Graduation 2012

The girls softball team lead by Emily Hoffman, catching, and Kiara Amos pitching, won the GBL championship, and are looking forward to the State Tournament.

The Blue and Gold maldenblueandgold.com

Malden High School Volume 97 Edition 8

Our 97th Year Graduation 2012

Congratulations Class of 2012

MHS seniors gathering together for the night of prom. Collage by Paige Yurek. More photos of prom on pages 20 and 21. Also, install “Layar” app on your web enabled phone. Then search for the layer “Graduation 2012.” Launch the layer and hold your phone over any photos with the layer icon on pictured above.

Dan Holmqvist

E

veryone knows Dan Holmqvist.

The varsity soccer player, who was voted Best All-Around and Beauty and Brains. A crucial member to The Blue and Gold, Forensics Team, and National Honor Society.

Most importantly, he is the valedictorian for the Malden High School’s class of 2012.

Holmqvist was born in Sweden, but at the young age of two, his parents and older sister, An, made the move to Wellesley, MA. The family spent some time in Wellesley, but he remembers that he went from preschool through to grade 12 in the Malden Public School System.

Throughout his four years at

MHS, Holmqvist has been involved in many activities, one being The Blue and Gold. Holmqvist was a part of The Blue and Gold for four years. Starting off as a reporter, Holmqvist strived to gain a higher rank his sophomore year. During his second year on the newspaper staff, Holmqvist landed a position as Copy Editor, and then Head of World News. Holmqvist eventually became Co-Editor-inChief his senior year. After spending four years on the newspaper staff, Journalism became his favorite class. Coincidentally, the advisor, Ryan Gallagher, became his favorite teacher.

In addition to securing a spot on the newspaper staff all four years, Holmqvist was co-captain of the soccer team and Vice-President of the Forensics Team during that same time.

In the spring of 2010, Holmqvist was one of seven sophomores to get inducted into the MHS National Honor Society. As a member of NHS, one is expected to conduct a service project which inspires and serves the community. This year Holmqvist along with counterpart fellow senior and best friend Omar Khoshafa went to the Newland St. YMCA on a weekly basis to serve as mentors to the kids who go to the YMCA regularly. Holmqvist started continued on page 6

Senior Karina Hong posing after the Senior Fashion Show.

Read more on page 22.

Eddie Lee

D

rum Major, swim team captain, National Honor Society Treasurer, and salutatorian, Eddie Lee, has accomplished many things during his four years at Malden High

School. In addition to his extensive extra curricular presence at MHS, through dedication, hard work, and perseverance, he is finishing off this high school career with an impressive 4.06 GPA. For those still making their journey through high school, he has offered some advice: “Make your high school years fulfilling and rewarding so that when years pass and you look back at [those] years, you can be proud of what you did and brought to the Malden High School community.” For underclassmen, he encourages joining sports, clubs, and organizations that you love, like he has. Lee has found his niche within many groups at MHS, two in particular would be the swim team and the concert/marching band.

Lee found his passion for swimming at age seven. After nearly ten years of competitive experience, continued on page 6

OPINION 2-4 TOP 10 PROFILES 6-10 LOCAL NEWS 11-25 SPORTS 27-39

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Editorials

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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Malden High School

The Blue and Gold 77 Salem St. Malden, MA 02148

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Dan Holmqvist Omar Khoshafa Brittany McFeeley Paige Yurek Joel Stevenson Cristina Peters HEAD LOCAL NEWS WRITER Print: Lauren Benoit Online: Catherine Poirier HEAD WORLD NEWS WRITER Megan Kelly HEAD ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Rebecca Broomstein HEAD SPORTS WRITER Print: Sharon Lee Online: Joshua Kummins HEAD OF BUSINESS Lesley Ta HEADS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Kayla Bramante Natalie Fallano HEAD OF SURVEYS Johanna Lai VIDEO EDITOR Timothee Pierre COPY EDITORS Amalia Quesada Nylen Jacob Martino Amanda Rosatone Kristen Leonard Vicki Ngan REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS Haley Dowdie Jason Drapinski Amanda Moraes Sumya Mohiuddin Casey Lyons Grace Stathos Jessica Lynn DePaula P.J. Montezuma Alan Shooteech Kerry Ngan Ariana Langston ADVISOR Ryan Gallagher Established in 1915 Check out our online edition: maldenblueandgold.com

EARNING SUCH A HIGH GPA is no small feat.

After reading the top ten profiles from the senior class, it is clear to me that each of these students would still make a top ten list based on any number of criteria, whether it be involvement in sports and clubs, leadership, community service, or character.

This competition for the highest GPA and to move up higher than the kid sitting next to you starts at the beginning of your high school career, but the rank is not revealed until the college application process begins.

As we all learn freshman year, our GPA, or grade point average, is determined and calculated by the grades a student receives in her classes. Higher GPAs normally go to the students who are enrolled in Honors or Advanced Placement classes, because those classes have more value on the GPA scale than the College Prep classes.

Is this fair though?

One indicator of your high school career that is heavily weighted and ranked ends up determining a large part of your admission into the college of your dreams. In fact, one could argue that GPA is the biggest part of what defines you as a student.

On the MHS website, the mission statement mentions that the goal of Malden High is to insure that a student grows academically, personally, and civically. But, the GPA is a representation of only one of these: academic growth. Shouldn’t a ranking system also take into account personal growth and civic responsibility?

How could the school even determine the value of these qualities that make up a well-rounded student?

What about all the rest of the items on your resume? What about holding a job for three years?

What about volunteering at your local church or at a homeless shelter? What about the students going off to serve our country? What about being the president of a club or a class? What about being the captain of your team? What about having to help take care of your family financially and emotionally? What about running a newspaper? Should these things count as much as your grades in school?

The ranking system causes a great deal of competition among MHS students, and it goes without saying that this competitive attitude is present in hundreds of other high schools. Sometimes, a great deal competition is healthy for a student -- it can

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.

The Blue and Gold c/o Malden High School 77 Salem Street Malden, MA 02148

sometimes motivate and inspire a student to perform well in her classes so she can raise her GPA. However, from personal experience, the number a student receives from her guidance counselor can also cause a lot of discouragement. Hearing “the rank,” despite how high or low it is, can really be detrimental to a student’s work ethic. She could feel discouraged and feel as if she is not smart enough or good enough when compared to her friends and classmates.

A student’s GPA could actually discourage her from taking a challenging course, even though she is interested in a certain subject; she may take classes that she perceives as easier because that is what she believes she is capable of doing, according to her GPA, or even to just avoid lowering her GPA. Shouldn’t students be pushed to “develop personal interests and goals within a course of study,” according to the MHS 21st Century Learning Expectations?

If we are going to continue to rank student achievement, we also need to remember that these ranks do not evaluate what a student does outside of the classroom.

As I learned in my AP Psychology class this year, there are multiple types of intelligences. What about the students who are musically apt and have strong Musical Intelligence? Perhaps they have mastered the acoustic guitar, however, they struggle with some of their academic school work. Or what about a student who can easily read other people’s emotions, and has a high level of Interpersonal Intelligence? There are also some people in the school who are defined leaders, a skill that not many people have. My point is simple: someone can be intelligent without having outstanding academic grades to support it. Some may even argue that some of these other intelligences, like creativity, personal, and leadership, are essential for success in college and the work force.

Again, not to take away from the success of the students in the top ten; there is no doubt in my mind that all these students would still be ranked in the top ten regardless of what criteria is used to rank them.

Their success and achievement is not to be disregarded.

But our ranking system could be better, and it could evaluate a student’s achievement inside and outside the classroom. The most productive and ethical way of making the system more accurate, until we come up with a better one, is to abolish class rank entirely.

Brittany McFeeley Editor-in-Chief

Install “Layar” app on your web enabled phone.

Then search for the layer “Graduation 2012.”

Launch the layer and hold your phone over any photos with the layer icon on pictured above.

Corrections: Page 2: Junior Crystal Araiza’s last name is spelled incorrectly Page 2: Junior Amalia Quesada Nylen name is spelled incorrectly Page. 4: Freshman Samantha French and Jessica D’Esposito names’ are not mentioned in photo caption Page 19: The headline should say wear not where Page 20: Junior Rodney Morton’s name is spelled incorrectly

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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Opinion maldenblueandgold.com

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Joel Stevenson

...And The Places You’ll Have Been

Editor-in-chief

I

n the voyage of life, there are sometimes rough seas that make us want to look up to the skies and shout at the top of our lungs as the rain pours upon our heads. There will be times when absolutely nothing goes right. There will be times where it seems as if the world is against you. There will be times when you would like nothing more than to give up. However difficult times will be, no matter what obstacles come hurtling your way, never give up.

Throughout my four years of high school there have been times where I felt as if I was carrying the world on my shoulders. School all day, extra help after school, sports, homework, sleep-if-you-are-lucky, then repeat for five days. Saturday, you get up early for work, and Sunday you get to sleep in late every now and then when there is not a walk or other community service event to attend. I feel I can speak for the majority of students when I say that high school is a tough career in itself.

Looking back to the first few days when we arrived to this seemingly foreign school as young freshmen with folklores of “Freshman Fridays” and the “monsters of the fifth floor” lurking in our minds. As scared as we were of being considered outcasts, we made it. From the

first few weeks when we carried our lockers in our backpacks because we could never manage to go to them between class because we were always getting lost, to avoiding upperclassmen because we knew that getting to close enabled them to smell the fear that poured off of us.

Sophomore year filled us with reassurance as we were no longer the freshmen. A year where we aimlessly took part in the teasing of the freshmen, which we hated when we were in their shoes, a year where the people we met every day of freshman year were no longer just classmates, but friends who would soon become those we hung out with throughout our career at highschool. Sophomore year will forever be known as the year where besides our grades, the only worries we faced were passing our final year of MCAS. No longer timid of strangers talking to us, we walked down the hallways with our heads held high as juniors. The year in which we transition from a mere school experience of day to day classes to the big picture, the end. Junior year we learned about a test that haunted us for a long time, a test that would ‘determine our intelligence,’ how worthy we were for college. That year, we started to take the SATs. Prep sessions on the weekend, dur-

ing the week, as well as individual studies. Once our reports came back, we traded scores as if they were trading cards. Score highs included 1600, 1700, even 2100, some were and some were not happy with their scores; retakes and SAT IIs were almost all going to be taken.

In addition to the impending doom that reflected itself in our test scores, we had Junior Varieties to work on. Countless hours of audition, phone calls made to businesses, and rehearsal for two great nights. By the end of junior year all we could think of was fundraising for prom and applying for college.

Senior year, or what I like to call, the Amazing Race, was a time where we all were given a packet of senior duties that needed to be completed in the fall months. On top of the AP classes we desperately took to boost our GPAs last minute, to the sports and clubs we joined, we frantically worked to get everything done on time. There was the stretch of time that seemed to last forever in which we waited in paranoia to hear back from colleges and other means of careers, until we were relieved as we picked one and were all set with going to school or picking a career path after MHS. From there, we had no time to relax as we seeked for prom dates, scheduled fittings for dresses and tuxes, and figured out

transportation.

It would be an understatement to say these past fours years have been eventful. And at that, we made it. As stated by Dr. Seuss himself, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” We entered the tunnel, we have climbed, we have struggled, and how we are able to see the light at the end. And I am proud to say that we, the senior class of 2012, are officially finished with the year.

In the wise words of Suess, “... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray, or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, You are off to Great Places, today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”

No matter which road we travel down from this point, whether it be college, into the workforce, City Year, into the armed service, or wherever we may go, we should congratulate ourselves. We are now our own people, we now decide which direction we go, how we live, and what we do. This is an amazing transition in our lives. However, it saddens me so to say that from this moment on, we are traveling, not as the class, but as individuals. I am proud of all of you. You all have made an impact on my life and will dearly be missed. I wish all of you success and good fortune in the future.

The Blue and Gold says goodbye and good luck to seniors. From top left counter clockwise Brittany McFeeley, Omar Khoshafa, Dan Holmqvist, Joel Stevenson, Paige Yurek, and Cristina Peters. Photos taken from Facebooks of the Blue and Gold Staff.

Opinion

4

There’s a

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

maldenblueandgold.com

Song for that

Hints and tips to Underclassmen inspired by a few of Taylor Swift’s lyrics

Taylor Swift Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Collage by Paige Yurek.

Editor-in-chief

S

uccess, happiness, inspiration, learning to be independent, learning about where it is you belong, young love, heartbreak, and the beginning of a new chapter of your life. High school may not be an easy, breezy musical with predictable characters like it is in the movies, but Taylor Swift can help you get through the journey, because as an underclassman, “you’re fifteen, feeling like there’s nothing to figure out. Well, count to ten, take it in, this is life before you know who you’re gonna be.”

Throughout high school, the routine is usually the same: you reluctantly get out of bed early in the morning, drag yourself to homeroom and at Malden High School, you look at “the list” to see if you have a study. You have six classes— there is your favorite class, and the class you could do without.

In and out of class, you interact with dozens of classmates and faculty a day including but not limited to: your best friends who, when you discover the real ones and distinguish them from the backstabbers, users, and liars, understand you more than anyone, give you a shoulder to lean on, speak in a British accent in Forever 21 for hours with you, and with whom you could spend hours laughing about absolutely nothing. There is that beautiful, seemingly flawless guy (or girl) for whom you actually

want to go to school in the morning, and will make your day complete just by making an appearance in it.

Most importantly, however, and as corny as it sounds, some of the most meaningful and valuable friends you will make in school and in life will be your teachers and principals.

Throughout the year, we see them every day and they see us at our best and at our worst, emotionally, physically, and scholastically.

A good and easy-to-follow tip is to just stay on their good side, but be straight up and be honest. There is no point in giving them attitude, disrespecting them, and disobeying their rules. As long as they respect you, (and from my experience with teachers so far, they probably will), you have to reciprocate this respect.

The high school staff are the ones who will guide you, instill knowledge upon you, and write recommendations for you when the time comes. You will come to be thankful to these people who allowed you to stay in their room for several periods a day, gave you recommendations that got you accepted into college or a job, and helped you to find yourself.

When it comes to grades: do not slack off—ever. Life in and out of school will seem hard during these years, and you have to push yourself. It is all in a matter of learning to believe in oneself, especially when quitting seems like the easier way out. All the work will allow you to earn benefits. Think about it: which students earn the rights to internships, “senior privileges,” field

trips and recommendations? When you get out into the real world, do you think your boss is going to promote you if you slack off at work?

Think again. You will hear it time and time again from teachers and peers alike, but in addition to avoiding procrastination as much as possible, challenge yourself, and do not be afraid to inch out of your comfort zone. I wish I took more classes, or started with honors in my freshman year, or procrastinated less.

“In your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy of the football team, but I didn’t know it at fifteen...”

As for friends: middle school friends are most likely not going to be the same as the ones you make in high school, but do not freak out.

Everything will work out for the best. You will come across some nasty people in your lifetime, but I once again find myself relating to a Taylor Swift moment, “when all you wanted was to be wanted, you wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now.” You may still be lucky enough to keep some of the old middle school buddies. I still keep in touch with a few myself. Although friendship grows with time, when it all comes down, it is not how long you have known someone, but how much you care for each other that is most important, because you could know someone for ten years and find out they

betray you when you need them the most, and on the flipside you could know someone for less than four and end up being nearly as close as sisters, (or brothers). One of my best friends from junior high (who was a soccer captain, and very involved in her class spirit,) is still one of my dearest girlfriends.

