appreciation for what they can accomplish,” he said.

courtesy Michael HazeltineHiking: Science teacher Michael Hazeltine and juniors Jorge Velazque, Lawrence Lawrence and Timmy Hamann pose at the top of Mount Willard Crawford Notch.

Students host walk to end homelessness

Arielle ContiHomeStart, a local five-mile walk for charity, is Sunday.

your home. In reality, though, many homeless people have gone to college and were fine until they ran into bad luck.”

Senior David Gore, who is also helping organize the walk, said “Everyone on the com-mittee has learned a lot about the root issues of homeless-ness. Most homeless people are homeless because they don’t have a support system, relatives or friends to fall back on.

“Once you’re out on the streets, you have to spend so much time worrying about food and shelter that you can’t work on finding a home,” Gore said. “The whole situation can then become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Gore said “If you see a home-less person on the street, you should treat him as a real per-son. Not all homeless people are struggling with substance abuse or anything like that. Some of them just got unlucky. The most important thing is to treat them with respect.

“If they ask for money, it’s your personal choice if you want to give it to them,” he said. “However, that doesn’t mean you should just ignore them, at least answer with a polite, ‘No, sorry.’ If you’re not sure what they are going to spend the money on, you can buy them a coffee or something like that.”

There are many ways for students who do not think they could walk five miles or can not make it to the event to partici-

pate. They can sponsor a walker by giving a certain amount of money for every mile he or she walks, or they could just donate directly to HomeStart, accord-ing to a pamphlet.

Gore said that if students are not sure where the money raised will be spent, they can go to www.homestart.org, Home-Start’s website.

According to Gore, “Home-Start is a reputable organization that helps the homeless find af-fordable housing in the Boston area. When you register, you can be assured you are making a difference.”

Another way to help out is “Welcome Home Baskets,” which are filled with household items for someone who has just moved into a new apart-ment. Some of the most-needed items for these baskets include dishes, kitchen appliances and pillows.

To register for the walk, participants must fill out a form and, if under 18, have it signed by a parent or guardian. Participants can also register online by going to http:www.regonline.com/Newton_win-ter_walk_2011.

Rick Dwyer, a Boston resi-dent, described living on the streets before discovering HomeStart. “There were times I was so cold I couldn’t feel myself,” he said. “I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without Home-Start.”

BY PERRIN STEINFor about the past 10 years,

this school has sponsored a field trip for Pilot, Links and Springboard students. This trip, Mountain Classroom, is a two-day trip to the AMC Highland Lodge in New Hampshire. This year’s trip was from Wednesday, Feb. 9 to Friday, Feb. 11.

While on the Mountain Class-room trip, students participated in group outdoor and team-building activities, which were organized by AMC, according to

science teach-e r M i c h a e l Hazeltine, a chaperone.

Haze l t ine has chaper-oned Mountain Classroom for five years be-cause “I really like the AMC, and I’m in a position where

I don’t have that many home re-sponsibilities, so I can leave for a couple nights,” he said.

“It’s just a wonderful oppor-tunity to get to know students in an environment different from school.”

After arriving at the AMC Highland Lodge early Wednes-day afternoon, the 20 students were broken into three groups, each one led by a chaperone. These 20 students were chosen for the program based on cer-tain Links, Springboard or Pilot requirements.

In order to learn about the AMC Highland Lodge and to get to know each other better, the students were taught the organization’s policies and went on a small hike, according to Pilot teacher Andrea McClellan, a chaperone.

This was McClellan’s second year chaperoning the trip, and she enjoyed “getting to know students out of their environ-ment and to meet some new students.”

BY RYAN CONDONWhen senior Gabriela Perez-

Dietz heard of HomeStart, an organization whose goal is to “end and prevent homelessness in Greater Boston,” she wanted to help, she said.

Perez-Dietz and fellow stu-dents have teamed up with HomeStart to organize the sev-enth annual “HomeStart Winter Walk,” a local five-mile walk against homelessness Sunday at noon.

The walk will begin with two laps around the outdoor track and continue along Com-monwealth Avenue. There is no rain date for the walk. In-stead, if there is bad weather, participants will walk the five miles along this school’s indoor track.

