Scriptura 2024-2025 by Pope John Paul II Preparatory School

Scriptura High School Literary Magazine

Scriptura

Pope John Paul II Preparatory School

117 Caldwell Drive Hendersonville TN 37075

www.popeprep.org

Editor Emily Parrelli

Director of Marketing Jennifer Smith

President Principal Dr Erick Chittle Jennifer Dye

Special Thanks

Department Chairs & Leadership Team

I am grateful for your wonderful ideas and support for the new vision of this magazine. Thank you for fostering a culture of excellence in everything, including writing, in each of your departments.

Emily Parrelli Editor

Cover Art by (from top left): Emma Johannes (‘26), Reese Davidson (‘27), and Lillian Alfieri (’27)

REVIVING A TRADITION

Letter from the Principal

From the desk of Jennifer Dye on the importance of writing accross the curriculum

5 Student Submissions

Contributions from students grades 9-12

9th Grade Poetry Project

From our 9 grade English classes, poetry inspired by famous poets th

World Languages

A film critique from one of our French 2 students

Desmos Math Designs

Art created by our Honors Algebra II students using inequalities and math functions

9th Grade Homilies

Students integrated the story of Job into a presentable speech

TJAS Science Research Papers

These papers were selected, presented, and honored by the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science

Humanities Research Elective

From our new, year-long college-level research course, a study on family dynamics

Senior Class of 2025 Reflections

An annual tradition, a selection of thoughts, words, and wishes from our newest alumni

Dear Faculty, Students, and Families,

It is with great pride that I introduce this year's literary magazine, showcasing the remarkable creative and scientific minds within our school community As I reflect on the diverse works contained here from poetry to scientific essays I am reminded of Pope John Paul II's observation: "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth "

One might think that the scientific mind is at odds with the artistic soul One seeks quantifiable data, the other, evocative expression Yet, I've learned that these two realms are not only compatible but deeply intertwined The meticulous observation required in scientific inquiry finds its parallel in the careful attention to detail that breathes life into a story or a poem The logical structuring of a research paper shares common ground with the deliberate crafting of an essay or a play

Our students have demonstrated this beautiful synthesis throughout this publication In their creative writing, they explore questions of human existence, love, and hope. In their scientific contributions, they investigate the natural world with rigorous inquiry and wonder. Both endeavors spring from the same source: a desire to understand and express truth.

Pope John Paul II said, "The human being is the one who seeks the truth." This seeking is evident in every piece submitted. Whether crafting a story or conducting research, our students participate in humanity's greatest adventure the pursuit of knowledge and meaning.

Their work embodies what the Holy Father called "the harmony between faith and reason." It demonstrates that intellectual curiosity and creative expression are complementary aspects of human flourishing, revealing what Pope John Paul II described as "the creative capacity with which God has endowed the human heart and mind."

To our contributing students: thank you for sharing your thoughts, discoveries, and imaginative visions. Your willingness to explore difficult questions enriches our entire community. This magazine proves that Catholic education at its finest cultivates both the analytical mind and the creative spirit, preparing students for lives dedicated to what Pope John Paul II called "the never-ending search for truth."

With admiration and gratitude,

Jennifer Dye, Principal

Pope Saint John Paul II Preparatory School

STUDENT SUBMISSIONS

Ra’Shad is a member of the Class of 2025 and a participant in our Hand in Hand Options Program. The program supports students with intellectual disabilities as an integrated part of our school. The program's goal is to make education in a Catholic school community available to students who would not be able to pursue a college preparatory program without intensive special education support.

Ra’Shad Hunter Class of 2025

The Water

poem by

Alie Walker, Class of 2028

the water veils over the mountains tracing the tallest treetops the water falling like tears, seeping down rocks, falls toward the creek washing away worries the water cascades toward the sea awakening the tranquil surface the water around everywhere connects the water follows the path for all who leave and all who don’t the water has strong currents, drowning down below the water an endless grave carrying who knows what the water is life and the water is death

Alie Walker Class of 2028

The Black Tower

short story

by Evelyn Stuart, Class of 2026

“Attention, all 13 years, please remain in your seat and do not walk around until you have been instructed to do so Thank you”

The intercom was old and yet to be replaced, so the message had a sort of screeching noise before going quiet. Peter ﬁddled with his white scarf, which was now tethered to the point of unraveling. He’d always been scolded for damaging his scarf. After all, you only had one white scarf throughout your entire childhood, and they never got replaced. The Black Ones had discussed a proposal to use money to afford more white scarves, but the Orange Ones said it would ruin the economy. That’s what they say, anyway.

Peter’s father never liked the Orange Ones. Truthfully, they were controversial for a lot of people With the economy in their hands, one might think that because the Orange Ones have yachts and everyone else has run-down cars, the Orange Ones have abandoned the Orthodoxy of Equality: “all Colors are equal” The Black Ones, however, are always there to give us the facts that everyone is economically equal “The Orange Ones are just as poor as us, and we are just as rich as them,” he remembered a Black One saying on TV once

Still, Peter’s father didn’t like them, and it didn’t help that the announcer for the Color Ceremony was an Orange One this year, a tall man with broad shoulders and wearing the standard Cloak of Wealth, a symbol of economic stability, with bright orange fabric and shiny buttons. Buttons were hard to ﬁnd a lot of times, since the Black Ones advocated instead for stitches and zippers because they were more practical. The Orange Ones, however, usually found a way around this rule.

Peter’s mother caressed his father’s hand. It was important to calm him down, because it was unorthodox to think that the Color system had unfairness It wasn’t dangerous to be unorthodox at home, but even hinting at dissatisfaction in public was risky, especially for people like his parents, who were always expected to be happy and satisﬁed Peter glanced to his right at the Red Ones, the guards, who ﬁrmly held their Equality Weapons

Abruptly, the Orange One had adjusted his microphone and began to speak,

“Gooooood morning, everyone! And now the Ceremony of Colors will begin. Will all 13 years please come up to the front row?”

Immediately, all the 13-year-olds got up, some of them hugging their little brother or sister one last time before going. Peter didn’t have a little sibling to hug, his family was too poor for another child.

There was a sense of tension in the air. No one knew what Color they would be assigned to, and it was always hard if one got put in a separate Color from their parents, who couldn’t see them again until they had ﬁnished their training and were back in society Peter’s parents were Yellow Ones, and although he loved his parents, he was praying to be put in a different color The calling of the Yellow Ones simply wasn’t for him

When everyone was ready, the Orange One began his introduction.

“Young men and women, this is where you will become adults All your life, you have worn your white scarves, symbolizing the blank slate of your future Who would you become? What would you be? Today, from reports of your teachers who have taught you since you were toddlers, we analyze your differences and will place you in a Color based on your values, your core identity, and your desire and now what was? oh! and All Colors are equal ”

The Orange One’s slip-up was a little surprising. You always had to recite the Orthodoxy of Equality in any public meeting, even if it was just a mundane weekly meeting. How could he forget it during the Ceremony of Colors? The Red Ones paid closer attention to him with a warning look. It may have been Peter’s imagination, but one of the Red Ones seemed to be studying the Cloak of Wealth, almost in a jealous way. The Orange One nervously tightened his tie before continuing.

“Whether you will take after your parents or chart a new course, your Color will deﬁne you for the rest of your life, which is why we take this very seriously Before love, dignity, or even money, this is the most important thing in your life Do you understand?”

The 13-years nodded like they had practiced

“Good. Now, everyone here knows about the Colors, but we will name them again for the sake of the ceremony; they are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and Black.

Look to the Red Ones on your right, they are the Color of Protection Their virtues are Bravery, Dedication, and Passion. If your child is a Red One, they must serve as a guard, soldier, or member of the police. Truly, it is a great honor to be a Red One.”

The Red Ones seemed to ease their gazes, smiling with pride at the crowd Peter was always a little frightened of the Red Ones because they could be aggressive when it came to unorthodoxy, and his father, although never arrested, was at times under their watch

“Look to me, an Orange One, the Color of Bounty The virtues of an Orange One are Sociability, Charisma, and Trustworthiness If your child is an Orange One, they must work in business, trading, or economics A ﬁne Color indeed ”

Although his back was faced towards the crowd, Peter could imagine his father rolling his eyes

“The Yellow Ones are our Color of Labor. Their virtues are Humility, Diligence, and Joy. They must become farmers, civil service workers, or servants. Our Yellow Ones are always esteemed, and you ought to be proud if your child is one.”

Peter wanted to be anything but a Yellow One. No, that’s not quite right. He wanted a speciﬁc Color, certainly

“And the Green Ones! Now, that is a helpful Color, the Color of Nurture. They have the virtues of Charity, Brotherhood, and Mercy. They must become a doctor, teacher, or a caretaker for the Scarﬂess. If your child is a Green One, perhaps they can look after you when you become Scarﬂess, and you will never be alone!”

The crowd shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Being Scarﬂess was a blessing really, a retirement, but it still made a lot of people uneasy, considering how only the Green Ones and Black Ones ever saw them. Also, to be Scarﬂess meant to be without purpose, and the people had a hard time imagining that. If you had no scarf, you had no identity. The Red Ones looked to the Orange One again, who was now visibly sweating. For a Color that is meant to be charismatic, he was surprisingly awkward.

“Ahem, and now, what can be said about the Blue Ones? They are the Color of Creation, with virtues of Creativity, Observation, and Resourcefulness. The Blue Ones are artists, musicians, or architects. Truly a desirable position…uh…hold on folks…”

He began to fumble with his notes and was losing his focus It made Peter a little sad and nervous. It was rare that a person would be unﬁt for the virtues of their Color, but it happened occasionally. A Red One stepped forward, gripping their Equality Weapon tightly. This immediately put the Orange One back in focus. The Red Ones were very good at putting people back in line.

“The Purple Ones are one of the most esteemed colors of all, the Color of Knowledge. With their virtues of Intelligence, Curiosity, and Integrity, they will be our researchers, inventors, and messengers of orthodoxy.”

The Red One, satisﬁed, returned to his spot.

Of course, no one knew their Color until after the Ceremony, but Peter had a feeling that he would be assigned to the Color Purple He had always been more curious than most of the people in his class, and he was hoping to conduct his own groundbreaking research someday

“Last but not least, the Black Ones I will leave this description to this gentlelady here ”

A well-dressed woman in a puffy black scarf ascended the stage. The Black Ones were the most respected out of all Colors, and even though a Black One had described their position every year, there was still whispering in the crowd.

“Good morning. Listen, everyone. If your child is a Black One, they will take on the Color of Leadership They are faithful They are wise, and they are selﬂess This is a serious position, as they are the ones in charge of laws, politics, and orthodoxy itself We have only one Black One this year ”

A few people in the front rows gasped. Surely, becoming a Black One was rare, but usually there were at least ten or so Black Ones selected every year

“Now, is everyone ready for their assignments?”

The 13 years straightened their soldiers, as the woman began to read their names and Colors in alphabetical order.

“Aaron Ardson, Blue House.”

The crowd was clapping while the rest of the names followed

“Beatrice Heimler, Green House”

“Flora Stein, Yellow House”

“Gregory Mason, Orange House”

There were hundreds of people named, but Peter only seemed to hear the few people he knew in school, since he never really socialized or was charismatic with a lot of people. He wouldn’t have to worry about being an Orange One.

“Hillary Gray, Red House”

“Ida Hughes, Purple House”

“Peter Smith”

His hands tightened around his seat. Purple, purple, purple…

The woman dropped her list of names and looked directly at him.

“I hope you are ready for this position.”

Everyone was silent. “Purple, right?” he thought.

“Black House ”

The crowd went wild with cheering. The rest of the 13 years congratulated him, but he was left motionless The rest of the names were just a blur

“They got it wrong”, he thought They thought that he was faithful, wise, and selﬂess when he thought he was a Purple One. Sure, he could be a leader at times, and he knew his orthodoxy, but he wasn’t some government or district leader. When had he been completely faithful, wise, and selﬂess? How was he supposed to tell them that they got it wrong?

Before he knew it, the listing of names was over

“Now, we give the students their new scarves, their rules of virtue, and their escorts to their dormitories. Make sure you say goodbye to these now-adults on their way out.”

