January/February 2022

The Blue and Gold maldenblueandgold.com

Malden High School

Volume 107 Edition 4

77 Salem Street

January/February 2022

Swim Team Goes Undefeated MHS Athletes Chosen for TB12 Sports Program Sandra Li Managing Editor

T From left to right: Tony Giech, Molly Sewell, Coach Jessica Bisson, Abby Tang and Sarah Oliveira at their senior night. Photo submitted by Giech.

Read the story on page 23.

Boston Latin Student Leads Petition for Remote Learning

Julie Huynh Editor-in-Chief

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8-year-old Boston Latin student William Hu is captain of the school’s crew team and an active member of the community. Within the past couple of weeks, he has had phone calls with the Boston Teachers Union (BTU), interviews with local news channels (namely Fox, Channel 7 and NBC) and made plans to organize a press conference with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. All this attention has stemmed from a change.org petition he created with the headline, “Allow Mas-

sachusetts Schools the Option to Go Remote!”

The last time Hu attended school in person was on January 4th, just after winter break. Since then, he has been participating in school remotely. According to Hu, Boston Latin has what is called a “Covid precaution” in place, where assignments are made remote so students do not have to worry about attending school if they do not feel safe.

He pointed out that he is aware this policy is not readily available in all Massachusetts schools, which is part of why he created the petition in the first place.

Hu described his experience, how there must have been 30-40 positive cases the week leading up to winter break, and how over the course of the week, that number would just get higher and higher.

All over Snapchat and Instagram, he would see some variation of “Hey guys, I got Covid, get yourself tested,” over and over again, until he realized that what was happening was not actually safe.

When Hu finally created the petition, he hoped that it would receive the attention it needed in order Continued on page 9.

Student Voice: Covid at Malden High School Courtney Fitzgerald Lead Reporter

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s Covid cases began to rise in December, the return to school in January after the winter break seemed uncertain. To get students input on how they felt about being in school with the rise in cases, senior at Malden High School, Juliana Davidson, created a Google form and sent it to all Malden High students.

Before creating this survey, Davidson expressed her concerns through her private Snapchat story.

Her concerns were based around the return to school and the rise of Covid numbers after winter break.

After doing this, she noticed that many Malden High students had the same concerns.

In addition to finding out that Malden High students shared her concerns, her own mother had contracted the virus but was able to isolate herself quick enough to not expose Davidson. “However, my concern only grew as a result of the amount of people who could relate in our community,” Davidson stated. “Covid numbers are escalat-

ing and it seemed like nothing was being done to effectively combat it.”

With these concerns in her mind, Davidson, alongside seniors Gary Luo and Jason Ong, created a Google form that they sent out to students on January 1st, 2022. This was just two days before students were to return to school on January 3rd.

“Although we wished we thought of the form earlier, we aimed to get it done anyway,” expressed Davidson. “It took me about an hour to get the survey ready on Saturday Continued on page 9.

he TB12 is a program created by professional American football player, Tom Brady. TB12 allows for 12 athletes coming from schools across Massachusetts to participate in workouts and training sessions.

This year’s athletes from Malden High School were picked by physical education teacher Dan Jurkowski, representing different sports in the school.

Jurkowski explained that he was first introduced to the program

by Athletics Director, Charlie Conefrey. He explained that TB12 has been trying to connect with schools in the Boston area, and Conefrey applied to be a part of the program.

“It’s a pretty unique opportunity where we can have 12 [students] from MHS go to the TB12 training facility in Boston once a month to get a workout in,” he said.

More specifically, the student athletes have body coaches where they get to work on certain areas that are bothering them, or specific weaknesses they might experience.

Jurkowski mentioned that when it came to choosing the students who would be able to participate, Conefrey left the decision up to him.

Continued on page 2.

Student athletes at the TB12 program.

Photo via the MHS Athletics Twitter page.

Staff

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MHS Athletes Chosen for TB12 Sports Program

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In terms of the requirements a student athlete would need to have in order to take part in TB12, Jurkowski stated that there are certain GPA requirements, but he also wanted students who “represent our school in the highest way possible.” He added that “I tried to get some student representatives from as many sports… We had six males [and] six females.”

Due to MHS having many athletes within the school, Jurkowski had to pick and choose from a large pool of students. “They were [students] who either I knew on a personal level, or through coaching, or through P.E class or being class advisor,” he explained.

Senior Sara Dzaferagic was one of the 12 students chosen to take part in TB12. Dzaferagic is one of the captains of the girls soccer team as well as a member of the track team.

She explained that typically on the first Monday of every month, the athletes go to the TB12 facility after school in Boston to train and do workout sessions.

“During our time there, we receive a massage from our individual body coaches for half the time and the other half is spent doing a workout,” Dzaferagic elaborated. “The workouts are done with the use of bands and body weight exercises where the main focus is good form and completing as many reps as possible in the allotted time.”

Dzaferagic expressed that her favorite part of TB12 is the pliability massages, and that “they are something I’ve never done before and really make a difference in the way my body is feeling.” She further added that the massages given are specific to each athlete as the coaches consider what problem areas each athlete is dealing with.

Junior Rachel Lin takes part in girls volleyball and tennis and is a student who was picked to participate in the program. She believes that the program is “such a great place for athletes who need a break because every time I go, I always feel so relaxed and I have fun.”

Lin mentioned how after attending the sessions, “I started to drink more water because I learned just how important hydration is to daily life… I also developed a habit to foam roll everyday to prevent muscle injuries.”

Senior Tony Giech, another student who was chosen to take part in TB12, is captain of the boys swim team and is on the volleyball team.

He expressed that “the workouts are a bit painful and tiring sometimes,” however he does feel that the trainers “do help to educate me on vari-

Editor-in-Chief: Julie Huynh ‘22

Editor-in-Chief: Lauren Mallett ‘22

Editor-in-Chief of Print and Design: Carlos Aragon ‘22

Editor-in-Chief of Web and Mobile: Lulu Harding ‘22

Managing Editor: Sandra Li ‘22

Managing Editor: Karen Rivera ‘22

Managing Editor of Art and Photography: Brandon Wong ‘22

Class Advisor: Ryan Gallagher

Head of Sports: Juliana Luong ‘23

Head of Sports: Kaoutar Wakaf ‘23

Head Copy Editor: Chaimaa Assli ‘23

Head of Local: Head of Local: Kayley Glavin ‘23 Krishany Marius ‘23

Reporters Reporters

Lead Reporter: Nathan Dean ‘24 Lead Reporter: Gabriel Fesehaie ‘23 Lead Reporter: Courtney Fitzgerald ‘22 Lead Reporter: Zachary Nedell ‘24 Lead Reporter: Desiree Nong ‘23 Lead Reporter: Daniel O’Toole ‘24 Lead Photographer: Liam O’Toole ‘22 Lead Reporter: Hadjar Yousfi ‘24 ous muscle groups that I normally wouldn’t pay attention to.”

Some of the recent workouts that the athletes have done are squat jumps, medicine ball throw downs, side lunges and balance work. In addition, the trainers help guide them with other important lifestyle choic-

Ashton Calixte ‘25 Dani Licona-Cruz ‘25 Fatima Dahbani ‘25 Joy Lugo Morales ‘25 Nora Hounain ‘25 Dorothy Michel ‘25 Gabi Ilebode ‘22 Lily Nguyen ‘25 Mack Keating ‘25 Vanessa Ramos ‘24 Gianna Lally ‘25 Ruka Truong ‘25 Sophie LeBlanc ‘25 Samara Valencia ‘25 Jessica Li ‘25 Divina Wembi ‘23

es including the ways to recover and nutritional value.

Giech ultimately conveyed that TB12 is “a great place to train…

They have a very nice facility with lots of cool equipment.” On top of that, “attending these sessions has definitely taught me a lot about dif-

Student athletes at the TB12 program. Photo via the MHS Athletics Twitter page.

ferent muscle groups… [and] new ways to roll out and stretch and the body coaches really help with tight muscles and stretching out.” Moreover, “the benefits are definitely learning more workouts [and] learning more about how to be a better athlete.”

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Changes to Midterm Policies Bring Mixed Opinions

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or the 2021-2022 year at Malden High School the midterms were changed in order to combat test anxiety, stress, and absences due to covid. Principal Chris Masterangelo decided that the midterms would not count against a student’s grade unless it would improve their grade.

Otherwise, the students would be given an exemption.

Though the changes to the midterms were a source of relief to many students and teachers, there were many students who felt cheated as they studied for hours, while some teachers were annoyed that their mid-year assessments had no incentives for students to try hard and do their best.

“It was a good decision because in the current situation that we’re living right now with COVID is different and the impact that we have suffered so far, during these three years, almost three years of the pandemic is very difficult for students to really concentrate and show what they have learned so far in all their classes,” said Italian teacher Fredy Rodriguez. They continued, “I feel that having midterms would have impacted them negatively because it’s unfair to ask them to do something that they don’t know how to do.”

Though Rodriguez believes that the midterm changes were a great idea, there were some teachers conflicted about the idea.

“For some students [the changes] relieved test anxiety in a positive way, and for some students [it] can make them feel that the test might not be worth their time. And so, for some people, it’s very difficult to think your way out of that. It could negatively affect some students.

If they chose not to show up they would have gotten zero outright, but as long as they came in they would suffer no consequences,” explained Chemistry teacher Gregory Simone.

Some students including juniors and seniors who are the only students who have taken the traditional high school midterms at Malden High, voiced their dissatisfaction with the midterm. Senior Aidan Ricker said, “I don’t think they should approach midterms the same exact way as this year again.

The midterm shouldn’t be able to

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make or break a year, but it should be worth something, especially for the people who put a significant amount of time into preparing for them.”

Senior Damien Cuevas admitted that “I only put as much effort in as I felt was necessary, as opposed to what was probably needed.”

“I thought the idea of taking a midterm was stressful in itself, and then finding out it didn’t count, I was a bit confused as to why we studied for it in the first place, but I went along with it,” Senior Mackenzie Smith stated.

Many teachers also voiced disappointments in the midterms with some questioning why they had to grade every midterm even though they didn’t count against the student’s grade. Additionally, with the announcement of the midterm changes so close to the midterms themselves, teachers believed that it did not lessen any stress of studying. Other teachers thought that it really just helped those that had test anxiety.

Some teachers thought of the midterm more as a common assessment of a students skills for the past two quarters. Others thought that the number of students that would actually try their best dropped by a

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large margin. There was no reason for students to try hard when they came to a challenging problem.

History teacher Kurtis Scheer thought that the midterm-“was a good way for both students and teachers to see where the students currently stand at the midway point through the year without it necessarily affecting or harming their grade.”

Scheer added he “worries that without including [the midterm] score” if he is “getting a completely accurate representation of a student’s overall grade.”

In order to help students prepare and study for their midterms, the school enacted a “double enrichment” block where students would have two 40 minute periods to work with teachers and get any academic help they needed during the Flex period.

“I didn’t find them helpful. I sat there and did nothing because I was slightly upset about having Joy [Block] taken away for a cycle,” Senior

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Mackenzie Smith stated.

“I didn’t use them to the full extent I could’ve, admittedly. I felt like the push for the extra enrichment was unnecessary. I saw where it came from but it definitely didn’t achieve what it set out to do,” Senior Aidan Ricker added.

Math teacher Joshua Sellers thought that it was “an opportunity to raise [students’] quarter grade right before the quarter ended.”

Some students were studying just as hard partly because they didn’t know about the change in the midterm policy.

Watching students take their math midterms, Sellers noticed “the same things” he would see “during any normal test.” There were signs of students trying to do well even though it may not have counted.

Editorial

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Self-Love, Skunks, and Expectations

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hen I was a child, I thought that being sprayed by a skunk would be a significant, recurring event in my life. It was drilled into my brain that when I was sprayed, I would have to immediately drop everything, run inside, and take a bath in tomato juice.

18 years later, and I’ve never even seen a skunk in real life, aside from at a safe distance in the zoo.

I have been lucky enough to never be in the middle of a tornado. I’ve never seen a shark fin lurking in the ocean while at the beach. A scorpion has never even crossed my path.

I thought that quicksand would be something I would encounter at least a couple of times by now… no. Never been chased by a swarm of bees either.

These are all completely plausible events that do happen in real life, just not very often (for most of us, at least.)

When I was younger, I also thought that by senior year, I would be going to crazy house parties every night like in the movies, have met the love of my life, and have a clear idea of

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what I wanted to do with the rest of my life after high school. And none of these things have happened.

As humans, we are designed to set up goals and expectations for ourselves. These expectations often revolve around where we are in comparison to others. If we don’t fit the certain mold of what we create in our minds for what it is to be successful, we spiral into the hole of thinking that we are not good enough.

In reality, there is no set checklist or 8-step plan for a successful life. I used to think that the only way to “live” is to go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a job relating to what you majored in, work the majority of your life, retire, play bingo for a couple of months, and die peacefully.

What this 8-step plan doesn’t take into account are things such as financial hardships. Traumatic events. Mental health struggles.

Even simple things like just taking time to rest, and spending time with the people that you love.

Although I might not be going to crazy parties every night, I do have a small group of friends that I love spending time with. I don’t have my own car yet, although I do have my learner’s permit and I am finally planning on taking my driver’s test this year after two years of procrastinating. And while I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life, I do know that I want to continue writing and making art.

It is important to be able to be comfortable with where you are in your life. We often set goals for ourselves in comparison to other people, when in reality, we all live

different lives. We don’t have the same goals, the same aspirations, or the same backstory. Since we are all so different, nobody reaches their goals at the same time, and this is completely okay.

The best that we can do is learn to be gentle and respect ourselves, and love ourselves for the progress that we have made.

I never would have imagined that I would be where I am at this point in my life. When I was in seventh grade, I thought that I would be wearing basketball shorts and listening to Fall Out Boy for the rest of my life. I didn’t plan to eventually have pink hair, learn bass, or even be Editor-in-Chief of Web and Mobile Apps for The Blue and Gold.

Getting older isn’t about reaching the far-out goals that you set for yourself. It’s helpful to set goals so that you continue moving forwards and making progress, although the most important thing is becoming comfortable with yourself. Spending time getting to know who you are and want to be, instead of focusing on how you will fit into the big picture.

Everything falls into place eventually. No matter how many checklists are made, how hard you work, nobody can ensure where they will end up. And although you might not know where you will be a year from now, if you are comfortable with yourself and are doing what you love, it won’t matter exactly where you are. It sounds cliche, but we are always in a state of becoming, and nothing is ever set in stone. The unknown should be something that we are okay with.

I have spent a lot of time in my

life with anxiety thinking about possible worst-case scenarios.

While some people say that “the future is never as bad as you imagined once you get there,” sometimes it is. Sometimes the future is terrible. Although if you are truly connected with yourself and learn to put yourself first, the future will at least be bearable.

You don’t need expectations. You don’t need to compare yourself to others to see if you are doing anything right.