“HomeStart came to us in Leadership in a Diverse Society and told us about the walk. It sounded like it was a great idea, and many of us volunteered.”

“HomeStart is a great orga-nization and a great cause, and people should really consider walking with us, even if you just want some exercise,” said Perez-Dietz.

The walk’s goal is to raise awareness about homelessness and raise funds for HomeStart, according to the HomeStart Winter Walk pamphlet.

According to Perez-Dietz, “Homelessness is very mis-understood by many people. People think that you must have done something wrong to lose

NewtonianMichael

Hazeltine

NewtonianJessica

Broussard

sportsFriday, March, 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 13

Alumnus announces at Tiger basketball gamesBY JAY FEINSTEIN

“TOO many steps—Tiger Ball!”

An amplified voice surrounds Tiger fans in perfect inflection as one of the members of the opposing team is caught travel-ing.

This voice comes from Dino Maye ’84, the announcer for-this school’s varsity basketball games.

He started announcing in the 2006-2007 school year, back when T.J. Williams was the ath-letic director, he said.

“As an alumni, I asked him how I could help the basketball games out, and he suggested that I announce the games,” he said. “Years later, I’m still doing it.”

“I love doing what I do, and I’m happy to give back to my old school, even though this isn’t the building that I went to school in.”

Maye was most influenced by his brother, Willie Maye, who has been a Celtics sportscaster for 25 years. “He is and will al-ways be my role model,” he said. “He’s the reason why I decided to get involved.”

Not every school has an announcer for its basketball games. “When I got started, I was just about the only one in the Conference,” Maye said.

“Recently, I’ve been seeing them more often,” he said. “It’s become more popular.”

Maye has several favorite phrases to announce at games he said.

“D’Jaidah Wynn—WIN WIN WIN,” he announces when re-ferring to a senior captain of the girls’ team.

“I also like yelling ‘ayy’ when I mention Barry Santana be-

cause of the rapper who shares his name,” he said.

“It’s fun annunciating certain parts of people’s names. Luca is one of the most fun names to pronounce.”

In addition to being the an-nouncer, Maye also works as the DJ at games.

“While choosing music, I play whatever the players and fans like to hear,” he said. “I try to make things as upbeat as possible.”

The music Maye plays isn’t his favorite, but playing your favorite music isn’t the point of the job, Maye said. “Person-

ally, I like old school music like Frank Sinatra, but whatever keeps the fans happy keeps me happy, too.”

Maye is the announcer for the Tigers’ home games, but sometimes he DJs for away games, as well.

Recently, Maye attended the Comcast Tournament at BC High Saturday, Feb. 19 for one of his non-league gigs.

Maye said he enjoys work-ing with the basketball teams. “Coach Connolly and the rest of the teams welcome me like a family member,” he said. “I ap-preciate the way that people ac-knowledge me. I especially like when parents go up to me and thank me for doing my job.”

Maye’s favorite part about announcing is announcing a winning game. “Luckily, since I started announcing, we haven’t lost many home games,” he said. “It’s truly a blessing.”

As a student here, he played three sports: basketball, track and football. “I enjoyed being a student here,” he said. “Both the athletic aspects and the academ-ics continue to be great.”

This school gave Maye the skills that he needed later in life, he said.

“I got a good education here and I was prepared for college at UMass-Amherst,” he said. “More people from North go to college than a lot of other schools.

Teddy WennekerDJ Dino: Dino Maye ’84 announces at the varsity basketball games Thursday, Feb. 24.

Captains serve as role models, leadersBY EMMETT GREENBERG AND KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

For various teams, captains are needed to provide leader-ship and act as a role model. They have earned the respect of their teammates through their perseverance and hard work.

As senior Alex Petitti, the captain of boys’ gymnastics, said, “Being a captain is a dif-ficult role. You need to put in extra effort and continue that effort every day.”

While multiple captains said that it’s an honor to be named a captain, they also pointed out the inherent challenges in trying to lead a team to success.

