Issuu

THE

U B GLE Issue 002 2024-25

TABLE OF CONTENTS Student Life Once a hotel, now Bolles Hall Dawson Brydges

Abby Bradley ‘25 earns President’s List award Zipf Pedrick

Fall fun for lower school community Jaxson Richter

Nourish Jax Club tackles food insecurity Zara Touheed

Read it Forward club creates a new space for reading and writing Ava Cheng

Rathet ’27 launches Sports Management Club Alastair Thompson

Students excel in Bolles annual Science Fair Sree Alam Where students went for Thanksgiving break Jolee Abbey Wise ‘27 gives Nakatani ‘27 the Thanksgiving experience Jack Laufer Flying high with Julien Attia ‘25 Dawson Brydges Emerson Smith ‘25 earns her pilot’s license Leah Chin

Annual tradition brings students and grandparents together Jake Forrest

Spotlight: Ms. Nettles Nick Azevedo

Fall fashion at Bolles Isabel Schimpff

Students replace backpacks with purses Ty Neal

Arts Bugle hosts Day of the Dead Coffeehouse Zipf Pedrick

Almost Maine lights up the Bartram stage Zara Touheed

Drumroll for the new Drumline teacher Akin Akande

Amanda Tun awarded All-State five years and counting Ellie Stewart

Art with a Heart Club debuts Thomas Catto

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Art Club continues Deck the Chairs tradition Sree Alam

Art students visit galleries and studios in downtown Jax Jaxson Ritcher

Op-Ed

Sports 2024-2025 Bulldogs football season recap Wes Coughlin

Does Netflix’s Monsters oversensationalize the Menendez case? Ellie Stewart

The planning behind a state swimming championship Jolee Abbey

Who is Bolles’ true rival? Jack Laufer

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Morning practice gives athletes an edge Thomas Catto

Seniors discuss the civic duty of voting Ty Neal

Welcome Coach Vieira Nick Azevedo

Elections then and now Tristan Schneider

Joaquin Martinez ‘27 flips through life Alastair Thompson

The stress of the SAT Hudson Powell The new Jags stadium Henry Leslie

Coach Dylan Wright now a fixture in the weight room Brady Pratt

Video: Students’ holiday favorites Leah Chin

Video: Gingerbread house-building Brady Pratt and Kate Youell

2024-2025 boys basketball preview Akin Akande

Video: Musicians shine beyond Bolles 59 Isabel Schimpff

Local Georgia Bulldogs dominate rivalry game Henry Leslie

Jags build “Stadium of the Future” Jake Forrest

Bolles students attend Boris Johnson lecture to benefit Wolfson Children’s Hospital Ava Cheng

Donuts, donuts and more donuts: A review of donuts in Jax Kate Youell

Video: The mystery of the vanishing cookie recipe Tristan Schneider

The Bolles Bugle Staff Editor-in-Chief: Ava Cheng

Editor’s Letter Dear Reader,

Co-Online-Editors-in-Chief: Isabel Schimpff Kate Youell

Thank you so much for picking up (or digitally accessing) this copy of The Bolles Bugle, the student newsmagazine of The Bolles School.

Design Editor: Ellie Stewart

This quarter, we held our biannual Coffeehouse. Thank you to everyone who performed and attended the Dia de Los Muertos Coffeehouse!

Co-Sports Editors: Nikolas Azevedo Jack Laufer Co-Coffeehouse Editors: Ty Neal Tristan Schneider Contributing Writers: Jolee Abbey Akin Akande Sree Alam Dawson Brydges Thomas Catto Leah Chin Wes Coughlin Jake Forrest Henry Leslie Zipf Pedrick Hudson Powell Brady Pratt Jaxson Richter Alastair Thompson Zara Touheed Advisor: Ms. Gastaldi

Editorial Policy: The Bolles Bugle is the news magazine created by the journalism class at The Bolles School. Our publication focuses on increasing community awareness of in-school events and topics relating to the five news values: relevance, proximity, timeliness/novelty, conflict/controversy, and human interest. Content in the Bugle is the responsibility of the editorial staff and not meant to reflect the views of the school’s administration or the faculty advisor. Please reach out to our faculty advisor, Ms. Gastaldi, with any questions or comments. She can be reached at gastaldie@bolles.org or at bollesbugleonline@gmail.com. Copyright 2009-2025, The Bolles Bugle

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The beats in this issue are Local, Student Life, Sports, Arts, Academics, and Op-Ed. Some featured stories include new club highlights and coverage on students attending The Wolfson Children Hospital Speaker Series featuring Boris Johnson. The Bugle exists to inform the student body of current events in the Bolles community and in the greater global one. Our mission is to encourage student awareness of the world around us. We value journalistic integrity and respect above all else. The Bugle also appreciates student engagement - leave us a story idea through the form on our website, or send us a direct message with any questions, comments, or concerns. If you enjoy this issue and want more Bugle content, check out our website www.bollesbugleonline.com and follow us on Instagram @thebollesbugle for early article releases as well as fun photos and videos. Thanks for sticking with us, and welcome to the Quarter 1 edition for the 2024-25 school year! Sincerely,

Ava Cheng Editor-in-Chief

STUDENT LIFE

History of Bolles Hall Once a hotel, now Bolles Hall Dawson Brydges Contributing Writer

hen Bolles students arrive on campus each day, they are greeted by a beautiful building they know as Bolles Hall. What some people fail to realize is that Bolles Hall is much more than some classrooms and dorm rooms, it was formerly a hotel. The story of Bolles Hall started in 1907, when Governor Napoleon Broward asked Richard J. Bolles, who made a fortune in Colorado mining, to come to Florida and help drain our swamps. He first stopped in Miami and then in 1908 came to Jacksonville. He was accompanied by his secretary, Agnes W. Cain. When Bolles died in 1917, care of his estate went to her. Later, Cain would get her hands on what was The San Jose Hotel, but now Bolles Hall. The San Jose Hotel was designed to be the centerpiece of San Jose. San Jose itself would have become a city if it wasn’t for the great depression. Talks about the construction of the San Jose community began in 1914 when The San Jose Company was established by Claude Nolan. Nolan, the owner of Claude Nolan Cadaliac, backed the project because he believed automobiles would foster the growth of outlying suburban communities. These plans were significantly delayed due to the beginning of World War I. Construction would resume in 1925 when the San Jose Company hired John Nolen, America’s first professional city planner. Nolen, who was responsible for laying out cities such as West Palm Beach and Sarasota, was in charge of the layout of San Jose. Nolen

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envisioned San Jose as its own functioning city. Architects Marsh and Saxlebye were asked to render the effect of an ancient Spanish castle. Before the construction of the hotel began, The San Jose Company donated it to the estate of Bolles, which Cain controlled. The San Jose Hotel was spacious, containing 65,332 square feet. The first unit of the hotel which sits on the St. Johns River contained 100 rooms and cost 14.7

Bolles Hall in 1928. Credit: The Jacksonville Library.

million to build in today’s money. The secondary pieces (outside of Bolles Hall) contained another 125 rooms. The hotel opened in January of 1926, and Charles A Johnson was hired as the hotel manager. The first mortgage payment, paid by Cain, was 200,000 dollars.

yachting, boating, swimming, horseback riding, polo, tennis, fishing, and trap shooting. The hotel’s golf course, which is now part of the San Jose Country Club, was famously known for being one of Florida’s most luxury courses during the time. The course consisted of 18 holes and was built as part of the hotel by Scottish golfer Donald Ross. Ross designed roughly 400 golf courses in the United States and Canada between 1900 and 1948. Four of these courses are in Jacksonville. Ross was known for attention to detail and made his courses stand out as a more challenging than others. During the planning of San Jose, Nolen wanted to make sure The San Jose Hotel could be easy to access. During this time period, there were five trunk railroads that connected San Jose and Jacksonville to the entire United States. The Clyde Steamship company also ran routes to Jacksonville regularly. San Jose also had the ability to land aircraft across the St. Johns river. When the San Jose Hotel opened in 1926, hotel bookings were great. Unfortunately, this did not last forever as Florida’s real estate boom became a bust thanks to the Great Depression, when the economy started to collapse.

The first unit of the hotel, which is now the modern Bolles Hall, has three stories. The first floor, which looks the same today, contains an elevator and dining hall that looks out to the river. The first floor used to have a barber shop and a beauty parlor.

In 1928, The San Jose Company canceled the construction of the second hotel south of San Jose Hotel, The Vanderbilt. The San Jose Hotel was forced to shut its doors. Cain foreclosed on the hotel’s mortgage and took possession of the property.

Luxurious amenities were also common. The hotel provided an endless amount of activities for their guests. such as, golf,

What do you do with a million dollar tourist hotel when the real estate market has fallen out? You play it smart. Cain formed

a corporation (Bolles Investment Company). She elected herself as president and sold the hotel to the same Bolles Investment Company for $225,000.

So that’s exactly what Cain and her husband did, creating what we now know as The Bolles School. In 1933 The Bolles school officially opened.

After this sale, she leased the property to a hotel group that paid $100,000 immediately. Then to the Florida Military Academy for three years.

Today, Bolles Hall is known to be one of the 25 structures of the San Jose Estates development that is still standing. The building is unquestionably the most architecturally distinguished structure associated with the early development of the San Jose Estates subdivision.

When the summer of 1932 came around, The Military academy failed to meet their financial obligations and were given notice that same year. The former hotel was now vacant. With Cain out of ideas, a local attorney had a suggestion for her.

“Why don’t you form a school out there? The community needs one.” — John C. Cooper

Bolles often uses the hall in their marketing and advertising because that’s what the school is commonly known for.

Above and Right: The San Jose Hotel. Below: John Nolen’s plans for San Jose, Florida Credit: The Jacksonville Library

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Abby Bradley ‘25 earns President’s List Award Zipf Pedrick Contributing Writer

he President’s List Award is a prestigious award given to students each quarter who have made positive impacts in the community that go above what is expected of them. Teachers, peers, and club or class sponsors can nominate students. A committee of administrators and advisors then recommends recipients to the school president. This year, Abby Bradley ‘25 was a Quarter 1 recipient of the President’s List Award. Bradley received this award for being the social media manager on the Taiwan trip for the Bolles Chinese Club. When her teacher brought up the idea of being the social media manager to the class, Bradley jumped at the chance and volunteered. “I volunteered to run the social media account because I was really excited about the trip and I wanted to be able to share our activities and what we did with everyone back home, like our parents and everyone who couldn’t see it.”

Traveling to a different country leads to many new and exciting experiences, going places such as Zhong Li and Tai Chung. Bradley said it was difficult to capture everything because of how much the group did. Bradley was surprised to hear that she had won the award because she didn’t sign up to be the social media manager to win any award. “I was really surprised because I did it because it was a really fun thing to do and a fun activity so when I saw it I was really excited and honored.”

Abby Bradley stumbles upon colorful ceremony in Taiwan. Credit: Ava Cheng

Bradley said that being the social media manager led to bonding with the rest of the group about their trip. “It was also a good way to get the group together, talk about what we learned, and talk about what we did every evening,” said Bradley. While on the trip, Bradley enjoyed going through all the photos with the other people on the trip. “It’s really fun to just go through all the pictures at the end of the day and see what we did and people’s thoughts on it.”

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Students visit Xuanzang Temple. Credit: Abby Bradley

“I volunteered to run the social media account because I was really excited about the trip and I wanted to be able to share our activities and what we did with everyone back home, like our parents and everyone who couldn’t see it.” — Abby Bradley ‘25 Bradley thinks that the reason she received the award had less to do with what exactly she did, because “anyone can run a social media account,” but more to do with how she did it. She was enthusiastic about being the social media manager, and put in lots of hard work and effort into the account. “It kind of goes to show in anything you do, it’s not necessarily about what you do, right? But it’s how you do it.”

Fall fun for lower school community Jaxson Richter Contributing Writer

he Fall Festival is an annual tradition of fun for both students and families.

Mrs. Lusk, the head of the lower school Whitehurst campus and a contributor to the event, looks forward to the festival every year. “I would say it’s been going for m ore than 20 years,” said Lusk, “it’s been a long standing tradition definitely.” Even though the name remains the same, the organizers of the event do their best to try to shake it up every year so things don’t feel stale. This keeps the attendance high and the energy even higher. This year, the Fall Festival, hosted on October 25, had some exciting new features. “This year, we had a couple of additions to the Fall Festival,” said Lusk. “The crew captains transformed the upstairs of their boathouse into a funhouse which had games and activities which the kids absolutely loved.”

Student enjoy Jacob’s Ladder at the festival. Credit: Daniel Austin

Bear Iracki ‘34 and Kolt Owens ‘34 Credit: Daniel Austin

There’s a couple of activities that always stand out to students. “Jazzy jars is up there as one of the most popular activities, cake walk,” said Lusk, “and Jacob’s ladder, a game where a rope ladder is tied to two trees and students have to try to get across and ring the bell.” After the event is held, the Fall Festival committee meets to discuss possible improvements. “The committee who runs the festival runs a review meeting every year to go over what went right and what we could change to make it better.”

a parent favorite so it’s very special.” Upper school students can get involved too, as they can volunteer for community service hours. The students can voice their opinions alongside faculty and parents to make the experience better and better. Lusk’s favorite part of the festival isn’t a physical activity or game, it’s the overall feeling around the annual event.

The attendance stays pretty consistent throughout the years.

“Just the community and being able to come together and celebrate a night together, there’s always great energy and excitement, and that’s what it’s all about.”

“More than 200 students and their families attend the Fall Festival annually, so just over 500 people per year,” said Lusk.