One of the most important characteristics to have: keeping it real. Stay pure, stay innocent, be yourself, be strong. High School is just the start of where you begin discover yourself. Do not change yourself if it does not feel right. If you have a problem, confront it respectfully and maturely, or keep it to yourself. Granted, everyone will make mistakes, but never give up.

Just keep trying to be the best that you can be.

Lastly, do not worry if you do not know where you see yourself in the future. As for me, I am right now seeking to further my education, majoring in journalism-something I only found a passion for around junior year or so. However, nobody truly knows where her future will take her; we just have to enjoy the journey.

“I find time can heal most anything, and you might just find who you’re supposed to be, I didn’t know who I was supposed to be, at fifteen.”

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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Opinion maldenblueandgold.com

Congratulations Class of 2012! from Jenkins House

~Mrs. Klibansky, Jenkins House Principal Mrs. O`Connor, Jenkins House Guidance Counsler Mrs.Marquado, Secretary

Congratulations

and good luck in all your future endeavors!

~Your House Principals

Congratulations to the Class of 2012 and the best student paper in the state!

- Dana F. Brown, Principal of Malden High School.

Congratulations

and good luck Class of 2012!

-From your Guidance Counselors

6

Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Dan Holmqvist

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

Eddie Lee continued from page 1

continued from page 1 mentoring at Newland St. during the winter of his sophomore year. Assistant Sports Director Barbara Scibelli introduced Holmqvist to Katherine MacMullin, who works at Newland St. Since then, Holmqvist goes there and helps the kids with homework, or just to hang around and play a game of ping pong. Even though he will be going off to college, he hopes to continue on visiting Newland St. during breaks and vacations.

During this year’s NHS induction, Holmqvist was nominated to receive the award for honoring Scholarship. At the induction, he made a speech on the topic. Despite his high grade point average, he did not anticipate the receiving of the award.

Holmqvist has taken many rigorous classes while at MHS. In total, he took eight AP classes total through his high school career.

They include, United States History, Physics B, World History, English Composition, Chemistry, Stats, and Computer Science A and Calculus BC. In the midst of all these AP classes, he feels that the most challenging class was Calculus BC with math team leader Nicholas Lippman during his junior year.

Unlike the majority of the MHS senior population, Holmqvist did not go to prom. Instead, he is planning on saving that money that would have been spent, in order to embark on a summer trip that he will always remember. This summer, Holmqvist plans to travel around Europe along with Khoshafa. The dynamic duo is planning to backpack all around the continent using the all helpful Eurail Pass to get around to their destinations.

Carrying everything they need on their backs, they will stop to sight see famous landmarks, and plan on sleeping in hostels, and maybe even on some beaches.

This fall, Holmqvist is planning on attending Harvard University. His decision to attend Harvard was not an easy one. Many factors were involved. Holmqvist also got

accepted to Oxford’s St. Hilda’s College, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Tufts University. After going from one campus visit after the other, he finally decided on Harvard. He said that “Harvard gave [him] the best financial aid package, and it gives [him] access to a lot of world class professors, guest speakers, etc.”

Holmqvist will enroll this fall under an “undecided major.” He is unsure of what to major in, however, he is leaning more towards the sciences.

When one enrolls into one of the most prestigious colleges in the nation, the nerves are expected to be on edge. But when asked about how he feels about going to college in just about three short months, Holmqvist kept his cool and simply stated that he is not nervous yet. He is more focused on wrapping up his senior year, rather than trying to imagine what college will be like.

In addition to the financial aid package, another bonus of going to Harvard is that Khoshafa will be attending with him. “I am pretty excited, even though my parents told me I have to spend time with people other than [Khoshafa],” Holmqvist laughed.

As his high school career is coming to a close, Holmqvist recalls many great memories. But the one he will most cherish most, will be scoring his first and only goal during his senior year as a centerback. He has not done that in all of the four years on the varsity team, which is a good way to end his final season playing soccer.

Holmqvist may be leaving MHS this year, but he has some advice for the younger classes on how to succeed. For freshmen, he would recommend to take advantage of every resource MHS has to offer.

They should join clubs, do well in their classes, and make new friends.

It is almost time for the class for 2013 to take over, and he will leave them with this advice, “apply to many different schools even if they think they do not have a chance of getting in.”

his senior year he was named head captain of the MHS swim team. Lee’s contribution to the team goes far beyond the title of captain; he has been a motivator, a friend, and a source of guidance for all of the members of the team, who will miss him dearly.

Over his four years on the team he has accumulated many wins and memorable races. However, the discovery of his true passion, breaststroke, may have come too late in his high school career. Lee was just shy of qualifying for the Massachusetts North Sectional meet. If there was one thing he could change about the last four years, he said he “would probably swim harder to make sectionals,” adding that if he “had just [swam] a bit more or had more time, [he] definitely could have made it.”

Through swimming, Lee has created numerous irreplaceable friendships and memories, that in combination with the “adrenaline you get from racing others” are why he loves the sport so much. Some of his favorite memories were the “swim meets and the post-meet meetings with the coaches...It really brought out the camaraderie and inner competitiveness” among all of the team mates.

From the day he picked up the flute in fourth grade, band has made an enormous impact on Lee’s life.

Over the years, Lee has continued his love by participating in both the MHS concert and marching band, and on numerous occasions helping lead those groups to victory. In 2010, Lee was a part of the marching band show that won first place at the New England Scholastic Band Association Finals, one of his favorite high school memories. Lee commented that “it was the most unexpected thing ever, especially since [the band] came in 3rd place in the two years before.” In the most recent season Lee earned the title of drum major, conducting the band to win second place at NESBA finals. Lee feels marching and concert band has taught him to be disciplined and have a greater appreciation for music.

While these programs have influenced Lee, many would say he has influenced them just as equally.

Swim team and band member, junior Jonathan Drapinski said “Lee is the kind of person you strive to be. Not only is he a great leader, helping lead us to victory in the marching band session and swim session, but he is just an all around great guy. Being one of the nicest people I know, [Lee] encouraged everyone, and I think [it is] safe to say that [it is] going to be hard to find a drum major as well rounded as [him].” Similarly, band member and swim team co-captain, junior Caitlin Cala said that he is dedicated to everything he does, and is an incredibly hard worker. AP Chemistry teacher Doctor Diane Perito was Lee’s favorite teacher and taught his favorite class. Perito said Lee is very “confident” and “likeable,” and “although he appears quiet, his sense of humor shines through with his subtle jokes and his quirky smile.”

Another testimony to his hard work, Perito added that “he is a very serious student, always striving to learn and reach his personal best,” while somehow “managing to be a step ahead: in class. In ten years Perito sees Lee as “a very successful young man who has completed his education (probably Ph.D or M.D.), ready to conquer the world.”

At the top of the class of 2012, Lee’s activeness and intelligence has earned him a spot at Brown University in the fall. Lee’s college decision was brought down to two options, Brown and Cornell University, two Ivy League schools with highly selective admissions processes. While he was torn for some time, his decision was made during a two day pre-frosh program at Brown; it “was just so full of energy, excitement, and diversity. That pretty much sealed the deal!” said Lee. “[I am] totally excited at the idea of meeting many new people who have had many different experiences in their lives, especially different from mine. [I am] also excited to find what I want to do for the rest of my life,” added Lee. As for his further future goals, Lee is taking it one step at a time. Instead of planning out his future step by step, his top priority now is “just to figure what [he wants] to major in,” after he arrives at Brown.

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Kevin Chan

Michael Lee R

M

ichael Lee, ranked as third in Malden High School’s 2012 senior class is not just one of the top honor students out of a class of around 400, but a sudoku champ, an amazing mathematician, aspiring cook, a great friend, promising scientist, and most of all, an excellent example of success at MHS. Lee, who arrived at MHS in 2008 for his first year of high school, like most freshmen, looked at the gray and massive buildings that make up the MHS campus and thought the school was “intimidating,” a place that he was sure to “get lost in.” However, when he navigated his way to a quiet place for his interview, he seemed to have mastered his internal map of the school.

As we began the interview, he shared that the end of senior year “feels bittersweet, I enjoy[ed] my classes and made some really good friends and got close to a few of my teachers.”

For Lee, starting at MHS “was like solving a puzzle game, setting a challenge” for himself as he worked on his school work while also maintaining strong friendships.

One friendship that has lasted not only through high school but also from the Bebee middle school is the one Lee shares with Christopher Li, a fellow senior who knows that his friend will keep in touch while he begins a successful life with studying computer science at Brown University.

Moving away from the topic of MHS, Lee begins to share his true passions: math, computer programming, and video games. Li shares that Lee is “almost an expert with games, it seems that when we play a game together he already knows what to do.” For Lee, video games are not only a way to relax, but also a way to put into practice mathematical skills that he has learned from his years at MHS. “Video games aren’t

given enough credit,” Lee begins, “Games use algebra to measure their damage scale, when you find out the scales you can apply it to how you play the game.” Lee’s interest also spread out into the realm of the culinary arts. He enjoys watching the food network, “though not as much as before,” due to the cancellation of two of his favorite shows, Good Eats and Food Detectives. He carries his love of food from the television to the the family kitchen, where on some occasions he cooks for his family.

But Lee does not just have all math on the brain, he has also had considerable success in his Italian classes where he was “always eager to start something, and following through with his tasks,” as described

by MHS Italian teacher Teresa Murano. Even while working on several AP classes, Lee has always “only accepted the best grade,” shared Murano, never letting one class take priority over another. Murano, having taught Lee for three out of his four years at MHS, has seen considerable growth in Lee. “The first time that I met [Lee], [he] didn’t talk much, but by the time he was in AP he had become quite vocal,” she confesses.

Looking back at the change in Lee’s and hers teacher-student relationship Murano laughs, “I can always get a laugh out of him now.” Like Li, Murano sees a very successful future for Lee, “I see him in Cambridge or Palo Alto, doing something with a computer.”

For Lee, his years at MHS have “definitely zipped by” and from his time here Lee has discovered wisdom that can give success to current and future underclassmen. From his experience at MHS, his advice to students is that “life rewards you for doing things that you like... be honest to yourself, don’t do something just for college, do something that you really like.”

anked fourth in the class of 2012’s Top Ten, Kevin Chan is graduating Malden High School with a grade point average of 4.04.

Chan has maintained a spot in the top three of his class since freshman year, and only recently moved to fourth. His sudden move was, in fact, intentional; for, in his own words, he was not interested in giving a speech. Every year, the top three students of the graduating class is expected to write and present a speech at graduation. Chan prefered not to, so he allowed himself a bit of wiggle room this year in order to push back his class rank.

Chan is an exceptionally focused student who spends the majority of his time and effort on his school work. Taking a total of eight advanced placement classes in the course of four years, much focus was needed. In tenth grade, Chan took on his first AP, US History. His junior year, he took AP Language & Composition, AP Calculus BC, and AP World History. This past school year, Chan took the AP Physics and AP Chemistry classes, and decided that he would take the AP Spanish and AP literature exams along with his others. Chan was able to score a five on every exam with the exception of calculus BC. As you can imagine, Chan spends a great deal of time on his homework, and still manages to take part in extra curricular activities. Chan is a part of MHS’ school band, which has been a part of his life since grade school, as well a colorguard. Anyone who is involved in the school band can agree that the intense program can be very timeconsuming.

In addition to band and colorguard, Chan ran cross country in the fall and both seasons of track every year of his high school career. He has proved himself to be a truly beneficial member of MHS’ track team.

“Kevin is really helpful because he remembers how things are supposed to be done,” says coach David Londino. Chan is a reliable member of the team and is notorious for helping develop the freshmen members into better runners, thanks to his impeccable attention to detail.

Londino grew very

fond of Chan’s help throughout their 12 seasons working together, and describes him as “practically another coach.”

Chan accepted two All Scholastics awards for indoor and outdoor track at the Athletics Awards Night held on May 30, 2012, making this his third year consecutively winning it.

It’s remarkable that one student can balance so much and maintain such a high academic rank. Family matters factor into the motivation that keeps Chan going. For one, he looks to his mother for inspiration.

She has worked extraordinarily hard her entire life to get to where she is and works even harder to make sure that her children are taken care of.

“Her one hope in life is that I work just as hard and get through college,” explains Chan.

Chan can admit that his high school schedule was not easy. “No, of course, it was tough,” he exclaims.

To him, the amount of work and activities were reasonable. Chan states, “I didn’t bite off more than I could chew. I definitely could have done more.”

He also explained that watching television and playing video games can in fact improve your grades.

Your brain needs downtime in order to rejuvenate itself so it can obtain and process more information later.

Also, he suggests that if you are going to pull an all-nighter, do not bother with a power nap. There’s nothing “powerful” about sleeping through an alarm.

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Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Tommy Tran

Omar Khoshafa N

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The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

hen asked to describe Omar Khoshafa, most people agree that he is one of the most “honest” and “humble” people who has ever set foot in Malden High School.

His sense of humor, determination, and authenticity set Khoshafa apart from the rest.

Khoshafa has done many things at MHS, including playing soccer and tennis, participating on the debate team, and serving as a The Blue And Gold Online EditorIn-Chief and National Honor Society Vice President. He has excelled academically in every subject, but does not have a favorite. English teacher Beverly Nyman expressed that “what comes easy to him is a chore to others.” Nyman credits Khoshafa, believing “he has a wisdom beyond a high school curriculum.” This year Khoshafa won a $10,000 scholarship from Nordstrom which was presented in his English class. Nyman recalls she could not believe it when he “apologized for disrupting the class.”

Khoshafa credits his teachers for his academic success. He “holds the utmost respect for teachers.” He connected them with an old Arabic saying: “whoever has taught me one letter, I have become his slave” and explained “it means that those who pass on knowledge are of the highest honor.” His teachers have nothing but compliments for Khoshafa, except physics teacher Brian Morrison who believes Khoshafa’s only fault are his “gross sandwiches.”

If you have never encountered an “Omar sandwich,” be warned of viewing “every possible sandwich condiment” between two slices of bread.

One of Khoshafa’s multiple strengths is his knack for public speaking. Good friend and AP Government peer junior Lisa DeLacey calls this ability “natural.” The reason for this is “ his genuine concern for whatever topic is being discussed” explained debate team mate junior Prince Mukula. He will soon fulfill this talent next fall when he attends Harvard University as a government major.

Khoshafa has experienced it all, from interning with Mayor Gary Christenson to dinner with Morgan Freeman. Like many seniors, Khoshafa decided to spend his fourth quarter of high school, outside of the classroom. For his senior internship he served as a “constituent service representative” to Christenson, and calls the experience “extremely enlightening.” He met Freeman “when [he] went for an interview for a Coca-Cola scholarship,” at which he won $10,000.

He has also given back to the community during his time at MHS. Sophomore year, Khoshafa and best friend Dan Holmqvist established a mentor program at the Newland street YMCA wanting “to be positive role models for kids in the community.” He has continued this as his NHS project for the last 3 years.

Khoshafa’s parents are from Yemen, which he lived in for 2 years during his childhood. Khoshafa explained Yemen as ‘”the poorest country in the Middle East” with a culture that “is very conservative and the people are very amiable.”

He visits his family every other year and considers them his “ number one priority.”

Before starting a new chapter in his life at Harvard, Khoshafa plans “to relax this summer” by “going to explore the European continent with [his] best friend, [Holmqvist],” who commented that this will include “going to the beach, visiting museums, and hopefully some Olympic events.”

His friends and teachers all believe Khoshafa will be successful.