During the course of the season, Petitti said that he faced some difficulties in leading a relatively young team.

Boys’ gymnastics ended win-less for the year, which Petitti attributes mainly to that inex-perience.

“For the newer gymnasts, it’s mainly about teaching them the basic training and other information about the sport. For instance, they learn how to respect our opponents and judges properly,” he said.

“One thing we try to do is lead by example and perform a move, which newer gymnasts can then attempt to replicate or try something similar.”

Petitti said being a captain means that “you work hard, and you plan to continue that work day in and day out.”

“Being selected as a captain means that you made an impres-sion upon the coaches, that you are a good role model and leader and that you put in 110 percent every day,” he said.

“It’s a honor to be selected for the position,” he said.

Boys’ hockey coach Tom Ryan also said that his team captains faced challenges be-cause the team “lost many close games” during the season.

“Other than that, we had a great group of kids, and the cap-tains did really well,” he said.

According to Ryan, the cri-teria in selecting a captain are

“whether they’re respected by teammates and not selfish.”

“A captain needs to win the respect of the rest of the team, which means they need to have a ‘team-first’ attitude,” he said.

“For example, this year we had a captain who needed to change positions from last year, so that just shows his unselfish-ness and dedication.”

For Ryan, captains “go be-tween the coaches and the play-ers and provide input from the team members’ perspective.

“We usually talk to our cap-tains about some decisions, such as whether to have an easy or hard practice,” he said.

“It’s really important to get their input, because they know how the team is feeling, and they are well respected by both coaches and teammates.”

Ryan said that the team picks the following year’s captains at the end of each season in a team-wide vote, while other teams vote at the beginning of the season.

“This year our captain selec-tions were almost unanimous,” he said.

One of Ryan’s captains, junior Ryan Fanning, noted that the feedback given to the coaches helps the team stay positive.

“Our feedback makes sure that everyone on the team is up-beat, and we, as captains, try to ensure that no one on the team feels down,” he said.

“I feel honored for my team-mates to choose me as a cap-tain—it makes me feel honored to be in that position while hav-ing a good time with my fellow teammates.”

Lauren Baugher, the softball coach, said that her captains need to “lead by example on and off the field.”

“I think that a captain should be someone who kids can go to and feel comfortable talking to,” she said.

Baugher also reflected the need for a captain to “be some-one I can talk to.”

“A captain should also act as a liason between the team and

the coaches,” she said. For senior Ramzy Kahhale, a

captain of boys’ swimming, his job as a captain is to “embody what the team stands for.”

“I’m like the coach swimming with the team,” he said. “It’s my job to catch anyone who falls. I want to help the other swimmers reach their comfort zone.”

According to Kahhale, a cap-tain needs to act as a role model and “be an example of a perfect

teammate.”“If you’re there day in and

day out for the team, you’re do-ing your job.”

As a captain, Kahhale said that he is challenged to promote the team’s “will to learn.”

“It’s tough to give people pas-sion or enthusiasm. You have learn how to want to swim,” he said.

Still, Kahhale said he enjoyed being a captain and “working

with everyone on the team.”According to senior D’Jaidah

Wynn, a girls’ basketball cap-tain, it’s her responsibility to “make sure everyone is ready and is doing her part.”

“I try to ensure that everyone on the team is helping out and doing her part, both emotionally and physically,” she said.

“It’s great to get a chance to take a leadership role as a cap-tain,” she said.

Teddy WennekerTeam leader: Junior Katie Caruso takes the face-off in the offensive zone. Caruso is a girls’ hockey captain with seniors Marissa and Michele Troy and junior Stephanie Vitone.

sports Friday, March 4, 201114 Newtonite, Newton North

Graf breaks recordduring State MeetBY MEREDITH ABRAMS

Despite the team’s overall lack of experience, boys’ swim-ming and diving, 1-5, had a successful season, according to senior Jamie Lew, a captain with seniors Ramzy Kahhale and Jeremy Markson.

“We had a lot of new talent that developed really well, and we got a lot of old talent back that improved,” said Lew.

“There was a lot of getting used to harder practices,” he said.