She stepped off the stage, quickly glancing back at Peter with a look that said, “Can we trust you with this?” Peter didn’t think she could.

He watched the other 13 years receive their scarves, a rainbow of cloth. The sight of Ida Hughes, the now Purple One, had somehow infuriated him Then, the scarf giver took the worn-down white scarf from his neck and handed him the pitch black scarf with his rules of virtue tucked inside He noticed that the feel of the cloth was different from the other scarves He knew that he should feel happy, but looking at the black scarf was like looking into a pit, and he wasn’t sure if he would land on his feet

He apprehensively opened his rules of virtue to ﬁnd the ﬁrst two statements: Be faithful to the truth, the orthodoxy. Be wise in your speech and action.

Of course, that made sense, but the last statement completely bewildered him. The leaders are selﬂess, everyone knows that. And yet, the paper stated:

It is encouraged that you be selﬁsh instead of selﬂess, catering to your own needs and the needs of orthodoxy. You may do whatever you wish to other Colors and escape consequences. You are the Color of the Orthodoxy of Equality, but to maintain equality, you must be higher than them, authoritative, and unequal to them. Do not let anyone know of this rule, nor damage the Orthodoxy of Equality in any way. These are the only crimes you can be charged with, and they are punishable by death.

He could not believe what he was reading He read the same words over and over again, but they still didn’t make any sense He had been lied to The leaders were not selﬂess They were selﬁsh They were unequal He looked back at the Black One that read the names, who was sitting in the front row on her own black velvet cushion, and realized she had been staring at him the entire time She looked away quickly Maybe she was okay with living a lie; he wasn’t

A Red One blew his whistle, and everyone stood up to meet the Red One, who would escort and guard them to their new lives. A Red One approached Peter, but instead of leading him to the door, he led him to the Black One, who had been watching him.

“Instead of a Red One, I will be escorting you, Peter Come”

The Black One led him to a shiny black car that was brand new. Before starting the car, she turned around to him in the backseat and said with a suddenly unprofessional smile, “My name is Ms Jane Wallace You may simply call me Jane You are going to love being a Black One ” Before Peter could respond, she had stepped on the gas As he watched the streets pass and disappear, full of Red Ones escorting children, and ﬁnal goodbyes from parents, he caught a glimpse of his parents standing by themselves They had an expression of awe and horror Peter did too

The drive seemed to last forever. Peter didn’t know what to say to Jane. He wanted to tell her that they made a mistake, that he didn’t belong with the Black Ones, but he wasn’t sure how to get it across.

The car had come to a stop. A group of Yellow Ones was collecting debris from the road, and Jane patiently waited for them to leave.

“Peter, it is extremely rare for the child of a Yellow One to become a Black One,” she said

He looked intently at Jane, trying to conceal his unease.

“But it’s not impossible. Yellow Ones are selﬂess, always willing to serve the other colors. That is very important,”

The last Yellow One had left, and Jane started the car again.

“Although, if you read your rules of virtue, we are told to be selﬁsh,” she continued

He shifted his gaze.

“It is actually good that we are selﬁsh, Peter It means that we have order over them; we take precedence That is crucial if we want to keep the Orthodoxy of Equality I disagree with the wording in the rules of virtue We are not unequal, per se, just more equal ”

The car began to ascend up a steep hill

“I…I’m sorry, I think you picked the wrong person. I can’t be a leader. I’m not wise, and I don’t think I can be selﬁsh!” Peter blurted.

Jane shook her head, smiling “Everyone feels that way No, you aren’t selﬁsh that’s not really the right word either. You are…well, I don’t really know what it is, but all Black Ones have it, it’s like the ability to seek more than people will give you. But it’s not inequality, because everyone is equally happy. All Colors are Equal.”

The car pulled in front of an unbelievably tall apartment building. It was a clock tower, completely black with curtained windows It has almost a gothic-like appearance A big rusty gate in the front began to creak

Then, the clock chimed; it was already 12:00. The chime was a little out of tune, but Peter recognized it immediately: it was that nursery rhyme everyone learned when they were little.

Ring goes the clock tower of the Black One; Higher in the sky than the rainbow.

Red men marching, Orange men hiding; Yellow men working, Green men binding; Blue men sleeping, Purple men weeping;

And Scarﬂess men in the Good Earth below!

At the end of the chime, the gate slowly opened with a grating screech, like the announcer that morning; it’s as if a new ceremony had begun. Jane drove through the entrance, which had big block letters reading “All Colors are Equal”.

But Peter now knew that wasn’t true.

Evelyn Stuart Class of 2026

BlackHistoryMonth2025 “TheBlackHistoryThatYouKnow: ThePeopleAroundYou”

During Black History Month, we acknowledge the past and honor those who have come before us. However, it is also time to celebrate the present and appreciate the diversity of people in our communities who inspire us each day.

The contest theme for 2025 was “The Black History That You Know: The People Around You.” Students were asked to think about how they have grown in Mind, Body, Character, or Spirit because of the diversity of people in your community. They looked for inspiration in their local community, neighborhood, church, businesses, leaders, school, and family.

Father Ohanaka

a speech for Black History Month by Ben Frisbie, Class of 2026

When I ﬁrst came to JP2 almost four years ago, we did not have a school chaplain, and it felt like we were missing something That something was Father Ohanaka – or, as the students call him, Father O – who is an essential part of the JP2 community. He brought a sense of enthusiasm to the school emotionally and spiritually, and inspires all of the students day in and day out through his strong school spirit and never-ending positivity. Father O has helped me grow in mind, body, character, and spirit since he joined the JP2 Community.

Mind

One experience that has stuck with me is Father O’s willingness to engage in our studies. One day, another student and I were having a debate about a quiz we had taken that covered the requirements for a valid marriage within the Catholic Church. Father O took time out of his day to talk with us and offer his insight, which helped me grasp the topic and have a better understanding of the beliefs of the Catholic Church. This meant a lot to me coming from a priest because he can give arguably the best insight into the Catholic Church's beliefs.

Body

Two years ago, towards the end of my freshman soccer season, we were playing Father Ryan on a rainy night. I had to get subbed out late in the game to get stretched, and Father O held his umbrella over me until I went back into the game.

Father O took time out of his day to talk with us and offer his insight, which helped me grasp the topic and have a better understanding of the beliefs of the Catholic Church. This meant a lot to me coming from a priest because he can give arguably the best insight into the Catholic Church's beliefs.

Body

Two years ago, towards the end of my freshman soccer season, we were playing Father Ryan on a rainy night I had to get subbed out late in the game to get stretched, and Father O held his umbrella over me until I went back into the game. This helped me grow in body, but also highlights his immense selﬂessness and kindness because he sacriﬁced his protection from the rain to cover me and care for me physically. However, he not only shows this care to me but to all of the JP2 sports teams. He is always coming to practices and games to join in and support the students!

Character

Something that can help a student grow in character is a good role model. A role model is someone who can be looked up to by their peers by always demonstrating the right actions. I feel that Fr. O is a perfect example of this. Some examples of him being a role model for me include being excited when I decided to go to search as well as teaching me how to altar serve, which helps me grow in faith. He is also always offering to help others grow in faith and as people, which is why I think he is the perfect role model for the students at JP2

Spirit

In a homily very recently, Father O discussed the transcendental values: truth, beauty, and goodness. He then went on to explain how we see them in the world in vivid detail. This homily touched me because I had not thought about the world like that before, and I assume it had the same effect on many other students. All of Father's homilies are ﬁlled with values and lessons, such as this one, that help us grow in spirit For example, I began to appreciate all of the little things in my life because they are all made by God and, in turn, ﬁlled with transcendental values

Ben Frisbie Class of 2026

9 GRADE TH POETRY PROJECT

These poems were a part of the 9th-grade Project-Based Poetry Unit during the spring semester in March and April. After taking time to read a variety of poems and examine how poets were able to convey bigger ideas through various poetic techniques, the students then became the poets themselves, crafting their own poems using similar techniques that they learned about The students chose what big idea they wanted to explore in their poems, mainly including themes concerning childhood, family, resilience, identity, and nature. After taking some time to brainstorm what was important to them and what they wanted to convey, students spent about a week crafting their poems.

Myself by Jenna Byrum, Class of 2028

Two houses both cherished torn at the seams bound together by me

Two houses one more forsaken than the other cold, conﬁned compact house both inside and out not like me at all

Two houses one more exuberant than the other many evocations of youth seeping through these walls embracing me with unfurled arms

Both houses though both love me and construct me drain me of myself and shred two sides of my being one exuberant and one forsaken

Jenna Byrum Class of 2028

Under the Trees

by Casimir Herzer, Class of 2028

When time begins to drag along

And life’s demands do wear me thin

My heart will sing a different song

The songbirds start to draw me in

With no thought other than comply

My soul obeys, to them I ﬂy

From forth my lodge, a path I tread

Through brambles into mystery

And through the leaves of brown and red

I hear that song again: Be free!

My path through nature’s beauty leads I ﬁnd myself beneath the trees

Among those wooden towers I

Like ﬂower buds on sunny breeze

Drift as the wind, when on my eye

I spot a fern betwixt the trees

And on that tiny, sullen birch

I see my muse, atop it perched

The song of angels ﬁlls my head

The creaking oaks, a solemn bass

With feathers glowing orange-red

Light streaming down to touch my face

Freely ﬂying through my mind

Colors weaving, intertwined

Green and yellow moss below

A creek of blue running beside

All while the purple lilacs grow

Brown bark and golden sun reside

Freely ﬂying through my mind

Colors weaving, intertwined

Leaves ﬂoating down, still far above

Wake pale pink blossoms, bursting free

While sitting peacefully as a dove

My avian friend waits in the trees

All this to me that ﬂedgling showed And in that sight, silent repose

But then the world comes calling back And my escape must get cut thin I get dragged back into that shack With iron bars to trap me in

My freedom just a distant past Responsibility comes at last

We all will have a part to play

While wanting joy we can’t conﬁde So night suppresses inner day And keeps it locked down, deep inside

When you shall yearn to be set free Come meet me there beneath the trees.

Casimir Herzer Class of 2028

Change

by Emma O’Leary

It was once really loud here. The shouts from games of tag, and the constant flow of cartoons filtering through the house, bouncing off the walls, music to my ears. Wooden floors creaking. And the old wind chimes, rusted from long days in the scorching summer heat and long nights through chilling storms, dancing in the summer breeze

But in having hope for what’s to come.

It’s quiet now, But the quiet can be a comfort.

It’s different now, quieter. The shouts aren’t always rooted in joy and amusement. There’s talk of school, and work, and struggles. Soon enough, a chair will be empty at the table.

The same dinner table that has seen every board game, every ﬁght, every memory. Big brother will be off to college. Off to create new memories, Off to a new kind of loud

But this new kind of quiet can be nice, peaceful. after all, childhood is like your most beloved pair of shoes that just don’t ﬁt the same anymore. Try as you may, it's time. Time to move on And there's a beauty in that, in mourning the loss of how it was.

Emma O’Leary Class of 2028

Wild Horses

by Margaret McLeod, Class of 2028

“Wild, Wild, Wild Horses”

Mick Jagger’s voice sings in my ear

I breathe in the dusty smell of the evergreen cabin

My second home; a result of his hard work and love

smokey living room, dinner’s served at 7, he arrives 6:45, his black suburban hums in the driveway

We greet with a hug, I ask about his day same routine, every day, every night

my ﬁrst practice away, he drives me home he supports me; tells me I’ll be great his hands hold hope, every moment, never alone my father, always there, never late

Margaret McLeod Class of 2028

Resilience is Like

by Ginny Scott, Class of 2028

Resilience is like the sunshine after a long storm, And the suffering is the thunder and lightning. Without the thunder, the sunshine wouldn’t be here to give light. But the lightning and thunder are never requested, So why does it come?

Resilience is like a joyous test grade after a long unit, And the suffering is the disappointing quiz grades and long study nights. But the good grade often results in more relief than happiness. Why is there always more suffering than joy?

Resilience is not the sunshine that smiles with radiating light at the end of a tunnel, It’s the car lights that stay lit when you are in the tunnel. Resilience is why you go into the next storm, It’s why you always make it out.