The Fall Festival was a huge hit this year, Lusk said, and will continue to be an exciting and joyous event for Bolles students and faculty.

“It’s probably our most wellattended event, we do a lot of events for students and families but this is a student favorite and

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Nourish Jax Club tackles food insecurity Zara Touheed Contributing Writer

ourish Jax is a new club founded this year whose main focus is to feed lowincome people and support victims of natural disasters and homelessness. Nourish Jax is also a chapter, a local branch of Feeding Northeast Florida, another nonprofit organization that has food banks across Jacksonville.

Grace Miller ’27 presenting a slideshow on Global Hunger. Credit: Zara Touheed

terms of being fortunate with not having to worry about that sort of thing.” Through Feeding Northeast Florida, Nourish Jax was able to collaborate and become a chapter or branch in Jacksonville. Besides this collaboration, Miller hopes to reach out Feeding Northeast Florida as a way to gain the public’s eye and connect to more of Florida, to promote the club through different local news channels, and to focus more on awareness. Recently, Nourish Jax had a candy and bake sale to raise money for low-income families and Hurricane Milton and Helene survivors, and they made over $450. Overall, the club sold many baked goods, like donuts, cupcakes, cookies, danishes and candy. They also had a stall at the recent Halloween

What inspired the founding of Nourish Jax was a research paper for the Global Scholar Program that Grace Miller ‘27 did on global hunger that helped her realize she wanted to help people dealing with this issue, especially because growing up she did not have to worry about that sort of thing. “Global hunger, I realized that was a really important issue to me, and since I have really grown up not having to worry about that, personally, being able to learn about how much other people have to worry about…that really inspired me,” said Miller,who is president and founder of Nourish Jax. Prior to this, Miller said she didn’t really think about global issues in general. Miller said, “I just think a lot about how growing up l had so much in

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Nourish Jax’s bakesale during the fall. Credit: Grace Miller Carnival hosted on the Upper School River Campus, where they gave free cotton candy to kids from the Sanctuary on 8th Street. Fundraisers like these are essential to the club’s mission statement, the environment that the club creates is also a major benefactor when convincing people to join. Having a hospitable front is what

nurtured Nourish Jax’s success. “The main parts of being the Nourish Jacksonville because that’s what it’s made for and the environment, we’re the ones who are putting all that together and maintaining a welcoming environment” said Sree Alam ‘28, a club officer at Nourish Jax. In fact, the mission statement for the club is “To partner with Feeding Northeast Florida to provide as many meals as possible for struggling kids and families in the Jacksonville area.” Hospitality is what encourages both growth and participation in the club, allowing for them to focus on the central idea of charity and fighting hunger. “You have this amazing group of people to be with and you’re supporting a good cause,” said Alam. She also believes the club’s main attraction is its mission: “Charity, as a main idea for our Club, is what attracts people, just the environment,” said Alam. As of now, Nourish Jax aims to hold one fundraiser per semester through either more food drives or bake sales. Furthermore, they want to go beyond just Jacksonville, and hopefully connect with other counties and cities in Florida. In fact, there’s an upcoming competition that the club members are preparing to participate in called Youth America with people from ages five to twenty-five will look for ways to fight hunger at its root in their local communities, encouraging youth volunteering. The grand prize will be $2500 dollars, and Miller says that if Nourish Jax wins, she intends to donate the money to Feeding Northeast Florida or other local organizations.

Read it Forward club creates a new space for reading and writing Ava Cheng Editor-in-Chief

or many readers and writers, books become places where they can let themselves and their imaginations escape; at Bolles, the Read it Forward club aims to create a similar environment. After interning for the local organization Women Writing For (a) Change, Olivia Owens ‘27, Ellsa Zinn ‘27, and Liza Rose Dickson ‘27 created the idea for the club. “We came up with it there,” Owens said. “There’s not a strong book club at Bolles and we really wanted to do it because there are just so many girls and guys I know that would find it so fun to go read with a bunch of other friends and have fun snacks and get to put their community service to something they’re passionate about, like reading.”

From left to right: Ellsa Zinn ‘27, Olivia Owens ‘27, and Liza Rose Dickson ‘27 lead a club meeting. Credit: Olivia Owens Owens and Zinn are the current co-presidents of the club and are responsible for deciding when meetings will be held, what books

will be read, and what community service activities are going to look like. “It’s been kind of hard at the beginning to get that kind of organization, beginning the school year and beginning a new club,” said Owens. “So we’ll have more meetings in the future.” Read it Forward has held two meetings so far, but has been productive in planning for future events. “In our last meeting everybody made a bunch of cards with writing prompts,” said Owens. “Stuff like ‘Write about the last time you laughed,’—just creative writing things.” On November 9, club members sat down for breakfast and used the prompts to write with Women Writing for (a) Change at the Jax by Jax Literary Arts Festival.

reading, which is something that I think the three of us had a really fun time doing with the internship,” said Owens. The club plans to hold a fundraiser and get club members involved in Women Writing For (a) Change and other Jax by Jax literary events. “We’ll definitely hold some sort of fundraiser to get more little free libraries around the community and give people money to decorate them. And we’re hoping to really start getting books involved and having monthly times to read, or just get people to come in and read.”

Ms. Jacobson, the club’s advisor, helped organize the opportunity. “She’s genuinely the best club advisor ever,” said Owens, “because she’s so passionate about what she does, and she helps us come up with creative ideas.” It was Jacobson who introduced the current club leaders to Women Writing For (a) Change last year. “Women Writing For (a) Change is the coolest thing,” said Owens. “It’s a bunch of older women and teachers and artists and writers who come together and put together an anthology of work each year.” As interns, Owens, Zinn and Dickson met with the group every week to participate in a creative writing circle or attend local festivals and events. “Our goals are just to spread a love for reading and find a way to give back to the community through writing and through

Club members create writing prompts. Credit: Olivia Owens

Owens sees the club as a support system at school that can offer reassurance through reading. “I just hope it’s something that gives people peace of mind, makes their day better,” said Owens. “There can be a lot in your day, and I feel like sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to just relax, so we hope the club is productive but also peaceful.”

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Rathet ‘27 launches Sports Management Club Alastair Thompson Contributing Writer

ne of the new extracurricular clubs offered in the 20242025 school year is the Sports Management Club, created by students Jake Forrest ‘27 and Chase Rathet ‘27. Sports management is a business profession that involves managing and planning all things sports and athletics. Rathet came up with the initial idea for the Sports Management Club and is President alongside Forrest, the club’s Vice President. “I thought of creating this club because I felt that there needed to be a space where people with a shared interest in sports management could meet and be informed on how to either engage in sports management related issues or how to pursue sports management further in life, possibly as a career opportunity,” said Rathet.

managers and to influence the next generation of sports agents and managers. “We plan to get into contact and attempt to interview Trent Baalke, the current Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager who has been with the organization for almost four years, and maybe even the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp general manager,” added Rathet. “But most importantly, we would like to continue having one of the most active club communities in Bolles.” In the first meeting, the club held leadership elections and went over their plans and mission. In other meetings they have discussed real sports management problems, such as working around load management. The consensus response is that the NBA teams should schedule built-in rest days to plan around so fans get the full experience when attending games.

Currently, they do not have any outside of school activities planned. “But I know that as the club grows, we will create offcampus opportunities for the members,” said Rathet. Leo Petrucelli ‘26 serves as CoVice President because “I enjoy discussing sports topics and I wanted to learn more about what sports management really means.” Baseball Coach Mike Boswell sponsors the club. “Chase and Jake came to me and asked me to sponsor their club because I have been in the sports industry for a long time,” he said. “I read their write-up and liked what they were proposing. It was intriguing to me. I’m looking forward to helping them guide this club for the next several years.”

Several members joined the Sports Management Club for an opportunity to expand their interests in sports. Gabe Morris ‘27 sees the club as a chance “to get a better understanding of the analytics within sports and to bond over sports conversations with people who share the same interests.” For Samuel Ellis ‘27, the club allows him to enjoy multiple aspects of sports. “I enjoy talking, playing and watching all kinds of sports, so I thought this club would be a good fit for me.” The club plans to continue learning how to become sports

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Chase Rathet ‘27 and Leo Petrucelli ‘26 presenting slideshow on Sports Management in the second meeting. Credit: Alastair Thompson

Students excel in Bolles Annual Science Fair Sree Alam Contributing Writer

very year, the Bolles science department hosts a science fair for middle schoolers and upper schoolers. The school has a club called “The Science Student Advisory Council” that helps the science fair participants succeed, especially freshmen in Biology Honors who need help on the presentation aspect of the project. This year’s science fair took place on December 10, 2024, during activities period. There were many different types of research conducted, such as using sand heat as a sustainable energy source, what angles and materials affect the amount of water dew drops can collect, and the use of recycled plastic insulators. These displays attracted the most parents and teachers.

therefore causing people to have strokes. “This project is based on a study of disease modeling of CADASIL. CADASIL is an extremely rare medical disease that has very limited research on it and is concentrated on drug medication,” Park said.

Sarah Park ‘25 standing by her project and briefly explaining it. Credit: Sree Alam Park is trying to find out which drugs or combination of drugs are effective for the hiPSC-denied mural cells from CADASIL patients. Freshman Myka Das ’28 had a project that revolved around finding a cheaper insulator that traps heat that was able to still work under different weather conditions.

The first floor of CFI filled with Bolles students and teachers. Credit: Sree Alam Sarah Park ’25, a student who has competed at the international level in past years, decided to do a project about Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy, also known as CADASIL. It is a genetically inherited disease that damages blood vessels in the brain,

“So my project is about recycling plastic insulators, and my goal is to find a cheap insulator that can be made out of recycled plastics that can efficiently buffer temperature and humidity shifts,” Das said. “The materials I used for the insulators were plastic foam, bubble wrap, and 3D printed byproducts. The 3D printed byproducts haven’t been tested yet, so I wanted to use and see if maybe I could repurpose it. I found that the plastic foam

insulation was best at buffering the temperature, while the bubble wrap was the best at buffering the humidity shift.” Vincent Barragan ’28 created a study to try and predict the 2024 presidential election, and accurately predicted the results. “Well, every four years, all the people who are above the age of 18 in America choose one person they want to lead them, the president of the United States. So, what I did was I used a bunch of math to see who the grownups would vote for this year. To do that, I used math to see how my math thought the citizens would vote four years ago and I changed my math whenever I was right or wrong. After doing that for a while, I could use my better math to see who the citizens would vote for.” Many of the students who participated in the science fair didn’t just do it for a specific science class. Some students were affiliated with hospitals like Mayo Clinic, while others did the project independently. Dhaani Aailwadhi ‘28 worked on a project with doctors who worked at Mayo and researched patients that are affected by Myeloma. Myeloma is type of blood cancer that develops in bone marrow. Some students who had amazing projects were recommended by the science fair’s lead, Dr. Halloran, to apply to the Regional Science Fair. This year’s Regional Science Fair is from February 7 to February 11.

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Where students went for Thanksgiving break Jolee Abbey Contributing Writer

ver Thanksgiving break, Tomi Christman ‘27 went to Delaware to visit his cousins and have Thanksgiving dinner with them. What he was most looking forward to during his trip was seeing his cousins, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

The Smith family. Credit: Mary Agnes Smith For her Thanksgiving celebration, Mary Agnes Smith ‘25 went to visit her extended family in Missouri and Kansas. Smith enjoyed “going to my grandpa’s farm with my family, which is always fun.”

Cata Lebrons ‘26 spent the extended break in Mexico with a friend, visiting her family. In Mexico, Lebrons had fun “going out, but I didn’t celebrate because there is no Thanksgiving in Mexico.”

The Christman family eats Thanksgiving dinner. Credit: Tomi Christman Veda Galipalli ‘28 spent her Thanksgiving break travelling to and spending time in Peru. She was very excited to visit Machu Picchu and spend time with her family and family friends.

Shannon Buckley ‘25 visits a college campus in Pennsylvania. Credit: Shannon Buckley

Veda Galipalli ‘28 enjoys the views of Peru. Credit: Veda Galipalli

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During Thanksgiving break, Shannon Buckley ‘25, went to New Jersey to celebrate with her family, as well as on a road trip across the country to tour potential college campuses. Buckley loved spending time up north, to experience different weather and a colder Thanksgiving.

Cata Lebrons ‘26 with a friend in Mexico. Credit: Cata Lebrons Throughout Tudor Vlad’s ‘27 Thanksgiving break, he enjoyed time in Canada. While there, Vlad spent his time celebrating with a favorite dish, turkey, as well as snowboarding.

Wise ‘27 gives Nakatani ‘27 the Thanksgiving experience Jack Laufer Co-Sports Editor

hen Bolles goes on break during the holidays, most of the 78 boarding students travel back home. That was not the case this year for boarder Yusuke Natakani ‘27. This year, instead of going back home to Japan, Nakatani’s classmate and baseball teammate Wyatt Wise ‘27 invited Nakatani over to his house for the break to give him the good ol’ American Thanksgiving experience. Nakatani and Wise’s friendship kicked off when Nakatani began boarding at Bolles his freshmen year. Almost every day, you can find the two friends out on the baseball fields practicing together.

Wise and Nakatani play pickleball. Credit: Kevin Wise

Nakatani stayed with Wise from Wednesday through Sunday. Besides Thanksgiving dinner, the two baked festive cookies, decorated for Christmas, went fishing, played airsoft, football, and pickleball. Wise said his favorite activity was fishing. “I loved going fishing. Thankfully, it wasn’t really cold out that day. Even though I didn’t catch a fish, just being out there on the water was a really fun time.” Nakatani said the plan fell into place the week before Thanksgiving break. “Honestly, I was going to stay here alone. I wouldn’t be here with my parents. I had to stay in the US. Wyatt’s family took me in. We had such a great time.”