“Also, there was a lot of get-ting used to harder training.”

Lew said that a strength of the team was its team chem-istry.

“We all got along really well, which is something I haven’t seen from teams in other years,” he said.

“I always find that to be a good thing.”

The Tigers sent the 200 med-

ley team, 200 freestyle team and senior Alex Graf as an in-dividual swimmer to the State Meet Friday, Feb. 18 at Harvard University.

At the meet, Graf broke the 22-year-old record at this school for the 50 freestyle.

At the Bay State Conference meet at Brookline Thursday, Feb. 3 and Friday, Feb. 4, the Tigers tied for fourth.

“It was a good day,” Lew said.

“We were happy to place fourth, considering how we had been seeded,” he said,

“It’s good we could step it up.”

“I’m proud of all my boys on the team,” Lew said. “We had a great year.”

Coach Amy Richard agreed. “I’m very proud of this group of guys,” she said. “I think this team has a lot of promise mov-ing forward.”

Polci, wrestlers find success in individual eventsBY JAY FEINSTEIN

Wrestling, 12-10, met its goals for the season, according to coach John Staulo.

“We wanted our wrestlers to have a good understanding of the sport, and we did that,” Staulo said.

“We wanted everyone to put in their best effort, and we did that, too.”

The Tigers managed to have a good season because everyone got involved, Staulo said. “Ev-eryone tried his hardest both on and off the mat.”

The team was able to over-come all of its problems because of a positive attitude, Staulo said.

“We had great resiliency throughout the season, which helped us stay on course,” he said.

Overall, the Tigers achieved a winning season, “which is always good,” according to Staulo. This year marked the Tigers’ ninth consecutive win-ning season.

“When kids are healthy and in great shape, both mentally

and physically, you get success,” he said.

“We weren’t at that point for the whole season, but we were able to overcome our ob-stacles.”

According to senior Mike Atkinson, a captain with seniors Ben Polci and Matt Laredo, “The season was a success.”

“We faced quite a few inju-ries, but people were able to step up and help out, which made a difference.”

The team could have been more aggressive, Atkinson said,

but overall, the team achieved what it wanted to.

All-States took place Satur-day at Salem. Polci participated, according to Staulo.

He lost his first match against Athol because of a pin.

Then, he faced North Ando-ver, winning 15-3 and finally lost against Lawrence 6-3.

Individuals participated in the Division I States Thursday, Feb. 17 and Friday, Feb. 18 at Methuen.

Polci placed fifth, according to Staulo. Atkinson and junior

Jordan Long both achieved wins.

Loredo went as an alternate, he said.

Saturday, Feb. 12, the Tigers participated in the individual sectionals at Lexington.

“We did a good job, overall,” Staulo said.

Atkinson and Polci placed first in their respective weight classes. Long placed second.

“We had an outstanding sea-son and I’m already looking forward to next year,” Staulo said.

Tiger Athletic Booster Club457 Walnut Street

Newtonville, MA 02460tigerathleticboosters@gmail.com

• The Tiger Athletic Booster Club (TABC) is holding a spring season kick off rally on 4/7/11. Please come and join us for an afternoon of fun as we cheer on

our spring sport athletes.

• The Tiger Athletic Booster Club is looking for volunteers to help out with our organization. Currently we are working on the purchase of new bulletin boards

for individual teams to post information in the athletic wing.

• The Booster Club is also operating the concessions stand. Volunteers are needed to operate the concessions stand; this is a good way to help fundraise

for your team/organization. See a TABC member for more information.

• On 3/12/11, coach Bussy Adam is holding a fundraiser at the American Legion Post 440. Proceeds from this event will help the Newton North boys’ lacrosse

team along with the Adam London Memorial Scholarship fund.

Thank you to all those who volunteer,

Tom DeStefanoTABC President

The Tiger Athletic Booster Club remembers Adam London

Looking for ways to show your Tiger Pride?

Gabe Dreyer Butterfly: Senior Jamie Lew, a captain, swims at practice Tuesday, Feb. 15.

sportsFriday, March 4, 2011 Newton North, Newtonite 15

Undefeated girls’ track finishes second in stateBY PERRIN STEIN

Girls’ indoor track, 5-0, fin-ished second in the State Finals Saturday.