Nyman guesses that Omar will be a “candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize or Advisor to the president” while DeLacey firmly believes Khoshafa will be “ saving the world.” However, wherever Khoshafa goes in life he believes his defining characteristic “would be that my religion, more than anything or anyone, has shaped who I am and how I think.

Everything I have done has been because of the will of God, and I feel like that’s an important part of my story.”

on-conformist senior Tommy Tran placed sixth in Malden High School’s top ten by always thinking outside of the box. Living in Malden his whole life, Tran attended elementary school at the Ferryway School for nine years before moving up to MHS. Since his freshman year, Tran has always had a love for science.

This originated in Shannon Votaw’s freshman Biology class. Knowing Tran for the past four years, Votaw stated that, “[Tran] is very intelligent and he is also very kind hearted.”

Considering that both Tran and Votaw have known each other for so long, Votaw can see a drastic change in Tran from “having him as a freshman and now having him as a senior. [She] can tell he has grown and matured.” Tran and Votaw also have a different type of student-teacher connection. During Tran’s freshman year, Votaw and Tran created this “ritual” where one time, when they saw each other they both exclaimed “there he/she is.” This ritual, as Tran stated, has continued throughout his years at MHS. This has allowed Tran to enjoy having “that special bond with a teacher that [he] can go into a classroom and just have a conversation with [her]. [He] thinks [he will not] have that connection with teachers in college.”

Votaw’s class essentially piqued Tran’s interest in the wonders of science. Throughout his high school experience, Tran has also taken AP Biology which curved his decision in what his major will be when he attends Brown University this fall. His love for science and his interest in the brain subsequently led him to major in neuroscience.

Tran stated that “the brain is fascinating and [he] has always been interested in the way [he] thinks.”

Although overcoming the difficulties of majoring in neuroscience in college will be a great feat, there are many other areas to explore in that field. Tran is aware of this and he especially wants to do research on the brain and other related fields when he gets to college, and have a more “interactive role with patients” to help them cope with

illnesses they may be suffering with.

During his high school career, Tran has been a part of “Key Club for 3 years up until senior year,” and participated in the “Helping Hands Club senior year.” He has had many opportunities and experiences as a part of these groups, which have had “a great effect on [him] as they [have] helped [him] develop leadership skills and become more responsible.” According to Tran, being a part of sports and clubs “is a great way to make friends.” Since sophomore year, Tran was also enthusiastically involved with Summer Search.

Recalling this time, Tran joyfully reflected back on his experience in going through “the most awkward Summer Search interview.” According to Tran, “this interview was very different than a formal interview and it was awkward because the people interviewing [him] just kept staring while [he] kept talking and sooner or later [he] was going to run out of things to say,” he added humorously. However, this experience paid off in the end as Tran found the Summer Search trip to be “the most challenging physically, but the most rewarding as [he] got to meet new people.”

Tran’s time in Summer Search led him to be nominated for, and eventually win the Building the Future Award. This award was was given out at a Summer Search event to celebrate the achievements of the students during the year. This award, along with Tran’s participation in clubs and events have helped shape him into the person he is today; hard working, and determined to succeed.

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Profiles

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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Michael Bartlett

Sam La A

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enior Sam La, ranked 7th in his graduating class, has a bright future ahead of him—one with a home theater, a garden, and his loving family. At only 17 years old, La has already set a long term goal for himself to be successful in the future in order to buy a home theater for his father and a garden for his mother.

For La, being able to provide for his family, especially his parents, is a very important goal because he is so appreciative of all the sacrifices they have taken for him.

Not only is La so generous and helpful to his family, but also to the community. No matter what is asked of him, La would never deny helping out another person. Senior William Wong, a classmate of six years, believes that La’s personality has not changed from middle school and states “he is still the guy who you can go to for help.”

La already worked tremendously hard throughout his high school career and found an area that he will be furthering his education in. La plans to focus on engineering, computer science, or physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) this coming fall as he joins the WPI Class of 2016. La described his love for math and science as “my favorite subjects ever since I was young because it came easy to me.”

Beyond achieving high scholastic standing, La is also an active member of Malden High School and the Malden community. In his high school career, La has been a part of the Key Club, Math Team, Chem Club, and the I Know English (IKE) Mentoring Program for ESL students. “He does amazingly in many of the things he participates in whether it’s class, track, or IKE- because he knows what is expected,” describes senior Harris Zhao when asked about his leadership and

commitment to the community. In addition, La also ran cross country as a freshman, ran outdoor track for three years and ran indoor track for four years, where he was awarded the Scholastic Award for having the highest GPA on the team. Zhao confidently adds that “I can rely on Sam La 100% of the time.”

Not only is La a scholar and athlete at Malden High, but also a role model to his siblings. Despite being his older sister, twin Teresa La said she “[still] looks at him as [her] older brother because of how independent he is and how far he has gone. [She is] proud of him.” Of his other three siblings, La is closest to his twin Teresa La. They enjoy bike riding, jogging, playing basketball, playing tennis, and just talking to one another. La describes how their bond is so close that “sometimes when I am thinking of something, Teresa will say something that I was just thinking about.”

La grew up in a family of six with his parents, his twin sister, and his younger siblings, Anita and Allan, who are also a set of twins. In Canada, they lived in a rural community before finally coming to Malden.

Upon moving to Massachusetts, La attended the Warren Prescott School in Charlestown, Linden Middle School, and then Beebe Middle School in Malden. It was in those early years where La had gained a love for math and science and pursued to learn more in high school. La’s sister, Teresa La, describes one of his most unique qualities as being a “very deep [and] logical thinker,” and remembering how La would question things like “if the universe [was] constantly expanding, but matter can not be created out of anything, [then] what [was] the universe expanding into?”

fter years of writing essays, taking tests, and doing homework, all of senior Michael Bartlett’s hard work has paid off as he is ranked eighth in his graduating class of 2012 at Malden High School. Taking AP Physics and BC Calc this year are two contributing factors to his GPA, along with other accumulating credits over the years.

Bartlett has lived in Malden his whole life, attending the Forestdale Elementary School from kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade.

He has also attended MHS for four years and was able to be involved with the school in many ways.

Bartlett has been part of the Math Team, the Interact Club, and also aided his class in fundraisers and events. Bartlett’s favorite subjects are science and math. His main interest is computer programming, which is a class he has taken at MHS with Paul Marques, who Bartlett describes as a “fun loving, spontaneous guy.”

Not only has Bartlett learned some important computer skills from this class, but has also developed a good relationship with Marques over the four years they have known each other. Marques describes Bartlett as a “personable student” who is “intelligent, resourceful, trustworthy and funny.”

He expresses that he will miss Bartlett because of all of his personality traits that make him an all around good person. Though he will be missed, Marques believes that Bartlett will do “excellent” in the future.

In the fall Bartlett will become a “Boston Terrier” as he will be attending Boston University. His sister is actually a graduate from this university so Bartlett will be able to follow in his sister’s footsteps. He plans to major in computer science and minor in biology. Marques’ class was the main influence of this

choice of major since it introduced Bartlett to the world of computers, while Shannon Votaw’s biology class was the reason for the choice of his minor. Bartlett does not have a particular job he wants to go for yet, but says that System Analysis, which deals with making sure programs meet their requirements; Hardware Programming, which is creating physical electronic devices; and Information Technology (IT), which is the storing, retrieving, and transferring of information are his top three choices. He also pointed out that another possibility is becoming someone who uses mathematical and computer skills to conduct research, also called a computational biologist, which is the reason for the choice to minor in biology. Choosing to major and minor in two separate fields will allow him to cross both his interests and do everything he loves.

Bartlett shares that his favorite memory of high school was one that involved Marques’ class during freshman year in the courtyard.

He also enjoyed “struggling through intense classes” because it taught him to cope with difficult situations that arose and helped him practice his problem solving skills.

These skills he has picked up in high school will aid him when he attends BU because it will help him in his major and also everyday life scenarios.

Bartlett hopes to one day be “financially independent” and with his future career in the computer science field this goal seems very likely.

Out of all of Bartlett’s time at MHS, he will, like every student, long to hold on to all of the memories he has experienced through high school. “[I am going to miss] all the connections and friends I made,” stated Bartlett making a final recollection of his days at MHS.

10 Harris Zhao Joel Stevenson Head Copy Editor

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hether it be playing games, attending class, or simply hanging out with friends, it seems that Harris Zhao has done it all, which may be one reason he has earned the ranking of number nine in the Malden High School top ten ranking. Throughout his four years of high school, Zhao has dipped his hand into much more than the average high school student has.

When asked why he participated in so much he casually exclaimed that he had nothing to do “[so] why not make new friends.” And that is exactly what he did.

Zhao has worked diligently as Treasurer and Vice President of the senior class, a member of the National Honor Society, and president of the Fine Arts Club. Each endeavor has required him to stay up far into the night working on projects. Mary Ann Seager, advisor to the class of 2012 and the Fine Arts club stated that she “was not surprised to see

Profiles

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

maldenblueandgold.com Harris in the top ten.” That he has always been a “student that [she could] depend upon 100 percent of the time”.

Aside from clubs, Zhao has worked hard in school. Throughout his four years he has taken on ten AP courses, and peer tutoring.

When asked what his favorite class was, he stated Physics, which he took his junior year. Physics teacher Brian Morrison stated that Zhao is “always quick to pick up on new ideas,” and had “quick wit” when it came to new topics. He was able to pick apart complex problems and solve them.

Zhao has always put his put his best foot forward when it came to work, however, he has always had time to help out others who were in need of help. Senior Jaclyn Scales stated that he occasionally helped her with Calculus homework, how he “broke it down for me and I started to understand it completely.” He has also helped former senior class President Nina Ho during her three years in office, as she stated that he “helped to keep the class updated.”

Aside from helping friends out,

Zhao with the help of senior Alexandra Ly created a program called I Know English. What started off as a summer project for M.I.T turned out to be a year long project. Harris Zhao has founded the program as one that “guides the children of the Elementary School community to develop self-confidence, social skills, and [overcome] language disadvantages at an early age,” as stated by fellow senior, as well as I Know English mentor, Nina Ho. Zhao’s goal in creating this program

was to destroy barriers that separated students whose first language was not English from the rest of society so that they were able to have all the advantages that America has to offer.

Zhao’s favorite past times are playing videogames, drawing, (he considers himself a “closeted artist,”) and traveling as he stated how he went to Cambodia, China, Canada, Vietnam, and Japan. As for next year, Zhao will be studying Computer Science at Umass Amherst.

them the best advice he can, which is something he “loves to do.” Chan stated that there is “no better feeling than seeing someone’s face light up with a smile and knowing that you put it there,” which is one of the main reasons he hopes to become a hypnotherapist.

As for underclassmen, Chan believes the best advice he can give is to “make friends with your teachers,” because they put in a lot of work and do not want to see their students fail but care only to see students smile. He sees trusting your teachers as an important part of high school life because “they are the ones who have been through it all and can give the best advice.”

It is clear Chan has taken his own advice from the close friendship he has with his Physics Honors teacher, Brian Morrison. Chan stated that he appreciates Morrison’s attitude towards his job; he does not mind occasionally “goofing off and answering [Chan’s] many questions.”

Chan likes Morrison because he “can be professional while being a human being,” which he sees as important because school can often

become stressful. Morrison also speaks highly of Chan, stating that he is “extremely enthusiastic, excitable, and curious.” Although Morrison only had Chan for one year, he has found him to be hard working, and a “good kid to be around,” and has a sense of humour that he can relate to. Morrison also jokes that Chan is “filled with endless amounts of questions ranging from science to every other aspect of life.”

When asked where he sees Chan in ten years, Morrison laughed and said that Chan will undoubtedly be the “world’s first most authority in hypnotherapy.”

From sports to good grades and friends, Chan might seem like an “average Joe,” or just another guy. But in reality, what he has taken away from his years at MHS make him anything but. Perhaps Chan was exactly like the “rowdy freshmen,” he mentioned when he first entered MHS. Or perhaps he was exactly as he is now, except maybe a bit shorter. But one thing is certain; due to several contributing factors, he will be leaving MHS just as “dignified and successful,” as anyone.

Stanley Chan E

very June another flock of students leave Malden High School and throw themselves into the real world, sometimes reluctantly, other times, ecstatically. But regardless of how they leave, the seniors’ impact on the school remains for years to come, even as they start off their new lives. The top 10 are students who are typically very involved in the MHS community and leave something behind; senior Stanley Chan is no exception.

After four years of high school, Chan claims “all things considered, [he] is happy to be done with high school,” and very excited to begin a new chapter of his life. Next fall Chan will be a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, studying at their main campus in Durham, NH. He will be pursuing a Psychology degree with a double major in sociology. After graduating, Chan hopes to use his knowledge to become a successful hypnotherapist.

Although Chan believes academics are important and definitely a major part of high school, he points out the fact that when asked to recall his best memories from high school, they do not consist of sitting in a classroom but rather of a time with friends.

Chan believes that high school is not only about finding your place in the world and who you are but also about “making friendships that will last a lifetime...as cheesy as that sounds.” And in Chan’s opinion, MHS has successfully prepared him to deal with the real world and all of its challenged; he is now able to do things he truly wants to do and

is able to stand up for himself. He stated that while MHS is very diverse, it is also respectful and that “rowdy freshmen come out mature, respectful, dignified, and successful seniors,” due to the dedication and commitment of the staff.

Chan also believes his high school years were so enjoyable because “[he] made the most of it,” and was an active participant in the community by mentoring underclassmen. Chan has played lacrosse since his freshman year of high school and began playing because of his sister, who also played.

He claims that lacrosse “grew on [him],” and once he played for a year, he enjoyed it and decided to stick with it because “when he commits to something, [he] doesn’t quit.” Chan believes that although it is sometimes hard to stick to something it is important because you will eventually improve and “all of the hard work that was put in will pay off.”

He has also learned that it is important to respect and believe in your coaches, just as they respect and believe in you. This has definitely been accomplished with the lacrosse coach and English teacher, Brenden Maney. He claims that although Maney is the third coach the team has had since Chan began playing, they have come to “have faith in him,” because it is clear to them all that he knows what he is doing and that he wants “only to make them better.”

Overall, Chan is grateful for the impact lacrosse has had in his life as well as the opportunities it has given him. Because of lacrosse, Chan was able to develop close, trusting friendships with underclassmen and has been there to give

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Nothing to Do This

Here are some FREE Things to Do Around Boston

Hop on the “T” at Malden Station or Oak Grove and visit some great places in town!

Walk the Freedom Trail!

Alright, so you’re looking forward to spending endless days on the beach and shopping. No school means that there is tons of time for fun, fun, and did we mention fun? Anyways, we have provided you with a list of awesome places and events you could (and should) visit during your vacation. Below, you’ll find the events we picked out. Enjoy yourselves!

There is no excuse for enduring “boring summer days.” After all, this is the time to shine, and to let go and find something worthwhile.

Sincerely,

Lesley Ta and Jessica Lynn DePaula Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Presents: 17th annual Shakespeare on the Common: Coriolanus Date/Time: July 25th-Aug 12th (Tues.-Sat. 8 pm; Sundays 7 pm) (Don’t miss the American Sign Language performance on Aug 11!)

Price: Admission is free Experience CSC’s annual tradition of Shakespeare on the Common with the intense political drama Coriolanus!

The play begins every night (except Mondays) July 25Aug 12 at the Parkmand Bandstand right on the Common!