Ginny Scott Class of 2028

FRENCHII FILMCRITIQUE

In the World Language classes, students reach beyond grammar and vocabulary acquisition to learn how to be communicators in a language other than English

For this project, our French II students watched French language films and wrote critiques of the film in French.

Le film que J’ai vu est L’Ascension by Madi King, Class of 2027

J’ai beaucoup aimé ce film car il est passionnant et touchant. Le film est un film biographique et romantique. À mon avis, l’intrigue est optimiste et touchante car Samy a monté le Mont Everest pour l’amour. À mon opinion, le cadre est épuisant et éprouvant. Selon moi, les personnages sont exaltants et passionnants comme Samy et Nadine En conclusion, Je trouvé ce film exaltant Je vais recommander ce film parce que ce film est très touchant.

Madi King Class of 2027

Math is a universal language; it invites us to solve unknowns and communicate some of the world’s most complex realities in ways that are meaningful and beautiful.

Each spring, the Honors Algebra II class concludes the year with a project-based learning experience using Desmos Design. Desmos is "a free, online graphing calculator and educational platform with interactive tools" that students use to create an original picture or trace an existing image using the seventeen functions and two conic sections they learned in the course

The pictures here are created solely using math functions and inequalities.

HONORSALGEBRAII DESMOSPROJECT

Clockwise from top: Alex Castro, Bailey Blaser, and Evelyn Stewart

From top: Max Reeves, Landon Houlberg, Kathryn Swan

From top: Olivia Masters, Bella Chittle

9 GRADE TH THEOLOGYHOMILIES

In Freshman Theology, students spend the year studying sacred scripture in order to better know God and to know themselves. A unit engaging with the Book of Job culminates in this project, where students explore the meaning of suffering and how it applies to their own life experience. These homilies are a deeply personal exploration of the theme, and were presented to a group of their peers.

The Spiritual Knife

A homily by Gabby Cordero, Class of 2028

Before I begin, I want to recognize that this is written poetically to demonstrate further the Book of Job and the importance it holds.

“Think back in your life to the time of suffering,” my theology teacher says. My thoughts go back and forth from the things I would rather forget. Those memories, I watched them go right out of my eyes and descend down my cheek. Not that it is difﬁcult to bring back up a story of my personal suffering, but rather, there have been so many times that I cannot even choose my favorite one Out of the humility God has given me, I do not question the assignment but write this as well as I can This is one of many small duties on Earth God has given me to go through with. My original story to be told discouraged me through my overthinking. I knew the ones around me may not understand. Then I began thinking of something I do not understand.

My sweet friend who packs a bag each week How could something so simple have such an excruciating undertone? She has two places, but not because she is wealthy. Because the two people who love her most in the whole world were unable to love one another. Here I look into her eyes and view the doorway to her heart, somewhere behind the brown hue is that sorrow deeper than the oceans around us. The human body requires both salt and water to survive; how poetic of God to place both substances within her tears? I cannot fully grasp her perseverance; how is one capable of being without the heaviness? Or is that so? In the beginning, I did not understand her suffering, but now I feel it more deeply than my own.

Selﬁshly enough, without further thought, I looked too far into my own pain. Leaving the sadness that she, too, is dying inside. With the special gift God has further given me, I now look deeper into the soul, doing everything I can to not fail her. Righteous Job, failed by the ones he needed the most Therefore, by God's will, I ask that He give me the strength to not let her suffer alone but share in it.

May serenity become recognizable to the girl who packs her bag, for her and I may be more alike than we know. The depth and complexity of our sufferings, unalike in many ways, but oh, how we share the same grief. And oh, how I love our suffering. Someone once told me, "Sometimes we don't want to heal because the pain is the last link we have to what we've lost". I loved you completely, so deeply, so brieﬂy. “You” as in suffering, of course, for revealing my true brokenness in this writing would be wrong to do How beautiful the agony can become when you accept this is what you were born to endure in every way.

“What I fear has come upon me What I dreaded has happened to me I have no peace, no quietness 3:25-26.”

The spiritual knife, cutting so deeply, so closely to the heart. If only I could pull it out to question why it had chosen me Oh, how it has chosen me, so chosen I must be I am the one who remains in the outer presence of the interior castle. Never understanding the suffering I feel, for I am only human, and my soul can only comprehend so much. The Prince of Peace remains within the interior intelligence; He certainly never lacks. The castle He shall reign over is…. I wish I could tell you further, but I am uncertain of what is located behind its walls. The mystery of the interior is a challenge to an overthinker such as myself. However, stay with me and do not hesitate to reach for your cross For we must bear the cross we were given

Although my emotions feel so terrible in the best way known, the interesting coexistence between the two emotions has been established. For this is spoken in Ecclesiastes 7:3, “Sorrow is much better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us” The beauty of sorrow, much like poetry, remains unfamiliar to many of the world, yet those who truly listen will find solace in this thought of mine

I kept going, not because I wanted to. Trust me, all I wanted was to stop. I kept going because I deserved to know what not giving up felt like. How breathtaking it is to unbecome everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the ﬁrst place One thousand beautiful things remained on the other side for me, and how precious I came to know this mystery. At the end of Job, the Lord restores him with greater prosperity than he once held possession of. As mentioned in a similar way, I have been taught many values in my sorrows, one being peace. Therefore, I know her deeper, I ﬁnd peace in knowing I will never encounter this version of myself again. Allow me to slow down and be with her in the current time. How precious her soul remains on the outer edge of the castle This realization is what I have been longing for since the beginning of my life, when it began to fall apart.

To the ones hearing this, I ask that you forgive me if you never understand this writing I must pray to our Lord that He may place these terrors in your presence, so that you understand the pain and just how inevitable it is to the human soul.

Gabby Cordero Class of 2028

The Meaning of Suffering

A homily by Cara Smits, Class of 2028

The reality of life is that everyone suffers. Some suffer more than others. Why? No one really knows. But the question shouldn’t be why we suffer; it should be how does one effectively help someone who is suffering. Have you ever watched someone's world completely shatter? Have you wanted to help and not known how? The Book of Job is a story about a man who suffered immensely. Job lost his fortune, his children, and his health

Can you imagine that? You kind of can. You can picture it, I mean. But you can’t relate to it Why? It’s simple, you don’t know Job He is not alive today But today I am living and breathing and here to share with you a part of my story and try to explain how one can help someone who is suffering.

Do you remember fourth grade? Not perfectly, but most of you have some memory of it. I don’t remember good things about 4th grade. I remember that was the year I lost my mom. She didn’t die. She became unable to take care of me. I now know that she suffers from bipolar depression and schizophrenia. It took control of her and her actions. She became paranoid. Anything electronic had to go. She would often shut off the electricity in our house because it interfered with her brain She moved me around, and we were staying with my grandparents the night I lost her. She was packing us up to leave again, and I was tired of being scared. I didn’t want to go with her, and when I told her, she said I had to go with in order to be her shield from the people who were after her. It was one of her paranoias that was produced by her mental state. My grandparents were done. They asked her to leave, but she refused. They were forced to call the cops on her. My grandparents fought a rough custody battle but eventually gained custody of me Today I live with them, and Mom is allowed to see me on the weekends She is getting better, but slowly It took her losing me to realize she needed to do better.

Now, having heard all that, you know that I have suffered. As someone who has, I know what I needed for support Jobs' friends had good intentions when they were trying to help Job, but they went about it all wrong They tried to explain to Job why he was suffering and what he needed to do in order to stop suffering. It was a good attempt to help, but Jobs' friends are not God. Only God can explain why someone suffers and if there is anything they can do to stop it. It is not a human’s responsibility to explain suffering. Natural human curiosity gets the best of us and we try to equate mortal words to suffering. Suffering is often a reason people waver in faith. I know I did. I did want to believe in a God that practically destroyed me.

Humans want to say that we suffer because God believes we need to, or that it is his path for you and you just need to trust him. But there is no evidence to support that. I personally believe that a cause of suffering is the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are made in his image and with his love. We all share in God’s love and, in a way, we all share in God’s suffering. God suffers when we sin and when we suffer; therefore, we must share in God’s suffering because of the natural order Good things can not happen without bad things, too In the case of my mother, we are assuming that what triggered her more serious episodes later in life were from sins of her youth. God shared in her suffering, and I shared in her suffering. But I also shared in God's love because he put me in a safe home and put me in a great school. I also know it was a crucial part of my path. Without this chapter of my life, I would never have realized what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a child advocate lawyer and fight for children in unsafe homes like I was. I want to fight for children who can’t fight for themselves.

However, understanding why we suffer is just one thread in the big spool of yarn of human suffering. When one wants to help a human who is suffering, they can not take God's job. They cannot try and explain why they are suffering because they do not know. God knows. They can not surely say that everything will be alright because only God knows that. They must instead simply reach out and be there here and now Reaching out does not mean trying to ﬁnd a solution to all of the person’s problems It means listening to the person It means being a sense of stability in their chaos. It means being a shoulder for them to cry on or a hand to help them up. It means promising to be there even when a person is too afraid to help. Small ways to help and show that you are willing to help could be as simple as sending a text or bringing someone food. Oftentimes, a person who is suffering doesn’t need you to take the entire boulder off their back, just a stone. Someday, that person will have to realize that only God is able to remove the whole boulder

Cara Smits Class of 2028

TENNESSEEJUNIORACADEMY

OFSCIENCERESEARCHPAPERS

These papers represent the culmination of a year-long, independent scientific research project. Each student selects a topic within their scientific discipline, formulates a research question, designs and conducts an experiment, analyzes the resulting data, and draws a conclusion based on their findings. The primary goal of this project is to immerse students in the full scope of the scientific process, from initial inquiry to final analysis, allowing them to learn science by actively doing science. Through this experience, students gain valuable insight into the nature of research and academic scientific careers. The two papers featured here were recognized by the Tennessee Junior Academy of Science (TJAS) for outstanding research and were presented before the TJAS committee.

An Understanding of Disease Progression to Diabetic Kidney Disease Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients Using Time-to-Event Analysis

an AP Chemistry research paper by Pricilla Park, Class of 2026

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Kim of Vanderbilt Medical Center for his assistance and feedback during the experimentation and analysis of my project. I would also like to thank Ms. McCoy for her guidance and recommendations on scientiﬁc writing. This study was made possible by the work and funding of the NIH, and I thank them for creating, maintaining, and expanding the All of Us biobank. Finally, I would like to thank Tyler, Gryfﬁn, and Kim Schwartz for providing emotional support

Abstract

There has been a growing emphasis on collecting large-scale amounts of data for US residents, especially for underrepresented populations. All of Us biobank is a growing biobank focusing on gaining the healthcare data of one million participants. With All of Us data, this study examined the possible risk factors of diabetic kidney disease for Type 2 Diabetes patients, focusing on Social Determinants of Health and participants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This study developed a Cox Proportional Hazards Model on Type 2 Diabetes patient cohorts with the following covariates: age at diabetes diagnosis date, gender, population, and response to Social Determinants of Health-related questions. There were two different Social Determinants of Health-related questions focusing on food insecurity and healthcare access. The results of this study suggest that higher levels of food insecurity (HR: 1.26, CI: 1.04-1.52, p=0.02) and a greater age at Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis date (HR: 1 01, CI: 1 01-1 01, p < 0 005) are associated with the development of diabetic kidney disease. Increased likelihood of diabetic kidney disease diagnosis among participants with higher levels of food insecurity could be due to the irregular and inadequate diet that leads to poor blood sugar control.

Introduction

In 2021, approximately 38.4 million of the US population had diabetes, with about 90% to 95% of these individuals having Type 2 diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024). Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a chronic disease that is caused by the body’s inability to regulate glucose levels through insulin.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the loss of kidney function over time, and about 35.5 million people (14%) are estimated to have CKD in the US (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a type of CKD, deﬁned as a kidney disease caused by diabetes. Diabetes can lead to a higher risk of CKD as the high blood sugar can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys (Kumar et al., 2023). DKD occurs in 20% to 40% of diabetes patients (Rabkin, 2003). In 2021, there were 530,000 deaths caused by DKD throughout the world, making it the most common chronic kidney disease and the main end-stage kidney disease (World Health Organization, 2024; Fu et al., 2019). However, CKD and DKD can be prevented or delayed if addressed earlier. Tracking DKD and its progression is difﬁcult because of the lack of models based on accurate biomarkers and risk factors such as HbA1c, eGFR, and T2D duration. A study in 2014 suggested that despite the improvement of control over diabetes and

diabetes related diseases, CKD was the only diabetes-related complication that did not have lower incident rates (Gregg et al., 2014).

Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are deﬁned as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks” (Ofﬁce of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2024). SDoH affects the development and treatment of diseases, leading to different health outcomes based on socioeconomic factors (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2019).

All of Us is a biobank funded by the NIH with the goal of reaching 1,000,000+ participants. All of Us values diversity, focusing on collecting Social Determinants of Health, genetic, and EHR data, especially from minorities. It also aims for the broader goal of precision medicine, which is focused on developing treatment and disease prevention plans speciﬁc to an individual’s environment, genetics, and lifestyle factors (All of Us Research Program, 2020).

There is little to no research on the survival analysis of minority T2D and DKD patients in the US. Prior to All of Us, survival analysis on T2D and DKD was mainly performed on predominantly White cohorts In this study, a Cox Hazard Model was created using EHR and SDoH data from All of Us, focusing on three populations: White, African American/Black, and Hispanic. This study explores various covariates including gender, population, T2D duration, HbA1c, and SDoH scores to determine which factors have the greatest association with DKD. It is hypothesized that among T2D patients, SDoH responses that reﬂect lower socioeconomic scores will be associated with a higher risk of DKD as food insecurity and lack of healthcare access likely lead to faster disease progression.

Experimental Procedure

Cohort

Using the All of Us’ cohort and dataset builder, a data frame was made with the following information for each participant: gender, race, ethnicity, T2D diagnosis date (index date), age at index date, DKD diagnosis date (if applicable), HbA1c measurement start date, HbA1c measurement end date, creatinine measurement start date, creatinine measurement end date, and SDoH answer responses. Only participants with all of these values, except DKD if not applicable, were considered

In total, there were 73,984 T2D participants in the All of Us Biobank. To develop a ﬁnal cohort and dataset for a Cox Proportional Hazards Model, only T2D

participants with both HbA1c and creatinine measurements were included. Then the participants had to meet multiple time criteria. First, the ﬁrst HbA1c measurement date had to be after the T2D diagnosis date. Secondly, if the participant developed DKD, the T2D diagnosis date had to be before the DKD diagnosis date, and the DKD diagnosis date had to be minimum 2 years after the participant’s T2D diagnosis date.

Censoring

In this study, the time-to-event was defined as the duration between the first HbA1c measurement and the DKD diagnosis. The event indicator was binary, with the value being 0 if there was no DKD diagnosis within the observation time and 1 if there was DKD diagnosis within the observation time The observation time was a period of 15 years, calculated from the beginning of the first HbA1c measurement to 15 years after the first HbA1c measurement or the time to the DKD diagnosis date in the case that the participant was diagnosed with DKD.

SDoH

In this study, two SDoH questions were considered as covariates: “Within the past 12 months, were you worried whether your food would run out before you got money to buy more?” and “Did you ask for opinions as health advice?”. The possible answers to the ﬁrst question were “never true”, “sometimes true”, and “always true”. For the Cox Proportional Hazard Model, the answers were separated dichotomously, with “never true” and “sometimes true” being calculated together as 0, and “often true” being separated as 1 For the second SDoH question, the answer choices were “always”, “most”, “some”, and “none” The answers were separated dichotomously into two different methods. The ﬁrst method calculated the answer choices “none” and “some” together as 0, and “always” and “most” together as 1. The second method calculated “none” separately as 0, and “always”, “most”, and “some” together as 1.

Population and Gender Descriptors

In this study, the All of Us race and ethnicity records were combined to only consider White, Black/African American, and Hispanic populations. In a similar way, only participants with genders marked as men or women were considered. This is due to the lack of participants from other populations or

genders, which would lead to the need to impute.

Statistical Analyses

Within the All of Us Workbench’s cloud platform, the pandas version 2.2.3 was used. To create a Cox Proportional Hazards Model, the Python package lifelines was used When running lifelines, the variables gender, population, and SDoH response were treated as categorical variables.

Data

Table 1. Food Insecurity SDoH Response Counts

Response Count

Never True (0) 13,290

Sometimes True (1) 2,577

Often True (2) 849

Table 2. SDoH 3 Response Counts

Response Count

Never 2,484

Sometimes 4,915

Most of the Time 6,357

Always 7,245

The counts of different responses were recorded in the tables above. Table 1 describes the number of different responses to the SDoH question related to food insecurity, and Table 2 describes the number of different responses to the SDoH question related to healthcare access.

Table 3. Cox Regression Results for Food Insecurity SDoH Cohort

Hazard Ratio (HR)

Age at Index

95% CI

The results of the Cox Proportional Hazard Model for the food insecurity SDoH cohorts are summarized in Table 3. Participants with a higher age at index date had a higher risk of developing DKD (HR: 1.01, CI: 1.01-1.01, p < 0.005). SDoH also had a signiﬁcant association with the risk of DKD diagnosis, as food insecurity was associated with a higher risk of DKD diagnosis (HR: 1.26, CI: 1.04-1.52, p=0.02).

On the other hand, the results suggested that there was no signiﬁcant association between gender, population, and DKD diagnosis.

Table 4. Cox Regression Results for Healthcare Access Method 1 Cohort

Hazard Ratio (HR)

Age at Index

Table 5. Cox Regression Results for Healthcare Access Method 2 Cohort

Tables 4 and 5 summarize the Cox Proportional Hazards Model results of the cohorts with two different methods of SDoH classification. Both suggest that only age at index date has a significant association with DKD diagnosis (HR: 1.01, CI: 1 01-1 01, p < 0 005) However, both results also suggest that gender, population, and SDoH question response do not have a significant association with DKD diagnosis.

Conclusion

The purpose of this research was to explore possible risk factors of DKD using data from a large-scale US biobank. It was hypothesized that SDoH question responses that related to a lower socioeconomic status would have a higher association with DKD diagnosis. This hypothesis was accepted as more food insecurity was associated with a higher risk of DKD diagnosis (HR: 1.26, CI: 1.04-1.52, p=0.02). The Cox model suggested that if the SDoH response increased by one, the likelihood of developing DKD increased by 26%. This trend of increased likelihood of DKD development was further supported by the conﬁdence interval that was entirely above 0, along with the signiﬁcantly low p-value of 0 02 Previous research similarly suggests that food insecurity is associated with poor glycemic control, which could lead to DKD. It found that participants with food insecurity were eight times more likely to have HbA1c values, which track blood glucose level, than participants with food security (Shaheen et al., 2021). The hypothesis was not entirely correct in that the age at the index date, which was the T2D diagnosis date, was also associated with a greater age at T2D diagnosis (HR: 1 01, CI: 1 01-1 01, p < 0 005) The Cox Proportional Hazards Model suggested that for

every one-year increase in age, the likelihood of developing DKD increased by 1%. While the 1% increase does not seem very significant, this 1% increase in likelihood was suggested by all Cox Proportional Hazards Models, no matter the cohort. Moreover, the confidence interval was significantly narrow, with only one value of 1 01 being included However, other literature does not support this association between age at index date and DKD development. Previous studies have found that a lower age at T2D diagnosis date leads to more complications (Nanayakkara et al., 2020). However, these studies were conducted over longer time periods with participants from multiple countries.

Comparably, this study focuses on identifying risk factors speciﬁc to US residents with observation times of ﬁfteen years or less, leading to possible differences in the association between age at T2D Diagnosis and DKD development.

A strength of this study was the large amount of data strictly based in the US. Moreover, a signiﬁcant amount of the data was recorded for Black/African American and Hispanic populations, who are typically considered historically underrepresented in healthcare research. By analyzing diverse data, risk factors of DKD development in various US populations can be identiﬁed.

However, there were also multiple limitations to this study. To begin with, there were still limitations to understanding all underrepresented populations and genders. Because there were only three populations considered in this study due to the lack of data for other populations, there is still insufﬁcient data to accurately identify the trends and risk factors of DKD for all populations. In addition, only participants who were men and women were considered in this study, which limits the generalizability of the results. All of the demographic data was also self-reported, possibly affecting the reliability of this study’s results.

Furthermore, many participants included in this analysis had observation times that ended before ﬁfteen years, which limits the longitudinal design of this study. There were also limited responses to SDoH questions, which even further narrows the cohort considered.

However, despite the limitations, this study is insightful in its approach to exploring various risk factors of DKD for T2D patients, especially for some underrepresented populations in the US. Its use of the All of Us biobank opens many more possibilities for further research focusing on even more diverse populations and accurate data. Hopefully, with a more complete biobank with even greater participants, risk factors can be identiﬁed to develop and perfect precision medicine that personalizes treatments and prevents diseases

References

All of Us Research Program. (2024, November 24). All of Us research program overview National Institutes of Health https://allofus.nih.gov/about/program-overview Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2019). The Social Determinants of Health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(2), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291s206

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 6). Chronic kidney disease in the United States, 2023. Chronic Kidney Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/kidney-disease/php/data-research/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 15). National diabetes statistics report. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/php/data-research/index.html

Chelak, K , & Chakole, S (2023) The role of Social Determinants of Health in promoting health equality: a narrative review. Cureus, 15(1), e33425. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33425 Fu, H., Liu, S., Bastacky, S. I., Wang, X., Tian, X.-J., & Zhou, D. (2019). Diabetic kidney diseases revisited: a new perspective for a new era. Molecular Metabolism, 30, 250–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2019.10.005

Gregg, E. W., Li, Y., Wang, J., Rios Burrows, N., Ali, M. K., Rolka, D., ... & Geiss, L. (2014). Changes in diabetes-related complications in the United States, 1990–2010. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(16), 1514-1523.

Kumar, M., Dev, S., Khalid, M. U., Siddenthi, S. M., Noman, M. Z., John, C. L., Akubuiro, C., Haider, A., Rani, R. V., Kashif, M., Varrassi, G., Khatri, M., Kumar, S , & Mohamad, T (2023) The bidirectional link between diabetes and kidney disease: mechanisms and management. Cureus, 15(9). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.45615

Nanayakkara N, Curtis AJ, Heritier S, Gadowski AM, Pavkov ME, Kenealy T, Owens DR, Thomas RL, Song S, Wong J, Chan JC, Luk AO, Penno G, Ji L, Mohan V, Amutha A, Romero-Aroca P, Gasevic D, Magliano DJ, Teede HJ, Chalmers J, Zoungas S Impact of age at type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosis on mortality and vascular complications: systematic review and meta-analyses. Diabetologia. 2021 Feb;64(2):275-287. doi: 10.1007/s00125-020-05319-w. Epub 2020 Dec 14. PMID: 33313987; PMCID: PMC7801294.

Ofﬁce of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2024). Social determinants of health - healthy people 2030 Health gov https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-h ealth

Rabkin, R (2003) Diabetic nephropathy Clinical Cornerstone, 5(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1098-3597(03)90014-7

Shaheen, M , Kibe, L W , & Schrode, K M (2021) Dietary quality, food security, and glycemic control among adults with diabetes. Clinical nutrition ESPEN, 46, 336–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2021.09.735

World Health Organization. (2024, November 14). Diabetes. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes

Pricilla Park Class of 2026

The Relationship Between Current and the Strength of a Magnetic Field

an AP Physics research paper by Ben Frisbie, Class of 2026

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr. Diamond for his assistance in the writing and completion of this project, as well as my parents, Mr Diamond, and Pope Saint John Paul II Preparatory School for supplying the materials for the project.

Abstract

Electromagnets play an important role in many of the things that keep our world running, including transportation as well as the operation of junkyards. They are not only more efficient but also much more environmentally friendly than previous technologies. An electromagnet can be created by wrapping a wire about a solenoid, which is then charged by an electric current. This paper studies varying current effects on the strength of the magnetic field. The results suggest that as the current increases, the strength of the magnetic field also increases. The lowest level of current (1 amp) allowed an average of .84 grams to be picked up, while the highest level tested (2 5 amps) picked up an average of 6 68 grams The data can be modeled by the equation Mass = (3.8 g/A)(Current) - 3.38g and reveals an average percent uncertainty of 16%. The high percentage could have been caused by a number of factors, with the most prominent being the rising temperature of the solenoid in later trials. While electromagnets can be very beneficial in society today, temperature management must be accounted for when installing them.