“I was going to stay here alone. I wouldn’t be here with my parents. I had to stay in the US. Wyatt’s family took me in.” —Yusuke Natakani ‘27 Nakatani said that this Thanksgiving met the expectations he had. “In Japan, there is no Thanksgiving,” he said. “This was my first time ever having Thanksgiving dinner. It was a very great experience.” The food he enjoyed the most was Grandma Wise’s famous Mac and Cheese.

Wise and Nakatani decorate festive cookies. Credit: Kevin Wise

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Flying high with Julien Attia ‘25 Dawson Brydges Contributing Writer

any people are afraid of heights, but this isn’t the case for Julien Attia ‘25. He has a strong interest in flying planes which started at a young age. During Attia’s childhood, he used to build mini airports and model planes at home and run around with a plane in the air as if he was flying it. “What intrigued me the most was the physics of flight and how planes are operated,” he said. This fondness for planes carried into middle school, when he started to play a video game called “SimplePlanes.” This game allowed to create his own planes and fly them around an island. For Attia’s 15th birthday, he recieved and Xbox. On his new gaming console, he used Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. This simulator gave Attia the experience of flying different planes in extraordinary detail. From his room, he could explore the world in planes such as the F-35, Boeing 787, and Cessna 172.

“What intrigued me the most was the physics of flight and how planes are operated.” — Julien Attia ‘25

“My experience with this flight simulator started my addiction to flying,” said Attia.

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Attia got to live out his dream of flying for the first time in February of his junior year. He continued to take a few lessons throughout the rest of the school year. Over the summer, he started to fly more regularly.

Julien Attia and his flight instructor. Credit: Julien Attia As of now, Attia flies out of Craig Airport. A normal day of flying would depend on what Attia’s flight instructor wants him to focus on. Many times Attia and his instructor work on “airport hopping.” They stop at many different airports around Jacksonville and make a round trip. In a recent flight Julien successfully journeyed from Craig executive (KCRG), to Fernandina Beach Municipal (KFHB) to Jacksonville International (KJAX) to Herlong Recreational Airport (KHEG) then back to Craig Executive (KCRG), touching down briefly at each airport.

“My favorite plane is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner because it is one of the most advanced twin engine aircraft, has extraordinary engineering and it’s beautiful.” With the enjoyment of flying also comes important lessons. Flying has taught him discipline and responsibility. To fly a plane, people need to have great attention to detail and extensive planning. “Flying teaches me that the quality of my preparation equals the quality of my success,” he said. Although Attia has his student pilot’s license, he can’t fly professionally yet. He currently has 70 flight hours towards his private pilot’s license. For right now, flying is just a hobby for Attia. However, the sky’s the limit!

Attia’s favorite part about flying is seeing the world in a different view. “I love the sophistication of flight and seeing the world from a different perspective. Also, who wouldn’t want to be a bird for a short time?” Currently Attia normally flies a rented Cessna 172P Skyhawk. However, his dream plane would be the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Julien Attia’s plane. Credit: Julien Attia

Emerson Smith ‘25 earns her pilot’s license Leah Chin Contributing Writer

merson Smith ‘25 is one of the few people at Bolles who can fly planes. She receives the love for planes from her dad, who is also a pilot. Smith’s dad is a commercial pilot, which inspired to get her license. “I’ve been around planes my whole life,” Smith said. She loves how flying is now something she has in common with her dad and said it has made them very close. Her mom enjoys watching her fly. She often tells Smith how happy she is and how happy her dad looks when she gets into the plane. Her journey to earning her license began last summer in Cincinnati. Her cousin, who teaches flight lessons, pushed her to begin learning about it. Smith’s family already has many pilots and frequent flyers, and her cousin thought it would make sense to have another. Her cousin’s friend allowed her to start practicing with a Cherokee 180, a “little single engine plane,” Smith said.

“Flying can take you anywhere.” — Emerson Smith ‘25

She began flying twice a day over five days a week during the summer. However, because she is a senior and is also consumed with school, she now only flies when she has free time and goes to Cincinnati, which she was able to do a few times because of the hurricanes in the fall. Smith enrolled in a flight school, though she did not stay enrolled

Emerson Smith in front of the Cherokee 180. Credit: Emerson Smith for long. “There’s a lot of insurance with flying, so they don’t like to let kids do solo flights,” Smith said. “Or they take an extremely long time.”

written and oral exam in the final steps to earning her license. Smith officially got her license in late November, which meant alot to her and her family.

Conveniently, her dad’s friends are flight instructors and fly for American Airlines, and so she began taking one-on-one lessons with them. Her mom and dad both encouraged her to continue the lessons, which pushed her. She also knew that being able to fly would open many opportunities for her in the future.

Her favorite part about flying is “it can take you anywhere and is very relaxing.” Though it isn’t her dream to become a commercial pilot like her dad, she isn’t opposed to flying privately or flying cargo. Her mom feels safer flying because there are two pilots flying the plane on family vacations instead of just one. Smith also dreams of starting her own flight company in the future.

One of the first things Smith had to complete to earn her license was completing a solo cross country, which she describes as “training up in the plane alone.” This includes making “three stops, going through the weather and communications, and learning how to talk to towers.” The last thing Smith had to do prior to earning her license was her final check ride, which she explained as “going up and doing all the maneuvers within 100 feet.” She also had to complete a

Emerson Smith beside Kathrine White. Credit: Emerson Smith BOLLESBUGLEONLINE.COM

Annual tradition brings students and grandparents together Jake Forrest Contributing Writer

randparents’ Day at Bolles is an annual tradition that lets students’ grandparents come and see their grandchildren in school. In 2024 the day had a huge turnout. Grandparents’ Day strives to honor our elders and use their guidance. During activities grandparents of students gathered in the auditorium for a chorus performance and video. Afterwards, students met with their grandparents for an hour and took photos in the gymnasium. After taking photos, some students walked with their grandparents around the school, showing them their classrooms and favorite spots around campus, especially the new Center for Innovation. One grandparent in attendance was Ms. Ward, grandmother of Gray McCarthy ‘27. Ward has been a long time participant in the tradition. “I have been doing this since they were in middle school,” she said. “I

really enjoy seeing my grandkids and coming here is always great. I even got to look at the new building which was very exciting.”

“Grandparents’ day makes me feel appreciated,” said Mary Cronk ‘27, “that they took time out of their day to come and spend time with me at school.” Ms. Meredith Morman, the head chorus teacher, said that both third period and fourth period chorus performed a piece called “Tshotsholoza.” Afterwards, the Bolles Singers performed a piece called “Malakatumba.”

Gray McCarthy ‘27 with his grandmother. Credit: Jake Forrest The grandchildren enjoy Grandparents’ Day as much as their grandparents. Justin Osborne ‘27 with his grandmother. Credit: Jake Forrest “I have had students perform every Grandparents’ Day (both at Bartram and SJ) since I started working here in 2018,” Morman said, “and the tradition started long before that.” Mya Bridgewater ‘25 said her grandparents enjoyed the performance. “They said it was beautiful and another thing that really stood out to them was this video that played. It almost brought my grandma to tears.”

Grandparents meeting with students. Credit: Jake Forrest

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Spotlight: Ms. Nettles Nikolas Azevedo Co-Sports Editor

very year, freshmen arrive at Bolles intimidated by their new schedule. Some decide to just wing it and see what happens, but most decide to make a trip and stop by the Academic Office for help on how to approach their new schedule.

parents who call into the school no matter how curious their requests are. “I mean, some of them are unusual and if I can work out a problem for them, that’s my favorite part,” she said.

Bolles’ Academic Office is very important in the Bolles community in helping both students and the staff function. One person that stands out and is commonly associated with the Academic Office is Ms. Linda Nettles. Nettles has been working at Bolles for 20 years. Before she joined the Bolles family she worked across the street at San Jose Episcopal for 15 years. In her 20 years at The Bolles School, Nettles says that her favorite part about working at Bolles is “the students and the faculty, but I put the students first. They’re just special, all of them.”

“Take what you’ve learned from here because you’re going to need it.” — Ms. Nettles

Nettles has many different jobs during the working day which include answering various phone calls along with helping the Registrar and also the Associate Head of School. She said, “If there’s something I need to do, then I’ll do it. I like it. It keeps me busy.” She also enjoys helping

Ms. Nettles. Credit: Cady Studios Like many other people at Bolles, Nettles is a huge football fan: she enjoys watching the Bulldogs every Friday night which is where she has learned more and more about the game of football. “Here at school I’ve learned so much about football,” she said. “I’m surprised about the [people] that don’t know they don’t get it…it’s easy once you watch.” Outside of Bolles, she is a very big Georgia Bulldog fan. “For college, it’s Georgia Bulldogs, of course,” she said. This fandom stems from the fact that she “lived in Georgia for a few years when my dad retired from the navy and I just loved it.” There is a lot of change that can happen over 20 years, especially at The Bolles School. Nettles says that over her tenure at Bolles, she is still getting used to seeing the

new buildings that have appeared on campus and that it takes some time to adjust to the new view. Every year brings new faces to Bolles. Nettles says that meeting new students is what she looks forward to most every year: “seeing their faces and knowing some of them are going to one college or another. The best thing about that is they come back. They always come back to see us.” There are many things that come to mind when someone has to experience their first day of freshman year or even their first year at Bolles. Nettles’ advice to new students is to “Just relax. Take it easy. Enjoy what you see. Get into asking questions…It only takes about a week, and all of a sudden, everything calms down.” On the other hand, for students who are experiencing their last year of high school, her advice is to remember what you learned from your time at Bolles. “Take what you’ve learned from here because you’re going to need it. I’ve heard that from alum that comes back…they just boast about how they know how to do the essays…they’re helping people in their dorm.”

“Seeing the looks on their faces when you first see them in August and then when you see them in May. It’s totally different…” — Ms. Nettles

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Fall Fashion at Bolles Top four trends on campus this year Isabel Schimpff Co-Online-Editor-In-Chief

iving in Florida, we may not get to enjoy the colorful leaves, or even the notable drop in temperature. However, the change in season still means a change in wardrobe. So, don’t worry, fall fashion is still present on campus—but do the trends seen at school reflect the trends up north?

Living under a school dress code means putting a unique twist on fashion trends and using clothes to help express one’s identity even more so. This means that while the denim trend may not be present, students are bringing a new angle to other statements like the maxi skirt. Let’s take a look.

#1. Country-House Chic This style, according to Glamour, is “Fall’s most alluring trend,” consisting of plaid and more plaid. The idea is to look like a vacationer in the English Countryside. Bolles students, especially boys, have been far ahead of designers with this one because the dress code lends itself so well to longsleeved plaid button downs, a style that most male students wear at least once or twice a week.

Tristan Schneider ‘26 wearing a “fall flannel.” Credit: Isabel Schimpff

Anna Folstein ‘25 (left) and Anna Richardson ‘25 (right) in their favorite sweaters. Credit: Isabel Schimpff

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#2. Sweaters This is a broad one, but it is a fall staple. Oversized sweaters in all colors are possibly the favorite trend this year. They go with everything and are just comfy. The inclusivity of this trend makes it all the more fun. Around campus, you’ll find sweaters in all different patterns, colors, and cuts. I guarantee you have seen a cute sweater in one of your classes this week, or maybe even today. Sarah Anne Thomas ‘25 in a white and red striped sweater. Credit: Isabel Schimpff

#3. Dark Cherry red This may be the trend that is the most universally agreed upon by designer labels this year. Everywhere you look are pops of that burgundy red. From the TikTok viral Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick to sweaters and bags in this hue, it may be the color of the season even going into winter.

Alexia Downer ‘25 in a burgundy red top Credit: Isabel Schimpff

Mia Cook ‘25 with her cherry red Longchamp bag. Credit: Isabel Schimpff

#4. Brown and Orange Sweatshirts It’s simple enough—plain and college sweatshirts in brown and orange shades have increased in popularity among students in the past two months. These two colors are of course, classic for fall and coincidentally, many popular colleges use these same colors in their merchandise like Brown University, Auburn University, Clemson University, and Virginia Tech.

Ty Neal ‘25 shows off his Brown University sweatshirt. Credit: Isabel Schimpff These are the top four Fall fashion trends around campus but it is important to note that so many other student fashionistas have embraced the drop in temperature with other finds like leather, jackets, plaid skirts, boots and more! Olivia Ebeling ‘25 (left) and Ava Lankarani ‘25 (right) in their “fall fits.” Credit: Isabel Schimpff

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Students replace backpacks with purses Tyrone Neal Co-Coffeehouse Editor

round Bolles, many students have begun using purses to carry around their books and surfaces, completely replacing their backpack. This new trend is not only fashionable but also practical.

Carter Lowe ‘25, Kate Youell ‘25, and Abby Bradley ‘25 showing off the purse used as a backpack at school. Credit: Ty Neal Sarah Anne Thomas ‘25 and Esha Kasavaraju ‘26 using a purse as a backpack. Credit: Ty Neal The purses allow for students to express themselves whilst also taking lots of pressure off the lower back that so many students complain about. It is compact and

easy to carry from class to class and has just the right amount of space to carry what you need. The most popular brands students use at Bolles are Goyards, Louis Vuitton, Longchamp, etc. The inclusion of purses throughout Bolles has also made the campus

Grayson Hixon ‘25 and Jackie Drayton ‘25 wearing the purses they bring to school in place of backpacks. Credit: Ty Neal

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easy to feel comfortable in and many students enjoy carrying around the same purse at and out of school.