Magic 106.7 Family Film Festival at Prudential Center See free family movies on the South Garden of Prudential Center, every Saturday from July 7 through August 25.

Details TBA; please visit the Prudential Center website for updates and information

You’ve all taken American History, so walk the Freedom Go to the Museum of Trail in the historic neighFine Arts! borhoods of Boston for free! Bring your student ID with you and you’ll get free entry Visit the State House! during the summer months!

Free guided tours of where the legislature of MassachuGo to the Museum of setts gets passed!

Contemporary Art!

Visit the Boston Commons! On Thursdays from 5:00 pm

Go to the park, get some sunshine and enjoy the company of historic Boston!

Boston GreenFest 2012 Thursday-Saturday, Aug16-18, 2012 (All day event) Boston City Hall Plaza Admission is free Boston GreenFest is always worth visiting, even for just the atmosphere alone. With an almost never-ending list of events, inluding performances by an array of people such as a Native American drum ceremony and former American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar, this year’s enviormentally friendly event that has something for everyone.

Events Checklist

Use this checklist to check which events you have and have not attended this summer!

Have you watched all of the movies at the Hatch Shell?

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (June 13) Happy Feet 2 (June 15) The Muppets (July 20), Cars 2 (July 27)

http://www.prudentialcenter.com

Kung Fu Panda (Aug 3)

Institute of Contemporary Art

The Zookeper (Aug 10)

Admission is free for Youth 17 and under daily. Please bring a valid ID. ICA Free Thursday Nights: Get to explore the museum from 5pm to 9pm every Thursday night free!

Request a free guided tour with admission!

WBZ Friday Night Free Flix Family-friendly movies shows at sunset every Friday night on the Esplanade at the Boston Hatch Shell.

Remember that sunset occurs at different times every day!

Admisstion is free Get excited for: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (June 13), Happy Feet 2 (June 15), The Muppets (July 20), Cars 2 (July 27), Kung Fu Panda (Aug 3), The Zookeper (Aug 10), Puss in Boots (Aug 17), and The Lorax (Aug 24)

to 9:00 pm get admitted free!

Puss in Boots (Aug 17) The Lorax (Aug 24) Visited the Institute of Contemporary Art Magic 106.7 Family Film Festival at Prudential Center (July 7-Aug 25) Boston GreenFest 2012 (Aug 16-18) Commonwealth Shakespeare Presents: Coriolanus Commonwealth Shakespeare Presents: Coriolanus Americal Sign Language Performance (Aug 11)

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local News

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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National Honor Society Induction Ceremony Top left : Senior, former vice president, and Blue and Gold member, Omar Khoshafa, reading the NHS pledge to the new members and the new members reciting it in return. Bottom left: Senior, former vice president, and Blue and Gold member making his dedication speech to his parents. Right: Senior, and former president, Daniel Rendon, reading his tribute to the crowd, which he dedicated to his four best friends.

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very year students are accepted into the National Honor Society and then attend an induction ceremony which took place this year on May 23rd. NHS is a club that allows students to have an opportunity to help the community in some way but those who want to join have to have some requirements. By helping the community the students get a chance to “demonstrate leadership and strengthen [their] character through service the projects every year,” says new president and junior Iris Feng. There are about 46 members in NHS and all of them attended the induction ceremony.

During the ceremony there was Yan Yu, one of Mayor Gary Christensen’s staff, the foreign language director Nancy Kassabian, Principal Dana Brown, and math teacher and NHS advisor Paul Marques. Some of them made a brief speech on the importance and meaning of NHS. Then former vice president senior,

and Blue and Gold member, Omar Khoshafa, read the NHS pledge to the new sophomores, juniors, and seniors and they repeated in return. Then four seniors Alana Casey, Blue and Gold member Dan Holmqvist, Nina Ho, and Rebecca Jean were chosen make to speeches on the four qualities that they have which are Community, Leadership, Scholarship, and Character. All the speeches related to people that have made an impact on their life, experiences they have been through, and more. After the speeches were made the new officers were inducted.

The former officers, who were President Daniel Rendon, Vice President Omar Khoshafa, treasurer Eddie Lee , and secretary Cristina Peters, were called to a table and lit candles that represented each of their roles in NHS. Then the new officers came to the table and held candles that the former officers lit for them that represented their

roles in NHS. Senior Daniel Rendon passed on his role as president to junior Iris Feng. After senior and Blue and Gold Member Omar Khashafa passed on his role as vice president to junior and Blue and Gold member Catherine Poirier. Then senior Eddie Lee passed on his role as treasurer to junior and Blue and Gold member Lauren Benoit. Lastly senior Cristina Peters passed on her role as secretary to junior Lisa DeLacey.

As soon as each candle was lit, the new officers gave gifts to the former officers in remembrance of their role as being officers.

All of the officers were so grateful of their important roles. Senior Eddie Lee said that NHS “provided [him] with a greater opportunity to help the community and give back.”

NHS has given all the members a chance to make a difference and to make an impact in the community.

When asked about her feelings on her role and the other officers roles, junior Lisa DeLacey answered that “[she] knows they will do a great job leading, facilitating, and undergoing tasks,” so that they can “preserve the high standards NHS officers have established in the past and go beyond them in the future.”

With the new officers being inducted the seniors soon made their tributes. Every senior member got to compose a tribute to someone who has made a great impact in their

life and read it aloud for the audience and fellow classmates to hear.

It was a very emotional moment for some members who read their tribute. Some cried because of their gratitude towards the person they wrote their tribute to. Others made a few jokes and expressed their true appreciation and happiness of the impact their tribute has made in their life. Many laughs and tears were exchanged as every senior part of NHS read their tribute out loud for everyone.

Then teachers got awards for their service and involvement in the school and with the students.

English teacher and play production teacher Sean Walsh received an award from the students for being so involved and helpful to the students. Former Brunelli House principal Thomas Mahoney also received an award. As well as Mr.Paul Famiglietti who received an award for being one of the best teachers at Malden High and who will never be forgotten.

NHS has given all the member something make a change in. Students are given the opportunity to do something valuable to the community and to the people in the community. Elyse Valente concluded that “NHS is filled with responsible and caring students making differences every second they get the chance.”

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LAPS FOR LESLIE

“Don’t worry about me not being there, I’m always with you through everything I’m everywhere.”

-Leslie Razzino

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n May 8, 2012, students, faculty, and other caring members of the community gathered together to walk laps around the Finn Gym in memory of Leslie Ann Razzino.

Razzino, a beloved Malden High school graduate of the class of 2003 and passionate runner and writer, died of cancer on March 18, 2004.

The walk, which usually takes place outdoors, was scheduled for rain or shine, and was moved to the MHS Finn gym at the last minute because of rain. All were welcome to attend the event, and the gym was filled with supportive walkers and runners from all ages and backgrounds.

Leslie’s twin sister Lisa Razzino, along with her mother, MHS Business teacher Karen Razzino, and her friends from her track team, all came to the gym to run laps in memory of Leslie.

The fundraiser raises money for the Leslie Ann Razzino scholarship, which is awarded to senior girls who “have a passion for writing poetry or they love track, just

Clockwise from top left: Volleyball players Monique Bailey, Kaitlyn Weng, Commie Ayuk, Anabette D’Entremont, and Lisa DeLacey; Leslie Razzino and a friend at a track meet, members of the crew team doing laps, Vivian Le, Wendy Tse, Natalie Fallano, Matteo Pocobene, and Lisa DeLacey posing at the event like Leslie did,” explained Karen Razzino.

The runners, while all gathering to support Leslie, each had their own reasons for attending the event.

Mayor Gary Christenson was doing laps “to support the cause and make

sure that Leslie’s memory is always in our minds.” Principal Dana Brown came to celebrate “another exciting day in memory of Leslie.”

Having known Leslie for her whole life, Brown was proud of the turnout.

Some athletes, though never given the honor of meeting Leslie, felt very connected to her at the event.

Senior Annabette D’Entremont was walking because “Leslie really deserves it.” Senior Matteo Pocobene enjoyed attending the walk, and stated that “Laps for Leslie is a great way to spend some time with your team for a great cause.”

The event raised a total of $2,500 for the scholarship. This was the ninth annual Laps for Leslie event, and according to Karen Razzino, the fundraiser “always [has] a good turnout... and we are going to try to keep [Laps for Leslie] going for as long as possible.

“Having the walk [in] the gym wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We had a lot of walkers. We made over $2,500, and we still have money left in the fund. It is pleasing to see girls benefiting from [the fundraiser]. We gave $500 as a scholarship (for poets and track members).

Laps for Leslie, which is still successful every year, is an inspirational way to celebrate Leslie Razzino’s life.

AP Computer Science Visits Google Malden High School’s AP Computer Science class, taught by Paul Marques, becomes the first class to ever visit Google Headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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ost people who envision the perfect job see themselves as athletes, doctors or even movie stars. But as the AP Computer Science teacher Paul Marques and his students recently found out, Google is also one of those “perfect jobs.”

A group of 20 visited the Google headquarters located in Cambridge, MA on April 5, 2012, which made this class the first to ever visit Google. After the experience, Marques hopes there are “more times to follow.”

The class was treated to a tour by software and project engineer, Sam Oates, who had “never done anything like this before,” and was worried that he would “bore [the students] to tears,” but was “glad it [seemed] as though it turned out to be quite the opposite for everyone!”

However, Oates commented on how the students were “really engaged and had great questions,” and that he was “very pleased at

their interest and obvious ability to follow along,” which he credited Marques for, saying that he must be doing “something right.”

According to junior Michael Hoang, the trip was an amazing experience because it gave him a “glimpse of the future,” and that they were all able to see how interesting and rewarding computer programming can truly be.

The tour began with a speech delivered by Oates, where he revealed some of Google’s current projects, such as Google Earth, Google Plus, as well as revamping the search engine itself.

The students then toured the offices, visited the cafeteria and even “played in the game room,” according to Marques. These game rooms contained dartboards, and even a mural of Fenway Park. Senior Kevin Chan explained how the manager’s “could care less” if you take a little break, as long as the workers have

performed their necessary duties for the day.

After the tour, there was a question and answer session.

Marques recalled that one piece of advice they were given is to “always be programming, like a basketball player is always practicing.” Although programming may pertain to mostly logic, it is always important to keep the basic skills intact, so there is more room for the important projects.

According to Marques, MHS’s computer science program is unmatched by that of any other public high school in the area. Surprisingly, the school’s program is up to par with that of well known private high schools such as Buckingham Browne and Nichols and Phillips Academy Andover. Marques believes that the MHS computer science program is successful because there is a lot of student interest; also because he has a genuine passion

for the subject, having been involved since high school and majoring in computer sciences. Marques, a self proclaimed “computer nerd,” was hired in 1998, to help revamp the computer science program at MHS; it seems he has been more than successful.

Looking towards the future, Marques hopes to see computer programming become “more acknowledged,” and expand the K-12 program. He has spoken to Google’s K-12 coordinator, Shannon Mahon, and they are looking for “anyway to tie in,” and hope to see growth and expansion in the Malden school system.

With the addition of computer science in the K-12 full curriculum, Marques believes it will “improve thinking, [and] help [students] in every other class.” Beginning with pure logic, young children are ready to overtake the challenge of computer science.

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Senior Interns Benefit Every year, seniors of high academic standing have the option of Malden Access Television

Lawrence Memorial Hospital

Senior Ayanna Wade spent time behind the scenes at Malden Access Television, learning how everything is processed and organized.

Seniors Elizabeth Williams and Kimberly Cochran interned at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford.

Being A Kindergarten Teacher

Senior Emmanuella Etienne spent time with younger students by using arts and crafts and playing many games.

Dance with Brigitte

Seniors Sherley Jules and Juleena Huguley spent time with younger dancers at Dance With Brigitte studios in Malden.

Middlesex Sheriff’s Office

Senior Chardeza Coleman interned with Sheriff Peter Koutoujian at the Middlesex Sheriff ’s Office.

K-4 Art at Ferryway

Senior Amber Ferguson worked with children by helping teach art to Ferryway’s kindergarten through fourth grade students.

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From Their Experience experiencing the work force in their fourth quarter in an internship.

Physical Education at Beebe

McGovern Physical Therapy

Senior Commie Ayuk worked with younger students in physical education at Bebee School.

Senior Rebecca Krigman helped patients exercise and reach a peaceful state of mind.

Family Science Night Middlesex Sheriff’s Office

Seniors Vivian Le and Wendy Tse help organize the annual family science night, gaining new scientific experience.

Senior Brendon Kilpatrick presenting his project about working at the Middlesex Sheriff ’s Office.

Immaculate Conception United States Marine Corps

Senior Sarah DaSilva worked with the Youth Ministry at her church, Immaculate Conception.

Senior Nancy Chung worked with the United States Marine Corps, which she will join after graduating.

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A Ripple of Generosity Heightens Vicki Ngan Copy Editor

Every year, whether working alone or up to a small group of three, the National Honor Society members of Malden High School brainstorm and execute extraordinary and successful projects, set out to reach out and assist many others. Their work spreads over a range of people, from elderly in Malden, to students in Nicaragua, and their main role is to act as “conduits,” or middlemen, according to NHS advisor and math teacher Paul Marques. They bring together parts of their community to provide for the less fortunate or people in need. As stated by Marques, their ultimate goal is to discover and perform a project that “moves, touches, and inspires them and the people they are servicing.” From the start of their project in Jan. 2012, all of the members have contributed their best effort and skills for the well being of their community and others around them, and many plans to continue their ongoing charity, donations, and aid in the future.

Toys From Me To You By: Seniors Urusa Sheikh and Eddie Lee

“Being in a homeless shelter, you kind of feel lonely, so now you have people from the outside community that are thinking about you, giving their time, and donating their toys to you.” - Sheikh

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or seniors Urusa Sheikh and Eddie Lee, they decided to center their project on homeless children. They were sparked with the idea from an ad on the train for volunteering at the homeless shelter, and thought it would be a wonderful idea to gift these children with toys that would brighten their lives and raise their awareness that there are people that care for them.

With this goal in mind, Sheikh and Lee were able to obtain donations of toys from schools and individuals in the community as well as companies that had an excess of unused toys. Spreading the word through flyers, they used decorated boxes and set them up in various destinations so that individuals of the community could stop by and donate their unwanted or unused toys. In the end, they collected many toys that appealed to both boys and girls, ranging from Barbie dolls to fire trucks. “We wanted toys to give to the homeless shelter so that boys and girls would have something to do and cheer them up,” smiled Sheikh.

Blankets For Babies By: Junior Mona Cheng and Senior Irene Wang

“Irene was in charge of emailing to see how many blankets they would get. We got the money, bought the blankets, and made them.”

- Cheng s a result of the collaboration between juniors Mona Cheng and Irene Wang, 200 dollars was raised to purchase enough materials to create 40 blankets that will benefit the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute (KPTI).

This center works to provide children with medical aid, research more about pediatric trauma, and has set up injury prevention programs for both children and parents. To raise the money for their blankets, the two sold candy and asked teachers at the MHS to “sponsor a blanket.” After purchasing the materials, Wang and Cheng gathered support of family and friends to make the blankets, and through their connection with the president of the Kiwanis Club, Lorraine Danca, they accomplished their goal of transporting these goods to the KPTI. Not only does this project assist the KPTI however, but it taught people of the community how to create blankets as well.

Familiar with making No-Sew Fleece blankets and through their contact with the Children’s Hospital in Boston, they were connected with the KPTI. Knowing that they had the opportunity to help, they took the chance. “We also like to help children,” added Wang.