Introduction

Electromagnetism sparked the creation of a revolutionary form of transportation that was much more efﬁcient and faster than ever before (ElectronicsHub, 2024). Electromagnets were a key factor in creating magnetic levitation trains, allowing them to move without ever touching a track The magnets are placed on the belly of the train and interact and repel against the steel bars suspending the train slightly above the track (Manoj, 2024). The Electromagnetic

suspension is a major upgrade as it decreases the drag and creates an overall smoother riding experience Additionally, using electromagnets on trains is substantially healthier for the environment as they not only use electricity instead of traditional fossil fuels, but also are quieter being that there are no collisions with the track (Manoj, 2024). Another simpler electromagnetic application is a scrap magnet. Scrap magnets are essential to scrap yards as they are primarily used to move and sort heavy objects such as cars or other metals Scrap magnets are made of strong electromagnets that attract and lift heavy metal scraps that people often struggle with moving on their own (HVRMAG, 2021). Both magnetic levitation trains and scrap magnets have an important role in modern society, and therefore studying the physics behind them can help to further understand and develop new ways to incorporate these advancements in our lives.

To simplify the process, an electromagnet is formed when electricity is passed through a wire (Magic of Magnetism, n.d.). The wire in this instance is called a solenoid A solenoid acts as a makeshift magnet that is active only when electricity is ﬂowing through it (Custom Coils, 2023). The solenoid is turned into a magnet when an electric current travels through it. As seen in

Figure 1: A power source pumps an electric current into the wire, and the electricity flows through the coil, which is wrapped around an iron core. The iron core complements the solenoid, increasing the strength of the magnetic field (Eclipse Magnetics, 2025). Similarly, as seen on the right side of the image in Figure 1, as the electrical current passes through the solenoid, it creates a magnetic field. The electrical current consists of a charged particle, electrons, flowing through a conductor, which in this case is the wire (Boston University, n d ) The magnetic field magnetizes the iron core, creating an electromagnet which is then able to pick up ferromagnetic objects such as paper clips and nails.

Figure 1: Representation of an Electromagnet

Image Credit: www eclipsemagnetics com

The strength of the magnetic field is determined by the strength of the current flowing into the wire This is shown by Ampere’s Law for a solenoid field, which

includes the formula: B = μnI (Nave, n d ) The symbols represent the following quantities: B represents the strength of the magnetic ﬁeld measured in Teslas (T), μ represents the permeability (a measure of magnetization produced in a material) which is approximately 4π x 10^-7 Tm/A, n represents the number of turns in the coil measured in turns/meter, and I represents the current in the coil measured in Amperes (A), which can also be known as coulombs, an electric charge, per second (Nagwa, 2025) The formula presented allows for the strength of the magnetic ﬁeld to be tested based on different levels of current

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the strength of the magnetic field based on different strengths of current applied to the wire Making the dependent variable the strength of the magnetic field and the independent variable the strength of the current as the number of coils and permeability were kept consistent throughout the experiment. It was hypothesized that if the current increases, then the strength of the magnetic field will also increase.

Experimental Design

The completion of this experiment will include many different materials seen in Figure 2 The ﬁrst thing is a coil of thin copper wire long enough to be wrapped several times around a long metal nail and connected to a power source (when using wire, make sure there is no insulation on it). Cable clamps will be needed to connect the power source to the wrapped wire, as well as paper clips to test the strength of the magnetic ﬁeld. Additionally, to be able to change the current, a DC-regulated power source will be used that features a dial to vary the current. Lastly, a scale will be needed to weigh the paper clips collected.

The ﬁrst step to complete this experiment is to wrap a long wire around the nail 50 times, which will be kept consistent throughout the experiment The next step is to attach one side of the individual cable clamps to both ends of the wire. This will allow one of the clamps to get attached to the positive side of the power source and the other to get attached to the negative side of the power source, as seen in Figure 2 below. Additionally, all of the wires must be stripped of insulation in order to use the raw metal wire.

To start the experiment, the power source must be turned on, and the nail should be brought into contact with the paper clips. Paper clips need to be supplied until the nail cannot attract anymore. After this, record the mass of the paper clips that the nail was able to pick up. These steps then need to be repeated

with all four currents (1A, 1 5A, 2A, and 2 5A) for 10 trials each Finally, after the data is collected, it can be used to ﬁnd the weight of the paper clips with the equation W = mg, which can be used by multiplying the average mass times the gravitational pull (9.8 m/s2). As well as the predicted magnetic ﬁeld strength using the equation B = μnI explained in the introduction.

Figure 2: Experimental design setup

Table 1: The relationship between the current applied to a nail and the mass it could pick up

Figure 3: The relationship between the current applied to a nail and the mass it could pick up

Figure 3 highlights a linear trend between the level of current and mass picked up, and the subsequent model can be determined from the graph: Mass = (3.8 g/A)(Current) - 3 38g Consequently, the average percent uncertainty is roughly 13.25 %, so the y - int was included because the data is over 10% uncertainty.

Discussion

It was hypothesized that if the current increases, then the strength of the magnetic ﬁeld will also increase The data collected in the experiment suggests this is correct There was a linear relationship between the current and mass picked up as shown in Figure 3. The mathematical formula that can be derived from the data is B = (6.283e-5)I, which further highlights the linear relationship. Additionally, the predicted magnetic ﬁeld strength can be calculated from this equation, which is seen in Table 2 as well as Figure 4.

Predicted Magnetic Field Strength (T)

2.5 1 570e-4

6.283e-5

9.425e-5

1.257e-4

Table 2: The relationship between current and predicted strength of magnetic ﬁeld

Figure 4: The relationship between current and predicted strength of magnetic ﬁeld

The graph formed also features a linear trend and is another way to showcase the direct effect the current has on the strength of a magnetic field. Similarly, an experiment performed at the Universitas Sebelas Maret in Indonesia by researchers Widodo, Budiana, Ubaidillah, and Imaddudin shows the same linear trend between current and magnetic field strength. As illustrated in Figure 5 below, there is a positive linear relationship between the current and the magnetic flux density (directly related to magnetic field strength), which matches the trend of this experiment.

Figure 5: Universitas Sebelas Maret’s experimental relationship between Current and Magnetic ﬁeld strength

During the completion of this experiment, various errors occurred, which created the average % uncertainty of 16% as seen in Table 1 One possible error that could have affected the accuracy of the data was the rising temperature of the solenoid. If the solenoid's temperature was raised significantly, there could have been a noticeable decrease in the current strength. The decrease in current strength would then also decrease the strength of the magnetic field (Magnet-Schultz, 2021). This occurred in my experiment, as seen in Table 1, when there was a decrease in the mass picked up in the later trials of the stronger current strengths This was because the higher currents would cause the temperature of the solenoid to rise and consequently decrease the strength of the magnetic field. Unfortunately, the temperature increase was not tracked during the completion of the experiment; however, an increase in temperature would result in a decrease in the current level, as seen in Figure 6 below.

Figure 6: The effect of temperature rise on current level

Image Credit: www.magnet-schultzamerica.com

The results of this experiment are important because they allow scientists to further develop technology that uses electromagnets, such as MagLev trains, scrap magnets, as well as many other applications that feature an electromagnet. The developments are important to continue to improve the benefits of the already game-changing inventions listed above, which are both more efficient and environmentally beneficial than previous inventions. Another experiment that could be performed would be to test the strength of the magnetic field based on the number of coils instead of current, because then the most material-efficient way to create a magnetic field could be found. Additionally, the exact same experiment could be performed; however, the heat of the solenoid could be measured to obtain a better understanding of the % uncertainty.

References

Boston University. (n.d.). Electricity and Circuits. Boston University Education. Retrieved February 11, 2025, from https://www.bu.edu/lernet/artemis/years/2011/slides/circuits.pdf

Custom Coils. (2023, November 15). Solenoids: Working Principle, Types & Applications. Custom Coils, Inc. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://ccoils.com/blog/what-is-a-solenoid

Eclipse Magnetics. (2025). Electromagnets (Solenoids). Eclipse Magnetics. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://www.eclipsemagnetics.com/products/magnetic-materials-and-asse mblies/magnet -materials/electromagnets/

Education.com. (2013, November 5). Electromagnetic Induction Experiment | Science project | Education.com. Education.com. https://www education com/science-fair/article/electromagnet/

ElectronicsHub. (2024). Applications of Electromagnetism. ElectronicsHub. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://www.electronicshub.org/applications-of-electromagnetism/

HVRMAG. (2021, July 4). Junkyard Scrap Magnet on Excavator / Crane. HVR MAG. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://www.hvrmagnet.com/blog/common-questions-about-scrap-magnet

Magic of Magnetism (n d ) Electromagnets Magic of Magnetism Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://ece.northeastern.edu/fac-ece/nian/mom/electromagnets

Magnet-Schultz. “Temperature Impacts on Solenoids Part 2.” Magnet-Schultz of America, 2021,

https://magnet-schultzamerica com/resources/blog/temperature-impacts-on -solenoids-pa rt-2/

Manoj, A. (2024, October 11). Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) Trains, Their Impact, and How They Work. THE ECHO. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://thetenaﬂyecho.com/24926/science-tech/magnetic-levitation-maglevtrains-their-im pact-and-how-they-work/

Nagwa. (2025). Lesson Explainer: The Magnetic Field due to a Current in a Solenoid. Nagwa. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://www.nagwa.com/en/explainers

Nave, R. (n.d.). Solenoid Field from Ampere's Law. Solenoids. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from http://hyperphysics phy-astr gsu edu/hbase/magnetic/solenoid html

Widodo, et al. “Magnetically-Induced Pressure Generation in Magnetorheological Fluids under the Inﬂuence of Magnetic Fields.” MDPI, 2021, https://www.researchgate.net/publication

Ben Frisbie Class of 2026

HUMANITIESRESEARCH ELECTIVECOURSEFINALPAPER

The following submission is the culminating project for the Humanities Research Elective, a course designed to guide students through the process of writing a collegelevel research paper, from the initial idea to the final draft. Students independently select their topics and develop their work with minimal instructional input. In this case, Kaylee chose to explore the broad theme of family dynamics, with a suggestion to narrow the focus to the parent-child relationship. The depth, insight, and scholarly rigor evident in this paper are entirely the result of her dedication and intellectual curiosity. Her wide-ranging interest in psychology and family studies is matched only by her commitment to producing a thoroughly researched and thoughtful paper.

Effects of a Parent’s Parenting Style on Childhood Development and How Those Effects Contribute to Generational Trauma for Families

a research paper by Kaylee

Brackmann, Class of 2025

Introduction

When parents of children who exhibited negative externalized behaviors such as rash decision-making or unhealthy expressions of emotion were asked whether they had any critiques about their parenting methods, they often dismissed the question. Instead, they focused on an opinionated response adorned with justifications for their parenting methods (Bailey, Hill, Oesterle, and Hawkins, 2009). In studies that focused on the correlation between parenting styles and the outcome of their children, parents often painted themselves without error. Additionally, parents justified their decisions based on fair intention and believed that 'fair' intention, by their definition, constituted justifiable action.

Human instinct inﬂicts upon us the belief that our actions can be justiﬁed by good intentions (Tomasik, 2013). Although some may believe that particular circumstances suggest good intentions justify the negative consequences of one's actions, when it comes to parenting, I contend that intention should be judged separately from action.

Parental decision-making, whether it originates from family tradition or is inﬂuenced by one’s parents' choices, has lasting effects on childhood development (Kalil & Mayer, 2021). While this concept might seem logical, made from the presumption that parents play signiﬁcant roles in their children’s lives, the extent to which parents' choices can have long-term negative effects on whole future families as their children grow into adulthood themselves is as hard to overstate as it is drastically underestimated.

Research has shown that the choices and actions parents make for the beneﬁt of their children have lasting effects as they grow into adulthood; further, the extent to which those decisions change the outcomes of succeeding descendants of future generations has not been studied nearly as thoroughly Part of the motivation behind my research is to take an initial step at rectifying this lack.