Chances are, you aren’t. And nobody is!

While I sometimes still struggle with self-love and the pressure of expectations, as we all do, I am proud of the person that I have become. I have begun focusing on the things that I am good at and love about myself, and this has guided me to become the person that I am today.

I have never seen a skunk in real life. Apparently, my brother saw one outside of our house once that was “just about to spray him when he ran away just in time.” Sureee. If I ever see one myself, at least I would know what to do if he sprayed me.

Lulu Harding Editor-in-Chief of Web and Mobile Apps

Editorial Policy The Blue and Gold is an open forum for student expression. It is produced by students for the school and the community. The views presented in this paper are not necessarily those of the advisor or the school administration. The views presented in the editorials are those of the editors-in-chief or guests. The goal of The Blue and Gold is to inform and entertain students as well as the community regarding issues that we feel are important.

We strongly encourage readers to respond to material printed in the form of signed letters to the editors. No libelous, malicious, defamatory, obscene, or unsigned material will be printed.

The Blue and Gold reserves the right to edit the letters. Names may be withheld upon request. Not all letters will be printed.

Although The Blue and Gold appreciates the support of advertisers, we may refuse any advertisement that violates the above policy or that promotes products questionable to student use.

Any correspondence concerning this publication should be directed to Mr. Ryan Gallagher’s room in J387 or to his mailbox in the main office.

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The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

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What is Love?

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ne of the most beautiful things about humans is their innate ability to love. The simplicity behind caring for something so deeply that you grow a profound connection with is out of this world. This one feeling can confuse you and drive you insane all while still making you yearn to keep it in your life.

Something even more beautiful is the many ways that love takes its form. Whether it be platonic, romantic, or affectionate towards family; everyone has someone or something that they can say they care deeply about.

I was recently asked what the definition of love is and my mind drew a blank. It was the last question left on my midterm and I had no way of answering it. I went with the safest response and said “when you really care about something or someone.”

So here I am 3 weeks later, still trying to find the perfect response. I found it ironic to have this question on a midterm for a bunch of high schoolers, because almost all of us have heard you’re too young to know what love is at least once in our lives.

Honestly, for much of my life, I thought this was true. I believed I had to reach a certain age to understand what this emotion was and I felt like I would never be able to truly experience it until I was an adult.

We live in a society that tells us we are too immature, and we have reckless behavior that will prevent us from ever being in a serious relationship while we are teenagers. They say we are in that stage in our lives where

we are in need of guidance, so there is no way we could possibly understand the severity of love.

When you’re young you’re more likely to throw yourself into love. We´re naive and our judgment is clouded by the intense feelings that come rushing in as we meet someone new. We are conditioned to brush these emotions off because they are invalid due to our lack of wisdom.

But maybe being naive isn’t as bad as society makes it out to be.

Maybe being naive is what makes our lives so simple.

It leaves us open to so many possibilities, and it makes us believers because we do not carry any extreme cynicism due to our lack of real world experiences.

I disagree with society and everyone that tells us we are too young to love. In fact, one of the purest forms of love is young love because it is so new, and exciting, and you begin to grow your own concept of it as you go.

It is the rawest and most simplest form of love there is because all you have to give is yourself.

I honestly feel bad for adults who waited and never got to experience it when they were younger, because some of the moments I know I’ll treasure forever have come from loving my person as a teenager.

The constant giggles, smiles plastered from ear to ear, and butterflies that fill your stomach are all moments that only someone in love at a young age can describe the intensity of.

But I’ve come to learn that love is so much more than these moments. It’s more profound and sometimes can’t be measured by only the happy times you share with

your person. They say loving is easy but can it really be real if there is no struggle?

The bumps along the road are what solidify your relationship and make it stronger in the end. The way that you chose to bounce back and overcome the hardships you faced the day before is what makes you both grow as individuals within your relationship.

However, love does not need to be all about finding a person to whom you grow attached to. You don’t need to hurry to find a connection with someone to experience this emotion.

Another pressure that society puts on us is that we must find love before a certain age. They make us feel like we have not lived until we have found another person to share every moment with. The media highlights other couples, and since we are so impressionable we feel as though our relationships and lives have to mirror theirs.

Love is scary because it is unpredictable. It brings out fears that you didn’t even know existed within you, and insecurities that were never there before. The more you love something, the tighter you want to hold onto it. The idea of losing someone that you poured so much of your soul and time into is terrifying, which is why waiting is understandable.

I feel as though many people confuse love for relationships.

You can experience love without being together with someone else.

As cheesy as it is, the most important kind of love is self love.

Building yourself up, and setting standards for yourself so that you can go out into the world and de-

mand the treatment you know you deserve is so crucial to a healthy life.

It allows you to make healthier choices for yourself, and put you and your happiness above everyone and everything else.

Having a foundation of self love allows for us to ground ourselves, and understand what we need in order to properly coexist with others. Self love is the gift that keeps on giving, because once you learn how to accept and care for yourself…you will be able to go out into the world and project this positive energy and pour it into others.

I’m grateful for my person, because I’ve gotten to experience the purest form of love and happiness because of him. I got to experience love both platonically and romantically with him and he’s given me the perfect response to the question that I’ve struggled to answer for the last few weeks now.

Love is commitment, and being able to grow a connection that will teach you lessons that you take on with you for the rest of your life. It is a bond that is unbreakable and unlike any other because it runs deeper than just the surface.

Karen Rivera Managing Editor

How Clubs at Malden High School Are Using Flex Block Fatima Dahbani Reporter

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alden High School has a certain part of the day called Flex Block. On Gold days, Flex is incorporated into the schedule where it is a period divided into two blocks: Enrichment and Joy. It is a time where students can have time in their day for enrichment and support because school can be stressful for some students. Flex is used for a variety of reasons, and one of the reasons after-school clubs are taking advantage of this block is to find more time to meet.

A club in particular that uses Flex is the Spanish Heritage Club.

“This club was designed by students… [where] a group of students proposed the club and needed an advisor so I volunteered my Flex block so that they could organize

and run the club,” explained the advisor of the club, guidance counselor Alison White.

“Because this club runs during Flex, it allows for students who may have other obligations after school to participate in a club during school hours,” White stated. She continued that “when the club was proposed, the students requested that it take place during Flex rather than after school.”

The club’s members are reasonably self-sufficient. They spent the previous cycle choosing themes they wanted to cover, playing games and making posters to hang around the building to promote the club.

Ralph Mckenzie, a Special Education Math teacher and the advisor of the Literary Society, is also using Flex. Mckenzie said that he “spoke with Mr. Gallagher and senior Brandon Wong about taking over the

Literary Society… It’s been a fun diversion from some of the stresses of this school year.”

“When Brandon approached me about advising The Oracle, [the magazine that the Literary Society produces every year], he was the only returning member. Joy block seemed like a convenient and low stakes way to encourage students to participate on a trial basis,” Mckenzie explained.

He believes that artistic undertakings are an excellent method for kids to express themselves and share their perspectives. More students have the chance to learn about themselves and from one other by having a secure area where they may discuss their work.

In addition, the yearbook club is also utilizing Flex block to meet.

James Valente, who is the advisor, expressed that “The Maldonian,

like The Blue and Gold, is a class that meets on the schedule of assigned students…The idea of using the Flex block to meet with those students as an extra way of getting the work done was always appealing.” Valente went on to say that they needed the time to meet “so that the co-advisor to the class, Mrs. Horwitz could be in with the group whereas this year she is not in the actual course, and she is vital to the course because she is the financial advisor and works with us to raise the $28,000 we need to make the yearbook.”

“We needed the time with our co-advisor to create fundraising opportunities for the yearbook,” Valente said.

Flex has overall been a great way for students to be productive and get extra help when they are not able to come after school.

Opinion

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The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

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A Reflection on the Pandemic Gianna Lally Reporter

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eturning back to school was an interesting experience for all students and staff. Some feel bad, some feel good. We all had to transition from being online for months to suddenly going back. It was an odd experience for everyone in the world.

When we were put on lockdown, I was in the middle of seventh grade and it was March 2020. Life was good. I had friends who were great people and grades that were perfect. That was until my mom got the call home about a virus that reached the U.S. I was hanging out with my friends at my house that day. We were blasting music and laughing over every joke made. My mom had told us about the call and we were all so happy. We planned future things for us to do in our twoweek “break.” Little did we know that was the last day that any of us would see each other for a very long time.

For so long, everyone was stuck in their homes. I did not know how to feel, I felt great at first. I was so excited to get a break from school and did not think it was going to be like that for so long. I had to experience “online school” which I thought was cool at first. A lot of people used online school as a way to skip school since it was told that we would all pass no matter what. I quickly got bored of it. My last few months of seventh grade were wasted.

I learned the hard way that people were going to change and not be there anymore. I lost people that were there for me since elementary school due to not speaking anymore because we weren’t in school. I slacked on all my school work for the end of seventh grade.

I just wanted to go back and see my friends.

I remember hearing about twelfth graders at Malden High not getting graduation due to COVID. My sister who was in nursing school couldn’t get her graduation either and was moved online instead.

Then I realized I was going to be in eighth grade. My last year attending middle school. I wasn’t gonna be able to have any fun field trips like all the eighth graders before us did. More importantly, I probably wasn’t gonna get graduation either.

But I ended up having the chance of my last year being somewhat good.

Soon enough, I started eighth grade. We were online until March.

We began a hybrid schedule where we picked between blue and gold days. There were a certain number of students in the building each day to manage social distancing. I was able to go back full-time towards the end of my eighth grade school year.

Stepping into that building for the first time with everyone there since March 2020 felt surreal. Everyone looked older and it wasn’t just because of the masks. People sounded and acted differently too. We had no field trips at all and still got graduation, but it was a quick one to make everyone happy. I cannot say my eighth grade experience was the best, but I can say it was better than

staying online for the entirety of the year.

I’m now a ninth grader at Malden High in 2022. I attend school full time and we are all required to wear masks. I went from being a little seventh grader at Linden Steam Academy to a ninth grader in high school in the blink of an eye. Crazy isn’t it?

It’s hard trying to adjust to a new school so quickly after being in a pandemic for so long. I got the opportunity to meet some of the nicest people I ever thought I would meet. I learned to appreciate the little things in life because you won’t always get the opportunity to have those things forever because who knows what could happen. Yes, I lost some things during the Covid transition but was able to gain things during it as well.

I’m still adjusting to everything after a year of going through this virus and unfortunately, it is not getting better this year. Everyday I continue to hope things will get better for the world.

Student Voice: The Effect of Social Media Accounts Nora Hounain Reporter Dorothy Michel Reporter

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ecently, there has been a trend on Instagram of students posting pictures of their peers for entertainment. Some examples include photos of other students sleeping, eating with bad posture and parking incorrectly.

A number of Malden High School students have taken part in this trend by making accounts featuring photos of students eating, making fun of their shoes, sleeping, having bad posture, and positive affirmations. The account MHS Affirmations (@mhs.affirmationss) posts “positive” messages that seem to be relatable to students.

Adjustment counselor Benjamin Butler was not aware of these accounts. However, after learning about them, he expressed concern about the ways students use some accounts, such as the eating and taking pictures of students’ shoes.

“I am concerned about people being filmed or photographed without consent,” Butler said.

While he does not currently see many positive effects that the accounts have, he would like to see more accounts that are positive towards the student body.

Butler suggested creating official school accounts where they

“could communicate [their] positive values out to students and then beyond to the community.”

That way, “the administration and the adults here at school could better track some of these trends,” he said. “I don’t know if the administration is even aware that these accounts are being done.”

Another one of the adjustment counselors, Vita Chiarenza, said that she has also never heard of the Malden High social media accounts transpiring around. Occasionally, Chiarenza would overhear students say that they have seen “something” on social media, but would never specify.

Chiarenza believes that consent should be required when it comes to being posted on these accounts. “It would make me feel uncomfortable if someone took pictures of me eating and being posted without any consent,” Chiarenza said. She stated that whether or not the accounts are being made outside of school, the content posted should stay appropriate.

Freshman Rihanna Champagne said she feels the sleeping and eating accounts should be deactivated.

“If it were me on any of those pages, I would be frustrated, and the anxiety of people taking pictures of you is also frustrating,” Champagne said.

That being said, Champagne

does find the affirmations account tend to be extremely immature and to be “entertaining and funny.” lacking in purpose.

Another freshman Guilherme When a student is afraid to take Da Mata Silva stated, “I personally off their mask during lunch because believe that some of the accounts of the eating page, that is when it are harmless, like the MHS affirma- is clear lines are being crossed and tions page. However, others are an boundaries need to be set. invasion of privacy, the [shoe page] and the sleeping page for example; the people running those types of accounts should definitely respect the students’ privacy and not post their feet while they’re in the bathroom, or their faces while they are sleeping without consent.”

Sophomore Makeila Scott said “I think some of the MHS accounts run by students can be entertaining, such as the affirmations page where it isn’t necessarily inflicting on anyone’s privacy nor doing anything that could cause relative harm,” going on to list the sleeping and shoes pages as examples.

These accounts seem to be a source of anxiety for many students. Although it is understandable the people running them can view it as a harmful joke, the pages @mhs.affirmations Instagram page.

Opinion

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

7

maldenblueandgold.com

The Harm of Misgendering Dani Licona-Cruz Reporter

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he issue of misgendering is a common obstacle for many members of the LGBTQIA+ community. From transgender to nonbinary to gender-nonconforming individuals, it seems that we all struggle with people using the wrong pronouns on us.

Personally, I use she/they pronouns. Although I don’t mind when people use she/her, it’s as if they’re ignoring a part of my identity when they strictly use those over they/ them.

There are very few people who preferably use my they/them pronouns and the joy it brings me is amazing. It helps a lot when I’m feeling particularly detached from

my feminine side.

When it comes to misgendering it isn’t something you can just brush off, it’s a serious issue that hurts people.

Freshman Guilherme Da Mata Silva says, “It’s who they are and people just disrespecting that is awful.”

Personally, every time I come across a check box that asks my gender, I don’t know what to say. It doesn’t help that my whole life I’ve been perceived as a girl because it makes me question what I feel.

I overthink a lot. All my life, I’ve dictated my decisions based on what people thought of me and what I should do. I told myself that I had to be the best version of myself in their eyes. This only delayed my self-discovery of no longer conform-

Photo via Matt Bernstein (@mattxiv) on Instagram.

Sophie LeBlanc Reporter

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ing to the gender I was assigned at birth.

After all, who was I to decide that yet? I was a scared 13-year-old kid who couldn’t tell the difference between being a tomboy and not being a girl.

So, I hid it inside for a long time. Every time people choose to use she/her pronouns and ignore my they/them pronouns it makes me feel like that scared kid again.

What if I’m wrong, you know?

Especially, when I’m embracing my feminine side and dressing in what society deems “female clothing.” I ask myself if I even know myself at all. And before I know it, I’m sucked out of reality and into this illusion my mind has made up that I’m just a confused, attentionseeking girl.