Summer Llopis ‘25 styling a purse in place of a backpack. Credit: Ty Neal

ARTS

The Bugle hosts Day of the Dead Coffeehouse Zipf Pedrick Contributing Writer

very fall and spring, Bolles Bugle staffers host Coffeehouse, an informal event where people can show off their talents to a crowd. The fall Coffeehouse had a Day of the Dead theme and took place in Lynch Theater on November 1. This year there were 12 different performances. Lots of guests showed up to watch the

Dylan Gatlin ‘27 performs a magic trick with Tyrone Neal ‘25. Credit: Dawson Brydges performances as well. There were so many people that extra chairs had been added to each row in order to allow everyone to sit down. “Coffeehouse had a pretty good turnout this year, honestly better than we expected,” said Tristan Schneider ‘25, a Coffeehouse Co-Editor for The Bugle. The night opened with a performance by The Bolles Jazz Band composed of Julien Attia ‘25, Eesh Majithia ‘25, Sangye Jorn ‘25, Roman Davis ‘26, and Zach Gratz ‘26. This was the band’s first time performing at Coffeehouse and they really put on a show. They played three different songs

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Tomas Christman ‘27 plays “The Man Who Sold The World” on the guitar. Credit: Dawson Brydges and set the standard for the rest of the night. This was followed by Hudson ‘28 and Sawyer Powell’s ‘28 performance, a skit about problems at the DMV and how unhelpful people working there can be, which the crowd found hilariously entertaining. Following the Powells’ skit, kids in the audience were encouraged to come up and help bash open a piñata and get the candy that fell out. After the piñata, Sophia Zhang ‘28 sung “From the Start” by Laufey. Zhang has been singing for years and she showed off her amazing voice.

Sophia Zhang ‘28 sings “From the Start.” Credit: Dawson Brydges

Tomas Christman ‘27 performed David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World.” Christman both sang the lyrics and played the instrumental on the guitar. In the middle of Coffeehouse, performances were paused and everybody sang along to the song “Remember Me” from the movie Coco followed by a short intermission. Dylan Gatlin ‘27 put on his magic act where he performed various card tricks to the audience. Gatlin’s tricks all had the same end result: he always got the right card. “It was such an amazing experience,” Gatlin said. “I really enjoyed my time here and getting to see everyone.” A speed drawing game followed Gatlin’s magic act where people had to draw as best they could to match a picture of a Day of the Dead skull. The final act of the night was Dillan Morgan ‘25’s stand-up comedy routine which included both written jokes and a bit of improv. Morgan was convinced to sign up on short notice by Coffeehouse Co-Editor, Tyrone Neal ‘25, and even on such short notice, he was able to get the crowd laughing.

Dillan Morgan ‘25 performs his comedy routine. Credit: Dawson Brydges

The night ended with a dance along to the song “Un Poco Loco” with choreographed dance moves and a gift bag for people to grab as they left.

Esha Kasavaraju ‘26 sings “After July.” Credit: Dawson Brydges

Hudson Powell ‘28 and Sawyer Powell ‘28 perform a skit. Credit: Dawson Brydges

Julien Attia ‘25 performs with the jazz combo. Credit: Dawson Brydges

Coffeehouse was an enjoyable night. “It was a great time,” said Neal. “I had a lot of fun and I’m just glad that all the performers were able to do their best and it was really impressive to see what everyone was able to do and we look forward to having another coffeehouse in the spring.”

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Almost Maine lights up the Bartram stage Zara Touheed Contributing Writer

rom November 14-16 on the Bartram stage was a production of eight short love stories called Almost Maine. Laura Rippel, Head of the Fine Arts Department, explained that Almost Maine was somewhat like a romcom. “All of these eight different couples are having this moment all at the same time,” she said. “And it’s kind of a comedic and dramatic examination of the different types of love and stages of love.” The play was written by John Cariani in 2004. The play includes eight short stories, or vignettes, and throughout the play all these stories have a central theme of either discovering or losing love in some way and takes place in Almost, Maine. The eight vignettes start with a prologue featuring characters Pete and Ginette, followed by scenes called Hear Heart, Sad and Glad, This Hurts, Getting it Back, They Fell, Where it Went, Story of Hope, Seeing the Thing What interested Mrs. Rippel about this play in particular was the story-telling and overall the way love was portrayed. “I liked it because it really is an interesting way of examining the human experience. In my opinion, all art is about people. That’s the number one rule. All art is about people,” she said. “And I’m very interested in people, and so having the opportunity to try on different experiences and different lives. Human lives are exciting to me, because I’m just really interested in different people’s experiences.” The idea of Almost Mane is to communicate the idea of love

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Cast members Tristan Schneider ’26 and Abby Naugle ’28 in the prologue. Credit: Rich Zerkowski and the diversity of the human experience. This can be seen in the play’s opening act called “Her Heart,” where a woman is grieving her late husband and literally carries her heart in a paper bag. She meets a man who falls for her in his backyard, and he fixes her broken heart. The next vignette called “Sad and Glad” is about a guy named Jimmy who bumps into his ex-girlfriend Villian at a bar and learns she’s engaged and getting married tomorrow. Jimmy then struggles to move on.

Francesca Tapley ’28 and Nate Zerkowski ’25 in Her Heart. Credit: Rich Zerkowski

An act called “Getting It Back” portrays a couple breaking up and the girl is telling the guy

Dante Camarda ‘26 and Claire Kelleter ‘25 in Sad and Glad. Credit: Rich Zerkowski Lendall that they both need to have the love they gave each other, given back to themselves. Gayle, the woman, demands Lendall return all the love he invested into their relationship, and it shows the raw emotion and conflict of how breakups can go. Another powerful vignette, “Story of Hope,” follows a woman returning to Almost, Maine to

accept a marriage proposal many years after it occurred, only to find the man has moved on. Finally, “Seeing the Thing” tells of the story of a man named Dave who is trying to confess his love for a woman named Rhonda through a secret message in a painting he gave her.

Ava Weber ‘26 and Tristan Schneider ‘26 in Getting It Back. Credit: Rich Zerkowski The symbolism and representation behind these scenes are seen throughout the play, and many of the cast members believed the message was a lot deeper than some other experiences they’ve had.

“I like how it’s several different stories that take place at the exact same time, and throughout the story, it’s not really told that, but you realize it...” —Nate Zerkowksi ‘25 “I really enjoyed this play and learned a lot more in comparison to the middle school plays I’ve done,”said Abby Naugle ’28, who played the characters Ginnette and Villian. “I think Almost Maine has a deeper and heartfelt message.”

“There is a surreal element that runs through the play. So it’s not 1000% realistic or 100% realistic.” — Laura Rippel

Another member of the cast, Nate Zerkowski ‘25, who played a character named East, said, “I like how it’s several different stories that take place at the exact same time, and throughout the story, it’s not really told that, but you realize it and all the magical moments line up and it just it happens in such an order that works so well.” Overall, the heartfelt story-telling theme behind Almost Maine shined on the Bartram Stage through the amazing direction of Rippel, the performances of the cast and the hard work of the tech crew; Abigail Cherry ‘27, Naugle, Aedan Melo ‘25, Andrew Wolpoff ‘26, Ava Weber ‘26, Brianna Curzio ‘26, Claire Kelleter ‘25, Cyrus Vaghefi ‘26, Dante Camarda ‘26, Eleanor McArthur ‘25, Francesca Tapley ’28, Zerkowski, Olivia Owens ‘27, Sarah Anne Thomas ‘25, Scott Rywelski ‘25, Tristan Schneider ‘26.

In Act 6, Olivia Owens ‘27 and Cyrus Vaghefi ‘26 in Where it Went. Credit: Rich Zerkowski

In Act 7, Aedan Melo ‘25 and Eleanor McArthur ‘25. Credit: Rich Zerkowski

In Act 8, Seeing the Thing with cast members Dante Camarda ‘26 and Abigail Cherry ‘27. Credit: Rich Zerkowski

The cast of Almost Maine. Credit: Rich Zerkowski

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Drumroll for the new Drumline teacher Akin Akande Contributing Writer

ne of the newest additions to the Bolles teaching staff is the new drumline teacher, Mr. Staples. Bolles’s drumline is known for its mental strength and the fact that it works extremely hard. The Bolles drumline began last year in 2023. This year’s drumline, with the new support from Staples, has been even more ambitious than last year’s, because they now perform at football games and other sporting events. The members are disciplined and focused no matter the event, whether it’s on the sideline during a football game or performing in front of the whole school during ceremonies and convictions in Davis Gym. Staples was inspired to pursue music because he “always had a passion for music because he was raised in a family of musicians and educators.” Before Bolles, he worked in other music programs for schools in Duval, Clay, and St. Johns counties.

Mr. Staples, Esha Kasavaraju ‘26, Fidel Andres ‘26, Aidan Turney ‘25, Sangye Jorn ‘25, Julien Attia ‘25, Eli Kuven ‘28, Khaleb Basdeo ‘29, and Eesh Majithia ‘25 Credit: Nikolas Azevedo Staples cares very deeply for both his students and the art of music. “My favorite part of teaching is seeing when a player finds their passion for percussion and enhances their drive to learn more,” he said. This is the kind of person Staples is. He started working with local high school drumlines in 2003. As of 2024, he has not taught any other subjects.

“I am looking forward to creating a percussion culture within the Music Program that supports the Arts and Athletics experience,” Staples said. Even though he just joined the Bolles community at the start of the school year, it appears that he has already found his place. “My hope is that each player gains the passion to continue learning and performing percussion at the next level,” he said. With discipline, large periods of practice, and hard work, Staples aims to give each and every single one of his students the ability and opportunity to display their hardearned skills and perform at a higher and more advanced level than before.

The Bolles Drumline smiles in front of the stands. Credit: Nikolas Azevedo

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He wants to fuel his students with that same passion and energy that he has about music because it will turn them into even better musicians than they were before.

Amanda Tun awarded All-State five years and counting Ellie Stewart Design Editor

Tun also looked forward to seeing her friends at the audition. “They’ve been doing this with me every year, and so being able to see them again and say ‘hey, we’re both back here,’” Tun says, takes away some of the stress. After she graduates, Tun hopes to continue playing the oboe in college. Trying out for schools is a pretty long process, and to start, she must submit prescreenings. “These are videos that we have to submit, and if you get chosen, you go in person to this college and you do a live audition.” From there, musicians will be chosen to play for the school.

Amanda Tun ‘25 at the Winter Band Concert. Credit: Ellie Stewart

manda Tun ‘25 won the AllState award in band for the fifth year in a row and tells about her experience playing the oboe. Tun was first introduced to music when she was six years old through piano. However, it was not until the sixth grade when her older brother joined the Bolles band that she discovered her love for playing instruments. “He encouraged me to do it because he made so many new friends through music,” Tun says. Since then, Tun picked up the oboe and now plays for the school band, which performs three times a year. They typically play at the Bartram campus in December for a winter concert, followed by performances in January and April. “Each concert will play five or six pieces,” Tun says. In addition to these, Tun also enjoys playing solos.

After playing music her whole life, Tun no longer gets as nervous to perform as she once did. However, sometimes when she plays solos it gets “a little bit more nerve wracking.” Regardless, Tun is still honored by the parts and enjoys performing them at the concerts. Every year, Tun auditions for the All-State award to receive recognition for her musical talent. The organization nominates around 100 people from around the state for the award. To be selected, students from around the state go through an audition process by sight reading two pieces and playing them in front of judges. This year, it was held at Douglas Anderson. Because she won All-State four years in a row, Tun felt “a little bit of pressure because you want to maintain your level.” However, she “felt less pressure with the audition because I was used to the process and I knew how to do it.”

Mrs. Vance conducting. Credit: Ellie Stewart Tun is also looking to study music. “I’m really interested in psychology, so I’m trying to do psychology and music together,” Tun says. After playing music for so many years, it has become a large part of her life. Tun looks forward to her future music career, and hopes to continue playing instruments for the rest of her life.

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Art with a Heart Club debuts Thomas Catto Contributing Writer

his year, the Art with a Heart club came to Bolles, founded by Lila Guthrie ‘27 and Nora Lenger ‘27 under the sponsorship of Mrs. Bowman. Art with a Heart is a popular club at other schools, and has now spread to Bolles. The club helps kids who are sick or in need. Guthrie talks about how she has always wanted to help those who need it. “We want to make cards and art for the kids who are in the hospital,” Guthrie said. Another reason she started this club was because of her grandmother, who works towards very similar causes. The club has numerous different positions and jobs, so the entire workload is not entirely on a single person. They believe that this can help the club to run efficiently. “We have our president who oversees everything, our vice president who takes the president’s job when they aren’t there and helps the president when they are, the treasurer who handles the money, and the secretary who manages events and other things,” Guthrie said.

In-progress posters for Art with a Heart Club. Credit: Thomas Catto

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Finished Christmas posters for sick children in hospitals. Credit: Thomas Catto The club hosted two previous events. One was Club Day at Bolles, and another was at the Fall Festival. At both events, Guthrie and other members set up a stand with candy and other activities for the kids who came to the school. “We went to the Fall Festival and set up a stand with fake tattoos and other things,” Guthrie said. One idea for a future event is for the club to make different pieces of art and give them to sick kids in the hospital. Along with making the art, members also plan to write letters towards these sick kids. Guthrie also talked about a planned fundraiser, from wh proceeds will benefit sick kids in the hospital. Another problem that Guthrie has faced with the club is trying to make events happen. Guthrie talked about how she has planned events in the past, but they have been canceled due to unlucky

circumstances. “We wanted to go to the hospital, but there is a safety concern with high school kids going and maybe getting others sick, so we could not,” Guthrie said. Overall, Guthrie’s future plans for the club, including fundraising and creating art, aim to benefit the sick kids in the hospital.

