Key club lieutenant governor strives for improvement across schools
Dynamic duo: Sisters run cake business
Page 2 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA
Volume 71 No. 4
February 23, 2021
Expanded horizons: Tetv implements online sports broadcasting
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spoke.news
Students of the Year Philadelphia: Raising to find a cure
Courtesy Lily Norton
Putting the fun in fundraising: Students celebrate at the 2019 Students of the Year Philadelphia Banquet. People gathered to hold up signs displaying the total amount raised by all the teams.
Jui Bhatia
Staff Reporter In 2018, nearly 18,000 people had been diagnosed with cancer in Philadelphia alone, and most of these types of cancer do not have a cure yet, but students from and around Philadelphia can all do their part to help in the cause through Students of the Year Philadelphia. Students of the Year Philadelphia is a fundraising competition that lasts about seven weeks, where the highest raising team gets named the Students of the Year Philadelphia.
The participating students raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, which invests these funds to find a cure for cancer. Each team has one or more candidates with some team members that help them fundraise. Most candidates are raising in honor of a loved one who has been through cancer, and junior Sophia Mabilais has a similar motivation and is running with Zoe Davies. “I’ve had relatives, family, friends and just overall loved ones that have dealt with cancer and the hardships of it, and you can really see
how much (of a struggle) it can be,” Mabilais said. “I just want to spread awareness and help my community, and not just the community because LLS is global.” Raising $25 - $300 will grant a donation directly to research. If a participant raises anywhere from $1000 to $5000, they can donate this to a more specific research program of their choice.” Any team that raised over $10,000 can donate that money to help a specific person or to a specific type of research. Sophomore Rennie Hoey, who is working with Riley
Holzapfel, points out the other general uses of these funds. “All (these funds) also go to raising awareness,” Hoey said. “They not only use the money for research but also to inform others of what this foundation is and what this type of cancer is.” In addition, Mabilais stresses the importance these funds have and the difference they make for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. “I know that there’s other cancer money raising programs but honestly, I think the thing about LLS is that it’s very student involved,” Mabi-
lais said. “In other programs it’s really just adults and they bring in the children but this is really like the students are doing the work here.” Sophomore Sejal Kaushik, who is raising in honor of her grandfather, echoes the sentiment. “3 years ago, my grandfather passed away from leukemia,” Kaushik said. “So when I was presented with this opportunity, because I’ve seen what happened to our family and the effects it had on everyone, I thought it would be a good way to participate and do some-
thing to make an effort.” Sophomore Lily Norton, who fundraised last year, and is on the Junior leadership team this year, talks about her experience and connection to the cause. “My motivation was that my cousin had leukemia when she was younger. And I feel like I know a lot of people who have been affected by blood cancer. So it’s just a really good cause to donate to and help find a cure since a lot of people are affected by it, especially young kids,” Norton said. “My friend told me about the (Junior Leader-
ship team) and so I was like this sounds so fun. It’s also such an amazing thing to do, especially through the Leukemia Lymphoma Society who had helped my cousin when she was sick with money and things like that.” Recognizing how tough it might be to fundraise this year, Norton encourages all the fundraising teams. “It’s very fun, and I had so much fun doing it, and it’s for such a good cause and just know that every single dollar you raise is helping,” Norton said. “No matter how much you raise, it will help someone who needs it.”
Literary magazine The Folio wins NSPA All-American rating
Zakiyah Gaziuddin/The SPOKE
Staff favorites: One of current literary editor and senior Angeline Ma’s favorite pieces in the issue is the painting “Pavarti del Cardellino” by Class of 2020 graduate and previous art editor Monisha Gupta. Ma particularly liked the way Gupta’s piece fused different cultural elements together.
Zakiyah Gaziuddin News Editor
For 53 years Conestoga’s literary magazine, The Fo-
lio, has been compiling and publishing literature and art produced by the student body. After working through unprecedented challenges,
the magazine managed to release its Spring 2020 issue for which it received an All-American rating from the National Scholastic Press
Association (NSPA). The rating is the highest of its kind and is awarded by judges that are made up of professional journalists to the best-scor-
ing publication during their critiques. Publications are scored in several categories including coverage, writing, and design. The magazine has
received the All-American rating in years past, most recently for its 2016-2017 issue. Continuing a tradition of framing each issue around a central concept, the editorial board settled on the theme of playlists as they found music to be a common source of comfort through the unfamiliar nature of the year. Because of the pandemic, the issue was released online in place of physical copies. Pieces were grouped into four playlists expressing different moods: “Wholesome Vibes”, “Emo Hour”, “Alternative/ Indie” and “Podcasts” Current managing editor senior Lydia Naser who’s been working with the magazine since her freshman year noted the group settled on the idea for something music-related right before abruptly having to leave the school building. Naser feels proud of what the magazine has accomplished and the importance of its consistent role as a creative outlet for students. “I think because of the high school format, lit mag really is kind of like a cycle of students and it’s always changing,” Naser said. “I think it’s really just kind of a sense of pride and just happiness that we’re continuing to explore creativity and get the students involved in ways that are effective and seem to be paying off.” Monisha Gupta, a graduate of the Class of 2020 and one of three art editors last year who worked together in organizing the pieces for the issue, agrees. She recognizes the ability of The Folio to bring both people and piec-
es together and admires the work it’s done. “As you’re putting this together just seeing naturally that pieces end up having the same sort of feeling, it’s like two puzzle pieces coming together that you just didn’t expect,” Gupta said. “It’s a great process of seeing that happen.” Junior Ashka Patel who currently serves as one of the magazine’s art editors remembers feeling a sense of pride while reading through the judge’s comments and seeing them take note of her pieces “Canyon” and “Forest.” “For me, personally, it makes me feel proud. She said that vivid colors were captured in my canyon’s photograph and the photo of the trees is a strong perspective so that made me feel really good,” Patel said. “I feel like, as a whole, the magazine, the entire staff, should be really proud.” Senior Angeline Ma, currently serving as one of the literary editors, although feeling like the Folio’s work is underappreciated, remarks on the high quality of student-led publications at ’Stoga. “I feel like the Folio is more underrated of a publication, especially in comparison to the Spoke. Both of them are just really astounding and reading through them, the calibers so high. I surprise myself when I remember that they’re just high school publications,” Ma said. “I would just like to see more people to submit to the Folio and read the Folio. The work that everyone puts into it is so great that I feel like you know, it would be a shame if people didn’t like the issues.”