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Educating the Malden River By: Seniors Immaculate Mutebi and Nina Ho

“The fact that it’s not even clean is scary. We were able, at the Malden River clean up, to see live fish, something I didn’t even know was in the river. It really surprised me. It would be really cool if we had more fish in the river when it’s clean.” - Mutebi ontinuing their project from junior year, seniors Nina Ho and Immaculate Mutebi set their goal on raising awareness of the Malden River as well as cleaning it up and protecting the environment. Ho and Mutebi worked with Mystic Valley Association members Nick Cohen and Clay Larsen to educate sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at the Beebe School, hoping that in turn, this will inform their parents. In addition to education, Ho and Mutebi brought their students to Fellsmere Pond, the Malden River, and other water sites to connect with their surroundings visually and how everything was linked. A successful project, their work to raise awareness was seen on the Malden River Cleanup Day, the Saturday after Earth Day, in which many people came to help clean up the Malden River.

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Community Spirit “I pass the school every single day and it’s in very bad condition, and I know [our] original purpose was to bring an environmental message or idea [and] to bring awareness for science and projects, so it would be really nice if we can reinforce the importance of science and environment education on young learners.” - Feng

Butterfly Garden By: Juniors Iris Feng and Blue and Gold member Haley Dowdie

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nspired by their ambition to reinforce the importance of science and environment education on young learners, juniors Iris Feng and Blue and Gold member, Haley Dowdie, focused their service project on reconstructing the Beebe School’s Butterfly Garden fence, cleaning the grounds around it, and re-beautify the garden by planting flowers. Built eight years ago, the old fence had been deteriorating because of natural erosion and vandalism, and in their project, Feng and Dowdie tried at first to raise funds and get trash bags. An issue because of low turnout, the two turned to Home Depot that generously donated a free plywood board for the fence. They have painted over the fence to look like the original, and have let kids contribute to the board by letting them draw on it as well. In addition, the two took on the role of cleaning up the area around the fence, raking up leaves and picking through trash. On June 1, 2012, second grade Beebe School students will have the opportunity to plant flowers around the fence alongside their parents from 9 to 12 PM. Setting the grounds for more improvement, they hope that many parents and children will come and plant flowers to create a better environmental friendly atmosphere in their community.

Knitting For A Kause By: Sophomores Thao Pham, Winnie Chen, and John Dovan “Initially, as a group, we thought that the project wouldn’t be as successful considering it was our first. This changed our minds to think that anything can happen during a project and if you believe, everything will come through.” – Pham, Chen, and Dovan

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itled, “Knitting for a Kause,” sophomores Thao Pham, Winnie Chen, and John Dovan aimed their project towards supporting the elderly of Malden and chemotherapy patients in a hospital. A “win-win” situation, they planned to help one community to help another, and succeeded by setting the elderly up to knit hats for cancer patients. Once every week, on Tuesday, the three would check up on the progress of how much they have knit and supply yarn if necessary. “Knitting is an activity that will keep their minds moving, help their blood pressure, and keep them doing something,” Chen explained. As the link between the two groups as well as the volunteers that supported the idea, Pham, Chen, and Dovan began by fundraising, contacting the Director of the Malden Housing Authority, Debbie Lungo, and gathering volunteers who were interested in teaching the elderly how to knit if needed. Pham, Chen, and Dovan faced a few difficulties along the way, such as with raising enough to fund the project, but with their bake sale that rounded up 108 dollars and the contributions of from various people, they were able to raise enough to purchase their yarn.

A community bonding activity as well, Pham, Chen, and Dovan enjoyed their project, and “would like to continue next year,” stated Dovan.

Hats above and below were created through Knitting For A Kause, which provided over 400 hats to chemotherapy patients. All photos by Timothee Pierre and Vicki Ngan

Hope for Nicaragua By: Seniors Tamisha Claude and Rebecca Jean “The best way to help them was to get school supplies because they were sitting on dirt floors and they didn’t have anything to write with or color with so we thought that it was the best route to help them with.”

– Claude Uniting Malden with a community in South America, seniors Tamisha Claude and Rebecca Jean worked to present school supplies and snacks for children in the school “Gentes de la Futura” in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

Their idea started with Jean’s ambition to provide for this impoverished but hopeful school. Inspired and motivated by her “opportunity to go to Nicaragua to do community service, [she] chose to continue the project [she] started then.” From individuals to companies such as Stop & Shop to their own pocket money and local church, Claude and Jean mounted a total of around 225 dollars, of which they sent to Nicaragua through Jean’s Summer Search resource. Triumphantly, they made enough to purchase 175 chairs and school supplies, and provide snacks for an entire week for 150 kids.

“We are happy with what we are able to come up with,” Claude beamed.

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malden high school band

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night full of entertainment and enthusiasm.

Malden High School’s band made the night of May 31, 2012 unforgettable. Eager, supportive parents, guardians, and alumni rushed in and filled the Jenkins Auditorium long before the start of the concert, excitedly waiting for their children to appear on stage.

Not only did the concert band perform in this special night, but MHS’s Pop Ensemble and MHS’s Colorguard had the opportunity to show off their talents as well. The 2012 Spring Concert, titled “A Year Into the Light,” hints at a prosperous future for al; the performances of all three groups engaged the audience with the abilities and skills of MHS students.

Promptly at 7 p.m., the audience was taken aback with the first group of the night— Pop Ensemble. The first piece, “Fur Elise” by Beethoven, was enough to move the hearts of

the audience. Played by sophomore Bernadete Mutebi, the crowd was amazed and amused by Mutebi’s gift to perform the entire song alone and by the elegance and speed at which she played. A gracious applause was given, and the next piece aroused the spectators even more.

Singing a well-known song, “Someone Like You” by Adele, senior Danielle Dotolo and pianist Mark Ndiinda awed the crowd.

Dotolo’s deep, mature voice accompanied the well-played piano by Ndiinda. The captivated audience continued to give noise-deafening applauses throughout the concert. Next up, Dotolo entered the stage again along with freshman Eddie Urbina, and they rocked the stage by singing “Empire State of Mind” by Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys.

At the end of the short intermission separating Pop Ensemble and Concert Band, the band students and band director Matthew Tavares began their performances, topping off the night with “Among the Clouds” by Brian Balmages. Tavares expected “there [would] be 100 percent effort for [this] night.” After, they began “Sure on this Shining Night” by Samuel Barber followed by “Espirit de Corps” by Robert Jager.

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becomes “enlightened” Clockwise form left: Sophomore Suheily Aquino preparing to play the piano, sophomore Thaiz Da Silva playing the keyboard, band director Matthew Tavares recieving his gift from the band officers of a coffee maker, president Eric Tran introducing the next piece, concert band fluotists, concert band clarinetists, senior Danielle Dotolo singing “Someone Like You” by Adele, and sophomore Bernadete Mutebi playing “Fur Elise” by Beethoven.

Photos by Vicki Ngan

The band then began “Into the Light,” which is composed by Tavares himself; the motivation that Tavares had when he created this piece was to bring a “bright vision of the future,” according to Tavares. And this piece definitely reached it goal as the flutes, clarinets, and other instruments started with a light flurry, slowly transitioning to loud, enchanting rhythms. “Into the Light” will be performed in “next year’s fall marching band show titled ‘Enlightened,’” stated junior vice-president Jonathan Drapinski. Only a short, suspenseful preview this year, Tavares wanted to start the piece in the concert because the auditorium has “good acoustics” and “what better way to start than in a concert.” Working on this piece from Dec. 2011 to Apr. 2012, Tavares sneaked a preview of the upcoming fall.

After the beautifully-written piece was finished, the band officers slipped away and presented Tavares with their thank-you gift.

Immensely surprised and thrilled, Tavares was prompted by the audience and band officers to open his gifts, which he did delightfully, and discovered a coffee maker and coffee to brew.

After Tavares put aside his gifts, secretary

Devon Moran introduced their next and final piece, “Miss Saigon” by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Warren Barker.

Ending their part of the show fantastically, the concert band was able to perform so well at this level because of “practice, practice, and more practice,” stated Moran. Whether it is in school or afterschool, the band members practice “rigorously,” and prepared themselves with physical and mental exercises. “Tavares has been out for various of reasons, which made it harder for us to rehearse,” stated Drapinski, but due to the determination and will of the band members, they were able to pull through and perform their best on stage.

The finale of the band concert was another astounding performance, as the Winter Colorguard danced to their music and drew out a well-executed choreography.

As the brilliant performances ended, there remains that piece of truth behind the corner. It was a successful concert, yet it “was bittersweet.

Being a junior, and being so close with all of the seniors for so long made it upsetting that they were leaving, but it was definitely a great sendoff for them,” explained Moran.

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photos by Catherine Poirier, Johanna Lai, Lesley Ta, Jason Drapinski, Brittany McFeeley, Paige Yurek, and Lynette Ibanda. Collage by Brittany McFeeley and Paige Yurek

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THE CLASS OF 2012’S SENIOR FASHION SHOW Haley Dowdie Reporter

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n April 26, 2012, the graduating class of 2012 hosted the annual senior fashion show at Malden High School. Seniors dressed to the nines and worked the catwalk, leaving the audience with smiles on their faces, and filled with excitement.

Every year the MHS seniors host a fashion show to raise money for prom tickets, graduation, and the senior barbeque. The senior fashion show has become a remarkable and exciting tradition that the MHS students, enjoy participating in and watching.

Hosts, seniors Maya Rogers, Chardeza Coleman, Kiara Amos, and Daniel Rendon, introduced the models, keeping the show upbeat.

Each student’s outfits and high school career biographies were read as they modeled. The outfits worn by the seniors were of three categories: “Sporting an Attitude,” “Keeping It Retro,” and “Red Carpet Ready.” Seniors Daniel Rendon, Stanley Chan, Domenic Fontana, Juleena Huguley, Annie Feng, and many other seniors made appear-

ances in extravagant attire the night of the show. According to Rogers “[the] outfits were planned by the students wearing them” and each student’s outfit was unique and creative. As the students strutted down the aisles, senior Justin Pham’s well-crafted music selection played accordingly.

The days leading up to the show were chaotic, especially “with how busy the participants were [with] sports and clubs,” claims Rogers.

Nevertheless, the senior class was able to pull through and produce a fantastic show. Thanks to the help of their class advisors Maryann Seager and Paul Marques, teachers, administrators, and friends, the seniors fashion show was successful.

Of course, no MHS event would be complete without acknowledging one of the school’s favorite “mentor[s], teacher[s], and friend[s],” Mr. Paul Famiglietti.

Famiglietti would have assisted the seniors in the fashion show and been there supporting the class. A video was dedicated to Mr. Fam at the fashion show, in remembrance of his school spirit, assistance, and pleasant nature. Though jerking a few tears, the video mainly evoked smiles and laughs. Mr. Fam will be remembered in the hearts of all the MHS students and staff.

Senior Juleena Huguley is rocking an old-school Adidas sweatshirt. it is baby blue and has red lettering. Her pink, black, and white graffiti H&M leggings are made to dance in! Her foot wear this evening is a pair of silver & white Nike Blazers.

Domenic Fontana is modeling The Ashton designer Calvin Klein. Nina Ho loves to dress up and this knee length pink dress is the perfect choice. The dress has an attached sash, which ties up in the back and helps accentuate the waist.

Senior Daniel Rendon wears a Gold Malden Youth soccer jersey with blue and gold trim paired with blue shorts and dark blue navy knee socks.

This sports look is completed by his black, white, and pink turf cleats. This outfit is perfect for that competitive soccer game with your rival team or even just a simple game for fun.

Back to the ‘50’s in this retro look worn by Senior Maya Rogers. This is a time when domestic life found the woman in pink floral, knee-length silk dresses. The round collar and cinched waist dress are complemented by a cute strawberry print apron. Red ballet flats and pearl jewelry provide dressy accessories.

TO SEE THE SENIOR FASHION SHOW PHOTO ALBUM GO TO MALDENBLUEANDGOLD.COM

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MHS Play Production Presents 10 by 10: 10 Plays, 10 Minutes Each

The musical is announced! Be prepared to see Play Productions next year musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” next fall!

Above: Junior Jonathan Drapinski proposing to junior Crystal Araiza in the play “Getting it Back” by John Carini.

Below: Seniors Sam Zeiberg, Sarah Rose, Clarissa Henebury, and Sarah Fraas bowing at the end of the show._Photos taken by Jason Drapinski__

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ith the school year coming to an end, Malden High School Play Production students stepped it up with their final performance of 10 Plays in 10 Minutes. This was not just an ordinary play, it was a black box play. In other words, the audience is seated on stage with the play right before their eyes.

Since the audience sat on stage, there were a limited number of seats, but there were three nights of the play instead of the usual two. The tickets were five dollars and could be reserved during MHS lunches.

The best bet was to reserve your seat because there was no guarantee and they filled up fast.

When making way into the auditorium on the May 17, 18, or 19, 2012, guests were greeted by one of the Play Production students helping find seats. As they walked audience members to the seats, they were invited to look at photos of past performances. Inside the black box, there were four sections of seats and entertainment of music by junior Crystal Araiza.

Soon enough, the show began with an introduction by Play Production and English teacher Sean Walsh. This year the performance was separated into two acts, both with themes. The first act was entitled “Dogs and Death.” Each play in this act either pertained to a dog or a death. The show began with the play “A Rude Awakening” written by senior Eddie Fisher. This student written play was written in conjunction with the Massachusetts Young Playwright Project at Boston

University. It was about two hunters, played by juniors Simon Rogers and Michael McIntyre, in the woods finding a man dead on the ground, Sherlock Holmes played by senior Matteo Pocobene, soon comes to investigate. The plot twisted and the result was unexpected.

In the play, “Duet for Bear and Dog” by Sybil Rosen, a dog played by junior Christy Ringdahl encounters a bear, played by sophomore Craig Powers. It tells the story of a conversation between a cornered bear and a pampered dog, interrupted by three humans, a love-starved Russian facialist who owns the dog played by sophomore Justine Rose, and two wildlife biologists intent on capturing the bear, played by juniors Gabriela Rocha and Will Lombard.

In the end the bear gets shot with a needle and was taken back to the forest to live.

In between the first and second acts there was a brief ten minute intermission. During this time the audience could go buy concessions or send a member of the cast a message. However, unlike the first act, the second act contained mature themes and language and the audience was asked to use discretion as the language and themes were more than PG-13. This act was titled “Two Hearts.” All of the plays in this act consisted of a two person cast, and involved hearts and the topic of love.

In the ten minute play, “Sightlines” written by Charles Hall, a blind man played by senior Eddie Fisher, calling a number he heard in a radio advertisement, because he wants somebody to talk to. The man who comes turns out to be a male prostitute, played by senior Dan

Rendon. The play is about letting go of your preconceptions. The major lesson of the play is that one does not love with the eyes, but instead the heart.

The final play of the night was titled “Getting it Back” from Almost, Maine written by John Carini. It tells the story of Gayle, played by junior Crystal Araiza and her boyfriend Lendall played by junior Jonathan Drapinski. In the play Gayle has concluded that the relationship has come to a dead-end. She hauls big bags of the love he gave her into his living room and demands he return all the love she gave to him. Lendall doesn’t know how to respond except to offer one tiny bag for her. Gayle denies that a small sack can represent all the love she gave, until she discovers the diamond ring inside.

At the end of the show the cast came out to do the final bows and to applaud the tech theater.