“We want to make cards and art for the kids who are in the hospital.” — Lila Guthrie ‘27

Art Club continues Deck The Chairs tradition Sree Alam Contributing Writer

with the workload of the chair’s design since they all were dividing the time spent on it.

his year, the Art Club continues its famous Deck The Chairs tradition, but with a little twist. Deck The Chairs is a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire children through creative collaboration. The nonprofit is proud of creating new ways to interact with and challenge young minds. Their mission is to promote children’s arts by showcasing their creativity to the public. This year, the Deck The Chairs event runs from November 24 to January 1 and the theme for the event is “Let Young Hearts Shine.” Last year, the Art Club won an award for their hard work and community contributions.

Students working together to paint one of the hearts. Credit: Sree Alam Vichy Chen ’27, president of the Art Club, and Ms.Kuonen, one of the upper school art teachers who teaches many AP art classes, Kuonen explains that the club and most of her art students worked on the chair this year. Kuonen also mentioned how her students had helped the art club

Two members of the art club getting ready to do their part of the chair. Credit: Sree Alam “My Painting I class and Art Club are creating all of the aspects of the chair. The Art Club did a lot last year on the chair. They have multiple components, and so they volunteered to participate again this year, adding to the community service aspect of their club.” Every chair that is going to participate in the Deck The Chairs event has a theme. This year’s main design idea was to revolve the chair around hearts and diversity. Chen told us that this year they were going to add a diversity sculpture made last spring by 16 art students onto the chair. “The theme that we as a Bolles group focused on was the world, specifically our multiculturalism and diversity in our community,” said Kuonen. Chen and Vice President Alice Lu ‘26 announced that the Art Club plans to create a mural or artwork for the school as the second semester’s “big event.” Chen has also expressed interest in working

with more nonprofit organizations in the future. “Maybe we could do some things where we partner with someone outside the Bolles community. like other nonprofits. We have plans later this year to do some art things specifically on Bolles, which I’m not gonna say for the element of surprise, but it’s gonna be in one of our buildings.” Chen said when asked about future plans.

“We have plans later this year to do some art things specifically on Bolles, which I’m not gonna say, for the element of surprise, but it’s going to be in one of our buildings — Vichy Chen ‘27 Chen encouraged all artists to come to the next few club meetings if they want to participate in decorating the chair, if you are not an artist you can still go volunteer at the Deck The Chairs event and earn service hours for either helping set up the place, running concessions, or taking down everything after the event. All the members of the Art Club are very excited to participate in the Deck the Chair’s volunteering and for next year when they continue this tradition.

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Art students visit galleries and studios in downtown Jax Jaxson Richter Contributing Writer

n November 20, upper school Honors and AP Art students took a field trip to multiple places: the Cummer Museum, the Corner Gallery, and other local art studios. Art teacher Mrs. Gonzalez started planning the trip early in the semester. “Ms. Kuonen and I collaborated and we came across some interesting exhibits while looking across the Cummer website and recognized the exhibit from Wangechi Mutu,” Gonzalez said. “We specifically were looking for Spirit in the Land, an art piece about connecting humans and nature.” The students first went to the Corner Gallery, which hosts the Moving the Margins Artist-inResidence program. “The students were to engage with the art exhibition and connect their experiences to artistic interests,” said Gonzalez.

Marcus Williams with art students. Credit: Ava Cheng Students heard from Moving the Margins artist Marcus Williams about his new exhibit Un-American Gods. “Marcus Williams talked to us about his background around Jacksonville and in Florida,” Gonzalez said. “He went to Stanton High School and graduated from the University of Florida, and he’s always had a love for art.” The group then visited the Cummer Museum, then the Vault and Stellars galleries and the private studio of artist Mico Fuentes. At the Cummer Museum, multiple artworks caught the attention of the students and teachers.

A piece displayed at the Cummer Museum. Credit: Ava Cheng “The goal was for them to choose three pieces of art that connect with their own personal artistic interests.”

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“Spirit in the Land was a favorite because it felt relatable to many on the connection of nature and humans and inspired some of the students,” said Gonzalez. “It’s a traveling exhibit so it’s been presented at many galleries and art places, another interesting one is a jewelry piece made by Kathleen Ryan called Bad Lemon.”

Although the group saw many amazing artworks and exhibits, Gonzalez had a clear favorite. “I was particularly excited to see Flying Root by Wangechi Mutu because it used adobe, a mixture of clay and paper. Also wood and cow horns are included in the piece which is really just cool to see and experience.” Gonzalez was pleased to provide such a meaningful opportunity to Bolles art students. “The trip was a full day where students were able to experience art in a commercial setting, art in a museum setting, and a nonprofit with a social purpose in Moving the Margins,” she said. “They had the opportunity to see themselves and the work and their future in art. That’s not the experience that ends the day of the trip, it helps form your ambition for the future.”

SPORTS

2024-2025 Bulldogs football season recap Wes Coughlin Contributing Writer

he Bolles Bulldogs finished with a record of 8-1 in their regular season this year.

The Bulldogs had a tough Week One loss to Raines, but they bounced back and went on to win their eight remaining regular season games, including key wins against Oakleaf, Bishop Kenny, and Riverside. Head Coach Matt Toblin said, “We were disappointed with the loss… but ultimately that does not define our season.” The Bulldogs put the loss behind them and went on an impressive eight game win streak, and are looking to continue the win streak in the playoffs.

“We are happy with our wins along the way, but we are never satisfied.” — Coach Toblin

A group that is not talked about enough is the offensive line. The offensive line is made up of JJ Sparks ‘26, Cameron Sharp ‘25, Ryan Ingram ‘26, Reid Koelbel ‘26, and Caleb Barnes ‘26. They have really held this offense together. Toblin said, “The offensive line is a group that makes everything go…they have really gelled as a unit of playing smart and physical football.” Without the offensive line, this offense would not have all the success it does today. Toblin believes that the success in offense was a team effort, but he gave the offensive line a special shoutout.

Bolles’ defense has been successful too. They shut out Baldwin, Andrew Jackson, and Wolfson this year. They also held Trinity Christian to only seven points. Toblin highlighted several upperclassmen as instrumental, including linebacker MJ Jenkins ‘25, linebacker Troy Holloway ‘25, safety CJ Ennis ‘25, and cornerback Jalen Ross ‘25. These seniors have really stepped up and have been true leaders of this defense.

Ethan Drumm ‘25 hands off to Ty Neal ‘25. Credit: Nickolas Azevedo Bolles Football takes the field. Credit: Dawson Brydges The offensive side for Bolles has looked very strong this year, with skilled and talented players like quarterback Ethan Drumm ‘25, wide receiver Naeem Burroughs ‘26, tight end Corbyn Fordham ‘26, wide receiver Chase Collier ‘25, and running backs Emmet Grezbin ‘25, Tyrone Neal ‘25, and Xander Edwards ‘28. This talented offensive lineup has put up multiple 40-point games this season.

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Tyrone Neal ‘25. Credit: Dawson Brydges

This 8-1 season was not all because of the players, though. Toblin thanked his coaching staff for maintaining the Bolles football culture throughout the program. Toblin said, “It is the culture within the program of happy not satisfied.” All year these coaches have pushed these players to become the best they can be by keeping this culture all year long, and it has ultimately been really successful.

This 2024 Bolles Bulldogs team has been different from the rest, Toblin said. “This team has been able to toe the lines of smile everyday, but be the hardest working team in America.” This hard work has translated to success in the regular season, and now all eyes are on the playoffs.

“It does not matter what we do, we still always get better.” — Coach Toblin

This regular season is not all that’s in store for Bolles Football. The playoffs are here and there are many things this team wants to improve on. Toblin emphasized thatt he wants to help the players continue to “work on their craft.” Bolles has been taking advantage of these weeks they’ve had off and are putting this extra time to good.

Chase Collier ‘25. Credit: Dawson Brydges

Another huge part of the Bulldogs’ success will be getting injured players back, like Emmett Grezbin ‘25, Chase Collier ‘25, Corbyn Fordham ‘26, and Naeem Burroghs ‘26. They have been using these bye weeks to recover and they all should be good to go for the playoffs.

Thomas Green ‘26. Credit: Dawson Brydges

How will this team look next season? The seniors have demonstrated to the underclassmen what it takes to win. There are many underclassmen that will be vital to this team next year, including Naeem Burroughs ‘26, Corbyn Fordham ‘26, Simeon Caldwell ‘26, JJ Sparks ‘26, Asher Ghioto ‘28, and Xander Edwards ‘28. With leadership from the seniors and talent on the field, the Bulldogs are on the hunt for another state championship.

Ethan Drumm ‘25. Credit: Dawson Brydges Tommy Cussen ‘25. Credit: Dawson Brydges

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The planning behind a swimming state championship Jolee Abbey Contributing Writer

he Bolles Swim Team has won 45 state championships and counting in their highly successful history as a nationally known team. Everyone knows the Bolles Swim Team for its victories at a variety of high-level meets, but not many know about all the planning that goes into winning these events and all the hard work put in by not only the swimmers, but also the coaches. “At this point in the season, we shift our focus in training. We go into a train-to-train phase,” said varsity head coach Jake Gibbons. This phase includes a lot of aerobic training while highlighting the implementation of technique in detail.

“All other decisions and distractions should be moved to the back of your brain so you can focus on doing your job at the meet.” —Peter Verhoef Head Coach Peter Verhoef describes the “train-to-train” phase as, “working backwards, every week from the beginning of the season has been working towards this point.” The main focus right now is “doing things well, doing things fast, and recovering as best we can for them going into these championship meets,” said Verhoef. As far as the swimmers’ practice performances go, Gibbons said he’s “paying more attention to sharp details, think starts,

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turns, and underwaters” in practice performances as the championship season approaches. These are technical details that can make or break a race.

State team gathers for a meeting before departure. Credit: Jake Gibbons What everyone wants to know about the coaches’ plan for the swimmers at this time in t season is if they will be tapering. “Tapering is simply the process of adapting your body to the stress you put it under in training,” said Verhoef. Gibbons also believes “in the physical benefits of taper or rest, going into the championship meet.” Verhoef said that the process of tapering includes “taking off morning practices for swimmers to get more sleep and shortening practices while making sure the intensity and focus on detail stays up.” Practices leading up to the state meet may include changes such as “a little less yardage,” but will be more intense so swimmers may adapt to the championship season. As this goes on and the intensity of practices rises, Gibbons said the coaches are watching for swimmers to “maintain a mental focus, and to maintain the attention to key details of their swimming.” Gibbons is in charge of creating the state team roster, which he explains to be “the most difficult

part of my job.” The data used to create this roster starts with “swimmers’ all-time bests, as well as season performances and progressions,” said Gibbons. While Gibbons is the staff member responsible for the creation of the team roster, the whole coaching staff has a say. Some of the questions considered when adding swimmers to the state team are, “Have you gotten faster through the high school season? Have you stayed rather stagnant? Or maybe you’ve gotten a little bit slower, what factors may be contributing to that?” said Gibbons. The mental preparation going to the meet, Verhoef believes, is the most important aspect of attention. “All other decisions and distractions should be moved to the back of your brain so you can focus on doing your job at the meet, which is executing your races the best you can.”. He claims that the best kind of mentality going into on race day is, “being able to walk in the door, knowing what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it, before you walk in, and execute so you can just show up and do your best.” The team, as well as the coaches, are always ready both mentally and physically for the state meet and the challenges this highly competitive environment may bring with it.

Swimmers cheer on their teammates at states. Credit: Jake Gibbons

Morning practice gives athletes an edge Thomas Catto Contributing Writer

ome sports at Bolles that have morning practices are cross country, girls’ lacrosse, basketball, and swimming.

schoolwork and other things, the only downside is having to wake up earlier. However, even though he has to wake up earlier, he can also go to sleep sooner because of all of his free time in the afternoon.

Cross country runner Aiden Chandler ‘27 wakes up around 5:30 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays for practice, which can be physically and mentally demanding to do numerous times throughout the week. Chandler believes, however, that aside from having less energy throughout the day, morning practices are overall very beneficial “because we’re able to do really hard workouts that we wouldn’t normally deal with during the afternoon.”

“We’re able to do really hard workouts that we wouldn’t normally deal with during the afternoon.” — Aiden Chandler ‘27 Another reason Chandler believes morning practices are beneficial is people have more energy in the morning and the weather is much less demanding. Due to these factors, he and his team are able to have better practices. Chandler supports morning practices because they benefit him academically. He believes that by practicing in the morning, he has more time overall to do academic work. “I have free time in the afternoon that I would not normally have, so I am able to do homework, study, or whatever I need to do,” Chandler said. He prefers a clear afternoon to do

Cross country player returning to field during morning pratice. Credit: Thomas Catto Overall, Chandler greatly prefers morning over afternoon practices. He believes that there are major benefits both athletically and academically. Chandler believes that their team performance is greatly benefited by the morning practices, and it brings the team closer together. Another student who attends many morning practices is Greer Davis ‘27, who is a part of the girls’ lacrosse team. Davis has to wake up around 4:45 a.m. for morning practices. She agrees there are positive aspects to morning practices, like the team chemistry that the practices help build. “They are a great opportunity for the team to bond, and we do stuff after morning practice like go to get breakfast,” Davis said. Team chemistry is a major aspect of lacrosse, so improving this can greatly help the team. By being closer with the team, players are more connected and on the same page during the game.