I reassure myself that it is not true and bring myself back, but there are people who can’t do that.

That’s why it’s important to respect people’s pronouns and correct yourself.

One of the kinds of pronouns people tend to get confused with the most is they/them. In a post by social media influencer Matt Bernstein, he explains how they/them pronouns can be used in the singular tense. He calls out bigots and brings up how they use they/them pronouns in singular tense all the time.

People are always so quick to say that it’s bad grammar, but they use it unknowingly. The truth is, they just can’t accept that someone is different from them. People are so afraid of what they can’t understand that they just shut it out.

Freshman and reporter for The Blue & Gold, Ruka Truong states “I’ve seen people learn and understand the concept of pronouns so easily just because they’re willing.

It’s really not that hard.”

Da Mata Silva believes that misgendering on purpose is “disrespectful and very inconsiderate given the fact that people are finally being open about who they are.”

He is right. It is not something as simple as the decision to wear

your hair up or down. It’s a piece of your identity.

This issue is one that needs to be talked about more and realized as harmful. As we shine a light on the long-ignored issues of our society, we see the real danger that misgendering has. It strips people of their identity and they are forced to stay silent.

This causes unimaginable mental health damage. It perpetuates the idea that you are what society says you are and not what you feel and know you are.

People like me are not afforded the luxury of being able to express themselves at home for a multitude of reasons. This is why places like schools need to be free and open spaces for us to share who we are.

An anonymous student stated, “I prefer they/them pronouns, but I don’t mind he/him and she/her ‘cause I guess it’s easier for most people to understand if I use more pronouns. Probably not what I should do, but it’s fine.”

It is not fine though. The society that we’ve grown in has shushed us and pressed down on the most authentic parts of our identities. It is like refusing to acknowledge that someone is a blonde and not a brunette.

Why is it so hard for the world to see that not everything is black and white?

Why can’t they accept people and ideas that are different?

These ideas are not new, they have been ever-present throughout history and they have been hushed, but we will not be silenced. If you can’t accept me that’s fine, but I’m sure as hell not changing myself to fit your views.

After all, it’s clear to me that everyone in this world has their own opinions and I can’t force people to change and use someone’s correct pronouns. However, I hold hope that my generation will bring more inclusivity to the world and we will all learn that misgendering is a serious problem that causes harm to many individuals.

The Dangers of Climate Change

obody ever questions why we live on Earth.

We are born here and grow up here. We live here and die here.

It’s simply our domain, the ground that all of our life’s challenges and triumphs stand on. It merely seems irrelevant when compared to all of the stress and hardship humans go through every day.

However, Earth is not something we can disregard. It needs care; it needs maintaining. It needs to be treated like anything tactile

that we own. Except it’s not treated that way.

In late December of 2021, my cousin and his fiancee, who live in Colorado, had to evacuate their home because of horrific wildfires that burned 1,000 homes. Climate change has set record drought and high temperatures to the Front Range, temperatures reaching the highest they have been since the early 1960s. After visiting the remains of houses affected by the blaze, President Joe Biden stated, “We can’t ignore reality.”

On September 9th, 2020, residents of San Francisco woke up, not

to a blue-skied, idyllic, sunny day, but a deep orange glow blanketing the sky. No, it was the color of rust. Across the state and the Pacific Northwest, almost 500,000 acres were ablaze, and some of that smoke converged over the Bay Area, mixing with the city’s fog. Here in Massachusetts, all we got was a light haze.

Additionally, starting in June 2019 and peaking around early 2020, bushfires blazed across Australia, and burned more than 9,300 buildings and burned more than 46 million acres of land. These fires were historic, and they impacted Aus-

tralians more than the COVID-19 pandemic, which followed later that year.

It hurts to see climate change become more visible year after year, with at least 650 casualties in the US due to climate-related disasters just in 2021. As someone who lives in the Northeast, climate change does not affect my life to the point where my life is at risk. Though it feels so helpless being one of 8 billion people on this earth. I firmly believe that if we all do our part, 8 billion of us, there will be positive changes in our environment.

Local News

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The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Should schools return to remote learning? maldenblueandgold.com

This project was done at the beginning of January, when cases were at their highest. Even though the numbers have dropped since then, the writing in this article is worth thinking about in case there are future outbreaks.

Yes Krishany Marius Head of Local

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he 2020-2021 school year had a huge impact on students all around the world. Not only on students, but it also made an impact on educators. It introduced people to a whole new level of learning: remotely and from home.

For people who are homeschooled or work from home, the changes may not have been new to them because they are used to it. Remote learning was something that was not easy for many people, though it did help others in different ways.

This goes into my point on why we should go back into remote learning, with COVID-19 on the rise and cases increasing day by day, and new variants finding their way into human bodies. It is only better for governors and school boards to shut down schools so that we can

NO Courtney Fitzgerald Lead Reporter

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arch 12th, 2020. A date that will forever live in every student’s mind. This was the date all our dreams of being homeschooled came true. Only, it was a dream for about two minutes. Then it became a nightmare.

When we first began remote learning, it was a completely different system than what we got used to in 2021. 2020’s remote system of learning was simply an optional Google Meet once a week and one assignment per class due at the end of the week. This diminished the drive students had to do their school work. It taught them that class was optional and that less work was sufficient. That all changed when we remained remote for the 2020-2021 school year.

After having optional classes and one assignment per class, they threw us right back into a “steady” learning environment where we had the same three classes every other day, began classes at eight in the morning and some classes even having mandatory speaking and visual requirements (i.e; requiring cameras to be on, or students to speak during the class). The learning environment was anything but steady. With every day came a new uncertainty for both

stay safe and practice social distancing because close contact will not make matters any better.

Going remotely will also make people less worried about if they are sick or not, as students touch everything and have germs flying around us at all times. When it comes to interacting with other students, it may be hard for many people and we are all in high school and dealing with different stages in our lives. That said, social anxiety could be one of them.

Students can also become more confident when it comes to online interactions rather than in-person because it sets the idea that you are not constantly thinking about the sentence you’re about to tell or practice it before you go and interact with someone. It is never easy in an environment where you feel a lot of pressure on yourself, and I believe online learning helps with it.

Another pro to online learning is that you are able to work at your own pace, whether it is an assignment you need done, or a lesson you are not understanding. For example, in 90-minute classes, it is hard to

retain what you learned. Remote learning allows you to utilize online resources and is more flexible when it comes to due dates.

Remote classes do not feel rushed, it will become a space where you are not stressed because you are already in your house and comfortable in your environment.

We are teens in stages where we are going to become adults and with all the pressure put on us, we have a lot to handle all at once, and that includes bringing the supplies we need for school. It can also result in forgetting the supplies that you need for school and not being able to have the resources you need throughout the school day.

Now if we went back to remote learning, we would not be able to be worried about this because we would have the opportunity to have everything we need right in front of us.

As the world continues to evolve and people become open to new things, technology is everexpanding. Technology has given people the ability to do many things, and have many opportunities be-

cause of the resources that are available for the time being.

We teenagers, adults and kids use electronic devices in our daily lives and that can be something taken to its best advantage, whether it is helping someone who is not so strong in it or being more proficient in it.

Remote learning can be so amazing for us students. In the long run, we as students can build better time management skills and can adapt to multi-tasking when many assignments are to be due. It also creates an environment where they can see deadlines that need to be met more clearly.

Though online school can be a challenge for many students, there can also be many benefits to it. Being safe is the best option right now, instead of students getting constantly sick and being in close contact with one another. Ultimately, remote learning encourages practicing social distancing and trying to keep one another safe.

students and teachers.

Questions like “When will we be back in school?,” “How am I going to be graded?” and probably the biggest question for the Class of 2021 was “What does this mean for me and college applications?” These questions remained unanswered for the majority of the school year.

The answer was more often than not “We’re taking it day by day.”

Students grew frustrated and disinterested in learning.

On top of everything, internet connectivity was the most unreliable resource for students. With the majority of residents in Malden all attempting to access the internet through one source or another, there tended to be a lot of connectivity issues when it came to trying to be in the class on the Google Meet and simultaneously opening the assignment you are meant to be doing.

While teachers understood this, it was still frustrating to the students who felt as though they had fallen behind due to their internet connection.

Being in school is a way to provide students with structure and discipline. Having to wake up in the morning and leave their house to go to school teaches the student to discipline themselves into a routine.

They go through the motions day after day being in school and get them prepared for a life outside of high school.

At home, all that was lost. Students woke up, most of the time late for their first class, and signed on.

The good ones, they paid attention.

But the majority of students, they signed on and went back to sleep, left their microphones and cameras off and just let the class go on until eventually they got kicked out at the end.

While it may cause stress and anxiety, being back in school and potentially contracting the dreaded disease, there are many benefits to learning in person. With students back in the school, teachers are seeming to be less “depressed” or inexpressive as they were when we were remote. Teachers who taught through a screen received little to no effort back from students, often being met with Google icons and black screens and hardly ever a verbal response. Now with the students in front of them, while the students may not be showing any more enthusiasm than previous years, the teachers can be seen having more of a connection with the students in the room.

Students in the building also have the opportunities to build more connections with their peers and have more access to help from their teachers. While being online, it was difficult for teachers to give the help they would have been able to give if the student had been in the classroom. Now that students are in-person, teachers are able to meet one-on-one with the students and actually see where a student may be having problems.

Absences throughout schools are a big talk right now, but they

are no different from the previous years. Students’ lack of enthusiasm towards school has nothing to do with it. Whether they are in-person or completely online or even a little bit of both, the student will always be dissatisfied with school.

There will always be something that “will never be used again,” or that is “completely irrelevant” to what comes after high school. We’ve all said it at least once in our school careers and it probably wasn’t the first time we’ve said it and it most likely will not be the last. Some absences have been due to Covid, and while that is a serious risk being back in the classroom and the building, the benefits that come with being back in school make it worth the risk.

So yes, there is an argument to be made that students should be remote. But the bigger argument is that they should remain in the building. The support from the teachers as well as their peers is a benefit that trumps the fears. The students become more engaged when they are physically in the classroom and they have the tools they need to succeed.

Wifi might be slow, but that was always an issue. Students are being set up with the skills they need to succeed outside the school. When the students were outside the classroom, tools were there but initiative to access them was lacking. As the students get accustomed to school life, they are set up better for future success.

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Local News maldenblueandgold.com

Student Voice: Covid at Malden High School Continued from page 1. night,” she said. “Then, it was immediately sent out to as many MHS students as possible,” where she noted that “since we were doing this independently as students, spreading the word was difficult.”

Davidson expressed that “at first it was [created] out of frustration due to the lack of action and then it became focused on curiosity of what our peers think…We found that our peers often agreed that remote learning as an option would be best,” adding an extra emphasis to the word ‘option’. She mentioned that “it became something larger when I began drafting emails to people in positions for creating change.”

Emails were sent to parties including the Department of Secondary Education (DESE), the Malden Education Association (MEA), the Malden High Principal, Malden’s Superintendent, Mayor Gary Christenson of Malden, the Malden City Council, the Malden School Committee and the Commissioner of Education.

The survey was initially intended to be forwarded to students through whole class emails, but “[the senior class] was the only whole class email that successfully went through.” She explained that “we weren’t able to email large groups of people such as the Class of 2023 for some reason. We were shocked to see that our attempt to email the whole senior class went through. We then opted to spread the message through social media.”

With only four questions in the survey, a few enlisted curious responses. Davidson noted that “the variety of responses indicated that communication on this topic wasn’t as simple as hoped.”

The last question in particular asked if students planned on testing using the rapid test that was given to them before break. This question only had 2 options for answers: a “yes” option and an “other” option where students were allowed to type in their own responses. These responses varied from “I don’t have one” to “It seems like a hassle” and an abundance of variations in between.

Davidson along with other Malden High representatives, including the majority of the senior student council, met with Senator Jason Lewis on Friday, January 8th.

This meeting was in regards to what action could be taken at the moment to solve the ongoing problem. “We [hoped] to present the idea of having remote learning become an option for all Massachusetts students and families,” said Davidson.

A lot of attention has been brought to this student survey, and Davidson is not surprised by that.

“I’ve worked incredibly hard to reach people in positions of power.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with so many people since that Sunday morning,” mentioned Davidson. As of Thursday, January 7th Davidson had been emailing back and forth with people for five days and had exchanged over 125 emails.

She noted that “one of my main methods of doing this is to find the easiest person to contact, then request them to pass the message along or send me the email addresses of the respected people.” Using this method she was able to go from Malden High Principal Christopher Mastrangelo all the way to the Commissioner of Education, the DESE and Senator Lewis.

“The work behind this is extremely important and hard to maintain, but is showing some sort of work,” added Davidson. She continued on saying that “I’m joyful to see how many students are speaking out on this issue and discussing the benefits and consequences of every option possible... I’m appreciative to be in a place where I can hear student voices and then work towards creating actions that follow what our students need and want” in regards to the students participation in the survey.

Noelle Hayes, a junior at Malden High, helped to promote this student voice project alongside Davidson. Hayes mentioned that even though she wasn’t involved in the making of the project she thinks that “it’s very important to hear students’ voices.” She continued, “especially when it comes to our physical health and well-being.” Hayes was “really shocked by the amount of people who had Covid or knew someone who had Covid.” She elaborated on her shock stating “it’s scary to think so many people in this school are at risk.”

Hayes spoke out about her personal beliefs about school being in-person versus remote, stating “personally, I’d rather be remote or hybrid for the month of January because I have family at high risk.”

She further went on to say “I also think that being online for a few weeks could be beneficial for students who don’t feel safe either, or maybe even just need a break from a social setting like school.” While she may have her own beliefs, Hayes ultimately thinks “all students should have a choice about [whether they want to be in-person, hybrid or remote] though.”

MHS alumni, Billy Zeng, to was among some of the students who went and spoke to the Senator about this current issue. Zeng’s initial involvement came from Boston Latin students reaching out to him for contacts to Malden High students. He noted that he has “been able to make the connection and see

how Greater Boston students can collaborate together to make themselves heard.”

While Zeng may no longer be a student at Malden High, he is still being affected by the student voices being heard. “My brother is a current high school freshman, and this affects me because if he were to somehow get Covid, then I would have a higher chance of testing positive.” Therefore, “as a community member, the decision to keep schools open affects me at-large because many high school students are very active in the community and can spread Covid in that capacity as well,” stated Zeng.

To Zeng, this is not a project that “gets started and finished.” He elaborated by mentioning that “this student survey that [Davidson] produced and disseminated was a direct result of students not feeling safe to learn comfortably in physical school environments with the current surge of the omicron variant.”

Zeng expressed that “I wanted to make sure that the community had the backs of our students and that the students felt supported enough and had the resources they needed to advocate for their wellbeing.”