Whether it’s in their own families or the lives of others, generational trauma is prominent and familiar to everyone And while the concept might not be discussed conversationally, it affects anyone, whether it is recognized or not

While it is natural to conclude that our human instinct challenges our capabilities when it comes to breaking away from cycles of abusive behaviors or even recognizing them, oftentimes parents are blinded by their good intentions, choosing defensiveness over acceptance and growth. This leads them to make harmful decisions that show evident signs of affecting children negatively as they grow into adolescence. This is the main factor that contributes to generational trauma continuing its cycle; a parent's incapability to accept that good intentions do not justify bad parenting. The relationship between intention and action in parents is what drives cycles of abuse to continue for generations and affects the development of children in terms of changing their poor externalized behaviors in childhood to possible futures of substance abuse, low achievement, and broken relationships into adulthood (Weiss & Schwarz, 1996).

This paper will focus on how parental decisions affect childhood development and their inﬂuence on the continuation of generational trauma for families, depending on a parent’s willingness and ability to recognize their harmful behaviors

and change them. To demonstrate this, I will begin by analyzing the different approaches to parenting for neglectful, authoritative, and authoritarian parenting styles and how these styles impact children as they grow into adulthood. Building on the analysis of existing research, I will make the case for both negative and positive impacts. From there, I will relate and lay out how these impacts play signiﬁcant roles in the continuation of generational trauma, while also assessing the extent to which a parent’s willingness and ability to recognize their negative parenting habits play a role in this as well.

Parenting Styles and Their General Impact on Outcomes of Childhood Development

Every parent is unique when it comes to raising their children, but there are trends that researchers use to group this cornucopia of individual parenting styles into four helpful categories: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative, and uninvolved (Sanvictores, 2022) Each style of parenting ranges from cold to warm and from controlling to free in terms of what they would do in situations with their children (Sprouts, 2021). Each style of parenting ranges from cold to warm and controlling to free in terms of what they would do in situations with their children. With that being said, they also have a range of different effects as to how they would affect the personality and development of their children

Popular psychology-focused YouTube channel “Sprouts” (2021) outlined these relationships conceptually to be easily understood: authoritarian parenting means controlling and expecting obedience from one’s child without considering the needs or wants of the child. Permissive parents are generally more ‘loving’ but don’t put any control over their children. Authoritarian parents exert control and consider the needs and wants of their children; they set limits but allow independence. Neglectful parenting is deﬁned as a parent's lack of involvement and interest in their children; they set no limits and don’t show interest in the wants and needs of their children. Finally, over-involved parents tend to be involved in every aspect of their child’s life, doing everything in their power to prevent adversity or obstacles from interacting with their child, preventing them from exercising independence in their own lives.

This general analysis of each parenting style raises questions about how a parent's seeking intentions of doing what they believe is adequate for their child are merely the consequence of the environments and childrearing that such parents were exposed to, rather than a genuine investment into what decisions are truly the

best to make for their children. These ideals will be explored and analyzed in the following section

The Economic and Societal Pressures that Contribute to Parenting Choices

Varieties of circumstances contribute to a parent's decision-making; whether cultural or situational, environmental pressures persuade parents to make speciﬁc choices for the well-being of their children. The role of a parent in today’s society is to aid their children and provide them with a life that prepares them for adulthood; several factors might be ‘obstacles’ keeping a parent from achieving the potential desired for their children.

The primary factor that stands out when considering what plays into a parent's parenting decisions is their economic circumstance. A study by Mattias Doepke that explores how a child’s development is influenced by a parent's financial state found that economic status has significant cultural impacts on a child’s psychological and emotional behaviors Doepke identified several factors that contribute to a child’s development when economics are involved: privatization, moral reasoning, and status (Doepke, 2019).

A child’s environment inﬂuences their behaviors and life in general into adulthood, and the extent to which a parent's wealth plays a role in this is widely studied, and explored by a vast amounts of research, all of which argue roughly a very similar argument: a parent's wealth might be helpful for acquiring resources needing in raising a child, but there are other important factors besides this when considering if a parents role in a child’s life will contribute to their families cycles of generational trauma.

Building further on Matthias Doekpe’s study, economic constraints impact which parenting style a parent adopts. Whether authoritarian, authoritative, or permissive, different income levels are signiﬁcant to a parent's ability to give their children the time and resources they need up until adulthood (Doepke, 2019).

Research that connects economics to parenting, such as Doepke’s, shows that the most signiﬁcant way economic circumstance shapes parents is that they might persuade them to adopt authoritative or neglectful parenting traits It is ironic considering authoritative parenting can be regarded as one of the best parenting styles to adopt, considering its use of balancing proper discipline and emotional freedom, while neglectful parenting implies the opposite (Sanvictores, 2012). Doepke (2019) concurs with a study on the impact of poverty on parents by Esther

Dermott (2012), finding that parents with higher incomes are more likely to put their children in systems with higher education and learning opportunities, pushing their children to learn better problem-solving skills and independence, promising better them futures. The inverse was also reported by studies: parents who are closer to the poverty level cannot provide their children with these same opportunities, making it more difficult to achieve these same benefits on their own.

When a parent cannot prioritize their children due to ﬁnancial burdens, no matter their intention, it can follow with the child experiencing a prioritization of basic needs, rather than the emotional and social development that parents with higher incomes can provide for their children to an easier extent (Dermott, 2012). Financial stress gives parents this ‘survival and need’ focused approach to parenting, meaning they might adopt habits like stricter discipline, and more demand for control and obedience (Doepke, 2019) from their children rather than fostering independence and emotional development. Additionally, economic obstacles can also mean a parent must work several jobs to provide for their family, leading to commonly unwanted negative consequences as a result of a lack of engagement with their children, negatively affecting a child’s emotional development (Sanvictores, 2022).

Trends of Generational Trauma Linked to Parenting Styles

Generational trauma is the emotional and psychological impact of trauma passed down through families It often stems from parenting behaviors shaped by past trauma that unconsciously affect a child’s development. According to Yehuda and Lehrner’s (2018) study on the impacts of intergenerational transmission of trauma, the effects of trauma can be manifested via learned behaviors and emotional responses, both of which are heavily inﬂuenced by a parent's role in a child’s development. As previously mentioned, how a parent approaches raising their child can have a range of negative, and sometimes positive, effects on their emotional and psychological development; the extent to which those effects have even more drastic effects for families bleeds into the understanding of generational trauma According to Yedhuda and Lehrner, parents who have experienced trauma may pass the consequences of their trauma onto their children by unconsciously replicating the harmful parenting behaviors that were the origin of such trauma generations before them.

As discussed by Sanvictores and Mendez (2023), the emotional and psychological effects of authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles either reinforce or disrupt generational trauma Authoritarian parenting’s harsh

rules and high expectations have negative effects on childhood development, such as emotional suppression and low self-esteem, inﬂuencing traumatic cycles of emotional detachment and control (Savictores & Mendez, 2023). Research by Schoﬁeld et al. (2012), negative parenting practices like such also hinder positive childhood development outcomes, going further to contribute to cycles of generational trauma. The parent-driven and high boundaries of authoritarian parenting also force a child to inherit low social competence and weak emotional resilience, leading to the likelihood of psychological distress to cause anxiety and depression, illustrating how authoritarian parenting habits can also reinforce generational trauma rather than disrupting it In other words, research like Yedhuda and Lehrner’s suggests that trauma can alter genetic expression, also referred to as epigenetics, reinforcing trauma cycles within family generations; so, negative effects of parenting styles, such as ones of an authoritarian parent, will contribute to these cycles.

Going further, in the novel The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, authors Luikinoff and Haidt (2019) argue that permissive parenting, characterized by low barriers and expectations enacted on a parent's children, is adopted by parents to avoid relocating their own negative, traumatic experiences from their parents. And while this may seem more effective in ending cycles of generational trauma in families, it will instead create new elements and trends of trauma for generations as a result of the negative effects of permissive parenting, as discussed earlier However, research like Luikinoff and Haidt (2019) and Yedhuda and Lehrner (2018) suggest that the harm caused to a child’s development by an overprotective parent’s parenting habits creates a different kind of effect on generational trauma; a difﬁcult ability to adapt to diversity, and enact self-sufﬁcient habits on their own, creating generations of individuals living lives for the satisfaction of others, especially their parents.

Understanding Trauma's Impact on Parenting Styles

Recognizing how trauma influences parenting styles is essential to understanding how generational trauma persists. Becoming familiar with generational trauma is essential for making conclusions on how to influence an interruption to generational trauma According to psychologist Dr Sherri Campbell, “All children, regardless of age, have the right to set boundaries and to move their lives in new and different directions so that the generational trauma that ran into them will stop with them.” Recognizing one’s trauma and its cause in this case, the influence of negative parenting habits— and acting on it marks an end to

generational trauma. The main obstacle keeping children from doing this however is the overarching intentions, and high status, that parents inhabit from society; Dr Sherri Campbell also states “We would never dream of expecting children to remain in good standing with any person, regardless of their elevated status, who had abused them; but somehow when it comes to parents, we have a difﬁcult time accepting that parents could be bad, abusive, and downright dangerous to their children.” Society has elevated the status of parents, enforcing the ideal on individuals that, as parents, good intentions justify the parenting habits and styles enacted on their children, when this couldn’t be further from reality.

American researcher Brian Tomasik (2015) explores the question of whether moral judgment should be justiﬁed or based on intention, emphasizing the same concept that parents who act with good intentions can still have unintended negative consequences Branching from this, it points out some of the clear connections between a parent's intentions and the effects of parenting styles and habits on generational trauma: a parent must shift, and become aware of, their practices and behaviors towards their children, disregard intentions, and instead adopt practices that promote the well-being of their children. The societal expectations and pressures that society puts on parents, whether economic or social, feed into the justiﬁcations of reasoning of intention, rather than fact, for the practices of parents, leading to more drastic consequences for generations to come for parents and children.

Breaking the Cycle: Solutions and Interventions

To begin breaking these cycles, studies suggest that authoritative parenting that properly finds a balance between structure and emotional responsiveness in children is the path to breaking these insufferable cycles of generational trauma. According to Schofield et al. (2012), this parenting style can serve as a protective mechanism that works against trends of national trauma as a clear result of the positive effects it enforces in adolescent development When a parent can support and emotionally foster their children, while also recognizing one’s trauma and errors in parenting, it significantly reduces the likelihood that those trauma-caused behaviors that such parents inherited from their parents will be passed down, creating a domino effect of positive outcomes for generations to come.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ways that parenting styles affect childhood development to the extent of generational trauma are signiﬁcant but also underestimated.

Furthermore, while parents justify their decisions utilizing good intentions, research consistently suggests that intention does not determine the outcome of action, especially regarding childhood development. It is the effects of a parent's choices, not their well-meant intentions, that shape the psychological and emotional well-being of their child and future generations.

While several factors, such as economic circumstances, societal expectations, and personal circumstances, do contribute to how a parent raises their children, none dismiss a parent from the responsibility of recognizing their harmful behaviors. As explored earlier, economic pressure may explain but cannot excuse neglectful or harmful parenting decisions awareness is critical Nevertheless, the persistence of generational trauma is driven by a parent’s unwillingness to acknowledge the consequences, unintentional or not, of speciﬁc parenting practices or habits that allow cycles of emotional oppression, low self-esteem, and psychological trauma to continue for generations.

And yet, there is a path to ending these cycles. Research has shown that authoritative parenting practices provide the most effective way to this path. Additionally, when parents consciously reflect on their actions and experiences, recognize their influence to prioritize the well-being of their children over their intention, they create a stronger foundation for healthy childhood development, reinforcing an end to cycles of generational trauma. This shift from justifying past behaviors to fostering growth and resilience as a result of past behaviors gives parents the power to redefine generations of parents and children to come, untimely ending the seemingly never-ending cycle of generational trauma.