Davis also talks about how it is hard to wake up so early and play lacrosse, but that this also teaches her responsibility and discipline. These two factors can also benefit one’s athletic performance by helping the players become better mentally. “Getting up in the morning, it’s hard to do that, and it definitely teaches accountability,” Davis said. She also does not believe that morning practices affect her in a negative or positive way. She sometimes has less energy during the day, but she blames this on the time she goes to bed the night before. However, she does benefit from the increased time she has in the afternoon due to not having practice, which she can use to do homework or spend time with her family. Overall, morning practices can be very beneficial for the team and the individual players. Davis and Chandler mention two major benefits: stronger team chemistry through bonding during morning practices and more free time in the afternoon.

Group of cross country players running the track during morning pratice. Credit: Thomas Catto

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Welcome Coach Vieira Brazilian player joins the tennis staff Nikolas Azevedo Co-Sports Editor

his year the Bolles tennis team is welcoming a new face to their coaching staff, Coach Eduardo Vieira. Vieira grew up in Brazil and has been around tennis since he was seven years old. He learned how to play tennis from his sister, who at the time was one of the top players in Brazil. His playing career consists of being a top ten junior player in São Paulo, Brazil along with playing futures events in Brazil and Argentina.

there. And most of the top players used to train over there, like Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Pete Sampras. All the big-name players used to train at that place. And I just felt like it was the wise decision for me to come and see what tennis was about,” Vieira said.

working at Bolles, Vieira worked across the street at the San Jose Country Club. He is excited for the season and the opportunity to compete for a state title. “I heard from previous coaches that we have a very good team. Hopefully everybody that we had in the past is still going to be playing and we are trying our best to make them a better player. But most importantly, being able to compete, not just play.”

After several years of playing, he had to make an important decision. “I felt like in Brazil, when you get to the age 17, you have to choose between trying to go pro or follow a career… it was difficult for me to be a professional player and end up, you know, taking the path of coaching, which is my passion.” So Vieira decided to become a coach. Coach Eduardo Vieira. Credit: Coach Eduardo Vieira

“But most importantly, being able to compete, not just play.” — Coach Eduardo

Vieira arrived in the United States in 1990 and he knew that he wanted to go to a place with the best tennis players in the world. He landed a position at the Nick Bollettieri Academy, which at the time served as the building blocks for the now IMG Academy. “They had about 100 tennis courts in

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“They had about 100 tennis courts in there. And most of the top players used to train over there, like Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Pete Sampras.” — Coach Eduardo

Along with coaching at the Nick Bollettieri Academy he coached both State and National Junior Champions in both Brazil and in Argentina and worked with players from several different Tennis association such as the ITF (The International Tennis Federation), the ATP (The Association of Tennis Professionals), and the WTA (The Women’s Tennis Association). Bolles is Vieira’s first high school coaching gig. “To be honest, I was never a high school coach, and I’m taking this as a challenge,” he said. “I really love the opportunity. The school is amazing.” Before

Athletics at Bolles are more than just state titles but also being able to develop oneself as well as the athlete. “We are blessed to be able to be in a sport.” Vieira’s advice to players is to “Just go over there and try your best, listen to the coaches and try your best to succeed.”

“I really love the opportunity. The school is amazing.” — Coach Eduardo

Joaquin Martinez flips through life A deeper look at a nationally-ranked Bolles gymnast Alastair Thompson Contributing Writer

rests his legs with ice and sleep. Martinez’s biggest inspiration as a male gymnast is Michigan Wolverine alumnus Paul Juda, who made the USA Men’s Gymnastics Olympic team after not qualifying for the role twice.

ver since he was four, Joaquin Martinez ‘27 has participated in the sport of gymnastics. Martinez was put into the sport by his mother and never looked back because he was showing signs of being something special.

Men’s gymnastics competitions bring these athletes in from all over the nation and are in states such as Tennessee, with Nationals based in Salt Lake City, Utah. His mindset going into each competition is just not to fall. Martinez was ranked tenth in his region last year and is hungry to climb the ranks as he gets older.

“My Mom inspired me through her battles with cancer,” said Martinez, who still competes to make her proud. As a male, Martinez feels the sport is “very underrepresented due to little NCAA teams.” Currently there are only 15 collegiate teams that offer male gymnastics programs, and only 12 of them are Division 1. Nevertheless, Martinez hopes to attend University of Michigan after participating in camps there for the past three years, loving the

Martinez at Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah. Credit: Joaquin Martinez

city of Ann Arbor and the school’s facilities. He also says that the coaching staff shows fond interest in him and that it would be a dream to go there.

Martinez at Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah. Credit: Joaquin Martinez

Martinez trains “five hours a day, six days a week.” These training sessions entail lots of conditioning and he tries to hit all six events and improve his skills in them. The six events in Men’s Gymnastics are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Martinez also said that his nightly recovery is quite intense. After practice is over he immediately eats protein and

Martinez at Regionals in Tennessee. Credit: Joaquin Martinez

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Wright now a fixture in the weight room Brady Pratt Contributing Writer

oach Dylan Wright, the lifting coach here at Bolles, leads student-athletes in workouts to help with muscle development and progress to the next level in their sports. Wright creates the workouts, implementing new exercises throughout the weeks to target different muscle groups. Wright leads Bolles athletes in intense workouts preparing all student-athletes for their sports so they can continue to improve and excel in their game. He incorporates specific workouts based on positions and sports so he can pinpoint certain muscle areas that will improve their performance. For example, when helping the baseball players he breaks the workouts up between pitchers and position players, targeting things like rotational power when hitting the ball, which

Bolles athletes working out. Credit: Brady Pratt

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will help with an increase in exit velocity. And for the pitchers and position players there are exercises in common such as the leg workouts that allow the players to have power working from the ground up, increasing the player’s potential whether it be on the mound, in the box, or out in the field.

Players encouraging others. Credit: Brady Pratt “I’m a gym rat and have been since I was in high school,” said Wright. “When I joined the Marine Corps, that passion intensified, and being an infantry Marine made it a necessity. Since then, I’ve been blessed to have an education and working experience that has all lent itself to me being a strength coach here at Bolles.” Wright has incorporated new technology into the workouts that includes using iPads with a new app called Team Builder, where the student athletes can log their workouts and include the sets and weight they have completed. This app also has the set workouts planned out so the athletes will always know what they are doing and when, so nobody is ever standing around waiting for instruction. Wright uses a similar approach with athletes in every sport.“Because so many Bolles athletes are multisport athletes, it’s important that the training

we do in the weightroom is well rounded and not too specialized. So with regards to core movements, the movements we really want to focus on, all sports are basically going to do the same things.” The weight room consists of many features to ensure a great workout and lots of improvement for those looking to get better. Wright is always there after school if a workout is to be done or if there are any questions concerning what a workout is or how you do it. He lets athletes know if there are critiques in your form and he is especially there to ensure safety throughout your workouts, making sure there are no injuries that could be caused by lifting too heavy or issues with one’s form.

“One of the things that I love about Bolles is that this school doesn’t just want to produce good athletes, but leaders in their professions.” — Dylan Wright Wright is trying to make each athlete that enters the weight room the best and strongest version of themselves. When teams show up late to the weight room he has the athletes do burpees to teach young students the lesson of being punctual in whatever you do. He also makes sure there is no messing around while working out, to ensure safety in the gym. Wright arrived at Bolles through asking if the football coaches needed any guidance in leading the athletes

through workouts to help them progress in their sport since he was getting his masters at UNF down the road. The coaches liked the sound of that and said yes, so Wright worked as a volunteer. Now he has completed his masters and is a paid seasonal coach. When leading athletes through these workouts Wright has three main goals. “The first one and most immediate is to help them excel at their sport,” he said, “I want them to get stronger with precise movement patterns. My second goal is to prepare athletes for collegiate strength and

conditioning. Lastly, and maybe most important to me, is that I want every Bolles student to have enough knowledge to be able to walk into any gym in the world and be capable of getting a good workout.” Wright’s lessons are meant to serve athletes long after high school. “One of the things that I love about Bolles is that this school doesn’t just want to produce good athletes, but leaders in their professions and in the community long after their athletic careers are over.”

“Because so many Bolles athletes are multisport athletes, it’s important that the training we do in the weightroom is well rounded and not too specialized.” — Dylan Wright

Coach Dylan talking to the boys. Credit: Brady Pratt

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2024-2025 boys basketball season preview Akin Akande Contributing Writer

he Bolles School has been known for striving for excellence in academics and athletics and has a history of success in both.

their time during the offseason to get better every day. “Two months before the season, we had morning conditioning at 6:00 am to prepare our bodies for the season,” said Thomas Joel ‘27. The coaching staff of the basketball team is experienced and knows how to develop the players. “The coaching staff understands that you are there to get better, and they explain everything to you in detail,” said Joel.

“I love the Comaraderie and tradition behind Bolles Basketball, from Alumni, staff, students, parents, and players.” — Coach Ruffin This year, the Bulldogs have 23 games in their regular season. The team took advantage of

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“Strength isn’t always shown in what you can hold on to. Sometimes it’s shown in what you can let go of!” — Coach Walker

Daniel Olunuga ‘26 sets up for a shot. Credit: Christian Schultz One of the sports that Bolles has been successful in is basketball, dating back to 1952 when the Bulldogs won their first state title. The basketball team has won three state titles since then, in 1988, 1989, and 2016. In the history of the program, Bolles has sent 30 athletes to play college basketball, with one of the more notable names being Dee Brown who went on to play for the Boston Celtics.

“What got me into coaching was my love for basketball. I have a lot of passion and respect for the sport as it has opened many doors for me and gifted me with lifelong friendships,” said Ruzffin. “My expectations for the season is to finish over .500 (record) and win a district championship.”

CJ Ennis ‘25 takes jumpshot on Riverside Defender. Credit: Christian Schultz There are certain expectations that coaches have for their players. “Our expectations are that everyone must take accountability, and do what they are supposed to, to reach our common goal, which is states. I want us to bond with each other and create chemistry,” said Joel. Before games the team is given pregame meals, and sometimes they have time to do homework after they stretch and get ready for their game. The assistant basketball coach, Deshawn Ruffin, has been a part of the coaching staff for two years as of December 2024. He played varsity basketball at Bolles for three years, then went on to play at the next level at Dalton State College. Before returning to coach at Bolles, he coached at Shelby High School in North Carolina, Somerset Prep, and Bolles Middle School.

People incorporate basketball in their lives for many different reasons, Ruffin says what he loves about basketball is “the fluidity and freedom of the game. When it’s done right, all of the moving pieces come together and complement each other to create a work of art. I love the camaraderie and tradition behind Bolles Basketball from alumni, staff, students, parents, and players.With the basketball season underway make sure to go out and show support for your Bulldogs on the court.

Kaden Fergusen ‘25 dribbles in front of defender. Credit: Christian Schultz

LOCAL

Georgia Bulldogs dominate Florida-Georgia game Henry Leslie Contributing Writer

he annual Florida-Georgia game is known across the country as one of the biggest college games of the year. Many fans and students travel to Jacksonville, Florida to watch the highly anticipated matchup, It has been held in Jacksonville since 1933 as a neutral site to both schools. Both teams are a part of the Southeastern Conference (SEC East). The rivalry has swayed back and forth for decades, always making it an even match for both sides. Georgia currently leads the all time record 55-44.

Gator players on the sideline Credit: Henry Leslie Georgia was ranked the #2 team in the country with a 6-1 record. Florida was unranked with a record of 4-3. Many counted them out as the underdog. Georgia was favored by a wide margin of 16.5 points. However, Florida did hold their ground, losing a close battle by 14.

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What did Florida need to do to pull off the upset? It started with DJ Lagway, the five star freshmen QB who had a 2-0 record in the two games he has started. He opened up the Florida offense to lots of new possibilities but had yet to face a high caliber program. His test was cut short when he went down in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. When Lagway exited the contest they led 10-3 and had lots of momentum. This tragedy ruined that momentum. Along with Lagway, the Florida defense had to compensate for the loss by having to be on the field so much due to the lack of confidence with Florida’s backup QB leading to a 34-20 loss. Georgia on the other hand being ranked #2 came away with the win despite not playing to their best. Their defense has been incredible since the beginning of the year and did a great job shutting down Florida’s offense when Lagway went down. The defense really stepped up when Georgia needed them the most. The Georgia offense struggled big time with their highly regarded QB Carson Beck from Jacksonville threw three interceptions. Regardless, their great coaching and talent helped them come home with a win. Lots of the Bolles students were in attendance and gave thoughts on the event as a whole turning out to be a big success. Leo Guglielmi ‘27 is a big Florida fan and showed some optimism for the team’s future. “I thought the Gators played very well against a tough Georgia team. We lost Lagway which sucked. Some guy from Yale came in and ruined the game for us but I thought the experience in the Bank was great.”

Gray Mccarthy ‘27 is not a fan of either team. “It was a good game,” he said. “Florida played well in the first half. Their quarterback going down gave them no chance to win. Georgia still won by two touchdowns even

Second quarter scoreboard Credit: Henry Leslie though it was one of their worst performances.” Justin Osbourne ‘27, was positive about the results for the gators. “I thought it was a good game. Florida had a real shot until Lagway went down. After that they didn’t really stand a chance.” Georgia defeated Florida 34-20 in a very close game. This game made a statement from both sides. From Florida, it proved that with Lagway at QB they can compete with anyone. From Georgia, it showed their will to win and that no matter how poorly they play, you can never count them out.

