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Fall Issue 2025 | Vol. 57 No. 1

Letter From The Editor

Katie Treacy ’27

Every all, when we come back to Villa, I eel a little sentimental not seein our recent raduates still walkin throu h the school. You come to know people by standin behind their backpacks in the hallways or the sound o their voices over the announcements, and that absence in September always eels a bit stran e. However, it also provides us with the opportunityto ettoknowsomebodynew.

When I was an underclassman, it mademe eelsospecialtobe riendswith

upperclassmen because in my eyes they were the epitome o “cool.” Now I am an upperclassmanandIcanseetwothin sare true. The ﬁrst is that the “coolness” is deﬁnitely an illusion, because I am still waitin or my trans ormation. (Althou h, ollowin a bi win on November 13th, the Powerpu ame,i itwereacompetition or “coolest” rade, then the juniors are in the lead!) The second is that this power has shi ted to my peers and me.We now et to welcome new students, include others, and beanexampleo theVillaspirit.

Activities brin in us to ether as a school are the per ect opportunity to step outside our own riend roups and be the personthatshowsup orsomeoneelse.We saw this on Halloween, when rades came to ether or roupcostumesandthewhole school cheered or choreo raphed Gon Showper ormances.

In this issue o Towerette, we reﬂect onthetimeswhenourcommunityhascome to ether this all, rom September est and artclasses,towelcomin newteachers.

Karaoke at the Robotics movie ni ht

Fall Fashion in 2025

Ava Sansano ‘27

When you think o The all season and all ashion, what comes to mind? Pumpkin spice lattes, warm com ort ood, and com y clothes that keep you stylish but cozy. This seasonwhenyouarelookin or alloutfitsto ooutin,youneedtofindonesthatfitallthe requirements: very com y, very cute, and with the ri ht dose o luxuriousness. The pictured look has variations that youcan wearondays whenyouneedcom ort,butstillwanttoshow up or class, meet riends or co ee, or even have a spur o the moment ni ht out. I the weatherturnscolderyoucanaddastructured coatorpu ervestinaneutralcolor.Itwill eel like allis ivin youahu be oreyouwalkout thedoor.

Your all outfits do not have to be centered around browns and loomy colors. Add a hint o pink to so ten and bri hten the deep, dark colors. A so t pink sweater combined with strai ht le jeans or low rise, wide le , ba y jeans is com y but stylish. Maybe add a pair o pink Adidas Gazelle sneakers,a small old bandwatch, old hoop earrin s, and a lon old pendant necklace, and you have ot yoursel the comfiest, yet cutest, outfit! The irly, pink hues can be complementedbyaddin ed y oldhoopsand anele antnecklace,finishin o thefitwitha cool pair o pink Adidas. Complete the look with a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte in your hand, and you are set or a cool all day. Another one o my avorite looks is this all outfit(picturedontheri ht)thatcantransition intothewinterseason.

This outfit is chic and practical. The cable-knit cream sweater and black flared le in saddacom ortable-yet-sleeklookto your silhouette. This outfit will make you looklikeyoumadenoe ort,butstilllookso stylish. The scar adds a texture that makes thelookstyledyetnotoverthetop.

Whattakesthisoutﬁttothenextlevel is the plat orm U boot: plain or ur trimmed,withorwithoutslouchysocks.They are warm, but ashionable — and honestly, they make you want to curl up with a cinnamonlatteand asliceo pumpkinbread. The look is complete with small old hoops andthisentireensemblehasdeepcozy-luxe vibes.Addavanillachaicandlescenttoyour room while you are ettin ready. This will reallybrin youintotheFallvibes.

Outﬁt #1

Outﬁt #2

The Science Behind Student

Li e: Anticipatory Anxiety

Brid etDrew‘26

The be innin o the school year is always stress ul; di ﬁcult tests, tou h sport practices, and new classes can all cause an anxiety-riddenSeptember.Butwhatexactlyis thecauseo this stress?Why do we eel that ﬂutterin sensation in our stomach be ore a ame, and what’s the reasonin behind our racin mindspriortoabi exam?Donot ear: there is an explanation or our anticipatory anxiety,anditisallcompletelynatural.

When we experience stress, the body sendsasi naltotheamy dala,anareao the brain that controls emotional processin . Then, a distress alarm makes its way to the hypothalamus,anotherre iono themindthat acts as a control center, where the adrenal lands are activated. Here, a hormone called epinephrine, more commonly known as adrenaline, is pumped into the bloodstream. This complex reaction is what causes symptoms like stomach butterﬂies or heart palpitations.Theresponsehappensbe orewe can even ully process our surroundin s, which makes it hard to stay calm. An abundance o stress can cause withdrawals rom people around us or a shortenin o temper. No one is immune to stress, but everyonecanﬁndasolutiontominimizeit.

