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JULY 2019

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Counselor honored with prevention award

Author aims to ‘encourage family and unity’

Selfie time!

BY SIDDHARTH MUCCHAL An experience shortly after college led Lawrence High School student assistance counselor Ann DeGennaro to make the move from art therapy to counseling. She hasn’t looked back since. “I was working at a psychiatric hospital, and one night there was a beautiful young girl admitted,” she said. “She had a full scholarship for college, and the night of her graduation, she smoked marijuana for the first time. Perhaps the marijuana was laced, or it induced psychosis, but she was tearing off her own skin, and it was absolutely shocking for me.” The was 30 years ago, but DeGennaro carries the experience with her. It continues to inform her work as a counselor, which was honored last month with the Excellence in Prevention award by the Prevention Coalition of Mercer County for her extensive youth counseling work in substance abuse reduction. The Prevention Coalition of Mercer County, an initiative of the Mercer Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, consists of fellow counselors, treatment providers, and others who are dedicated to reducing substance abuse across Mercer County. Members of the coalition nominate those doing exceptional work in substance abuse reduction, and DeGennaro was chosen for the award. DeGennaro’s has experience See DeGENNARO, Page 6

Writer Carrie Turansky’s 20th novel was inspired by a Facebook photo BY JENNIFER GOETZ

Lawrence High School Class of 2019 grad Cor y Frost and Mandarin teacher Tsun Lin celebrate the Cardinals’ graduation June 20, 2019 at the Cure Insurance Arena. For more photos, turn to Page 12. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)

Best. Tennis. Season. Ever. LHS boys’ tennis squad advances to Tournament of Champions BY RICH FISHER When the Lawrence High boys’ tennis team lost to the Lawrenceville School on April 25, no one really paid much attention since that is what is supposed to happen when a prep power meets a public school team with modest

success. Something happened that day, however, that changed everything. The final score was 3-2, and the Big Red couldn’t pull it out until its second doubles team won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The fact that the Cardinals nearly pulled off an upset was not lost on them. “As the season progressed I think right after our Lawrenceville Prep match we really started to believe,” junior first doubles player Sharath Mahadevan said. “Even though we lost, we lost 3-2 to a team like Law-

renceville, which is such a powerhouse. I feel like after that, we gained a lot of confidence and then throughout the rest of the season it kept building and building.” Coach Alex Krajunus would not argue that thought. “It was a very close loss,” Krajunus said. “Hanging in against a top team like Lawrenceville, they realized ‘We really belong here.’ And that gave them the belief to do what they did and they bounced back in a strong way.” See TENNIS, Page 8

Lawrence Hamnett Soccer Association Fall Soccer Programs Ages 3+

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Carrie Turansky was looking through Facebook when she stumbled across an interesting image. A friend of hers shared an image of poorly-dressed siblings from an earlier time period. Intrigued, Turansky learned that the siblings shown in the photo were related to her friend, and that they had been taken from England and sent to Canada between the years 1869 and 1939. The original Facebook post was from the British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association, and this is where Turansky first started learning about these children and their stories. Based on her research on the British Home Children child migration scheme, Turansky, a Lawrence resident, published her 20th book, No Ocean Too Wide, last month through WaterBrook and Multnomah, a division of Penguin Random House. “It will give people a heart for children and to know how chilSee TURANSKY, Page 10

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