“We did outstanding through-out all our events,” said senior Katie Brandl, a captain with senior Amy Ren.

“We really wanted to do well, and we did,” she said. “We had a lot of drive to work hard and perfect our events, while still having a good time.”

Once the regular season fin-ished, the Tigers were focused on more individual meets, so not everyone had to come to prac-tice, according to Brandl.

“Although only some people still needed to practice for meets, many of the girls still came for the exercise and to remain close to the team,” she said.

The practices for the Divi-sion I State Meet, State Finals and Pentathalon were focused on “perfecting the little things,” according to Brandl.

“The girls all know their personal records and what they need to improve upon, so work-outs are geared towards specific events,” she said.

“For example, a whole prac-tice might be devoted to short-ening the time of a relay hand-off.”

Sophomore Carla Forbes won the Pentathlon, the season’s fi-nal event, Tuesday.

She finished with 3072 points, over 100 more than the second place finisher. Forbes, Ren and junior Lucia Grigoli also earned the highest team score, with 8135 points.

At the State Finals Saturday,

the Tigers won the mile relay in 3.58.89, which was the meet record and school record for the mile relay.

That time was the fifth best ever recorded in Massachusetts, and this year, it was the fifth best time in the country for the mile relay, according to Tranchita.

“Our work ethic and our con-sistency helped us do well this season,” Tranchita said.

“We were going against the best teams in the state, which presented challenges, but we were able to pull through be-cause everyone tried hard and worked together.”

The Division I State Meet occurred Friday, Feb. 18, and the Tigers had a score of 36, tying Andover for third place. This score allowed the Tigers to move on to the State Finals.

Boys’ track wins 14th consecutive Bay State title

Petitti, boys succeed at Coaches’, StatesBY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

For senior Alex Petitti, the final meet of the season, the Coaches’ Invitational Monday, Feb. 14, was his time to shine.

Petitti, the captain of boys’ gymnastics was set to perform at that meet with the other gym-nasts on the team and with the goal of placing fifth or sixth.

Petitti fin-ished fourth al l -around—the only team m e m b e r t o place at the meet.

“I originally hoped just to place, perhaps in fifth or sixth, but ideally, I

wanted to finish higher,” he said.

“Coming in fourth exceeded my expectations, especially since I was less than one point away from third place.”

The team, 0-6, struggled with inexperience early in the sea-son, having only three returning members from last year. But Petitti said he noticed significant improvement from some of the newer gymnasts as the season came to a close.

“Sophomore Billy Cohen, in particular, set a personal record at the Coaches’ Invitational for the second consecutive meet. His 4.8 on the pommel horse is unheard of for a first-year gym-nast,” Petitti said.

“I’m really proud of each member of the team. We did very well at both States and the Coaches’ Invitational.”

The Tigers competed at the State Meet in Braintree Friday, Feb. 11, finishing in seventh place. According to Petitti, the Tigers were “lacking members,” yet still had a good showing.

“Though it’s disappointing to not have some key members, we still did a great job,” he said.

Coach Steve Chan said the team “did well” over the course of the season. “I was happy with how we did and how we improved,” he said.

Girls’ gymnastics makes SectionalsBY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

For the first time in school history, girls’ gymnastics, 5-4, qualified for Sectionals after a strong showing at the Bay State Conference meet Saturday, Feb. 5.

Sectionals, held in Hudson Saturday, Feb. 19, consisted of 12 of the top teams from the north and south sections of Mas-sachusetts. The Tigers, seeded eighth in the meet and ended up placing eighth as well—not enough to advance to the State Meet but a satisfactory result for senior Victoria Mirrer, a captain with senior Andrea Marzilli.

“Eighth was basically where we expected to be before the meet,” she said. “We were just happy to be there.”

Overall, the team finished with a score of 131.95 points, which was a “pretty good score,” according to Mirrer.

“It wasn’t our best score, but the judges were scoring the teams pretty low,” she said.