Hormones and chemical releases are notsomethin wehavemuchcontrolover,so whataresomeeasywaystokeepthisanxiety at bay? Our ellow Villa irls have a couple tips! Grace Calvano ‘26 eases her stress by listenin to her avorite music on the ride home.Ontheotherhand, IsabellaWhite‘26 soothes anxiety throu h exercise: her daily dance practice is the per ect outlet. Meanwhile, Elodie Cooney ‘26 takes a di erent approach; when she eels overwhelmed, she simply takes a ew deep breaths, ivin her a chance to adjust her mindset. Stress may eel overwhelmin , but the solution can be as easy as takin a momenttoreset.

It can eel particularly di ﬁcult to eel calm durin stress ul times like the be innin o theschoolyear.But,byknowin how and why we eel anxiety, it becomes easier to mana e our stress. So, next time you can’t stop your heart rom poundin be ore a test, take some deep breaths, and youradrenalinelevelswillbebacktonormal innotime!

Learnin , Lau hter, and Li e

Lessons: A Guide to Mr. Scherer

Kendall Kiraly ‘28

With many new additions to Villa this year between WIN Wednesday and class-start bells, new acesinthehallwaysalsocomeonthescene. Whileaninﬂuxo reshmenandmiddleschoolers camerushin inasusual,thisyearalsointroduced some new teachers to the aculty. One o these newcomers includes the math teacher, Mr. Scherer, who has already been makin an impact withhisenthusiasm ornumbers.

Drawn to physics and numbers rom an earlya e,Mr.Schereralwayshadaspecialloveo math. Throu hout hi h school the subject was wherehetrulyshined,andheconstantly oundthe most smiles behind a paper o calculations. Althou hheinitiallyplannedtostudyen ineerin incolle e,Mr.Schererswitchedhis ocustomath, enamored by what he describes as “wrestlin to et the ri ht answer.” To many people, this “wrestlin ” is o ten ramed as the stoppin point in all pro ress; however, to Mr. Scherer, the stru le is just where the learnin truly be ins. While becomin a teacher wasn’t always in his a enda, he quickly realized that his love o numbersandnatural i to simpli yin the“why” behind raphsandvariablespointedtohisobvious purpose:toteach.

This revelation brou ht a new unprecedentedchallen etothetable:Mr.Scherer had no idea how to be a ood teacher. From desi nin lesson plans to replyin to ﬂooded inboxesto radin stackso paper,teachin isnot an easy job. However, just as he tells his math class,“thelearnin isinthedoin .”Hetooksome o his own advice, and now, nine years-in- ront-o -a-whiteboard-later, he has trans ormed into the en a in , patient, e ﬁcient, andwell-spokenteacherheistoday.

As a student in one o his classes, I can attest that he has a stron ly-structured classroom,usin everysecondpossibletostand up and instruct students on mind-bo lin topicsandexplainpuzzlin problems.

Mr.Schererhascommentedthatheuses student-led classes in which the students ask the questions about problems instead o the teacher lecturin topics to them because he believes that in math, “It’s not as much about takin notes and readin as it is about actually doin thework.”Whilethisstron belie creates much e ﬁciency in the classroom, Mr. Scherer admits that aclass isn’ten a in without some lau hter.Thatisexactlywhyhepersistentlytells jokestomakestudentslau h,andevenoncehad beenchallen edto ivestudentsacatchupday i a student at his prior school, recently-closed Catholic school Immaculate Conception, was able to rep ﬁ ty pushups–it worked. As Natalie Brinkworth ‘28 describes it, Mr. Scherer’s classesareclearlyentertainin bothinworkand in teachin because o his combination o “ un and important work.” While Mr. Scherer didn’t always have his path marked out rom the be innin ,itisundeniablyevidentthat ollowin what he loved with constant hard work and experience eventually led Mr. Scherer to a destined career dedicated to learnin and teachin ,andVillacan’twaittoseewhathehas instore.

The Formula or a Great Teacher:

Introducin Ms. Ro ers

Sarah Shalhoub ’28

With resh ideas and creative enthusiasm, Ms. Ro ers is the newest “addition” to our math department this year. She holds an en ineerin de ree rom Northeastern University and is passionate aboutsupportin allwomeninSTEM,startin intheclassroom.

As a Morristown native, Ms. Ro ers attended Morristown Hi h School, where she was a cheerleader. Far rom dreadin math, Ms. Ro ers rew up lovin it and always thou ht it was un. Yet, she never pictured hersel as a math teacher. At Northeastern University in Boston, Ms. Ro ers earned a Bachelor o Science in Mechanical En ineerin . Ater completin colle e, she be anworkin atNJLEEP,anonproﬁtcolle e readiness pro ram or rades 6-12. The pro ram supports ﬁrst eneration students with academic preparation and career exposuretohelpthem etinto—andsucceed in—colle e. She hopes to provide the same opportunities orherstudentshereatVilla.