Jags’ “Stadium of the Future” Jake Forrest Contributing Writer

acksonville’s Stadium of the Future will become an advanced new hub for the city, much like the Center for Innovation (CFI) has become at Bolles. The new CFI building brings a more modern aesthetic to Bolles which includes an improvement in technology, a newer design, and upgraded working spaces for students to get the best out of their education. Is it possible for the Stadium of the Future to have the same impact for the city of Jacksonville as the CFI has had on Bolles?

Jacksonville City Council recently approved a new stadium for the city and the Jacksonville Jaguars with a cost of more than $1.4 billion dollars. The current stadium is nearly 30 years old, and was built for the Jaguars’ inaugural season in 1995. This Stadium of the Future project will seek to be more energy efficient in order to reduce carbon footprint and offer amazing new experiences to fans and visitors. It also promises to have a significant economic impact, help revitalize the downtown area, and contribute to the surrounding communities. The new stadium is projected to create thousands of construction jobs and will help the environment by creating a translucent roof to reduce energy usage.

own hopes of what the stadium will offer. “Well, in my opinion, some of those one o’clock games get pretty hot, and I hope that this new stadium can fix that,” said Leo Guglielmi ’27.

Jaguars locker room Credit: Kate Youell Bennett Surface ‘27 said, “I think with the new stadium I would definitely try to attend more games and show my support, I am really looking forward to it.”

This is a Caption. This is the Credit. Jaguars Jumbotron Credit: Kate Youell The CFI has affected students’ lives at Bolles in a positive way. When asked how the CFI changed her school experience, Diya Comar ‘27 said, “I feel like CFI has made Bolles more advanced and given us more labs, new technology, and more room to learn.” There is no doubt that the CFI has helped Bolles and made it more advanced, and the Stadium of the Future will do the same for the Jaguars and Jacksonville.

Everbank stadium from the field Credit: Kate Youell Jaguars fans here at Bolles are not only excited for the Stadium of the Future but also have their

Spirits at Bolles seem to be high regarding the new Jaguars stadium coming in 2028. This is because the stadium should improve attendance, offer more sporting events like bowl games for college, and create jobs for Jacksonville. The CFI building changed our campus and the education experience for our students today and years to come. It is likely that the Stadium of the Future can do the same for Jacksonville.

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Bolles students attend Boris Johnson lecture to benefit Wolfson Children’s Hospital Ava Cheng Editor-in-Chief

ince the early 1990s, The Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been bringing world-class speakers to share insight with members of the First Coast community through the Florida Forum Speaker Series. From Margaret Thatcher and Peyton Manning to most recently Boris Johnson, a wide range of international figures have engaged in onstage conversations to raise funds for the hospital. “This season, we’ve committed to raising money that goes towards the Kids Kare Mobile Intensive Care Units (ICUs),” said Maxine McBride, co-chair of the 202425 Florida Forum Speaker Series alongside Randy DeFoor. The mobile ICUs are a part of the hospital’s Neonatal and Pediatric Critical Care Transport fleet, and are specially equipped with technology and teams trained to provide emergency, critical, trauma, and specialty care. “The Children’s Hospital serves a really wide geography, so transportation is really, really important. It’s a three year funding target,” said McBride. With subscription packages for the Florida Forum events costing between $100 and $3,000, The Women’s Board aims to raise $1.5 million for two new Kids Care Mobile ICUs and other hospital programs. While the Speaker Series is primarily a fundraising event, the Star Students program allows several schools and youth organizations to attend free of charge. “We have performers and politicians and astronauts, a whole range of speakers and thought leaders,” said McBride.

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“It’s an excellent opportunity to get students to experience that, because you might not be able to in your everyday lives.” The Star Students program is usually sponsored by a corporation or individual who works with the Women’s Board to choose schools and groups for each event. “We try to find out if there’s any groups in particular they’re interested in,” said McBride. “The invitation goes out to a pretty wide range across our Northeast Florida geography, but it kind of depends on the speaker, sponsor, and who’s available.” In the past, the Police Athletic League, Girl Scouts, and ROTC groups have been invited, along with local high schools and colleges.

“You get a perspective that you don’t really get in the news.” — Ms. Gentry On October 29, Bolles participated in the Star Students session sponsored by Flagler College, attending the first event of this year’s Speaker Series featuring the former Prime Minister of Britain, Rt Hon Boris Johnson. The invitation to the series was extended through the World Affairs Council, which organizes various educational opportunities to promote global understanding, including the Great Decisions Program. Latin teacher Ms. Gentry sponsors the Great Decisions Club at Bolles and received an email on October 15 from Rachel Paul, the Director of Education and Community

Outreach at the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville, regarding the Speaker Series. “She just said, ‘Florida Forum has reached out to us. They want to invite students to hear Johnson speak, do you have any students that would be interested?’” From there, Gentry gathered five enthusiastic students from the Great Decisions Program to attend the event. For Gentry, the event presented the opportunity to view global issues through Johnson’s point of view as a world leader and political figure. “I think you have a better idea of the challenges that a leader needs to grapple with, and all the different things he needs to weigh,” said Gentry. “And that was a perspective I don’t get when I just read about what’s happening in the media. We get all our news and it’s snippets. It’s in ten-second fragments, a quote, you don’t have context. Being able to actually listen and to have him explain the context, I think that was really interesting.” Despite being a somewhat “spur of the moment” opportunity with last-minute planning, Bolles students were just as enthusiastic. “It was a little difficult, being a school night,” recalled Gentry, “but every student afterwards was like, ‘I am so glad I gave up my evening, put everything on the backburner for the event.’ ” Johnson and moderator John Delaney, the President of Flagler College and former Jacksonville Mayor, took their seats onstage at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts to discuss topics ranging from the former prime minister’s political views to his newly published memoir, “Unleashed.” But for McBride, the most memorable part of

Johnson’s visit was his attitude during a tour of the Wolfson Children’s Hospital. “Just the amount of time, the great questions he asked. He wasn’t in a hurry, he was very interested in it,” said McBride. “That really impressed me.” Johnson was the first of three speakers for the 2024-25 series, which starts in autumn and runs through early spring. Physician, author, and “pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation” Deepak Chopra, MD will speak on January 15, followed by novelist and journalist Carl Hiaasen on February 12. When it comes to scheduling speakers, The Women’s Board chairs play a large role in deciding who to book. “We wanted names that were recognizable, and we wanted a real variety,” said McBride. “We put a lot of names out on the table, and we reached out to a lot of agents, and it just came together the way it came together. I think it’s perfect.” According to McBride, it takes some time to negotiate availability with speakers, who are limited to dates within the late autumn and early spring months. However, the Board manages to book three or four speakers each year, often covering a variety of backgrounds and topics.

For McBride, the differences between the speakers are part of what makes the series so interesting. “I have a really wide range of interests,” said McBride, “I love the speakers that we put together for this series. These three speakers are so different and they’re so interesting and I love putting people like that together.” At each event, the speaker takes the stage with a moderator to share insights on a range of topics. “They create their own questions,” said McBride. “Boris Johnson required that we send the questions to him and advance to his team. They didn’t make any changes to it or anything, but they obviously want to review them ahead of time.” Delaney’s questions for Johnson covered various topics, including his views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the housing crisis, his view on American politics, and climate change. “The students were very excited because you get a perspective that you don’t really get in the news,” said Gentry. “A little bit more off the cuff. It was a bit less formal.” Gentry recalled gaining a greater understanding of Johnson’s decisions regarding Brexit, COVID-19, and involvement in the G7 by hearing him share his opinions directly. “The way

the media covers events and how politicians speak, and then to hear him sit and talk and actually explain his thought process and the reasoning that went into his choices and why he steered their country the way he did…It was just fascinating to hear all the details.” In the past, speakers like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have covered similar political topics. McBride remembers tickets being sold out in anticipation for Clinton and Bush, who were both part of the 2010-2011 series. “Bush was a very entertaining speaker, not what I expected at all,” recalled McBride. “He was fun, and he was very open. He and Bill Clinton had been out of office at that point, so I think he was able to be more open, but he was very interesting.” With speakers providing insight on a range of issues, these events can provide an important educational opportunity to broaden students’ global lens. “All the speakers are world leaders,” said McBride. “They’re thought leaders, some of them are celebrities, but it’s a really excellent opportunity for students to have that experience in person, which is so much more impactful than listening to somebody on a podcast or watching them on television.”

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Credit: Maxine McBride

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Donuts, donuts and more donuts A review of donuts in Jax Kate Youell Co-Online-Editor-in-Chief

don’t know if Jacksonville is known for their donuts, but there are over 20 donut stores within a ten mile radius of Bolles. Each store promises unique treats that you won’t get anywhere else. But which store really keeps that promise? I tried five different donut shops to determine which one is the best.

Mochinut Hours: 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm Address: 415 Durbin Pavilion Dr Vibes: 6/10 Donut variety: 8/10 Presentation: 8.5/10 Taste: 8/10 Overall: 7.9/10 Flavors tried: Nutella Almond, Cinnamon Carmel, S’mores, Raspberry Drizzle, Taro Marshmallow, Reese’s Chip

Each store was ranked in four categories: vibes of the store, donut variety, presentation, and finally taste.

Mochinut offers a unique kind of donut. They are still the normal donut shape but are formed into little balls that make pulling the donut apart to share very easy. Mochinut offers a large variety of flavors and definitely has the most unique ones out of all the stores I tried. The donuts were light, fluffy, and didn’t feel too dense like some donuts do. The store also offers Asian snack foods and boba. I gave Mochinut an overall 7.9/10. I think that the donuts were good and the store was cute, but I feel like the employees were the least nice out of all the stores which made it hard to rank Mochinut higher.

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Shipley Do-Nuts Hours: 5:00 am to 5:00 pm Address: 12667 Beach Blvd Vibes: 10/10 Donut Variety: 6/10 Presentation: 7/10 Taste: 9.5/10 Overall: 9.5/10 Flavors tried: Maple, Chocolate Nut, Stuffed Apple, Cinnamon Sugar The vibes at Shipley Do-Nuts were immaculate. I don’t know if it was because it was the end of the day or because the guy working was super nice, but Shipley’s environment was amazing. The worker offered free food and donut recommendations. If you are looking for a more classicstyle donut, Shipley’s the way to go. They have all the classics like glazed, maple, and powdered sugar along with several stuffed donut options. When I got there, a lot of the options had sold out but all the donuts I tried were fantastic. They tasted classic and were super light, fluffy, and airy. The Cinnamon Sugar donut was my favorite out of all the donuts I tried, and I definitely recommend it. Other than donuts, the store offers a wide variety of drinks and other breakfast foods. If you’re looking for a more simple classic donut head to Shipley’s.

Duck Donuts

Hours: 5:00 am to 5:00 pm Address: 13820 Old St. Augustine Rd. Unit 141 Vibes: 9/10 Donut Variety: 8/10 Presentation: 8/10 Taste: 7.5/10 Overall: 8/10 Flavors tried: Churro, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, S’mores

The store was dressed to the nines with holiday festivities and had several different donut options. After putting in your order, the staff put on all of the toppings and decorations right in front of you so you know the donuts are fresh. All of the donuts I had were packed with flavor, especially the Churro one. In my opinion there is a point when it becomes too much cinnamon, and this donut dances the line. Each donut was soft and warm, and had frosting that complimented the donuts well. They weren’t the best on the list but they tasted good and the environment was festive.

Parlor Doughnuts

Dunkin

Parlor Doughnuts was highly recommended to me by several people. They not only had donuts but also sandwiches and several beverage options. Their flavors range from classic Honey Glazed to Strawberry Shortcake. The donuts are big and almost croissant-like, super flakey and topped with lots of garnishes. Overall I liked the donuts I tried. Each was unique and had a nice flavor profile. They were a bit big and hard to eat but the taste was good. I don’t know if Parlor would be my go-to place, but their donuts are good for a special occasion.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Dunkin. Their donuts used to be one of my favorites, but after trying some of the other places on the list they fell short. I don’t know if it was the location or the time of day I came but the donuts were lackluster. The selection was limited and the presentation left something to be desired. The donuts taste good overall but they aren’t anything special. If you don’t have time to make the trek to a small owned donut shop, Dunkin is fine. But if you are looking for quality donuts I might not stop at Dunkin and find a local donut shop instead.

Hours: 6:30am to 5:00 pm Address: 585 SR-13 N Vibes: 6.5/10 Donut Variety: 9/10 Presentation: 10/10 Taste: 8.5/10 Overall: 8/10 Flavors tried: Campfire, Strawberry Shortcake, Turtle Cheesecake, French Toast

Hours: 5:00 am to 8:00 pm Address: Several locations Vibes: 6/10 Donut Variety: 4/10 Presentation: 5/10 Taste: 7/10 Overall: 6/10 Flavors tried: Boston Creme, Vanilla Frosted, Chocolate Glazed, Blueberry Glazed

Overall, all the donuts are good. I think it is pretty hard to make a bad donut. But depending on what you are looking for there are different places to try. So next time you are craving a donut, I challenge you to pass up Dunkin and Krispy Kreme to go find a small donut shop. You might just find your new favorite.