Zeng, who is currently enrolled at Tufts University, mentioned that colleges in the Boston area for the majority of the semester are planning on going in-person. While there are currently no plans for that to change, Zeng stated that “personally, I am an advocate for schools going remote for the time being.” He went on to further state that “remote learning is not an ideal solution to the pandemic, but I] believe that remote learning will allow students to feel safe and not have to worry about contracting the virus.” Zeng also believes that remote learning can help “alleviate the stress and pressure that school nurses and educators are feeling.”

Zeng’s biggest surprise was “how Malden has become part of the statewide list that is most affected by Covid.” Another surprise for Zeng was the vast amount of absences. “I am shocked that so many students and staff are out on a daily basis,” he stated. He was not surprised, however, at the state response to the variant. He mentioned how DESE and“the big decision makers are not listening to the experiences of the students and educators right now.”

Whether the student be in elementary school, college or in any level of education, the recurring issue of Covid is a shared one among the student body. As more students take a stand and share their voices on the issue at hand, more recognition of the problem is brought. The issue currently has no resolution, but the efforts to bring awareness to the problem have not been resolved either.

9 Boston Latin Student Leads Petition for Remote Learning

Continued from page 1.

to create change. With the petition nearing 10,000 signatures as of January 25th, he is “very much grateful for what has been happening.”

Since reposting the petition to his personal Instagram account, he has received over 100 comments, mostly supporters and people sharing their stories.

“I am in no way, shape, or form a representative of what people feel. I am just the platform.

That night, I am sure so many other students had the same idea, but I just took the action… and wrote [the petition] out.

“I don’t want to be seen as some person who represents all the students… I am nowhere near that. I am just here to allow people to express what they feel in the comments, whether it’s tagging the governor’s administration or sharing their own feelings,” Hu said.

However, the Boston Latin student has also received some pushback in his comments, users who said “absolutely not” and “I’m just [trying to] have a normal school year.”

In response, he said “I am a senior, I am [the] captain of my crew team. I don’t want to miss sports, I don’t want to miss prom.

Last year we already missed prom, that was horrible, but that is why I chose the word option.”

When creating the petition, Hu explained that he was very careful in his wording since it is a controversial subject and he wanted to have a petition that as many people could back as possible.

Hu emphasized in the petition, “No one is requesting a complete turn to remote learning, just an option so that kids can stay safe and still maintain their education. ‘In-person school’ should not be the only way to learn, we figured that out last year. We are not starting at square one.”

Over this past weekend (Friday-Sunday), there were 27,033 new confirmed cases and 2,984 patients hospitalized for Covid-19. Predictions made earlier this month estimated the Omicron surge to peak by midJanuary, but it is hard to tell if the state has experienced the worst of it yet.

One thing remains up for debate, would there have been a significant difference in numbers if schools had made the decision to go remote at the beginning of January?

Local News

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maldenblueandgold.com

Nearly 6 Million Defective Masks Distributed to Massachusetts Schools Nathan Dean Lead Reporter

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OVID-19 cases began to spike near the beginning of January due to crowded vacations and the rise of the Omicron variant.

To combat this, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) offered out around six million masks to schools that were interested. One of the schools that took up on their offer was Malden High School.

Principal Cristopher Mastrangelo gave out the masks to faculty members who wanted them the week after Christmas Break. Almost immediately after this, rumors spread that the masks were “defective” and “faulty”. When he heard the rumors, Mastrangelo immediately stopped handing them out.

It was found that this particular model of KN95 mask had not been authorized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This means that the masks are not medical-grade, and not suitable for medical personnel. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

found that this particular mask had ogy or the technology itself. At this a maximum efficacy rate of 45.80% time, there is no explanation for this and a minimum of 25.20%. difference.

A statement released by DESE’s Whether or not the masks are Media Relations Coordinator Jac- effective or not, this goes to show queline Reis explained the situation, how easy it is to accidentally pur“There were two different types of chase non-authentic masks. If you KN95 masks delivered to schools: are wondering if your masks are non-medical, and masks that had effective you can look to the image no label marking. The masks with- below to find out if your mask is out label markings were previously NIOSH approved or not, but if it tested by MIT and found to have turns out to not be approved don’t an 87 percent filtration rate. Those worry several the CDC has found labeled non-medical were not tested that some non-NIOSH approved

by MIT before distribution.” masks still have efficacy rates over Reis continued, “After DESE 95%. You can find this study on the learned that there were two differ- CDC Website. ent types of masks in the distribution, the non-medical masks were then also tested by MIT. They were found to have a 98 percent filtration rate.” Malden High School was given masks labeled “non-medical”.

This difference in percentages may be due to a differ- An infographic showing proper labeling of NIOSH apence in methodol- proved N95 respirators. Photo via Wikimedia.

Oak Grove Fire Leaves Residents and Businesses in Trouble Juliana Luong Head of Sports

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building caught on fire at 4:50 pm on Monday, Jan. 10th, 2022.

First responders arrived at a laundromat with residential housing above at Glenwood St. Oak Grove Square.

The fire started from the outside of the building and reached the attic and areas of the third floor.

After three alarms to assure wellsupplied equipment and firefighters for the fire, the firefighters were able to get to the scene of the fire in between three to five minutes. The following cities helped stop the fire with firefighters and equipment: Melrose, Revere, Medford, Everett, Saugus, Somerville, Lynn, and Boston Fire Departments.

While the fire was fought, fire departments from Revere, Stoneham, Wakefield, Saugus, and Chelsea made sure to send more firefighters and supplies to respond to other emergencies. Following the Oak Grove fire, six more calls were made in request to the Malden Fire Department that were taken care of by the five cities.

As first responders searched the building for any residents or citizens, the building was completely empty which granted the assurance of the safety of the people. Chief Sul-

livan said, “Fortunately, there were no reported injuries to occupants of the building.” As the cold and icy conditions still lingered from the weather, there were injuries caused to the firefighters from slips and falls on the ice. Although the weather conditions did not stop all the firefighters from remaining on the scene and fighting the fire.

Currently, the building is not available or safe for the residents but Malden has talked with both the laundromat and residents and the Building Commissioner states that the building can be repaired, most likely. The laundromat has struggled with the expensive aftermath of the fire, and the business is closed until further notice.

Ward 3 Councilor Amanda Linehan has talked with residents and helped a household temporarily relocate. Linehan stated,“... several of the units in the building were vacant at the time of the fire, so the losses could have been much worse.” Friends of the residents set up Go Fund Me pages to support the citizens.

As the fire continues to affect many lives and business Fire Chief William Sullivan said “The fire remains under investigation by the Malden Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit [and]... is being assisted….by state police investiga-

tors from the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s Office.”

City resources, law enforcement, housing assistance, inspection services, as well as Linehan continue to work together and make a plan. “[We]…are all working together to address the diversity of concerns facing this building and its occupants, and to make sure that whatever happens here reflects the neighborhood needs while also directing all available resources to those most immediately impacted,” Linehan stated.

A reminder from Chief Sullivan explained the importance of checking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors by switching out batteries, replacing the detectors, and following manufacturer guidelines.

“I would like to acknowledge the professionalism of the Malden Police Department during this fire and the assistance they provided us…I would also acknowledge the work of Malden’s Mayor and his office staff, the Malden Building Commissioner, the Malden electrical inspectors, the American Red Cross, Cataldo Ambulance Service, the MBTA also sent buses to be used as temporary warming shelters for both residents and firefighters,” Chief Sullivan stated.

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

$317 Million Renovations Approved for Vocational School Courtney Fitzgerald Lead Reporter

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ortheast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Highschool, an alternate schooling option for highschoolers who may want a little more hands on activities. 12 local cities, including Malden, send students to this school located in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

The cities came together on January 20, 2022 and approved a $317 million dollar renovation to the school. While 10 out of 12 cities were on board for this new renovation, two cities were on the fence. Chelsea’s City Council along with Saugus Town Meeting voted against the renovations being done having cited the cost it was going to take.

Each city is expected to contribute rationally based on the number of students being sent to the school. The school has received a $141 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, leaving $176 million dollars left for the cities to divide.

Malden is projected to contribute $20.9 million for 152 average annual students. The other communities; North Reading, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Winchester, Woburn, Revere, Saugus, Chelsea, Wakefield, and Winthrop send between 11 and 248 students and are expected to contribute as much as $31.4 million (Revere), based on the amount of students the cities send to the school, on average, annually.

In a building that has not been significantly renovated since 1968, Northeasts’ biggest issues currently are overcrowding, failing mechanical and electrical systems, as well as outdated facilities and programing.

With the new renovations, the school is expected to have an increase in enrollment by about 400 students a year. This is a 26 percent increase from 1270 students to 1600 students. The renovations are also supposed to include an outdoor learning center, as well as a new primary access to Farm Street in an attempt to control some of the traffic.There is also projected to be a new cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasium.

The updated school is expected to be open in the year 2025.

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

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Student Voice Project: A Window of Opportunity and Change for Malden High School Lily Nguyen Reporter

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longside a vast administration, nearly 2,000 adolescents constitute the dynamic and diverse student body that we call Malden High School. With this, underlined is student voice, an engine of enhancing school culture alongside unifying the student body and administration.

Our student representative, Christelle Jean, presents a tensive voice to the Malden City Council; the Youth Civics Council (YCC) seeks impassioned youth to create change on the local spectrum; a recent survey reviewing Malden High’s Program of Studies requested insight among the entire school body; emphasis of student voice resonates within stories produced from The Blue and Gold.

In the past, trivial efforts were made to improve school culture.

Now, students at Malden High are provided numerous opportunities to emerge and empower their voice; and among them is the Student Voice Project (SVP), a namesake project designated to do just that alongside increasing inclusivity

and collaboration within the entire school community.

Advised by staff and faculty members of the school administration and guided by Boyle House Principal Stephanie Sibley, the SVP was built on the foremost mission of “using insights gained to increase understanding and awareness about students’ academic, social and emotional experiences” as well as “strengthening relationships within the school community.” Coupled with these principles are ensuring that members reach far to improve the future of the MHS community while seeking personal growth in terms of collaboration and leadership.

The project had since tallied a great degree of success since its inception in the past school year. Hosting a number of pensive discussions evaluating data from Youth Truth surveys administered to the school and having presented their findings to the school committee, members worked strenuously--despite technical and communicative difficulties from virtual learning--to reinforce students to voice their opinions more intuitively than by design.

Co-advisors Jean Jones and

Michel-Le Meranda acknowledged how nuances of their efforts were found in newly administered implementations of this school year.

Among their recommendations to the committee were “holding community-building events for freshmen academies,” attained through the hosting of Freshman Boot Camp, the Knowledge Bowl and even the new Flex schedule.

Other influences of the SVP suggesting more academic opportunities beyond what’s offered at Malden High impelled the College and Career Readiness Center, to which they’ve prioritized “college visits, a job fair and a resume-building workshop” for students.

However, while the advisors provide adult support, the SVP lends emphasis on student leadership. “The SVP isn’t about adults coming up with goals and students implementing them,” stated Jones.

“Rather, it’s about letting students drive the discussion and change.”

The importance of this principle is further echoed in Jones’ words: “Schools need to know in real-time how our current world is affecting students so that school can be the best place it can be to help students

navigate their shared, and different, realities…this necessitates having up to date, real-time information about their diverse experiences.”

By structuring the project this way, students stray away from the environment of a traditional classroom and instead have the ability to build and utilize leadership skills to direct fellow members.

With the new year ahead providing a window for liberating student voice, SVP advisors hope to gain more members. “We need more participation so we can determine the focus not just for this year, but for years to come,” they believe.

“We would welcome any ideas students have about how to get people involved.”

Engraved in their mission statement, “Students represent a wide range of cultures, languages, and perspectives, so we want to hear from them.” The application deadline was drawn before winter break, but students currently seeking leadership and collaborative opportunities are strongly encouraged to join.

If the Student Voice Project sparks your interest, please contact co-advisors Jones or Meranda for more information.

Malden High School Wands for Wildlife Chaimaa Assli Head Copy Editor Gianna Lally Reporter Joy Lugo Morales Reporter

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ands for Wildlife is a nonprofit organization that encourages people to help the environment and wildlife by donating their old mascara wands. The wands that are donated can then be repurposed for many things including grooming, cleaning and treating wild animals.

They can clean the animals from debris, small bugs and oil spills by

Some of the mascara wands that were collected. Photo by Chaimaa Assli.

brushing the comb through their fur and feathers. The wands can also be used to make sculptures and paintings by local artists.

Shauna Campbell was the main organizer for the program in Malden High School. Some of the teachers that assisted by putting the boxes in their classrooms were Brian Wong, Elizabeth Tirrell and Kurtis Scheer.

Campbell joined the organization in 2019 as a part of her environmental science class. They were trying to find new ways they could reduce, reuse, and recycle for the greater good. The class wanted to show the bigger picture of pollution and how animals or habitats are being destroyed, and how they are being influenced through this. They were trying to find something that is not obviously recyclable and used in a different way. This program became a competition between the environmental classes to see who could collect more. Unfortunately, due to Covid, the program was put on hold last year in MHS. This year it was organized differently. Instead of a competition, the wands were collected across the whole school.

Campbell worked with students from her period six class

to make flyers and boxes to collect the mascara wands before Thanksgiving break and began collecting wands when everyone came back after break. Campbell plans to continue this program within the school with students.

Among the teachers that helped with collecting the wands was Brian Wong. Although he wasn’t a part of the planning process, he encouraged students to participate and donate. Wong believes that they got more than they expected. “I even had some former students who had heard about it who came by and dropped them off to which was nice,” stated Wong.

This was the first time Wong had heard about this organization.

“It’s actually really nice that people can repurpose things like unused or used mascara wands to help clean up wildlife because I didn’t know that was a thing,” he said. This was educational for Wong because to him it was interesting to find out that something that is considered to be trash or something that would not be typically used would become something that is very beneficial.

Freshman Alleela Perryman thinks that this organization is very important but does not think many

students care enough which to her is upsetting. Perryman added, “Students do not focus on things like this, I only found out about this charity because I’m in Mrs. Campbell’s Science class. But I do believe people should donate.”

Freshman Sean Antin and freshman Bradley Louigene both agree that this is an important issue since it promotes helping wildlife.

They believe that charities like these should be talked about more.

A poster for Wands for Wildlife. Photo

by Chaimaa Assli.

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Class of 2023 Prepares to Host 82nd Annual Junior Varieties people together and a lot of people were excited to see it, so we wanted to add a relevant part of it to our show. We also wanted to [include] a throwback theme because with everything going on, we wanted to celebrate the past a little bit.” expressed Siena Lee, Class Historian.

A few weeks ago, the class posted on their Instagram calling for acts to audition for the show, with auditions starting earlier this week.

Siena Lee explained that they will be judged based on skill and overall interest in performing. Rehearsals will start shortly after finalizing their performers.

Class Advisor Michael Lightbody along with teacher James Valente, have been helping the team run rehearsals and set up the show.

Lightbody directed JV’s back in 2000 and assisted Valente in 1998.