A nice addition to the performance on May 19, 2012 was that it was the last performance by senior Play production members. There, Walsh gave out roses and good-byes to all the seniors. The students also gave gifts to their directors, Sean Walsh, the head director, Allen Phelps, and the technical director, and Melissa Bergstrom, a student

teacher from Emerson College.

This year the class is losing many seniors. It can be tough to see seniors graduate but the class will continue to stay strong. According to senior Dan Rendon, the seniors “leave with confidence that [future] productions will be just as good as this year’s, if not better.” The seniors are very sad they will not be able to come back to the class next year, but they are sure they will return to visit as alumni. Senior Sarah Fraas will miss the sense of family that play production has provided for her, “how [they] constantly bickered and laughed, but can still accomplish anything together. When it came down to it [they] all worked together and cared about their successes.”

Although this year’s cast is losing many seniors, it is rumored that there will be a huge class next year.

According to students, there was a lot of recruiting, so the class size has grown to around forty, which includes both the Play Production class and the new Technical Thearter class.

MHS’ Play Production is now preparing for their next project, a musical production entitled “The Twentieth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” that will be showcased next fall.

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New Location, Same Traditions Despite a rainy forecast and a change of venue, the 2012 Special Olympics was a huge success thanks to the help of Malden High School student volenteers and participants

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espite an angry gray forecast and a change of location, Malden students, teachers, and contestants alike were present and ready to participate at the annual Malden Special Olympics on Thursday, May 4, 2012.

The event, which has taken place in Malden for the past ten years, was a huge success this year, with teacher and student volunteers from Malden High School, as well as competitors from both MHS and all five K-8 schools. A day of celebration, unity, and acceptance, the Special Olympics is a series of sporting events that are participated in by students with physical and mental disabilities. “It is an incredible network of dedicated people that assist the physically challenged to develop courage and acceptance while having fun with a group of friends,” praised MHS SpEd teacher Pam Brody. “I think [that the] Special Olympics is a wonderful event for the kids,” added MHS Special-Ed teacher Debbie Carvahlo. “It makes them feel important and that they belong. It promotes active lifestyles, competitiveness, and makes them feel part of the community.”

This year, the event was held not at nearby MacDonald Stadium, which is currently undergoing serious renovations, but instead, it took place on the turf field at Pine Banks Park. Student volunteers arrived at the park at around seven a.m., and quickly got to work. Thanks to their efforts, the chairs, tents, and banners were all set up by the time the Olympians arrived. While some praised the openness of the park, others had some problems with the combination of artificial grass and damp weather. “The grass from the turf field keeps getting in my shoes,” laughed freshman volunteer Jenny Nguyen.

While the Olympians competed in various games, such as the 1000-yard dash, the long jump, and volleyball, others took lunch breaks and spent time before the next event by gathering with friends and family under the tents and getting their faces painted by MHS student volunteers.

By 12:30 p.m., everyone had finished their events, awards had been handed out, and Olympians, volunteers and spectators began to trudge through the drizzling rain and mud, taking with them nothing but good memories of the day.

Below: Senior Autumn Dehuelle poses with Malden High School mascot Nedlam. Below: Olympians and student volenteers entering through the blue and gold balloon archway at Pine Banks. All photos

by Lesley Ta.

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The Choral Arts Society Presents a night of opera

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he school year is coming to an end, and the Malden High School. Choral Arts Society put on their annual performance. This year was a little different, though. The Choral Arts Society, which includes Mixed Chorus, Concert Choir, and Madrigals, put on two shows. One show was their usual concert with fun songs. The other was a show purely based around opera. This show was new this year; it was the first year they have ever tried it. And they think that it went well and it would be fun to try again. The opera show was held a few weeks before the annual chorus performance.

The opera show included many solos by talented chorus singers that sang many different types of opera. It also included many group performances. This show ran a little differently than the regular chorus performances.

It only showcased the Concert Choir, rather than having every class sing a few songs. Unlike the annual chorus concert, the opera show consisted of more solo songs than group Opera is an extended dramatic composition, in which all parts are sung to instrumental accompaniment, that usually includes arias, choruses, and recitatives, and that sometimes includes ballet. The opera performed by the MHS Concert Choir, was accompanied with piano played by Todd Cole, the instructor. The night of opera music was successful according to the members of the chorus and they would definitely try it again. According to junior Joshua Gaviola, the opera night “was a fun experience, to be able to try something new and out of the ordinary was fun.”

Senior Anielly Zeferino was a little nervous about perforiming a solo; she sang the opera song, “O Mio Babbino Caro.” According to Cole, the opera night was much more informal, which made everybody, including Zeferino, much more comfortable and calm.

At the Spring Concert, the chorus sang many songs including “Acapella Overtures,” “Sure On This Shining Night,” “What The World Needs Now,” “Nothin’ Gonna Stumble My Feet,” and more. These songs featured the Concert Choir.

This upcoming year the MHS choral arts society is recruiting many people to join, because of the loss of seniors this year. According to Gaviola, anyone can join, even if their voice isn’t developed yet because “[the chorus] has an excellent conductor who will make good use of new talent, even if it has yet to shine,” referring to the director Todd Cole.

This year senior Anielly Zeferino is graduating and is sad to be leaving the MHS choral arts society. She is proud to be part of the chorus and believes that the chorus will stay strong if “[the underclassmen] keep trying their hardest, because all that hard work will certainly pay off in the end, and if they don’t work hard, they will regret it.” She wants her fellow choir friends to continue moving forward and to enjoy their time in chorus, it is a time they won’t forget.

The soprano range, including ssenior Anielly Zeferino, sophomore Han Troung, sophomore Stephanie Joseph, sophomore Sherri Zhen, senior Patti McClenthen, senior Amaliena Phonesavanh, sophomore Jessica Memmolo, senior Emily Pidel, senior Maya Rogers, sophomore Cori Malone, junior Kassandra Toppi, sophomore Patricia Seun, senior Clarissa Henebury, singing a song at the opera performance. Photo by Jason Drapinski

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CREW ROWS DOWN TO THE RIVER

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s the spring sports season comes to a close here at Malden High School, the MHS crew team is getting ready for the last races that they will row together as a team.

Although the team has been going through some obstacles this past year, they managed to overcome these obstacles and are still able to bond as a team while cherishing their final days together. As freshman Sebastian Patino stated, “We have had our ups and downs. But again we have changed because everyone gets along with pretty much everyone.”

As the year comes to a screeching halt for some, this year the crew team is ending on a positive note.

With several new teammates and a hard working, positive attitude present in everyone, the team has much to look forward to for next year.

“After [the Greater Boston League race] everything has gotten stronger and better with the crew team,” Patino explains. “Athletic-wise but also family-wise. We have grown to really be friends with everyone and we really have created a sort of family atmosphere.”

This year for the crew team, there have been a lot of improvements. Freshman Julie Lam stated, “We’ve definitely act more of a family now and all the new rowers are improving. I don’t really know

The crew team taking their group photo at GBLS. Photo by Johanna Lai about last year, but I do know is that there was a tremendous amount of new rowers than last years.”

The team spent much of their time keeping busy getting ready for their largest event of the year: the 2nd Annual Moose at the Malden River, created by Math teacher and co-head coach Sarah Jones. Moose involves the team racing against 12 other teams who are from the New England area. The 12 teams are: Waynflete (which is a city from Maine), Vermont Academy, Yarmouth, Medford, Boston, Somerville, Mystic Valley Charter School,

Arlington/Belmont, Bedford, Holyoke, G-Row and B-Row, both from Boston, where they hold crew as a club.

According to co-head coach and science teacher, Shauna Campbell, she stated “there are more teams this year who are . . . from [other] states [that came] to Malden to race.”

On May 20, 2012, the Malden crew team went face-to-face against the 12 teams, and was able to take second place for the Boys Varsity Eight boat and the Girls’ Novice eight boat.

Crew 2012 Photo Collage. Collage Credit: Johanna Lai and Jessica Lynn DePaula. All photos by Johanna Lai

In the Boys Varsity Eight, were senior captain Manny Martinez, junior captain James Hickey, juniors Daniel McClenthen, Mohammed Anwar, Kevin Bui, Alan Nie, Daniel Doza, and sophomores John Hastings and Tyler Zeng. Martinez stated, “We feel tremendously excited; it is our first medaling race! I, personally, couldn’t be more proud of my team. We have all worked so hard these past couple of weeks and it feels good to finally be rewarded.”

For the girls’ novice eight team, the members of the boats who won second place on that boat that day were junior Cassandra Jimenez, freshman and Blue and Gold member Amanda Moraes, freshman Samantha Kiernan, sophomores Catalina Arredondo, Bestine Cong, Nicole Santorelli, Ashley Paniagua and Ghita Jauhari.

On May 27, 2012, the team went to the States Tournament that took place in Lowell. However, they did not do as well as they expected with the only the Boys Varsity Four Boat which consisted Hastings, Doza, Nie, Hickey and Bui qualifying for the finals and were placed in fifth out of the six boats who were racing on that day. Freshman Kelvin Nguyen stated “ Even though we did not win every single event I believe that the team did amazing due to the fact that we never gave up and we made improvements along the way.”

As the season comes to an end, they will only lose one senior, Martinez next year. Martinez will truly be missed by the crew team. Next year, the team is hoping that they will improve on the techniques that they learned on the boatside as a team.

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Amos Leads Softball to Top Seed in States Malden High Softball becomes Greater Boston League Champions for the fifth year in a row

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near perfect season has come to an end for the Malden High School softball team as they finished with a final record of 17-1. The team’s only loss came against Lynn Classical on Apr. 29, 2012, allowing them to earn the fourth-best ranking in Massachusetts and the top seed in the state tournament.

They clinched a spot in the state tournament with the Greater Boston League (GBL) championship for the fifth year in a row. The team’s first tournament game comes on Sat, June 2 at Callahan Park.

The team will be losing four seniors when the season comes to an end. The three senior captains and GBL All-Stars, Kiara Amos, Rebecca Krigman, and Emily Hoffman as well as Blue and Gold member Brittany McFeeley. Head Coach John Furlong said, “Next year, we return six starters and a very talented bench to go along with a great freshman class, so the future looks good.”

There has been success throughout the whole program with no signs of stopping, including an undefeated season by the freshman team.

Plenty of the team’s success was from star pitcher Kiara Amos, who pitched all 18 games and threw a nohitter in the team’s “slaughter rule” victory against Somerville earlier in the year. Going into the tournament with all this hype would make most high school athletes feel a great deal of pressure, but Amos is confident that her team can get through it. She commented, “sometimes I feel pressure to be perfect and to get out of tough innings…going to the state tournament, I feel it will be a lot more pressure, but I think that my team and I can get through it.”

With Hoffman and Amos’ chemistry together, the team should have nothing but confidence as their first playoff game approaches. “I feel like we have the potential to win the whole thing,” Amos commented.

With all the success the team has had, Furlong is keeping the girls level-headed and is not letting them get over-confident about being the top seed. Amos stated, “he tells us that going [into the playoffs] everyone is undefeated and there are no second chances.”

What Furlong tells the girls is very true because in the tournament if a team loses one game, they are eliminated. Aside from Amos, Hoffman, and Krigman leading the team into the tournament, Amos gave a lot of credit to the underclassmen, who play key roles to the team.

Junior Bridget Furlong has hit a home run as well as another walk-off hit this season. Amos commented, “I think Bridget’s hitting has improved a lot this season, she helped us win a couple of games at the plate,” Amos stated. “[Junior] Erika Hanson has also helped out a lot in the field and at the plate this season.

Scan the QR Code above to visit our wesite for an update on the results of the state tournament.

Left Column (top to bottom) Senior tri-captain Emily Hoffman, Junior Emily Moran, and Junior Jessalynne Brown. In the middle Column, Junior Marissa Lally and Junior Erika Hanson. Right Column Senior tri-captain Kiara Amos, Junior Hannah Calderone, and Junior Melissa Light. All photos taken by PJ Montezuma

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Outstanding Record, Outstanding Team

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fter a long season full of suc- the whole team. cess, the Malden High School As successful as this season baseball team finished off with a was, the nearing of states also sigrecord of 15-5. With highlights in- nifies the nearing of the end of the cluding freshman Mike Morris and season which will ultimately result sophomore Philip Glynn moving in the loss of seniors as they graduup to the varsity level, the upcom- ate in June. Carpenito expressed ing seasons look hopeful as there that “replacing the seniors will be are a “good group of guys coming hard. As a group, they have been back [next spring],” according to great leaders and it shows in our head coach Kevin Carpenito. Along record.” He praises seniors Teal, with the highlights of the team the Adam Lucey, and Bradley Applin players all share memorable mo- for showing much improvement ments such as winning the games over the four years they have been that qualified them for the state playing baseball at MHS. However, tournament.

Carpenito also added, “there will be As Carpenito reflects back on a good group of guys returning in the season, he expressed that “the upcoming seasons” which will help only one downfall [the team] had to ensure the success of the team in this year was losing the GBL game seasons to come. against Everett.” Despite this loss, Teal reveals that he too will the team enjoyed the feeling of miss the team and being able to success in the games that they play. Although Teal will miss had won playing with the team, “[he] will a g a i n s t also miss “Carp” (a nickname of other teams in Carpenito), as he has been a great the Greater Boston coach throughout the season.”

League (GBL). As stat- Along with this feeling of leaved by sophomore Philip ing the team once the season Glynn, “the highlights this is over, Teal also expressed [past] season by that he far have been all “the team spirit exhibted by f e e l s the wins we’ve the team this [past] season was strongstacked up… ly in the great and the seniors added a and [he] can’t seasons to come forget about all lot to that, in fact, they gener- because the the moonshots ated that strong team bond” team has been that have been strong in hit by [junior] this past Nick Powers, [seniors] Austin season, which shows in their Teal, Spencer Aguiar and qualifying for states record, [junior] Chuck Gib- and Teal feels they will conson.” As senior tinue to do well. Although the captain Teal team plans to do well in seawould confirm, his “fa- sons to come, Glynn feels like, vorite memory [is] beating Medford “when the seniors leave, [the team] twice.” This can be considered a will be losing a lot of raw talent,” great victory for the team due to the because most of the seniors have fact that Malden and Medford have been playing since their freshman always been longtime rivals. These year. wins gave the team the motivation Even though the season ended, they needed to continue winning Glynn states, “the team spirit exhibgames in order to qualify for the ited by the team this [past] season state tournament. was great and the seniors added a Even though there have been lot to that, in fact, they generated many great achievements this sea- that strong team bond.” son, Carpenito explains that “hopeWith a 15-5 final record, the fully we haven’t had our greatest team, graduating seniors, and achievement yet and we can end Carpenito can reflect back on this the season with 15 wins.” past season knowing they accomOut of all the years that plished their goal. Regardless of Carpenito has been the record, Carpenito strives to, coaching the greatest num- “see improvement of the players in ber of wins the team has the team everyday which was true achieved was 15, so to reach throughout the season as it shows that goal again would be a great ful- in [the team’s] successful record.” fillment of not only Carpenito, but Clockwise from top right: Junior Charles Gibson fielding, junior Nick Powers pitching, senior Spencer Aguiar batting, senior captain Austin Teal catching, and Gibson swinging at the ball, senior captain Austin Teal running the bases.

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Boys Tennis: Serving for Success

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he Malden High School boys tennis team ended their season with an 8-7 record and and a spot in the state tournament. Led by head coach Jayson Payeur and senior co-captains Matteo Pocobene and Christopher Li, the team prepares for their upcoming first-round tournament match. With a record slightly above .500, they will not have a bye in the first round and will face-off against second-seeded Wayland on June 2, 2012.