Sophomore Ariana Paone, one of the team’s major contrib-uters during the season, tied for second on the beam with a 9.4. Mirrer scored just behind her on the beam, coming in third with a 9.35. Paone and Mirrer came in eighth and 12th respectively in the all-around category.

Mirrer said that the team had a successful season despite mul-tiple injuries to key gymnasts.

“We had a bunch of injuries, but we still did well. We broke personal records and school re-cords many times,” she said.

Coach Jim Chin also said the team “had a great season.”

“We’ve done well, and I’m proud of our team,” he said.Girls beat Marshfield to close tough seasonBY MEREDITH ABRAMS

Despite a frustrating season, girls’ hockey, 5-14-1, made small improvements throughout the winter, said junior Stephanie Vitone, a captain with seniors Marissa and Michele Troy and

Gabe DreyerNeutral zone: Senior Zach McAuliffe makes a pass, looking to enter the offensive zone against Needham Feb. 16.

junior Katie Caruso.“We had a lot of small vic-

tories,” Vitone said. “We really grew as a team.”

“We were a really young team with only three returning seniors, so the freshmen had to adapt to our system, and a lot of people had to learn new positions,” she said.

In the last game of the season at Marshfield Thursday, Feb. 24, the Tigers won 4-2. “We had some of our best play,” said coach Bob MacDougall.

Tuesday, Feb. 22, Notre Dame defeated the Tigers 1-0 at Notre Dame. “It was a close game,” MacDougall said.

“They scored a quality goal, and we were unable to put pres-sure on them.”

The Tigers lost 4-3 at home against Braintree Friday, Feb. 18. “We had too many penalties in the third period and gave them too many opportunities to score,” MacDougall said.

Needham defeated the Ti-gers 2-0 Wednesday, Feb. 16 in Needham. “It was a tough game because we made a lot of simple mistakes that made us lose,” Vitone said.

Saturday, Feb. 12, the Tigers lost 3-2 at Framingham. “It was one of our better games,” she said.

“We were up 2-1 going into the third period, and when they came back, we didn’t give up.”Boys’ hockeycrushes BrooklineBY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

It was a bittersweet end to the season for boys’ hockey, 5-14-1. The Tigers dropped their last three games of the season, but, according to junior Ryan Fan-ning, a captain with senior T.J. Ryan, they remained in conten-tion in most of their losses.

“We had a very good season,” Fanning said. “We just lost many close, tough games.”

The Tigers were coming off a huge 7-1 victory over archrival Brookline before their home game against Framingham Sat-urday, Feb. 12.

The team lost to the Flyers by the same score. Fanning said the team “lacked energy.”

“We were coming off the big win at Brookline, so we came out flat and couldn’t convert of-fensively,” he said.

The Tigers lost another close game at home to Needham 2-0 Wednesday, Feb. 16. The score marked a significant improve-ment for the team, as it had lost 8-0 to Needham January 19.

“Our goalie Hector Coscione kept us in the game. He had a huge game—he faced about 45

shots and only let in two goals,” Fanning said.

The Tigers ended their sea-son on the road with a 6-1 de-feat at the hands of Watertown Tuesday, Feb. 22.

“The game didn’t go the way we wanted,” Fanning said. “We caught some bad breaks, and a lot of things didn’t go our way.”

Coach Tom Ryan said that the team did well over the season.

BY MEREDITH ABRAMS Boys’ track, 5-0, accom-

plished its major goal of achiev-ing a 14th consecutive unde-feated season, said senior Ezra Lichtman, a captain with seniors Ben Clark and Ryan Donovan.

The team also won the Bay State Conference champion-ship, after coming in first overall

in the Carey Division. “It was an exceptional sea-

son,” Lichtman said. “A lot of people improved a

lot, and a lot of new members made some great performanc-es.”

“We had a lot of speed and depth in all areas,” he said. “It was a pretty even distribution

of talent.”Lichtman said the team’s

only goal was to end the season undefeated. “We achieved that, so the focus shifted to the post-season,” he said. “Now we’re trying to set some new goals for the team.”