“We didn’t have a state of the art auditorium like we do now, which makes it easier to run the show,” commented Lightbody. It was not until 2009 that the school underwent a restoration of the Brunelli building and auditorium.

Class President Kyle Lee said that “seeing people happy in the

crowd” is what he is most excited about.

As for Siena Lee, she is “both excited and nervous” to host the show. During Play Production’s performance of Gypsy in November, she was the back-stage manager.

Despite having that experience, “it is always nerve-wracking to host a show in fear of something going wrong.

“Although, knowing the consistent talent and passion of the per-

other would handle the climax and development.

The idea of students creating ith the spring festival com- their own play was inspired by ing up, the Play Production Play Production’s past advisor Sean team from Malden High School is Walsh. The length of the play will be preparing their own original play less than 40 minutes in order to meet to perform! Although it has taken the time requirement of the spring a few weeks to finalize a script, the festival. class has come together in groups to Advisor of Play Production Leperfect a play for the ages. anne DeRosa started the production While Senior Yasmine Alayan with some improvisation to get the wrote the base script, everyone else students in the right frame of mind. divided into groups. Some people Thier goal was to come up with a would handle exposition while script that has complex characters others would handle characters. An- and a story. Next, everyone came up with ideas and a rough outline for a script. As stated, Alayan’s play was almost immediately accepted as the best play for the festival and the class started to expand on it from there.

“When we wrote the play two years ago, it was really serious and had to do with school shootings as a student. It was really intense,” DeRosa stated.

Seniors Yusra Tafraoui and Nicolas Ramos light up the “And the show this stage with their bonding. Photo by Jessica Li. year without giving

anything away definitely has some heavy themes.…But it has a lot of themes about self-love and selfworth. The way that students have chosen to present it is pretty funny and light-hearted.”

Sophomore Matthew Goroshko added that he is “really excited for this script because it’s a very unusual process for me. I’ve never been part of writing a show before. This script and everything we’re doing is so new, but it’s also so interesting and the script sounds so awesome. I love it!”

When asked about how DeRosa split up the class during the planning, Senior Yusra Tafraoui said that they split up the different sections of the plot, and then wrote the main idea of what they wanted as they expanded from there. She thought that “everyone got pretty much equal say in what they wanted to do.” Play Production had two teams, either craft or setting versus writing and editing. “I picked the editing team because I really wanted it. I really like to be involved in the writing process... but also being backstage and doing all that stuff is very fun.”

Sophomore Brian Vences said that he feels like a valued part of the Play Production team. “We probably trust the say of the seniors and the juniors more, but I feel like

Julie Huynh Editor-in-Chief Nathan Dean Lead Reporter

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his year is the Class of 2023’s turn to host Malden High School’s annual Junior Varieties show.

Junior Varieties has been a tradition at the school for the past 81 years. Countless students have gone on the stage in the Jenkins Auditorium to sing, dance, and perform their hearts out.

Last year, the Class of 2022 had a late start due to uncertainties with Covid, but they managed to pull through and host a successful show in the spring.

Now, faced with concerns of their own, the Class of 2023 has a few months to get everything together before opening night.

While the Junior Student Council has not yet announced an official name or theme for the show, they are currently brainstorming ideas around a Marvel concept.

“We wanted to involve a superhero/Marvel concept with the recent Spider-Man movie that came out! It is something that brought a lot of

formers and the hard-working crew and council, I know it will go well and I can’t wait to be part of production this year,” she continued.

Lightbody believes that they should be able to have a show that people will feel comfortable attending. With the show being scheduled for March, that gives the juniors enough time to handle the recent spike in Covid cases and to ensure everyone’s safety during the production.

Play Production’s Upcoming Original Play

Zachary Nedell Lead Reporter

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Last year’s hosts Tivian Nguyen, Whitney Jean, and Jason Ong introduce the first act. Photo by Carlos Aragon.

[everyone’s say] is equally valued in the writing process,” Vences said.

Senior Imani Ligon-Chambers reminisced that the upcoming script defied her expectations. “This one, it’s like a very touching play, where even though it has some comedy, it still brings out real-life issues,” Ligon-Chambers said. “And that’s not something that you see with most musicals.”

With the spring show set to premiere around March 20th, the students of Play Production wanted to encourage people to join and support them throughout the year.

Vences pointed out that anyone can be a part of Play Production regardless of their previous experiences or interests. “We have things for everybody, even if you don’t want to be an actor or anything like that,” Vences said.

Goroshko also added that the friends you make in Play Production make it a worthwhile experience.

“It’s amazing,” Goroshko said. “I think [anyone would] be a great fit.”

You can support Malden High School’s Play Production class throughout the year by going to their shows and seeing the work and effort they have put into the productions, and be sure to look forward to their original production in the Spring!

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School Committee Meeting 1/10/2022 Lulu Harding Editor-in-Chief of Web and Mobile Apps Kayley Glavin Head of Local

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ver the recent months, students and faculty alike have been voicing their opinions about inperson versus remote learning, and it has brought up many concerns regarding different learning styles for students. On January 10th, the new Malden School Committee held their first meeting of the year, following the 2021 election where they had chosen to announce the committee assignments for the 20222024 session.

In the meeting, Superintendent Ligia Noriega-Murphy started off by sharing all of the different updates that are currently happening around the district through a 40-page report.

Mayor Gary Christenson explained that the report was “quite informative, and provided a good snapshot on where we are and where we hope to be going after winter break.”

Christenson also said that the committee discussed a number of policy changes regarding residency demands to be able to attend Malden Public Schools. This included discussions around what age a child should be able to enter kindergarten. These proposed policy changes were sent directly to the Policy and Procedures Subcommittee, and until they are fully reviewed, these changes will not be implemented.

The committee took time to discuss the possibility of hybrid learning in schools during the current state of the pandemic. Christenson expressed that he is glad there is

a path being cleared to allow other forms of learning to be possible in the future. Last year, he had spoken to a number of students who had preferred either remote or in-person learning. “What was most interesting is that [the students] were unanimous in supporting one another on the need to have both models available to help [them] maximize their ability to learn,” Christenson explained. He also noted that inperson learning has had a significant difference in students’ attendance and overall performance.

Christenson added that he is aware that “no one size fits all” pertaining to learning, and therefore appreciated hearing from the community, especially students. The city has met with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as the State Legislative Delegation, to “come up with a system where [remote learning and in-person learning] can coexist.”

Nothing has happened as of now, Christenson expressed. However, he does believe that there is interest from both sides.

Malden High School senior Juliana Davidson was a student who spoke at the school committee meeting. Previously, she has done work relating to pushing for a remote option in schools across Malden, and spoke about the importance of this issue to various other city officials.

During the meeting, she said that an option for remote learning would help Malden Public Schools “manage the current surge in Omicron cases and COVID in general. Many students have families that may be at a higher risk of getting COVID, and some students themselves are in

high-risk positions,” she explained.

“I feel that a remote learning option would allow for families to make the safest decision altered for them.”

Davidson noted that Massachusetts currently only has one public online school. “If the Massachusetts Department of Education allowed for remote learning time to count towards the district’s required school hours, she feels that “it would alleviate a lot of the stress currently put on families and students.”

As for the foreseeable future, in-person learning is the only available option, so “we have to follow it,” Christenson said. “We plan to stay the course, especially since the state does not allow the option for us to go remote.” Davidson also recognized during the meeting that “many of the decision-making processes students were hoping to see, all seem to be out of the School Committee’s hands and/or done elsewhere.”

Noriega-Murphy expressed at the meeting that as of now, she believed that “[the city] is happy and healthy,” and she doesn’t see a reason to go remote. She continued on saying that “we have to be back and adjust to life.” So far, she has seen a 6.1% increase in math grades and a 4% increase in reading, with a 92% attendance rate across the board.

In response to COVID cases, Noriega-Murphy stated that “in comparison to the other districts, [Malden is] low” and if cases were to rise, she would be advocating for remote learning. She believes that being in school is what makes school special and easier.

“Being home for young kids is hard. School is an experience. It

is not my right to take that away,” Noriega explained. She added that she “loves to see kids having fun” and communicating with peers. She especially knew that after the holidays, Covid cases would be higher, but she was happy to see they have since slowed down and not been overbearing. Whatever motivates one to wear a mask is great because it helps the city prioritize and stabilize in- person learning,” NoriegaMurphy elaborated.

Noriega-Murphy also noted that since Malden is one of the first districts to have been given at-home tests from schools, more information is specified about the “next steps [students] need to take” to make everything safer. She bases everything on data and makes sure to take in account “social and emotional components” concerning students’ education.

Noriega-Murphy had decided to opt out on midterms this year because she wanted students to “focus on celebrations to decrease anxiety.”

She did not see a point in giving students more work when they don’t have to. She elaborated saying “I want to see growth in students, not anxiety.” Overall, she wants to work to see how we can end things on “a good note” for everyone’s sake.

Overall, Davidson said that she believes the school committee meeting did well “in terms of listening to public comments, addressing general district updates and updating community members on new and past programs offered in the Malden Public Schools District.” The next school committee meeting will be on Monday, February 7th.

The Endless Search for Underclassmen Advisors Sophie LeBlanc Reporter

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here is no doubt that the student council plays a vital role in what many call “the high school experience.” Without it, there would be no prom, no junior varieties, no fundraisers and so much more. Considering Malden High School’s large student body, there will always be students that are more than willing to be part of the student council or have leadership roles. However, what if there is not an advisor?

Every student council needs an advisor, being a staff member that supports the council in any events they want to hold, any fundraisers, and simply advises. Another part of being a class advisor is conducting the class elections and gathering your student government.

A class advisor typically takes on the role in 9th grade, and class elections occur that year. However, both the freshmen class and sophomore class are without an advisor.

Sophomore Alyssa Chung voiced her concern about the open position: “it both surprises me and worries me, as there’s a possibility that we may miss out on fundraising and won’t be able to hold events.”

This topic has not gained a lot of traction among the student body, as Sophomore Isabella Matos stated that she hadn’t got word about what a class advisor was. Chung also mentioned that she didn’t even know that her class was lacking an advisor in the first place, noting that “it’s not something that’s typically talked about.”

School Counselor and Class Advisor for the Class of 2020 Caitlin

Quinn mentioned that “there is a lot of time commitment that goes into it to make sure the class has enough time to fundraise and plan successful events that make a little money while also having fun.” She later stated, “it’s a double-edged sword, you have to have the time in order to commit to being a class advisor, and you have to have the time, looking ahead, for potentially four years. It can be difficult for someone to agree to be a class advisor, from a staff’s perspective, because you just aren’t sure if you’d be able to commit that time.”

The Class of 2020 was one of the only senior classes to not be able to have a prom and other routine events due to the pandemic. She expressed, “It was all a little different than expected.” However, she enjoyed it greatly. She mentioned

that she had “a really good group of students and really let them take charge.”

When facing the issue at hand, Quinn explained something that may help get more staff members to be willing to take on the role. She explained that the role at the moment is too daunting, and suggested that the school lessen the commitments.

More specifically, she recommended that the school open the position for just one year, rather than four. At the end of the year, the faculty member that took it on could either choose to stick with the role or reopen the position.

“I think a lot of staff would be really gung-ho on helping the 9thgrade class get started, but might not be ready for the commitments as it gets more and more difficult in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade,” she said.

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The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

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Mack Keating Reporter

Malden Author Kari Percival Releases Kids Book

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fter three years, Kari Percival’s new book is ready for pre-order. The upcoming author, who is a Malden citizen, has written a “sparkling debut”, according to Publisher’s Weekly. The book, “How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to Outside,” is a children’s book up for pre-order. “How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to Outside introduces very young children to gardening outdoors.”

Percival had a background in this subject prior to writing, which she explained made it easier for her to write. “I was inspired to write this book by my experience leading the Early Birds’ Garden Club at the Malden Community Garden. I’m an environmental educator, and I invited families and small kids who wanted to learn to grow food to garden with me. As we gardened together, I noticed what questions children and their parents had, and how we found the answers together.

I wrote this book to inspire more kids and their parents to get their hands dirty.”

She elaborated that, “in this picture book, toddlers and preschoolers share practical tips such as how to plant seeds, how to build a twig trellis, and how to know which strawberries are ready to pick and eat. They also offer sage advice on important topics such as how to navigate an encounter with a bee, and how to say hello to a ladybug.

On a deeper level, the children model scientific inquiry: observing, asking questions and hands-on exploring the dirt to find their own answers.”

Behind the scenes, Percival has put a lot of work into this book, and it was not all downhill trekking.

“My agent sent the proposal to several editors and they liked it but just held on to it for several months before finally saying no. Then she sent it out again and two new editors bid on it. Another six months went by before I received a contract to sign, and then another six months before the editors sent me feedback on the direction they wanted the book to go.” Once she started writing, though, it was mostly smooth sailing. Four to five months later, the book is fully written and illustrated.

Percival went into depth about the writing process, sharing that “my favorite part about this book is drawing all the different kids so engaged in hands-on nature investigation.” In terms of writing, “it was thinking about what questions small children have when they are gardening, and how to empower all kids to grow food, how excited very small kids are to plant seeds, water them, play in the dirt, and pick and taste the food they grew.”

Even though she has a lot of background knowledge in this subject, she did not choose it. “The funny thing is that my agent suggested I write this book. I was so close to the topic and this experience that I couldn’t see it and didn’t think of the idea myself, but once she suggested it, the words just tumbled out easily and playfully. They say write what you know and that is so true!... The book was based on my own experiences with something that matters to me, and the writing shows that.”

Percival’s vibrant writing earned her a spot in Publisher’s Weekly, much to her amazement

and surprise. “In this deceptively not the last of Percival’s creations, simple, sparkling debut, a group either. She explained that “my next of young children plant a garden book is called Safe Crossing. It’s bein raised beds and watch it grow. ing published by Chronicle Books in Percival shows rather than tells, de- 2024. It’s a book about child citizen ploying a Q&A format that involves scientists who help frogs and salathe children’s exclamations as well manders find a safe way across the as conversational instructions based street during amphibian migration. in noticing.” Publisher’s Weekly also I’d like to write more books about enunciated how magical the book kids being empowered through scifelt where they expressed how the ence investigation and the joy of na“digitally manipulated silkscreen ture exploration. I’m also working images retain their handmade feel, on books about inspiring activists showing successive views of chil- and scientists.” dren with varying abilities and skin For now, though, her book is tones, whose expressions reveal their available for pre-order at The Galabsorption from the first spread: lery @ 57 in Malden, and is being ‘How do you plant lettuce seeds?’ released on March 8th, 2022. The Responding to the question via ac- title can also be found on Amazon tion, one child is shown sowing the for hardcover or a kindle-copy. seeds (‘Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle’), “If you order your copy from another covers them with soil (‘Pat, the Gallery@57 in Malden or Porter pat, pat’), and a third waters (‘Now Square Books in Cambridge, I can make some rain!’). Through action, sign and personalize it for you,” the children learn to touch the insects Percival added. they encounter (‘gently, very gently’) and to judge a strawberry’s ripeness (‘This one? Not yet.