Even with the coaching changes over the past few years, the team has proved to be strong, qualifying for the tournament for the last two years.

In preparation for this match, Payeur is having his team work on “their baseline ground strokes” because Wayland will surely be play-

ing a fast game with baseline rallies.

They will “also be working on their serves,” because consistency is key when unforced errors can make or break a match.

Payeur believes that the team has most improved on “team chemistry, and communication in doubles.” The game of doubles is much different from singles in many respects. With four players on the court, the points become shorter due to the net game and angles over winners. The two varsity doubles teams, freshman Piero Pocobene and Li, and senior Dennis Chin and junior Evans Liang have displayed “big improvements on being able to move the ball cross court, and down the line with ball placement,” according to Payeur.

The leaders of the team have proved crucial over the last few years, partly because of the changing in coaching every year. Payeur credits captains Li and Pocobene who “always have something positive to say before and after every match.”

Another important leader is senior Daniel Rendon who has played “a huge factor in vocal leadership” this season. These three seniors all

Photos by Natalie Fallano and Amalia Quesada Nylen.

played singles this year for the first time, stepping into important roles and fulfilling them with great success.

Payuer expressed, “this was my first team to coach, and to make playoffs as a first-timer felt great.”

He plans to continue coaching next year and focus on “rebuilding, because we are graduating almost everyone who was varsity this year.

Payeur plans to “focus on doing more drills throughout the season, and have a better conditioning preseason for next year.”

There have been many wins, losses, and close matches that he “looks forward to going to practices with the guys.” After losing almost their entire varsity line up last year and their coach, the team was still able to make the state tournament while rebuilding, and that is an achievement within itself, proving adjustment is the key to success.

“Honestly, every single player on this team has contributed equally to this goal, and we look forward to playing our hearts out against a strong Wayland team,” senior Blue and Gold member Omar Khoshafa finishes.

Scan the QR Code above to visit our wesite for an update on the results of the state tournament.

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Making History As GBL Champions Visit our website maldenblueandgold.com for updates on their match in the first round of States.

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s the season comes to a close, the Malden High School girls tennis team are sad to leave, but excited to start out fresh next year.

Overall, they had a great season, becoming Greater Boston League champions for the first time in school history, and now they are proudly going to states. Their first round of States will be agaisnt Swampscott High School in hopes of continuing into further rounds of the State tournament.

They have done extremely well. Coach Pettit’s only complaint about this season was the weather,

“because [they] missed so many days, practicing...” and also game rescheduling because of the weather.

The only improvements Pettit could think of, were that they were losing two seniors, so they would need to fill those spots, and practice hard to keep on doing as well as they have been. She also tells us, “[She loves] tennis, and [loves] being their coach.” Also that there is something about coming out of the winter and getting out there to play a spring sport that brings the girls closer together. When asked what she would change about this season,

Pettit says “Nothing, we’re perfect, it’s been a great season.”

The unity on the team is great as well as their drive to do better.

Sophomore Naiya Kapadia describes her excitement to play again in the following years and she is most looking forward to the new upcoming freshman.

Kapadia states that she “...can’t wait to meet them, and see them all tryout” proving they have what it takes to be a great addition to the team. Kapadia and a fellow team member, sophomore Sherri Zhen, describe their most fond memory

MHS’ girls tennis team. Top left: Junior Lisa DeLacey Bottom left: Sophomore Christine Le Top middle: Blue and Gold member Natalie Fallano Bottom middle: Wendy Tse Top right: Senior Vivian Le Bottom right: Sophomore Thao Pham All photots by Johanna Lai.

of the season being when the team came together to give coach Pettit a marathon jacket and congratulate her for completing the marathon.

The team displays a bond and family-like spirit in each and every one of the girls in their performance during practices their matches.

While wrapping up the season is always bittersweet, the Malden High School girls tennis team has done a great job and had a great season to show for.

The team has succeeded in making Coach Pettit and Malden High proud.

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Sweat, Sweat, Sweat, and Sweet Victory Record: 3-1 Left: Junior Kristina Thorne preparing to run the 100 meter hurdle against Somerville at the GBL meet. Middle: Kristina Thorne catching up to the opponents. Right: Regine Borgella and Regine Exume preparing to start sprinting.

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xhaustion, perspiration, and determination for running has never been an ending process for the girls track team as they work hard to the end of the season. Above all their strenuous work, some runners are still ambitiously prepared to transition into summer running.

Nothing greater can match up to the confidence the girls have had as a team this season. Proof of the team’s improvement this season were their meets against Cambridge, usually a very tough opponent for the track team in general, but the girls gathered up their efforts and were able to beat them. All in all, the team have unveiled a new level of running and have implemented an even higher level of hope into the members of the team.

One major motivation for the girls track runners is breaking their personal record.

Sophomore Jacqueline Bouley mentioned, “[She tries] to run faster than the last time every time [she runs] a race, and [she] always think[s] of long term goals such as qualifying for states, placing in division, qualifying for national silver standards, etc.”

Junior member Iris Feng shared her opinion and said, “Running is an individual challenge unlike other team sports…Breaking my personal record is my goal during every race and workout. [Coach David Londino] always says you won’t regret as long as you try your hardest but he taught us to never be satisfied with what we have because that will keep us from reaching our potential.”

The feedback from the team reflecting off their joyous season is presented among all the members despite any negatives they had to endure over the season. Londino said, “I do my best to teach the athletes that character, above all else, is most important in sports and life.

As far as impact is concerned this is my main goal and I hope it impacts the way they live their lives now and in the future.”

Not only does Londino generously offer his advice, but also reacts to an unfortunate departure of one of his star members. When asked about senior captain Haley DeFilippis, who is in her twelfth and final season, Londino stated, “who she is as a runner, leader, and person is extremely impressive, and I’m just hoping our young runners are watching her and learning from her while she’s here.”

Ending with a record of 3-1,

the track team has had a great season. Qualifiers for states in the 800 meters race include Bouley and Lauren Benoit. Bouley mentioned how “…the freshmen girls as a whole have really improved. They have all stepped up and dedicated themselves since they started and [she] can’t wait to see what else they can do as they continue track [and] cross country.”

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Pow! Crash! Boys Track is a Smash!

Heroes on the Track: Many runners sent to Invitationals and States

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he Malden High School boys track team has ended a successful season with a record of 3-1.

Unfortunately, their second meet against Cambridge, an unexpected loss, ended their Greater Boston League (GBL) champion title. Disappointment flooded the air, but the team stuck together and stayed strong. Overall, they have improved and worked hard throughout the season. Even with the construction at McDonald Stadium, the team was not fazed and practiced just as hard to beat Medford at their last meet.

The boys are still optimistic and preparing for summer running.

The past few meets were invitationals for runners that qualified and for the relay team. The boys 4×100 relay team did very well with a record of 53.32 seconds with senior runners Eddie Fisher, O’Shane McCreath, junior Franklin Huynh, and freshman Ralph Dupervil. Many runners at invitationals beat records and made it to states the following weekend. McCreath and Huynh qualified for states in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. McCreath also placed sixth place at the Division 1 state meet. Fisher and Dupervil also qualified for states in the 400 meter hurdles. Dupervil also qualified for the 110-meter hurdles and became ranked number one freshman in New England in the 110-meter hurdles with a record of 16.09 seconds and in the 400-meter hurdles with a record of 60.6 seconds. For

the distance team, senior Yusuf Mohamed qualified for the Division 1 meet for the two-mile race. It was an exciting moment for many runners who qualified for invitationals or states and for runners who also beat their personal records. Especially the seniors because they will not be returning to the team.

Even though the season has come to an end, many runners still practice so that they can maintain their running abilities and improve.

Taking a few days or weeks off from running can really make a difference on performance later on if an athlete decides to run again. That is why most of the runners try to continue to train regularly. The next season is cross country so they are in the process of running longer to prepare themselves and to build their stamina. Many of the runners

switch to running for hours instead of their usual jog during track.

There are many seniors departing now that the end of the season has arrived. They will be dearly missed, but their impact will withstand the test of time. For example, senior William Wong has provided his “leadership” to the freshman in the mile and two mile, says Coach David Londino. He helped many of the freshman build their stamina.

Many other seniors have also made an impact on the team.

With the season being officially over the boys track team will take a break and then get ready for summer running coming up. They are very proud of each other for putting in all their effort this season and for ending strong. Many of the boys are very dedicated and strive to get better for future seasons.

Clockwise starting at top left: freshman David Kelley, Senior Eddie Fisher, freshman Berhanu Tsige, freshman Jonathan Ye, senior O’Shane Mccreath, sophomore Raymond Chen

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Most Successful Season yet S

ince the beginning of the season, it is evident that the Malden High School boys lacrosse team has made a vast improvement in their technique. Physically and mentally, the team was prepared to win any game; this season, they asserted their prior knowledge and used it to advance forward.

Because the team progressed with great ease in the season, the ultimate goal of “giving back” to the game came naturally, according to Coach Brendan Maney. This season may have brought a change to the overall game. With more confidence and luck, the next season will hopefully bring more success.

Because many victories have been made, it is especially important to keep the team strong and whole.

According to senior Justin Pham, their goal included “[becoming] a better team by working [together].”

Due to this logic, the team has excelled in their games.

Although the loss of the seniors will bring sadness to the team, Maney explained that the end of the season is “bittersweet.”It is important to remember that the skill and knowledge that all the members

have gained will always be there.

Their absence will have a strong impact on the team seeing as it was the seniors who scored the majority of the goals. But rather than see this as a negative, Maney sees it as an “opportunity for other players.” As for the seniors, Maney hopes that they have learned to appreciate the beauty of what a functional team truly means, and to successfully recognize that it is “a skill working with other people.”

Senior captain Daniel Glynn believes that the key to success is to “act like a team,” tightening their relationship as a whole.

Although approximately half of the team will be leaving this year, Maney has developed fond memories with them, as well as with the rest of the team. When asked about his favorite memory, Maney stated that “[he can not] give a specific moment.” He claims that the season was a “collection of small successes that will never show up on a scorecard,” but that some of his proudest moments were when he saw the athletes “exceed goals they set for themselves.”

There is also a sense of accom-

Junior Paul Kiernan making an option for a pass from a teammate. All photos and collage design by Sumya Mohiuddin plishment knowing that the “[the team] had [their] most successful season.” The team won a total of six games but Maney believes that playing a sport is not about the wins and losses but rather “how you win and lose, and what you learn from it.” At the end of the day, Maney believed that the “[number of] goals do not determine success.”

However, thinking towards next season, Maney hopes that more student athletes participate so that there is “more growth in the game.”

He also hopes to give the players

more exposure and opportunity to better themselves and grow as athletes.

To future varsity players, Maney does not want to see his team change for the game, but rather, his highest hopes is to see is his players “be the best of them.”

Although the season has come to an end, the boys lacrosse team will always benefit from Maney’s word of advice and the previous seasons that have made them who they are.

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The Malden High Girls Lacrosse team began the season with a new coach and finishes the season strong. All photos and collage design by Megan Kelly.

Playing with a Purpose

The girls lacrosse team overcame adversity this season but stayed united as a team to make many improvements and accomplishments. This season the girls lacrosse team defeated Melrose in one of two Mayor’s Cup games.

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his past lacrosse season certainly came with unpredictable weather and events. With games in the chilliest weather or hottest days, the girls continuously played through to the end. Even with the loss of the team’s greatest patron, Mr. Paul Famiglietti, the girls toughed it out as a team.

Though “Mr. Fam” is no longer with us, he was not far from the minds of those of Malden High School, particularly the lacrosse team. Fam’s loss, greatly motivated the girls to keep united and as their new coach Caitlin Germain claimed “play with a purpose.” This season’s past events created a bond between the girls, each of them carried the same heavy heart and knew the way forward was to “stick to together and get through it,” says junior goalie Christina Ascolillo.

Their new found inspiration enabled the girls to strengthen their efforts during games and at practice. Under Coach Germain the girls worked to perfect their “defense,

defense, defense,” says junior Maria Gil. The team also worked on their offense, utilizing the space and not “trying to force shots,” says Ascolillo.

Receiving a new coach can be difficult; however Coach Germain really got the girls into great shape, and created chemistry on the team that can be seen during the intense games. The girls also focused on improving their “stick skills,” especially the girls on attack which include juniors Anita Caceda, Danielle Aguinaldo, Amanda Ramsey, and Maria Gil explained Coach Germain.

Despite the team’s record of 2-15 with wins against Melrose and Cambridge, the girls worked extremely hard this season and with great dedication. The team’s victory in the Mayor’s Cup was a major highlight of the season. The team faced a number of challenges throughout this lacrosse season, especially pertaining to the injuries of their teammates. With no direct cause of the injuries that plagued the

team during the season, junior Joyce Ly claims “it was just unlucky.”

With a lack of players from ineligibility and injury, finding substitutes was a great challenge during games.

However, the team was able to push through these difficulties and finish up their season united.

The end of the season means a farewell to their fellow senior team mates. For most of the seniors, lacrosse has been their favorite sport for years. At the end of the spring sport season, seniors Commie Ayuk, Stacey Sousa, Malorie MacDonald, Brittany Powers, and Ana D’Entremont will be graduating.

After a new and exciting season, the girls will genuinely miss the glue to their team and feel that the “lacrosse season will not be the same without them” claimed junior Maria Gil sadly. Nevertheless, next season, girls lacrosse will be returning a great number of juniors and sophomores who now have great experience and will be ready to overcome any challenges faced.

Scan the QR Code above to visit our wesite for videos of the girls lacrosse team this season and interviews with senior and junior team members.

Also check out senior profiles on spring student athletes from each team.

36 vivian le

SPORTS Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Christopher li

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s a senior this year, time is flying and the days are numbered.

Vivian Le, a varsity tennis player, was also a gymnast and a track runner.

After going through 10 different sports to find the right one for her, Le finally landed on tennis, and “tennis is it.” The unity of the team, she tells us, is one of her favorite aspects of tennis at Malden High.

Of all memories of tennis, her most memorable are the doubleheaders against the Everett Tennis team, where both the girls and boys played against them at the same time. She states, “... it was always a great learning experience when watching the guys play because they were so much better than us.”

Le mentioned that of all she will miss about tennis, the team is what she’ll miss the most. She says they have gotten very close and plans on coming back to visit. Because tennis has been so important to Le, she tells us, she definitely plans on playing after High School.

In the fall Le plans on attending Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to take their Diagnostic Medical Sonography program. At Malden High, she says that Physics with Mr.Morrison was her favorite class. ”Mr.Morrison made the class all the more fun and his way of teaching really helped [her] learn the material,” says Le. High school was a great experience for Le. She stated that she expected high school to be totally different, like high school is depicted in movies and plays.

But, Le was in for quite a surprise and says “... everyone is so close here and [she’s] going to miss all that.” Le concluded that she “wouldn’t change a thing” and is very happy she chose to go have her high school experience at Malden High School.

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

or senior captain Christopher Li, tennis is not a hard part of his life to love. “I live, breathe, and [am] it,” he proudly stated. Li has played tennis for Malden High School since his freshman year, and he definitely will miss it next year as he starts a new chapter of his life in college. A favorable memory that most would probably find surprising, Li stated “my favorite moment with the team so far has to be the ultimate frisbee we play in the gym when the rain took away our practice outside. It really allows the team to have fun and bond with one another more.”