References

Bailey, J. A., Hill, K. G., Oesterle, S., & Hawkins, J. D. (2009). Parenting practices and problem behavior across three generations: monitoring, harsh discipline, and drug use in the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behavior. Developmental psychology, 45(5), 1214–1226 https://doi org/10 1037/a0016129

Dermott, E., & Pomati, M. (2015). ‘good’ parenting practices: How important are poverty, education and time pressure? Sociology, 50(1), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038514560260

Doepke, M , Sorrenti, G , & Zilibotti, F (2019, February 11) The Economics of Parenting. NBER. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25533

Kalil, A., & Mayer, S. (2021). Behavioral Insights, Parental Decision Making, and Investments in Children’s Development. In J. Kimmel (Ed.), Intergenerational Mobility: How Gender, Race, and Family Structure Affect Adult Outcomes (pp. 83–108). http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2bndfcx.6

Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2019). The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure Penguin Books.

Sanvictores T, Mendez MD. Types of Parenting Styles and Effects on Children. [Updated 2022 Sep 18]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK568743/ Sprouts. (2021, April 30). 5 Parenting Styles and Their Effects on Life [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/fyO8pvpnTdE

Schoﬁeld, T. J., Conger, R. D., Donnellan, M. B., Jochem, R., Widaman, K. F., & Conger, K. J. (2012). Parent Personality and Positive Parenting as Predictors of Positive Adolescent Personality Development Over Time. Merrill-Palmer quarterly, 58(2), 255–283. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2012.0008

TEDx Talks. (2024, March 5). Not all parents are good: Dr. Sherrie Campbell TEDxDanville [Video] YouTube https://youtu be/deyHwDkG7oc

Tomasik, B (2013, July 4) Should we base moral judgments on intentions or outcomes? Center on Long-Term Risk. https://longtermrisk.org

Weiss, L. H., & Schwarz, J. C. (1996). The Relationship between Parenting Types and Older Adolescents’ Personality, Academic Achievement, Adjustment, and Substance Use. Child Development, 67(5), 2101–2114. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131612

Yehuda, R., & Lehrner, A. (2018, October). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: Putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. World Psychiatry: Ofﬁcial Journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) https://pmc ncbi nlm nih gov/articles/PMC6127768/

Kaylee Brackmann Class of 2025

SENIOR REFLECTIONS

A long-standing tradition for seniors at JPII is to write a reflective essay capturing their journey throughout high school. Students are encouraged to consider how they have grown and been challenged, the accomplishments they’re proud of, the regrets they’ve faced, the triumphs they've celebrated, and the moments and people that have shaped their experience. The following collection of excerpts offers a glimpse into the unique voices, memories, and personal growth of the Class of 2025.

Coming to JPII was the best choice I ever made in 8th grade. Going to school here with the people that I can call my closest friends, having great teachers that actually care about their students, and just great experiences at school and outside of school have really helped me become the person I am today. I think if I had gone to Beech like what my parents wanted me to do, I don’t think that I would be the same as I am now. I have made so many friends and had a great high school experience, which I originally thought I was not going to get, by coming here. Through hard classes that have helped me become better at studying, joining cheerleading in my sophomore year and meeting some of the best people, and going to school events while becoming friends with new people, I am very happy to say that I am glad to be graduating from this school. And while I say I’m excited to graduate and leave, I’m also dreading the last day of seeing all my underclassmen friends, going to my classes, and seeing the teachers who have changed my life.

To conclude my four years at Pope John Paul II, I would like to thank all of the teachers who have helped me grow as a person. It wasn’t about the classes or the materials. It was about critical thinking and showing up every day that shaped me to be a stronger person. Although I debated on transferring, I’m so glad that I stayed here because it taught me how to never quit on myself. Although I experienced many changes at Pope, the school saw a lot of changes. With that being said, some of the changes were for the better, and I also see that in myself. Change isn’t always bad. Sometimes change can mean growth, and that is what I found was the case at JPII and with myself. I am so glad that I made the decision to come to the school for everything that I mentioned before; it was truly the most important decision of my life so far, but I am glad that I took it because of all that it taught me.

The first lesson that I have learned is in the welcoming and loving classroom of JP2 Each day, we walked in happy and excited to learn, especially in Mr Mauthe's classroom. Every day in all of the classrooms, we learned thousands of things that we will most likely use in our future and in college…I feel like if I had been to a public school, I would not be as prepared as I am today. The teachers truly care about the students here and are willing to help no matter what because they want us to succeed The lesson that I have learned from school and in the classroom is that you need to be helpful and caring, no matter what you are doing or what is happening. I know that teachers are people too and that they have a life outside of school, and things might bother them or stuff like that But they come to school and are willing to help despite what is going on in their life. Being like this is a good thing that I have noticed because when I go off to college there might be days that I will be down or upset and I can think back to the teachers here and be like if they can have a helpful and caring attitude despite what’s going on, I can too There is no need for me to have an attitude every day because life is great, and people don't deserve to be hated on and disrespectful. Having the attitude of a teacher by coming to school being positive and caring, despite what’s going on outside of school, is what everyone should strive for.

One of the courses throughout my time here has been theology. Even though I'm not catholic, junior and senior year were some of the most important classes I took, in my opinion. Learning about different types of ethical views and social justice greatly helped shape my moral compass, as I believe they helped me become a better person with a compassionate perspective on the world. Mr. Dion's class motivated me to engage in my community and do my part in helping the people that need it. These ideals have paved the way for me to sign up for different groups in Chicago that work towards women's subsidiarity and social justice I believe that without taking this class, I wouldn't have the morals that I do today, and I wouldn't live with the same things in mind. This also helped me realize that I wanted to go into healthcare, to help people in ways that they cannot help themselves. I'm grateful that this class was one that I was excited to go to, and fundamentally changed me as a person, through the way I think and see the people and situations around me, and the world.

Mr. Mauthe, you definitely know by now that I am a math kid. Everything has a formula, a pattern, or a system in my head. But I did not come into high school like this; I came to JPII not really caring about math and convinced I wanted to be a marine biologist. Math was just another class, that honestly I was butt hurt about as I had to retake Algebra I I excelled in Algebra I, and I really came to enjoy math in Algebra II, which is definitely one of my favorite math subjects. I started to love math, and I realized I wanted to be a teacher in my junior year in Pre-Calc. This was the year I started tutoring. First, it was my sister because we were in the same class. Then it quickly became my friends and other underclassmen I knew. My own ability to do math is not what inspired me to want to be a teacher, and it definitely wasn’t the salary, but the people. Math came easily to me, and it always upset me how people wanted to give up on math or simply refused to attempt to understand it In the beginning, it was a frustration at “how could someone not understand this, it is so easy!” that started to become an understanding that not everyone learns the same. Sure, I had been told everyone learns differently my whole life, but I really understood what that meant in my junior year. I’d have to use basketball to explain trig conversions or comparing things to pop culture references, so they would stick better. I had never seen that in my classes, but I also had not seen that level of understanding. Kids who do not do well in school are not stupid or incapable of being taught; they simply need a different avenue. My math classes taught me this. Especially my senior statistics class. This was my first time taking a standard math class, and I was appalled by how much slower everything was Over the course of my senior year, I felt frustrated at my classmates' not being able to understand something I could teach myself frequently. But the kids in that class aren’t stupid; many of them were happy to sit with me while I re-explained it in a way that they could understand. My favorite moment was watching someone’s eyes light up because they finally understood and could actually apply what they knew. Also, my senior statistics class reinforced the idea that I wanted to be a math teacher. I have had amazing math teachers my whole life who took understanding to a new level and could teach a lesson with their eyes closed. Even the students who were actually trying to learn Statistics clearly were missing a piece and could still be struggling They needed the why This was what I found when I taught my Statistics classmates, my sister, or my friends They did not understand the why, so they were struggling with the work. If my college prep school was struggling with teaching this why, then what about underfunded schools with teachers who do not care? Who is going to look out for their students? That is what I want to do. Math is such an important subject, and more people need support in it now than ever. I want to be a real support for those kids, not AI. Thank you to JPII for showing me this problem, and thank you to my Math teachers who have shown that I can fill this need if I want to, and I do. I want to be a teacher so I can help people.

My academic venture that I want to talk about is Hand-in-Hand I joined the class sort of on a whim because I wanted to be in both Theology classes without having to do all the work for service. I also loved the kids in Hand-in-Hand and wanted to get to know them better. I take Victoria to the Service class and help her learn, stay awake, and, most importantly, do her service work. Our service work is making cards for people in nursing homes. I never imagined that I would spend 80 minutes a week in my senior year coloring, but I love it so much There have been so many days that I just wanted to get my homework done, but I took that class period and de-stressed with my bestie, Vic, and it has been so fruitful. I have come to see the beauty of human connection between people who see the world differently. Vic says things I would never expect and causes me to think outside of my normal sphere. I love it when she asks me what I think about heaven, the color pink, dance parties, or dying my hair white. That class has shown me the importance of stepping outside of myself and my worries and really thinking about other people I have not only gotten to know Vic through the class, but also all the other kids in Hand-in-Hand. We have the most fun conversations, and their adorable smiles bring me out of my stressful assignments or college decisions, as the case was for most of this year, into a world of caring and authentic relationships. Handin-Hand truly has taught me the importance of genuine connection and joyful smiles in the midst of the hardest days of the school year

My enjoyment of math all started when I saw how excited and happy someone could be about learning math There were some days that Mrs Peper would dance around the room because she was so excited, or sometimes she would accidentally throw her Apple pencil across the room. These moments that I experienced in her class made me realize that, even though math can sometimes be difficult, there can always be fun found in getting to the end of a complex problem. These fun experiences never ceased, as she would always include a little math meme at the beginning of all her lessons that normally managed to get a smile out of me if I was able to understand it.

I had gotten the lead in the musical. I would be lying if I said I was immediately overjoyed because, in all honesty, I was scared How could I pull this off? How could I stand in front of a packed theatre and sing? What did I get myself into? Though these thoughts flooded my head, I called my mom and delivered the news while my phone continued to blow up with encouraging messages and congratulations. I had officially thrown myself into a new environment in my senior year, and it felt as if I were a freshman again, having to find my way and make new friends. In the first few rehearsals, I was uncomfortable. I had no idea how things worked, and I felt like an outsider trying to force myself into a new friend group. However, as time went on, I began connecting with other cast members and had fun during each rehearsal. This new extracurricular of mine soon began to consume me, becoming the only thing I really looked forward to and the only thing that gave me confidence in myself I loved being with the cast, I loved singing my heart out every day, I loved dancing around, I loved fitting for my costumes, I loved it all. The more time I spent at rehearsal, the more I recognized my love for theatre, realizing that this experience was quickly becoming one of the best I’ve ever had. Though it may sound like an exaggeration, I’m not lying when I claim that the cast, directors, and everyone who helped with the show are some of the most supportive people I’ve known; I was shown nothing but overwhelming love throughout the months of dedication to the production and am confident that I have found lifelong friends Out of all my high school clubs, sports, or activities, the JPII Theatre program was what reinforced the fact that I am loved, I am confident, and I am supported. The program and everyone within it granted me a part of myself I never knew I was missing; I now plan to continue building upon my musical theatre career in college. My sincerest gratitude for JPII Theatre will never be enough in return for everything it has given me. But for now, goodbye, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for both the program and its talented students.

I came in with a bad attitude and very little confidence. However, I was wrong. I loved my teacher, Mrs Childress, because she made math fun She taught in an interactive way that really resonated with my brain and the way it learns She connected with the students by sharing what she was passionate about, and being honest with us if she was having a bad day or a stressful week. I found that when I enjoyed my teacher and the people in my class, I had more motivation to learn the material, and consequently, performed better in the class. This was the first time I ever performed well in a math class, without having to go to crazy extremes to do so Looking back now, I realize this was not a coincidence I realize that doing well in a class is not really about having an intellectual tendency towards that subject; it’s about your attitude and effort. When I shifted my attitude to being more positive and confident, I performed better. Taking Algebra 2 not only restored my confidence in my mathematical ability, but also taught me the importance of your attitude and effort in a course.

