The Blue and Gold maldenblueandgold.com Malden High School
Volume 105 Edition 3
77 salem street
December 2019
SPIRIT WEEK Julie Yu Lead Reporter
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Malden Administrators Participate in Influence 100 Julie Huynh Lead Reporter
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alden High’s student body is one of the most diverse in the state, but this diversity is not reflected onto the staff members. Superintendent of Malden Public Schools, John Oteri, stated that Massachusetts has about “38-40% students of color” compared to the “6% of teaching staff.” Influence 100 is just one of the educational initiatives Malden has partnered with to change this statistic. Influence 100 was launched by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Massachusetts just this year with the purpose of “increas[ing] the racial and ethnic diversity of superintendents,” and “creat[ing] more culturally responsive districts and leaders,” across the state, as stated from the Department of Education’s website. Oteri explained that the representation of different races and cultures “decreases the higher up
in administration you go,” which is why he believes that Influence 100 is such “a great opportunity for Malden.” The program focuses on current educators who are looking to move into the position of either assistant superintendent or superintendent itself within the next few years and offers them to join a two-year fellowship program. The Influence 100 program consists of a monthly meeting with all the “fellows,” (which is what they call their trainees) that feature guest speakers and mentoring. Basically, it is a program that will help familiarize the fellows with the role and expectations of being a superintendent in a racially and culturally diverse environment. Additionally, there will be some practical work where the fellows will be expected to work in the Central Office where they will get an overview of the various roles and responsibilities working at the assistant superintendent or superintendent level. The city is pleased to be a part
of something so special, especially since you could originally only have one fellow, but when the district endorsed both Rafael “Ray” Garcia and Abdel Sepulveda, the program allowed for both administrators to participate. Not to mention, the program seemed like a perfect match since it ties in with a lot of the districts’ current work with initiatives on diversity and increasing it, as well as making the school a more inclusive and equitable place for both students and staff. One of Oteri’s major goals since he started working as superintendent is to “have an educational staff that resemble[s] more of [the] student body to the best that [they] can.” Sepulveda, the current principal of the Ferryway School first heard about Influence 100 in the spring. He described that he was “immediately interested in the program,” because of its mission to increase the number of diversity among leadership positions and because of its goal to help the school district become more equitable. Influence 100, continued on page 6
s Malden High School, as a whole, prepared for the Annual Pep Rally before Thanksgiving break, the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior class competed to gain as many points as possible prior to the Pep Rally activities. Other than the points the spirit team from each grade earns during the activities at Pep Rally, the amount of participants for each grade and the amount of cans each grade contributes to the National Honors Society (NHS) Can Drive, convert into points that are also factored into each grade’s scores at the end of Pep Rally. For all the five days of Spirit Week, homeroom teachers were to count how many students participated and record it. Rankings of the grades, from most participants to least participants, were announced during the morning announcements on the following school day. Thursday, November 21st was Twin Day. Students were to wear the same or similar clothing as another student. The only way homeroom teachers were allowed to give students the point was if they either got a photo with their twin prior to homeroom in the morning or if their twin was in the same homeroom. On Twin Day, the junior class had the most participants. In second place was the senior class. In third place was the freshman class. In fourth place was the sophomore class. Friday, November 22nd was Decade Day, the newest addition to Spirit Week. Students were to dress following styles and trends from decades that is not the current decade. On Decade Day, the senior class had the most participants. In second place was the junior class. In third place was the freshman class. In fourth place was the sophomore class. NHS President, Ezra Kruckenberg, explained that Decade Day was an idea suggested by a NHS member. After the NHS brainstormed other potential ideas, they “created and distributed a survey to gather some information,” in which they used to determine what additions would be made and what traditions in previous years would be replaced. From the survey the NHS saw Spirit Week, continued on page 8