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Seating area at Mini Bar Credit: Kate Youell

Storefront of Duck Donuts Credit: Kate Youell

Duck Donut’s front counter Credit: Kate Youell

A collection of donuts from all of the different locations Credit: Kate Youell

Parlor Donuts menu Credit: Kate Youell

Right: All the donuts Credit: Kate Youell

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Left: donuts from Dukin Donuts Credit: Kate Youell

OP-ED

Does Netflix’s Monsters oversensationalize the Menendez case? Ellie Stewart Design Editor

The crowd following the Menendez brothers. Credit: Ellie Stewart

n case you missed it, Netflix came out with a new drama series called Monsters starring Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch who play Lyle and Erik Menendez. The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills home in California. Now, however, their case is being reexamined due to

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the introduction of new evidence. Since the show came out in September, it has blown up all over social media, which fawns over the brash yet charming characters and colorful scenes. However, many argue the story is dramatized to increase viewership, so it is important to keep in mind that there are many ways that sensationalizing stories

like the Menendez brothers’ can be both beneficial and dangerous for the public eye. Psychology teacher Mrs. Gomez talked about both the good and bad of emotionally-loaded documentaries. On one hand, “it may glorify some of the violence without that being the intention,”

Gomez said. Towards the beginning of the show, the murder of Menendez parents occurs from Erik and Lyle’s point of view, who later in the show go into detail justifying the brutality. Gomez questioned how “depending on how we look at it—are they the victims or the parents?” Another thing Gomez warned about is media literacy and how viewers should not blindly trust the show to form opinions on the case. “If it is focused on entertainment value, inherently it is going to be a little more salacious and not as much presenting the human factor, but going more for the entertainment value,” she said. However, because the case was originally opened 35 years ago, Monsters is able to shine a light on the case to newer generations that otherwise might never have known about it. “Maybe it sensationalized it, but it also brought about curiosity to their case, which opened some doors to have their case looked at again,” Gomez said. The media’s recent fixation on the case may be a reason why it has gained enough momentum to possibly allow the brothers to get parole, she said More than that, many media trends have emerged since the Monsters premiere. “Everybody’s falling in love with Milli Vanilli again,” Gomez said, as songs like “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” “Blame It on the Rain,” and “Girl You Know It’s True” in the show’s soundtrack have grown from around 439,000 streams to 6.9 million in the beginning of October, according to Billboard Charts. Similarly, 80s fashion trends such as the clothes, accessories, and hairstyles the actors wear are resurfacing. These include the signature short-shorts, sweaters, and vintage glasses that are now being praised as the “old money” style.

Another factor that might influence how the public views the case are the actors chosen. “When you have good looking actors, that can change the way people view it,” Gomez said. Edits of the actors have swarmed platforms like Tik Tok, and people may begin to ask “how can these kids be murderers if they are so good looking?” Monsters is a well loved show and covers the Menendez brothers’ trials in an entertaining way that helps inform a newer generation of the case. “I continue to advocate for media literacy and doing our own research on events and what’s being presented to us,” Gomez said. No harm comes from watching the show if you make sure to take into consideration all the facts regarding the case.

“The Menendez brothers were perhaps portrayed as exactly what the title of the show is, as monsters. And I think we have to be careful not to dehumanize people.” — Jennifer Gomez

While the show is certainly entertaining, it is still important to not create opinions based onthe show regarding the actual case. “If there’s controversy in what’s being presented, there should be a pause and red flags going off,” Gomez said. We should ask, “Why are people pushing back against this?” Some of the people who are pushing against the show are members of the Menendez family. “The Menendez brothers were perhaps portrayed as exactly what the title of the show is, as monsters. And I think we have

to be careful not to dehumanize people,” Gomez said. In response to Monsters, the Menendez family put out a documentary called The Menendez Brothers to counteract the negative view associated with the family. However, the family’s documentary may have just as much bias as the drama series. “We have to go back to the primary sources in some of these cases, also looking at it through the lens of the larger historical context of the time,” Gomez said. A year before the Menendez brothers were sentenced to life without parole, NFL running back OJ Simpson was proven innocent in a similar case regarding the murder of his wife and her friend. The ruling was widely unpopular and Simpson’s career never recovered after the trials. “There were many people who believed the Menendez brothers had to get a guilty verdict because of what had happened with the OJ Simpson case and the criticisms about the criminal justice system,” Gomez said. Another piece of historical context that was not regarded during the original trial was the brothers’ justification of the murder. After they confessed to the crime, they claimed they did it because of the abuse their parents inflicted upon them. Because the trials took place in a time where many found it hard to believe it was possible for men to be abused in this way, the court concluded the murders were not an act of self defense. “People didn’t even want to hear it, and it probably makes them uncomfortable, but sometimes that’s where great discussions happen, and learning happens,” Gomez said.

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Who is Bolles’ true rival? Jack Laufer Co-Sports Editor

ccording to Oxford Languages, the definition of the word rivalry is “the competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.” Since 1933, Bolles has been one of the “top dog” schools in the Jacksonville area. But being one of the best doesn’t come easy. Bolles has developed spirited rivalries with schools like Episcopal, Bishop Kenny, Raines, Trinity Christian, and many others. But, which one of these schools is our true rival? Mallie Brackin ‘28 is a freshman and a member of the varsity volleyball team. The volleyball team just finished their season, ending their campaign with a winning record. When asked who is Bolles’ true rival, she answered quickly, “Definitely Episcopal… no matter how good Bolles is or how bad Episcopal is, beating Episcopal is always so satisfying.”

Mallie Brackin ‘28 in pursuit of the ball. Credit: Jack Laufer Coach Kelly Stevenson is the varsity basketball coach who has been coaching at Bolles for 18 years. Coach Stevenson is

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no stranger to Bolles rivalries. Her brother, Michael Stevenson ‘93, played basketball at Bolles under the legendary Coach Ward. When asked about her favorite rivalry, Coach Stevenson said, “Bishop Kenny. Kenny has been a solid program in every sport, but especially basketball these past couple years. I think the relationship between Bolles and Bishop Kenny especially helps this rivalry. But, there is definitely always some tension.” Jordan Alexander ‘25 is a senior that has been attending Bolles

“Great rivalries aren’t built on hatred. They’re built on respect, on a respect for excellence.” Rivalries encourage us to embrace tradition while also leaving a legacy for many students to come. Episcopal? Kenny? Raines? It doesn’t matter, they are equally respected. But before you get caught up in the heat of one of these rivalries, always remember, “Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.”

“I think the relationship between Bolles and Bishop Kenny especially helps this rivalry. But, there is definitely always some tension.” — Coach Stevenson his entire high school career. Alexander is a member of the football team, playing defensive back for all four years. Hethinks that it’s impossible to choose only one rival. Alexander said, “Raines… or BK. BK because of what happened to our bus. I’ll never forget at halftime, I remember someone said, ‘Bro, they wrote on our bus!’.. And then we saw the pictures, so for sure. Raines, I respect them. They will always give you their all, till the fourth quarter.” So, when everything is said and done, there is no clear cut answer to the one true rival. No matter who you ask, what equation you run or experiment you conduct, the answers will vary. Legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzerski once said,

Jordan Alexander ‘25 eyes the sidelines. Credit: Dawson Brydges

Seniors discuss the civic duty of voting Tyrone Neal Co-Coffeehouse Editor

eniors at The Bolles School believe that voting is important because it gives the people of America a voice and a say in governing decisions. The Bugle surveyed seniors anonymously about their thoughts on the election and received 35 responses. Of those, 12 were able to vote and all made it to the polls to cast their ballot.

The candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, facing off. Credit: ABC News Some seniors noted that voting is important mainly because they believe it is their civic duty. “It is our responsibility as American citizens to vote, not just a right,” one said. “In my opinion,” said another, “voting is a practice of giving back to your community. A lot of people I talk to say that they won’t or don’t vote because their vote doesn’t matter; but, at the end of the day, all of our votes are important to perform our civic duty and choose the candidate that will be best for this country.” Making the commitment to voting is an act of optimism that “provides hope for my future and the democracy of our country,” said a senior. And this act is critical for young people who very often neglect to participate in our democracy. “The youngest demographic has historically

always had the lowest voting turnout and I am trying to be part of the solution, not grow the problem.” Bolles seniors recognize that one voter cannot sway an election. “Voting is important not because it influences the outcome, but because it should force you to be up-to-date and informed about the current political sphere,” one said. They also note that votes may matter more in a region like Duval county, which is not predictably “red” or “blue.” “It’s important to vote because some people think their votes do not matter but they do,” said a senior. “I think in Duval specifically it is very split in the middle so it’s important to vote.” Other countries, like Mexico, Argentina, and Australia require citizens to vote or they will be fined. In the U.S., voting is not mandatory. As a result, many Americans will not vote and thus will not have a say. They allow other voters and the government to make decisions for them.

The percentage of seniors that voted this year compared to the seniors that did not vote this year taken from a survey of 35 students. Credit: Ty Neal “It is important for the younger generations to take action and get involved in politics since we are greatly affected by the decisions made,” mentioned a senior. Many laws in government are passed that cater towards the older

generation in America because those are the people that are primarily making the laws along with voting in the elections. The younger generation is affected by these policies so it is important that they vote.

How strongly each particpant of the survey felt about the candidate they voted for. Credit: Ty Neal Another senior acknowledged, “Voting determines the future of our country. As the next generation of leaders, it is imperative that we are involved in this election and pay attention to the implementation of the policies of the candidates because their policies will impact our daily lives.” Along with impacting our daily lives, the policies implemented by our government will likely affect the state of America years from now. Voting also keeps the general public informed on what is happening in the world and it is important for the country to have an informed public. Having a voice in government is a privilege that the American public is able to partake in. However, according to Ballotpedia.com, approximately 63.7% of voters voted in this most recent election, which is down 3.1% from 2020. Nevertheless, the Bolles community seems to be taking voting seriously. Generally, the voters of Bolles believe that voting can help raise awareness to issues that may seem frivolous and can even be a form of giving back to the community.

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Tristan Schneider Co-Coffeehouse Editor

s the 2024 Presidential Election closes with a win from President Trump, the people can look back at the very irregular election campaigns. Candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were very busy promoting their campaigns this year. Although these candidates are running for a federal office, the highest office a person can hold in the US, they do not promote themselves traditionally. Instead of debates against their opponent, the candidates have decided to promote themselves through public stunts like going on Saturday Night Live or serving food at McDonald’s. This would be fine if the stunts were accompanied by debates, but there have only been two presidential debates this year, which is fewer than usual. To make the statistic worse, the first debate was when President Biden was still running in the 2024 election. This means that there has only been one debate between the final candidates. Whether you agree with the importance of debates or not, the fact remains that this is highly irregular for an election. It seems as if our society is skewing more towards short and cheap public stunts than the more informative and meaningful discussions. Public stunts do not examine the candidate’s policies or future plans as president; they’re just there to grab people’s attention in any way they can. Unfortunately, this looks to be the future of elections.

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Hudson Powell Contributing Writer

he stress of taking the SAT can impact many students, and some believe their hopes and dreams can come down to their results on a test. This student can be seen bubbling in random answers frantically in a pattern and hoping that they are correct, in the design of a tree. While he is trying his best to attempt it, his score will likely be unsatisfactory. However, he should not let the stress get to his head, because he can retake the SAT several times. His school may not even require that he take it, as many schools are test-optional.

Henry Leslie Contributing Writer

s most of you know, the Jaguars are building a brand new stadium for their fans. The 1.4 billion dollar renovation is expected to be the most glorified stadium in the National Football League. This cartoon represents the modern approach to bringing back spark to Jacksonville (hopefully they WIN some along the way!). The stadium will be so modern that there are endless opportunities to make this a “stadium of the future,” and who knows—maybe robots will be serving hotdogs and soda while you watch football in the near future.

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Brady Pratt Contributing Writer Kate Youell Co-Online-Editor-In-Chief

Bugle staffers race to build gingerbread houses

embers of the Bolles Bugle speed build gingerbread houses. The members competed in two different catergories. Speed and decoration. Watch the video to find out what team won! Ghost of Christmas - Jack Laufer - Nick Azevedo Christmas Ghost - Tristan Schneider - Sree Alam

Access Bugle video content by scanning the QR code on our back cover! Leah Chin Contributing Writer

Students share favorite holiday treats

he holidays are a time of family, fun and food. Each family has their own holiday traditions of what they eat and who they eat it with. I went around and asked several students what their favorite holiday foods are. Participants: - Dylan Brigman - Ella Chan - Grace Higdon - Lila Higgo - Owen Goldstien - Marliegh Howes

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Isabel Schimpff Co-Online-Editor-in-Chief Wes Coughlin Contributing Writer

Musicians shine beyond Bolles

olles has a number of programs and classes that foster musical talent for students. But this is not the only way our students thrive musically. This video, found on the Bolles Bugle YouTube, profiles young talents including Luke Meyers ’26, Julian Attia ’25, and Joao DaCruzGuedes ’25. students making waves outside of the classroom. Find out more about the waves these students are making in songwriting, singing, guitar playing, and music producing.

Access Bugle video content by scanning the QR code on our back cover! Tristan Schneider Co-Coffeehouse editor

The mystery of the vanishing cookie recipe

his video was filmed utilizing the stop motion form of animation at 15 frames per second (frames = pictures). The Bolles Bugle undergoes an investigation on the recent theft of the sacred Bolles cookie formula. They must investigate the crime scene for clues and interview any suspects of this chilling crime in this truly gripping detective story. Available to watch on the Bugle YouTube channel. Written by Contributing Writer Hudson Powell Animated by Tristan Schneider Voiced by Sree Alam, Zara Touheed, Tristan Schneider BOLLESBUGLEONLINE.COM