There were a few pivotal moments for me while I was at JPII, both of which happened in the second half of my high school career. The first was the Campus Ministry class I took in my senior year In this class, I was part of a student leadership team where we helped lead the student body closer to Christ. It is hard for me to say that “I” did this or that in Ministry because there was never a time when I did not work together with the other kids in our class. Our class embodied that silly little phrase “there’s no I in team”. We all worked together to figure out small groups for retreats, we worked together to make sure that penance services went smoothly, and we worked together every single week to organize Mass We all quickly learned how to lean on each other for everything Being in Ministry taught me how to work on a team for a purpose beyond ourselves. It also allowed me to see how the JPII students and staff embody Christ and where we sometimes fall short of following God’s will for us. Looking back on my junior year, when I was dead set on doing service because that was what I enjoyed. The idea of leading small groups and being that vulnerable about my faith was something I wanted no part of when I was signing up for my senior year classes It took Mr Strope a solid couple of weeks to convince me to fill out the application for his class. I thought that I would have no chance of getting into that class after seeing who else had applied, but a week later, I found out that I would be in Ministry during my senior year. I was very surprised that I got in, and honestly, a little nervous for what was in store for me. Now I could not even imagine my senior year without Campus Ministry. While for the most part, it was a very low-stress class, it still taught me perseverance and patience

Leading retreats took a great deal of preparation that I was not fully prepared for the first go around, that is for sure. Nevertheless, I still had an amazing experience leading retreats and being a part of the Campus Ministry class during my senior year.

My time at JPII was easily the best time of my life while I’ve been in school When people ask me if I would go back and change to a different school, I have and will always say no. I truly believe that the experiences I’ve gained along the way are experiences that can only come from JPII. This place forced me out of my comfort zone and got me to try things that had I gone to other schools I may have never known I liked…One of my few regrets is that I didn’t try more things when I had the chance, and that’s what I tell people when they ask me about my experience.

Another thing that changed me over the course of my four years here was my senior theology service class This was because it helped me grow closer to the people in my group whom I would have never expected to be close with. Not only did I form bonds there, but it also made me realize where I wanted to go in life. It made me realize I love to help people who need help. Helping the community was amazing, but also just making the residents' day was so special. Seeing them have a smile on their face, knowing that they probably get few to no visitors, and them being so excited, filled my heart with joy. We worked in the memory care section most days, and although sometimes it was sad how far gone they were, it was so amazing to see them want to talk to you about things, or participate in games, or sing along with the music It was a truly amazing experience to be able to make those connections with the elderly and form a bond with them over the course of serving there.

Throughout high school, I took Spanish with one of my favorite teachers, Mrs Lopez I always enjoyed learning Spanish in her class. I was forced to speak in a language that I barely knew. It was terrifying thinking I sounded stupid to others, while I was trying to speak Spanish, but Mrs. Lopez would reassure me and continue to make us speak in front of the class. It was horrible and no one enjoyed it, but that was the whole idea. I’ve always been told that if I’m not uncomfortable, I’m not growing, so this was definitely a growth experience for me. I improved my public speaking skills while also increasing my self-confidence along the way. Using these skills that I built up for 4 years, I went to Spain and had one of the most transformative experiences of my life I always enjoyed learning Spanish with Mrs Lopez, but it was not until my plane landed in Spain that I realized there was so much more to the culture. Getting off the bus in Madrid, I was immersed in a world that felt both unfamiliar and exciting. I tried jamón, pez espada, fried calamari, and many more foods. I went on scavenger hunts throughout the cities, asking for directions in Spanish, and navigating myself through the city, using only what was around me. Of course, it was all in Spanish. I was forced to use what I learned in the classroom in real-life situations. All of those “difficult” presentations in Spanish class prepared me for my future. Every mistake and failure I ever made in class was part of learning I visited places such as the Alhambra and watched a flamenco dance I was experiencing another culture, and it was eye-opening It taught me to step outside of my comfort zone just like Spanish class did. For this, I will be forever grateful for Spanish class with Mrs. Lopez and my trip to Spain.

My time at Pope was easily the best time of my life while I’ve been in school. When people ask me if I would go back and change to a different school, I have and will always say no I truly believe that the experiences I’ve gained along the way are experiences that can only come from JP2 This place forced me out of my comfort zone and got me to try things that had I gone to other schools I may have never known I liked…One of my few regrets is that I didn’t try more things when I had the chance, and that’s what I tell people when they ask me about my experience.

There were a few pivotal moments for me while I was at JPII, both of which happened in the second half of my high school career. The first was the Campus Ministry class I took in my senior year. In this class, I was part of a student leadership team where we helped lead the student body closer to Christ It is hard for me to say that “I” did this or that in Ministry because there was never a time when I did not work together with the other kids in our class. Our class embodied that silly little phrase “there’s no I in team”. We all worked together to figure out small groups for retreats, we worked together to make sure that penance services went smoothly, and we worked together every single week to organize Mass. We all quickly learned how to lean on each other for everything. Being in Ministry taught me how to work on a team for a purpose beyond ourselves. It also allowed me to see how the JPII students and staff embody Christ and where we sometimes fall short of following God’s will for us. Looking back on my junior year, when I was dead set on doing service because that was what I enjoyed The idea of leading small groups and being that vulnerable about my faith was something I wanted no part of when I was signing up for my senior year classes. It took Mr. Strope a solid couple of weeks to convince me to fill out the application for his class. I thought that I would have no chance of getting into that class after seeing who else had applied, but a week later, I found out that I would be in Ministry during my senior year. I was very surprised that I got in, and honestly, a little nervous for what was in store for me. Now I could not even imagine my senior year without Campus Ministry. While for the most part, it was a very low-stress class, it still taught me perseverance and patience. Leading retreats took a great deal of preparation that I was not fully prepared for the first go around, that is for sure Nevertheless, I still had an amazing experience leading retreats and being a part of the Campus Ministry class during my senior year.

“Ew! What’s that in his lunchbox? Dude, it smells so bad,” yelled someone at my table. Others joined and pointed their fingers, making fun of the kimchi and bulgogi I had packed for lunch. It was the first day of freshman year. Since then, I haven't brought lunch to school again. Growing up in the South, little jabs and “funny” jokes about my culture became normal. Well, it wasn’t normal. I just had to pretend it was so I could fit in. At a certain point, I felt embarrassed about who I was, so I spent hours trying to look like everyone else, talk like everyone else, and eat the same things everyone else did. I couldn’t embrace who I truly was because I was so scared that people would see me differently.

I would tell myself that they could never understand me; they were too basic, I thought. Looking back, I was guilty of being the type of person I hated the most. I was a hypocrite. Refusing to let anyone else into my life, I resented people for staying out of it. I was just as judgmental as the niche, popular group of friends that I despised. One day, my friends asked me to share a traditional Korean meal with them Surprised, I reluctantly agreed. It was difficult to eat with people who didn’t look like me, people who hadn’t experienced the same backhanded comments about being Asian. I was scared of being vulnerable, so I never thought to open up to others, not even my friends. I hid away because it felt comfortable.

“Dude, why didn’t you bring us here earlier? This stuff tastes amazing!” I sat in shock as my friends fought over the last piece of galbi, and a smile began to radiate across my face. I realized that I was wrong to assume that everyone thought like the insecure 16-year-old who had traumatized me. Hatred grew in my heart because I allowed it to, not because other people gave it a reason. My eyes opened to the possibility of a community that valued me for who I was, not who I pretended to be. I realized my prejudice and judgment had locked me away and kept me from loving myself and the people around me Sharing my culture with friends taught me that it takes one meal to open someone’s heart for the rest of their lives.

It takes one person to be vulnerable to show that we are all human. When I find my community at Princeton, whether a study group or student club, I’ll remember that to share a meal with someone is to bring them into your family. Food is powerful because it represents our culture. It represents who we are in the purest form possible. We share a part of ourselves when we eat together I still remember the smiles and laughter that filled the room as I shared family recipes with my friends. All it took was one question to change my life: “Hey, want to go out and eat?” If people can eat together, they can work, play, and love together. One question, one meal, one bite is all it takes.

To start, I have taken a multitude of classes since coming to Pope. Some I have loved, and some I was counting down the days until it was over Starting with my freshman year, I had never taken a foreign language. During COVID I had attempted to learn French and was planning on taking that when I came to Pope. However, in my freshman year, French was only able to be tested into, and I was really upset as I did not know enough of the language to test into the second level. I was so nervous to try and learn another language, but I signed up for Spanish I. On the first day of school, 14-year-old me was sitting with two other girls and a whole bunch of the “popular” guys I was so nervous and almost self-conscious to try and speak in a different language in front of them; however, Mrs. Lopez made me feel so welcome and so comfortable that I gradually got more confident. Fast forward through freshman year, and I had grown to love Spanish class and had actually gotten pretty good at it. I had really developed a connection with Mrs. Lopez, and was learning to be more comfortable with speaking in front of my class, and my nerves kept decreasing My junior year, I was in Honors Spanish III, and was lucky enough to get Mrs. Lopez for a second time. I was beyond thrilled. Throughout my time as a junior, my knowledge of the Spanish language grew, and I got better and more comfortable with the language. Fast forward to summer after junior year, I went to Spain by myself for a month, and went to school in Malaga. Before leaving, Mrs. Lopez gave me her phone number and told me to contact her if I needed any help while living abroad Had I not grown so close to her, I would not have developed this connection. She is genuinely one of the most amazing teachers I have ever had, and has really encouraged me to gain confidence and come out of my shell when it comes to speaking in a different language.

My academic venture that I want to talk about is Hand-in-Hand. I joined the class sort of on a whim because I wanted to be in both Theology classes without having to do all the work for service I also loved the kids in Hand-in-Hand and wanted to get to know them better. I take Victoria to the Service class and help her learn, stay awake, and, most importantly, do her service work. Our service work is making cards for people in nursing homes. I never imagined that I would spend 80 minutes a week in my senior year coloring, but I love it so much. Vic says things I would never expect and causes me to think outside of my normal sphere. I love it when she asks me what I think about heaven, the color pink, dance parties, or dying my hair white That class has shown me the importance of stepping outside of myself and my worries and really thinking about other people. Hand-in-Hand truly has taught me the importance of genuine connection and joyful smiles in the midst of the hardest days of the school year.

The academic class that has had the greatest impact on me was my sophomore year Algebra II class It was the first time that I really enjoyed and understood anything math-related I had spent the entirety of my educational life disliking math and being very unsuccessful in it, and I completely believed that Algebra 2 would be no different. I came in with a bad attitude and very little confidence. However, I was wrong. I loved my teacher, Mrs. Childress, because she made math fun. She taught in an interactive way that really resonated with my brain and the way it learns. She connected with the students by sharing what she was passionate about, and being honest with us if she was having a bad day or a stressful week. I found that when I enjoyed my teacher and the people in my class, I had more motivation to learn the material, and consequently, performed better in the class This was the first time I ever performed well in a math class, without having to go to crazy extremes to do so Looking back now, I realize this was not a coincidence. I realize that doing well in a class is not really about having an intellectual tendency towards that subject; it’s about your attitude and effort. When I shifted my attitude to being more positive and confident, I performed better. Taking Algebra 2 not only restored my confidence in my mathematical ability, but also taught me the importance of your attitude and effort in a course. Overall, taking Algebra 2 sophomore year changed the attitude I brought into a new class, and therefore, greatly increased the success that I had in those classes.

Finally, I just want to talk about myself. I came into JPII with no friends, no faith, and no will to live, as I felt I was so unwanted Now that I’m leaving the place I’ve called home for the past four years, I’m leaving a lot more sad than I’m sure many other seniors are I truly believe JPII formed me into the person I am today, and I feel like I truly made this place my home. I am so sad to leave, honestly. Seeing that I’m writing this late per usual, I can reflect on my last day as well. Walking the halls of my friends one last time, the friends who made me want to live life to the fullest, who have picked me up when I’ve been down, and showed me God’s love in so many ways, seeing my teachers who have pushed me to be better academically and personally, seeing so many people who I will never see again, and walking out of my home one last time was like finishing a game or a show that you’re proud you finished, but you never really wanted to be over Once you finish that game or show, you have this feeling of “I have nothing to do now,” and I feel the same way about JPII. I can’t believe I’m done, and it’s very bittersweet, but JPII will always hold a very special place in my heart. The memories I have here will never be forgotten, and if I could do it all over again, I’d want to go the same way a million times. Honestly, writing the end of this reflection is the first time I’ve gotten emotional about leaving. It makes sense. I love JPII so much, and I am truly proud to have been a knight.