The Tigers competed in the Bay State Conference Meet

Wednesday, Feb. 9. Senior Taylor Hart came in

first in the high jump and se-nior Swardiq Mayanja was the league champion in the shot put. Senior Isaiah Penn won the 600 and the 4x200 relay team came in first overall.

Junior Justin Keefe placed second in the mile and senior

Dan Ranti placed second in the two-mile.

“This year, the kids have put in a lot of effort and a lot of hard work, and that’s why they’re champs,” said assistant coach Mike Bower.

“We had a great season, and I’m proud of the work the kids put in,” he said.

in brief

courtesy Jack PriorAirborne: Sophomore Carla Forbes competes at All-States.

NewtonianAlex Petitti

sports Friday, March 4, 201116 Newtonite, Newton North

Boys’ basketball survives in Senior Night thriller Tevin Falzon returns to court, leads the charge in boys’ victoryBY JACOB SCHWARTZ

After sitting out the first 18 games of the season because of a wrist injury, senior Tevin Falzon, a captain with senior Avi Adler-Cohen, returned to the court for the tail end of the regular season and the post-season.

It is imperative for boys’ basketball, 16-6 Wednesday, to mesh with Falzon, as well as “improving offense, and of-fensive timing,” said coach Paul Connolly. “However, just getting Tevin back in the lineup has been a plus.”

According to Falzon, the return has been rewarding but also an adjustment for the team. “I love basketball, and it feels great to be playing again,” he said.

“I’m slowly building chem-istry with the rest of the team, and I am slowly becoming more cohesive with them.”

Last night, the Tigers were to have played here against North Attleboro.

A win would pit them against the winner of a first round game between Weymouth and Taunton. The Tigers would have to travel to Weymouth in the event of a Wildcat win, but the team would play at home if Taunton managed to pull off the upset.

The potential second round matchup would take place to-morrow.

The Tigers have split with Weymouth in two relatively close games this season.

Although boys’ basketball lost twice at the Comcast Tour-nament, 57-55 at BC High Sat-urday, Feb. 19 and 75-66 at An-dover Sunday Feb. 20, freshman

Aaron Falzon said the games helped the Tigers learn how to play well with Tevin, his older brother.

The team has had to make some adjustments in order to play well with Tevin. “I think our play has changed since he started,” Aaron said.

“Because opposing defenses have to try hard to guard Tevin in the paint, our team has been getting some more open shots outside, which have been nice,” he said.

Adler-Cohen noted how the team tended to play with four guards and one big man before Tevin returned, but now the team usually has two big men on the court, and this “dissuades our opponents from driving to the hoop.“

“Also, Tevin is a gifted shot blocker. Other players on the team are good at it too, but Tevin has a real knack for it,” Adler-Cohen said.

Stepping onto the court to play for the first time this sea-son, Tevin started Tuesday, Feb. 15, helping the Tigers to a 58-44 victory at Framingham.

The win at Framingham also marked the first time the Falzon brothers played in a game to-gether at this school.

However, Tevin shined in an incredibly close game on Senior Night, facing Needham Thurs-day, Feb. 17.

The Tigers squeezed out a Teddy Wenneker

Beyond the arc: Freshman Aaron Falzon shoots a three.

Girls end season with loss at New BedfordBY KRISTIAN LUNDBERG

Facing the number one team in the Division I South playoffs, the 17th-seeded Tigers knew they were heavy underdogs, but, for the team, the season-ending loss hurts no less.

Girls’ basketball, 12-9, lost Wednesday to an undefeated New Bedford squad, 61-47. The Whalers took a commanding double-digit lead early on, and the Tigers were unable to mount a successful comeback.

“I thought we played ex-tremely hard,” coach Hank De-Santis said. “At times, we were undisciplined, and they took advantage of that.”

In particular, DeSantis said, New Bedford’s pressure “re-ally hurt us. They were a tough, physical team.” However, De-Santis said he “has tremendous respect for the seniors.”

According to DeSantis, “We underachieved slightly this season, but we’ve got a bright future ahead.

“Our freshmen developed at an impressive rate, and we have a lot of talented players coming back.”