This year, Ms. Ro ers aims to help her students become conﬁdent and row mathematically.Speciﬁcally,shewantstohelp her students learn how to properly study or math, emphasizin that she hersel didn’t know how to until colle e. When I asked her or her advice to her students, she said “It is really important to try new thin s whether you're scared or not because you can learn a lotaboutyoursel .”

She recalls that rowin up there is a lot o pressure to ocus on one thin in your li e and become really ood at it. She believesthat,“Successcancome romdoin aloto di erentthin sbecausemostthin s in our lives are interconnected. You can be oodatmath and En lish.”

As I was talkin to Ms. Ro ers about herexperiencesintheclassroom,sheshared thatoneo her avoritemomentsinteachin is when multiple lessons o math come to etherandjustclick.It’sinthesemoments, she explained, that students be in to understandthepurposebehindwhatthey’ve learned and how each lesson connects to a bi erpicture.

Outside o the classroom, Ms. Ro ers enjoys stayin active by playin tennis and workin out. She also just ot into readin and is workin her way throu h a new book. Whether she is in the classroom, on the tenniscourt,orrelaxin witha unstory,Ms. Ro ers brin s passion and dedication to everythin shedoes.Wearelookin orward to another reat school year. Welcome, Ms. Ro ers!

The Path to the Past: Ms. DiMarzio

Amy Perlera ‘28

Can you uess who this new teacher is? Four hints: she has been to all 50 states, she has a olden retriever named Penny,shecansaythealphabetbackwards very quickly, and she loves to hike. This yearVillahasmademanynewchan esand has added many new members to its aculty.Ms.DiMarzio,ornowknownasMrs. Emerybecausesherecently otmarriedto her husband in October, is amon these new teachers at Villa this year. She ives her students the chance to row and develop their skills, and she always stays lateincasesomeoneneedsextrahelp.Ms. DiMarzio, althou h new, has deﬁnitely become an asset to Villa, especially since she brin s a lot o experience to her classrooms.

She received a Dual Bachelors De reeinhistoryandEn lishwithadouble minor in Education and Childhood/ Adolescent Psycholo y and a dual Master'sDe reeinhistory(concentrationin military history) and Special Education rom St. Peter’s University, and certiﬁcate in American history rom James Madison University. Be ore her time at Villa she tau ht at various schools, one o them bein Saint Joseph Hi h where she tau ht 9th radeworldhistory,US1,andahistory elective course. From a youn a e she wanted to be a teacher, but her history teacherwasthepersonwhosolidiﬁedher

decision to teach history and En lish. It was the teachin style o her history teacher that truly inspired her, and trips to museums rein orced her love or history. She not only has a love or teachin but also readin and writin about classic novels and historical events.

She has many important people in herli e.Ms.DiMarziohashadmany reat riends, but there was one that helped her a ter a di ﬁcult crash that chan ed herli e.Someoneelseinherli ewhohas supportedherhasbeenhermother.She bothhelpedandsupportedMs.DiMarzio throu hout her educational journey, and she was always there or her rom the start.Ms.DiMarziobrin salotnotjustto her classrooms but also to our whole school.Villaissoluckytohaveher!

Penny, Mrs. Emery’s Golden retriever

What has Mrs. La ana’s Class Been Up To?

Tess Co ey ‘26 andphotosby

Mrs.La ana

Katsushika Hokusai’s

The Great Wave O Kana awa

Richa Lanjewar ’29

Noreen Mack ’29

Leila Sexton ’29

Carina Lehnes ’31

Aliyah Warjanka ’30

What has Mrs. La ana’s Class

Been Up To? (cont.)

Tess Co ey ‘26 andphotosby Mrs.La ana

Freshman created adorable sea creaturesouto airdryclay ortheir ﬁrstprojecto theyear.Thisallowed them to “dive” into their ocean theme and served as an ice breaker ortheﬁrstparto theyear.

Richa Lanjewar ’29

Grace Boler ’29

Camilla Zazzali ’29

Helena East ’29

What has Mrs. Chei er’s Class Been Up To?

Bryanna

Liu ‘26 and Caption by Mrs. Chei er

Currently, most classes are painting. AP and Honors Art students are in the planning stages of their next artwork. Freshman are starting their ocean theme paintings; Art & Design students are making paintings for their graphic design ad; and Advanced Art students are making paintings of their still life.

Elodie Tuck ’29

Natalia Bruzzichesi ’29