Too green’).

Without picturing a single adult, Percival conveys the joy children can feel in working together, being outdoors and eating food they’ve grown t h e m s e l ve s — all with a fizzy immediacy.”

Cover of Kari Percival’s new book, How to Say Hello to a This is Worm: A First Guide to Outside.

Malden Welcomes New Pho Hoa Restaurant Juliana Luong Head of Sports

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alden has a population of great diversity and many places full of culture to represent the people that live in Malden. Recently, a new Vietnamese restaurant, Phở Hoá, moved into Malden on 655 Eastern Ave as another addition to the culture that flows throughout Malden.

The restaurant has three owners: My Nguyen, Tuyet Nguyen and Duong Lê, as well as My and Tuyet’s daughter Van Nguyen, who helps whenever she can.

The restaurant menu is filled with different variations of food from boba smoothies to Vietnamese noodle soup to Vermicelli bowls, and

a lot more. The menu also includes many healthy food options and as Van said, “growing up, Vietnamese food has always been healthier in my eyes so having healthy dishes in our menu is something that was always a given.” Kiana Tse, a junior, at Malden High School said her favorite dishes are “either cơm đặc biết or phở tái bò viên.”

“Phở Hoá is part of a larger franchise,” said Van. Phở Hoá can also be found in Florida, California, and two in Boston; Dorchester and now Malden which are owned by her family. Van also said, “it’s been in the works for a couple [of] years now, we wanted to do this for a while…before the pandemic started but…with the pandemic it didn’t

make any sense to open up a restaurant.” With Jack’s Italian Bistro closing due to the pandemic, Phở Hoá was able to buy the location from Jack and give Phở Hoá a location to reside in.

Although Phở Hoá is a restaurant located in the United States, America is far from where the dream of Phở Hoá started. Originally living in Vietnam, the Nguyen family moved to the U.S. working for many years in other jobs such as nails and hardwood flooring. Van said opening Phở Hoá was “surreal” and “while growing up I’ve seen my parents work all the time and now they’re working even harder…”

From the hard work of her family, Van, her brother, and her cousins

have been able to attend college.

Van said, “To think, that an immigrant family coming into Malden is contributing to the culture and the community in the area.” The restaurant was visited by the state representative, Steve Ultirino, and Mayor Gary Christenson as well.

Van continued to explain “It’s truly the American dream come true for my family.”

The restaurant has been successful since the grand opening with the options of take-out and online order. Tse adds, “It’s a good idea for them to open up in Malden” and thinks “it also adds to the diversity Malden has.”

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Diversity in Mayors Across the United States Chaimaa Assli Head Copy Editor

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ecently we have seen a lot of diversity in mayors across the country. Many of the candidates have faced racism from the people of their city or town. But this doesn’t stop them from running for the position and trying to make their city a better place. There have been a few historic firsts happening more often this past year. The amount of mayors who are people of color has begun to increase over the last few years. There is a record number of Black women who are becoming mayor and Asian Americans are also making history in mayoral races.

Deqa Dhalac is a Somali American woman who ran for Mayor of a city in Maine that is 90% white back in 2018 and won. She became the first Muslim woman to be mayor in South Portland, Maine. When Dhalac first started campaigning people were hesitant about her but this didn’t stop her from continuing to push and work harder. An article for CNN said that her election shows what can be accomplished when people find ways to connect with each other instead of putting up walls. One of the main things that motivated her to run for Trump’s presidency because she realized that no matter how much work she put in they were missing in the decision-

making tables. Dhalac ran for a second term unopposed and she will serve for a one-year term. Dhalac hopes that her becoming Mayor will inspire others to follow in her steps.

Visit CNN to learn more about Dhalac and why she ran for mayor and more about her background.

Ed Gainey was officially sworn into office on Monday, Jan. 3rd, 2022 and he became Pittsburgh’s first Black Mayor. He prioritized criminal justice reform in his campaign including demilitarizing police weapons and training and focusing police training on de-escalation techniques. This became one of the main reasons why so many people voted for him. People really liked that he has a really good record on criminal justice reform. This also isn’t Gainey’s first time in city politics because he was a community development specialist in Mr. Ravenstahl’s administration before becoming the 24th District’s state legislator in 2012. He mentioned that being the cities first Black mayor isn’t something he takes lightly.

He told Pittsburgh Post Gazette, “We have a choice to accept things as they are or to take responsibility for changing them.” To learn more about Gainey, visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Eric Adams was elected as the new Mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, 2022, and he is the second Black

mayor in the history of the city. He will face some difficulties throughout his term with the city facing the consequences of the pandemic.

When Adams won he promised to meet the needs of working and middle-class voters of color. He values diversity. Adams told the New York Times that, “We are so divided right now and we’re missing the beauty of our diversity,” He seeks to fight racism in the NYPD so he founded the reform group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. To learn more about Adams and his background visit the New York Post.

Lebanese American Abdullah Hammoud became mayor of Dearborn, Michigan on Nov. 2, 2022. He is the first Arab, Muslim and person of color mayor in this city. Hammoud aims to improve the quality of life for all residents of Dearborn.

He told Al Jazeera, “Success is not measured by being the first, but by setting a good example to pave the way for others,” He said he doesn’t want any young girls and boys to be ridiculed for their faith or ethnicity.

Hammoud hopes to improve the infrastructure and economic recovery from the pandemic. He insists that he didn’t run solely for diversity and he said in one of his speeches, “We never ran to be the first, We ran to be the best.” For more information on Hammoud visit Al Jazeera.

Michelle Wu became the mayor

of Boston, Massachusetts on Nov. 16, 2021. She is the first Asian American to be elected mayor in Boston. Her parents immigrated from Taiwan to set up for success. Wu graduated from Harvard in 2007 and went to Harvard law school. She has advocated fare-free public transportation and a municipal “Green New Deal” for Boston. Wu has spoken in favor of demilitarizing the Boston Police Department and establishing an unarmed community safety crisis response system that would assume responsibility for nonviolent 911 calls. Visit The New York Times if you want to learn more about Wu and her background.

Although Wanda Williams was the last to enter the race for Mayor, she was still able to win and become the mayor for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2022. She was involved in city politics for 20 years. She speaks about providing places for children to have a safe space to play and she also discusses opportunities for residents. Williams doesn’t want to worry about issues from the past, she wants to focus on the future of the community and how it can be better. In her campaign, she promised to focus on more inclusive economic development policies that benefit the city’s Black population. If you want to learn more about Williams visit PennLive.

Deqa Dhalac is the first Muslim woman to become mayor in Portland, Maine. Photo from Twin Cities.

Ed Gainey was sworn in as Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor on Monday, January 3rd, 2022. Photo from Pittnews.

Eric Adams is the current mayor of New York City.

Photo from NYpost.

Abdullah Hammoud is a 31-year-old Lebanese American who became the Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan this year. Photo from Al-Jazeera.

Michelle Wu became Boston’s first Asian American female mayor on November 16, 2021. Photo from Radio Boston.

Wanda Williams won the 2021 Harrisburg election.

Photo from PennLive.

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Entertainment

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

maldenblueandgold.com

Malden Public Library Photo Gallery Dani Licona-Cruz Reporter

Encanto Movie Review

Joy Lugo Morales Reporter

P

“Ek Onkar” by Gurleen Anand. Photo by Dani Licona-Cruz.

“Meditation” by Gurleen Anand. Photo by Dani Licona-Cruz.

Showcase of Gurleen Anand’s work. Photo by Dani Licona-Cruz.

Artwork by Gurleen Anand. Photo by Dani Licona-Cruz.

eople are going crazy over the new Disney movie Encanto, which came out November 24th of 2021. The movie has grown more popular mainly for the message that hides in between the lines that only a few people have been able to dig out.

Encanto is about a family called the Madrigals who have special abilities, except for one, her name is Mirabel. She is the only one in her family who did not receive an ability or “gift” as said in the movie.

She’s always trying to make her Abuela proud by helping around the house and putting extra effort in things so that people don’t see her as any different from anyone else in her special family.

Mirabel’s uncle or Bruno as mentioned in the movie, had a bad reputation to his name because of the gift he had. Bruno could see things in the future which later ended up helping Mirabel save the Encanto or “the miracle” as said in the movie. Mirabel decides that she wants to save “La Casita” after seeing it crack and break. She goes to Bruno’s room and finds the broken pieces of what looks like to be what Bruno used to see his visions. Marabel takes them with her and starts to put them together, what she finds is her standing in front of La Casita while it is being cracked and broken.

People who have watched the movie love it because of the meaning behind everything that happens in the Encanto. Let’s talk about that for a second. “Abuela”, Mirabel’s grandmother discovered the Encantó/Miracle after she and her husband were forced out of their home, which eventually led up to her husband’s death. The miracle gifted the family with a home, their magical abilities, and a town where other people can live as well, and ever since then everyone born into the family Madrigal received a gift.

Now that you have the backstory let’s actually get into the meaning of the movie.

Many people say that since Abuela experienced so much trauma in her past with losing her home and husband, that she put a lot of pressure and stress on her family members to keep their reputation.

For example, Luisa. In the movie Luisa has the gift of super strength, near the middle of the movie Luisa sings the song “ Under the surface”.

In the song she sings about how on the outside she feels unstoppable and like she could do anything, but on the inside she feels stress and pressure to not let the family down, to protect the family, and to keep Abuela proud. Mirabel tells Luisa to stop putting herself under so much

stress which later causes Luisa to become weak, and to lose her power for a while. Viewers believe that Mirabel saw how much stress she was in and temporarily took Luisa’s powers away.

Near the end Mirabel turns to her uncle Bruno for help because she wants to know why she was in his vision. He tells her that he doesn’t know and shows her that the vision changes meaning that the future isn’t yet decided. Bruno tells Mirabel that the fate of La Casita and the Miracle are in her hands. Mirabel asks Bruno if he can see more of the vision to see if there’s any way he can help her save La Casita and the Miracle.

After finding out what she has to do she goes to her other sister Isabela’s room who has the gift of perfection and can make pretty flowers bloom, all Mirabel would have to do was hug Isabela and the Casita and Miracle would be saved. Isabela had been angry with Mirabel so it was difficult for Mirabel to hug her, but after making Isabela so angry and making her bloom a cactus which she had never done before, Isabela is happy that she can make other things other than perfect flowers all the time, she’s finally happy. Abuela finds out and makes Mirabel feel bad about helping Isabela feel happy again, because she wasn’t perfect anymore. Which makes Mirabel realize that she wasn’t the problem it was Abuela, she gives Abuela a piece of her mind and Casita starts to crack and break for real.

Everybody leaves the casita before it completely collapses except for Mirabel she went to get the candle which held the Miracle in it, even after all that Mirabel couldn’t keep the candle from going out and the families magic abilities were taken away. Mirabel felt as if it was her fault and fled, her family looked for her for days and later Abuela found her in the exact place where Abuela’s husband had been killed.

Abuela apologizes for everything and the two make up. Mirabel, Abuela, and Bruno all go back to where their house used to be and Mirabel decides that they will just rebuild the house.

After the completion of the Casita, Mirabel’s family makes her a special doorknob with her initials on it, she goes to open the door of the house and then all of a sudden all of the magic that was lost comes back to the house and the family gets their gifts back.

Many viewers were still upset because Mirabel still didn’t get her gift, but I and many other viewers think that the reason she didn’t get her power was because she will be the new guardian of the candle since Abuela is getting older. What do you think?

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Entertainment

17

maldenblueandgold.com

Twice, Formula of Love: Blue and Gold Snow Day Gallery!

W O+T=<3 Album Review

ith the heavy snow day that hit Boston on February 1rst, many schools had to cancel classes. Despite the cold and snowy composure of the day, the Blue and Gold got to work, and put together this photo gallery to capture the snow day in its horrible beauty.

Hadjar Yousfi Lead Reporter

L

ate last year, global K-pop girl group Twice released their highly anticipated album, Formula of Love: O+T=<3 on November 12th, with a total of 16 tracks.

Only two songs in the album had music videos. The title track, “Scientist” which was promoted on a variety of music shows, as well as the prerelease single “The Feels.”

Formula of Love: O+T=<3 has been well received by the general public, and many expressed that it had a wide range of versatility. Senior Ariana Peguero felt that “every song on the album is so catchy, the vocals sound amazing and everyone in the group had at least one song where they especially shined.”

Junior Eric Tang mentioned that “every single song on it delivers its own unique style. I really enjoyed it.”

Though “Scientist” is the designated title track, Twice fans had mixed feelings on whether it should have been “Last Waltz.” Many thought it lacked title track material, and that it was missing the certain spark that makes a title track shine more. However, fans such as Peguero believe that Scientist “shines as the title track,,” and that the B-sides work well next to the title to make it a great album.

Fans online agreed that “Last Waltz” was incredible and strong, and some even argued that it should have replaced Scientist as the title track. Tang chose “Last Waltz” as his favorite song on the album, “it gives

off ‘Cry For Me’ vibes.” (Cry For Me was a song also released by Twice on December 18, 2020). Tang goes on to say it is “stuck in his head, reminding [him] of Sana’s amazing high note in the song.”

Formula of Love: O+T=<3 also has a very versatile concept making it easy for others who may not be into pop music to enjoy. Peguero described it as “the perfect mix of pop songs such as ‘F.I.L.A’, sentimental ballads such as ‘Cactus’, and slightly cheesy but still addicting songs such as HELLO.” Of course like any other album, there’s bound to be a least popular song. Fans had trouble picking one, as they felt it was an incredibly good album. Peguero ended up choosing “Candy, but that’s not saying much considering I still love that song.”

Nowadays people are always sharing their favorite albums and songs with one another and this album is not any different. “There’s something for everyone in this album. It has the power to turn a normal person into a ONCE,” Tang said.

Of the 16 songs, three were unit songs. “PUSH & PULL” which was performed by members Jihyo, Sana and Dahyun. “HELLO” was performed by Nayeon, Momo and Chaeyoung, while the last unit song “1, 3, 2” was performed by Jeongyeon, Mina and Tzuyu. When first announced, the unit idea was definitely well taken by everyone, and the songs were performed during their 4th World Tour, which will soon hit the United States.

All Photos by Liam O’Toole and Chaimaa Assli.

Local News

18

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

maldenblueandgold.com

Devir Park Renovations Liam O’Toole Lead Photographer Daniel O’Toole Lead Reporter

M

alden is home to a number of parks and public spaces across the city including Fellsmere Pond, Pine Banks, and Coytemore Lea along with the bike path.

However, none of these are as large as, nor as used as Devir Park.