With the addition of a new coach to the team, Li has proven to be a strong captain in facing the adversity, and helping both his coach and team find success. “Christopher Li [has] been [an] outstanding leader and [has] been willing to support the team and myself in any way possible,” new coach Jayson Payeur stated.

This season, Li has faced a

major problem with consistency. “It is sometimes frustrating to get the hang of one thing and not another each day. One day you could do amazingly well, but not another you might not get a serve or ground stroked,” he stated. However, Li has not let this challenge defeat him. He follows the motto of “practice makes perfect” to the full extent, always looking on the bright side and working hard to improve. “Instead of getting frustrated and nowhere, why not get practice until you get better so it will not happen?” Li stated.

Although Li has enjoyed his time here at MHS, one regret he had would be his grades. “If I could go back to freshman year, and change something, it would be my academics. I have decent grades, but they could have been better,” he stated.

Tennis is a huge part of Li’s life, but he is involved in other activities that he balanced in his life smoothly.

Concerning sports, Li is also a member of the MHS track team, and he is a dedicated student here at MHS. “Sports are important, but academics determine your life,” he stated. Although he enjoys all of his subjects equally, if he had to pick his favorite, it would be science because “all of those experiments in science

class were always so awesome.” In his spare time, Li also practiced origami, a hobby that he finds “calming and relaxing.”

According to Li, “it might sound corny, but a person can understand when they get so involved in a sport that it becomes a part of them.” He plans to continue his passion for tennis in trying out for the Wentworth Institute of Technology team, the school in which he will be attending this fall.

manny martinez

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enior captain Manny Martinez is ending his final year of crew at Malden High School as crew captain. When Martinez joined crew, he thought it was “an enduring challenge, but it was very motivational.”

During his freshman year, Martinez was convinced to join crew because of head coach and math teacher, Sarah Jones, and has stuck to the sport ever since. Martinez said that being in his final season of crew is “really upsetting.” Martinez stated, “I am going to miss my coaches tremendously. Besides that, I could not be more proud of everyone this season. Their efforts and hard work have been stupendous.”

As his final season of crew at MHS comes to an end, Martinez has decided to continue crew when he goes to college. Martinez stated, “With any luck, I will be a coxswain for the team. I gained a great deal of experience in coxing over the past couple of years.” A coxswain is the person who is in charge of the boat during the crew practices and races.

MHS science teacher and cocrew coach, Shauna Campbell had some good words to say about Martinez. Campbell, who has known him since his freshman year, (which was also her second year of coach-

ing the MHS crew), stated that “Martinez is a very caring person, a motivated student and a dedicated athlete.” According to Campbell, Martinez was described during his freshman year of crew as “small, outspoken and very talkative.” By the end of his sophomore year, he was double the size he was in his freshman year and was promoted from a coxswain to a rower. Not only that, Campbell also stated” Martinez also started to gear the things that he is more interested such as art, and science.”

Senior Nathan Urban, who has been a close friend of Martinez since third grade at Beebe School, had some good things to say about him since he is one of his favorite fellows at MHS as well. Urban stated that “[he] would describe Manny as an amazing individual who only wants to surround himself with joy. He is always open to any suggestions and easy to compromise with and get along with, so I bet that makes him an amazing captain of the crew team.“ Urban also described how Martinez is “the person to be around with if you are looking for some laughs, he is always ready to do anything, even when he is sick. He would never be one to hold a grudge over anything, and if he ever has a problem with anyone, he makes sure everything is cleared up as fast as possible,” Urban continued, “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Manny, and,

quite frankly, he’s probably one of my favorite fellow students at Malden High School.” Coincidentally, Urban will be with Martinez when they both go to college next fall.

His favorite moment of his time being on the crew team was in his freshman year. Martinez described” When I was a freshman, I was a coxswain for the girls varsity boat. We were rowing on the Charles River for the Greater Boston League and a boat behind us had flipped over a couple of meters before the finish line. The girls in my boat started screaming, and I had no clue what was going on.”

Next fall, Martinez will be going to UMass Lowell, where he will be majoring in physical therapy as part of a DPT (Doctoral of Physical Therapy) program. Even though Martinez will be graduating from MHS, he has new plans and adventures just around the corner as he explores onto the next chapter of his life.

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

SPORTS Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Emily Hoffman

Adam Lucey

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mily Hoffman is one of three captains on this year’s girl’s softball team for Malden High School.

Hoffman started playing softball when she was seven years old, and has loved it ever since. At MHS she is the starting catcher. Growing up, she was a pitcher and played shortstop, “I’ve been catching since I was about 12 or 13 I tried catching randomly one day during practice and I’ve been catching ever since.” Hoffman plays softball year round but, but she also plays field hockey in the fall. When she is not hitting the books or playing softball, Hoffman enjoys hanging out with friends and relaxing.

Teammate and close friend Bridget Furlong stated, “she always keeps the team motivated in practice when we need it the most.” In the fall, Hoffman will be attending Endicott College in Beverly, MA. She is going to be an athletic trainer and will be playing softball for the school’s team.

Hoffman’s best memory from school was “definitely playing softball, we have all gotten so close and over the years and I’d definitely consider all of them to be some of my closest friends. “We have been through a lot together, but I love my team and it is been a great four years and I really wish I did not have to leave.”

Hoffman looks to her parents and her little sister for her inspiration. She commented, “they are the ones that have given up their summers on the beach to come watch me play softball in the middle of nowhere and not once have they ever complained about it.” She also stated “they have encouraged me to be the best person and best player that I can be and they think that I’m capable of doing whatever I set my mind to. I’m extremely thankful to have them around.”

The one thing Hoffman would like to do before she says her final farewells to MHS, is for her softball team to win the state title. “That would be a great way to end my career and I’m sure Kiara Amos, Rebecca Krigman, and Brittany McFeeley would say the same thing since we’re all graduating this year. But it’s still early so you never know,” she stated.

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or most new freshmen entering high school, the experience can seem very overwhelming, but graduating seniors would have the reaction of looking back and saying that their time at Malden High School was too short. Many seniors including senior Adam Lucey feels this way as his final year comes to a close here at MHS. With the year coming to a close, Lucey has high hopes for him and the MHS baseball team to achieve their goal of having a final record of 10-10 this spring season. This goal along with many others is of high importance to Lucey as he has been playing baseball “ever since [he] was three years old.” Although baseball took up most of his time this season, Lucey expressed that he “doesn’t really have any other interests besides sports.” This was clearly seen as Lucey describes how he has been playing baseball and football his freshman and senior year at MHS. Even his favorite memory at MHS has to

do with sports, which is “making the varsity football team [his] freshman year.” Considering sports is such an important part of Lucey’s life he “plans to play baseball when [he] goes to Fisher College in the fall this year.”

In choosing Fisher College, Lucey based his decision off of his love for media production considering, “it is [his] favorite subject in school.” Media production teacher James Valente spoke very highly of Lucey considering he has been Valente’s student for the past two years. Valente expressed that Lucey is, “. . . really personable and gets along well with people and this will be a positive thing working for him in whatever he does.” Along with Valente’s thought about Lucey’s personality, he also added that, “Lucey understands media. Everyone takes part in media, but not everyone knows what it means and Adam does.”

Also complementing Lucey is MHS baseball coach Kevin Carpenito stating that Lucey is a “true baseball player” and “a pleasure to coach.”

Carpenito has known Lucey for four years and has coached him on the varsity baseball team for three years.

“Starting since his sophomore year,

two years at second base and [then] moving over to shortstop. [Lucey] has gotten stronger in every aspect of his game, this is all due to the fact that he works hard year round to get better,” shares Carpenito.

Come June, Lucey and all the other seniors at MHS will graduate, but will hold on to their memories.

“I’m going to miss the people... teachers and my senior class,” expresses Lucey.

haley DeFilippis

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aley DeFilippis is a senior who has devoted 12 seasons to improve her running capabilities.

She has an enormous amount of dedication for her team, and shows it through how she communicates with her teammates.

DeFilippis aims for improvement at practice, and always tries her best. Her running skills have majorly skyrocketed along with her level of effort to achieve. Junior Iris Feng says, “Senior Haley DeFilippis is definitely the team’s role model.

She runs seven days a week and sometimes twice a day to improve her mileage and endurance. Her hard work is shown through her race times, especially in making states in the 1000 meters during indoor track and one mile against Somerville High School [on May 17th].”

Her favorite part of outdoor track is, “towards the end where there is always big competition,” and there are many talented people who run in attempt to surpass their personal record. In outdoor she runs 800 meters and the mile, but likes the mile better and never really had a main

event in outdoor. “800 meters is really fast and I feel like I’m more of a mid-distance runner,” as opposed to really quick or slow paced runs.

She ran three seasons every year since freshmen year, even including summer runs. That is 12 seasons total excluding the additional summer running. DeFilippis explained how she, “remembers that in middle school there are timed runs, [she]

loved it and thought it was fun.” Her favorite race is the 1000 meter run in indoor and her favorite season is cross country. “I [had] never joined a team that is so united and close,” proposed DeFilippis in great joy for the team she is with. Her goal is always to try to get personal record.

Part of the motivation is knowing that everyday she is getting closer to the goal she set up.

38 Yusuf Mohamed

SPORTS Profiles maldenblueandgold.com

Nathan urban

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ohamed has big plans to attend Newbury or Worcester State and becoming a transfer student at Temple University located in Philadelphia, where he plans on graduating from their dental program.

Mohamed explained that his role models are his little brother Dirir, his older sister Baydan, all of the runners on the track team, and lastly his coach. Each of them have had a big impact in his life and inspires him everyday.

With that being said he also has a lot of other interests such as drawing, biking, and playing soccer.

Mohamed is very engaged in sports and said that “all of his best memories all have to do with Malden High School sports.” During his freshman year he played football and rowed for the crew team on the boys varsity boat.

During states for crew he was able to catch his first crab, but unfortunately catching the crab caused the team to lose by three seconds.

Mohamed said that “[he] felt terrible because it was because of him [that they lost] but David, the varsity captain, gave [him] props for not giving up.”

Mohamed shares that the best memory would definitely be the outdoor track MIAA Division 1 Championship. Their 4x800 team was legendary and qualified for Nationals. Patrick Keough, Kelvin Tsang, Andrew Terenzi, and Mohamed ran an impressive 8:06 “destroying“ the GBL and high school record. He also shared that he is proud that coming 4th at states was one of his best memories. “Standing on the podium, with the three most influential guys he knows to date, had to be the proudest moment of [his] life.”

When it comes to track though Mohamed is passionate about continuing his track career in the future and making every minute he has left with his team worthwhile.

In the future he plans on qualifying in the Olympics in any distance event (preferably the 3k steeplechase). Mohamed finishes off by stating “it might seem impossible right now but who knows what I can achieve in college.”

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

s the school years come to an end, Malden High School will once again be bidding farewell to a group of seniors, a group who has faced troubles in the past, but have truly come together as a class.

Urban, who plays not only lacrosse, but also basketball and soccer, claims that his “high school experience has been amazing.” He began playing his freshman year, and has continued due to his genuine love for the sport.

His favorite part of the sport is that he is able to “release any amount of anger or excitement [he has] in a respectable way on the lacrosse field.” Although Urban has “[enjoyed] playing the sport,” he does not plan on continuing his lacrosse career next fall at UMass Lowell where he will be studying Electrical Engineering. He does, however, plan on donating all of his gear to the MHS lacrosse team “in an effort to help the team grow.”

As for the members of the team, Urban jokingly says that they are all “too cool for [him], but they still treat [him] like a brother on the field.” To him, being a senior means he should be doing the best he can during games, showing up to practice on time and

setting an overall good example for the younger members on the team. Urban believes he brings “an energetic attitude to practices and games,” in the hope of helping the team improve.

Urban is happy to be leaving MHS “because that means [he will] be moving on to something bigger and better.” Urban stated that out of everything in MHS, some of the things he will miss the most are the teachers, specifically Mr. Morrison, Mr.Berryman, and Ms. Doherty. Just as anybody who has passed through the halls of MHS, Urban claims all the people he has met over the past four years have “really shaped [him] into who [he is] today.” He is also grateful for the variety of people that MHS has exposed him to because he believes it has prepared him for the real world and has increased his ability to work well with others.

Urban encourages incoming freshman to join a sport because he has had such a great experience with the three he has participated in. He also believes they should make an effort to join as many clubs and participate in school activities because in his opinion, “there is a lot to do to keep Malden High students busy.” He also believes that doing a sport is beneficial to students because it keeps them in check. Urban jokes that “the hardest part about being a student athlete is definitely the ‘student’ part,” because he must have perfect attendance in

order to be able to play and have a ‘successful season.’”

Although it can be a challenge at times, Urban believes participating in a team sport is rewarding because he is able to play a sport he loves, meet new people, and stay in shape, all at the same time. Additionally, he enjoys the fact that “as you get closer and more comfortable with people you already know, you also gain a bit of chemistry with people you would not normally associate with.” He also stated that his teammates have treated him like “a brother.”

From freshman year to his senior year, Urban served as an example to others both on and off the field. And although saying goodbye is never easy, we can assure ourselves that this particular member of the class of 2012 has a bright future ahead, even if lacrosse is not part of it.

Anabette D’Entremont

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t is more than a bit chilly. Everyone on the girls varsity lacrosse team who was not lucky enough to keep themselves warm by running around the field during the game that day against Cambridge was huddling in on each other wishing for just one more layer of clothing to somehow magically appear on their body. Close to the sidelines watching the timer for the game was senior Anabette D’Entremont, lay-

ered in her goalie jersey with a sweatshirt and a pair of pink flip flops. If you ever need the game of lacrosse explained to you, or just a wonderful conversation, Anabette, or Ana, as she is nicknamed, is your girl.

“It’s days like these that I wish I was playing defense again,” D’Entremont stated as she rubbed her hands on her legs attempting to create some warmth; D’Entremont for most of her high school career, had played goalie, though for junior year she played a season as a defenseman. For D’Entremont, it is the excitement of the position: “knowing that I’m the last hope,” that draws her into the goalie net. She explained that being a “goalie is actually about body position and being able to cut off angles.”

Looking back at her years playing for Malden High School, D’Entremont decided her “favorite part is the people that [she] met, because they are some of the nicest people [she has] seen. [She feels] that lacrosse is a really welcoming sport...[it is] just like a family. Our new coach stepped up a lot because when we had Ms. Briggs she was like a mom to us and Ms. Fam too,” stated D’Entremont. One of the strongest bonds that D’Entremont has made on the team is with varsity

defenseman Commie Ayuk. The two girls met in middle school and have been almost inseparable since.

Even with the possible disappointment of not making the desired position on one of the two sports that D’Entremont plays, Ayuk has been a source of support: “she has always been the thing that keeps me up and keeps me going.”

D’Entremont’s plans for the future involve studying at Framingham State University, where she hopes to study psychology and later specialize in working with children who have special needs. Her interest in the field has also prompted her to be one of the founders of MHS’ Autism Awareness Club, “I have seen people around MHS, who do not understand autism and the different types of autism [there are], like Aspergers, and people [laugh] at students who they think are doing something strange, when in reality they don’t [understand] that…something else is going on with them.” D’Entremont’s personal connection to bringing awareness to Autism and related disorders is that one of her younger brothers was diagnosed with the Asperger’s, which is a part of the wider family of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her brother’s experiences were one of the prompting reasons behind her formation of the group.

The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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The Blue and Gold Graduation 2012

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The Blue and Gold would like to dedicate this edition of the newspaper