The Tigers advanced to face New Bedford with a 51-38 win over 16th-seeded Plymouth South in the first round of the MIAA tournament. The Tigers, by virtue of their lower seed, were forced to play on the road, yet they still managed to pull out the clutch victory.

“It was a great game to watch and be a part of,” said senior D’Jaidah Wynn, a captain with seniors Megan Gentile, Briana Hunt and Ella Scheuerell.

“We played really well, and the game overall was amazing,” she said.

The team capped its regular season with a dominant win at home against Needham on Se-nior Night Thursday, Feb. 17.

Leading 37-26 early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers’ sud-denly porous defense allowed an easy Needham layup to cut the margin to single digits. At that point, the team’s lead looked anything but safe.

Fittingly, it was a senior who stepped up to lead the Tigers to victory on Senior Night.

Briana Hunt cut away from her defender, caught a pass along the perimeter, and, in one motion, drained the long-distance three-pointer.

From then on, Needham never closed within nine points, as the Tigers finished with a 51-41 victory.

“I’m proud of the effort that our team put in,” Needham coach Kim Benzan said.

“Over the year, we suffered from various injuries, and in general, we aren’t a very deep team,” Benzan said.

According to coach Hank DeSantis, the team’s shutdown defense in the second half pre-vented the Rockets from draw-ing any closer.

“In the first half, we gave Needham too many easy shots, but in the second half, we stepped up our defense and re-bounding,” DeSantis said.

“I was happy that we held them to only seven points in the third quarter.”

The team outscored the Rock-

ets 12-7 during that quarter, opening a commanding 35-24 lead after a tense first half.

“In the end, we were just tired in the second half, and we couldn’t keep up,” Benzan said.

In the early stages of the game, Needham’s Tory Wald-stein nailed a three-pointer to put the Rockets up 13-11. That would be the final time they led in the game.

Subsequently, junior Kayla Farina hit her own three-pointer to cap an 8-4 run, as the Tigers took into halftime a 23-17 lead.

“I give a lot of credit to North. They are a very strong team, and they outplayed us in the second half,” Benzan said.

For DeSantis, the Senior Night victory “was a great way to celebrate our seniors’ accom-plishments.”

“Our seniors really played well this game,” DeSantis said.

“They’ve put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to reach this point and have this success. Pre-viously, the program had been through some tougher times, but they kept growing and kept putting in that effort. It means a lot to see their growth and the team’s growth as well.”

Hunt finished with 10 points, while Gentile added seven of her own, along with a few impres-sive blocks.

Junior Maddie Bledsoe con-tributed 12 points and was the top scorer for the Tigers.

Before the game, Gentile, Hunt, Scheuerell and Wynn were honored as part of the Senior Night ceremony.

Jacob SchwartzIn the paint: Junior Jamie Renner tries to lay the ball in.

43-40 victory, after four back-and-forth quarters.

Tevin played excellently in what was only his second game of the season, blocking seven of the Rockets’ shots, as well as grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring nine points.

The team did not shoot well at first, Connolly said.

“We were not intelligent of-fensively. We only managed six points in the second quarter. It was like watching paint dry.”

However, he commended Adler-Cohen for his perfor-mance in the second half.

“He is such a warrior. He had a big three-pointer towards the end, and then, he made two clutch free-throws,” Connolly said. “He had five points in the last two minutes of Senior Night, and that’s really something.”

Aaron, who has been playing with varsity the whole season, said he was glad to see his brother join him on the court against Framingham and Need-ham.

“It’s much more different and exciting with him there,” he said.

Tevin said, “I definitely enjoy playing with my brother. This is the one time we’ll get to play together, and that’s definitely special.”

According to Tevin, he and his brother actually have very different playing styles. While Aaron tends to shoot soon after he receives a pass, “I prefer to shoot off the dribble,” Tevin said.

On his brother’s play, Tevin said he enjoyed Aaron’s con-fidence. “He is very strong mentally, and that will help him a lot.”

senior Tevin Falzon

“I love basketball, and it feels great to be playing

again.”