On December 16th, 2021, the Devir Park Revitalization committee held an open Zoom meeting that discussed two design plans for the park. The budget for the project is currently around $2M, which was acquired from the city and more funds were acquired from the state and fundraising. The meeting was organized by Ward 2 City Councilor Paul Condon and leader of the Devir Park Revitalization committee and former reporter of The Blue and Gold, Jenelle DeVits. “[Devir Park is] the most used park in the city and its largest. You can have a Little League baseball game going on along with a soccer game, so I don’t think from that perspective, it will be used more for events, but by the citizens, it will definitely be used more,” Councilor Condon said.

When talking about the origins of the revitalization project, Condon talked about how “it was an available project in the community and someone mentioned that we could take this opportunity, so I moved forward with the project with the community preservation committee.”

Two things that Condon said that he is extremely thankful for is the amount of work and effort DeVits has committed to the project and how she has essentially become the community leader, as well as Mayor Christenson with his financial commitment.

“We are lucky to have a resident, Jenelle DeVits, to share this with the committee and she is a driving force with the rest of us to move everything forward which involved our fundraising throughout the state and the community preservation committee. We’re really thankful for the mayor’s office too for backing the project to make sure it became a reality,” Condon stated.

DeVits explained the history of the project and what is to come. “I was approached by Joe Levine who is the director of the recreation program in Malden who

said that councilor Paul Condon and he were putting a project together to revitalize Devir Park using funds from the city and other programs.” The two were “looking for someone in the area near Devir to be on the committee to help with the finances and getting it to fruition and they came to me to help and, the two of them asked me if I could lead the project for the neighborhood aspect.”

DeVits said that the first meeting of the project was “at the Irish American Club before Covid in August of 2019 to meet with the stakeholders and the investors, along with other folks who wanted to join and talk through with what they wanted to see what a revitalized Devir would look like.”

Once the project was in motion, the committee needed to find the group that would create designs and layouts for this new Devir which is where Shadley Associates comes in. “We went back and hired Shadley Associates which is a design consulting firm those ideas from the meeting and other comments residents had. Those ideas became two design options that we then went back and discussed over a Zoom meeting,” DeVits said.

These ideas are a new toddler-friendly playground and expanding that area of the park, adding a water splash pad, LED lights, benches, trees, fitness stations, softball fields and soccer fields that are both high school regulated.

Mayor Christenson has helped the renovations in a huge way going beyond his commitment of $2M from the city. “Different staff from various departments have assisted with the project, while I have been directly involved with the financing piece of the renovation. Again, the great thing about this proposal is that Councillor Condon and the residents of Ward 2 have been leading the way on the overall concept since the beginning of the process.” These projects aren’t unfamiliar to Christenson since he has a large role “when it comes to the financing as it all has to fit within what we have available for resources.”

Mayor Christenson said he “especially likes that the renovations cover a wide array of uses. From our youngest to our athletes to adults looking for passive recreation, this project covers many areas and will be enjoyed by many.”

The project looks to break ground around the spring and is expected to be finished summer of 2024.

The first concept plan for Devir Park. Photo via City of Malden.

The second plan for Devir Park. Photo via City of Malden.

Devir Park’s playground; Devir Park’s baseball field.

Photos by Liam O’Toole.

Malden High School’s Gabriel Fesehaie Lead Reporter

B

envenuti is the word, as a new club has opened at the Malden High School, the Italian Club.

The Italian Club, founded by Dr. Giuseppe Formato and Professor Fredy Rodriguez-Diaz, aims to provide a space where students, both in Italian classes and who are just curious, are able to learn more about Italy and Italian culture.

“Despite classes being at [their current length], we are kind of re-

stricted…in terms of what we can cover, and students have so many questions that are beyond the traditional lesson plan,” Formato said.

Dr. Formato and Professor Rodriguez both are new Italian teachers at Malden High School. Formato and Rodriguez have adapted well to MHS. with Rodriguez saying that teaching here is “really a wonderful experience because there’s a diverse community here at Malden High School, and that makes me really excited.”

The Italian Club was the result

of an initiative between Rodriguez and Formato, after they realized that, in the words of Rodriguez, “we wanted to do something besides the activities that we do in class… in class, we focus on teaching the language…we don’t have the time to answer questions that maybe are not related to the language.” In order to rectify this, they started the Italian Club, a place to cover Italian culture, history, cuisine, and more, as well as potentially enticing new students to join the Italian classes at the high school.

In terms of the success of the Italian club, both Formato and Rodriguez hold a positive opinion, noting that interest has been increasing across sessions, and both proclaim it a large success. Formato stated that “I think it’s a success…every session we’ve had, there’s been more and more interest, and this is across subject matter and languages even…I think the feedback from the students so far has been very positive.”

When thinking about potential ways to expand the scope of the club, Formato mentioned that the club

Sports

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

19

maldenblueandgold.com

Patriots Game Experience

All photos by Daniel O’Toole.

Daniel O’Toole Lead Reporter

O

ne thing that a person should try to do at least once in their life is go to an NFL game. Even if you may not care all too much about the game, it is a great opportunity to socialize and share food and drinks with people from all over the area.

The day started bright and early for me and my brother at 6:00 AM when our dad got us up and ready for the long day ahead. After eating some eggs, I got dressed in plenty of layers with my Tom Brady jersey on top. I was hoping that by the end of the game I’d be able to go by the pro shop to buy a new Mac Jones jersey, but my luck ran dry and there weren’t any. With the car all packed up with jackets, a grill and food, we

Packed car ready for Gillette Stadium.

were out the door around 7:25 AM. The drive down to Foxborough featured two stops at my older brother’s house and my cousins’ house who were going to the game too. Leaving early paid off big time since there was practically no traffic at all even around the O’Neill Tunnel going into Boston. When we got near Gillette Stadium the feeling of going to the game really started to kick in and I was so excited.

It was 9:00 AM when we had the car parked and got all our things ready. The portable grill was brought out along with some potatoes, kielbasa, mushrooms and steak tips my dad had been marinating for a couple of days. While we waited to walk down, I tossed a football around with my dad and some other kids for a while. Soon came 12:30 PM and the march to Gillette commenced. Waiting in line to scan our tickets was so crazy, I’d never thought I’d see so many people crowded around a couple of gateways to get into an even bigger building. When I asked how high up we’d be and my dad showed us I was in awe, but then we got up to the seats so I really understood how high up we were. I could see for miles in the distance and the players looked like ants. The large screens on the left and right sides of the stadium helped to get a closer and more magnified view of the field. It felt so surreal that I was finally at the

game, sitting in my seat, watching my favorite football team take on a division rival.

The game was nothing like how I could have imagined. Those beside me were just as invested in the action like me. Every time we picked up a first down you would hear the roar from the crowd of everyone cheering “First Down!”

Damian Harris (From left to right) Me, my dad, Liam and my brother would have a Seano. good showing by picking up 103 England. The final score was 33-21 rushing yards on 18 attempts and Buffalo, but it was still so exciting to getting all three of the team’s touch- watch. downs. However, the Bills’ quarterWhile walking back to the back Josh Allen was carving up the car, I felt so content and happy Patriots’ defense like a turkey on that I watched my first in-person Thanksgiving by throwing for 314 NFL game. We wouldn’t leave imyards and three touchdowns on 30 mediately in order to avoid traffic completions off 47 attempts. so my dad fired up the grill again One key play the Pats missed and cooked up some more steak. was on the Bills’ final scoring drive Around 7:30 PM is when we’d step in the fourth quarter when Patriots back into my house which wasn’t Pro Bowl cornerback J.C. Jackson too bad. Now I can finally say that dropped an interception that could I’ve been to a Patriots game and one have been returned for a touchdown thing is for certain, I can’t wait to go and easily sealed the game for New back.

New Italian Club

was already quite dynamic. “We were just talking about maybe doing dance… talking about history… food…doing comparisons across languages that the students know… talking about traditions,”he said.

Rodriguez mentioned that the club was mostly student-directed, and it would be better to have a hands-off approach to its growth because “it’s not for us, the teachers. [We are] just here to facilitate and make a decent space where they can learn and explore.”

Formato and Rodriguez ex-

pressed a final message to the students of Malden High: “If you would like to learn more about Italian language and culture, and how it may be connected to your own culture, because most of the time, there’s lots of connections especially in a place like Malden High School where we have many students from the Latin speaking world, come to our club, and we’ll be happy to talk to you and explore these ideas or questions that you may have…and even if you want to come just once, bring a friend, it’s open for every-

one.”

The Italian Club is hosted ev-

ery week from 2:15 to 2:45 in H315.

All are welcome.

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Sports

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

maldenblueandgold.com

Boys Basketball Looks to Improve Midseason Daniel O’Toole Lead Reporter

C

urrently, the team is 1-11 which is good for seventh in the Greater Boston League (GBL). They have scored a total of 589 points the whole season, but have allowed 802 points, putting them at a -213 point differential. The lone win came against Somerville which was an away game that has them 1-5 away and winless at home with 6 losses.

One extremely important aspect of the home games has been missing students. Since early January Principal Mastrangelo stated that due to the rise in Covid cases there would be no students at home games for any sport and only the family members of the team are allowed in.

Though in recent events, students have been able to return to the games, this has still really hampered the students which range from the seniors who were able to watch two seasons of play to the freshmen and sophomores who have never had the opportunity to watch high school basketball.

Assistant Coach Daniel Jurkowski elaborated saying, “It doesn’t feel like high school basketball. These sports are supposed to be this exciting, galvanizing, and a prideful time for the fans of the high school. It has been tough not letting the students come to watch their peers play basketball and our guys love playing in front of the students so it’s been a completely different atmosphere, but hopefully, with the numbers going down we can get the students back in the games.”

“The players, for the most part, have been listening to what the coaches are trying to implement in the game plans and practices, but we haven’t always executed those game plans,” Jurkowski believes.

He continued, “We are listening, we are understanding what needs to be done, we are still making decisions on the court that don’t exactly correlate to what we try to run in practice so we need to get better at that and we need to pay attention to details more.”

The losses have ranged from being nail biters with three games being with 10 points to some blowouts with six being around 20 points. Jurkowski commented, “To be honest, it hasn’t been great.

It’s frustrating to lose because losing isn’t fun; nobody enjoys losing even when you have a great group of kids because you want to win for them. This is a good group of kids, they listen but we haven’t been able to successfully execute our game plan.”

“The point of playing on the varsity level is to win games and we haven’t been able to do that a lot this year, but I give the kids a lot of

credit for not quitting and bringing energy to practice every time to get better,” Jurkowski said.

Like all sports the last couple of years, Covid had not just hit the team but the GBL as a whole and players missed games and the games themselves had to be moved.

“We had to reschedule a couple of games and then the GBL as a whole shut down for a week so we then had to move some more games. It’s been difficult with all the schedule changes in not knowing when the games are going to be,” Jurkowski said. The situation with the players was “a two week period where we didn’t have too many kids for practice so we didn’t know who was showing up and we had some kids that had to sit out due to Covid but thankfully they’ve all recovered at a good time.”

Despite all of the complications with Covid, Jurkowski has noticed some players that have been able to step up to the plate for the team and earn a more involved role.

“Two guys from last year in Ryan Dalencour and Justin Bell have come up big along with Ransley Saint-Jean who was on JV last year but now he’s a junior and starting most of the games.” Jurkowski also mentioned how “from last year we were missing Luke Zubrzycki cause he wasn’t able to play last year so it’s nice to have him back because he’s a very big contributor to the team since he’s one of our only big men.”

Jurkowski finished by talking about another player who is in his first year on varsity. “Ronaldo Nguyen who couldn’t play last year too due to Covid has been a nice surprise in his first year on varsity by helping out a lot.”

Looking to the future of the season, Jurkowski hopes that “the win against Somerville can give us the momentum and lift our spirits a little bit.” He continued, “For us, it’s mostly about energy and playing basketball and just not worrying about anything else.”

The Golden Tornadoes have four GBL opponents left on the schedule.. “The teams that we have left in the GBL are Somerville, who we just beat, Chelsea,, who we know we can be competitive with, Lynn Classical,, which was a super close game when we last played them, and Revere, which was another close game,” Jurkowski commented on those matchups.

Jurkowski believes that, “eeven without the greatest results, the last four GBL games are winnable for us if we are able to improve in practice and in execution.”

Senior Captain Ryan Dalencour has been able to come to fruition this season as one of the team’s better players. Reflecting on his play so far, Dalencour said “I think I’ve been playing well. There are defi-

nitely places where I can improve on, like turnovers, I could get less turnovers in the game, but overall, I think I’ve been doing good attacking the basket and kicking the ball to my teammates for open shots. But there is definitely things that need improvement.”

One of the things Dalencour said he could improve on was fouling too often. “I’ve been in foul trouble for I think two games and without those fouls,, I could be in and help us win the game. That’s all my fault. I wasn’t in the game for those moments.”

Dalencour thinks that one way the team could start improving is “Keeping the energy up in the game and just be focused the whole way through a push in the game and play for 32 minutes straight.” He is is confident in this goal since he’s continent in his ability in “getting everyone on the same page.”

Among the other players Jurkowski talked about was Junior Capitan Justin Bell. Bell commented on his performance currently as “My best season individually ever with scoring a lot of points, but I could be playing better defense.”

Collage by Fatima Dahbani.

The biggest surprise for him throughout the season has been the injuries and the lack of availability from them.

“We came into the season as a healthy team. We thought we were going to be good since we had a lot more people from last year. Now we have a couple of injuries that are hurting the team so the consistency of people being here is low,” Jurkowski said.

Bell built off what Jurkowski said commenting that the changes the team needs to make starts in practice. A lot of what we do doesn’t translate to the game. Practice harder because that’s where everything starts.”

Accountability has been Bell’s biggest role as a captain by being the one who “holds most people accountable if they miss a practice or something like that. So I feel like that has been some help I’ve been able to provide.”

Looking forward to next year when he will be a senior, Bell stated “I think it’s going to be fun actually.

There’s going to be some pressure on me and the team to succeed, but I like pressure.”

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Sports

Malden Girls Basketball Goes Up Against Lynn English

21

maldenblueandgold.com

Nathan Dean Lead Reporter

D

espite a tough loss for the Malden Girls Basketball team against the Lynn English Bulldogs on December 16th, it did not damage the spirits of the Malden team.

With a final score of 71-30, it was not a close game, but there were definitely positives to come out from the game.

“I feel like a lot of girls contributed to that game,” said Coach Scott Marino. He continued on to say that the “girls that normally wouldn’t play a lot of minutes, actually contributed a lot of minutes to the game.”

One player in particular, freshman Anna Elise Araujo, who would normally come off the bench started

this game and played in all four quarters. She scored a total of nine points which makes her the leading point scorer for the Golden Tornados.

This was because “we were short-staffed… one of our senior captains was [not in] school,” Marino stated. He further explained that “we had Kimbo who is a senior… still out with injury.” And “we have a starting point guard, Angie Colon, who is out with a concussion… We showed up with seven girls ready to play.”

Compared to the 12 players, all of which got at least some playing time, on the Lynn English side, the Tornados were at a disadvantage. On top of this, Lynn English seems to be in a great position this year standing at an undefeated two wins and zero

Junior Maritza Ramos-Perez passes the ball to senior Lissette Curran. Photo by Nathan Dean.

losses so far this season. “They have a couple college prospects on their team,” believes Marino.

Marino maintains high hopes for the season, “I think we can compete for the GBL title.” He explained that their loss against Medford in their first game of the season was disappointing, but did not affect the team’s hopes.

With Marino previously being the coach for the Boys Basketball team, he expressed that “girls basketball is actually going to be something to watch, and we’re better than the boys program.”

“This team is a good, good team… I have been coaching for 27 years so I can tell you that this girls basketball team is going to be a special team to watch,” stated Marino.

Senior Lissette Curran makes a layup against a Lynn English defender. Photo

by Nathan Dean.

Junior Maritza Ramos-Perez makes performs a layup before the game. Photo by Nathan Dean.

Girls Basketball Team Continues their Season Nathan Dean Lead Reporter

R

Senior Nevaeh Cherilus attempts a lay up against a Sommerville defender. Photo

by Nathan Dean.

ebounding after the losses of the first two games of the season, Malden High’s Girls Basketball team finally has a winning record.

After their win against Somerville on Thursday, the team has a record of six wins and five losses.

Due to COVID-19 and other factors, the team has played a lot of the season without a full roster. They only recently have been able to play with a full team which has definitely made the squad more competitive, according to Coach Scott Marino.

Among the team, there seems to be a common consensus that the offense is lacking. “The offense inconsistency has been the biggest Achilles Heel this year,” explained Marino. Senior Captain Yasmine Alayan admitted that “offensively I need to push myself more.”

This issue became really apparent in the team’s second game against Lynn English where they lost by nine and made a total of five out of 25 free throws. “When you lose by 9 points and miss 20 free throws, it’s not the defense that’s

hurting you, it’s the offense that’s hurting you,” noted Marino.

On the positive side, Alayan believes, “defensively we figured it off pretty quickly.” Coach Marino agreed, “They are competing very hard and playing a very, very good defense, and rebounding the ball really well.” “I think… I am doing well [defensively and] rebounding,” Alayan also added.

Overall the team has come a long way. “At first we used to get frustrated and try to do it all on our own,” explained Senior Captain Nevaeh Cherilus, “but now we’re working together and not being frustrated and just playing the game.”

“The team is getting stronger as the season progresses,” added Coach Marino.

The team’s goals remain unchanged, with winning the Greater Boston League (GBL) title being the ultimate goal and making it to the State Tournament as a close second.

As for the GBL title, it is still much in the air, but as for the State Tournament, the team only needs to win four out of their next ten games to advance to the state tournament.

Sports

22

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

maldenblueandgold.com

Indoor Track Team Fights For GBL Title Gabriel Fesehaie Lead Reporter

M

alden High continues to have a good season in indoor track, with victories for both boys and girls at Wednesday’s meet on January 19th at the Salemwood school against Lynn Classical. The Malden High Indoor Track team, currently 4-0-1, secured a decisive victory, with wins in most events held that night. Understandably, most are in good spirits concerning the team.

Starting the night off, there was the JV 600 meter race, won handily

by Malden. One of the runners in the race, junior Jonathan Brill, said that “the Lynn Classical squad is so

small, but they do have some good runners…so we just ran.”

Following the JV 600m were the short events, the hurdles and the 50 meter races. In the hurdles, Malden won in both events for both genders, with senior Jelani Garrett clocking a time of 7.8 seconds for the boys, and sophomore Shuyi Chen coming in at 9.6 seconds for the girls.

Throughout the 600m and the short events, the shot put and high jump were contested. For the high jump, Malden came out victorious, with a jump of 5’6” made by senior Gavin West for the boys, and a jump of 4’2” made by freshman Makenzie Jenkins for the girls. In the shot put, also won by Malden, seniors Aiden

Captain Marcos Ruiz and Runner Katrina Chang.

Thompson threw the farthest for the boys, and Yusra Tafraoui won the contest for the girls.

After this came the one mile runs, with Malden once again triumphing for both the boys and girls squads. For the boys, freshman Marc Naceus, running a time of 6:07, won the contest. For the girls, the honor went to senior Sara Dzaferagic, running a time of 6:24.

Next came the 300, the 600 and the 1000 meter races. Malden was victorious in all races on the girl’s side, but on the boy’s side, Lynn scored a victory in the 300 meters.

For the girls, the victorious were Jenkins, senior captain Leslie Rodriguez and senior Cynthia Nguyen, running times of 0:54, 2:15 and 4:10 in their respective categories. For the boys, the winners were junior Jose Guerrero-Mejia in the 600 meters, with a time of 1:47, and senior Nicholas Wong, with a time of 3:01 in the 1000 meters.

After that came the two mile races and the last event of the night, the 4x400 relay. Malden handily won both events, with senior Katrina Chang racking a time of 17:49 for the girls, and senior captain

Marcos Ruiz sporting a time of 11:17 for the boys. The 4x400 relay went swimmingly for the Maldonians, with our proud relay racers beating Lynn with times of 4:13 for the boys and 5:13 for the girls, exactly one minute apart.

After the meet, runners expressed mostly gratitude and resolve concerning their victory, as expressed in these comments from boys captain, Marcos Ruiz: “...I think we all perform really well. I think we [have just] got to get back into the routine of just running your race. Go be mentally prepared.” Coach Mark Ferrara, echoed a similar sentiment: “I think we did everything we could have done today. We had a lot of personal records today…I think [we performed] very adequately today.”

Adding on to that thought, junior Wilson Jiang stated that “I feel like our team everybody here gave their truest…Now that’s what I think makes us a winner, because I don’t [rely on] on model spirits, everybody here that’s a Maldonian, we put 110% out every meet, that’s what in our heart.” To use the words of Ferrara, Malden High’s Indoor Track team is making a comeback.

Check out the latest episode of The Blue and Gold: Podcast Edition, “Sexualization in Women’s Sports and Equality” by Managing Editor Karen Rivera on maldenblueandgold.com or Spotify.

Wrestling Team Determined for the New Season

Chaimaa Assli Head Copy Editor

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his season, Malden High School’s (MHS) wrestling team started off strong and they plan to stay like that for the whole season.

With a new meet every week the wrestlers have built on their success to reach their goals as individuals and as a team. They hope to improve more this season and make it to States.

This year the wrestling team is combined with students from Everett High School and Chelsea High School. Nicole Zeng, a junior at MHS, thinks it is nice to have dif-

ferent people from other cities because everyone has a lot of fun. She said, “there are drastically different personalities and it is just more fun with more people.”

Zeng feels positive about the future of this season and she believes that all the newcomers are doing good. There are only two girls on the team but she still feels positive that they will do well.

Zeng states that “people who are inexperienced at cutting weight should just worry about focusing on correctly doing their moves and working on their technique rather than cutting weight because it’s really hard to do.” For this season she

thinks that they should work on their conditioning more and focus on being tougher both physically and mentally because wrestling is a really hard sport and it is 90% mental.

One of the wrestling captains this season is Aidan Jordan. He said that they are a fairly new team so they are trying to build up slowly.

Despite being a new team, Jordan feels that they will do good. Moving forward, Jordan wants the team to go slowly, review things, learn more things and just keep on practicing.

So far the wrestling team has been doing really well and have been winning some of their matches

at the meets.

Covid has made it difficult for this wrestling season. Jordan said, “it is kind of harder with the masks because they make it harder to breathe… and during the meet, there were a lot of timeouts because the masks were being ripped off.”

He believes that it is one of the major difficulties.

Going forward Zeng thinks that they are going to do really well this season and she feels good about it. Jordan looks forward to doing well this season and thinks they will be fine in the future. He believes that the team will continue to get better.

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

Sports

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maldenblueandgold.com

Swim Team Goes Undefeated Hadjar Yousfi Lead Reporter

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fter plenty of hard work, Malden High’s swim team finished their 2021-2022 season undefeated.

Even though their season was interrupted due to the Omicron surge in January, the team felt they were able to accomplish many things and achieve their overall goals.

Being undefeated, they were incredibly proud of themselves. “This season has been way better than last year, but we still had a few hiccups here and there because some of our team members had gotten COVID,” sophomore swimmer Joyce Zhou explained.

Long-time swim coach and Malden High teacher Jessica Bisson felt that the season had been good, though it had been “a little crazy, with all the COVID.” With trying to keep everyone safe, making sure they had sites for end-of-season meets, and having enough swim-

mers, it was not an easy season.

Halfway through the season, they had to return to virtual meets, similarly to last year. “I wish all the meets had been in person with the other teams as those were fun,” sophomore Joao Victor Santos expressed. Zhou agreed, adding that “it made it less exciting for all of [them].”

Bisson mentioned that she could definitely feel a different level of enthusiasm when meets went remote, compared to when they were having in-person meets. “I think the swimmers do really well when they are swimming against another team, rather than just being at our own pool, and then seeing how we did later.”

Despite those slight setbacks, the team was able to cheer for one another from the sidelines. This certainly boosted the mood as last year, they could only clap.

Senior captain Tony Giech described the season as “a bit dif-

ferent to what [he has] seen in the past years.” He had no idea what to expect because of how different life has been since the pandemic first started. However, he still felt that it has “been really amazing to see [their] team come together.”

Bisson felt improvement all around her as she coached the swimmers throughout this season. “We have a lot of new swimmers, and it is always good to see the improvement every year,” she said.

Throughout the season, the team bonded during meets and outside of practices. Santos expressed that he had “built great friendships throughout the season.” Bisson also explained that against all odds, with everything going on she was happy to see that they’ve still been able to “become a close-knit team.”

With lots of hard work, the swim team was proud to take home the title of GBL champions. This left a great feeling in the teams’ hearts, as the graduating seniors were able

to finish their last swim season with Malden High on a good note.

Giech felt a lot of gratitude and pride in the team, “it has just been really amazing to see our team come together, and really work hard to win the GBL Championship.”

As the season is coming to an end, the swimmers reflected on the season, while also having high hopes for the next one. Though Giech is graduating, he hopes that “they continue to improve, make new friends, make new connections, because that is what swimming has done for [him.]”

Zhou is excited to see new members on the team and see just how much they grow. She also cannot wait to start “racing against other schools again.” Bisson is ready to welcome new swimmers next year, and cannot wait to meet them, and hopefully grow the family that is the Malden High School swim team.

Gymnastics Springs into a New Season Kaoutar Wakaf Head of Sports

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alden High’s Gymnastics team has begun its 2021-2022 season. Gymnasts, both new and returning, are all excited for this season.

Senior Nathan Weng, who first joined the team in his freshman year, said that “it feels great to be back, gymnastics is a sport I’ve always looked forward to after school.”

Weng also believes that as the season progresses, there will be more and more growth in the gymnasts’ performance.

He added that, “my goals are to be better than my previous years as well as make the most of my senior year in high school and last year of high school gymnastics.”

However, one thing that worries Weng is the threat of COVID since there has been a spike in COVID cases recently, and having to go through lockdown again.

Overall, the team is committed to doing their best and Weng’s “goals are to be better than my previous years as well as make the most of my senior year in high school and last year of high school gymnastics.”

Senior Nathan Weng swinging on the bar. Photo by Kaoutar Wakaf.

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Sports

The Blue and Gold January/February 2022

maldenblueandgold.com

GBL Girls Soccer All-Stars Karen Rivera Managing Editor

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s the winter sports season begins to close, it is time to highlight the athletes that stood out during the fall. Seniors Sara Dzaferagic and Olivia Donahue were selected as the 2021 GBL champions for their performance in the fall girls varsity soccer season.

The GBL All Stars are the conference’s top athletic performers that are voted on and chosen by all coaches within the same conference.

GBL coaches meet at the end of the season where they discuss which players stood out to them throughout the season. The first-place team is allotted three all-star selections and the last place team gets one. The schools in the middle get two.

Girls varsity soccer coach, Enrique Caceda stated that it takes “hard work at every practice and at every game to be selected as a GBL champ.”

“It takes so much hard work that [it is] noticed by the other GBL coaches and players,” Caceda added.

Caceda pointed out that both

athletes came from “very different soccer backgrounds.”

“Sara has played pretty much her whole life and played at a very high-level outside of her high school team. Olivia on the other hand was more of a recreational player when she got to high school…Before her sophomore season, she switched to the very important and challenging position of goalkeeper. By senior year, they were both selected team captains.”

Dzaferagic expressed her gratitude after being selected as a GBL champ. “Getting awarded for anything feels nice, but knowing how hard I worked and how much effort I put in, [it] is nice to get recognized for my work and my performance.”

Dzaferagic’s senior season was her biggest challenge because it was a “year of pressure and important decisions to be made” but she feels as though she “finished her high school career with a really strong senior year.”

She was also awarded team MVP and commented that her biggest takeaways would be from the challenges she faced, “learning how to lead a team in adversity and be

an example and show up and work hard and with a better attitude.”

It “means the world to me to be chosen as a GBL all-star this year” Donahue said.

“I have always tried to perform to the best of my ability, I always want to improve and be a better player not only for myself but for my team. It’s an amazing feeling to know that my hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed,” she added.

Donahue started playing soccer her freshman year as a forward, but decided to try out a different position her sophomore year when the varsity team was looking for a new goalie. Since then, Donahue has been the team’s starting varsity goalkeeper.

Caceda expressed similar emotions, “it means everything to me, and it makes me very proud. To see these two young ladies work hard every season for four years and have it acknowledged by the GBL is great!”

On the field, Caceda stated that what set them apart from other athletes on the team was their “nevergive-up attitude and work ethic.”

“In Sara’s case…it wouldn’t

Girls Soccer All-Stars Olivia Donahue and Sara Dzaferagic. Photo submitted

by Donahue. matter if we were winning or losing, she never ever quit. Olivia just had the mentality that she wanted to get better at a new position…by senior year with the help of coach Belfer and her hard work she became an all-star goalie” said Caceda.

As the girls close this chapter on their high school soccer career, both Dzaferagic and Donahue describe the feeling as bittersweet.

Dzaferagic expressed that as of right now “nothing is set in stone” as she decides whether or not she will continue to play soccer in college.

“It all depends on if I find the right team, and the right fit…It’s been a good four years, and I’ve gotten to that stage that I’m ready to move on.”

As for Donahue, she has committed to Dean College Women’s Soccer for the fall 2022 season and is “so excited to be joining them for practices this summer!” In the meantime, she plans on training extra hard during her off-season.

“It is definitely sad to be closing a chapter on my high school soccer career, but I am very excited to be starting new chapters in the near future!” Donahue concluded.

Both seniors were key athletes in bringing their team to success, and have helped create a program that will continue to grow in the years to come.

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Collage by Courtney Fitzgerald.

Malden Malden High High School School Volume Volume 107 105 Edition Edition 44 February 2020